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With millions of spam emails, thousands of malware websites and an unknown number of cyberattacks taking place on the Internet every day, traveling safely through these interwebs is no easy task. Thankfully, MakeUseOf is here to help.
Being a newcomer on the web these days isn't always a pleasant experience. Setting aside the fact that you're trying to learn how to do new things like using email or using your new Facebook or Twitter accounts, there are also threats from all sides that you may not be fully prepared for. In fact, the people behind these threats count on people who are more naive about web safety etiquette.
It's not only security threats that newcomers to the web should be aware of. There are other types of basic etiquette that you should know when starting out your online experience with services like Facebook, installing web apps, and navigating the Internet in general.
Here at MakeUseOf, we've offered a number of etiquette guides for things like BitTorrent BitTorrent Etiquette: How to Avoid Getting Banned From Private Trackers BitTorrent Etiquette: How to Avoid Getting Banned From Private Trackers Read More , using emails and forums 7 Netiquette Guidelines For Writing Emails & Forum Posts 7 Netiquette Guidelines For Writing Emails & Forum Posts Netiquette is short for network or internet etiquette. It encompasses the special set of social conventions found in online interactions. While netiquette is very similar to good behavior or etiquette in offline encounters, there are... Read More , and even Facebook etiquette 5 Important Wall & Security Etiquette To Avoid A Facebook Divorce 5 Important Wall & Security Etiquette To Avoid A Facebook Divorce Using Facebook as evidence in divorce cases is an increasing phenomena. Facebook posts are even becoming common grounds for breakups. These situations are avoidable. Here are some quick Facebook tips that will help you avoid... Read More . In this general mini-guide, the focus will be more about the issues and problems that Internet newcomers commonly face, and how to avoid or deal with them.
Understanding Advertising
One of the most basic parts of using the Internet – browsing websites – should also be the easiest, right? Sure, but it's not.
When it comes to navigating through websites, there are a lot of landmines and trap doors in places where newcomers find themselves stumbling onto a website that they didn't intend to visit. How can that happen? Well, most of the time it comes down to how online publishers advertise.
In order to stay in business, websites place advertisements interspersed with content, and unless you know how to recognize those advertisements, you could find yourself clicking on one of those links and ending up on some annoying, spammy sales page. The easiest way to recognize ads is to look for the small blue triangle in the corner of the ad box, or look for some text like "Ads by Google" that identify the area as an ad.
You'll usually find some sort of indication, because Google has started penalizing sites that try to "camouflage" ads – so some text indicating that it's an ad area or "sponsored links" will usually reveal the ad to you. Here's another example from a mainstream site like the NY Times, so as you can see these sorts of "blended" ads are very common. Learn to spot them.
Another tricky sort of ad to watch for is the pop-over ad. Basically when you glide your mouse inadvertently over an ad, it slides open in a much larger area, even covering some of the page content sometimes.
When this happens, you can just about always find an "X" in the corner of the ad, and most of the time that "X" will actually minimize or close the ad window so you can see the content again. This is even the case when the pop-up ad takes over the entire page and covers up all of the content, like this weird full-page ad at wiseGEEK.
Again, look for the "X" in the corner. It isn't always easy to find, but it's nearly always there and usually works.
Some people would say that using something like Adblock is the best solution – but as Chris Hoffman, a former Adblock filter developer explains Please Whitelist MakeUseOf In Adblock: A Plea From a Former Adblock Filter Developer Please Whitelist MakeUseOf In Adblock: A Plea From a Former Adblock Filter Developer It's no secret that we're not huge fans of Adblock here at MakeUseOf. But we know that some of you won't let go of Adblock until it's pried out of your cold, dead hands. If... Read More , blocking all ads can end up doing a lot more harm than good. In fact, if the usage rates for Adblock software continue AdBlock, NoScript & Ghostery - The Trifecta Of Evil AdBlock, NoScript & Ghostery - The Trifecta Of Evil Over the past few months, I've been contacted by a good number of readers who have had problems downloading our guides, or why they can't see the login buttons or comments not loading; and in... Read More along the trend they are headed today, the Internet will likely become another corporate-run medium, because start-up bloggers and website owners won't be able to afford launching new content anymore if advertising no longer pays the bills.
So – instead of contributing to this problem by installing Adblock, just learn what ads look like and how to avoid them as you enjoy all of the fantastic free content around the net.
Understanding Fake Websites
One of the most common mistakes that I've seen when introducing someone to using the web for the first time, is that they'll often mis-type the address of a web page. This was worse years ago when you had to type in the three letters "www" before every web address, but these days web browsers are intelligent enough to understand that "www.makeuseof.com" and "makeuseof.com" is the same thing.
In fact, in Chrome and many other web browsers, the URL address bar now doubles as a search box using whatever default search engine is set up in the browser settings. So when you type a single word like "fish" in the URL field, the browser recognizes that this isn't a web address, so it'll return search results for that word.
However, it's still possible to mess up. Type in "gool.com" (a common error when people try to type "google.com" too fast, and you'll see what I mean.
This is called a "cybersquatter" page. Pages like this are purchased and parked by people or businesses hoping to make a few cents from the unsuspecting people who mistype these website addresses. If you're lucky it'll just be a page filled with ads. If you're not lucky, it could be owned by someone who created a fake page meant to look like the original. You'd find a number of these at web addresses with close spellings to websites like bankofamerica.com, or paypal.com, for example.
How do you know if the website you've visited is actually real and not some fake site? Look for the padlock. With most legitimate websites where your private data is at risk, like banking sites or online email services The 6 Most Popular Email Providers Other Than Gmail and Yahoo The 6 Most Popular Email Providers Other Than Gmail and Yahoo Each email provider listed here offers different benefits, but each of these email services is also highly popular with its users. Read More , you'll find a padlock displayed in either the bottom status bar of the browser (typical with Firefox) or to the left of the URL location field (typical with Chrome).
This status should be displayed somewhere on the browser menu or on the browser status bar itself, not inside or on the web page itself. Typing in the actual URL of a website you want to visit is usually the safest way to access your accounts (rather than clicking on an email link) – so typing URLs is still your safest bet, but just be very careful about your spelling.
Another security measure you'll find on a number of banking sites is something called a SiteKey. This was developed as a technique by banks to stop the sort of "fake website" hacking that was going on and particularly targeted bank accounts.
When you set up a SiteKey on your bank account, it isn't just meant to be an annoying extra step in the login process. It's meant so that you know you're accessing your own account, because fake website owners would not be able to display the correct SiteKey image for your account, since every account would have a different SiteKey image.
Phishing Emails
One of the most common techniques hackers use to draw people to their fake websites is a technique called "email phishing What Exactly Is Phishing & What Techniques Are Scammers Using? What Exactly Is Phishing & What Techniques Are Scammers Using? I've never been a fan of fishing, myself. This is mostly because of an early expedition where my cousin managed to catch two fish while I caught zip. Similar to real-life fishing, phishing scams aren't... Read More ".
Phishing is a very old technique scam artists have been using for many years to try and trick people into thinking that an email they've sent you is from a legitimate business. These days, online email services are very good at identifying these sort of spam emails and automatically filtering them How to Set Up Email Filters in Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Outlook How to Set Up Email Filters in Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Outlook Email filtering is your best tool in keeping your inbox neat and organized. Here's how to set up and use email filters in Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Outlook. Read More into to a spam folder. However, you may still receive some of them in your inbox, and they can look very convincing.
A few things to watch for are links inside of the email telling you to log in to confirm the ID and password for your account, or to otherwise confirm something about your account. There will often be a threat that your account will be frozen or closed if you don't confirm immediately. PayPal is the most common target for phishing, but major bank customers are commonly a target as well.
Look for unusual links in the email (why would Discover customer service send me to a website link with 188.8.131.52 in it??). You may even notice legitimate-looking things like a company copyright notice – people aren't allowed to print that unless it's legitimate, right? Nope.
Your best bet, and the advice that even the bank customer service will give you if you call and ask, is that you should never respond to anything via email when it has to do with logging into any of your accounts. If there's an issue, you can open up a browser and log into your financial accounts directly. Most banks have an internal messaging system inside of those accounts that they use to communicate with customers. If you don't see any message there, then you know for certain the email is fake. If you have any doubts, call customer service, but don' t ever click on an email link to log into any of your online accounts.
Downloading Free Apps
Another area of Internet use that new users often run into issues with is downloading free software 14 Free & Open Source Alternatives For Paid Software 14 Free & Open Source Alternatives For Paid Software Don't waste money on software for personal use! Not only do free alternatives exist, they most likely offer all the features you need and may be easier and safer to use. Read More . The Internet is filled with really cool free web apps, free services and applications that you can download and install on your computer. Most of the time these applications are completely safe to download, but other times they are infected with viruses, malware or adware that you want nowhere near your computer.
You can play it safe by first researching the software How To Do Your Research Before You Download Free Software How To Do Your Research Before You Download Free Software Before downloading a free program, you should be sure it's trustworthy. Determining whether a download is safe is a basic skill, but one everyone needs -- particularly on Windows. Use these tips to ensure you... Read More that you want to download to make sure it's safe. Even though, there are a few roadblocks you'll run into even when you're downloading legitimate free software.
The first problem is that the sites where you can get the free software are oven very manipulative about how you actually go about downloading the software itself. Even a legitimate, credible website like CNET has six buttons on the download page that appear to be a legitimate download link, styled just like every other download button on the site.
Only one of the download links is actually legit. Can you guess which?
The secret is to hover over the button and make sure the link it goes to (displayed in the browser status bar) isn't linking to some ad network, and that it goes to another CNET download page.
An even worse website than this is Softpedia, which places legitimate download buttons dangerously close to the Ad download buttons.
Most ad links on the page also look like they could be links to download the software you're looking for. They're not.
Then, on the actual download page, none of the "Download" buttons are actually legit. The download page is actually the "External Mirror" link – which doesn't stand out nearly as much as those big green Download buttons.
It's obviously a technique to trick visitors into inadvertently clicking on ads instead of clicking on the legitimate download links. Google, in all its wisdom, still hasn't done anything to punish larger websites and companies like CNET that still put this sort of ad trickery into practice on its website.
So, be aware that this goes on, and carefully analyze where those buttons link to before actually clicking on them.
Free Software Crapware And Free Trials
One more issue you need to be aware of if you're planning to download and install a lot of free software off the Internet is the fact that even safe, "legitimate" software comes with a few strings attached. Often one of those strings is that the installer wizard you need to use to install the software has a step embedded into it that will install extra software that you don't want, if you're not careful.
The trickery here is that the option selected by default is to install this software – called "crapware" by those familiar with it, because the extra software is usually very low quality and only meant to do things like track your browsing activity for advertising purposes.
The sad part of it is that it's very easy to prevent this garbage from getting installed on your computer. Just click the option that doesn't include the installation of that extra software. The problem is that most people just blow on through these installation windows, clicking next-next-next without giving it much thought. Suddenly they discover an odd new adware toolbar in their browser and wonder how it got there. Joining the fightback against these sneaky methods Begin The Fight Back Against Toolbar Installer Bloatware! [Opinion] Begin The Fight Back Against Toolbar Installer Bloatware! [Opinion] Recently I had cause to install some free video conversion software and was amazed to find so many attempts to fool me into installing additional software, not to mention attempts to upsell at the end... Read More is the only way to realistically combat them.
Another mistake newcomers to the web make when dealing with free software is signing up for a free trial – using a credit card or PayPal account – and then completely forgetting about signing up until the second month comes along and you discover a new charge on your credit card for the software "membership".
Keep an eye on the sign-up process if you do ever decide to sign up for any soft of "free trial" – whether it's free software or a free web service. These free trials are usually provided because they count on people forgetting to cancel the recurring charge. Don't be one of those people (unless you really like the software) – set a calendar reminder to cancel the trial in good time.
Using Social Networks
The last set of common mistakes new Internet users make is on social networks. We've actually published a lot of stuff on MUO about Facebook etiquette, but probably the single most common faux pas new users make is posting private information to the whole world.
You see, Facebook has a quick and easy way to see and change whether individual posts are going out to the public, or only your friends and family. It's that little icon next to your name and date for each post. If it's an image of people, then it's only going out to your friends. If it's the image of a globe, then you've just posted that update to the entire Internet.
Hopefully, you didn't just discover that you've been accidentally posting very private information to the world! Luckily, you can go back and change those. Also, if you go into your Facebook settings and click on "Privacy", you can change the default for your posts from "Everyone" to "Friends" (a very smart thing to do).
There are all kinds of other behaviors to avoid on Facebook, so I highly suggest you browse through our many articles about Facebook behaviors and etiquette How To Drive All Your Facebook Friends & Twitter Followers Crazy How To Drive All Your Facebook Friends & Twitter Followers Crazy Have you ever wanted to drive everyone crazy on your social networks? For a long time this has been a goal of mine that I have aspired for. It takes a lot of hard work,... Read More . Thankfully, it's usually easier to stay out of trouble on social networks – they're nowhere near as dangerous as email phishing or fraudulent websites.
Being new to the Internet doesn't mean that you have to be afraid whenever you're online. Just being aware of the sorts of issues outlined above will go a long way toward staying safe and having fun on the net without the danger of putting your identity or your computer at risk.
Leave a Reply
Ad block will not be the downfall of the free internet. The FCC and big money will be. I hate taking money away from the hard working honest types. But I love keeping my money away from the corrupt types. It's a hard moral choice.
May I ask for clarification: as I understood it, you have to click through the ad to get the site owner paid, not just look at the ad sitting there on your monitor. If I'm correct, then the act of merely allowing ads to show on the webpage isn't enough to keep the content creators' lights on, we all have to click through. So, unless there's a way advertisers can recompense site owners for eyes and not click-throughs, then just admonishing people not to use AdBlock is not enough. You should be encouraging people to click-through to help content creators rack up the money. And that's just not going to happen, at least not from my end, considering the malware you could download if you clicked on one of those crappy, flickering, dopey things.
Trickery abounds on "da net"...knowledge is a surefire way to combat it, thanks for this informative article...
I expressed my personal opinion. If adblock will cause the end of the web free, then do not complain if you see a content you will have to pay a subscription. From what you say, you seem internet savvy, but apparently always end up on sites that display annoying ads, which are usually the websites that they visit the nobs and those with wrist tennis player.
No, Antony, tell us how you really feel! :)
I'm not the demographic anyone is looking for -- I'm a good 20+ years past the 35 year old age mark advertisers use as a cut-off. So why shouldn't I use AdBlock? None of the adverts are aimed at me and I wouldn't buy anything off the web via a click-thru on a dare anyway. I also use Ghostery and SuperAntiSpyware.
Every now and again for some reason or other, I'll have to suppress AdBlock for a site and I'll see the ads... and boy howdy, internet ads are for the most part stupid. I don't understand how they get a single click-thru, which makes me wonder how they make any money at all, although I suppose "there are a ton of people on the internet who really shouldn't be allowed out without a minder" is the sad explanation. One ad for continuing educational courses said that scholarships were possible, and asked you to click on your age-group to find out what you might be eligible for, but it was easy to see there was no way to click on an age-group, no matter where you clicked, you'd be sent to the same website. The moving gif used in this ad for "continuing education" was a boozy-looking woman in a low-cut dress and loose up-do with her bangs falling into her eyes, a martini in one hand and her other hand waving around in front of her face. How that image related to continuing education courses is beyond me.
If all users use adblock this means the end of free content on the web. Who uses adblock is a noob who can not distinguish the good from the bad publicity and not disitngue the good sites from the bad ones. Users who use adblock most go on porn sites or with sexual content. These users to masturbate on the PC are killing the web free.
Who uses adblock is an idiot, irresponsible, selfish, opportunistic, ignorant, and with the wrist like a tennis player, as a cause of jerking free without ads on adult sites.
LMAO! You found me. I'm that one guy on the planet Earth that visits porn sites. However, I have a strict "both hands on the keyboard at all times" rule I follow, so my wrists probably don't fit your description. Here's what I've noticed about dangerous and invasive ads from my 'noob' days BEFORE using ad blockers.
1. Porn sites barely rank in the invasive ad category.
2. Wallpaper sites are the worst, hands down. I'm not talking nudes, I'm talking kitties, puppies, unicorns, etc.
3. Good intention sites like church, charity, and advice sites are a close second. They don't have skilled webmasters or security in place and their patrons are typically less tech savvy.
A good ad blocker that allows non-intrusive ads is the best first line of defense, followed by good anti-virus, and malware/spyware/adware blockers. The web is a dangerous place for pc's and it starts with ads. Just because someone can fog a mirror doesn't mean that their blog about the relationship of aliens and pond scum is going to net them big ad revenue. A tangible product or service must be offered as a primary revenue stream and any ad revenue should be viewed as a secondary revenue stream. That gives the site owner control over what kind of ads they display.
You pay for your connection, be it ADSL or cellular, you pay your ISP, and you pay for a certain amount of bandwidth, so ads are actually shoplifting from you, by using up bandwidth that YOU have paid for. I use Adblock and I whitelist sites that do not drown me in ads. If ads were less intrusive there would be no need to block them.
With regard to Phishing emails, another giveaway that's shown in your examples is that the emails have the salutation of "valued customer',
Legitimate emails, especially those dealing with money accounts, will use your full account name, for example "Dear John Smith".
I use multiple browsers. As recommended by MakeUseOf I use Aviator for just 2 of the websites I visit, and I find my laptop processor is quieter with less fan noise.
After digesting the article and all the comments, I decided to think about what kinds of ads annoy me the least.
1. Television commercials: They interrupt the flow of the programming and rarely show me anything I'm interested in. I skip them or channel surf until they pass.
2. Radio commercials: Same as above, interrupted content, few products that interest me. Channel surf again.
3. Magazine ads: The first 10-40 pages of most magazines are useless tree killing ads. The media itself is dying and I'm sure that the ad structure doesn't help. Not to mention, I already pay a subscription fee and still get bombed.
4. Billboards along roads: They don't interrupt the flow, they are non-intrusive, and the viewer has the option of looking at them or not. The only traditional ad form that doesn't annoy me.
The conclusion seems simple, sites that have a passive ad structure that doesn't interrupt flow and is non-intrusive should be just fine. It is up to the site's creator to determine what form of ads they allow. My blocker does allow passive ads, but greedy sites are cutting their own throats with sloppy ad management. I've read articles on this site already that advise against clicking those ads on the sides of a website.
how pathetic trying to guilt trip people into giving up ad-block, so what the author is trying to say is that anyone with a blog should get paid for content they are going to release for free anyway and then cry when they dont get rich from it. WHAT? not everyone acts out of greedy intentions pal, check your self!
I use adblock software a lot and recommend it, but still end up seeing ads that I ignore. I don't quite have it on all browsers. I truly despise the hovering pop-over ads that come up and block the screen especially on my smartphone browser, when it is harder to close the ad.
Also, ads wouldn't be bad if they were just innocent jpegs or gifs. They leave tracking cookies, have videos that play automatically sometimes and again, I'll mention the hovering pop-ups that block the entire page. If the ads were not invasive and intent on tracking me, or preventing me from accessing the webpage content, then I wouldn't mind them. Until then I will use adblock.
"I guess it depends on how you use the net. I personally never use Ad-block out of principle, because I feel like it's essentially shoplifting..."
Say what!
I personally always use Ad-block out of principle! Better to shoplift than to be extorted or hijacked! (Not that looking at freely distributed content is shoplifting - if the creator really needs the revenue s/he is free to create a "pay for use" model, and let the marketplace decide the content's value. )
A really good Article, one I can recommend to my not so clued up friends.
Solid advice, Ryan. I learned some of these tips the hard way, and by now these are second nature to me, but I'm sharing so hopefully one other person is spared the annoyance. The tip of doing a custom install is really important. Some very legit applications have spamware attached. Also, checking out the URL is very important. Besides the padlock icon to show a secure site, if you're entering in personal information, always make sure the address has https, not just http in the URL.
Finally, make sure if you want to visit a site to renew your driver's license, etc., it ends in .gov.
There are a lot of imposter sites that impersonate driver license renewal sites, with very impressive looking "state seals" etc.
Ryan, I would like to say that you should at least consider the fact that a lot of adblock users are nowadays also using the Whitelisting feature!
I personally use it on sites I enjoy(MUO being an example), and while I'm not sure if such a function exists on FF, on Chrome the ad blocker I use(AdBlock) also allows me to block a specific page(not the domain) or a specific Youtube channel. This way I can selectively support those whom I truly wish to support. (This doesn't detract from your point that in your opinion it's like shoplifting, but I'm just stating some additional information)
If the site is good and the advertisements are good as well, you can bet that people will not block it with an ad blocker. The information about you that advertising companies sell and the annoyances of some advertisements(This is less than it used to be, but still present, such as that Vegan advertisement that now got removed from Twitch). And do know that there ARE alternatives to have your hard work pay off. The web comic Loading Artist recently removed some(if not all) advertisements from his sites, because he switched over to Pantreon where his readers pay per comic and even get exclusive content!
I don't know about you, but while I can agree with you on many points, you should also come to terms that many people will use adblockers and you should always try to figure out a way to expand your views on how you can have your readers support you while not making their experience (very slightly) worse to that of people who don't support you.
"...these days web browsers are intelligent enough to understand that "www.makeuseof.com" and "makeuseof.com" is the same thing."
This has nothing to do with the web browser, and everything to do with how the site's server configuration (usually .htaccess) is set up. You can choose to a website with or without the "www." subdomain, and use redirects to switch from one to the other very easily (add it if needed, remove it if not).
The "www." prefix was used in the early days of the Web to distinguish between FTP, mail, and other servers; today if you're browsing on port 80, servers are smart enough to know you want a webpage.
Wow. Some differences of opinion galore! As an analogous concern with TV, I dropped DirectTV when I found out DISH offered a system to allow me to skipped paid ads . . . well, almost. It only works for some channels, in Prime-Time and gives the option (a good thing, I guess) before you decide to watch a show -- albeit 24 hours later (the fine print) and also that the first ad in each scheduled sequence actually STARTS (but is quickly interrupt by the ass-end of the last ad in the break) and so one suffers only a coupla 3 or 4 seconds of ads. It's far better than recording and blowing through TV ads . . . and it's also better than a poke-in-the-eye with a stick!! Very happy with the "Hoppa" (enabling technology) and found DISH a better value for less $ than DIrectTV --having done both...besides that, I was able to get the dealer to get me the local channels I want, unlike DirTV....anyway as for PC's I load-up on ALL SORTS of anti-adware SW, inclsive of Spryware Blaster and Spybot and much more, regularly cleaning files and registry entries. I HATE ADS and poop-ups (sic).
"In fact, if the usage rates for Adblock software continue along the trend they are headed today, the Internet will likely become another corporate-run medium, because start-up bloggers and website owners won't be able to afford launching new content anymore if advertising no longer pays the bills."
Sorry - I have to call "BS" on this one. The truth is there will still be very good content, but it will be non-sponsored content from grassroots.
I hear you on using Adblock for security reasons. And the sneaky ways some sites place those ads is criminal and they should be ad-blocked all the way to Dirtville. But let me ask you this, if you go to Waffle House one day and you know the haggard waitress serving you is getting paid 2 bucks an hour plus tips, she gives you excellent service and you see her hustling the whole time to take care of you, when it comes time to pay the check do you write in a big fat 0 for the tip? Probably not, maybe you didn't realize they get paid so little, but now that you know, how could you?
What about when you download a free app on your phone, and you see the little ad down at the bottom? Do you get furious and try to find a way to remove it? Most people would say no, because it is immediately clear that is the only way the person who wrote the free app you love so much will ever get a dime for all their effort. So you ignore it and game on. So Apple and Android have figured out for the most part how to keep ads under control. But in the anarchistic web there is no way to suppress ad-mongers.
Still the rise of ad-blockers threatens to choke small websites out of existence. There will come a tipping point where it's just not worth doing anymore and we will all wonder why suddenly sites are dropping like flies.
I have no idea how small web-bloggers make money at all off of their sites. I put some thoughtfully-placed, relevant google ads on my website that admittedly doesn't get much traffic, and you know how much ad revenue I've collected from google ads over the past 4 years? 33 bucks. Total.
re: Blocking ads -- Look, if you want content, you need to pay for it somehow. I'm going to presume that you work for a living and expect to be paid for your work, right? Oh wait -- you see that differently, apparently. Newsflash: it's not different. If you can find what you want on sites that don't have ads, go for it. That's your choice.
I can tell you where I work, were there no ad revenue being generated, content creators (aka actual people -- what a concept) would be laid off.
So, go work for free and try to live, because that seems to be your attitude. Otherwise, your collective rationalizations are just b.s. , and were you either intellectually capable or honest, you'd admit as such.
Problem is that number of sites are careless about ads - and malware getting in ad networks is nothing new too. So AdBlock is like condom in that regard.
Not to mention that days of simple banners are gone - people have very few problems with static picture they need to click for opening, but almost everyone hate large animated GIFs and sluggish flash ads.
Another nuisance is that lot of sites tend to open 'befriend us at ...book/..itter etc" right in your face at any possible moment. AdBlock cuts that annoyance too.
As for revenues - there's busynesses, community services/volunteering and hobbies. Latter two are NOT expected to bring revenues or even be 'jobs'.
*I leave adblock out
Hey Ryan, I totally agree with not having adblock especially since I follow many people on twitch.tv and YouTube. A lot of creative people have used those mediums as a source of income. Unfortunately, YouTube and partnership companies are starting to give them less money, meaning they have to look for other ways to get income. I'm not talking about people that have millions of subscribers that expand their channel into a business, but people that have dedicated their full time to make content and barely making enough money to pay for their bills having to leave their channels to find another job. It is saddening to see this happen . I leave adblock on to support my favorite people or website no matter how big they are.
I can use this to educate my mom on how to use the internet, even when I'm busy at college! Thanks for the article!
Great article.
1. It's a shame that ad blockers hurt the little guy, but until annoying ads get stomped out, I'm not surfing without it. A standard image or text link off to the side or below a page is o.k. but video and pop ups are killing the web.
2. Always custom install and decline everything but the last page or you end up with about a dozen tool bars!
3. You forgot about pc cleaner/pc faster scams. Avoid them at all costs, they infect your pc then you give them remote access to it.
Responding to Ryan D's comment:
Your attitude is utterly galling. There is no contract that exists between visitors using the open web and content creators that requires those users to view your ads, to accept security risk for your benefit or even to look at your content in the first place. Visitors do not owe you anything, least of all to render content in a manner that most meets your approval.
As for workable alternatives to advertising, I personally would suggest a tip jar or donation model or an offer of service for hire, using the content you make freely available as a marketing tool to drive whatever business you might feel you're qualified to pursue.
I see your point Ryan, but ad companies already have way too much control over what we see and hear.
1. Terrestrial radio blows because blue chip companies won't advertise on a station that plays F*ck like a beast by WASP or anything remotely interesting.
2. Look at DVR, tell me with a straight face that people don't skip the ads. When I'm watching tv live, I channel surf during commercials so I don't have to be annoyed with cell phone, car insurance, and junk food ads.
3. Ad companies determine what gets signed and what gets cancelled. Bland and generic talent shows, check. Artistic and emotionally challenging creativity, no dice.
I already pay to access the web via an ISP, I pay when I order something, because I know what I want and need. If I like the site and product I ordered from, I elect to get news letters or updates about similar products. I'll never need a deluxe cheese straightener or wombat repellant. Targeted advertising is invasive and annoying. If a business model depends on it, it probably is not a very value oriented model. A good website can take control and demand the ads be tasteful and non-invasive, but they are afraid to stand up to the revenue stream. Maybe it's my disdain for ads, but when I use a friend's computer that doesn't block ads, I don't even recognize most of the sites and I just don't want to be on the web at all.
Use of Ad-blocking on the web is absolutely, utterly mandatory. I don't care if it deprives anyone of revenue. The world wide web is utterly intolerable without it. I also don't care if Adblock Plus triples memory utilization in your web browser. More RAM is cheap and the security implications and annoyance factors are too great to even bother with the alternative. Not using an Adblock derivative is in and of itself evidence of incorrect Web usage.
Using an Ad-blocking hosts file is also a pretty good idea and works regardless of platform and or browser, though that does mean losing out on an easy way to stop blocking something if it is situationally merited.
Ad blocking fixes many of the problems with confusing or bogus links. Probably configured ad blocking should also minimize contact with scam sites, but that brings me to point #2: You should be using software that provides some degree of prophylaxis against malware installation. For home users, I suggest using both SpywareBlaster and SpyBot Search and Destroy's Immunize function. Put together, those two things will actually prevent your PC from even communicating with many of the worst sites on the internet. They do so in a largely invisible fashion; your PC simply refuses to sexyrussianbridesmalwaretoolbarhijack.com or whatever.
Ryan, if you don't like the arrangement that exists between web site visitors, advertisement networks and content creators, either find a different model for compensation or stop creating content. You are of course free to level any unrealistic ethical charge against a sizable minority of internet users based on what I'm relatively certain are entirely selfish motivations, but if your fundamental position is to ignore the best advice you could present to avoid just the sort of frustration and embarrassment that was the topic of this article, perhaps you were not the person who should have written it in the first place.
Furthermore, as you previously wrote in this very article, it is incredibly difficult for many end users to determine exactly where they are on the internet. Since you're speaking from a position of some sort of authority, you are no doubt aware that any number of scripts might be run, often as a result of code delivered through content delivered via advertising networks that can cause a web browser to connect, silently download and execute something from a malicious web site. To suggest that end users have complete awareness and free will in all possible web transactions is beyond laughable.
I'm sorry, but the wider need for security and the desire for a frustration-free internet experience trump your desire to earn fractions of pennies from advertisements.
Ad blocking is not the best tool for protecting users from malicious scripting behavior. It is, however, one of the simplest and one which can be made to work across nearly all browsers and platforms. Even if I wanted to undertake the effort to explain why and when to use tools like Noscript, the simple fact is that most browsers (including all Webkit derivatives, which probably account for the majority of browsing done on the web at this point) do not have the ability to offer granular scripting control.
On the other hand, blocking communication with advertising servers in the first place prevents the lion's share of malicious scripts from running in the first place and represents a simple and sane starting point for internet security in much the same way as locking car doors when parking and exiting the vehicle would.
I do not believe that you are legitimately ignorant of this and you are at the very least being obtuse by not acknowledging that my position represents a better choice from the standpoint of web users who might be interested in reading this article. So far, from this exchange, you seem far more interested in preserving a broken revenue model than in addressing the security needs of end users, a quality I find highly dubious for someone writing posts with "Security Matters."
To my point regarding the availability of simplicity and availability of browser security tools: Most of those tools are functionally either Ad blockers, selective toggles for script access or simply verification engines indicating that some third party has previously vetted the content on a page. Browsers other than Firefox derivatives have very limited abilities to control script behavior and of course doing so requires a great deal of technical knowledge on the part of an end user and is therefore ill-advised as part of a general security practice. Content Scanners (WOT et al) typically scan first-party content and may rely on nothing but end user reports, but of course advertising content is served on a connection by connection basis and so it will not provide any help in preventing malware infection from advertisements in the moment.
Evidence to support my previous statement regarding the utility of blocking ads as a means of preventing malware infection. The overwhelming majority of such threats are found on legitimate web sites but perpetrated through advertising services; it's highly unlikely that a web page serving up first-party malicious content would be so widely visited as to perpetuate said content.
I see no evidence to conclude that any combination of tools other than ad-blocking provide protection that is as straightforward or practical as blocking advertisements. You did not put forth any examples either of software nor of the threats that you claim can be divorced from the overall problem of malicious scripts that are delivered through advertising networks. I believe the burden of proof at this point is on you.
I fully agree about ad blockers. I have no problem with advertising on websites. The problem is when the ads are made to be obtrusive and/or obnoxious. When advertisers start showing some respect for people I'll stop blocking them and maybe, just maybe, I'd be willing to do business with them as well.


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Wayne Quilliam, one of Australia's leading Indigenous photographers whose work includes striking portraits, ceremonial scenes and magnificent landscapes that showcase his homeland, has opened the 2013 exhibition calendar for the Australian Consulate-General in New York. Quilliam spends about eight months of every year capturing images in the outback, either Broome or the Kimberley, and is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales' Indigenous Law Centre. He has won awards including NAIDOC Indigenous Artist of the Year, Business of the Year for the Australian Indigenous Minority Supplier Council and the 2008 Human Rights Media Award. Billabout caught up with Quilliam a few nights ago at the launch of his latest American exhibition at the Consulate, where he explained why the show isn't themed.
"We've kept it open because it's my interpretation of what I enjoy, to show America the diversity of what I do," Quilliam said. "We've got nudes, landscapes, ceremony images—it's an eclectic group of images." Prior to arriving in New York last week, Quilliam had been at the G'Day USA 10th Anniversary Black Tie Gala in Los Angeles, where his imagery provided a vivid backdrop to the revelry.
"It was a fantastic event with 1,300 people there, and I had my artwork on the big screen with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman!" he said. Asked what he most wanted Americans to learn about Australia, Quilliam cited Aboriginal culture as the oldest living culture in the world and the nation's diversity. "As I walk around New York and hear all the different languages and see all the different ethnicities, I think, 'Hang on, this is exactly the same as Melbourne'," he said. "I walk around Melbourne and we've got our Algerian friends and Vietnamese and Greek and Italian friends. It's so diverse. I want Americans to see the diversity of what our culture is all about, the beauty of it."
Quilliam said he always enjoys exhibiting his work in the U.S. because he feels Australians and Americans are very much alike. "I think you could quite easily transplant any of us into the other's country—I don't have any difficulty coming here," he said. "The other day I hired a car and drove up to Joshua Tree National Park (in California), hung around Palm Springs, had a yarn with people and it was just like I was home." He recommends Australians traveling to the U.S. visit Colorado, his favorite place where he attended a minority business conference at the end of last year with a delegation of 28 Aboriginal businesses. "It was literally like transplanting from Australia to America in a very similar fashion, it was amazing."
Quilliam also recommends eating street food. "I always eat off the street!" he declared proudly. "In every single country I go to I eat off the street, and I've never had a problem, only once in Vietnam! I tend to find the food you get is powerful, it's beautiful." New Yorkers can catch Quilliam's works on display at the Consulate until February.

subset: commoncrawl


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Devtraco Plus swept two awards at the recent Africa & Arabia Property Awards 2017/18 one of the most prestigious industry events in the region.
The property developer was recognized with a Five-Star Award for being the Best Apartment Ghana for The Edge project category together with an award for Development Marketing.
The event which came off at The J W Marriott Marquis Dubai last Thursday saw companies receiving awards for categories ranging from property development, real estate, interior design, and architecture.
Chosen from over 200 entries spread across the Africa & Arabia region, Devtraco Plus has proved to be one of best in the Property Development sector.
The Africa & Arabia Awards are part of the International Property Awards that include the regions of Asia Pacific, Europe, The Americas and the UK to celebrate the very best projects and professionals in the industry.
The top winners in the Africa & Arabia region will automatically be entered into the overall international awards, culminating in a glittering awards ceremony to be held at the Savoy Hotel in London on December 4.
The awards also played host to the IPAX Africa & Arabia exhibition where top industry suppliers were on hand to showcase their products and services.
Delegates networked with the very best industry CEO's, Managing Directors and decision makers within the Africa and Arabia regions.
In its latest offer, Devtraco Plus gives everyone interested an opportunity to own a bold and edgy piece of Accra – The Edge.
It is situated in one of the most sought-after parts of the capital city of Accra, called Labone.
The Edge is an apartment complex designed to promote an urban lifestyle with options of suites, studios, one, two or three bedrooms, investors are equally spoilt for choice.


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Don't miss stories. Follow Raw Story!
The U.S. Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, called on Monday for the removal of Republican Representative Devin Nunes as chairman of the House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee.
Nunes, whose committee is investigating potential ties between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia, visited the White House the night before announcing he had information indicating Trump associates may have been subject to some level of intelligence activity before Trump took office on Jan. 20.
"Chairman Nunes is falling down on the job and seems to be more interested in protecting the president than in seeking the truth," Schumer said in a Senate speech.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Grant McCool)
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Charity, Social Activism, Philanthropy
Invisiblepeople is a project started by Mark Horvath after he found himself virtually homeless after the American economic collapse in the late 2000s. The project is dedicated to putting a face and story to the homeless through video interviews conducted by Horvath on the streets and in homeless shelters across Canada and the United States.
In short, Invisible People is a nonprofit organisation that uses its site to give homeless people a voice. They have the opportunity to tell their own stories via a range of individual video clips, each displaying their name.
In these fascinating and captivating videos, it's founder, Mark Horvath, asks the individuals questions about their lives on the street such as how long they have been there and how they feel about their past and their future. He finishes the conversations by asking them what they would be if they had three wishes.
Invisible People is an easy site to use making for a great user experience. It's invaluable inclusion of social media links including Twitter, Facebook , Youtube, Instagram and Flickr are much needed, mainly due to the fact that the existence of this site is all about spreading the word and bringing more attention to people who are homeless.
The most noteworthy section in the menu bar is the 'Donate' page. This allows users to donate money to Invisible people via a very simple form which only takes minutes to fill out. This important addition goes a long way in helping to keep the site going.
At the time of me writing this review, one of the big flaws regarding the sites functionality is rooted in what happens after the video had finished playing. So for example, if i click on 'Dawn' whilst at the homepage, a new page opens and her video starts playing. Alongside this are details about her, conversations from various users of the site and various social media links and stats. So far so good. However, when the video finishes playing, small thumbnails appear of other videos that can be linked to, which is obviously a great and useful idea. The problem is that once a new video has been clicked, it starts playing in the same window but with all Dawns details and information still showing. Hopefully this is just a bug and will get looked at and fixed very soon.
The design and layout here is generally very nice and well executed. If I'm honest, I think the logo could do with some work as it feels a bit clunky and passé. It has more of a feel of a ninnies metal band about it. However, thanks to the use of colours it manages to tie in with the rest of the site.
What I do love about the look and feel of the site is the muted colour palette used. It perfectly houses the black and white video stills of the 'invisible people', which conceptually is very tight. The individuals remain in this drab, unsaturated world practically devoid of colour. It's only when the user clicks on the video link and it starts playing, that the colour becomes apparent. A perfect metaphor for bringing to life these otherwise forgotten and invisible people.
In the 'About' section of the site, it opens with the following:
"I once heard a story about a homeless man on Hollywood Blvd who really thought he was invisible. But one day a kid handed the man a Christian pamphlet. The homeless guy was shocked and amazed, "What! You can see me? How can you see me? I'm invisible!"
This statement is testament to why this site is so important.
Horvaths plight to try and end homelessness via social media and youtube is to be admired. He states that forty thousand clips a month are being watched and on top of this he has links to organisations such as Street Soccer, who try to raise money for people on the street, offering them activities to get involved in.
I'm thankful that the site Invisible People exists and regardless of any nitpicking about functionality and design, it has massive sociological importance about a huge and serious global problem. Mark Horvath should be very proud of what he's achieved and if nothing else, go to this site and make a donation towards a very important cause.


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Saturday, April 15th 2017
Daily Reading
[Letter to Swami Brahmananda]
[Translated from Bengali]
18th February, 1902.
You must have received by this time my letter of yesterday containing an acknowledgment of the money. The main object of this letter is to write about—.
You should go and meet him as soon as you get this letter. ... Get a competent doctor and have the disease diagnosed properly. Now where is Vishnu Mohini, the eldest daughter of Ram Babu?^ She has recently been widowed. ...
Anxiety is worse than the disease. Give a little money — whatever is needed.
If in this hell of a world one can bring a little joy and peace even for a day into the heart of a single person, that much alone is true; this I have learnt after suffering all my life; all else is mere moonshine...
Reply very soon. "Uncle" and Niranjan have written a letter from Gwalior... Here it is now becoming hot gradually.
This place was cooler than Bodh-Gaya. ...I was very pleased to hear that the Saraswati-Pujâ was celebrated by Nivedita with great success. If she wants to open the School soon, let her do so.
Readings from the sacred books, worship, study —see that all these are being maintained. My love to all.
Yours affectionately,
^Ram Chandra Datta, a disciple of Shri Ramakrishna.
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Here's another card I made with no-line watercoloring. This image just works so well! Starting with the base layer which was cut with the large stitched die from MFT Blueprint 13, I used Tim Holtz Harlequin stencil with Dreamweaver's white embossing paste to stencil in just a corner of the layer. While that was drying, I stamped the chickadee image from Our Daily Bread Design You will find Refuge set in Distress Ink Tea Dye on watercolor paper. Then I used my Koi watercolors to color it in. Since Distress Inks are water soluble, it blends right in with the watercoloring. After that was dry, I die cut out the image with a die from MFT Blueprint 13. To mat the tag, I traced the die on dark brown card stock and fussy cut it out. I popped up the tag with small Joy! foam pads and added a mini tag using the Thank You from ODBD Ornate Frame Sentiments in Versafine vintage sepia ink.
Stamps: ODBD You Will Find Refuge and ODBD Ornate Frame Sentiments
Inks: Distress Ink Tea Dye and Versafine Vintage Sepia
Dies: MFT Blueprint 13 and ODBD Mini Tag Dies
Accessories: Tim Holtz Harlequin stencil, Dreamweaver's white embossing paste, Koi watercolors, and twine


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NSW Treasurer Mike Baird will be asked to explain how his June budget figures were out by $1 billion, at a supplementary estimates hearing later this month.
NSW Auditor-General Peter Achterstraat found the state was $1 billion better off than first thought, with embarrassing accounting and data entry errors partly to blame for the dodgy figures.
The deficit of $337 million announced by Mr Baird in June should in fact be a surplus of $680 million, according to the audit released a fortnight ago.
He would now be asked to explain the "stuff up" at a supplementary budget estimates hearing on November 26, opposition treasury spokesman Michael Daley said on Wednesday.
"Mr Baird will be forced to explain to the public how he made this epic $1 billion stuff up," Mr Daley said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for Mr Baird said the treasurer was happy to appear at the hearing.
"While not one Labor minister attended the almost 30 supplementary estimates hearings held during the last five years of the NSW Labor government, the treasurer is happy to attend the supplementary budget estimates hearing," she said.


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What does a puppy have in common with a sponge? During the first few months of puppyhood, puppies, just like sponges, soak up impressions about the world surrounding them. It's crucial, therefore, for these very first life experiences to be positive and varied since they will leave an everlasting impression on your pup. Don't wait too long, though; this small window of opportunity for socialization in puppies is very brief.
Can You Socialize a Dog After 10 Weeks Of Age?
Ideal Socialization Timeframe
The peak period for proper socialization in puppies occurs between the ages of 3 and 12 weeks old, according to the ASPCA. It's during this time that puppies learn to be comfortable around a variety of stimuli, including different types of people, environments, sights, sounds, smells, animals and other dogs. This process ideally starts when the dog is in the care of the breeder and continues when he reaches his new home. It's both a breeder's and dog owner's responsibility to ensure the puppy is properly socialized.
Remedial Socialization
It's never too late to socialize your puppy. If you got your puppy at 10 weeks or older and the puppy wasn't properly socialized before then, you will need to pull up your sleeves and do some remedial work. A great place to catch up in terms of socialization and confidence-building is a puppy class. In a puppy class you and your pup will be placed under the guidance of a professional dog trainer in a non-threatening, controlled setting so you can catch potential problems early on and address them properly.
Avoid Rushing Through the Process
Catching up in terms of socialization, however, does not mean you will need to hurry through the process and overdo it. You must provide your puppy with a multitude of opportunities to encounter the world, but at the same time avoid forcing him into situations he is not ready to cope with. Make sure your puppy explores the world at his own speed without overwhelming him. Learn how to recognize subtle signs of stress and carefully monitor your puppy's progress.
Ongoing Work
Because you cannot turn the clock backwards, you must continue working on socialization even outside of puppy classes. This entails working on confidence-building exercises around strangers and other unfamiliar stimuli. Don't waste your puppy's food by just filling the food bowl and giving it to him; rather, use it help him become confident around people, suggests Dog Star Daily. For instance, in the next few months have friends hand-feed your puppy and then you can upgrade to having strangers do the same thing.
By Adrienne Farricelli
About the Author
Adrienne Farricelli has been writing for magazines, books and online publications since 2005. She specializes in canine topics, previously working for the American Animal Hospital Association and receiving certification from the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. Her articles have appeared in "USA Today," "The APDT Chronicle of the Dog" and "Every Dog Magazine." She also contributed a chapter in the book " Puppy Socialization - An Insider's Guide to Dog Behavioral Fitness" by Caryl Wolff.


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aka Pediatric Perplexity 014
A 4 year-old boy is brought to the emergency department by his parents with a history of increasing numbers of red spots on his legs over the past 6 days. They took him to two different family doctors and have tried various creams. The spots have spread to his buttocks and his arms, and now his legs are sore and look swollen. He has also had abdominal pains.
On examination he looks well with age-appropriate vital signs, but he is reluctant to move his lower limbs. His rash looks like this:
A urine dipstick shows 2+ RBCs.
Q1. What is the likely diagnosis?
Henoch-Schonlein Purpura
HSP is an autoimmune, self-limiting, immunoglobulin A-mediated, small-vessel vasculitis. It typically affects children aged 2-8 years and is the most common vasculitis affecting children. It is often preceded by upper respiratory tract symptoms (occuring 1-3 weeks earlier).
The diagnosis is likely in the presence of the triad of:
- purpuric rash on the limbs (mainly lower) and buttocks (especially the dependent surfaces)
- joint pain/ swelling
- abdominal pain
The rash may not appear until after the onset of the other symptoms. It starts as erythematous papules quickly followed by palpable purpura, which are visible, unblanching hemorrhages in the skin and mucous membranes, up to 10 mm in diameter. The rash may also resemble urticaria.
Although named for Eduard Heinrich Henoch and Johann Lukas Schönlein, HSP was actually first described by the brilliant English physician William Heberden in 1802.
HSP can occur in adults (sometimes associated with drugs or malignancy) and there is also an infantile form.
Q2. What investigations are required?
Check UEC
Renal function should be assessed if there is evidence of hematuria (90% of cases) or hypertension. About half of cases will develop nephritis, but only 1% will have longterm renal failure.
Other investigations may not be required. Sometimes the cause of purpura may be uncertain. In this case the patient should be investigated as discussed in Pediatric Perplexity 007 (e.g. FBC, blood culture). In HSP, there is no thrombocytopenia or coagulopathy.
Skin and renal biopsies are not usually necessary.
Q3. What is the usual time course of the illness?
Typical time course:
- upper respiratory tract infection may precede the onset of symptoms by 1-3 weeks.
- joint pain usually lasts <48h
- abdominal pain usually lasts <72h
- resolution of rash by 4-6 weeks
Q4. What are the possible complications of this condition?
- Renal —
Haematuria (persistent or recurrent in 5%), proteinuria, nephrotic syndrome, isolated hypertension, renal insufficiency and renal failure (<1%).
May not be present acutely, but become apparent during the convalescent period.
- Gastrointestinal —
intussusception, bloody stools, haematemesis, spontaneous bowel perforation, and pancreatitis.
- Subcutaneous oedema —
particularly affects the scrotum, hands, feet, and sacrum
can be very painful and may present as an acute scrotum in boys
- Rare CNS and pulmonary complications can also occur.
- Recurrence —
About half of cases of HSP have a recurrence in the first year.
Q5. What is the appropriate management, disposition and follow up?
- analgesia — usually oral
- consider prednisolone (see Q5)
- education and explanation
- seek and treat complications
- most cases can be managed as an outpatient
- consider a surgical consult if gastrointestinal complications or an acute scrotum is suspected
- admission is required if:
- severe pain, e.g. unable to walk— requires bed rest and analgesia
- complications e.g. renal or abdominal
- social reasons
Follow up
- follow up by GP and general pediatrics outpatients for at least 6 months.
- some experts advise yearly urinalysis and blood pressure monitoring for life.
Q6. Is there a role for prednisolone in the management of this condition?
The role of prednisolone is controversial.
Prednisolone may provide symptomatic relief of pain, but pain is usually relatively short-lived and corticosteroids could mask the onset of severe abdominal complications. Prednisolone may also reduce the risk of progression to end stage renal disease, but this was not confirmed in a recent systematic review of the limited trials that exist. Overall, prednisolone has not been shown to alter the natural history of HSP.
Most experts recommend its use if complications are present:
- severe abdominal complications (eg, intussusception or massive gastrointestinal bleed)
- significant renal disease (eg, rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis, severe nephrotic syndrome, renal insufficiency, or renal failure)
- severe orchitis, pulmonary hemorrhage, and severe CNS symptoms
A typical regimen for the treatment of HSP is:
prednisolone 1 mg/kg daily for 2 weeks
In severe cases IV immunoglobulin and other immunosuppressants have been used, although their effectiveness is unknown.
- Arias-Santiago S, Aneiros-Fernández J, Girón-Prieto MS, Fernández-Pugnaire MA, Naranjo-Sintes R. Palpable purpura. Cleve Clin J Med. 2010 Mar;77(3):205-6. PMID: 20200171.
- Bogdanović R. Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis in children: risk factors, prevention and treatment. Acta Paediatr. 2009 Dec;98(12):1882-9. Epub 2009 Jul 24. Review. PMID: 19650836.
- Chartapisak W, Opastirakul S, Hodson EM, Willis NS, Craig JC. Interventions for preventing and treating kidney disease in Henoch-Schönlein Purpura (HSP).Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009 Jul 8;(3):CD005128. Review. PMID: 19588365.
- Goel SS, Langford CA. A 72-year-old man with a purpuric rash. Cleve Clin J Med. 2009 Jun;76(6):353-60. PMID: 19487556.
- Reamy BV, Williams PM, Lindsay TJ. Henoch-Schönlein purpura. Am Fam Physician. 2009 Oct 1;80(7):697-704. PMID: 19817340.
[NB. This review predates the Cochrane review indicating that prednisolone does not alter the progression of renal disease]
- Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne. RCH Clinical Practice Guidelines.
- Sohagia AB, Gunturu SG, Tong TR, Hertan HI. Henoch-schonlein purpura – a case report and review of the literature. Gastroenterol Res Pract. 2010;2010:597648. Epub 2010 May 23. PMID: 20508739; PMCID: PMC2874920.


text: Upgrading and improving the "Wandering Campus Ambassador" took the collective expertise of students from mechanical, electrical and computer engineering as well as peers from industrial design. The robotic system and its intricate mechanical elements were on display at the multidisciplinary senior design presentations in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering on Feb. 18. The device is designed to move around campus to not only generate interest in robotics but to raise awareness about self-sustaining energy platforms. The project, sponsored by the RIT Provost's Learning Innovations Grant, focused on upgraded solar collectors and improved mechanical components.


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RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution must offer hot topics if it goes up against NCIS and Mark Harmon on Tuesday nights.
This week's focus was Los Angeles where Oliver was prohibited from visiting the schools to launch his next attack in the revolt against what young people are eating.
Virginia has recently done its own battle over a related issue…exercise for elementary students. While the Governor clearly had reason to veto a bill that had an honorable theme, fighting childhood obesity, but questionable application, how does it work and who pays for it, the issue is pervasive and will not go away.
It seems, as with so many issues, the battleground of choice is schools. The Washington Post reported this week that last year some Fairfax and DC schools banned chocolate milk. With pressure from parents and industry groups, they have now reintroduced it in some cafeterias. The article continues to note that some experts believe that the changes in sweeteners really don't matter as long as the calorie intake remains the same.
Fairfax alone serves 62,000 gallons of chocolate milk a year. Of equal concern is that the newly formulated drink has "more calories, ounce for ounce, than Coke."
While nutritionists seem to be split on many of these issues, it is clear that the schools must continue to use their educational platforms to shape the eating habits of young people.
It is also clear, having commissioned "surveys" of bag lunches, that eating habits and addictions start in the most influential institution in our community…the family.
Self included, it is a true paradox that we spend millions to fight hunger around the world while ignoring the cost of poor health in our own neighborhood…and home.
Copyright 2011 WWBT NBC12. All rights reserved.


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I just had to comment on David's warm-up CD that he has produced. Pardon me for starting a new, positive thread here (David mentioned the CD below), but I feel it's quite worthy of its own section, here!
Molly and Lindsay have had the CD for a month. We easily downloaded it off of David's site. I just have to say - we've used a number of warm up CD's over the years, including Billy Purnell's and Roger Love's and ones their vocal coach's have made for them. And, while they're all very good, David's CD is even better, and for a number of reasons. The girls are eager to use David's CD over the others because the pace is far better, they say it's more fun yet still challenging, and it uses some of the techniques taught to them by the amazing Kelly Lambert (Assistant Musical Director) while on tour.
If any of you sing, or want to make an easy and small investment in something that will likely bring you or your child great vocal gains, buying this CD is a no-brainer. It's only $14.99!! The price AND the quality simply can't be beat. The price of our "affordable" voice coach is $100/hour. Many coaches here in LA are $150-250/hour. Imagine what you can get in this CD for a fraction of the cost of a private lesson. I'm not saying that this can replace what private lessons can do, but this will augment any person's pursuit of a greater voice for a relatively tiny cost, just like it has for Molly, Lindsay and Kaleigh.
The CD can be purchased at www.easyvocalwarmups.com , I believe! It's super easy to buy and download!!
Take care,
Kim Ryan
Yes, and if you enter the code ANNIEORPHANS, you will receive a special $3 discount!


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First of all, Flysurfer is the only foil or softkite at the fair. This tells us many stories. The Flysurfer kites have been established between the tubes. Very intersting is the new Warrior, which has a wide wind range and great safety features like the quick release.
Also the Warrior is very stable in the air and doesn't stall.
Flysurfer is on the way to get better results at contests (2nd place at a contest in New Zealand) with the new Warrior 9.3.
Armin Harich
Inside the Warrior
Front profile
New quick release
New bag for some kites and a kite or snowboard coming with every new 2002 kite
[ This Message was edited by: Admin on 2002-01-22 20:49 ]


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I have run into an intermittent issue with the 7" RPi screen whereby the unit will sometimes not be recognized at startup if it is powered using the micro-usb and both the Pi and the Screen are powered on at the same moment (ie if power supply has on/off for both). I assume this is because the screen may take a second or so to fully power on perhaps? And in the interim it goes unrecognized by the Pi?
I have tried setting a boot_delay of up to 8 seconds in the config, but that only seems to have made it a little less often, but hasn't eliminated it completely.
The problem goes away if I power the unit via the GPIO, but my setup makes this less than optimal due to power needs.
Appreciate any advice. Thanks.


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Puducherry CM Narayanaswamy wins Nellithope bypoll
| Updated On: 2016-11-22 06:39:49.0 | Location :
Congress leader and Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanaswamy on Tuesday emerged victorious after beating Om Sakthi Sekhar of the AIADMK by a margin of over 11,000 votes in Nellithope, Puducherry
Ruling party candidates in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry shot into initial lead as counting of votes in the four assembly constituencies began on Tuesday.
By-elections in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were held on November 19.
Congress leader and Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanaswamy on Tuesday emerged victorious after beating Om Sakthi Sekhar of the AIADMK by a margin of over 11,000 votes in Nellithope, Puducherry.
Polls were held in three assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu - Thirupparankundram, Aravakkurichi and Thanjavur- and Nellithope constituency in Puducherry.
According to Election Commission in Thanjavur constituency, the AIADMK has shot into lead after two rounds of counting.
In Aravakkurichi, ruling AIADMK's V. Senthil Balaji is fighting against the DMK's K. C. Palanisamy while at Thirupparankundram the AIADMK's A. K. Bose is facing DMK's P. Saravanan.
The Election Commission had cancelled the polls for Aravakurichi and Thanjavur Assembly constituencies, originally scheduled along with all other constituencies on May 16, following seizure of a huge sum of money by election officials.
In Thanjavur, the AIADMK's M. Rengasamy is pitted against the DMK's Anjugam Bhoopathy.
In Thirupparankundram, the by-election has been necessitated by the death of AIADMK's legislator S. S. Seenivel.
While there are other parties in the fray, the contest is mainly between the AIADMK and the DMK in Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, in Madhya Pradesh, BJP candidate Manju Dadu leads by a margin of over 10,000 votes in Nepanagar constituency.


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Episode #232 – Fresh Start for You
Time for a Fresh Start
Overwhelmed co-author, Cheri Gregory joins Kathi to discuss creating a "Fresh Start."
Kathi loves the idea of a "Fresh Start." As a self-described New Year's resolution nerd, she has made dozens of resolutions and kept none of them. Kathi and Cheri talk about how resolutions can sometimes set you up for failure.
Perhaps a "Fresh Start" might be a better option. You can start it anytime and you can start over whenever needed.
Personal Manifesto
A "Fresh Start" includes a personal manifesto that helps you live out your values. When you know what your values are you can make decisions based on values and not the emotion of the moment or the whims of others.
Your personal manifesto is based on who you are and who you aspire to be. It acts as a guide to determine actions and decisions.
A manifesto is NOT a resolution. It is who you are and who you are going to become. It is an integrity builder.
Kathi and Cheri invite you create your own manifesto. There are tools to help you and you can review their manifestos and many others, check out the download links below.
Some Things to Remember About Creating a Manifesto
- Should be written in the present but is who you aspire to be. Include some of your current positive attributes.
- It is allowed to be changed. It is not forever, it can be updated as you change and grow.
- A manifesto can be as short or long as you need it to be. If you can only think of three things, start there.
Join us again next week as we talk about how to start living out your own personal manifesto.
Remember every day is a new opportunity to have a "Fresh Start" and discover who you are and who you want to become.


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Comhairle Cathrach Chorcaí|
Cork City Council
Cork City Council's entry onto the Internet became a reality in April 1999 with the launch of its website www.corkcity.ie. Following a major restructuring and re-design process, the website was relaunched in 2004 as part of our e-government program. The modernisation of this local government service includes the provision of online services including credit card payments for pay parking and refuse payments. Other online services include voter registration, polls/consultation, e-forms, an online planning enquiry and an online library catalogue.
You will find details on the wide range of services, facilities and amenities provided by Cork City Council. We have also included information on Local Government and the history of Cork City. The News and Current Events section is constantly being updated with items reflecting activities in both Cork City and Cork City Council.
An interactive map of Cork City and Cork City Centre is included with a comprehensive streets index, map legend and places of interest in Cork.
This website is continually developing and any comments you may have regarding its content are most welcome.
Information Systems Department,
Cork City Council,
City Hall,
Anglesea Street,
Telephone: + 353 21 4924638
Fax: + 353 21 4924007
e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
If your browser is not configured to send e-mail and you would like to contact us on-line, please use this mail form to contact us with your comments or queries.


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the pictures are 100% fine but the videos which i must add are saved in the music folder because of the way i download them are also just as strange, some songs and videos play absolutely fine yet others totally slow the comp right down,i've also tried it in real player and itunes and they are botht the same. please shed some light on this???
athlon 3200+
1gb ram pc3200
radeon 9800pro
windows xp pro


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The Hebrides stretch between latitudes 57-58 N. There are many uninhabited islands but the ten populated islands are: Lewis (including Great Bernera), Harris, Scalpay, Berneray, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriskay, Barra and Vatersay. Access from the mainland is by air or ferry.
These islands have much to offer the visitor including: Prehistory ( Stone Circles and Brochs), Photography, Wildlife, Harris Tweed Manufacture, Gaelic Culture, Golf, Clan History and Private Ancestry Research, Castles, Geology, Viking Influence, Quaint Thatched Cottages, Peat Workings, Crofting, Glorious Sandy Beaches, Seafood and much more.
Located near the southern tip of the Hebrides island chain, Barra is just 8 miles (13 Km) long and centred around the small town of Castlebay ( Bagh A Chaisteil) which benefits from a large natural harbour which is also the ferry port. In the bay is Kisimul Castle (Clan MacNeil) which is open to the public. Places to visit include: Allt Chrisal archaeological site, Island of Vatersay, Castle St Clair, Standing Stones near Borve, Dun Cuier Iron Age Fort, Seal Bay, Cille Bhara religious site and Barra's unique Traigh Mhor beach airport. Allow a minimum of one day and one overnight here.
Situated north of Barra, South Uist is 21 miles (34 Km.) long with much of the west coast comprising sandy beaches. There is also machair, freshwater lochs, sea lochs and mountains. Lochboisdale (Loch Baghasdail) is the main sea port. Noteworthy places to visit include: 19th C Pollacher Inn; nine hole golf course at Askernish; Clad Hallan prehistoric village; birthplace of Flora MacDonald at Milton; thatched houses at Howmore (Tobha Mor); and Loch Druidibeg National Nature Reserve which is the breeding ground for the greylag goose.
This is a small island measuring 1.5 miles by 2.5 miles which lies between Barra and South Uist. Main occupation of the residents is fishing and crofting (farming). This island is famous for: landing place of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745; traditional Eriskay ponies; and the wreck of the SS Politician in 1941 carrying 20,000 cases of whisky ('Whisky Galore').
Benbecula is located between South Uist and North Uist, the name means 'Mountain of the Fords'. Balivanich is the main community centre. Places to visit include: Dunganachy iron-age fort, site of old monastery at Balivanich, scenic Culla Bay, ruined chapel and nunnery at Nunton, bay at Poll-na-Crann (large seaweed deposits) and Borve Castle.
Situated north of Benbecula and south of Harris. Main town is Lochmaddy (pop 300). There is also the community at Grimsay which specialises in shell fish.
Situated north of North Uist, the main town and ferry port is Tarbert (An Tairbeart). A circular tour will provide access to many beautiful beaches and scenic views. Near Horgabost village are large, prehistoric stones known as Coir Fhinn. There are other standing stones at Clach Micleoid on Aird Nisabost. There is also a Genealogy Centre, the McGillivary Ornithology Centre and the 16th C St. Clements Church at Rodel which houses one of the finest tombs in Scotland (Clan Macleaod). Traditional Harris Tweed weaving is still undertaken and visits to weaving businesses can be made.
Very mountainous and popular with hill walkers and climbers. Here can be found Clisham (792m), the highest mountain in the Western Isles.
Lewis is located at the northern tip of the Hebrides island chain. Here is Stornoway, capital of the Western Isles with both air and sea links to the mainland. Lewis has a significant historic heritage incorporating prehistory (Callanish Stones), the Iron-Age ( Carloway Broch), the Norse era (Shawbost), Blackhouses, the Whalebone Arch and more.
Skye forms part of the Inner Hebrides and is close to the mainland.This island is very popular with visitors who come to view the stunning mountainous scenery, enjoy the seafood, climb, hike, watch the wildlife, paint, photograph and engage in various other activities.
We can provide:
For more information and help with your Scottish Hebrides tour contact Nigel-
E firstname.lastname@example.com Or firstname.lastname@example.com
We look forward to hearing from you!


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"Those who will not use their own brain,
they are nothing more than meat on the table
and beasts of burden by choice and consent."
– Albert Pike
You are what they would consider to be the best kind of slave, because you willingly submit to it. You will not fight back because you are not even ready to give up the garbage they use to seduce you into voluntary slavery.
You must understand two things:
The Market is Free. They use it to control you.
You are free to use it or not. You are free to even use it to control them.
The Market is Free and you are free to not do business with your slave masters.
That means you are free to not support the businesses, products and services they use to control you.
You are like their animals.
The owner of pets or farm or work animals is responsible for feeding them. Privately owned animals do not feed themselves. They don't even know or care about what they eat.
Why don't you eat a proper human diet?
Your diet is mostly:
Genetically Modified Corn, Soybeans, and Sugar.
This is not food. This is what food eats.
soybeans are not only utilized for food and feed, but also for making plastics, fuel, ink and a multitude of other non-food products. – SoyConnection.com
Why do you like to eat plastic, fuel, and ink? This is a diet barely suitable for a common farm animal that one would raise to fatten up, slaughter and consume, and you eat the same food as they.
You are their herd.
A Pack animal doesn't get to decide for itself what to eat, and neither do you, because you allow them to feed you. They feed animals better.
They give you the illusion of choice, but you have no choice. Everything in the store is made of GMO Corn, Soybeans, and Sugar.
Go into your kitchen and read the labels on all the food you have in there. What are you eating?
Most of the people I saw at Arby's today were overweight; even the babies! Why are so many babies overweight? I saw a man come inside, order, and then took the food out to his wife waiting in the van because she was too large and tired to walk.
People used to get fat over time, not born that way. Fat kids was not always a common sight.
Do you understand that most of you eat the same food from the same slave-masters. You buy their food and allow them to own you.
Haven't you noticed the increase in obesity in America and other countries with similar wealth and lifestyle?
They are fattening you up for the slaughter.
Whomever isn't too fat, sick and weak to die off in the next 10 to 15 years will be the contestants of the coming Hunger Games.
Use the Free-Market while you still can. Use it against them. Grow your own food. Only buy food from people you know. Go to a farm or farmer's market and meet people who grow and raise the food that you want to buy. Many natural and organic farmers will allow you to visit and tour the farms that will produce your nutrition.
Do it while you still can. Steps are being taken to take away your rights to produce and consume real food and medicine.
So many more Americans today display visible symptoms of vaccine and pharmaceutical drug use. Too many people are being diagnosed with autism and other syndromes and disorders. Too many people are looking retarded.
They made us this way by putting the toxic waste by-products of aluminum production into our water supplies.
They told you that a substance as toxic as arsenic and mercury was so good for you that you should be drinking it, and you now pay them to put what used to be industrial waste, into your water.
You allow them to inject you and your family with vaccines that you know nothing about. Were you in their new product planning meetings? Will they tell you what they asked their scientists to produce? You can have all the information on what is in them, but will they tell you why they use those ingredients?
Do you know what a placebo is?
Have you ever thought about it this way:
What if the active drug was actually a placebo?
How do you know that Sildenafil helps hypertension? A smarter person would look it up in certain medical books. Those books and the doctors will say that Sildenafil affects hypertension. How do they know that?
They didn't know that. They made Sildenafil to treat hypertension and wound up later using it to treat erectile dysfunction, among other conditions.
They continue to find new uses for Sildenafil.
What if Sildenafil has an effect that Pfizer isn't talking about. The effect they really want it to have on you.
Like Flouride.
Excess fluoride consumption has been studied as a factor in the following:
A weakening of bones, leading to an increase in hip and wrist fracture. At the level used in fluoridated water, decreased fractures are expected,[14] but the U.S. National Research Council found the overall evidence "suggestive but inadequate for drawing firm conclusions about the risk or safety of exposures at [2 mg/L]", but states that fractures do seem to increase as fluoride is increased from 1 mg/L to 4 mg/L, suggesting a "continuous exposure-effect" dose-response relationship at these levels.
Four epidemiological studies have noted a correlation between increased fluoride and low IQ
Chromosomal damage and interference with DNA repair. – Wikipedia
What if they wanted you to take a drug that would make your bones too brittle to fight back, and you and your children too stupid, sick and weak to fight back?
Danish researcher Kaj Roholm published Fluorine Intoxication in 1937, which was praised in a 1938 review by dental researcher H. Trendley Dean as "probably the outstanding contribution to the literature of fluorine".[25] Since that time, the fluoridation of public water has been widely implemented and has been hailed as one of the top medical achievements of the 20th Century.[26] The effects of fluoride-rich ground water became recognized in the 1990s. – Wikipedia
So, the book titled, Fluorine Intoxication, contains the reason for putting it in our water? They found out the effects of Fluoride were the effects they wanted in us. You just needed a good reason for taking it. They told you that it was good for your teeth. You let them fool you into believing there was a problem with your teeth and you needed to buy their Fluoride to fix it. Your mind associated Fluoride with healthy teeth, and the placebo worked, because if your teeth didn't rot out; you thought it was because of the Fluoride. The Sildenafil and the Fluoride are placebos.
They'll say you want Sildenafil in order to be able to continue having sex. They want you use it because blind and deaf people can't aim and shoot guns well enough to fight off tyranny.
Adverse effects
In clinical trials, the most common adverse effects of Sildenafil use included… impaired vision, including photophobia and blurred vision. Some Sildenafil users have complained of seeing everything tinted blue (cyanopsia).[12] Some complained of blurriness and loss of peripheral vision. In July 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that Sildenafil could lead to vision impairment in rare cases[13] and a number of studies have linked Sildenafil use with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.
…in October 2007, the FDA announced that the labeling for all PDE5 inhibitors, including Sildenafil, required a more prominent warning of the potential risk of sudden hearing loss. – Wikipedia
Those are not side-effects. They are the effects! – Dr. Leonard Coldwell
They drive you into the slaughterhouse by feeding you food that will cause you to have an erectile dysfunction. They know how important sex is to you so they tell you that Sildenafil will cure you.
If they really cared about your health, they would tell you that you that you have a problem with your cardio/pulmonary circulation. They would tell you that the problem is caused by your diet. They would tell you to eat a proper diet for a human being and become more physically active.
It really is that simple. You don't need their pharmaceuticals. Humanity existed for at least 5000 years before corporations like Bayer, Merck and Pfizer.
Why does the State insist on putting their brand upon your skin when you are born? Especially girls. Especially African and Asian girls.
You are their cattle.
You've been injected with the vaccines they designed to control your life in some way. Maybe they decided to sterilize you, or shorten your lifespan? Maybe they decided to give you chronic cancer, or syphillis?Do you believe these people are too nice to intentionally give your baby autism?
Why only pictures of girls? Because they make the babies who receive the genetic mutations that have been injected into them.
They own you and your babies.
You let them trick you into believing that pregnancy and childbirth are unnatural diseases, and you need to pay the medical/pharmaceutical industry to do for you what a mother and midwife can easily do in the comfort and privacy of her single-family home. If a baby is born outside of a hospital, they call it, accidental birth. You'd better say it was an accident. It is illegal in 23 states to intentionally give birth to a baby at home. You could have been giving birth to your children at home like free people, but instead, you go to their clinics and hospitals and let them control you and your family's bodies and lives.
Prenatal diagnosis of bladder exstrophy is difficult and sometimes impossible. Feature on prenatal ultrasound can include the absence of bladder filling, a low-set umbilicus, widening of the pubic ramus, small external genitalia and a lower abdominal mass. It can be found if the Sonographer cannot identify a normal bladder filling and emptying, despite adequate time spent looking. – Wikipedia
Nothing can really be observed in its natural state because the act of surveillance alters the objects behavior.
Does it make sense to allow your slave-masters doctors to observe and manipulate the creation and development of the children in your wife's womb? Neither you nor your wife can observe and manipulate the development of your children, but you pay them to do it.
Why do you pay these people to observe your children in the womb? They are checking to see if your baby is growing with the effects they genetically engineered into the parents.
You are even better slaves for them than the African slaves they had before. The African slaves were bred by their masters to be strong and healthy.
You and your children are being bred to be less intelligent, fatter, slower, and weaker for the slaughter.
At least they had plenty of work for the African slaves of the 17th through 19th centuries.
All of your work has been sent to India and China. They don't need you anymore. You are now just a useless eater. They have no choice but to exterminate you. It is their stated goal to reduce the population from seven to one-half billion. It is written in Stone.
This is why they want so badly to pay for and control your health care/body. Many people will not be worth the expense of health care and will be given a pain pill and told to go home and die, sterile, barren and childless.
They even boldly lie to you and say that submission to their slavery actually means independence and liberty.
So the symptom of your problem is lack of freedom to be an artist, musician or actor. You couldn't make a living as a writer or photographer because you didn't have health insurance. The cure is, Government Health Insurance.
Just let the Government take care of you and all your dreams will come true.
Subtext is content underneath the spoken dialogue. Under dialogue, there can be conflict, anger, competition, pride, showing off, or other implicit ideas and emotions. Subtext is the unspoken thoughts and motives of characters—what they really think and believe. – Wikipedia
How does Government Welfare from the Affordable Care Act guarantee our God-Given Rights as written about in the Declaration of Independence?
Health Care is not a right. No one can take away my rights, because no one, but, God, gives me my rights. If the Government is paying for your health care, they can take it away from you. Free Health Care is not a right.
Are you an animal or ward of the State? Declare Independence from Tyranny, Oppression and Slavery, and live free!
Related articles
- Vaccines equals Autism? (lewrockwell.com)
- The Neurological Poison So Common Your Doctor Probably Pushes It (blogginghounds.wordpress.com)
- Biotechnology's Possibilities for Soyfoods and Soybean Oil – The Soy Connection – Health & Nutrition – United Soybean Board (soyconnection.com)
- Big Bird (slate.com)
- How to Avoid Soy (arealfoodlover.wordpress.com)
- 10 Secrets of Longevity Japanese Women (socyberty.com)
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