February 4, 2008 by abby.

I’ve been playing this game - and actually putting too much time into it, it’s just too damn addicting - and I’ve finally got the custom version ready to share with everyone…
Check it out - there’s Free Money Wheel (my favorite), kinda like lotto or powerball or one of those… and Banko!, which is a lot like Bingo, but adapted to the web.
Best part is - they’re both free to play - and you can win points that can be traded in for gift cards or a re-fillable debit card. It’s not a gambling game, but you do have to be over 18 to register… no problem for me; I’ve got kids older than that.
Anyway - click the pic to check it out -

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January 22, 2008 by abby.

When my alarm went off this morning, it was a balmy 17 degrees Below Zero outside.

Add in the bit of a breeze we were enjoying, and it was cold enough to freeze the boogers right in your nose.

Wonderful. When I stepped out of the shower the guy on the radio was reading a Long list of school closures… including the one my kid was getting ready for. Needless to say, she was thrilled.

One of the perks of being a teenager, I guess… you don’t have to face the prospect of going to work despite the weather.

When I was a kid, i once heard an adult say something about how it was too cold to snow. At the time I thought he was nuts - how could it possibly be too cold to snow? Now I understand.

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January 19, 2008 by abby.

I’ve finally figured out how to make an RSS feed for the new freebies…

…and why should anybody care? Well, if you’ve ever been frustrated in getting a newsletter delivered to your in-box, you’re not alone. Over the past year, there have been more and more people complaining about the ‘behind the scenes’ e-mail filtering that many internet service providers are doing. Some say that AOL is the worst, others complain about MSN… I can’t weigh in on this issue, because I use the POP3 service that comes with the website hosting… but even with them, there are some e-mails that I KNOW are coming that I never see.

That’s where RSS can save the day. If you have a favorite site, and if you like their newsletter, chances are that they also have an option for RSS… it comes directly to your RSS reader and totally by-passes the e-mail servers and their filters.

Free RSS readers are easy to find, just google for ‘free rss reader’ and take your pick… (I use RSSReader if you’re interested), you can also get RSS feeds displayed directly on many ‘HomePage’ services like iGoogle or MyYahoo… it’s really easy to add feeds, and quite cool.

If you want to learn a little more about RSS feeds, I’ve made a short ‘tutorial‘ about it.

Just leave a comment if you want to add to this or if you have any questions.

Have A Great Day!

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January 19, 2008 by abby.

I know I do, known it for years… and someday I’ll do something about it, maybe. Probably not.

One of the things I’ve been bad about is writing this blog. It always seems like there is just too many other things I should be doing… watching TV, freebie hunting, pulling the links to expired offers, yelling at my kids, playing with the dog… I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

At least I’m not alone in this - according to this article about 20 percent of the population identify themselves as procrastinators. That also means that there is a one-in-five chance that YOU are a procrastinator too. Hmmm… maybe we should get together and start a club or something. No, wait, something is telling me that that just won’t ever happen.

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September 28, 2007 by abby.

I’m talking about a company called Merck, which currently is the only company with an HPV vaccine (Gardasil) on the market. They’re in such a rush to grab a big chunk of the market before their competition (Glaxo Smith Kline) gets their HIV vaccine (Cervarix) ready that they are pressuring doctors and law makers to use it before it has been tested adequately.

And it’s killing kids.

I’m putting this here, and in a few other places online, in the hope that you will think twice before allowing someone talk you into letting your daughter get this ‘vaccine’.

The following is a reprint from the LifeSiteNews.com website.

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Deaths Associated with HPV Vaccine Start Rolling In, Over 3500 Adverse Affects Reported By John-Henry Westen

TORONTO, September 20, 2007 - As Canada, in large part due to aggressive behind the scenes lobbying, rolls out the not-comprehensively-tested Merck HPV vaccine for girls as young as nine, a look at developments on the vaccine south of the border should cause Canadians serious concern. In the United States a similar lobby campaign by the same company launched the mass HPV vaccination of girls beginning in June last year.

In just little over a year, the HPV vaccine has been associated with at least five deaths, not to mention thousands of reports of adverse effects, hundreds deemed serious, and many that required hospitalization.

Judicial Watch, a U.S. government watchdog, became concerned while noting large donations to key politicians originating from Merck. A freedom of information request from the group in May of this year discovered that during the period from June 8, 2006 - when the vaccines received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - to May 2007 there were 1,637 reports of adverse reactions to the HPV vaccine reported to the FDA.

Three deaths were related to the vaccine, including one of a 12-year-old. One physician’s assistant reported that a female patient “died of a blood clot three hours after getting the Gardasil vaccine.” Two other reports, on girls 12 and 19, reported deaths relating to heart problems and/or blood clotting.

As of May 11, 2007, the 1,637 adverse vaccination reactions reported to the FDA via the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) included 371 serious reactions. Of the 42 women who received the vaccine while pregnant, 18 experienced side effects ranging from spontaneous abortion to fetal abnormities.

Side effects published by Merck & Co. warn the public about potential pain, fever, nausea, dizziness and itching after receiving the vaccine. Indeed, 77% of the adverse reactions reported are typical side effects to vaccinations. But other more serious side effects reported include paralysis, Bells Palsy, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and seizures.

Judicial Watch informed LifeSiteNews.com that a subsequent request for information on adverse reactions to the HPV vaccine, covering the period from May 2007 to September 2007, found that an additional 1800 adverse reactions have been reported, including more deaths. Exactly how many more deaths occurred will be released in the coming days, Judicial Watch’s Dee Grothe informed LifeSiteNews.com.

The LifeSiteNews.com report on the moneyed lobbying efforts of Merck in the U.S. was reported in February. (see http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07020204.html )

However the Canadian lobby effort by Merck’s Canadian affiliate Merck Frosst Canada has been underway using powerful lobbyists with close connections to the politicians who have signed off on massive government funded vaccination programs.

The Toronto Star recently reported that Merck Frosst Canada Ltd hired public relations giant Hill & Knowlton to push the immunization strategies using some well-connected lobbyists: Ken Boessenkool, a former senior policy adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper; Bob Lopinski, formerly with Premier Dalton McGuinty’s office; and Jason Grier, former chief of staff to Health Minister George Smitherman.

Harper’s Conservative Government approved Merck’s HPV vaccine Gardasil in July and later announced a $300 million program to give the vaccine to girls from ages 9-13. That of course is only the beginning of what Merck likely hopes will be a much larger vaccination of all potentially sexually active women in Canada who are not already HPV infected. In August, McGuinty’s Ontario Liberals, on the advice of his Health Minister George Smitherman, announced that all Grade 8 girls will have free access to Gardasil.

One of the major complaints by physicians is that the HPV vaccination program has been implemented before adequate testing has been completed. Long-term effects of the vaccine remain unknown. Many are asking why the seemingly reckless rush?

At least one answer to that question comes from the fact that Merck currently is the sole provider of an HPV vaccine with its Gardasil product. A competing HPV vaccine, Glaxo Smith Kline’s Cervarix, is set to hit the market in January 2008. As more children are vaccinated with Gardasil, fewer will be able to later receive the necessary repeat boosters of a competing, incompatible vaccine. Merck is in a race to capture as much of the market as it can, consuming many millions of taxpayer dollars.

U.S. sales of Gardasil are expected to reach $1 billion in the first year of its availability.

Read Previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

The reports from the FDA Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System detailing the three previous deaths are available here:GardasilVAERSDeath

The reports detailing all 1637 adverse effects are here: GardasilVAERSReports

(c) Copyright: LifeSiteNews.com. Permission to republish is granted (with limitation*) but acknowledgement of source is *REQUIRED* (use LifeSiteNews.com).

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