Sherman’s News and Editorials

European researchers have discovered evidence of an advanced mental ability in canines; one that was previously thought to be specific only to humans!A behavior known as “selective imitation” is a method of learning that brings meaning and cultural context to specific actions. In selective imitation, observers (usually infants) differentiate between two types of behaviors. There are acts of necessity (I can’t use my hands right now because they’re otherwise occupied, so I’ll use my elbow to open the door lever) and there are acts of inefficient preference (even though I can use my hands which are not presently occupied, I like to open the door with my elbow). When human infants observe the two behaviors, they will adopt the latter skill (i.e., the latter behavior is “selected”).

Despite the fact that top lawmakers tried to ramrod this bill through even though rouphly eighty percent of Americans were against it according to polls, it nontheless has failed, for now. Congress will reconvene on this later, according to reports.

According to Yahoo News and the Associated Press, The bill’s Senate supporters fell fourteen votes short of the sixty required to limit debate and pave the way for final passage of the legislation, which many critics have panned as basically offering amnesty to illegal immigrants. The vote was 46 to 53 in favor of limiting the debate.

Certain senators in both parties said the issue is so volatile that Congress is not likely to revisit it this fall or next year, when the presidential election will increasingly dominate American politics.

The commander in Chief appeared glum as he spoke, according to the story. His negotiators had expressed optimism the vote would go their way — or, at least be a little bit closer than it turned out to be.

“Congress really needs to prove to the American people that it can come together on hard issues,” Bush said. He turned attention to other his other goals in Congress this year, including energy, health care and balanced-budget initiatives.

Last year a similar immigration effort was defeated by the Congress, and the House has not bothered with an immigration bill this year, awaiting Senate action.

The vote was a defeat for a bipartisan group of lawmakers who advocated the bill as an imperfect but necessary fix of current immigration practices in which many illegal immigrants use forged documents or lapsed visas to live and work in the US.

It was a victory for Republican conservatives who severely criticized the bill’s provisions that would have established pathways to lawful status for many of the estimated twelve million illegal immigrants. They were aided by talk radio and Television hosts who repeatedly verbally assaulted the bill and urged listeners to flood Congress with phone calls, faxes and electronic-mails.Voting to allow the bill to proceed by ending debate were 33 Democrats, 12 Republicans and independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. Voting to block the bill by not limiting debate were 37 Republicans, 15 Democrats and independent Bernard Sanders, Vt. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., did not vote.The bill would have toughened border security and also instituted a newer method for weeding out illegal immigrants from workplaces. It would have created a new guest worker program and allowed millions of illegal immigrants to obtain legal status if they briefly returned home.

Bush, making a last-ditch bid to salvage the bill, called senators early Thursday morning to urge their support. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez approached senators as they entered and left the chamber shortly before the vote.But conservatives from Bush’s own party led the opposition. They repeatedly said the government must secure the borders before allowing millions of illegal aliens a path to legal status.Sen. Elizabeth H. Dole, R-N.C., said many citizens simply “do not have confidence” that borders, particularly in the south, will be substantially tightened. “It’s not just promises but proof that the American people want,” Dole said.Many radio personalities assaulted the bill. Sean Hannity was very outspoken against it.On the Rush Limbaugh show it was reported that border agents had their hands tied and that the illegals had more rights than them. One caller on another conservative radio program and said “I am very upset that they are trying to ram this bill through and are not securing the border. You get on an airplane to go anywhere and you are treated like a criminal. 90 year old women have to strip and are prodded just to travel to see their relatives for Christmas. Yet millions of illegals literally pour across our border each year, about twenty percent of whom have a criminal record, and some have bodygaurds and are leaving korans along the side of the desert trails into the country. Meanwhile ordinary tax paying citizens are treated like common criminals.”

In a recent study, researchers found the participants who consumed higher than average amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in fish oil supplements, were less likely to have high blood pressure.The results were adjusted for age, weight, gender, exercise and several other measures, and were based upon sample groups from countries all over the world. Nearly five thousand men and women took part in the study, which makes it one of the largest studies of its kind.

Additional facts can be found at
Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil
Meanwhile, A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition tracked the effects of fish oil supplementation in overweight adults engaged in new exercise regimens. The findings may have a dramatic impact on our current understanding of maintaining weight and long-term heart health.

According to statistics from BLS.gov,
non agriculatural payroll employment increased by about one hundred and fifty thousand in May, while the unemployment
rate was unchanged at around 4.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States
Department of Labor reported today.  The health care & food service industries both managed to adde jobs,
while employment declined in the manufacturing sector, unfortunately.  Meanwhile, the average hourly earning rate amanged to rise by
6 cents, or 0.3 percent, in May.
In the same month, employment in general was unchanged at some 145.9 million, and the em-
ployment-population ratio held firm at around 63%.  The civilian labor force also
was the same, at 152,000,000, while the labor force participation rate
stayed at 66%.  Both the employment-population ratio and labor force
participation rate were down by 0.4% since the end of 2006.
Earning rates are important, but to get a wider perspective you should of course also
take a look at the inflation numbers, since inflation dicates spending power of that earned income.
According to Newsmax online, the MoneyNews publication as well as the Financial Intelligence Report, the dollar has been inflated recently - despite claims that the official CPI is “low”
I do not know if this claim is actually tru, but that was the report.
But whether these reports are true or not, I tend to view inflation a big threat to America’s global strength, and most importantly our wealth as American citizens.
I mean, if you get a 5% raise, but inflation jumps 10%, who really benefits from this. I also find that fact that our manaufacturing base shrunk (yet again)
to be truly troubling, especially in light of the recent reports that so many manufacturing jobs have gone to China and India in recent years.
While this may save some corporations some money and add a few nickels to investor’s dividends, it seems to me that this is bad for the long term economic health of the country.

The United States government on June 1 told consumers to beware of using toothpaste produced in China since it might contain a particularly poisonous chemical which is also used in antifreeze.
 
The FDA reported that individuals should discard toothpaste with labeling that states it was made in China. They are very worried that these products may contain diethylene glycol.

The agency is not aware of any reports in the US of poisoning from toothpaste, but it did find the antifreeze ingredient in a shipment at the U.S. border and at 2 retail stores: a Dollar Plus store in Miami, Florida and a Todo A Peso store in Puerto Rico. In addition, China executed the former head of their version of the FDA shortly after loud complains from the U.S. over contaminents found in both human and pet food products that are produced there.

The ingredient in question, called DEG, is used as a lower-cost sweetener and thickening agent. The highest concentration of the chemical found in toothpaste so far was between 3-4 percent.

“It does not belong in toothpaste even in small concentrations,” said the FDA’s Deborah M. Autor.

The FDA heightened its scrutiny of toothpaste made in China due to reports of contamination in a number of different nations, like Panama.

The agency is especially worried about chronic exposure to DEG in kids and individuals with either kidney or liver disease.

Agency officials said they had no estimate of just how many units of tainted toothpaste might have made it into the U.S.

“Our concern today is potentially about all toothpaste that comes in from China,” Autor said. “Our estimate is that China makes up about $3.3 million of the two billion U.S. toothpaste market.”

They also issued an import alert for all dental products containing DEG. This alert means that toothpaste from China will actually be stopped at the border.

I would like to put in a plug for someone that I
know personally and whom I can attest to his (and their) character, and I want to encourage you to take a look at his website if you are so inclined.
He is one of the best personal injury attorneys in all of Southern California in general, and Los Angeles in particular.
In fact Michael and the rest of his firm are very aggressive former U.S. Marine attorneys who fight extremely hard to assist you in winning a verdict or legal settlement…….Their website is: Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney and you can contact these especially aggressive lawyers if you need to recover any monetary damages for events such as whiplash, broken ankle, broken jaw, coma, brain injury, burn injury, dog bite and animal attack deglove injury, Dog Bite
Elder Abuse, Electrocution, Hit & Run and car accident cases. Get a free legal consultation for you serious California personal injury case. You may be entitled to recover for past,
 present and future lost income and physical and mental pain as well as suffering. Here you can Ask and retain an experienced, compassionate local L.A. personal injury attorney.
Take a look at the site to find out Verdicts & Settlements, look at the client portal and also view the Practice areas. There is a section of the site that has a substantial quantity of legal links and resources as well…

Real Estate and Housing Market Mixed Signals?

According to a recent article bythe excellent Associated Press journalist Martin Crutsinger, the real estate market in general and the house market specifically
has been giving off a lot of confusing mixed signals as of late…….

For example, sales of new house increased last month (o4) by the largest amount in some fourteen odd years, and yet the median price of a new house actually dropped by the most sizeable amount on record. These rather odd indicators
have seemingly left no clear picture as to whether or not the the country’s housing slump is finished. Real estae sellers and buyers a like are still quite wary
in this unpredictable atmosphere….
This is due to the fact that while sales of new one-family houses increased by some 16.2 percent in April,
the actual average price of a new house sold last month fell to $229,100, a record 11.1 percent decrease from the prior month!
Sales fell particularly in the Midwest, which saw a substantial four percent drop-off rate.
The country’s economy as whole cooled down in the first quarter of 2007 to an annual adjusted growth rate of merely 1.3%, which is the weakest rate in 4 years, while the big slump in housing continued to weigh on the economy’s overall performance.

A big question that is being asked these days is ‘Do I need a Realtor?’

I mean really…’DO YOU REALLY NEED a REALTOR?

The 60 Minutes piece about agents making massive commisions for a few hours work shocked and outraged many homebuyers and sellers, sending repercussions throughout the real estate business and prompting many prominent real estate agents, brokers and firm owners to go on the defensive…… A recent article in The Suburban Journal by esteemed writer Don Rogers sums up this attitute, as he describes some of the pitfalls of the industry. However, it was observed that the sellers generally gets screwed more than anyone by the staus quo. he writes: ‘The good news, however, is that in most cases your buyer’s agent receives his or her compensation through the seller and the real estate company that has the listing’…..I predict that we may see a sort of transformation similiar to what we saw in the the Stockbroker game a while back, when the internet finally made it possible to easily trade stocks without the help of a broker. Especially as we are seeing  a sort of proliferation of regional ‘by owner’ websites popping up everywhere.

An uproar seems to be brewing about the huge commisions that real estate agents and brokers appear to be making, despite apparently doing little work  to justify it…..

In an RISMedia news report on May14, 2007 (no writer was credited), it was stated that The real estate piece featuring Redfin that aired Sunday on the popular television program “60 Minutes” prompted broad reaction throughout the whole industry, and in particularly on real estate related weblogs.

The 60 minute piece in question had zeroed in on how the world wide web has been changing the real estate community by essentially spotlighting the Puget Sound are discount broker Redfin and it’s founder, Glen Kelman…………………Kelman has stated that the real estate industry “is the most screwed up industry in America, and we feel like things that Amazon or eBay or Yahoo have done of other industries, we can do for the real estate industry.”{perhaps like how they affected the stock broking industry?}

In anay case The RISmedia publisher responded to the piec by saying that the television segment “……..misleads consumers into thinking that all their Realtor does is list their property-or only does ‘four hours worth of work’ as the former traditional agent in the piece noted-and they walk away with thousands of dollars for doing nothing. This is a gross misrepresentation of the work Realtors do for their clients to increase the value of their homes and justify their commissions.”

I can only say that, where I live, a friend of my father, who happens to be a real estate agent himself, bragged about how he just made a $90,000 commision for doing a few hours work on a particular real estate deal. Of course, I live in the state of Hawaii where the real estate prices are unusually high in many area’s…..million dollar homes are quite common here in fact…

The recent food recalls have truly hit North America by storm. Merely a day after the first dry food was added to the more than fifty dog brands and forty plus cat brands affected by the recall, the list was further expanded on March 31 to also include a new brand even as authorities were baffled as to why the substance would kill dogs and cats, according to a report on Excite News. Nestle Purina PetCare Co. said it was recalling all sizes and all varieties of the Alpo Prime Cuts & Gravy wet dog food with certain date codes. They stated that some of the food had a contaminated wheat gluten that was from China. This gluten is supplied to numerous brands in fact. For instance this same U.S. supplier furnished wheat gluten, which is a protein source, to a Canadian firm, Menu Foods, which this month recalled recalled some million containers of wet dog and cat food it produces for sale under nearly one hundred brand labels. On April second another major supplier took a hit when the Science Diet announced a recall. This was particularly significant because this was a brand that many veternarians had been recommending for some time. The next day Yahoo News reported that many dog and cat owners were cooking or otherwise preparing their own food for their animals. Menu Foods and the FDA, which regulates the pet food industry, have refused to identify the firm which supplied the contaminated wheat gluten in question. Does this indicate menu Foods and other big suppliers are policing themselves? In this era of Enron, Worldcom, and corporate greed in general, is it a good idea to let the big boys police themselves? Is that fair to our pets, who cannot speak out on their own? To me, the fact that the powers that be who regulate the industry refuse to disclose the name of the Chinese forim providing the badingredient seems to reinforce some suspicions that I have. Protecting this company but not protecting our pets? I am recommending to everyone that will listen to buy a premium dog or cat food for their pet. Hill’s Pet Nutrition has stated on the 30th of March that its Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry cat food included the tainted wheat gluten. The FDA said the source was the same unidentified company. Hill’s, a division of Colgate-Palmolive Co. Meanwhile, a May 6 article in the Progressive Grocer stated that Wegmans cat food had also been ‘pulled into the web of the notorious Menu Foods pet food recall’. This firm has added to it’s rather extensive reacall list some items that do not have wheat gluten. Who knows what brand will be recalled next. The best brand I an aware of is Premium Cat Food from Life’ Abundance and Dr. Jane

but there are several top notch premium pet foods out there to choose from. Look for whole food ingredients
and freshness above all else. The ones that mention they are human grade are also usually a safe bet in my experience.