Short on cash but need a vacation? Who doesn’t? For those who have been having trouble coming up with a plan for the summer due to cash flow problems, the Rancho Bernardo Inn in Southern California just might have the solution for you.

Contrary to what many other hotels and resorts are doing (that is to offer more perks, freebies, and amenities in a bid to attract more customers), the management of Rancho Bernardo Inn is making lemonade, so to speak. They are currently offering what is dubbed the “Survivor Package,” which is an adventurous way of saying that guests receive practically nothing.

Well, there is a room with no bed, no toilet paper, no towels, and no air-conditioning. At least there is a bed, right? Oh, and there is only ONE light bulb to go by. This is the most basic package, costing $19 per night. There are variations, with amenities being added to the list. Naturally, the price goes up with each upgrade.

At first glance, I think that any sane person would be horrified at the thought of having to pay for a room without anything in it. Then again, I have been wrong before – and it seems that in this case, I am. A lot of people are actually buying into this marketing idea. Families are delighted that they do not have to spend hundreds of dollars on a room and they do not seem to mind bringing their own toilet paper and towels with them. As one mother put it, the boys feel like they’re camping and she can still go to the spa.

Everybody’s heard of Florida and the many other vacation hotspots all over the US but not many have heard of the recently discovered Sea Isle City New Jersey. New Jersey is one of the most diversified US states that has a little something to offer for everybody. From skiing to mountaineering with the wonderful snow capped ski slopes and trails, to more warmer fun in the surf at Sea Isle city. Sea Isle City has a lot of trekking trails, bike trails and beaches, did we mention the wonderful beaches within reach of some of the best sea isle city rental properties in the state.
Get down and relax at the beach with the family, or go on a bike trip it sure breaks the monotony of daily life in the city. Many people have been kept from the beautiful state that is New Jersey and all it has to offer, till now. Give it a try and visit the state where sun, mountain peaks and surf share a common goal for your enjoyment and your family.

Sometimes, when people try to pull off a scam, they do not pay much attention to the details, do they? Take this latest scam which borders on the ridiculous. Someone, somewhere out there, stole the identity of a man who has long passed away; created a credit card account in that man’s name, and then managed to charge over a $1,000 in phone sex bills.

Unfortunately – or fortunately, as the case may be – the bill went to the widow of the “card holder.” Arlene Hald, 86 years old, received a credit card bill from Preferred Platinum Plan. The bill was addressed to her husband Sylvester, who passed away about 20 years ago. Hald declares that they never had a credit card.

Naturally, the family took action and contacted Preferred Platinum Plan. To be fair to them, they immediately agreed to “remove the charges.” Then again, there should be no question about that, right? The company was probably still non-existent when Sylvester passed away!

Peggy Rytych, Arlene Hald’s daughter has stated that it was probably a case of ID theft and she may very well be right. While they were satisfied that the phone sex bill incident was taken care of, they had another surprise coming. Not long after that matter was resolved, another bill arrived – this time for $70.

These companies do not seem to get it, do they? I think that it is time for someone to take a closer look into this Preferred Platinum Plan entity. You would think that they were stricter on these things.

News about the woman giving birth to octuplets made the headlines about a week ago. Since then, people have been giving their own points of view regarding the matter. There have been supportive people while there have been people who criticized the woman for choosing be artificially inseminated with so many babies at once – especially since she already has 6 children. No matter how much noise was made about the multiple births, the mother kept mum for a while.

Now, she has come out into the open and spoken her piece. Nadya Suleman, the mother of 8 newborns and 6 other children, was interviewed today by Ann Curry of NBC. In the interview, she acknowledged that she had 6 embryos implanted – more than the standard recommendations of the fertility industry. However, she said that she was aware that multiple births were a possibility and that she wanted them all.

Nadya, together with the medical professionals involved, has been severely criticized for her decision. This is taking into consideration the fact that she is a single mother and unemployed at that. She stands by her decision however, and said that it has always been her dream to have a HUGE family, being an only child. She also said that her childhood was pretty dysfunctional and that she has always wanted to become a mom.

Octuplets being born – and living this long – are very very rare. In fact, multiple births are considered a rarity and usually attract a lot of attention, including sponsorships.

Photo courtesy of www.blahmerica.com/

Brain cancer cases are on the rise and the search for a cure is one of the most pressing undertakings of our generation. We have grown by leaps and bounds in our quest to understand the human brain and how it functions but it is still not enough to answer all our questions. Some of the best sources of information might be the most unlikely ones for as individual we are as our fingerprints, so does the manifestation of the disease and the best defense is access to the latest news and developments. Technology has greatly improved our access to information, through our computers, mobiles and portable computers we have with us each and everyday. On the road, we can get the latest information on diseases other news by simply logging into our preferred sites handing us information where ever, whenever you need it. You get the latest news about just about anything, even as you wait in line for the bus. Need the latest news on just about anything anywhere, then the internet is the place to go, so log on and start searching.

I get irked by noisy people while I try to enjoy a movie in a theater – who doesn’t? From the crunch of popcorn and chips to the rustling of foil packs to the chatter of people – all these are things that should not get in the way of one’s enjoyment while in the movie theater. I never thought that making noise in the theater could actually hurt you physically and I bet that this family man didn’t either!

A man in Philadelphia got shot in the arm on Christmas night when he took his family to the movies. Apparently, the family was enjoying the movie a little bit too enthusiastically – as it usually is the case when you have children with you – when another viewer got irked. Going by the name of James Joseph Cialella, the guy reportedly told the group to keep quiet. In addition to that, he threw some popcorn at the son. Not satisfied, Cialella walked over to the family, at which point, the father stood up. Apparently, he did not know that the guy had a gun until he got shot in the arm.

Cialella was arrested when detectives rushed to the scene and found him with a .380 caliber handgun. He is currently under the custody of the police.

The moral of the story? Keep quiet when in the theater. Seriously though, even movie theaters should be stricter as to what kinds of things can be brought into the premises. This incident is a prime example of how things can easily get out of hand.

Talk about having belated Christmas presents – not only multiplied twice but five times! First time parents Jamie and Kevin Ferrante gazed upon their first child, or rather, first children when the mother gave birth to the quintuplets on Saturday at the Staten Island University Hospital.

The Associated Press has this report:

The babies — all delivered within 6 minutes by Caesarean section — ranged in weight from 1 pound, 8 ounces, to about 2 pounds, 4 ounces, the newspaper said. It gave their names as Allesia Louise, Amanda Frances, Ella Lilliana, Emily Ann and Matthew Sabatino.

Saturday’s quintuplet birth was a first for the Staten Island hospital, Preston said.

As you may already know, giving birth to quintuplets is not that common of an occurrence. Looking at those statistics presented above, isn’t it beyond amazing how many quintuplet births have occurred in this year alone? Think about it – I don’t think that I even know someone personally who has had triplets, much less quintuplets. One thing I know for sure – the family of these children are going to have a big celebration for the New Year and for many years to come.

Who would name his kid Adolf Hitler? Heath and Deborah Campbell of Hunterdon County, New Jersey would – and did. Their son, Adolf Hitler Campbell, celebrated his 3rd birthday and his mom ordered a birthday cake from ShopRite for the event. Everything was routine and going on well until the ShopRite employee asked the mother to spell out the name to be inscribed on the cake. The employee then called her supervisor, who informed Mrs. Campbell that they had to deny her request.

The supermarket, by way of spokeswoman Karen Meleta states “We reserve the right not to print anything on the cake that we deem to be inappropriate. We considered this inappropriate.” Apparently, the parents have made the same request two years in a row and have been denied as well.

This incident has been much publicized and has gotten a lot of attention, especially on the Internet. What does the father have to say about the whole thing? USA Today writes:

Heath Campbell said he named his son after Adolf Hitler because he liked the name and because “no one else in the world would have that name.”

“Say he grows up and hangs out with black people. That’s fine, I don’t really care,” he said. “That’s his choice.”

Oh, they eventually got him a cake – from Wal-mart, no less.

Without wanting to turn this blog into a National Enquirer of sorts, I just had to share this story about Sharon Stone, in which a judge denies her custody of her 8-year-old son Roan.

Its a terrible thing for any parent, but the things that this legal document speak of, make the old Shazza look very Joan Crawford-esque indeed. Of course she later denied the allegations of wanting to get botox injections for her son’s feet because they were smelly, but the damage was done (who wouldn’t be afraid to leave any child with this woman?), and the judge ruled that Roan stay with his dad, Phil Bronstein, in San Fransisco, and not in L.A. as Sharon wished.

The document, known as the Tentative Statement of Decision, was obtained by TMZ, and said:

“Mother appears to overreact to many medical issues involving Roan…..

Despite his young age, Ms Stone’s alleged over-reactions were “painfully real” to the boy….

….Another example of an overreaction is that Mother suggested that Roan should have Botox injections in his feet to resolve a problem he had with foot odour……As Father appropriately noted, the simple and common sense approach of making sure Roan wore socks with his shoes and used foot deodorant corrected the odour problem without the need for any invasive procedure on this young child.”

…..Father has championed for Roan’s well-being out of, what appears to this court, nothing less than the unconditional love for his son.

……Unfortunately, and for unexplained reasons, it appears that Mother did not involve herself to the extent she could or should have in this process … Mother has attempted to put up roadblocks to Roan’s getting help, or has decided against participating in his care.”

But for me, the clincher was this:

“If Mother has, in fact, limited her career to make herself available for Roan, she has done little to make this evident to Roan, his school or this court.”

Sharon has 2 more adopted kids, I wonder how they’re doing?

As much as I love Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, am an advocate of breastfeeding, and staunchly oppose animal abuse, I was quite stupefied when I saw an article on the Associated Press about the animal rights advocacy group PETA, asking the ice cream kings to use breast milk to replace cow in producing their ice cream.

Tracy Reiman, executive vice president of PETA, argued the dairy products have been linked to juvenile diabetes, allergies and obesity, saying:

“If Ben and Jerry’s replaced the cow’s milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers — and cows — would reap the benefits”

Ashley Byrne, a campaign coordinator for PETA added:

“We’re aware this idea is somewhat absurd, and that putting it into practice is a stretch. At the time same, it’s pretty absurd for us to be drinking the milk of cows…”

Its not surprising that the folks at Ben and Jerry’s responded without much enthusiasm. I just can’t help feeling that the PETA people are not doing a favour for themselves or their worthy cause by making statements like this. You don’t need to do a nationwide poll to find out what people (aside from babies) will think of this – and thats creepy, I’m afraid.

Whether or not its absurd for humans to be drinking the milk of cows is not really the issue. Its what generations of us have been used to. Besides, what I find more important is the logistical problems it would face – it takes 12 lbs or 1 1/2 gallons of milk to make a gallon of ice cream. When I was nursing, it took at least half an hour to express 6 or 7 oz. Can you imagine how long poor Mothers would have to be strapped to pumping machines just to meet the demand? Thats an even scarier thought.