Send a Mother of the Year Video to Your Favorite Mom

Remember those customized Presidential nominee videos that were floating around?  The ones with a friends name on the side of the bus?   Well now you can create a custom “Mom of the Year video” to send to your Mom (or wife, friend, sister, etc) with her name placed throught the video!  Your favorite mom deserves national recognition! Get her on the national news, thanked by President Obama, and envied by Angelina Jolie.

To view the video or create your own custom video click here.

Kids Cooking Camp

Looking for that perfect summer activity your kids will not only love but where they will learn important life skills as well? PREP Kitchen Essentials in Seal Beach CA launches their popular “Kids Cooking Camp” series starting Monday June 22nd with classes going through August 27th, 2009.Classes are offered for the age groups 5-8, 9-13, and Teens and run weekly, Mondays thru Thursdays, with morning and afternoon sessions. Classes are 100% participatory; kids make everything from scratch including pastas and sauces, salads and dressings, BBQs, sushi and much more. All recipes are made from whole food ingredients with nothing packaged, prepared or preserved. This year PREP added advanced classes to their schedule for returnees and kids who are already cooking meals at home. The price for all classes is $250.00 per week and includes all tools and equipment and a full meal.

“Our children’s cooking classes are designed to give young people hands-on, comprehensive cooking experience as well as exposure to a wide selection of ingredients, recipes, techniques and equipment”, says owner Lisa Dohner. PREP’s dynamic and fresh ingredient-based menus include items like “Sesame Noodles with Pea Shoos”, “Squash Ravioli with Browned Butter and Hazelnut Sauce” and “Pecan Sticky Buns.” “We don’t do Chicken Fingers, French Bread Pizzas, or Quesadillas. It’s a sophisticated yet casual and fun environment where kids gain the confidence to explore and enjoy cooking,” says Dohner.

PREP employs a full adult staff to supervise classes with a 3-to-1 kid-to-staff ratio. As class enrollment has already begun, Dohner encourages people to sign up early, as classes will sell out. For more details please visit

 

www.prepkitchenessentials.com or call PREP at (562) 562-430-1217.

 

www.prepkitchenessentials.com or by calling (562) 430-1217.

US Officials say Don’t Close Schools for Swine Flu

According various news reports US Health Officials are no longer recommending closing down schools for isolated cases of swine flu but rather only in the instance of a confirmed outbreak.   This decision was made by the head of the US Department of Health and Human Services after reviewing findings that current cases have been found to be milder than originally feared.  This current strain of swine flu has been reported no more severe than the regular seasonal flu.  

Local school administrators are having to calm nervous and sometimes angry parents who have questioned the schools decision to remain open. 

To read the full article and US Health Official Statement click  here.

Queen Mary to Set Sail?

Will the Queen Mary set sail again?  If it’s up to the Las Vegas-based Cairngorm Entertainment group it will.  The group wants to spend the $1 Billion dollars necessary to bring the ship out of disrepair.   The proposed project would take four years to complete at which time the Queen Mary would be “sea-ready”.  

To read the article featured in the UK Guardian click here.

OC Homes Still Not a Bargain

According to a recent article featured in the Orange County Register, OC home prices are back to 2002 levels, however “as of March, Realtors peg the median selling price of an Orange County home at $444,520. That’s 2.54 times what the latest reading for all U.S. homes was: $175,200.”    Accounting for the OC Premium (surf, sand & sun) it appears OC home prices would still need to fall another 17% to be considered affordable.  Will this happen or is a market recovery on the way?  Only time will tell. 

To read the full article in the OC Register click here.

American Hero – Ed Freemen

You’re an 19 year old kid. You’re critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley on 11-14-1965. Co-ordinates- LZ X-ray, Vietnam.

Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 – 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the Medi-Vac helicopters to stop coming in.

You’re lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you’re not getting out. Your family is 1/2 way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you’ll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn’t seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.

Ed Freeman is coming for you.

He’s not Medi-Vac, so it’s not his job, but he’s flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to.

He’s coming anyway.

And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the Doctors and Nurses. And, he kept coming back….13 more times. And he took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died last Wednesday at the age of 80, in Boise, Idaho ……may God rest his soul.

I bet you didn’t hear about this hero’s passing, but we sure were told a whole bunch about some Hip-Hop Coward beating up his girlfriend.

Ed Freemen should have been the story of the day.

Sometimes the “regular” media doesn’t have their priorities right.

(submitted by John Flude-USAF ret)

Cruise Lines To Avoid Mexican Ports

The H1N1 Flu Epidemic is now officially at a stage 5 and therefore is considered a pandemic; however, even though there are more and more infected people the severity of the flu, so far has been much less than what  was feared.

The outbreak is dominating the news. The headlines are changing hourly but at the time of this writing it has been confirmed that this new strain of swine flu originated in Mexico and that Americans traveling in Mexico have returned to the U.S. infected with swine flu.

The U.S. Department of State has issued the following Travel Alert:

“The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens of the health risks of travel to Mexico at this time due to an outbreak of H1N1 “swine flu.” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an April 27 notice recommending that American citizens avoid all nonessential travel to Mexico at this time. CDC’s notice also suggests precautions that travelers and U.S. citizen residents in Mexico can take to reduce their risk of infection while in Mexico. CDC provides recommendations for those who must travel to an area that has reported cases of swine flu, and recommends measures to take following return from an area that has reported cases of swine flu. The complete CDC notice can be found at the following link: http://www.cdc.gov/travel/. Please check this site frequently for updates…”

As a result of this advisory and in an abundance of caution, (our italics) most major cruise lines  have stopped calling on ports in Mexico and have developed–or are developing–positions with regard to future calls at ports in Mexico, while the outbreak lasts.

Vacations To Go has current newsletters for their customers who are booked on Mexican cruises at http://www.vacationstogo.com/swine_flu.cfm. If you are booked on a cruise that is scheduled to visit Mexico, you may want to check these statements on a regular basis. Alan Fox, CEO of Vacations to Go says that they will update this page every weekday with any new policies or changes. If you have additional questions or concerns, please feel free to contact your Vacations To Go cruise counselor.

These itinerary changes disrupt the vacation plans of guests, cost the cruise lines money and deal a harsh blow to anyone in Mexico who relies on tourists for their livelihood. Indeed, there are no winners in the H1N1 flu outbreak, but canceling port calls in Mexico was absolutely necessary to ensure the safety of every passenger and crewmember and to combat the spread of the influenza. 

Biggest Zeppelin Coming to Southern California

The World’s Biggest Zeppelin is coming to Belmont Shore and Seal Beach.  The “Eureka” owned by Airship Ventures in Northern California had a press release that said they will be leaving San Francisco on May 20 and heading for Long Beach. It will return to Moffitt Field on May 26.

 

 

 

Since its top speed is 30 mph it will take most of a day to make the trip.  Not to worry, food and drinks are provided and the in-flight bathroom even has a window. Price $1,500 one way and $2,500. Round Trip.

While here in So. Cal., Airship Ventures will be offering 1 hour flights for about $400…perhaps with discounts for those who buy two tickets. Prices are still a little vague and probably will be influenced by the turnout for those flights.

This is a much bigger airship than the blimps we are used to seeing.  The Eureka is 246 feet long.  All the world’s airships are now filled with non-inflammable helium so there is no possibility of a fire from exploding gas.

The Eureka carries a maximum of 12 passengers and flies pretty low. (1,000 feet) At that altitude and that speed passengers will have better visability than they would in a low-slow flying Piper Club.  A great experience. 

The local flights should give passengers great views of Belmont Shore, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach and Los Alamitos…and perhaps some late leaving California grey whales traveling north.

For more info go to http://www.airshipventures.com/

Seal Beach Sailor is #1 at Sheriff’s Academy

SEAL BEACH, Calif.

The Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach celebrated the graduation of its first master-at-arms (MA) from the Orange County Sheriff’s Regional Training Academy April 27.

Elected honorary class sergeant by the faculty staff and his fellow classmates, Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Daniel Alcala led the graduates in formation during the ceremony marking the completion of the curriculum at the prestigious academy.

“By all standards, MA2 Alcala exceeded every expectation,” said Lt. Jim Foster, station force protection officer. “During his midterm and final performance reviews, both his peers and the Orange County Sheriff’s Regional Training Academy staff ranked MA2 Alcala the number one recruit.”

Alcala participated in nearly 1,000 hours of intensive academic and physical training. His studies helped to broaden his understanding of law enforcement techniques through classes on the laws of arrest, use of force, first aid, CPR and community relations.

“It makes me a better all around MA in every way,” he said.

Academy Commander Lt. Jeff Bardzik said Alcala was an outstanding representative of the Navy. “He set a new record for our very challenging academy physical fitness test—TRA, Toughest Recruit Alive,” Bardzik said.

While Alcala’s accomplishments opened the door for other Seal Beach MAs to enroll in the academy, base Commanding Officer Capt. Jon Kurtz said the pilot program’s success is representative of other ongoing partnerships with key local organizations.

The station is also active in local multi-agency law enforcement counterterrorism programs including the Joint Regional Intelligence Center and the Orange County Intelligence Assessment Center’s Terrorism Liaison Officer (TLO) programs. Both programs offer 24/7 logistical and operational support and real-time information gathering and sharing among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

Agents from 42 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies also train on the station’s small arms range, the last open range in the Los Angeles basin.

The station has also a long-standing relationship with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, working closely with the Sunset Bay Harbor Division to secure civilian boating traffic in Anaheim Bay when U.S. warships conduct ordnance evolutions.

 

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