My daughter graduates from High School in a few weeks, God willing, and I have found that the closer we get to the date, the more I am reflecting on my own high school years…or what I can remember from them.  The thing is, my memory has never served me so well as it has in the last few weeks!  I am suddenly able to recall names of the faces I remember from days gone by!  I have been known to forget what we had for dinner last night and here I am pulling names out of the air as if it was just yesterday but it wasn’t.

I graduated from Maple Shade High School here in New Jersey in 1982!  That makes me feel so old, which to me really isn’t a bad thing. 

I decided to check out Classmates.com and apparently others who may be in my shoes are doing the same as myself, reflecting backwards as their child goes forward, because there were tons of people that I actually recognized who had also signed up!  I filled out my info and all but I don’t plan on getting too involved.  It’s probably as neat for others to see where I ended up as it was for me to check out how their lives turned out. 

I also checked out the High School’s Alumni page and posted my info there but I’m not a reunion type of person so I hope I don’t get bombarded.  The truth is that when I was in high school, most of my friends were in the grades above me so by the time I graduated, I felt pretty insignificant…actually, that describes my entire teen years…I felt insignificant. 

I think about the boys that broke my heart and vice versa.  The girls that snobbed me.  Whatever happened to them?  Are they okay?  Do they miss me?  I had a good time back then and I have few regret but I do wish that I had the confidence back then that I have now!!    What I could have been if I had applied myself in all aspects…educationally and friend-wise!!

I didn’t do too badly, though.  I did great!  I love my life!!  All of the choices I made led me here, and it’s a good “here”!  And my daughter, although not driven, isn’t “floating”!  

My daughter received her work uniforms this week.  I don’t know why she got a size 10 pant but she did.  Maybe she ordered it that way (but I doubt it) or maybe they got tired of her wearing skin-tight black pants to work while she waited for the uniform.  Who knows?

Anyway…I took them to a nearby dry cleaners to get them taken in and hemmed.  I sew a little bit…I make dog pillows and bedspread-type quilts…straight line easy sewing.  I can hem pants but I don’t like to.  Well, that all changed when the woman told me that it would be $50 to get 4 pair of pants altered!

No, not with gas near $4 a gallon, food draining me and God forbid if you eat healthy because you’re going to pay more to eat fresh!  Junk food actually costs more!!  No, I took the pants home and just spent 4 hours figuring things out and I did the alterations myself!  Of course the true test will be if she wears them.  You’d think she’d have to since they are required for her job but if you have a 18 year old who you’ve devoted your life to making sure they’re happy, defiance is standard.  But, I would rather have 4 hours wasted than $50 and they really do look good! 

Suze Orman was on The View today.  She was really stressing that we’ve gotta tighten our purse strings, that’s there’s no more middle class and that yes, with some discipline and logic, you can get through it!  Now is not the time to go crazy!!  I couldn’t agree more and I also think it brings out the best in us.  We become resourceful, imaginative and even doing what we thought we couldn’t!  Necessity is not only the mother of invention but it also brings out our true selves…for better or worse.

Wow!  Robert Lancaster’s been busy this Memorial Day weekend!  I know that it’s like beating a dead horse but until everyone knows enough to protect themselves from the wolves, the beating will go on.

First up in “Montel: Johnia Berry Reading” we learn how 2 years after her daughter Johnia Berry was brutally murdered, her mother Joan in desperation for answers consulted Sylvia Browne via the Montel Williams Show.  Once again, Sylvia proves that her accuracy rate is extremely low and Robert was quite generous with his ratings, and that she is of no help in crime and missing person cases.

Next up in “Email: More From Ex-fans of Browne“ you can read four wonderful emails from ex-Sylvia fans who wanted to let Robert know that his site is making a difference.  They should be an example for anyone who is considering giving their hard-earned money to Sylvia Browne. 

And while you’re there, check out “Scorecard: Sylvia Browne’s Missing Person & Homicide Readings” for a mind-blowing analysis of Sylvia Browne’s “help” in crimes and missing person cases.  It’s really eye-opening!

There is a new article up on StopSylviaBrowne.com entitled “Sylvia and a 9/11 Widow“.

This one really got me angry and a bit sick to my stomach.  It points out that Sylvia Browne has NO psychic ability and NO compassion and realistically, little or No brains (except for when it comes to her ability to scheme people out of money). 

When someone says that they lost a loved one on 9/11 it does NOT necessarily mean that they were in the Twin Towers.  Amazingly, while that horrible event was happening, life was happening elsewhere.  Babies were born and people passed away.  The fact that Sylvia assumed that this woman’s husband’s passing on 9/11/01 was due to the towers grossly shows her inability to see what she claims to see.  The fact that Sylvia hung up on this woman and then had an assistant call her just to call her a liar one more time shows the real way that the Society of Novus Spiritus handles people as this has been repeated many times.

I can understand Sylvia and her cohorts having their radars up for someone to trip them up, I really can!  But to react this way to someone who’s genuinely looking for answers, or even someone who’s not, is unbelievable.  I am sure that this story will be spun in many ways by those who are still faithful but I know of no one who wishes for this woman to be brought to justice who would ever spend any money to purposely trip her up and if she were truly psychic, she would know that.  It’s not worth it and realistically, we don’t have to do anything but sit back and watch!!

My heart goes out to the author of the letter to Robert Lancaster.  I hope that in your heart you do know that your loved ones are together, if only in your heart (although I firmly believe in Heaven and eternal life).

Warriors and Seekers of Truth, Mission Life Entities   
All of these are an example of a few key phrases used by Sylvia Browne’s books and in The Society of Novus Spiritus’ teachings.  I studied for 8 years with the Society of Novus Spiritus so I have a little bit of a grasp of the concepts and yes, I do still live them as do most of the people who’ve spoken out. 

So, anyway…I was thinking this afternoon that I want anyone who may stumble into my blog who still feels adoration for Sylvia to consider this.  Those of us who have now turned our attention from promoting her work to exposing her as a fraud must have charted to get close enough to know the truth and strong enough to expose it!  And then we all charted to find Robert Lancaster and consolidate what we knew and that’s when we realized that people need to know this stuff!  We knew that to not say anything was wrong! 

I know that a lot of people despise what we’re doing.  Balance your intellect with your emotions and think!  Why would there be so many ministers who walk away and now wish to expose the truth?  WHY?  Because they are people who, through their ministry with the Society, gained information that made them run!!!  Do you realize that many of us feared repercussion?  Let me repeat that…WE FEARED REPERCUSSION!  <SAY WHAT?>  I know…running a religion using fear against those who speak out against you!  What a trip, huh?!

What we are doing is no different than what would be expected to be done if an injustice or crime has been committed.  We’re not the bad guys here.  We once gained trust as far as the concepts went and now we ask that you trust us…because we’ve experienced the knowledge!

Sylvia Browne will tell you that if you read and study and practice the self-help topics in her books you will never need another priest again and then she offers a course for ministry and creates deacons and bishops, everything but a pope <but we all know who that is>.  She’ll tell you that you have a one-on-one relationship with God but then tells you that you need a reading which costs as much as many of our mortgages!  Read her books and you’ll see the hypocrisy in that!

I don’t blame people that I see who are still devoted, it did hurt each of us when we broke away, but we are really much better now and our beliefs are still as beautiful as they were before.  And myself and others shouldn’t be blamed for doing what is right. I am proud to be a Warrior for Truth…ALL truths. 

And in case someone close to Sylvia reads this?  Come on Sylvia!  You know me!!!  No one ever wanted this to happen to you!  God knows we tried to fend off people who doubted you but you brought this upon yourself.  Why don’t you start charging reasonable rates and admit when you’re human and apologize!  That would have kept most of any of this from happening!  You can turn a new leaf!  Lots of people have!!  It can all be straightened out easily enough.  All we want is the truth exposed and for people to be treated fairly! Who knows!  Maybe you’ll come out a hero in the end!

As my husband often says…
Don’t hate the player…hate the game.

I am so sorry but there are some people that I have trouble liking.  I’ve tried.  It’s not her looks, she’s beautiful! but I love a lot of beautiful women so it’s not an envy thing.  And I haven’t walked a mile in her shoes…nor would I walk any path similar to the one I’ve seen.  I don’t particularly care for Charlie Sheen so it’s not that.  It’s not the Heather & Richie thing…hmmm.

I saw her on The View today as Whoopie Whooped it up with her over saying you want to protect your children and then put them in a reality show!  She wasn’t even bad on the show!  She was likeable and yet, I don’t!  And I’m a real happy go lucky person!  I like everyone a little bit!

Anyway…here’s Whoopie and Denise’s exchange from The View this morning courtesy of You Tube

First of all, the main news to report is that Shawn Hornbeck is doing alright!
Secondly, want to thank Craig Cheatham and the KMOV News Team for following up on the Shawn Hornbeck story. 
Thank You!

You are doing more of a service than you first thought, I’m sure, as it became obvious to you after your first article on May 8th entitled “News 4 Investigates:  Sylvia Browne Real Or Fake” broke open the gates of believers and non-believers including those who were once in Sylvia Browne’s inner circle.  I could tell by our phone conversation that you were amazed at the response and excited about the future follow-ups.  What a blast having such an interesting, timely subject that has more dirt than the city dump to sink your teeth in! 
<I sense an award in someones future >

Not only does it give hope to others who are in the horrible storm of losing a loved one in this way but it also warns others who are in a similar situations of how they too can become a victim. 
Sometimes life leaves us desperate for answers.  Desperate enough to believe in claims of others’ abilities who profess to give you resolution.  And, unfortunately there are people who prey on the desperate, any level of desperation.  The more people that hear about people like Sylvia Browne who preys on the victims families, the fewer will conned at their moment of desperation.

On Thursday, May 15 2008 Craig Cheatham and the KMOV Investigative News Team presented a follow up on the Shawn Hornbeck story in the KMOV Daily Briefing “Responding To Sylvia Browne.  

The video is astounding!  I really give a standing ovation to the news team who put this piece together.  It was fair and balanced and it has all of the information necessary that if someone had never heard the story , they’d have all of the information they needed.

There are a few things I would like to point out about the video which you can watch HERE:

 Sylvia claims to never take money from those asking for her assistance who have criminal or missing person cases.  Craig Aken specifically states that when he and his wife Pam appeared on the Montel Williams Show they were hoping to bring the story to a national level and they also wanted a one-on-one with Sylvia Browne and she said that she would charge them the going rate which was $750!

 After Shawn and Ben Ornsbey were found alive, Sylvia made NO attempt to apologize or anything to the  Aker family.  A simple “Oops” might have warded off all of this and Sylvia could still be the Queen of Whatever.

 DID YOU SEE THE SIZE OF THAT FREAKING LIMOUSINE?  Enough said cause I’ll be cursing up a storm and I don’t do that in public…not even really in private unless I’m angry WHICH I AM!!!! 

Jesus Christ!  My friends and I were so gullible!  We wanted to believe! 

Anyway…in the Article Craig Cheatham writes:

“During my previous story, I reported that Craig Akers, Shawn Hornbeck’s step-father, politely declined to be interviewed about Ms. Browne or her claims about Shawn, which was true. However, I knew that he was still angry about his experience with her on the Montel Williams Show four years ago.
He simply didn’t want to make his views on-the-record, at least not then.

On Saturday, he changed his mind.  What happened?
First, Mr. Akers apparently had scheduling problems and wasn’t available to talk with us. However, he had also seen our story about Ms. Browne on Thursday night and it seemed to spark the emotions he had tried so hard to supress.

On Saturday, our Supervising Producer Steve Perron learned that the Akers would be attending an event sponsored by the St. Louis school district. Sean would be there too. They were helping parents create identification kits for their children.

Steve decided to go and see if Mr. Akers would talk about Ms. Browne. And, as you know, that’s exactly what he did.”

You can read the entire article at KMOV and here are the links:
Craig Cheatham’s Blog “Responding to Sylvia”
KMOV News Report Video

And Have a Nice Day!

I’ve been a little more selective at Blockbuster lately.  I felt I was wasting too much money on bombs so the Movie Reviews will be less frequent but I am now connecting you to the IMDB website for each movie.  All you have to do is click on the movie title and you’ll be taken there.

 ”Over Her Dead Body” starring Eva Longoria Parker, Paul Rudd, Lake Bell and Jason Biggs.

Even though it’s kind of been done before and it was very predictable, the characters made it easy to watch.  Full of eye candy!  Eva played Gabbie with nothing different except that back-drop.  She’s cute so I don’t mind.  Lake Bell had a huge role in this although I’ve never seen her before and I loved her!  Her natural beauty was refreshing!   
It was a light-hearted story that on the previews…and I won’t spoil it for ya but this movie was cute <and I have to have that bag that Lake Bell wore in the movie>!

 ”Numb” with Matthew Perry, Mary Steenburgen, Kevin Pollack and Lynn Collins

Self described as a “Medicated Love Story” you pretty much know where you’re going with this one. Not huge expectations but we didn’t stop the movie mid-stream either.

I love Mary Steenburgen and the girl the Matthew falls in love with in the movie, Lynn Collins is beautiful.  <no, I’m not gay.  I acknowledge and marvel at God’s artwork now and then tho>

Basically it boils down to Matthew Perry’s character being convinced that taking 12 consecutive hits off a bong is what is driving him insane.  He goes through the gamut of medications often given to anxiety patients but of course over does it with them all.  But it was still a story we kept watching if that says anything.

 ”Untraceable” with Diane Lane, Colin Hanks

Twisted story of a deranged young man who uses the Internet and human curiosity to kill people.  Diane Lane was good in this and I was happy that they really didn’t get too graphic with the murders.  I am not into blood movies. And sorry guys and gals, no nudity or sex scenes. Not because Diane doesn’t do them well but more because it really didn’t fit into the movie. I thought that this movie was good, but not great.  I believe that life imitates art and vice versa and it’s kind of scary sometimes…

These days it’s imperative that you have as many of your vulnerabilities covered as possible in life and especially on the Internet!

I’ve always been a Norton girl but because I use Verizon already for my phone and Internet connection I thought I’d sign up for their Internet Security Suite and check it out.  

It was alright I guess.  Not as user friendly as Norton in my opinion as far as changing preferences and such.  But what really got me was that the Verizon Suite was so secure that I hated my computer for the entire week that I had it installed!!  It wouldn’t save any passwords or forms or anything anymore!!  <I know…I can’t believe that I had to manually fill in user names, passwords and addresses either>  And all of the advice that I got from every technical source I could think of was NOT working.  So, I was an unhappy camper.  On top of that, my system seemed to run slower no matter what I did!!  To be fair, it’s probably a great service for some folks but not me.

I’m kind of anal when it comes to my computer.  I like it clean (always emptying temp files, etc.) and if there’s one little possible thing slightly wrong I will obsess until I figure it out and fix it myself! I’ve even learned how to replace hardware thanks to a very nice salesman at Staples in Mount Holly New Jersey who taught me how to add memory cards and all kinds of things!  If you haven’t paid for computer repair lately, it’s almost worth going out and buying a new tower before you throw down money to fix them.  They build everything disposable nowadays, don’t they?

So, this morning I went through the process to change back to Norton, I upgraded to the 2008 Internet Security package that covers 3 computers for $50.  The Verizon Suite covered 3 computers for about $60 a year.

What really surprised me was that not only do I have my old familiar Internet Security System back but it also has a new feature where it saves your forms and passwords and log-ins for you in a secure place and then automatically fills them in the next time you go to the website (in addition to Windows autocomplete feature which doesn’t always work)!  And it’s totally controlled by you!  If it’s not a site you don’t visit regularly or are planning on only going to once or maybe twice, you don’t have to save the information!  Pretty cool feature considering that was the main reason I switched back to Norton in the first place, huh?

And I know that there are freeware antivirus packages out there and I am a big fan of freeware but when it comes to this, it’s worth the money!  

I don’t typically like to get political but the last few days have really impressed me!

First, Hillary wins W. Virginia and looks as though she’s on top of the world but the very next day Obama is handed all of John Edward’s delegates!  It’s as if they’ve forgotten that they’re in the same party and you know Obama had that in his pocket the whole time because he was so casual about everyone saying that she has last Tuesday in her pocket!

And then, I caught John McCain’s speech this morning and it blew even Obama’s well-written speeches out of the water!  I loved it!!  Of course I’m biased as I’m Republican since I grew up but you’ll see by the links on my sidebar that I am at least fair and balanced.

“Next January, the political leadership of the United States will change significantly.  If I’m elected President, the era of the permanent campaign will end.  The era of problem solving will begin.”
 - John McCain

To read the entire speech or watch it on video