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THE TRUTH MAY SURFACE AS SNIPPETZ SEARCHES FOR THE LOST ISLAND OF ATLANTIS
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ISSUE 684 • DECEMBER 8, 2014 • FREE WEEKLY
“. . . in a single day and night of misfortune, the island of Atlantis disappeared into the depths of the sea.” – Plato, Greek philosopher
Somewhere, deep below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean lies a mysterious and leg-endary island. Or not. That’s the trouble
with legendary islands that are said to have sunk thousands of years ago; there’s no defi ni-tive proof that it ever existed in the fi rst place. But it makes for great story-telling, that’s for sure. So where did the story fi rst begin? Is it just fi ction or does the island really exist, submerged for thousands of years, just waiting to be found? Snippetz got curious and we decided that we needed to fi nd out for ourselves what the lost island of Atlantis is all about. So join us as we journey back to a time of gods and goddesses and islands that disappeared overnight.
Atlantis... Continued from Page 1
2
SNIPPETZ™ WEEKLY MAGAZINE
Atlantis... Continued on Page 3
THIS WEEKIN SNIPPETZ
The Truth May Surface AsSnippetz Searches For
The Lost Island Of Atlantis... 1
“Sugar Addiction”Life Energy Flow Tai Yi
by Tami Urbanek... 4
“Is Your Website Effective? - Part 2”Series 4, Article 23
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IT ALL BEGAN WITH A STORY . . .
The island of Atlantis fi rst appeared in history when Plato wrote about it in two of his dialogues, called Timaeus and Critias. It would take more space than Snippetz has to offer to cover ev-erything Plato wrote about Atlantis, so we’ll just summarize for you.
Long, long ago (like more than 11,000 years), an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean was home to a very wealthy society. The people maximized the use of their natural resources and turned their island into a hub for trade and commerce. The rulers of the island were so powerful that their infl uence carried over into Europe and Africa.
This island known as Atlantis was home to Poseidon, the god of the sea. Also residing on the island was a mor-tal woman named Cleito, who became the object of Poseidon’s desire. He built her a house on the top of a hill near the middle of the island and cre-
ated alternating rings of water and land around the house to protect her from other suitors.
Poseidon and Cleito had fi ve sets of twin boys who would become the fi rst rulers of the island. Atlantis was divid-ed among the 10 brothers with Atlas, the oldest and thus, the fi rst King of At-lantis, controlling the central-most hill on the island.
At the top of Atlas’s hill, a temple was built in honor of Poseidon. In it, a gold statue of the god riding a chariot pulled by winged horses was placed. Here, the rulers of the island would gather to car-ry out their leadership duties and pay homage to Poseidon.
For centuries, the people of Atlantis lived simple, peaceful and prosper-ous lives. But power and greed began to corrupt the people of the island and Zeus, king of the gods, grew angry. He gathered the other gods to decide what type of punishment would be suitable to deal with the immortality of the Al-tanteans.
It was determined that Atlantis must go so in one violent surge of the sea, the island was overcome. It was sub-merged and sank to the bottom of the ocean, taking its people down with it.
At least, that’s what Plato said.
HE SAID, SHE SAIDFor generations following Plato’s ac-counts in Timaeus and Critias, other philosophers and historians took up the cause of relaying their thoughts and theories about the existence of the is-land. Some believed that Plato was de-scribing events from history while oth-ers believed it to be an allegory about the dangers of greed and corruption. So who was right?
The better question perhaps is not who was right but how has the legend of Atlantis shaped literature and culture throughout history? Certainly, hu-mankind has taken the theme laid out in Plato’s dialogues and used them to strengthen our stories, legends, fi lms and theories. However, in some in-stances, the legend of the lost city of Atlantis was actually used to explain the existence of things once thought to be inexplicable.
For instance, there is a strong connec-tion between the Mayan and Aztec ru-ins with Atlantis. The Europeans who fi rst encountered the evidence of these previously unknown civilizations felt that those indigenous people couldn’t possibly be responsible for the im-pressive structures that were found. It was concluded that another, more “ad-vanced” race must be behind the con-
3
SNIPPETZ™ WEEKLY MAGAZINE
Atlantis... Continued from Page 2
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struction of the now-ruined structures. Racism was indeed alive and thriving in those days.
SUGGESTED LOCATIONS OF ATLANTIS
Whether or not you believe in the exis-tence of Atlantis, there remains much speculation about where this island could have possibly existed. Some claim that satellite imagery shows that Atlantis is likely located in the Ma-risma de Hinojo, north of the city of Cádiz in Spain.
Others claim the island is more likely located in the North Sea, near Sweden. Still others claim the Celtic Shelf near Ireland is the real spot where Atlantis sank.
The Canary Islands, Madeira Islands Azores Islands and even the Bermuda Triangle were also postulated as pos-sible Atlantis locations.
In 1997, Russian scientists stated that they had found the sunken island 100 miles off Land’s End. In 2000, under about 300 feet of water, a ruined town was discovered off the north coast of Turkey in the Black Sea, which many suggested was Atlantis. In 2004, an American architect using sonar imag-ing found man-made walls about a mile beneath the Mediterranean Sea, between Cyprus and Syria.
RECENT THEORIES ABOUT ATLANTIS
Heralded as the “father of the 19th cen-tury Atlantis revival,” Ignatius L. Don-nelly breathed new life into the theories surrounding the existence of Atlantis. Donnelly suggested parallels between stories in the Bible and the legend of the lost island. He suggested that the is-
land is actually the location of the Gar-den of Eden and that the Great Flood for which Noah built his arc was the catastrophic event that resulted in the destruction of the island.
Donnelly may have inadvertently led to the perpetuation of other legends about the island because people thought he proved that myths such as this one ac-tually contained hidden information. To uncover that secret information al-lowed for the discovery of the truth, or so they thought.
During the more recent times, as the theory of continental drift became more widely accepted, the popularity of the idea of a “lost continent” lost some steam. A better understanding of plate tectonics showed that it was all but im-possible for a continent to disappear as was suggested by earlier theories.
One Plato scholar went so far as to say the following: “The continuing indus-try of discovering Atlantis illustrates the dangers of reading Plato . . . The idea is that we should use the story to examine our ideas of government and power. We missed the point if instead of thinking about these issues we go off exploring the sea bed.”
There are several other reasons why scientists believe that Atlantis doesn’t exist. Here are a few of them:
If it did exist, it would be big-• ger than Libya and Asia combined.
The original inhabitants of At-• lantis were said to be extra-terrestrial beings from the Lyrian star system. They supposedly came to Atlantis about 50,000 years ago and were said to have an average life span of 800 years.
These alien beings were also • thought to have possessed powers like the ability to control the weather, induce volcanic eruptions for amuse-ment and could channel energy from time and space through a device they had constructed.
4
SNIPPETZ™ WEEKLY MAGAZINE
SUGARADDICTIONDid you know that sugar is highly
addictive? Processed sugar has the same effect on a person’s
brain as does a drug. However, it has become routine and very acceptable to consume processed sugar. Most fam-ily meals, celebrations, and events have sugar present. Most people are so used to sugar, they think cannot live without it.
Processed sugar creates issues. The fi rst is that it creates a disturbance in brain signaling. It creates a chemical addiction. When heavily consumed, sugar also cre-ates a depression due to the same chemi-cal reaction. The body develops a ‘need’ to have sugar. When a person decides to greatly reduce or eliminate processed sugar from the diet, that person can ex-perience very uncomfortable physical and emotional feelings. That is because the body is craving the addiction and will naturally trigger the depressive feelings until the sugar craving is satisfi ed or until the person waits it out.
The second issue is that the chemicals in the sugar add to a chemical laced diet. Many of the foods we eat are already full of chemicals, everything from pro-duce to processed foods (most processed foods contain sugar-hidden and not hid-den), to meats, dairy products. When sugar is added, the person is adding more chemicals on top of that. The chemicals
can and do disrupt the immune system as they interfere with the digestive process and the intestines.
Another issue that is present with sugar ad-diction is the tenden-cy for sugar to cover
up real issues that need to be examined and understood. The chemicals in the processed sugar can and do make people passive about their own healing. When a painful emotion is trigger, the person many times will immediately seek out sugar. This temporarily covers up the painful emotion, rather than allowing the person to acknowledge and work through the issue. The issue becomes suppressed for a period of time. Then it surfaces again later, and the same result occurs, unless the person actively seeks out as-sistance with sugar addiction.
The Tai Yi treatment Sugar Dragon is available for those who have a sugar ad-diction. Sugar Dragon is offered in three parts. Each part needs to be completed in 5-7 days apart. This is for those who carry an addiction to sugar, self-deception, and addiction to defl ecting assistance. Many will say, “this does not resonate with me” and that actually means, “It does not resonate with my beliefs.” This is a form of denial. One could have an addiction to sugar, but it manifests differently. Refi ned sugar is highly addictive and toxic and it refl ects addiction to abusing sweetness in life. Those receiving this treatment may experience fl ashbacks in order to look at the doubt and the doubt will surface in the form of “can I ever achieve what I want to achieve?” The person can move into self-acceptance state after part 3.
For additional information,please contact: Tami Urbanek
of Empowerment Through Healing719•488•2290
by Samantha Weaver
• It was noted Major League Baseball player and manager Yogi Berra who made the following sage observation: “You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”
• The Surinam toad method of reproduc-tion is unique in the animal world. The female releases eggs, and the eggs are fertilized by the male, who then rolls them into holes on the mother’s back. Skin soon grows over the holes, offer-ing protection to the eggs as they devel-op through the tadpole stage. Once the young ones have become toadlets, they literally punch through their mother’s skin to emerge on their own into the world.
• Those who study such things say that one-quarter of all trips made in the Unit-ed States are less than 1 mile, but three-quarters of those trips still are made by car.
• You may be surprised to learn that rats and mice are ticklish -- they even laugh!
• Popcorn may be indelibly associated with movie theaters these days, but that wasn’t always the case; in the early days of the movies, when the fi lms were still silent, popcorn was actually banned in theaters. The fi rst movie theaters were swanky affairs trying to compete with traditional theaters. The owners didn’t want to have popcorn spilled on the fi ne upholstery and ground into the carpets.
• Mount Wingen, Australia, is home to the world’s longest-burning fi re. The coal deposits there have been afl ame for 6,000 years.
• Nobody is really a fan of vacuuming, but did you ever wonder what the most annoying thing about the chore is? Elec-trolux’s Global Vacuuming Survey found that the single most hated thing about vacuuming is the noise it makes.
***
Thought for the Day: “He who hesitates is a damned fool.” -- Mae West
(c) 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.
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DON’T LET HOLIDAYS STRESS YOUR PETS
Many owners want to include their pets in traditional holi-day celebrations. After all,
one-third of small-animal owners in the United States consider their pets to be a part of the family. So, how do you keep both humans and animals happy during the hectic season while sticking to time-honored rituals?
• Relax. With a house full of people, both you and your pet are under more strain than usual. Take time out away from the crowd in the front room, and sit quietly with your pet for a while.
• Make time for fun. Take your dog for his walk at the same time as always to assure him or her of a normal routine. But add some outdoor (or indoor) play-time with a game of fetch. Help your cat work off energy by dangling a favorite
toy in front of him. Extra activity an hour or two before a big party will keep pets from getting too excited or anxious among the crowd.
• Limit visits to the party. Keep pets in a quiet, secure room away from celebra-tions, with lots of toys, treats, food and water. Bring them out only once an hour (or less) to meet guests, and supervise them the entire time so they don’t eat the hors d’ouvres or the decorations.
• Safety fi rst. It may be the last item on this list, but it should be foremost in your mind. Make certain that electrical cords and glass decorations are out of kitty’s reach, and keep candy (especially choco-late) away from all pets. On Christmas morning, pick up wrapping paper and trimmings immediately, as well as small objects.
Take precautions and give your pet plenty of TLC, and you’ll have a fun holiday!
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2 c Flour1 c Cornmeal½ c Bacon (chopped & cooked w/fat)4 ea Eggs ½ c Water¼ c Vegetable Oil
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.2. Scramble 3 of the eggs.3. Mix all of the remaining ingre-dients together well. 4. Roll out to about ½ “ thick and cut with small cookie cutters.5. Place on cookie sheet and bake for about 20 min.
6. Let cool and place in a con-tainer. Keep refrigerated.
Well Thanksgiving is over so it is offi cially the Christmas/Holiday season. Every year
everyone is baking but often forget our fur friends. I don’t. I like to make these for my friends who have fur kids. They are healthy and are made with lots of love. I use organic ingredients. Rice fl our can be used in place of wheat fl our. Other meats can be used in place of the eggs and bacon. You can also try replacing the eggs with cheese. I like to use small cookie cutters because the cookies cook more evenly and I don’t like to over feed my fur kids. Their health is very important to me. After all the cookies are treats.
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house with the smells of Christ-mas is to bake cookies. Baking
is a wonderful part of the holidays, and hosting family and friends for a cookie baking/exchange party is a great way to start or continue a traditional holiday ac-tivity.
A cookie exchange party also is an in-expensive way to entertain because the cookies provided by your guests are the centerpiece of the party, and everyone leaves with a variety of cookies ... and some new recipes! Cookie exchanges can be a lunch-hour activity at work, or an afternoon or evening party.
You also can host a cookie bake and ex-change party. Since everyone is so busy, buying good quality cookie mixes and having the guests stir them up, bake and decorate them can become a party activ-ity.
Here are a few tips for hosting a cookie party exchange, along with a great rec-ipe:
• Invite eight to 12 people for the best variety of cookies and conversation. Tra-ditionally, everyone attending brings a dozen of one kind of cookie or squares or candies for each of the other people in attendance, plus one dozen for them-selves and an extra dozen for the “sample plate.” Since this would require a huge amount of baking, I suggest that each person bring three dozen cookies -- two dozen to exchange and a dozen for sam-ple plate. Although each guest may not get one of each cookie to take home, this ensures that your guests won’t feel pres-sured to turn their kitchens into a bakery. Suggest that they wrap each dozen they are bringing separately.
• Send invitations by email or regular post a few weeks ahead. Specify a start and end time for your party. Send email reminders a week ahead of time. Remind guests to bring a large container so that
they can take their cookie assortment home.
• Avoid duplication of cookies/recipes by asking guests to RSVP and tell you about the cookies they will bring. You might want to suggest selecting a recipe that has a special family meaning or one that is traditional to their background. This is a great way to learn about the traditions and recipes of other cultures and ethnic groups.
• Ask each guest to bring a copy of their recipe to pass around with a little infor-mation about the origin or memory as-sociated with the cookie. Having a list of the ingredients also ensures that people with food allergies can protect their health.
CANDY COOKIES
This the perfect marriage between a pea-nut butter cookie and a delicious peanut and caramel candy bar!
1 cup butter, softened1 cup granulated sugar1 cup fi rmly packed brown sugar1 cup creamy peanut butter2 large eggs1 teaspoon vanilla extract2 cups all-purpose fl our1 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon salt36 bite-size chocolate-covered caramel-peanut nougat bars (like Snickers Minis)
1. Beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar and peanut butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until blended.2. Stir together fl our, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Add to butter mix-ture, beating until blended. Cover and chill 30 minutes.3. Preheat oven to 350 F. Shape about 2 tablespoons of the dough around each mini candy bar, using lightly fl oured hands, and roll into balls. Place 3 inches apart on ungreased or parchment paper-lined baking sheets.4. Bake at 350 F for 13 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks. Makes 3 dozen.
***Angela Shelf Medearis is an award-win-ning children’s author, culinary historian and the author of seven cookbooks. Her new cookbook is “The Kitchen Diva’s Diabetic Cookbook.” Her website is www.divapro.com. Read Gina Harlow’s blog about food and gardening at www.peachesandprosciutto.com. Recipes may not be reprinted without permission from Angela Shelf Medearis.
(c) 2014 King Features Synd., Inc., and Angela Shelf Medearis
8
SNIPPETZ™ WEEKLY MAGAZINE
ANXIETY CAN TRIGGERALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
Many times anxiety is a good thing. It keeps us alert and paying atten-
tion in situations where there might be danger or concerns. Then, once the problem has passed, the anxiety fades away.
Anxiety doesn’t always disappear, however -- and it can have conse-quences when it doesn’t: Chronic anxiety in those who have mild cognitive impairment can increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as the speed with which it de-velops. While studies have looked at the link between depression and Alzheimer’s, until now there was no research looking at mild cogni-tive impairment, anxiety and Al-zheimer’s.
A recent three-year study in Can-ada concluded that mild anxiety increased the risk of Alzheimer’s by 33 percent. Moderate anxiety caused a 78 percent increase, and severe anxiety increased the risk by 135 percent. These participants
scored low on depression levels. One of the researchers believes that if patients have memory problems, they also should be screened for anxiety, which usually isn’t done.
Anxiety disorders are anxieties that last for six months or more and come with a host of symptoms and names: obsessive-compulsive disor-der, social phobia, generalized anx-iety disorder and others. All have different treatments, ranging from drugs to cognitive behavior therapy to psychotherapy. What they have in common is that the faster the treatment, the better and sooner the outcome.
If you wonder whether you have an anxiety disorder, the fi rst step is to check in with your doctor. He’ll be able to tell whether it’s anxiety or a medical condition causing the anxi-ety.
Once you’re getting treatment, the National Institutes of Health has some suggestions. Consider a sup-port group for anxiety issues -- even if it’s an online chat room -- stress management and meditation tech-niques, and even exercise.
Matilda Charles regrets that she cannot person-ally answer reader questions, but will incorpo-rate them into her column whenever possible. Write to her in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475, or send e-mail to [email protected].
(c) 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.
Feel free to send Nick an email anytime about his weekly column, or any leads you have for underreported stories he could write about, to [email protected] column is the beginning of
something. Everything we do is the start of something else. When we
wake up it’s the beginning of our day. Then we start the car, which is the foundation of our travel. Even when we shut our eyes to go to sleep, it’s the beginning of our rest that evening. Every action or thought will segue to another. With that in mind, I’m trying to tell you that this column you’re reading right now is the intentional start of something. It was a conscience beginning; destined like all new life to eventual meet an end.
Last week was eventful for me. It featured a full range of high and low emotional sen-sations. On Monday, my wife and I were greeted by our fi rst born child; a beauti-ful girl named Laika (that’s a shout-out, folks). On Wednesday, on my way to bring the aforementioned loved ones home from the hospital, I was involved in a car acci-dent that may or may not have totaled my
NickSnips
THEACCIDENT
by Nick Yanez
vehicle. Since this is a newspaper and I am technically a member of the media, I’ve decided to focus this article on the negative events from my week, namely – the acci-dent.
I got my 1999 Subaru Forester about two and a half years ago, just before my wife and I were married. It was the third vehicle I had owned in my adult life. Whether or not the vehicle can be fi xed or not has no bearing on the simple fact that I am eventu-ally going to have to buy another vehicle. But how? So much happened in this car. This was the car that my wife and I drove to our honeymoon in. It was the vehicle we’d visit her Grandmother in hospital in, for the last time. We drove the Forester in over 8 different states together. That Subaru took us to our good friend’s funeral, and brought home our puppy for the fi rst time. It was the car that was supposed to take our baby girl home, too. But then it wasn’t.
Isn’t it amazing how we can become at-tached to things that aren’t even living? I mean, all logic and science says that my Subaru will never know it got hurt or dam-aged. The car will never miss me. Yet I feel somewhat emotional with the thought of having to say goodbye. It made me won-der how many cars I will go through in my life.
Naturally, I did some research on Google.The average American will own twelve ve-hicles in their lifetime. Of course that var-ies rapidly from person to person, as some billionaires own well over twelve vehicles at one time. But think about that; having
to say goodbye like this twelve different times. So my research continued…
The average person will spend 25-years of their life sleeping. They will watch 2 hours and 45 minutes of television each day. On average we’ll have two kids, spend 70% of our walking life using digital media, laugh 290,000 times, have 150,000 dreams, spend 8-years shopping, and live until we are 78-years old.
Take a look at some of those numbers. How do they make you feel? Is it scary? Are you aware of how many more cars you’ll own? Do you know how many laughs you have left; or breathes?
Car accidents are scary. They’re inconve-nient. They’re stressful.
But maybe I shouldn’t even be worried about wrecking my beloved Subaru. Af-
ter all, odds are I’ve got quite a few more vehicles to drive. You can look at averages and statistics two different ways. The fi rst makes you worry that maybe you won’t match up - you’ll be below average. I pre-fer the other way: statistics and odds don’t control me. I control them. Odds are, I’ll have another vehicle. But I’ll never have one quite like the one I just did. There’s no way I ever could.
Odds also say that my wife and I produced a perfectly average and normal American girl. But I reject those odds. I like to be-lieve we gave birth to a legend. One that will be remembered forever and ever. And that my friends, is no accident.
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• Rashes
• Alopecia/Hairloss
• Atopic Dermatitis/ Eczema
• Benign growths • Cysts
• Dermatitis
• Eczema
• Folliculitis
• Fungal infections
• Hives
• Keloids
• Moles
• Molluscum Contagiosum
• Oral growths and conditions not involving the teeth
• Psoriasis
• Scabies
• Seborrheic Dermatitis
• Shingles
• Warts
ACQUIRECONFIDENCE
PART 3.0:
THE SIX ENEMIESOF YOUR MIND:
PROTECT YOUR MINDSECTION 3 INTRODUCTION
By Ron Ross
Your mind is the singularly most powerful tool for success that you own. It is powerful beyond mea-
sure and more valuable than the combined wealth you could ever earn in your life-time. So, like anything of value, you must protect your mind.
But protect your mind from what? From the six enemies of your mind, that’s what. They are: disinformation (lies), depravity, garbage, shallowness, self-criticism and ignorance. Each of these enemies will be dealt with over the next few editions of this column. Here is a brief over-view of each of them:
Enemy of the mind #1: Disinformation. Disinformation is false information pre-sented as truth with the specifi c intent to deceive, often referred to as propaganda. It is happening in schools, colleges and universities across the land and leaves people confused and disheartened. Your defense against disinformation and propa-ganda is: Search for the Truth.
Enemy of the mind #2: Depravity. De-pravity refers to the moral corruption of the heart and mind; the Bible calls it sin. I know that people don’t like talking about sin, but I will because it has a particularly destructive impact on your mind, espe-cially addictions such as drugs, alcohol and pornography. The defense strategy I will propose: Stay in the Light.
Enemy of the mind #3: Garbage. Geeks
when speaking about computer software often use the phrase, garbage in – garbage out. It is the same with the mind. Defense strategy to protect your mind from pollu-tion: Spot the Good.
Enemy of the mind #4: Shallowness.Minds that focus only on the trivial fri-volities of life are weak and pathetic. De-fense strategy: Study Big Ideas.
Enemy of the mind #5: Self-criticism.Sometimes you are your own worst en-emy with the nasty negative self-talk you allow to infl uence your mind. Defense strategy: Speak Kindly to Yourself.
Enemy of the mind #6: Ignorance. Peo-ple who willingly live in ignorance are no different than those who are, by not fault of their own, feeble minded. You do not want to be in this category so I will pro-pose the following defense strategy: Seek Wisdom.
In this section (3.0: Protect Your Mind) you will learn how to feed your faith, fi nd what is good, and to be self-constructive. Graffi ti, you see, is not something that is found only on walls and railroad cars. There is also “graffi ti of the mind;” the nasty, negative, harmful, meaningless junk insecure people repeatedly allow in their minds.
You have decided to make something of your life. You have a desire to accomplish some important and challenging goals. Therefore, more than any time in your life, you must protect your mind from corrupting infl uences that will slow your progress or even prohibit you from start-ing. You have a marvelous mind, so it for accomplishment.
Here you will fi nd the help you need to do just that – and to create the variety of positive defense strategies that allow your mind to provide you with the best possible chance for personal success.
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MOMENTS IN TIMETHE HISTORY CHANNEL
• On Dec. 13, 1577, English seaman Francis Drake sets out from England with fi ve ships and 164 men on a mission to raid Spanish holdings on the Pacifi c coast of the New World. Three years later, Drake’s return to England marked the fi rst circumnavigation of the earth by a British explorer.
• On Dec. 12, 1912, two years after it was stolen from the Louvre, Leonardo da Vin-ci’s masterpiece The Mona Lisa is recov-ered inside Italian waiter Vincenzo Perug-gia’s hotel room in Florence. Peruggia had previously worked at the Louvre and had participated in the heist with a group of ac-complices dressed as janitors.
• On Dec. 14, 1939, the League of Nations, the international peacekeeping organiza-tion formed at the end of World War I, expels the Union of Soviet Socialist Re-publics in response to the Soviets’ invasion of Finland. Although the League was the brainchild of President Woodrow Wilson,
the United States never joined.
• On Dec. 11, 1944, the city of Toronto, Canada, is battered with its worst-ever snowfall. Twenty-one people died as nearly 20 inches of snow fell in a single day. The storm took place during World War II, and the city’s ammunition factory was forced to close.
• On Dec. 9, 1958, retired Boston candy manufacturer Robert H.W. Welch, Jr., es-tablishes the John Birch Society, a right-wing organization dedicated to fi ghting what it perceives to be the extensive infi l-tration of communism into American soci-ety.
• On Dec. 10, 1963, kidnapped Frank Si-natra Jr. is allowed to talk briefl y to his fa-ther, after which the kidnappers demanded a ransom of $240,000 and arranged Sina-tra’s drop off. Law-enforcement offi cials picked up the young Sinatra and brought him home in the trunk of their car.
• On Dec. 8, 1980, former Beatle John Lennon is shot and killed by Mark David Chapman as Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, were returning home to their West 72nd Street Manhattan apartment building, the now-famous Dakota.
c) 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.
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12
SNIPPETZ™ PUZZLES AND TRIVIA
(c) 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.
TRIVIA TEST SPORTS QUIZ
FLASHBACK BIBLE TRIVIA
1. Is the book of Luke in the Old or New Tes-tament, or neither?
2. Matins, lauds, prime, terce, sext, none, vespers and compline are the ... ? Magi, Pa-gan goddesses, Eostre, Canonical hours
3. How many different books of the Old Testament are divided into two parts? 2, 3, 4, 5
4. Where do you fi nd the phrase, “God is love”? Genesis, Nehemiah, Hebrews, 1 John
5. What Jewish ruler visited Jesus by night? Hezekiah, Barabbas, Nicodemus, Darius
6. How many suicides are recorded in the Bible? 0, 7, 14, 21
By Wilson Casey
1. What was the title of Freda Payne’s 1970 Motown hit?
2. Who was “Edythe Wayne”?
3. Why were photographs of Angelo D’Aleo often missing in snaps of Dion and The Belmonts?
4. Which 1965 pop hit uses the melody from Bach’s “Minuet in G major”?
5. Name the song that contains this lyric: “Now I’ve got a guy and his name is Dooley, He’s my guy and I love him truly, He’s not good lookin’, heaven knows, But I’m wild about his crazy clothes.”
By Mick Harper
1. Name the only team not to win an A.L. Central Division title since 1994.2. In 2014, the White Sox’s Jose Abreu became the third player since 1914 to have two multihomer games in his fi rst 10 major-league contests. Name one of the others.3. Who was the fi rst player in NFL his-tory to have at least 10,000 receiving yards and 5,000 return yards for a career?4. Since the 1978-79 season, how many times have two college men’s basket-ball teams from the same state made the Final Four in the same season?5. Who holds the record for most goals by an NHL rookie?6. Which Asian country’s men’s soccer team has made the most World Cup appearances?7. Who was the last American before Simone Biles in 2014 to win consecu-tive all-around gold medals at the gymnastics world championship?
By Chris RichcreekBy Fifi Rodriguez
1. GEOGRAPHY: What are the names of the Great Lakes that border the U.S. and Canada?2. ART: What was the name of the Dutch artist who painted “The Night Watch” (1642)?3. SCIENCE: Which two radioactive el-ements were discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie?4. TELEVISION: Which of the four main characters in “Seinfeld” did not appear in the original pilot?5. MOVIES: What baseball movie in-troduced the character of the pitcher called “Wild Thing”?6. HISTORY: Brazil was originally a col-ony of which European nation?7. AD SLOGANS: What kind of can-dy “melts in your mouth, not in your hands”?8. ANATOMY: Where is the temporal bone located in the human body?9. MATH: How many minutes are in a day?10. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What is the symbol of the zodiac sign Sagit-tarius?
(c) 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.
(c) 2014 King Features Synd., Inc. (c) 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.
TRIVIA TEST SPORTS QUIZ FLASH BACK1. “Band of Gold.” The song tells of a couple on their honeymoon who end up sleeping in separate rooms.2. This was the pseudonym of three Motown writers (Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland and Eddie Holland), who weren’t allowed to write under their real names due to a legal dispute.3. D’Aleo was in the Navy and wasn’t always able to get back for photo shoots.4. “A Lover’s Concerto,” fi rst re-corded by The Toys. The only dif-ference is the meter.5. “Pink Shoelaces” by Dodie Stevens (born Geraldine Ann Pasquale) in 1959. In the song, Dooley enlisted in the “fi ghtin’ corps” but objected when they tried to put him in a uniform. He wanted tan shoes, pink shoelaces and a polka-dot vest.
1. Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior (HOMES)
2. Rembrandt
3. Polonium and radium
4. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as Elaine
5. “Major League”
6. Portugal
7. M&M’s
8. The skull
9. 1,440
10. The Archer
1. The Kansas City Royals.
2. Mark Quinn (1999 Roy-
als) and Dino Restelli (1949
Pirates).
3. Derrick Mason (1997-
2011).
4. Duke and North Carolina
in 1991, and Kentucky and
Louisville in 2012.
5. Teemu Selanne had 76
goals for Winnipeg in the
1992-93 season.
6. South Korea, with nine
appearances.
7. Shannon Miller, 1993-94.
BIBLE TRIVIA
1) New
2) Canonical hours
3) 3
4) 1 John
5) Nicodemus
6) 7
Comments? More Trivia?
Visit www.TriviaGuy.com
THIS WEEKSAnswers & Solutions
13
HUEY’SPAGE
SNIPPETZ™ COMICS AND ENTERTAINMENT
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ITALIAN CLUBMONTHLY MEETING
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If you love family, socializing and culture, then membership in Sons of Italy is right for you. Membership is open to men and women.
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VFW MEETINGSundance Mountain Lodge Carson Room
3rd Tuesday of the Month 6pm.For more information contact Jerry Lollar at
Tri-Lakes HAP-py Feet Foot Care ClinicTri-Lakes Senior Center
Second Wednesday of each MonthTo schedule an appointment, call Bob at the
Visiting Nurse Association on Tuesday through Thursday between 9 and 4, at 719 577-4448.
GLENEAGLE SERTOMA CLUB MEETINGLuncheon meeting every Wed. 11:45 a.m. Liberty Heights 12105 Ambassador Drive, (off Voyager Blvd in Col Springs). We offer
interesting speakers and programs. Everyone is welcome. Info: Call Garrett Barton at 433-
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BINGOAmerican Legion post 9-11
at The Depot Primrose St. - Palmer LakeEvery Saturday Night 7:00PM
LIONS CLUB MEETING1st Thursday of the Month 6:00PM-8:30PM
MONUMENT HILL COUNTRY CLUBBeginning September 6th. Tri-Lakes has Lions
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VFW LADIES AUXILIARYMONTHLY MEETING
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2ND MON PHOTO EXHIBIT NIGHT • PALMER DIVIDE PHOTOGRAPHERS
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2nd Monday Monthly • pdphotographers.comPurpose is for serious peer photo critique & review; and fun. Conversations are rich with tips, tools and techniques. All levels are welcome. Later in the calendar year, we will begin to focus
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SNIPPETZ™ BUSINESS SECTION
LIVING GOD’S GIFTSbringing Christ into your fi nancial life
INVESTINGFROM A
BIBLICALPERSPECTIVE
Honoring God with Your Financial BlessingsCHUCK MAHER CFP
Securiti es off ered through and supervised by Wilbanks Securiti es, Inc. Member FINRA & SIPC 4334 NW Expressway, Suite 222 Oklahoma City, OK 73116 405-842-0202 Fee Based Wilbanks Securiti es Advisory
28 YEARS28 YEARS
Secure your position in the29th edition today!
byChuck Maher, CFP®
...BRING CHRIST INTO OUR FINANCIAL LIVES
LAST CHANCE FOR TAX PLANNING
The year is quickly coming to an end and soon we will be facing the ar-duous task of preparing our 2013
tax returns. Some of us will procrastinate to the April deadline, others will fi le for extensions and still others will fi le at the earliest possible moment. Whichever cat-egory you fi t in I would encourage you to take a little bit of time in this special season to do a preemptive strike – a trial tax re-turn. That’s right, in addition to everything else, I am suggesting you do your taxes in December. Too often taxpayers lose out on deductions, which could save them money, because they did not act before the year’s end. Here are a few items that, in my prac-tice I fi nd, are often overlooked.
Review Your IncomeYour income is the driving force for de-termining your tax obligations. It’s not just your W-2 income but income from all sources that will determine your tax brack-et. Often if your income can be postponed until the following year you can reduce your overall tax bill. For example, if you receive annual income from an annuity it may make sense to instruct the insurance company to forgo payments until early 2015. By doing so you may very well move yourself into a lower tax bracket without creating any unnecessary hardship. If you fi nd that a large part of the income that you are receiving is being taxed as ordinary in-come (i.e. interest income) you may want to consider taking advantage of invest-ments that produce tax-free or capital gain income. However, this will not help you with your 2013 tax obligation but could re-duce your taxes in 2015.
Required Minimum DistributionIRS required distributions from qualifi ed plans, like IRAs, 401(k)s and other pen-sion plans, are not tax deductible, but I
have found too often those who have reached 70 1/2 have failed to take the required distributions. The tax penalties for failing to doing so are quite severe. I would encourage you to review your re-tirement accounts to make sure that you are in compliance with the distribution requirements.
Harvesting Capital Losses If year were to end today, like 2014, 2015 would be another great year for investors. All the equity markets are up. For inves-tors who took advantage of the stock mar-ket that is good. Unfortunately that success also brings with it capital gains tax. Equity mutual funds, who have been writing off capital losses for the last few years, are again expected to be making large capital gain distributions. For non-qualifi ed ac-counts, those distributions, whether or not you reinvest them, as well as any profi ts that you made from the sale of equities will be taxed. Before the year is out review your portfolio looking for investments that have not performed as you had hoped – invest-ments that are worth less than what you paid for them. You may want to consider selling those investments at a loss and us-ing that capital loss to offset the gains that you have made with other investments. Selling an investment at a loss may seem counterintuitive but it can save you money when the taxman calls.
Health Savings AccountsContributions to a Health Savings Account (HSA) are tax-deductible. Sadly, too many with high deductible health insurance plans that allow for HSAs, are not taking advantage of that deduction. By fully fund-ing your HSA account not only will you get a deduction for 100% of your contribu-tion you will also get tax-deferred growth on any investment you make with the mon-ey as well as tax free distributions when the funds are used for qualifi ed medical expenses – expenses that you would oth-erwise pay for with after-tax dollars. For those over age 55 the maximum HSA con-tribution limit is $7,550.
Retirement Catch UpAnother often overlooked tax deferral op-portunity is available to those who take advantage of the catch-up provisions of-fered through most employer-sponsored retirement plans. For those who turned 50 in 2014, as well as those of us who are over
50, the maximum contribution limit to a 401(k), 403(b) and other retirement plans is increased by $5,500. If you have savings that can see you through the end of the year you may want to discuss with your HR de-partment the options you have available for deferring income through year-end and ful-ly funding your retirement account. By do-ing so you will reduce your taxable income and as a bonus increase the assets working for you in your retirement account. Over the next few weeks as we countdown to Christmas and the New Year the demands on our time seem limitless. With parties and shopping, cooking and cleaning, Christmas cards and presents the one thing we don’t need is one more thing to do. But if you will make the time to visit with your tax professional to review your
taxes you may fi nd, at least fi nancially, it was well worth the time.
“The plans of the diligent are sure of profi t, but all rash haste leads certainly to pover-ty.” Proverbs 21:5
Chuck Maher is a Certifi ed Financial Plan-nerTM practitioner specializing in Chris-tian values based fi nancial planning and investing. He can be reached at [email protected], locally at (719) 481-0549. Securities offered through and supervised by
Wilbanks Securities, Inc. Member FINRA SIPC
4334 NW Expressway, Suite 222 Oklahoma City, OK 73116-1515 (405)842-0202
Fee Based through Wilbanks Securities Advisory
16
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