Today, I am writing the 200th post on ExtraordinaryIntelligence.com, and I don’t feel a day over 199! I remember the thrill of my 100 post milestone, (See the self promoting fanfare here:  Extraordinary Intelligence 100th Post!) and to see where you’ve taken the site since then is exciting and humbling.

In the beginning, my readership primarily consisted of friends and fellow writers.  Over the course of the year, others gradually began to find their way here… and now we have literally thousands upon thousands of weekly readers.  In fact, we’ve long passed the 1 Million visits mark and we’re staring down the barrel at 2 million! I’m so thankful to everyone!

So….. tra laaaaaaaaa, I rock! And so do you! How should we celebrate? Hmmmm… for the 100th post we did a Retrospective.

I tried to remember some of the things that readers have really enjoyed seeing here on the site. One thing I’ve received a good amount of feedback about has been my Maaaaaad Photoshoppin’ Skillzzzzz. Here’s a brief selection of some of my faves. Click on the images to visit the post where they first appeared.

Dick Cheney shape shifing into a reptillian… naturally.

A sock being sucked into the black hole that comes standard with all washers and dryers.

Bigfoot gettin’ funky in Aretha Franklin’s inauguration hat. I bet you’re DYING to know what prompted that pic!

One of my personal faves… the patriotic American Kangaroo!

And finally, your favorite… Mr. Bohemian Grover!

Make sure you click on this image if you’d like to see more of Bohemian Grover’s adventures at The Grove!

There is one thing that to date I had not yet done. And that is to make a video of my own. Being one never shy to take on a challenge, that is precisely what I did. BEHOLD!!! I give you…. Extraordinary Intelligence: The Movie! (Ok, that’s a bit dramatic, it isn’t that great… but not horrible for a beginner, right? Right!) Enjoy and feel free to copy the embed code and slap this video… well… wherever you want!

And thank you all for making and keeping Extraordinary Intelligence one of the things I look most forward to each day.  I will continue to bring you all of the paranormal pleasure and conspiratorial cranium candy that you’ve come to expect. Onward and Upward, weirdos and weirdettes!

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Hoveround Electric Wheelchairs

Hoveround Corporation, founded in April 1992, is one of the leading Mobility device companies in the U.S. Hoveround designs, manufactures, sells, and services personal mobility vehicles like electric and manual wheelchairs, electric scooters and electric lifts. The company operates at a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, which has received the ISO 9001 certification for design, manufacturing procedures and distribution.

Hoveround supplies mobility devices directly to customers, insurers and other public and private entities. The company handles every aspect of the client’s mobility needs, right from evaluation to prescription and provider approval, delivery, training and service. The company employs therapists, nurses, rehab technology suppliers and assisting technology practitioners to cater to all needs of the customers. The most popular of Hoveround’s products are the highly maneuverable MP4 and the powerful Teknique XHD, which can carry up to 500 pounds.

Pride Electric Wheelchair

Pride Mobility is a leading provider of mobility equipment. Pride

Mobility is well known for its Pride and Jazzy lines of electric

wheelchairs, which are the most popular electric wheelchairs on the

market.

Pride Mobility Scooters include the Sundancer, Rally, Celebrity, Maxima, Victory and Legend models.

Pride Mobility Jazzy is the most popular brand of electric wheelchair from Pride Mobility. The Jazzy range is known for its patented mid-wheel drive system, exceptional maneuverability and trendy designs. Available in many different models, the Jazzy range promises maximum performance with standard active-track suspension and enables easy assembling and disassembling. Powered with motors, and having a speed range of up to 4 mph, the Jazzy electric wheelchairs offer exceptional maneuverability control. They are also extremely user-friendly and convenient, having been designed with a patented mid-wheel drive design.

Quantum Rehab is a line of customized power positioning systems and mobility products. It includes Power Recline, Power Elevating and Power Articulating Legrest options.

Lift Chairs are designed to fit into the home’s decor and are available in luxury, gentle and casual lift modes.

Personal Mobility Vehicles (PMVs) have great mileage (up to 25 miles before recharge) and can be used for long rides — even for golf.

The Hercules 3000 Lift is a power lift for wheelchairs with easy assembly and disassembly operations. The Hercules has a dynamic braking system and is provided with various docking devices that are suitable for any scooter or Jazzy.

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I will assume, without much confidence in the assumption, that many of those opposed to the health-care legislation are sincere folks, albeit the victims of cynical manipulation of GOP operatives, honestly are concerned about sky-rocketing deficits and concerns about larger and more intrusive government. On the other hand, many in opposition have accepted the falsehoods about “death panels” [which was dreamt up by Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck out whole cloth] or of federal financial payments for abortion [presently forbidden by the Hyde Amendment and unchanged in the proposed legislation].

In fact, however, Barack Obama, in continuing to seek true and comprehensive reform, is acting in the true traditions of America and of the Founders of the Republic.

An article by Peter Wehner published this week is illustrative. Mr. Wehner was a speechwriter and Presidential aide to President George Bush (# 43). He writes about the remarkable advances in Iraq and the actions of President Bush:

The progress in Iraq has been truly remarkable, especially when one considers where things were at the end of 2006. Iraq was caught in a death spiral. The odds were stacked against us. And most people in Iraq and America — including almost all of the political class and virtually the entire foreign policy establishment — had given up on the possibility of success. The main question for them was the terms of our retreat and de facto surrender.

In Iraq we have seen the rebirth of a nation. The “emergence of politics” in Iraq — including the willingness of its political leadership to engage in compromise; the Iraqis’ passion for democratic processes and willingness to set aside sectarianism; a free press; and the respect and legitimacy the Iraqi military has gained among its people — is unprecedented in the Arab world.

And then are the comments that have application to President Obama’s position today:

With the passage of time, President Bush’s decision to champion a new counterinsurgency strategy, including sending 30,000 additional troops to Iraq when most Americans were bone-weary of the war, will be seen as one of the most impressive and important acts of political courage in our lifetime. And those who fiercely opposed the so-called surge were not only wrong in their judgment; in some instances their actions were shameful.

The former Bush aide therefore defines political courage as the willingness to go against public opinion in pursuit of what a leader believes to be the public interest. And I would certainly agree. I also refuse to admit that democracies can do without courage; I submit that there’s nothing undemocratic about defying public opinion when the stakes are high. After all, the people will soon have the opportunity to pass judgment on the leader’s decision. And they will be able to judge that decision, not by the claims of its supporters or detractors, but by its results. This the GOP is unwilling to accept, perhaps because it is afraid that, within the next year, the economy turns, comprehensive health care is available and affordable and the sky hasn’t fallen.

If one accepts the existence of political courage then it follows that President Obama and the Democrats are not acting irresponsible or high-handedly—let alone anti-democratically—in moving forward with comprehensive health insurance reform. They genuinely believe that the public interest demands it¬—and that the people themselves will eventually agree. And they know that the people will have the last word. That’s why we have elections!

The concept of overriding political courage, the promotion of a policy believed to be correct, is part of the history and traditions of this country.

This approach has the firmest possible roots in our constitutional traditions. The Framers deliberately established a republican form of government that is representative rather than plebiscitary. Alexander Hamilton, in the Federalist Papers, wrote in 1778, that

There are some, who would be inclined to regard the servile pliancy of the executive to a prevailing current, either in the community, or in the Legislature, as its best recommendation. But such men entertain very crude notions, as well of the purposes for which government was instituted, as of the true means by which the public happiness may be promoted. The republican principle demands, that the deliberate sense of the community should govern the conduct of those to whom they entrust the management of their affairs; but it does not require an unqualified complaisance to every sudden breeze of passion, or to every transient impulse which the people may receive from the arts of men, who flatter their prejudices to betray their interests. It is a just observation, that the people commonly intend the PUBLIC GOOD. This often applies to their very errors. But their good sense would despise the adulator, who should pretend that they always reason right about the means of promoting it. They know from experience, that they sometimes err; and the wonder is, that they so seldom err as they do; beset as they continually are by the wiles of parasites and sycophants, by the snares of the ambitious, the avaricious, the desperate; by the artifices of men, who possess their confidence more than they deserve it, and of those who seek to possess, rather than to deserve it. When occasions present themselves in which the interests of the people are at variance with their inclinations, it is the duty of the persons whom they have appointed to be the guardians of those interests, to withstand the temporary delusion, in order to give them time and opportunity for more cool and sedate reflection. Instances might be cited, in which a conduct of this kind has saved the people from very fatal consequences of their own mistakes, and has procured lasting monuments of their gratitude to the men, who had courage and magnanimity enough to serve them at the peril of their displeasure.
But however inclined we might be to insist upon an unbounded complaisance in the executive to the inclinations of the people, we can with no propriety contend for a like complaisance to the humors of the Legislature. The latter may sometimes stand in opposition to the former; and at other times the people may be entirely neutral. In either supposition, it is certainly desirable that the executive should be in a situation to dare to act his own opinion with vigor and decision. [Emphasis supplied.]

Can this philosophy, so vital to the United States government from its very inception be so foreign to many of today’s Republicans? I really do not believe that for a second! Yet, many conservatives don’t seem to understand. In response to the health care proposal President Obama released prior to the bipartisan summit, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced,

“It’s disappointing that the Democrats in Washington aren’t listening, or are completely ignoring, what Americans across the country have been saying.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner seemed to agree:

“The president has crippled the credibility of this week’s summit by proposing the same massive government takeover of health care based on a partisan bill the American people have already rejected. …. [Democrats want] to circumvent the will of the American people and jam through a massive government takeover of health care.”

A recent Wall Street Journal editorial condemns Democrats of scheming to pass health reform “merely because they think it’s good for the rest of us”—as though pursuing the public interest were a suspect motive for legislating rather than its very purpose.

William Galston summed up the GOP situation and future:

So today’s conservatives have a choice: They can contest health reform and the rest of the Democratic agenda on its merits, or they can go down the populist road that Sarah Palin and her followers represent. But let’s call that populism by its rightful name—namely, shameless flattery of the people and the manipulation of public fears and prejudices for short-term political advantage. Honorable conservatives know better. We’re about to find out how many of them there are.

President Obama has been steadfast in holding to his basic core principles. At the White House last week, the president spoke of the need to enact his health care reforms. His statements are worth considering in the light of Alexander Hamilton’s words. One must recall that he ran for president on a promise to tackle the nation’s most challenging problems–and, since winning election, he’s steadfastly denied those who warned him he was trying to do too much.

This has been a long and wrenching debate. It has stoked great passions among the American people and their representatives. And that’s because health care is a difficult issue. It is a complicated issue. If it was easy, it would have been solved long ago. As all of you know from experience, health care can literally be an issue of life or death. And as a result, it easily lends itself to demagoguery and political gamesmanship, and misrepresentation and misunderstanding.

But that’s not an excuse for those of us who were sent here to lead. That’s not an excuse for us to walk away. We can’t just give up because the politics are hard.

Barack Obama is keeping his promise; he is bringing leadership in areas where it counts. There will be an election where the people can affirm his beliefs or repudiate them . . . but, in the meantime, I applaud him!

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Here, on Tampa radio, are the “Birthers” (convinced that President Obama is a native born Kenyan, regardless of birth certificate, contemporaneous birth announcements in the local Hawaii newspaper), the group that equates the President with Adolph Hitler, those who, paradoxically, see the President as a manifestation of Joseph Stalin; here also are those who dream of a GOP presidential ticket headed by Sarah Palin teamed with Glenn Beck.

As I listen, alternatively bewildered and amused and frightened and saddened by the callers to these shows, each starting with offering thanks for the privilege of agreeing with the paranoia spewed by the hosts, I come to a few conclusions.

First, I have to assume that screeners weed out any callers who might confront the hosts. But the most disturbing thought and realization of all is that the Savages, Becks, Hewitts, Pragers, et al., repeat the same mantra over and over again, until the words become accepted as fact!

Joseph Goebbles, 70 years ago, made the observation:

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” And “The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly – it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over”

Thus, Michael Savage utters these gems on the radio and no one questions or objects:

“The radical Left and the radical Muslims are natural blood brothers … they all want to bring down America” (2/21/2010)

Pol Pot was a “mild-mannered professor” just like “baby dictator” Obama. (2/24/2010)

Even the President’s mother is grist for the hate-mill: Obama’s mother “had contempt for America”; finds it “very interesting” that she married two Muslim men. (2/26/2010)

Last Veterans’ Day, Savage honored our service men and women thusly: “a lot of girls” join Navy “just to get pregnant because it’s a guaranteed passport to an easy life”

I really shouldn’t pick on Michael Savage because he isn’t even the most irresponsible or most viscous of the type. That award should probably go to Glenn Beck who went from a relatively amusing radio morning radio program in Tampa to a nationwide radio and television personality who even his cohorts consider him nutty.

But all of this is irrelevant to the real issues facing the country. We have serious problems, ranging from inefficient and expensive health care delivery systems to abuses in the financial and banking industries that continue notwithstanding the crises and near collapse of our economy caused by the same individuals who continue to control the system, a housing and mortgage horror that is putting people out of their homes and massive job losses and unemployment that threatens our future for a decade or more.

The public is not hearing a comprehensive explanation from the Democrats or the President. The President has failed to bring this all together in a way that the American people can appreciate. He has failed to explain that the economy cannot rebound unless the bankers, investment houses and insurance companies are restrained and made to accept moral responsibility to the country and not just financial responsibility to the corporate executives and stockholders. He has been reluctant to tell the people the bitter and harsh truth that, like in the Egypt of Exodus, the abundant years will be followed by lean years.

Unfortunately, unlike in the Bible, we did not have a Joseph who warned about preparing for the future; rather we had years and years of free and uncontrolled spending – by both parties – wherein we squandered our wealth. Now, whether we like it or not, the Piper will be paid and we will have to allocate our resources carefully and the role of government will be more and more vital. We must not allow us to believe in the unrealistic (but idealistic) view of the market place acting in control; we require a social basis for our society and it is too much to call upon the bankers, insurance companies, the industrialists to provide that basis. That is not, and should not, be their function.

While the Democrats have utterly failed to communicate the situation facing the country and set out a comprehensive plan to address the problems we face, the far right has not been so reluctant to put forth misstatements of fact, outright slander and bigotry. Some of it is amusing. Sarah Palin accusing the President of being unable to express thoughts without a teleprompter and the resorting to inked on crib notes on her palm to remind her of basic “talking points”; the suggestion by Mr. Beck that any attorney who represents a defendant accused of terrorism should, himself or herself, be executed — unless the “terrorist” is of a “domestic” type who kills physicians who perform abortions.

And some of it is not amusing at all. In fact, the repeated falsehoods have come to be accepted in many quarters of this country as fact and are, in many ways, actually influencing the attitudes of many elected officials.

For example, one of the principles of the right is that the overwhelming majority of the American public opposes health care reform as proposed by the President and, even more so, the American public is united in its opposition to any “public option” insurance program that would compete with private insurance programs. [I offer this disclosure. I, personally, would prefer a single-payer system, run by the Government, in the same fashion as is offered in virtually every other modern industrial nation in the world. To those who complain that the Government cannot do anything right, I would note that when I drop a letter in a mailbox anywhere in the country, I can be assured that it will reach its destination in a timely manner. But that’s a digression!]

The radio and media of the right have succeeded in calling the Democratic efforts to reform health care as “socialistic”, “communism” or worse to the extent that when polled generally about approval or disapproval of the “overall” reform efforts, the results are not enthusiastic. On the other hand, when polls are conducted asking for information about the individual components of the reform movement, Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of the major elements of the Obama program!

People, in general, are dissatisfied with the health care delivery system in America but have been bullied into believing that any change would (a) reduce the access to adequate health care and insurance that they already have; (b) provide generous and unlimited benefits to illegal aliens who have taken jobs from “regular” Americans; (c) would increase the national debt by untold trillions of dollars; (d) force the killing of grandpa and grandma or sick children, etc. Of course none of this is true or even conceivable but the blather continues.

The fact remains that our economy is in turmoil and it will not turn around without easing the health care burden placed on us all.

The Republicans during all of 2009 refused to participate in the creation of a solution to our health care crises. They were much more intent on proving that President Obama would fail. Now, when faced with the prospect of passage of true reform by majority vote, they urge that their ideas and viewpoints be addressed and adopted. There are a few things crazy about that scenario. First, if the GOP has suggestions on how health care can be made affordable and comprehensive, why did they not pass legislation to that effect when they had the White House and both Senate and House?

They had no sincere wish to aid anyone other than the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry. Why now should anyone believe that there has been enlightenment?

The next point that must be made has escaped the GOP completely. In this country we have elections and those elections matter. The far Right hated Bill Clinton and harassed and hounded him and, by so doing, made a shameful spectacle in our government. The same “patriots” and “freedom-loving” folks hate Barack Obama and will do anything to prevent his carrying out the mandate of the voters.

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Now, while some may consider this to be a harmless sleepover game, others find the trend in “normalizing” the Ouija Board quite disturbing.  And there has been quite an uproar regarding this latest addition to the Ouija line.  Many people feel that the board is a dangerous tool, and if used casually, can open gates or portals that would allow all kinds of nasty nasties into one’s life.

Toy expert and consultant Chris Byrne recently said of the pink Ouija, “… if something doesn’t fit your value or belief system, you don’t have to buy it….I think people are projecting their belief system on it.”

Amazon.com currently sells the pink Ouija for $39.95.  Perusing the reviews shows the many people who are disturbed by the board.  The following are some quotes by commenters on Amazon.

1.  SHAME ON HASBRO….TOTALLY DISGUSTED!! Oh its so pretty in PINK…..NOT !!!!! To those of you who think this is just all in fun, just a game you should think again. Anything that encourages one to seek out the dead just opens a gateway if you will to all kinds of trouble and demonic forces.

2.  Pink Doesn’t Make it Less Dangerous I don’t own the pink version but I have owned and “played” Ouija Boards and know the background (and I own a Ouija Board now for my public speaking purposes but of course do not use it)…..There is inherent in using the board the possibility of demonic contact and influence, since dead people cannot be contacted. No one should use this Board, especially younger people. I am appalled that this is being marketed to tween girls! Please withdraw it from the market!

3.  Hasbro should be ashamed I can’t believe that Hasbro has come out with this product – utilizing a pink colored box to market this as a “cute” game for young girls. No parent should ever buy this for their child as it is not appropriate for their age level. Materials dealing with the occult should not be marketed as “toys” as they are clearly NOT toys and nothing that children should ever be allowed to play around with.

The next one I love just because of the title of the review.

4.  Buy this if you really hate your child Guns don’t kill people, people kill people, right? Why doesn’t Amazon.com sell automatic weapons or child porn? Because it is understood that these are very dangerous. Whether you believe in the astral realm or whether you believe in the power of the subconscious or neither, a little humility would suggest that there are things which you don’t understand and therefore it is a good thing to learn from the experiences of others and the wisdom of the ages, especially when it has to do with the well-being of a child.

And of course, there were more.  What do you think? What is the significance of an Ouija Board, or is there significance? Harmless game, parlor trick, or dangerous divining tool? I’m opening this one up for your thoughts in the comment section.

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Everyone’s favorite late night radio host, George Noory, host of Coast to Coast Am, was recently featured on ABC network’s Nightline.

For those who don’t know, Coast to Coast Am is a 4 hour talk radio program that broadcasts 7 nights a week to a world wide audience.   The subject matter on the show ranges from Paranormal encounters, to Government Conspiracies, to Earth changes… anything that involves the “unknown”.  I have been listening to C2C for years, and find the information presented to be both entertaining and enlightening.

I’m so pleased with how Mr. Noory handled the questions from a reporter who clearly took the segment as tongue in cheek.  Check it out!

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A lot of of the recipe’s are actually from my grandmother who passed them on before she passed away a lot of years ago. You know, I can still remember baking oatmeal raisin cookies with my grandmother even though it’s been pretty much 35 years now since I last had that chance.

Now that I have an adult son and daughter of my personal my wife and I, who both love to cook, really wanted to pass the recipes on to both of them also. Quite a few of these recipes they grew up on and now that they have kids of their personal, are just beginning to request. My wife also has a formula book from her grandmother on her dad’s side. It really is too old and tattered now to use regularly, so it truly is time it was restored and updated.

So quite a few wonderful memories from the kitchen… so many more that I’ve lost in time.

I wish that the thought of a formula scrapbook had been around when I was just a kid.

Recipe scrapbooks is usually given to brothers, daughters, cousins, children or just about anyone. An 8.5×11 scrapbook works perfectly here inside the US and Canada and might be printed on any standard printer. They are large sufficient to hold a 3×5 index card, a couple of photos and the journaled memories you generate. You possibly can also use an 8×8 scrapbook and have the recipes bound in a square format.

I think it really is a fantastic mix to combine your photos and recipes. Digital scrapbook templates are ideal for this. For example, combine a group spouse and children photo from your reunion on the beginning of the album with a signature page from everybody inside the photograph. This is really a good way to begin off the album prior towards the index page. If you’ve asked for recipes from all the loved ones members in attendance, put a photo of the formula submitter on that formula page with the recipe for the opposite page. I like to put a photo and a lined journaling page for memories about the left with the formula, instructions and photo on the finished item or on the cooking fun for the suitable.

Here’s another fantastic tip I picked up from my wife’s sister… assist your reader out by having a shopping list in the bottom of each formula or for the back of the formula cards that you simply use. You may also would like to consider putting the actual recipe on one scrapbook recipe book page and placing the shopping lists separately inside back or on the end of every section.

Note: While using formula cards is fantastic so that you simply can remove them and take them right along towards the market… my personal experience has shown that cards get lost from time to time. They also add bulk to what is already a bulky cookbook scrapbook. I’ve found that having the list printed on the bottom of every single page makes it simple to copy down when necessary and much easier to combine common ingredients for multiple dishes.

Yet another household formula scrapbook tip is to develop a bit of history with your recipes. If adding recipe’s handed down for generations or from a family member which is no longer living, you may possibly want to have the photo’s about the left, the recipe for the suitable page, and a bit a lot more of history info for the author on a 3rd page with even additional photographs. Most scrapbooks are really expandable, in particular the digital scrapbooks, so there is room for many pages in 1 album.

If needed, break the spouse and children formula scrapbook into volumes by food type or sides in the family tree.

Nearly all cookbooks have a measurement chart and conversion table in them, so when producing a recipe scrapbook album, it really is a good thought to add this information to either the back or the front index.

Besides loved ones reunions, formula scrapbook albums are the excellent gift for a new bride, particularly if the recipe’s comes from her husband’s side with the loved ones with his favorite dishes he grew up with.

Whether the family formula scrapbook is for you, for your loved ones or for a new bride strugling to cook for her new husband. The a single ingredient that will make it worth it really is weight in gold are the memories you safely record inside.

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TheStair lifts are easy to install and the least expensive of the Accessibility for multi-level residences. Why use the existing structure of the scale, the cost is much lower than that required for other options, the extensive reconstruction. Also, go on virtually every other stair.

When you install a stair lift, you should expect to pay between $ 2500 and $ 4000 for a "pure", stairlifts, which means that, without a ladder straight matchesCurves in it. If the existing staircase is curved, the price is fairly expensive, around the curve of the stairs, and cost between $ 5,000 and $ 20,000. This is because the installation is much more complex. Also, do not know the final price before the scale actually inspected the site by the supplier, who then will provide.

Stair lifts come with four types of units. Most use a rack and pinion.

Another species, the drive cableSystem uses a strong steel cable to operate. Aircraft cable is often used. This type of propulsion system has its drawbacks, which will drive themselves are not as smooth as with other species. But improvements in technology, this type of unit type in a smoother ride. Two types of stair lifts that such units are used Ameriglide and Summit.

For the heavy models may, chain drive systems are used. But you can be strong and are not usually used for residentialSetup.

Finally, the lives of a freight elevator that has an actuator screw. It draws its power from a rechargeable battery. However, this is not usually in residential models are used, either.

Most residential systems use a straight-pinion drive system. Rack and pinion systems have equipment and teeth. Necessary at a time to regularly clean and replace the transmission fluid. But today's systems usually require no maintenance.

Railtrack system, or to use the stairs themselves, and not the wall. A track can be mounted on both sides of the stairs, and that's what gets the chair very long.

Former AC systems used. However, today's systems use 12-volt DC battery. These are generally preferable, because you do not need a cable tow, how to use AC-powered stair lift. Also, the batteries can also work with power outages. In some states, a qualifiedTechnician must install, so make sure you know what your needed, before you try to install itself.

All designs stairlifts offer a choice between a 90-degree swivel seat or a 180-degree swivel seat, and you can choose, depending on needs. And many in these days come with integrated circuits that "self-diagnosis" of problems, which may therefore reduce the cost of maintenance.

Sure, the technology has improved a point where you no longer needCheck your house, just because you can not get around easily as before.

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South Korea | 2003 | Directed by Chan-wook Park

Logline: An ordinary man is kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, then suddenly released, confused and bewildered, only to be informed he must find his captor in five days.

“Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.”

Adapted for the screen from a Manga comic, Oldboy is a tour-de-force of cinematic storytelling, a stunning darkly poetic vision of identity and revenge. It is not for the prudish, nor is it for the squeamish, as it burns itself onto your weary retina and scalds itself through your tender skin like a nightmare dream of grotesque beauty.

It is the middle installment in the director’s revenge trilogy (after Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and before Kindhearted Ms Guem-Jar AKA Lady Vengeance); however its story is completely self-contained. It begins part-way through its story, and later we return to this scene, and it the movie finishes amidst the alpine pine and snow of New Zealand’s magisterial Southern Alps.

Min-sik Choi is brilliant as the tortured soul Dae-su Oh, an ordinary businessman who is abducted and held prisoner for fifteen years, never once meeting his kidnappers. Then as swiftly as he was first abducted, he’s released. The world has changed, and so has Dae-su. But he has a mission bursting inside of him. Along the way he meets a young bartender, Mi-do (Hye-Jeoung Kang), who takes pity on his plight and desperate quest, only to find herself slipping in over her head (as much as Dae-su is drowning in the deep end of a dark mystery).

Woo-jin Lee (Ji-tae Yu, quietly exceptional) is the mystery man, the man who seems to hold the answers to Dae-su’s questions, but not without running a gauntlet. Dae-su finds himself in a predicament with only five days to solve the reasoning of his imprisonment. Dae-su realizes he must plunder the past to uncover the truth. But some truths cut deeper than lies.

“Like the gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like the bird from the hand of the fowler, free yourself.”

Everything about Oldboy is beautifully constructed and executed; from the production design and art direction (at times highly stylised), to the editing and music. There are extreme moments (eating the live octopus) and scenes of graphic violence (most of which happens off-screen), but there’s a controlled chaos, a deliberate sense of order and symmetry. Oldboy ricochets with a fierce intelligence, despite its perverse machinations.

You can’t help but be impressed with a movie as provocative as this; both sensually and viscerally. A sense of humour exudes, oily and gleaming, glistening and congealing like the crimson blood spilled on the pristine marble floor of the villain’s penthouse. But just who is the villain and who is the hero? Who is the victim and who is the culprit? The character shades are grey like the timber wolf stalking the rabbit in the snow.

In 2004 Oldboy won the Jury Grand Prize at Cannes, was nominated for the Palm D’Or, and won Best Film at the renowned Sitges Festival in Spain. In its home country festival, the Grand Bell Awards it won Best Actor (Min-sik Choi), Best Director, Best Lighting, Best Music, and Best Editing. It went on to win a further ten international festival awards and another ten nominations. Supposedly Hollywood is looking to remake the movie with Will Smith in the lead. I can’t imagine anything more incongruous.

Oldboy’s thematic treatment of vengeance suggests that revenge is a dish best left uneaten as it will only destroy everything. No one escapes unscathed; the collateral damage wrought by the wrath of vengeance is wickedly cruel. Cruelty, indeed, is a significant element within Oldboy. Irony, too, casts a long dark shadow. While the serenity of the movie’s final sequence in the snow only reinforces the tragedy of the tale; a tragedy borne from the double-edged sword of a reckless adolescent desire.

US TRAILER:

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A wheelchair stair lift differs greatly from a conventional model. But first, let’s get one thing clear; we’re talking about inclined ones. This type travels up and down stairs – unlike vertical wheelchair lifts that resemble an elevator.

A regular stair lift consists of a chair that moves along a track. The track is always mounted on the stair tread and not on the wall. An inclined one consists of a platform that moves along a track. Because of size and weight considerations, the track is always mounted on the wall. Also, the platform of a wheelchair unit is considerably larger than the seat of a conventional model therefore the stairway must be wide.

So before even looking at a Stannah wheelchair stair lift you must first satisfy two conditions; are your stairs wide enough to accommodate the width of it and platform, and are your stairs against a load bearing wall. If the answer to either of these two questions is no then a wheelchair stair lift is not the answer to your problem.

They currently offer two stair lifts; the Stairiser SX for straight stairs and the Stairiser CR for curved or turned stairs.

Some of the key features you get with both of these models are;

1. Is easily operated using simple control by the user or companion.

2. The platform automatically folds away or in to position when required.

3. Barrier arms and platform lock down before the platform moves.

4. Sensors will immediately stop the stair lift when any obstruction is encountered.

5. The platform can be accessed either from the front or the side – the side flaps lock and secure the wheels when the platform moves.

Unlike some wheelchair stair lift companies, Stannah don’t custom make the platform. This would be the best option, however you are offered a choice of four platform sizes; 750mm x 900mm, 810mm x 1050mm, 810mm x 1200mm and 810mm x 1250mm. So these platforms should accommodate just about all wheelchairs.

Installation can be surprisingly quick. A Stannah unit can be installed in as little as one day for straightforward situations; however you should expect the installation to take far longer than this if you have a curved stairway – sometimes many weeks.

The price of one from Stannah – or from any other company – is going to be expensive. An on site inspection is required before the cost can be given.

All in all, a wheelchair stair lift is not a viable for the vast majority of wheelchair users, which is a shame. However, if you’re one of the lucky few then this is one model should take a look at. But, as buying anything else, shop around and get the best one for your needs.

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One major problem is still access for wheelchair users in some areas of daily use, here are some tips and advice to help you> Wheelchair to all possible areas.

Around the house, some of the challenges, the problems wheelchair to stand up and face down the stairs because it can be difficult to carry such heavy equipment especially in view of physical disability. There are two ways to improve the situation: (1) E 'possible to construct an elevator large enough to accommodate wheelchairs or (2) a special device on the side of the track, which can be raised to allow wheelchair attachedelectrically and transported upward or downward by the push of a button. Most people prefer the latter as this is a more convenient and less expensive way.

The bathroom is the place to nest is necessary to change the access for riders in wheelchairs. The usual problem is transferred from the door of the bathroom and bathtub. Dedicated tracks are specially for these areas, if necessary. You can build next to the toilet and the bathtub, and the disabled person may be the torso or upper body and Limbs to move in the neighborhood, this can be done easily and is a great help for those in wheelchairs.

Another problem could be access to wheelchairs outside the boundaries of the safety of their homes. Compared to the conditions inside the home, where you can freely change the environment to a need, the environment outside the home can be a variety of situations and conditions that an obstacle to mobility and provide Suit> Access for wheelchairs.

To help in this regard, access for wheelchair users is now a requirement in all cities, like the sidewalks have to be leveled on each side, supermarkets and department stores have wheelchair access from parking to the aisles and cash registers . Most public buildings, the stairwells in order to access must also be a ramp for wheelchairs for easy access they have. All these changes have been made to meet and consider the needs ofPeople with disabilities.

A final problem arises, however, in areas not accessible to disabled people at all available. Even if the places more accessible to disabled people, as a legal requirement, there are some who have not, and sometimes you can not avoid situations where you must use one of these places, too. Perhaps the best way, is in this environment to ensure access to aid, or request the services are provided, if you ask.

With greater awareness,The world today is increasingly friendly to wheelchairs and nearly all are happy to help and / or to be happy, right on the next best solution, even a ride through the online service or Internet access, where it all with one click Access on a finger.

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USA/France | 2005 | Directed by Tommy Lee Jones

Logline: A ranch foreman honours the final Mexican burial wishes of his murdered best friend and makes sure the man responsible, an arrogant and reckless Border Patrolman, is held accountable.

It’s curious how a respected actor decides he needs to try his hand at directing, gets a feature made, and never makes another, even though his efforts are incredibly impressive. I can think of three great examples, all of them dealing with violence, alienation and the troubled soul: Gary Oldman’s Nil By Mouth, Tim Roth’s The War Zone, and this movie, written directly for the screen by Guillermo Arriaga, originally in Spanish (which Tommy Lee Jones then translated into English, yet retained the title and chapter cards in dual English-Spanish).

Tommy Lee Jones plays Pete, the aging rancher, whose cowboy buddy, Melquiades (Julio César Cedillo) , an illegal immigrant, finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time; trying to kill a loitering coyote, and is subsequently shot dead by a livewire gringo, Mike Norton (Barry Pepper), who mistakenly thinks he’s been shot at. Pete makes it his duty to ensure Mel is given a proper burial, and that means exhuming his body from the hasty job ordered by dodgy sheriff Belmont (Dwight Yokam), dragging his killer along for the dangerous journey across the border to find Mel’s original homestead as a form of punishment.

There is much to savour in this languid, but compelling narrative. Although an original screenplay, it unfolds with the subtleties and richness of a novel. There are several stories being told. The three burials of Melquiades Estrada might be the title and the main story, but there several peripheral tales that interweave, even characters that slide in and out of the main story arc, that bristle and perspire with elusive significance.

The Border Patrolman’s bored and restless wife, Lou Ann (January Jones), who dances between the sheets with Mel, the sly and mischievous waitress at the local restaurant, Rachael (Melissa Leo), who’s having affairs with both Belmont and Pete, the blind gringo in the middle of the desert, the Mexicans who tend to Mike’s snakebite, there’s Mel’s estranged wife (or is she?), and I’m compelled to mention the stunningly beautiful Lorena (Elena Hurst), the Mexican girl and her papa whose cart is stuck, but whose only scene was deleted.

Three Burials is a deep, dark morality tale, a parable of ethics and conscience, of humanity and inhumanity. The movie is infused with a stark and raw poetry, not unlike the Western “legends” of director Sam Peckinpah. Tommy Lee Jones handles the directorial duties with consummate ease (curiously, Luc Besson was one of the movie’s producers), added by superb cinematography from British cameraman Chris Menges, and a melancholic score from Marco Beltrami.

The narrative drifts like the sands of time, is quietly punctuated by four “chapters” (The First Burial, The Second Burial, The Journey, The Third Burial), but finishes with frayed edges, despite the quixotic journey having brought the two disparate men – the old man of the land and the young man of the law – to a mutual understanding of each other’s purpose and contrition. The performances of the entire cast are consummate (as is always the case when a skilled actor steps behind the camera).

That’s not to say the movie is without a sense of humour, albeit wry and cracked, like the leathery pocked skin of Pete’s weathered mug, or blackened like the petrified hide of Melquiades’ mask. There is a distinctly morbid odour that lingers over this tale, yet never pungent enough to warrant wrinkling your nose; instead you turn your head to admire the desert flower that’s blossomed from the nearby cactus, and count your blessings; there is good in the world as there is bad, death walks in the shadow of life, while love keeps life on its toes.

TRAILER:

Three Burials DVD ( two-disc edition) is courtesy of Madman Entertainment, many thanks

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Elevator that will help you every day tasks dynamically, with fewer obstacles to the path. It may also be useful for those who travel frequently, but with problems of disability. Can be mounted in any position, without the disadvantages in some way.

Careful planning shouldexercised if you are lifting a laptop to have any chance improving access for disabled people. Here are some useful guidelines in choosing a lift by hand:

1. The producer is an important factor when buying this book. The quality of a lift, depends on the producers. Look around websites or bazaars to make products lifting quality.

2. After the standard ADA is a plus to ensure that the car has passed a good qualityInspection. In addition, make sure you provide in dealing with suppliers or contractors with a good reputation in the industry that you buy disability equipment, which corresponds to a standard qualified.

3. First floor, if you are a lift for electric wheelchairs or use the book of hydraulics. If you have the budget, it is advisable to purchase a hydraulic lift. It 'too bad for the purse, but it's worth the long term.

4. There must be a capacity of 300-500Ibs. inFor each lift in each weight.

5. Mild function of a portable wheelchair lift is that, considering what, so you should always transfer.

6. If you plan to have a type of electric drive, they're considering a purchase, backup battery, so if the electricity goes out, you can still have easy access around the world.

7. There should be an engineering project and materials for specialized aluminum railings and platforms. Note thatlift with a wheelchair and lasting could last for years.

Here are some guidelines for the purchase of a lift for mobility. I hope you can find one that is right for your family. Repair of a portable lift is not very stressful for your budget. Some manufacturers of elevators repair at no cost.

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