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Here we have the Brother TN-540 toner cartridge which has been
around since May of 2004. This toner is designed to fit into the
Brother HL-5150 printer which is based a 21 page per minute and
1200 dots per inch LaserJet engine.

This engine is actually and upscale to the HL-1240, using the
TN-460 cartridge. The primary difference is that the toner from
the TN-460 toner is not engineered to be used in the TN-540
neither the TN 570 cartridge. Yet, the print engines share
similar foundations.

The TN-540 is the low yield cartridge and the TN-570 is the high
yield cartridge for the following Brother LaserJet printer
models:

*DCP-8040 *DCP-8045D *HL-5130 *HL-5140 *HL-5150D *HL-5150DLT
*HL-5170DNLT *MFC-8220 *MFC-8440 *MFC-8840D *MFC-8840DN

This TN-540 cartridge will yield up to 3,500 pages when printing
at 5% coverage on A4 - Letter sized paper. The TN-570 toner
cartridge will yield up to 6,700 pages when printing at 5%
coverage on the same paper as the TN-540.

Let’s get straight to the point, no beating around the bush
during this lecture.

First, you will need the necessary Tools & Supplies Required:

Tools & Supplies Required:

*#1 Phillips Head Screwdriver (tool) *Phillips Head Jeweler’s
Screwdriver (tool) *Small Flat Blade Screwdriver (tool)
*Lint-free Cotton Cloths (supply) *Toner Magnetic Cloths
(supply) *White Lithium Grease (supply)

Below are your 22 easy steps to know how to remanufacture your
Brother TN 540 and TN 570 toner cartridges.

Here you will also be provided with the OEM information part
numbers;

Part #’s:

*TN-540 (low yield) *TN-570 (high yield)

Step-by-Step “How-to-Remanufacture the Brother TN-540/570″
Instructions:

Step #1:

*First thing first, vacuum the outside part of the cartridge,
removing any excess toner. Simply remove the fill plug which is
located on the bottom left hand side of the cartridge itself.
Deposit the excess toner and vacuum out the cartridge. Be sure
that the gear area is spotless. If you leave any toner in the
teeth of the gears, it may ruin it and could create a clicking
noise. You are better of suing compressed air which will get the
job done cleaner and faster. Just keep your hand over the gears
so no dust particles get in there.

Step #2:

*The side with no gear, where the static roller is, take off the
black spring loaded plastic axle.

Step #3:

*Find the three tabs on the static roller end plate and remove
them gently.

Step #4:

*Back to the gear side, remove the two screws that are holding
the cover plate and remove the cover plate at that point.

Step #5:

*Gently remove the plastic axle.

Step #6:

*Now take off the e-ring and small gear.

Step #7:

*As for the doctor blade side of the static roller, there will
be another small plate. It’s located on the end of the roller
and inside the plastic wall of the cartridge.

Step #8:

*From the outside wall, locate a small, round hole. With your
pointer finger, press the round tab located inside the hole. As
you’re pressing in, turn the plate up so that the plate and
roller are absolutely free.

Step #9:

*You should now be able to remove the static roller assembly.

Step #10:

*Using your air compressed vacuum, clean the doctor blade and
foam feed roller. It’s not recommended removing the doctor blade
because you may disturb the static roller felt seals which are
delicate. Once a new blade is on hand, your special care will be
needed since you do not want to tear the seals. This would end
up causing a leak in the cartridge. The doctor blade is easily
cleaned, all you have to do is blow off the excess toner dust
and wipe it down with your lint-free cloth. Please make sure you
don’t leave any lint behind.

Step #11:

*Time for inspection! Carefully inspect the magnetic roller
felts. If they are compressed (shiny), then use a small
screwdriver to tighten them.

Step #12:

*Now you need to clean your gears, make sure that the
fine-toothed gears have no toner on them. This is a good time to
check that the gears have enough grease on them. If for some
reason the shafts appear dry or the grease is contaminated with
toner, you need to clean both the inside of the gear and the
shaft.

Step #13:

*Again, clean the static roller with a lint-free cloth. Do not
use the chemicals to clean the roller. A nice dry, clean,
non-smelly cloth will work just fine.

Step #14:

*Re-install the static roller inside the end plate first. The
inside plate needs to be rotated so that it locks in place.

Steps #15 and #16:

*You have to install the small outside end plate and both the
spring-loaded white axle and non-spring axle.

Steps #17, #18, & #19:

*It’s about that time; you can now install the static roller
gear, e-ring, and white axle. Make sure all the other gears are
meshing properly.

Step #20:

*Then, install the gear cover plate and its two screws.

Step #21:

*Finally, you can fill the cartridge with Brother 5150 black
toner - 140 grams for the TN-540 (TN-3030) and as for the TN-570
it uses 200 grams of toner (TN-3060).

Step #22:

*At last, you can replace the fill plug. I also recommend
cleaning down the toner cartridges in case there is any left
over toner dust.

Step #23:

*Test the cartridge. For this cartridge model, there are no
reset fuses or procedures the Brother TN-540 or the TN-570.

Congratulations! You’ve now just completed your Brother
TN540/570 cartridge put together project. This information is
provided to you to both educate and improve your knowledge in
the technical area within the remanufacturing industry.

Procuring a diamond engagement ring is one of most important
pre-marriage events for you and your fiancé. The whole process
can be very confusing, with “X” dollars as the budget -

* What to buy? A large diamond or a smaller one with better
quality.

* How to assess the color?

* How to assess the cut?

* What is a solitaire? Should you buy one?

The following factors and suggestions can be considered before
you make a purchase:

1. Try and educate yourself before you go to buy a diamond,
especially on the color, clarity, cut and carat factors. Do a
little of window shopping to get to know the current styles and
designs.

2. A diamond’s cut is the most important factor to be considered
since it affects the diamond’s cost, beauty and durability. The
diamond’s sparkle depends upon its cut, since it changes the
refractivity of the diamond. Thin cuts make lifeless diamonds. A
well cut diamond can fetch upto twice the actual value of the
stone. A wrong or faulty cut can make or break the diamond.

3. Clarity as commonly believed does not affect the sparkle of
the diamond. Clarity does not have any effect on beauty of the
diamond.

4. Diamonds cost more when purchased in full carat values. A
diamond of 0.9 carat costs mush less than a diamond of 1 carat
and a diamond of 1.9 carats costs much lesser than a diamond of
1.9 carats and so on. Choosing a diamond of 0.9 or 1.9 carats
would be a great way to get value for money.

5. While choosing the size, look to alternate shapes rather than
a round one. A round diamond tends to look smaller. Oval or pear
shaped diamonds of the same carat value look bigger than the
round ones.

6. Choose a design that has more number of smaller stones in
good setting. They tend to cost less.

7. Considerations of color can be set aside when you set the
diamond in white gold or platinum. A colorless diamond can be
very expensive, so choose the base metal according to the color
of the stone.

A diamond as generally believed need not be flawless. A flaw
does not decrease its value or beauty. If a diamond is properly
cut, flaws will not be visible. For that matter, nothing ever is
perfect.

Despite a host of varieties available, diamond engagement rings
always makes your fiancée the happiest.

Are you looking to buy a life insurance policy? Well, be
careful. Life insurance can be difficult to understand and it’s
easy to be conned into buying something under false pretenses.

Recently a prominent life insurance company together with
several of its agents paid a huge fine because it permitted the
sale of a life insurance policy disguised as a retirement plan.
There was little attention given to what a life insurance policy
is truly designed to provide.

Life insurance is not an investment for your benefit. It’s
guaranteed income tax-free cash paid to someone you designate in
the event of your death. If you deeply care for someone and want
to protect them, then buying a life insurance policy makes sense.

As primary bread winner in your family, your lost income could
jeopardize the ability of those you love to continue to enjoy
their standard of living.

The only way to guarantee an immediate replacement of this money
is with the intelligent purchase of a life insurance policy.

Notice I didn’t say term life insurance, low cost life
insurance, or whole life insurance.

To your loved ones … this doesn’t really matter.

Over the years I’ve delivered millions of dollars of life
insurance benefit to the families of deceased bread winners. And
you know what?

No one ever asked me what type of life insurance policy it was.
They were just extremely grateful to get the money.

Term is the cheapest, but it’s unlikely the death benefit will
be paid since the life insurance policy will probably lapse
before you actually die. Right now the premium may seem cheap
compared with other types. But what happens when you’re older?

Term life insurance premiums can be level for a specific number
of years, but when that number of years is up the price will
skyrocket to a point you won’t be able or willing to pay.

Whole life insurance provides a lifetime level premium until the
policy is literally paid-up. This could be 10, 20 years … or
when you reach age 65, 85 or 100. One big advantage is you don’t
have to worry about your policy expiring before you do.

One type of life insurance policy is not necessarily better than
another. But it’s critical you understand what you are buying,
how it works and your net cost.

After all, if the policy isn’t in force when you die you have
thrown your premium dollars right down a rat hole.

By the way, don’t fall for that line about buy term and invest
the difference. Anyone who cons you with this bunch of malarkey
has absolutely no idea how to intelligently evaluate the
purchase of life insurance.

An excellent life insurance policy to consider is universal
life. This is the type of policy that guarantees the death
benefit up to age 115 regardless of the performance of the
underlying investment.

Although more expensive then term life insurance, universal life
is far less costly than a typical whole life insurance policy.
But be careful because some universal life policies are sold by
focusing on projected interest rates rather than contractual
guarantees.

If you are considering the purchase of a whole life insurance
policy from a mutual company that declares annual dividends, ask
the agent for a hypothetical illustration using a dividend
forecast at least one percent less the current rate.

In the past when long-term interest rates were higher, mutual
companies credited very handsome dividends to their policies.
But today with long-term rates still depressed, it’s unlikely a
life insurance policy will perform as illustrated.

In summary, pay close attention to the guarantees of whatever
life insurance policy you decide to buy. Also, make sure you
know the credit rating of the life insurance company.

There is nothing wrong with term life insurance, but understand
your options about converting to a permanent plan. This could be
critical if you become uninsurable before the policy expires.

Remember, you may never get a second chance to make the right
decision.

The “rule against perpetuities” is often described as one of the most complicated legal rules ever!

It’s origin stems from the days of feudal England - some say as early as 1680 - when landowners often tried to control the use and disposition of property beyond the grave - a concept often referred to as control by the “dead hand.”

The rule against perpetuities was intended to prevent people from tying up property - both real and personal - for generation after generation. In feudal England, the practice was to put land in trust in perpetuity, with succeeding generations living off the land without actually owning it. The catalyst for this practice was the avoidance of certain taxes which were being levied upon the transfer of land upon the death of the owner. Perpetual trusts avoided the tax, but many people argue that the practice had the deleterious effect of concentrating large amounts of wealth among a few members of society.

The rule against perpetuities, then, was designed to insure that some person would actually own the land within a reasonable period of time after the death of the transferor. To accomplish that result, the rule stated that no interest in property would be valid unless it could be shown that the interest would vest, if at all, no later than 21 years after some life in being at the creation of the interest.

Although the rule appears to be straightforward, it has become one of the most complicated legal rules for this reason: the rule requires, with absolute certainty, that an interest in property will vest no later than 21 years after some life in being at the creation of the interest. If there is any possibility that the interest will not vest during that period, then the gift fails ab initio, i.e. from the time the document creating the interest takes effect. For wills, it is the time of the Testator’s death. For trusts, it is the time the transaction is complete.

Let’s consider a few examples illustrating the application of this rule:

1. John’s will provides that Land A is to be given to the first child of Joseph to reach the age of 21. If Joseph is to have any children at all, they certainly will reach the age of 21 within 21 years after Joseph’s death. Therefore, the gift does not violate the rule against perpetuities.

2. John’s will provides that Land A is to be given to the first child of Joseph to marry. The gift is void under the rule against perpetuities because (a) it is possible that Joseph will have children during his lifetime and (b) if he does, there is no certainty that any of them will marry within 21 years after Joseph’s death.

3. John’s living trust states that, upon his death, his friend Mary has the right to live in his house for her life, then the house is given to Mary’s oldest child. The measuring period is Mary’s life, plus 21 years. Since the gift to Mary’s oldest child will vest, if at all, immediately upon Mary’s death, the gift does not violate the rule against perpetuities.

4. John’s living trust states that, upon his death, his cottage in Vermont will go to the first member of his boy scout troop to earn the eagle rank. The gift is void under the rule against perpetuities because it is possible that no one will earn the eagle rank from his boy scout troop during the lives in being at the time of John’s death, plus 21 years. For one thing, the troop may cease to exist before anyone reaches that rank.

The complexity of the rule against perpetuities is further evidenced by the problem of the unborn widow. Suppose that John, from our examples above, wants to give his property to his son, Joseph, and Joseph’s wife, and then to their children.

The provision in John’s trust or will would look something like this:

To Joseph for life, then to his wife for life, then to Joseph’s children.
This is a reasonable gift upon John’s death, yet it violates the rule against perpetuities.

Let’s suppose that Joseph was married, but had no children, at the time of John’s death. This would mean that Joseph and his wife are Lives in Being. If Joseph’s wife were to die or if Joseph and his wife divorced and if Joseph remarried to someone who was born after John’s death, then Joseph’s new wife could not be a life in being. As such, she could outlive Joseph by more than 21 years and so the transfer to Joseph’s children after the death of Joseph’s wife would be outside the measuring period, thereby violating the rule against perpetuities.

Now suppose that Joseph was not married at the time of John’s death and that Joseph got married afterward. Again, Joseph’s wife would not be a life in being for purposes of applying the rule - and, it’s possible that she could outlive Joseph by more than 21 years, thereby preventing Joseph’s children from vesting in the property within the measuring period.

If you think that the rule against perpetuities is something that does not apply to you, think again. If you have a will or a trust that provides for a contingent beneficiary in the event something happens to the primary beneficiary, the rule against perpetuities comes into play. For this reason, if you have a will or a trust, it probably has a clause addressing this rule. Most are simply entitled, “Rule against Perpetuities.”

In the last few years, many states have moved to either modify the rule or abolish it all together. Part of the reason, of course, is owing to the complexity of the rule itself. But, there is also a growing trend in the country to remove any barriers to the accumulation and perpetuation of wealth, which the rule against perpetuities has been steadfast against for over three hundred years.

With several states abolishing the rule against perpetuities altogether, we now see the rise of estate planning vehicles designed specifically to perpetuate wealth from generation to generation. We’ll take a look at one of the more popular of those vehicles next time.

Next time: the “dynasty trust.”

Attorney Michael Pancheri is a practicing attorney and the founder and CEO of the Living Trust Network. You may contact him by email at info@livingtrustnetwork.com.

You may also contact him at the Living Trust Network’s web site. Its URL is http://www.livingtrustnetwork.com

Copyright 2005. The Living Trust Network, LLC.

One thing is for sure…the Bible is not child friendly. Actually, if you really know the book, Old and New, you will have to admit that small children must not have been much a part of the culture. The first humans were the first parents, Adam and Eve, not the first children so I imagine they have no good childhood memories. Well actually they have none since they never were children. Their kids, Cain and Abel come on the scene pretty much full grown. No pleasant times frolicking in the Garden of Eden.

They actually show up just in time to have Cain murder his brother and get himself booted out of the Garden by God afraid of those who don’t exist killing him, go figure. Seth comes along, pretty much fully grown too. We certainly get no hint that this family every had picnics, hugs or good memories of being glad they had each other. The grown kids marry, who knows who, must be sisters that weren’t worth mentioning who also only show up as full grown women having babies by brothers. Ewwwwwww, but that’s the alternative since they had no girls or boys next door to get their attention. There was no next door. Incest was a necessary thing, so say literalists, until they got enough humans on the planet to marry mere cousins and then people you eventually figured you weren’t related to, but were.

The main heroes of the Old Testament were adults, who in some cases were given remarkable birth and childhood mythologies to show how great an adult they really were. Often stories from previous or surrounding cultures were borrowed for the baby to show what an amazing adult he was. You know, Abe Lincoln was never really a kid until he was a famous adult. Then we find he was so darn honest as a kid, studied by the light of one lone candle by night but did succeed in not being born of a virgin as we might not have taken that all that seriously. You never heard that the child called George Washington, “could not tell a lie,” until he was famous. No one waits at the hospital for famous baby to be born. The stories of remarkable children always come when the adult becomes remarkable. After all, remarkable adults must have had remarkable childhoods. This is how Moses, David and Jesus are portrayed, but any idea that we are seeing the lives of real children is illusionary. Amazing adults are pretty ordinary kids I would imagine, unless you are Bible Times adults.

We read about grown armies killing “men, women and children,” but that’s just a sanitation problem and incidental to the great exloits of Israel obeying the Loving Heavenly Father. Sometimes the children get murdered in the womb or special attention is paid to the fact that their heads were smashed against the wall. Nice touch there. Sometimes they get sacrificed as in the case or near case of Abraham and Isaac. Great story of childhood ala Bible times. Even though it worked out ok, according the script, I imagine Isaac was no longer interested in following Dad into the hills for weekend campouts. He prolly wondered what nonesense Dad was into now and passed choosing rather to hid under the table until Dad fell asleep

Here are some of the Bible’s greatest childhood hits…

Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod [sceptre], he shall not die.

– Proverbs 23:13 (AV)

This is really good to know. Beating them was fine and dandy and it doesn’t say spank. It says beat with a rod! Hit with a stick. Bash with a hoe. Smash with a sceptre. The reason is because “it won’t kill them.” Whew…good news there.

Execute stubborn kids

If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son … Then shall his father and his mother … bring him out unto the elders of his city … And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die.

– Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (AV)

Whoa! Excellent! No attempt to encourage or find out why this might be occuring in the child’s life. Prolly is the parents beating him all the time with rods, knowing full well he won’t die. He might be mentally ill, but we can attribute that to demons and not take any personal responsibility. The Bible is not big on understanding how one way of being leads to other ways of being or how abuse leads to mental illness. It’s all about Dad. It’s all about the parents. It’s really never about the kids.

Kids killed for mocking hero

Some small boys came out of the city and jeered at [the prophet Elisha], saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” And … he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.

– II Kings 2:23-24 (RSV)

Well that should teach them. Of course the kids were making fun of Elisha’s boss who was taken up in a fiery chariot and thought Elisha should give it a try. I sense they were skeptical the first rapture happened. At least, they seem not to have been convinced so as not to make fun of the man who took over after the boss left rather abruptly.

God orders child sacrifice

God did tempt Abraham, … And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest … and offer him there for a burnt offering…

– Genesis 22:1-2 (AV)

Oh I know, God didn’t really mean it. He was just joshin Abe, but in those days, God’s didn’t Josh. If you asked God if he loved children, like WC Fields, He would have said, “If they are properly cooked.” Kids just had no value and certainly no say in the fantascies of their adult parents.

Daughter: a burnt offering

Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return … will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” … and the Lord gave them into his hands…. When Jephthah returned to his home…, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! And he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

– Judges 11:30-32, 34, 39 (NIV)

So in come his sweetie, Biblical Ipod blaring and pow! “Sorry Sarah, I had a chat with God and told him if I got to win as a Bible man needs to win…well…just follow me. I’ll explain it on the way.” Of course, Mom just said, “Sarah, do as your father says. Love ya!” Later that night as Jephthah and Mrs. J held each other gently in bed, the both thought back on how the Lord had blessed them even though it had been a difficult day.

I have always been inspired and informed by these two examples of what it was like being a young Bible Times girl.

Woman must marry rapist

If a man [meets] a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her … He must marry the girl … He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

– Deuteronomy 22:28-29 (NIV)

A marriage literally made in heaven! “Ok, I raped you. You want to kill me. You must marry me…me who raped you and we are stuck forever or they will cut both our heads off. Kiss me and act like you mean it.”

Virgin women are war booty

“Have you allowed all the women to live?” he [Moses] asked them…. “Now … kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.”

– Numbers 31:1-18 (NIV)

“So you like women do you….caught you, caught you! Ok, check out these sweet things _________. If it is not intact, kill the _________. If she is pure and new…keep her for your pleasure and enjoy boys. “I, the Lord, through my Servant Moses, the most meek man on the planet, decree it.” Uh huh.

Lets see…New Testament kids that got into the story…

There would be demon possessed ones that Jesus heals. There would be kids that were dead that Jesus and few of the skilled Apostles resurrected, and of course Jesus himself, who had an amazing birth because he was an amazing adult. We have some great stories of Jesus killing some of his playmates for mocking him, but those books didn’t make the cut. Oh yes, we have the infants slaughtered by Herod as Mary and family slipped out of town smirking “I know something you don’t know,” at her neighbors with small children. I know some adults were called “children of the Devil,” so that counts I suppose and false churches were called whores but those would be older kids.

No, kids don’t make out so good in the Bible. They are used, abused, disowned, fried, burnt, slapped, kicked, hit, beat, sacrificed, speared, sold, eaten, ignored, marginalized and mauled. The famous ones that make it to adulthood get delievered, Angelic choirs, Kingdoms and babes galore. They get visited by Wise Men, who survived their own childhoods intact but left home as soon as they could, which is why there were called Wise Men. Bible Times were something no kid in his right mind would ever wish to return to. I’m sorry that babies were born in cultures where Bible Times parents were so ignorant of what to do next they just asked the Priests.

There are some kids in this world today who sadly do live in Bible Times. Their parents read the Bible and faithfully follow it’s loving guidelines for childrearing and interpersonal family communications. These kids learn that all they need is “the rod of correction,” or be told, “because we said so that’s why.” The often hear, “God is not going to be happy with you,” or “you might go to hell for that Johnny.” Every week they get to hear the Minister remind parent and child that they must bring up that kid in the way he “should” go, should being relative to whatever the Preacher thinks they should be, so that “when they are old, they will not depart from. it.” Of course most depart long before they are old just to recover and get their minds back in tact. There are American Bible Times Talibanic parents who are soaked in the childrearing techniques of the Bible (see the list above) every week or most every month. God said it, we practice it, that does it for us. Of course, when the child grows up a bit, they will walk and should.

Go get a concordance, or topical Bible and look up “snuggle, kiss, blowbelly, “a boo”, picnic, swimming, hugs, vacation, free time, love you mom, love you dad, love you son, love you sis, sports, college, education, free thinking, respect, reading, children’s literature, Goldilocks, quiet time, caress, self esteem, mental health, smiling, mommy, daddy, bedtime, stuffed animals, puppets, cook out, fishing, zoo, did I say “blowbellies?” …. oh you know, the good words. Good luck… and we’ll keep the flames of Molech on for ya!

Jessica is a competitive runner. She watches what she eats and tries to keep her weight down to help her speed. One night at dinner, when her mother passes the chicken, Jessica says, “No thanks, I’ve decided to become a vegetarian.” Her mother isn’t quite sure how to respond and wonders whether Jessica is only trying to legitimize the exclusion of additional foods from her diet.

Since Paul started middle school, he has been withdrawing from his family in different ways. His family is largely meat and potato eaters; thus, his parents are not pleased when Paul decides to become a vegetarian. His father believes Paul is rejecting their family’s way of eating. Paul’s mother is concerned about the adequacy of his diet, since he is excluding many foods without adding nutritionally equivalent substitutes. She also misses Paul at family meals; he says there’s not much point in joining the family because they eat foods he can’t eat and seeing meat on the table bothers him.

These real-life scenarios of vegetarian teenagers are shared by author and researcher Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, PhD, MPH, RD, in her new book “I’m, Like, SO Fat!”: Helping Your Teen Make Healthy Choices About Eating and Exercise in a Weight-Obsessed World. After conducting one of the largest and most comprehensive studies on eating patterns and weight-related issues in adolescents (www.epi.umn.edu/research/eat), Neumark-Sztainer knows how American teenagers eat. Called Project EAT (Eating Among Teens), the University of Minnesota study was designed to track eating patterns, physical activity, dieting behaviors, and weight concerns of 4,746 adolescents and 900 parents.

Vegetarianism has become a booming nutrition trend over the past few years. Now more than ever, vegetarian families are bringing this once-alternative dietary choice to the attention of mainstream America. Evidence of the progress is everywhere: McDonald’s now offers an array of meatless salads; school lunch programs now offer vegetarian entrees; and meat alternatives, such as tofu, are sold in most supermarkets.

Taking a stand for animal rights by choosing not to eat meat fits well with teenagers wanting to be part of a cause. As they try to sort through their own philosophies on avoiding meat, poultry, or fish, teens may use their newfound food beliefs as a platform to further separate themselves from concerned family members. Many of these teens are looking out for the animal’s health but ironically can easily neglect their own health in the process.

How Many Teens Are Vegetarian?

In 2000, The Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG), a nonprofit group working to educate people about vegetarianism and related issues, conducted a Roper poll on 1,240 youths to track the number of young vegetarians in the United States (www.vrg.org/journal/vj2001jan/2001janteen.htm). They found that 2% of youth aged 6 to 17 never eat meat, fish, or poultry.

More recently, Project EAT found a 4% increase from the Roper poll results, showing that a total of 6% of the teens surveyed said they were vegetarians. The study also found that the first step many teens take on their way to becoming vegetarians is to eliminate red meat from their diet.

Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, coauthor of the American Dietetic Association’s position paper on vegetarianism and nutrition advisor for the VRG, gives feedback on why teens are choosing to become vegetarian. “In my experience, teens become vegetarian because of concerns about animals, the environment, health reasons, and a desire to emulate a peer or a celebrity,” she comments. “I do not feel that more teens are becoming vegetarian because of body image or weight issues than are becoming vegetarian for environmental or animal issues.”

Concerned Parents

So what do parents need to know if they want to raise children on a meatless diet or if a child suddenly announces that he or she is now a vegetarian? To start, parents must be aware of the nutritional needs teenage vegetarians have and how to creatively inspire their teenagers to eat a variety of foods. Finding healthy foods their children genuinely enjoy can go a long way toward ensuring that their children’s nutritional needs are being met. Nutrients that are usually supplied by meat, dairy, and egg products must be worked back into a teen’s diet to meet the recommended dietary allowance for protein, calcium, iron, and vitamin B12.

How concerned are mothers who are already vegetarian? A mother of three and a vegetarian for more than 17 years, Naomi Arens says she would not mind if her children chose a vegetarian diet. She has decided to let her children choose for themselves whether they will avoid meat. “As a mom, my main concern is that my [children’s] diets are not always the most healthful or balanced.… To eliminate a major food group might make it more difficult,” says Arens. “My kids like lots of vegetarian foods, such as tofu, so they would probably do fine.” She admits that in a “fast-food world,” though, eating vegetarian takes more time and planning, which she believes could be difficult for busy families making the switch.

Mangels and her husband are both vegan. “We weren’t going to do anything different for the kids,” she says. “We tend to be a little loose in social situations and tell our daughters when something is likely to contain eggs and allow them to decide whether to eat it.” What her children do eat are beans—veggie baked beans, bean burritos, and beans and rice—and hot dogs and hamburgers made with tofu or other meat substitutes for protein. Fortified juices, soy milk, and supplements provide calcium; one daughter also gets calcium from collards, kale, and broccoli, which the other daughter doesn’t like.

Family Communication Is Key

Communication between parents and teens and the example the parents set matter tremendously. The key to understanding why your child is bent toward this new way of eating is effective communication. Teens watch and listen to their parents, in addition to other influencers such as friends, media, and the Internet. Parents need to stay alert and be aware of their own food-related and body image issues and the messages they are sending to their children. Project EAT found that teens whose parents reported eating more fruits, vegetables, and dairy foods were also more likely to eat more of these foods.

Compromise is the best way for a “nonvegetarian” family to adapt to a vegetarian teen. Parents should develop a plan to include the teen in food preparation or grocery shopping. Don’t change everything—your new vegetarian still needs to come to family meals and take the responsibility for the time it takes to eat and plan vegetarian meals.

According to Project EAT, the most common reason in choosing to not eat meat was to maintain or lose weight. Vegans were not as interested in weight control issues. Lee Kaufman says she did not decide to become a vegetarian as an 18 year old for body image reasons. Rather, her decision was founded entirely in her ethical beliefs. Kaufman quips, “If it didn’t come from a cow, I would love a steak right now!”

Neumark-Sztainer believes that vegetarianism leading to an eating disorder is the exception rather than the rule. She says that those who are already on their way to developing disordered eating behaviors may adopt vegetarianism as an additional strategy for restricting food intake. Ilyse Simon, RD, a private practitioner specializing in disordered eating, agrees, commenting that some of the young girls she counsels who are anorexic have become vegetarians because they kept restricting their food intake.

What Teens Are Up Against

It is estimated that teenagers may be the fastest-growing group of vegetarians and often require special resources and support when their families aren’t supportive of their dietary choice.

Lack of proper nutrition can cause teenage vegetarians to become protein malnourished since the meat is removed from the meal mix. And many teens do not realize that just because a vegetarian diet is lower in fat intake, it doesn’t mean it is lower in calories, especially when sugary desserts and snack foods are chosen.

Another danger is a lack of emotional support, either from parents or peers who may not understand the decision. Even when a teen wants to be a vegetarian, it can still be difficult. Kevin Cummings, a vegetarian since the age of 12 and now in his late 20s, remembers how hard it was in middle and high school—specifically, dealing with ridicule about his vegetarian diet. Sasha Clark, a 16-year-old vegan since birth, says, “The worst part of being vegan used to be the teasing that I got, and some people ‘pitied’ me because I couldn’t eat what they ate. But now that I’m older, I try to use these moments as educational opportunities.” Clark was interviewed by VegFamily on her story of living as a vegan teen. “Today, though,” she says, “I am happy to say that the best part of being vegan is knowing that my diet is contributing not only to my health but also to the well-being of animals and to the good of the environment.”

Creative Vegetarian Snacking

When a vegetarian teen is in the house, it’s time to get creative with the snack list. Have the house stocked with trail mix, popcorn, pizza, bean tacos, bagels, and dried fruits to keep the “ultimate teen snacker” eating well throughout the day with at least four to five mini-meals. Eating out is easier than ever before for vegetarian teens with the presence of Mexican food chains and many local Chinese, Japanese, and Mediterranean restaurants.

The philosophy of vegetarianism mixed with the unpredictable teenage mind will demand creative nutrition education and communication. The goal must be to foster a vegetarian lifestyle in adolescence that the teen can build on throughout young adulthood. Ultimately, their growth into healthy and informed adult vegetarians will someday influence their nutritional choices for their own children.

Kindy Peaslee is a registered dietitian and wants to help your family learn how to identify food and beverage choices that contribute to healthy lifestyles. Look for her recipe Web site for parents, http://www.healthy-kid-recipes.com

Many people consider graphic designing as a costly occupation to deal with, and perhaps you would too if you weren’t aware of these design tricks that can keep your budget at a minimum! Read on to find out how you could save money but still enhance your coloured designs.

For a number of people, one factor that makes a design costly is the need to use numerous colours. Spot colour designs are definitely exciting as process designs; however, extras are needed if you’d want your designs to stand out among others. In this article, along with learning how to save on ink costs, you’ll encounter several useful tricks that can be easily applied to get those stunning designs without burning a hole in your pocket. If you haven’t yet encountered ideas of making one or two colours look like many colors, then this list of tricks is for you!

Here are a few ingenious ideas on how to save money and still maximise the colour on your designs:

1.Overprinting Colours to Create a Third Colour – Here’s a tactic based on a principle you must have learnt in school. Simply follow the principle of mixing colours on canvas to the world of printer technology. The result is simple: once a colour prints over another, a third colour is created. You can use this technique to create a number of colours form a limited number of colours. All you need is a basic understanding of how colours work. You might consider looking up into a color wheel, and then, coordinate your printer well for the desired overprinting results.

2.Your Paper’s Colour as a Third Colour – Technology has surely brought interesting innovations to the world of paper production. We owe many coloured and designed papers to this technology, and wouldn’t it be a waste to let go of simple uses of this technology! By taking advantage of them, you may save a lot simply by having your needed colour already in the paper you are using. Solid papers with a slightly different colour than those with traditional white or cream can bring dazzling results for your printout designs.

3.Tinting Your Colours – You can take advantage of this technique by using a variety of tints on one or two colours you are using. Tinting creates an effect of multiple colours since a 10% of a certain colour is different than 80% of it. You can have about 20 different colours simply by experimenting on colour tints!

4.Duotones - Duotone photographs are those that are printed in two colours only. If you experiment enough with duotones, you might come up with subtle effects similar to sepia tones to colourful poster photos.

5.White Text on Solid or Tinted Boxes – Instead of using a different colour for text that is placed inside a solid or tinted box, try white as your font colour. With this technique, you will also be able to use reverse text sparingly.

6. Although rubber-stamping can be a good way to save money, it is a very time-consuming affair. Use your creative skills to innovate rubber stamps, especially if you’re on a scrap-booking project.

7.Laser foil for Your Laser Printer – Many manufacturers produce and sell foils that could go along very well with your laser printer. A few also sell ones that that you can master copy. Copy the foil and use it with a copier on your inkjet printer. However, keep in mind that this can be a time-consuming piece of work.

8.Stickers and/or coloured foil labels – There are various coloured stickers and foil labels on market that you can use to enhance your printed design output. You can also print text onto coloured or foil labels and then stick them in your printed pieces.

9.Creative Scissors and Punches– Scissors and paper punches with unusual edges can be very useful in your low-budget pursuits as they can give your design that creative edge it might be lacking in the end. The scissors can also prove to be a money-saving alternative to costly die cuts.

Save On Printing Cost With Two Inks
Ever wondered if those black and white photographs in the magazines are really composed of only two colours? You might have if you didn’t notice that the colours are sometimes also closer to brown or pale yellow.
There’s an easy and simple way to create this effect ¾ the duotone process.
Duotone (from the word ‘duo’) simply means two colours. This technique is often used to make monochromatic prints. It is done by adding a colour tint to black and white images. Both black and grey ink are used to smooth out or allocate different colours to specific parts, and increase tonal range from lightest to darkest.

Duotone also covers monotone, tritone and quadtone. Monotone (from the word ‘mono’) refers to images that have only one colour; and while tritone images use three colours, quadtone images contain four colours. Both tritone and quadtone images primarily use the Overprint Colours button. This option allows you to control the interaction of your ink.
To give your image the duotone affect in Photoshop, go to Image, then to Mode, and select Duotone. If you are using RGB or CMYK, you’ll have set your workspace to grayscale first. To do so, select Image > Mode and choose Grayscale.

Next, select Image > Mode > Duotone. A dialog box will appear, which will allow you to select the colours you want.
Open the Colour Picker by clicking on the colour swatch. Then, click on the Custom button. A pop-up menu will open, allowing you to select the colour and type of ink.
If you want to modify your work, simply re-open your Duotone dialog box. To do this, go to Image > Mode > Duotone.
Most commonly used duotone combination includes black and yellow; black and medium-blue; black and cyan; and black and brown.
The duotone technique is often used to make black and white images richer. If you compare grayscale and duotone images, you will notice a difference in the colours. Along with adding the accent colour, Photoshop changes the hue of all the pixels.

When you browse through the image details, you’ll find that there is only one channel, even if you’re using two colours. This is so because Photoshop uses Duotone curve. To access Curve, go to Image > Mode > Duotone. The Duotone Curve option is placed on the left of the colour swatch. Click on the box of the ink that you want to edit.

If you want to adjust the colour through Photoshop’s Curve Adjustment, simply select Image > Adjust > Curves. You can also change the tonal value by clicking and dragging on the line or by entering numbers on the field.
Remember, you do not have to limit your combination to black and gray; you can use any two different colours to achieve the duotone effect.

John Sollars is the managing director of Solar Electronics, which are both ink and pc peripheral suppliers based in Shropshire, UK. For a comprehensive range of original and re-manufactured hp ink cartridges check out http://www.stinkyinkshop.co.uk/acatalog/hewlett_packard_printer_supplies.html
Alternatively visit http://www.stinkyinkshop.co.uk for a full range of ink supplies.

Search Engines and Links

Search engine optimization with the correct use of keywords is
just one part of the battle plan to drive visitors to your website,
something you have to do if you want to be successful in
your at-home online business.

Search engines, their computers unable yet to read like
humans, now look for links from other sites. The logic is that
if the webmaster of another site thinks yours is worth linking to
it must contain good information worthy of a higher ranking in
the search engines.

In the constant battle for position, this led to things like link
farms and mass link swapping. This defeats what the search
engines try to do: present their advertisers with the best
relevant content, and so they now penalize sites that use these
tactics. They look for links that are on topic and offer value to
the visitors to your page. They also give more weight to incoming
links than they do to links that are exchanged. And the more highly
ranked a site is by Google, the more value is given to that link.

How to get links

So how do you get these links? Some will come by themselves,
if your site is good enough, but they will probably not come to
an affiliate site and certainly not to one provided for you in
cookie-cutter fashion by a company for which you are selling.
But if your relied on these chance links, you’d die of old age
before achieving your objectives.

You could write the appropriate webmasters and ask if they
are interested in exchanging links with you, and some of that
may be appropriate. But for the most part, it is both time
consuming and frustrating. You will write a lot of e-mails
that are not even acknowledged.

One of the best ways – and a quick way – to achieve good
inbound links is to write articles – information articles – in some
way connected with what your business is about. Make sure
they are not sales articles, or full of hype. Make them of solid
value to the people who will receive them. Don’t even mention
your business in the body of the article. There is room for that
in a comment box at the end of the article.

Getting published

Getting them onto other websites with a link back to your site is
easy. Just sign up at EzineArticles.com, follow the guidelines,
and submit your articles to them. This article database is used
by thousands of ezine editors. If your article is picked up, you
can be sure that the relevant type of website is using it.
And most sites will have good Google scores.

When it comes to driving traffic to your website, you need
to give as much as you can to your visitors and to others.
Be open and honest. If you constantly try to help, it
shows and is ultimately rewarded tenfold.

No tricks

The search engines are a key ally in your struggle to gain
more visitors and more recognition for what you are doing.
Work with them, not against them. Try to understand what
the search engines are attempting to do, and why, to look
after their real audience: advertisers.

Recognize, too, that they have thousands of highly qualified
and smart people on the payroll just looking for webmasters
who try to use tricks to get higher positions in the listings.
Use tricks and they will catch you and penalize you heavily.
Your site quite likely will get banned.

Play the game honestly, work to provide your visitors with
as much good content as you can, keep providing more and
more useful information, and you will work your way
higher in the search engine rankings.

There are other sources of traffic and these include placement
of advertisements in ezines, classified pages and the use of
pay-per-click (PPC). It’s hardly possible to employ all traffic
generation methods because of time and monetary constraints,
just as it is difficult to employ all media vehicles in
offline advertising. What’s important is having a
balanced mix and working it efficiently.

Matthew Eigbe has over 25 years experience in consumer marketing
and now focuses on network marketing using the internet.
He is webmaster at http://www.mattlinks.ws, a site that explains
how you can gain Financial Freedom by inviting people to have
their own domain name.

In 1982, I found myself in Eden. What I found out from my brief visit there is that the Garden of Eden is not a piece of real estate, but a state of being—the reality matrix in which human beings were designed to thrive. While such forays into extraordinary states is the goal of spiritual aspirants, I did not gain entrance to the Garden via a conscious desire to—nor through discipline, self-sacrifice, meditation or fasting—I reached it because of something I did when I came up against a problem I couldn’t solve in the ordinary human way. When my back was against the wall, I gave up. I surrendered. I “let go,” as the saying goes, and “let God.”

The situation that triggered my ascent to Eden was a rapidly progressing case of that viciously painful, crippling disease, rheumatoid arthritis. I was 27 years old when I was diagnosed with it, and just months before, I had started a job teaching art in an international school in Japan, halfway around the world from home. I was virtually alone in Japan, without my family and longtime friends, I had only a rudimentary Japanese vocabulary, and I had big plans that did not include a serious illness. When I kept having odd aches and pains, sometimes excruciating, I went to see the Japanese doctor that all the teachers from my school used as a primary care physician for no better reason than that he spoke English. When he announced that my blood test results had come back “positive” for R.A., my initial reaction was to go numb, and I hightailed it to that zone named “denial” just as fast as I possibly could.

“There is no cure,” he pronounced with a long, sad face, “but if you’re lucky, and undergo modern medical treatment, you ought to be able to take care of yourself for as much as ten years before you become totally dependent on others to care for you.” I left that day with five or six different medications—something that, at the time, I didn’t question. After all, he had told me that my only hope was to submit to medical treatment and I hadn’t yet jolted awake and realized that his reality and my reality did not have to be the same—indeed, that they were completely incompatible. Though I still had pain and stiffness, the medicine seemed to be preventing my decline into helplessness, the specter of which was always present just beneath my consciousness.

I took the three-times-daily handful of pills for about 7 months before the first signs of problems became undeniable. I had “moon face”—the classic side-effect of corticosteroids usage. I had not even known I was taking such a powerful and destructive drug, such had been the passion with which I adopted the ostrich method of abdicating all responsibility. I was instructed to immediately cease taking the little pink pill in the battalion of medications I had religiously taken since they were first prescribed, and obediently, I did that. Within 36 hours, I was in a crisis. Among numerous other symptoms, I was unable to lift my arms or bend my legs, every joint was on fire, and I experienced mild psychosis. You see, if you’ve been taking steroids at what turns out to have been the high dosage I was, for as long as I had, your adrenal glands, whose hormonal secretions regulate a mind-boggling number of your bodily and mental functions, have simply gone on vacation—sometimes permanent vacation.

That last bit is what I found out when I read Paovo Airola’s classic book There Is a Cure for Arthritis—my beacon in the darkness when I could finally stay in denial no longer. But all my newly found hope was shattered when I read that high dosages of steroids taken over protracted periods could so burn out your adrenals, you may be unable to heal.

That was rock bottom for me. By the time I read that, I had visited many of the most highly-noted rheumatologists in Japan, consulted with doctors back in the U.S., had tried several unsuccessful, painful programs to get off the steroids, and had finally come to the realization that I was at the end of the line. It seemed that nothing I, nor anyone else could come up with, could save me from my descent into a physical nightmare with no apparent end. So I did the only thing I could: I sobbed, I wailed, and I pleaded with the god of my Protestant Sunday school days to please, PLEASE help me! I had always considered this god the ace up my sleeve—the last-resort option in case I ever got completely desperate, and I was, by then, completely desperate. The sound of my pleading morphed from the voice of an anguished young woman into that of a terrified young child beseeching an omnipotent parent to help her. After a time, the pleading and wailing diminished and I was left with stillness—what can only be described as “the peace that passes understanding.” Nothing about my situation had changed outwardly, but everything had changed.

Starting the very next day, remarkable events began to transpire, including the catapulting of my faith into the stratosphere. Solutions to every challenge appeared as if by magic, and in a few months, I found myself at a famous Swiss clinic for natural healing. There, I was able to get off all medication, including the steroids, and become symptom-free within 3 weeks. Though I could barely walk when I arrived at the clinic, I was, after those few short weeks, able to climb to the top of a mountain, which is where I found the Garden Gate and slipped through—where I was able to experience cosmic consciousness—and the Oneness of our origins.

It took me over two decades to fully understand why and how that happened. I now know that my surrender to Spirit catapulted me up in frequency—up to the frequency level where Paradise manifests. It shot me up to the frequency level where there is no disease, no pain and suffering, and there is only harmony and bliss. When I hit rock bottom, it became my “launching pad” to the sublime, higher-frequency reality of Eden. My life since has been a quest to not only return, but to make sure everyone else knows how to get there, too.

©2005 Julia Rogers Hamrick

Julia Rogers Hamrick has been a spiritual-growth facilitator for over two decades, and is the author of Recreating Eden: The Exquisitely Simple, Divinely Ordained Plan for Transforming Your Life and Your Planet, which further chronicles her remarkable healing experience and the insights it blessed her with. Julia writes about and leads seminars on proactive joy, and the relationship between frequency and experience. For more information on Julia and on recreating Eden, visit http://www.recreating-eden.com To read about Julia’s own dance with Spirit, ego, and frequency, read Julia’s blog, accessible from her website.

The most recent statistics show that about 50% of all marriages end in divorce. It is not very encouraging to enter into any kind of relationship knowing that it only has a 50/50 chance of being successful. Failure at anything is never pleasant, but there is one good thing about divorce. You are now free to try again and hopefully this time you will not make the same mistake.

Now I want you to think about divorce and the stock market. Do you own any stock or mutual funds that are selling for less than you paid for them? If you have owned any equities during this past three years I will be willing to bet you have some losers in your portfolio. Don’t you think it is time to think about a divorce, a divorce from a losing situation?

Suppose you sold everything today and put it all in a money market account paying 1%? I know what you think about 1%. Suppose you had dumped those losers 2 years ago and been in cash all this time? Would you be money ahead at 1%? I’ll bet you would.

You may be saying you don’t know whether this is a good time to sell or buy more. Here in one way to make that decision. Analyze the stock or fund you have. If you would not buy more of it now then the smart thing to do would be to sell. And don’t fall for the big Wall Street lie about dollar cost averaging.

Here is another way to determine how and when to sell – let the market tell you. You can place a stop-loss order with your broker for any amount you wish. Say your stock is selling for $20/share. I like to limit my loss to about 10% so I have my broker enter an order to sell me out if the stock drops to $18. If it keeps advancing I raise the stop loss order every week so that it is trailing along behind about 10%. When it advances to $30 my stop would then be at $27. This way I don’t have to guess about where to get out. Brokers don’t like to do this because they have to watch your account, but don’t let him talk you out of it. You don’t want to lose everything like you might in a divorce. Limit the damage. If you own mutual funds you will have to watch these yourself as you cannot place a stop-loss order; you have to call the broker to tell him to sell.

When you are in a bad marriage things just seem to get worse and worse. You could lose everything. When you are in a long-term bear market as we are now it is the same. Your financial assets become less and less. At least in the stock market you can limit your losses. Don’t call a lawyer, call the broker and get out.

Al Thomas’ book, “If It Doesn’t Go Up, Don’t Buy It!”
has helped thousands of people make money
and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method.
Read the first chapter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com
and discover why he’s the man that Wall Street does
not want you to know.