NEW -- OFF THE E-BOOK PRESS
by Maria Giusto

As we mentioned in our PressPoints Editorial, our first endeavor of E-Book Publishing is in our Shopping Cart and ready for downloading. The minute we got our feet wet in the ocean of on-line publishing, it's been an uphill battle, which has done its part in draining our patience as well as our creative juices. Actually, the technical part was not hard to overcome as there are many qualified tools out there in cyberspace that pave the way for anyone willing to seriously get into the field. The biggest hurdle was and will remain to be the security of one's intellectual rights out there in cyberland. All we can hope for, and have up to this writing, is a secure website that will be difficult to "hack". For that, we applaud our Tech Advisor, Delvin Shrout. Many were the nights and working straight through days where we banged our heads together innovating and testing for the best results possible. He has turned himself, our equipment, our websites and our affiliate sites inside out and upside down to make them secure enough to protect our intellectual properties.

We start the year 2002 off with the proverbial bang. We hope you will come along with us as we work to bring you a website you will want to visit often. .....more

VOTING REFORM
by Marie Villarreal

There should be a universal, consistent standard for voting - both the casting and counting of ballots - that cannot be manipulated. But the folks in Washington are counting on Americans not noticing what really happened in Florida last year. .....more

WHERE DOES IT ALL END?
by Charlie "Chuck" Odessa

I picked up the sports section of the newspaper last week. I was appalled at what the huge lettered headlines said! Following was this text: The pitching-poor Texas Rangers grabbed the best arm in the free agent market, agreeing Saturday to a $65 million, five-year contract with Chan Ho Park. .....more

KLEPTO AND OTHER MANIACS
by Martin "Marty" Crenshaw

In dressing rooms of major department stores, there are signs posted. They are large and bold signs. Their red letters proclaim: SHOPLIFTERS WILL BE PROSECUTED and there is no doubt they mean it. As far back as when I was in the business, there were suggestions of cameras and peepholes, but only overtly -- privacy laws prohibit such an invasion where customers are in a state of undress. Since shoplifting costs the retail industry millions of dollars annually, which you, by the way, pay for in terms of the price of the item you buy, it is no wonder they stand behind their posted warnings and prosecute. .....more

DO YOU WANT TO LIVE TO BE 100 YEARS OLD?
by Alcamo "Al" Passagento

If you've ever imagined what it might be like to live to the age of 100, you've come to the right place. I have interviewed dozens of people in this category. The three people that I feature here all give their opinions as to what it is they did or didn't do to achieve this milestone. What they have to say might make a difference in the way you approach your life in the future. So, pay attention. .....more

WORDS OFTEN CONFUSED
by Marie Villarreal

Dear Reader,
What a saga I have for you this month! Had I the time, I could make you weep and wail with this tale of broken promises, betrayal and shattered dreams. Yes, another renovation story! .....more

MENTAL BLOCK OR ROAD BLOCK
by Genviev Pannos

From one of my readers came this plea way back, the end of September.

I am an aspiring fiction writer who can't seem to get beyond the plot outline stage. I got an idea (a good one, I think) for a genre novel a couple of years ago, and worked away on it happily until the outline was complete. I've got a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of plot points, plus background notes on characters, setting, motivations, etc. But then I got STUCK. Those files have been sitting in my hard drive for over a year, and now I don't seem to have the steam or feel motivated to actually WRITE the darned thing. .....more

HEADING OFF PROBLEMS
by Mac Meguire

The more you know about your vehicle, the more likely you'll be able to head off repair problems. You can detect many common vehicle problems by using your senses: Eyeballing the area around your vehicle, listening for strange noises, sensing a difference in the way your vehicle handles, or even noticing unusual odors. .....more

BETTER LUCK NEXT YEAR
by Jericho Van Orman

Just when I thought the year couldn't get any worse, along came the Menorah Gardens cemetery scandal. I came across the story three Fridays ago, one week ahead of the major networks. It was tucked away in the back of my local paper. The headline read: "Photos, Video Show Vaults' Bodies Discarded in Woods." Even though I live in another state, I like a sensational story as well as the next person. So I took the time to read about a Ft. Lauderdale cemetery that was caught putting bodies in the wrong graves, putting two or three bodies on top of each other in vaults, destroying vaults, and even digging up bodies and dumping them in the woods. .....more

LOVED TO THE VERY HAIRS OF YOUR HEAD
by Roy "Cliff" Evans

Despite his age, I think Santa must have a good head of hair. His photos prove it. And we all know he has a magnificent white beard, tumbling like cumulus clouds all over his jovial face and down on to his chest. His photos prove that also. And, by the looks of his photos, I'm sure he never shaves. That would be blasphemy. And I'm just as sure that he's not a fundamentalist of any stripe; that would not become the man of such unfailing good cheer. It's just that Santa without a beard would be morning without a sunrise, the tree of life stripped of its verdant foliage. .....more

CRAPS VERSUS BLACKJACK
by Ha3ry Giusto

OK, here is another interesting question gleaned from our E-Mail: What are the basic rules of craps how are the winning chances (in a Vegas casino) compared to black jack? .....more

PORTRAIT OF A MUSHER
by Nathaniel "Nate" Yaekel

On the first Saturday in March, anywhere from fifty to eighty mushers leave the starting gate on Fourth Avenue in Anchorage. Of these, at least half have no hope of winning or even finishing in the top 20. Their main goal is simply to complete the race. Crossing under the famous burled arch at the finish line in Nome with their dogs is more than victory enough. .....more

SO YOU WANT TO BE A MILLIONAIRE
by Garrison "Garry" Minstone

Have you ever wondered what it would take to be a millionaire? Most of us have. That is most of us except those who have actually become millionaires. They didn't wonder -- they did. But just for a minute, lets knock around some figures and see what it would actually take in terms of money investment to become a millionaire. .....more