Mirthala Salinas - Who Is She?

If you scan the news on the Internet like I do, you might have seen the name "Mirthala Salinas" come up. I saw the name, but had no idea who she was, or what made her significant. So I dug deeper. Turns out, Mirthala Salinas is a television anchor for the American television network, Telemundo. Telemundo was founded in San Juan, Puerto Rico by Angel Ramos in the year 1954, but is now US based in Hialeah, FL.. It is known to be the second-largest Spanish language network in the US, right behind Univision. It is said to reach 93 percent of U.S. Hispanic households in 142 markets via over-the-air, cable and satellite TV.

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Telemundo is also the only Spanish-language television network that produces telenovelas in the United States at the current time. Many of its programs air with closed captions in both Spanish and English. Its owner, Telemundo Communications Group, is affiliated with the NBC Universal division of General Electric.

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Mirthala Salinas, however, made her mark in current days because the news of her affair with Los Angeles mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa has come to light. In a statement issued Tuesday, Villaraigosa admitted to his affair, or "relationship", as he calls it, with the television anchor.

"It is true that I have a relationship with Ms. Mirthala Salinas," Villaraigosa said in a statement published in the Los Angeles Daily News. "As I've said I take full responsibility for my actions, and I once again ask that people respect my family's privacy. For my part, I intend to stay focused on my job, and to work as hard as I can every day to be the best mayor I can be."

It has been reported that the mayor was a visitor at the townhouse of Mirthala Salinas -- bottle of wine in hand -- four months after he took office in 2005. Photographer Robert Durrell published photos of Villaraigosa and Salinas together in Sacramento at about the same time. Reports also mention trips where Salinas went along and covered the mayor. There are also news snippets on how Villaraigosa helped Salinas last year when her mother was sick with cancer at Cedars-Sinai. Villaraigosa attended the funeral when Salinas' mother passed away. Salinas has this to say:

"I first got to know the mayor at a professional level where we went on to become friends," she said. "The current relationship grew out of our existing friendship."

Salinas said that while she and the mayor "are both public figures, I hope that everyone can understand and respect my desire to maintain my privacy when it comes to personal relationships."

Reporter Eric Longabardi of ERS News.com has evidence that before Mirthala Salinas became involved with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, she was the girlfriend of his close friend and ally, Speaker Fabian Núñez. Quoting Longabardi:

"Assembly Speaker, Fabio Nunez, one of Villaraigosa's best friends, also had a relationship with Salinas from the summer of 2003 until after his swearing in as Assembly Speaker in February 2004. The Speaker's office confirmed to ERSNews.com that while the Speaker was divorced from his wife Maria (they have since remarried), Nunez and Salinas had a romantic relationship. Salinas attended Nunez's swearing in as Speaker of the Assembly. Sources also tell ERSNews.com that Salinas would regularly fly to Sacramento to see the Speaker. One insider at Telemundo said that 'everybody in the newsroom knew all about it and management did nothing about it.'"

Villaraigosa and his wife Corina, stopped making public appearances together last January. When asked why he no longer wore his wedding ring, at that time the mayor laughed and said he had simply been working out and losing weight, and the ring was at the jeweler's getting resized. Villagaigosa has since admitted that he and his wife are separated and are seeking a divorce. Salinas moved off the political beat about 11 months ago.

Mirthala Salinas - Who Is She?

Ala

Alpha Lipoic Acid Dosage

A daily Dose of 20 mg to 50 mg (milligrams) of ALA, or alpha lipoic acid, is the minimum requirement of healthy person. In diabetes, for antioxidant protection it is essential to administer a Dose of 100 mg twice a day to help prevent further complications. However, for diabetic neuropathy, the required Dose is 200 mg, 3 times a day.

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ALA is a universal anti-oxidant. It has been widely lauded as a general, all-around free radical buster. Free radicals are damaging to the body, causing liver damage, inflaming diabetes, and other health problems. ALA is a naturally occuring anti-oxidant in the body, but daily dosages can greatly improve chances of fighting off these various diseases. The pills, creams and lotions are made from plant foods like tomatoes, spinach, and broccolli, as well as beef, yeast, and kidneys. Follow these instructions, but please also consult your doctor. These are only suggestions.

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For anti-aging, a daily Dose of 100 mg of ALA is suggested by the manufacturers. To help with cancer prevention, a Dose of 100 mg of ALA twice a day is usually administered. For cataract patients, a 100 mg Dose of ALA twice a day may be beneficial. In Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, usually a daily Dose of 100 to 200 mg is prescribed.

It is beneficial to administer a Dose of 100 mg twice a day in hepatitis patients. ALA supports healthy skin at a Dose of 50 mg twice a day. Topical application of ALA also proves to be exceptionally beneficial to the skin.

Alpha Lipoic Acid Dosage

Ala

Forenoon Snow (Minnesota's Emerald Snow)(Now In Spanish and English)

Above--, emerald snow, flows

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Down (On Minnesota green),

Esa

As I look out my window:

Gaze upon the snowy skies,

Capture the morning scene--!

Boundless and swift, untroubled:

Are--, its snowy glistening hues!...

Happy I thought: to see this soft

Emerald, forenoon snow...

"Follow me, O' yes, please do":

I called unto the Forenoon Snow:

"Follow me into my memories,

For times when I am old!... "

#940 (12/3/05)

Note (by the author): "This afternoon, I walked out into the soft snow in my driveway; whizzed the snow away from my car with a broom. Then I remembered how beautiful it all is, winter in Minnesota (how it was, used to be, is); I was kind of in a trance looking at it all descend from the sky, onto the green tree in our yard, the car, driveway, me. I had waked up earlier, and looked out the window (prior to this), and it was boundless snow that filled my eyes: I remember thinking, 'What a blessing to be able to simply absorb this all'. Later on that evening my wife said: "I love walking in the snow," she's from Peru, and this is her sixth winter in Minnesota. She has learned there is no other place on earth that has such a wonderful and full winter. Long it is, but beautiful. And then she said that evening as we left the bookstore, to get into our car, "Look at the snow how it glistens," it was doing just that with the lights of the bookstore, and arch light by the car, and moon, it all set the mood, touched our senses, this was not a perchance thing, it was a God sent thing; she has learned what we Minnesotans take for granted: Minnesota is by far, the wonderland of all lands in the world, in winter, and St. Paul, is surely the city of cites to enjoy a winter in.

I have learned one must grab the novelistic beauty of a thing, and bottle it, before it disappears"

In Spanish

Translated by Nancy Penaloza

Nevada matutina

(La Nieve De esmeralda de Minnesota)

Encima-, la nieve de esmeralda fluye

Abajo (Sobre Minnesota verde),

Mientras miro fuera de mi ventana:

¡Mirando fijamente sobre los cielos nevosos,

Capturo la escena de la mañana-!

Abundante y rápido, sin problemas:

¡Son-, sus matices nevosos que brillan!...

Feliz pensé: por ver esta suave

Esmeralda, nieve de la mañana...

"Sígame Oh sí, por favor hágalo":

Llamé a la Nieve de la Mañana:

"¡Sígame dentro de mis memorias,

Para tiempos cuando este viejo!" ...

940 (12/3/05)

Note (por el autor): " Esta tarde, ande sobre la nieve suave en mi camino regreso; sacudiendo la nieve lejos de mi coche con una escoba. Entonces recordé cuan hermoso es todo esto,, el invierno en Minnesota (como era, solía ser, es); era una especie de en un trance mirando descender todo del cielo, sobre el árbol verde en nuestra jardín, el coche, me conducía. Yo había andado temprano, y mirado por la ventana (antes de esto), y esto era la nieve abundante que llenó mis ojos: recuerdo pensando "Que bendición ser capaz de absorber simplemente todo este". Más tarde esa tarde mi esposa dijo: " Me gusta andar en la nieve", ella es de Perú, y esto es su sexto invierno en Minnesota. Ella ha aprendido que no hay ningún otro lugar sobre la tierra que tiene un invierno tan maravilloso y lleno. Largo es este, pero hermoso. Y luego ella dijo esa tarde cuando dejamos la biblioteca, para entrar en nuestro coche, " Mira la nieve como brilla", estaba haciendo justo esto con las luces de la biblioteca, y por la luz de arco del coche, y la luna, todo esta disposición del juego, tocó nuestros sentidos, esto no era una cosa incierta , era algo enviado por Dios ella ha aprendido lo que nosotros los Minnesotanos damos por echo: Minnesota es por ahora, el país de las maravillas de todas las tierras en el mundo, en el invierno, y Saint Paúl, es seguramente la ciudad de ciudades para disfrutar de un invierno. He aprendido que hay que agarrar la belleza novelística de una cosa, y embotellarlo, antes de que esto desaparezca"

Forenoon Snow (Minnesota's Emerald Snow)(Now In Spanish and English)

Esa

Putting Together Your Man Cave

There are a million things that a man wants in his area of the house that is just his and no one else's. Amongst the game tables and flat screens, there are his closest friends simply relaxing on comfortable black leather couches that let you sink in and recline; losing track of time entirely. On one of the corners of the room, there should be a wet bar just waiting for someone to ask for the four different kinds of beer on tap.

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The Foosball table lies in wait for four men to have an epic battle between blue and red stick men. The dual flat screen high definition televisions sit right in front of the leather chairs, allowing for multiple sporting events to be enjoyed at one time. Now this room seems to be a little far fetched if you are a married man, but it can all be done for a rather cheap price if you know where too look and if you already have a great empty room in your house. Perhaps the basement is finished and you don't know what to do with the space.

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If your lucky enough to have a wife or girlfriend that will let you have this man cave, everything you need to be perfectly content can be yours for less than five thousand dollars. There are multiple pool tables to choose from and if you look on websites like eBay, you can get a decent table for less than a thousand dollars. They will even ship it directly to your doorstep.

The other game tables that you need to complement your room is even cheaper than that, ranging from three hundred to eight hundred dollars. These days, televisions are cheaper than ever and something over forty inches can cost somewhere around six to seven hundred dollars if you look for online deals and refurbished products which are just as good as new ones.

The bar may be a little more expensive because of the wiring and piping that will be involved. But if you can live without the beer on tap, it will also cost only a couple thousand if you choose the right materials and the right labor.

To be honest, a man cave is just a name for a game room and game rooms are just a place to relax and unwind. A man will quite simply live longer if he has one.

Putting Together Your Man Cave

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10 Ways to Get The Most Out of Your Rebate Check

By now you've heard about the tax rebate check that will be mailed out beginning in May. While the purpose of the rebate is to get people to spend and to stimulate the economy, many people are planning on using this "found money" to pay down debts or to save.

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Here are 10 ways to get the most out of your rebate check:

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1. Contribute to a Roth IRA. The maximum contribution for 2008 is ,000 (,000 if you are over age 50). You can contribute to a Roth IRA as long as you have earned income and your adjusted gross income is less than 1-116,000 (9-169,000 for married taxpayers). Roth IRAs are very flexible investments since you can get your contributions out at any time without penalty, which makes Roths perfect for saving for retirement, college, or even a rainy day.

2. Give the money to charity. You can claim a deduction for your gift on your 2008 tax return, if you itemize using Schedule A of Form 1040.

3. Open a 529 college savings plan to fund your own or your children's educations. Withdrawals from 529 plans are tax free as long as the money is used for qualified education expenses, and some states allow a deduction for contributions. If you plan on sending your children to private secondary school, consider funding an Education Savings Account (ESA) instead.

4. If you have credit card debt, use your rebate check to pay off as much as possible. Since the average interest rate on credit cards is over 18%, this could be the best investment you make with your rebate money.

5. Mortgage interest rates are the lowest we've seen in years. If you have a good credit score, now is a good time to refinance your mortgage and/or to combine second mortgages or home equity lines of credit into more attractive loans. Now's also a great time to get out of variable loans. Use your "found money" to pay points and loan costs.

6. Use the money to purchase stock mutual funds at lower prices. While the market has been very volatile lately, there's never been a better time to invest. If you have cash sitting on the sidelines, you could miss the next market upswing. Time in the market matters more than trying to time when to get into the market. If you are investing for the long-term, you can't afford not to be invested in stocks. Remember the old adage, "buy low and sell high." Stock prices are low right now, so get them while they're on sale.

7. Use your rebate money to hire an attorney to update your will. Without a will issues such as child guardianship and disbursements of assets will not be decided by you, but rather the laws at the time. For high net worth families, make sure your estate plan is up to date.

8. Increase your emergency fund. Unfortunately, when the economy slows, job losses and/or business declines are inevitable. That's when you need your emergency fund the most, so make sure you're prepared in case the worst happens.

9. Schedule your annual check ups with your doctor and your dentist. Use your rebate money to pay the deductible and co-payments. Join the YMCA or the local health club, consult with a nutritionist, or buy a piece of exercise equipment (and be sure to use it!). Without your health, wealth is not important.

10. Last but not least, schedule a financial check up for yourself. Annual trips to the dentist, the doctor - and your financial planner - are wise investments. A professional financial adviser can help you see tax loss harvesting opportunities, assess investment options, analyze insurance coverages, and plan for a secure retirement.

10 Ways to Get The Most Out of Your Rebate Check

Esa

How to Get Free Food

Food prices rocketed last year. They're beginning to come down but not fast enough. Fill in the gaps by getting free food where you can.

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You can eat out for free on a regular basis by becoming a mystery shopper. Just sign up with mystery shopping agencies such as TNS-Global, ESA, GFK or JKS All you do is sign-up for restaurant visits that are being offered by the agency, go and have lunch or dinner (depending on what you're asked to do) and then write it up online. You will get your expenses sent to you plus £5 or so for doing it. Get into foraging. There's free food all around you on hedgerows across the country - at least there will be in the warmer months. There are loads of places you can go to pick up tasty free food. Try foraging in hedgerows, woods, and on the seashore. It is good to have an understanding of what you are looking for, and there are a number of websites around to help you identify everything from nuts and herbs to fruits and leafy vegetables to shellfish. Have a look at Wild Man Wild Food and Naturali for more info - and to get clued in on what's safe to eat and what should be left alone. Go Freegan. It may sound odd, but every day supermarkets throw out enormous quantities of food that have gone past their sell-by dates (and so cannot be legally sold) but are still good to eat and often in top-notch condition. They throw them into the big bins behind the supermarket where they are fair game for dumpster foragers - or 'Freegans' as they are known. If you're not squeamish you can find perfectly good food absolutely for free in the bins behind major supermarkets. Freegans constantly find ready meals with the plastic packaging intact but no outer cardboard packaging. There are often also full jars and tinned items, and even ice-cream, all with sell-by dates far in the future, but the packaging is dented or tarnished in some way. If you fancy trying your hand at Freegan foraging the best time to go is around closing time, and it's often best to go under cover of darkness just as a precaution. Take some cloth bags, fill them up quickly and move on. For more information about freeganism have a look at Freegan Info and Fareshare. Are you green-fingered? Once you cover the set-up costs of owning a plot of land or growing in your own garden, there is great personal and monetary satisfaction in growing your own fruit and vegetables. With fruit trees you are growing for the future - good harvests can save you hundreds of pounds. You can re-use the seeds from vegetables like potatoes and pumpkins, and harvest other seeds from friends' patches. From a tomato plant on the balcony to a herb garden on your windowsill, savings can be immense. Also, swap seeds and cuttings with friends to get even more free plants to eat from. Swap with friends. Have a clear-out of your kitchen cupboards. Gather up tins and packets you don't want and swap them for tins and packets that your friends don't want. If you've got several gardening friends, try a harvest produce swap in the summer. Many gardeners have something that produces more than they need so why not bring your surplus and swap for what you didn't grow?

Esa

How to Get Free Food

Esa

Discovery in Grassy Cove Saltpeter Cave

On a cool March Friday in 1972, John Wallace checked out his four seat airplane at the Charlie Brown Airport in Atlanta for a flight to Tennessee. The plan was for John's wife Youlanda, and their children Paul and Erika along with Art Smith, and Jack Pace to drive up to the Cumberland Mountain State Park in Crossville, Tennessee and rent a cabin for the weekend. My wife Kathy, our six-year-old daughter, Deanna and I would fly with John to the Crossville Memorial Airport in Crossville and we would spend a day of caving the next day.

caveman costume

We would alternate driving and flying in order to have transportation from the airport to the caves we visited in the southeast. Half of the group would fly and the other half would drive. This trip was quite a nice one along the interstate and then we followed the state road into Crossville. It was after dark when we arrived and the airport's lights were not on. The airport is on top of a mountain and we were a little nervous about finding a place to land. John's wife was there but could not contact anyone at the airport. John at last managed to radio someone and they turned on the lights.

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It was a large cabin at the park and we settled in for a good night of rest before the trip the next day. We planned to visit Devils Sink Hole with the family and then the four of us would explore Grassy Cove Saltpeter Cave on the other side of the mountain. Kathy and Deanna spent a lovely day hiking around the park while we went caving.

A few miles southeast of Crossville is located Grassy Cove, A depression between two mountains that by all rights should be a big natural lake. The rain water that falls in the cove runs north into a cave, then emerges at the Devils Sink Hole, south of the cove and over the mountain. This long mountain contains many caves and a major stream that flow completely under it. Grassy Cove Saltpeter Cave is well known for being a dusty cave and dust masks are handy to avoid histoplasmosis, a lung disease common in dusty caves and chicken houses. I did come down with a light case of this later and it could very well have been from this cave. The doctor wanted to know if I had been around any chicken houses.

We entered the cave and debated about exploring the west dry passages or to venture down the waterfall at the east end of the cave. There were reported to be more caves below the water fall. However, ropes would be required and we were not prepared for that. The water fall room sounded too good to pass up so we opted for going down through the chasm and to the water fall.

The Chasm is a short drop that can be climbed if you chimney out to a narrow portion of the drop. We however chose to use the rope for the drop. We continued down to the waterfall room and poked around looking for any easy lead to continue on. John was checking behind a large rock on the north side of the passage when he noticed air blowing from the rocks. We all got excited and started helping with the easy dig.

In less than an hour we had a small hole that looked to open up below. I was elected to give it a try, I am not sure why I was first but I was grateful. I went feet first into the hole removing my hard hat in order to squeeze through. At the bottom there was a low craw that went to the northeast for about 50 feet and then a ledge with a short drop of about 5 feet into a large room sloping downward. I study the floor and could not make out any tracks. I sat there yelling encouragement to the others to come on down. We had found something big.

I felt like Neil Armstrong on the moon when I made that first step on the floor below and left that first foot print where no one had ever stepped before. The mud had a black coating on top and when you raised your foot it left a very clear orange print about 1 inch deep. It felt strange to walk down into that huge room and then look back at the lonely set of foot prints that would soon turn into a well-worn path.

We explored the new extension for the rest of the day finding formations along the west wall and Crystal Gypsum Flowers covering the floor as the ceiling became lower near the end. We crawled through some breakdown into a much smaller room at the end and could find no way to continue.

We were all very excited about our new find and planed to return to map this new section the following month. Unknown to us another caving group had just undertaken a major re-mapping of the cave and were in the process of publishing their map. When Jack Pace moved to Nashville and told the caving group there about the discovery, they quickly returned to the cave and called it the Nashville Extension.

We returned on Saturday, April 22, 1972 with the additional assistance of my wife's cousin, Bill Meier, and mapped the March 18th Discovery. I was working for Eastman Kodak Co. At the time and had access to the latest home movie cameras. I was trying out a new model with very low light capability for taking movies in the cave. We used a Coleman Lantern for the light source and the shutter speed set slow to capture as much light as possible. These short movies can be viewed on my caving web site.

Grassy Cove Saltpeter Cave now ranks eleventh in the state of Tennessee for the longest cave. I would like to thank that we made it a little easier for future cavers to discover the miles of cave that followed in this great cave.

1 Blue Spring Cave 33 miles

2 Cumberland Caverns 27 miles

3 Xanadu Cave System 23 miles

4 Rumbling falls Cave 15 miles

5 Nunley Mountain Cave System 15 miles

6 Big Bone Cave 15 miles

7 Snail Shell Cave System 9 miles

8 Rice Cave 9 miles

9 Cuyler Cave 8 miles

10 Dunbar Cave 8 miles

11 Grassy Cove Saltpeter Cave 8 miles

12 Wolf River 7 miles

13 Haws Spring Cave 7 miles

14 Zarathustra 7 miles

15 Camps Gulf Cave 6 miles

This was the first major discovery that I was involved with and I have been more excited about caving than ever and the challenge of not only exploring but documenting caves with maps, pictures, movies, and articles.

Discovery in Grassy Cove Saltpeter Cave

Cave