Opting Out (of Credit Card Solicitations) for the New Year

Rhianna was annoyed today by a letter that said "Rebate Check Enclosed:" A New Visa or MasterCard is reserved for: yours truly

What rebate? Rhianna did not buy anything recently with a rebate offer.
Inside was a check for $3.25 Wow! Did I scurry on over to the bank to cash that?
No, because Rhianna has read warnings of cashing a check from a credit company only to get entangled into a big mess. Rhianna ripped up the check from the unsolicited source and then noticed OptOutPrescreen.com

Take note that

"Your Social Security Number is not required to process an Opt-Out request through OptOutPrescreen.com. However, we strongly urge you to provide this information because it helps to ensure that we can successfully process your request."

Why type in a Social Security Card number if it's not required? Rhianna skipped that portion of the form.
Ooooh I'm telling you that Rhianna is really fed up with having the mailbox cluttered with unsolicited offers for credit cards and insurance.

Merry Christmas Everyone

May you feel love and joy at Christmas.

Happy Hanukkah & Happy Kwanza too :-)

Update: Anyone who is interested in my Christmas memories 2005 Click here (LiveJournal entry)

Dan Wasserman, The Boston Globe

New Rings Around UranusDifferent Orbits of Satellite Moons Universal Chaos, Universal Goodwill, or Will the Goodwill Get a Bit Complicated?

RedOrbit - Space - Giant Rings and New Moons Found Encircling Uranus

Uranus has a new set of rings so far away from the "original set" that astronomers call this new find Uranus's "second ring system" while the orbits of the moons from the original rings have changed.

Collectively, these new discoveries mean that Uranus has a densely packed, rapidly changing, and possibly unstable dynamical system of orbiting bodies. 'The new discoveries dramatically demonstrate that Uranus has a youthful and dynamic system of rings and moons,' says Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute.

Showalter and Lissauer [Jack Lissauer of the NASA Ames Research] have measured numerous changes to the orbits of Uranus's inner moons since 1994, when their motions were derived from earlier Hubble and Voyager observations.

'This appears to be a random or chaotic process, where there is a continual exchange of energy and angular momentum between the moons," says Lissauer. "The changes in the last ten years are small, but the thing about chaos is that small changes build up exponentially with time. As a result, this suggests that the entire system is orbitally unstable.'[1]

Wow - right before the New Year. So what will this mean for the New Year 2006?
This is an interesting astrological find portending creativity, humanistic breakthroughs, and possible rebellions against any attempt to control, constrict or restrain individual freedoms in any way.

Uranus rules the goal-oriented, forward-looking Aquarius sign and is exalted in Scorpio (a sign well known for sexual love). Uranus combines energy from different points, different sources to create a truly cosmic "love," a "universal" regard for all and a push away from anything constrictive. If restraints get in the way and become obastacles, chaos can reign supreme.

Uranus rules the Zodiac's 11th House which deals with a person's goals in conjunction to belonging to: friends, family, people you might know and people you might meet and come to know, political groups, professional groups, blogging groups and LiveJournal groups, etc...

The 11th House of the Zodiac is indicative of the interaction a person will have with others and how that interaction affects long term goals, interests, involvements, hobbies, and work relations.

The 11th House strives for harmony, but how will that be achieved?
The new rings and the different orbits of the satellite moons of Uranus predicts CHANGE in the New Year. How will the changes affect you?
Stay tuned to Rhianna's Groovy Tarot Blog: What's in The Cards?

Crossword Puzzles

Crossword Puzzles

Looking for True Couture

StrawberryNET.com has MAC Lipstick - True Couture 3g/0.1oz


I noticed that the image of the lipstick was not on their website yet, but StrawberryNet sells this lipstick for US$ 17.00.

How To Get Around [New York City] During The Strike

WCBSTV.com: Your Source For New York News, Weather, Sports & Traffic: How To Get Around During The Strike

Free Christmas Greeting Cards, Free Christmas Ecards, Christmas Greetings From 123Greetings.com

Free Christmas Greeting Cards, Free Christmas Ecards, Christmas Greetings From 123Greetings.com

Don't forget your Free Christmas Greeting Cards, Free Christmas Ecards, Christmas Greetings From 123Greetings.com

Every type of free electronic e-card is represented here from the elegant to the religious, beautiful Nativity scenes to formal/corporate/impersonal Season'sGreetings and many humorous, fun, & funny cards for your friends and Internet pals!

Your cards can carry your personal messages -- lots of fun for free!

Try www.123greetings.com/events/christmas/

At least Santa gives you somethingWhat does the Patriot Act give?

Bob Gorrell, National/Syndicated

Rob Rogers, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pennsylvania

Jeff Koterba, Omaha World Herald, NE

Feds rescind prediction of oil price drop

Feds rescind prediction of oil price drop:

"WASHINGTON -- Oil prices are projected to remain well above $50 a barrel for years to come ... The analysis reflected a sharp change from the department's projections a year ago when it predicted oil prices in constant dollars -- not counting normal inflation -- would decline to $31 a barrel by 2025.

The report, issued Monday by the department's Energy Information Administration, now projects oil will cost an average $54 a barrel in 2025 and $57 a barrel in 2030 before inflation. Currently, crude oil prices have been hovering around $60 a barrel, briefly soaring as high as $70 earlier this year."

Telling It Like It Is

Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com

Politically Correct Gets Out of Hand

Mike Lester, Rome News-Tribune, Rome, GA

Peace on Earth

Chip Bok, The Akron (Ohio) Beacon-Journal

A lousy time trying to sleep?

Will this be thrown out as a frivolous lawsuit, or will 2 Swiss women prevail in Manhattan's State Supreme Court in the Case of the Bedbug Attacks?

Rhianna noticed that the case takes place in Hotel Pennsylvania, a moderate priced hotel that Rhianna happily stayed in once with a friend in the year 2000 and once alone in 2003...the bedbugs must have arrived later.

The Hotel Pennsylvania is a nice, comfortable hotel located across from Penn Station and less than a block away from Macy's Herald Square. The Trip Advisor rates the Hotel Pennsylvania as a 2 star hotel and that's probably a good indication. The lobby is beautiful although the individual rooms are basically budget accomodations -- but they were very clean when Rhianna stayed there. Breakfast in Lindey's is lots of fun! The Hotel Pennsylvania is a great location to stay in if you want to see Manhattan on a budget!

Bedbugs can ruin a traveler's trip, they're not to be wished on anyone. On the flip side, a lawsuit such as this one might just one effect: raising the price at the Hotel Pennsylvania.

Where else have the bedbugs been sighted? If the New York Times carries an article, those nasty bugs must have grown to a formidable number within New York City to comment.

Yes, it's terrible that any hotel would have bedbugs; each and every hotel should be bedbug free. Anyone seeking perfection (and high prices) should enquire at The Helmsley Palace Hotel
-- then if things are not 100% luxuriously perfect, complain to Manhattan's State Supreme Court but The Helmsley Palace set a precedent with a private, undisclosed settlement.

Can bedbugs come to your house or apartment? You bet & getting rid of them is costly.

Here's a tip: beware of second hand furniture especially second hand bedroom sets -- they might come equipped with friendly friends for you.

Even Congressmen Consult the Crystal Ball for 2006

Sandy Huffaker, caglecartoons.com