S: Is for never to young to sail

A 13-year-old girl is to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone and could be dashed by civil servants who have refused to give her permission to be absent from school. Laura Dekker intends to continue her education during the two-year trip through self-study and via emails. However the authorities in her home town of Wijk bij Duurstede say this is not an acceptable alternative to attending school. Dekker's parents, who have themselves made a seven-year journey around the world, support Laura's plans. Dekker, who was born on a boat in New Zeeland, is an experienced sailor. She is planning to start her journey on the first of September. It's estimated that it's going to take her 2 years to go around the world. Laura doesn't get why so many people are saying that she has to abort her mission, but it doesn't get her. She is planning to go and she will go, she says. These people do not know what they are talking about.

According to her parents she will get a better education in the two years on the boat than she would get in school. Her homework she will recieve by e-mail so, she can still cope up with the class. This is the route she normally will folow: First she will go from The Netherlands to the Canary Islands. From the Canary Islands she will cross the Atlantic Ocean to Panama. Through the Panama Canal she will be sailing on the Pacific Ocean. She hopes to be in Australia in November 2010. Then she will sail through the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal to reach the Mediterranean Sea. She want go through Somalia if there are to many pirates. Two years after her departure she hopes to be back in The Netherlands.

If she does this, she will be the youngest to sail around the world. The first was the Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan.

Let's hope for her everything goes by plan. For more information you can go to her website: http://www.lauradekker.nl/, but keep in mind, it's in dutch...

Now this is a girl with a dream and a that is a F.A.C.T.

T: Is for Trade Agreement or ...?????????????

President Barack Obama met with Canadian President Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon last weekend in Guadalajara, Mexico, for a North American Leaders Summit. The host of issues included immigration, drug violence, trucking, and the Canadian objections to the “buy American” provisions adopted by Congress earlier this year in the “stimulus” legislation. But the push for a North American Union (NAU) that establishment politicians and their lobbyists in elite private foundations are seeking now appears to be at the bottom of the list of issues.

Drop the Security and Prosperity Partnership, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission are whose in charge and no this is not some science fiction novel. The American people would clearly never go along with a deal to merge the fates of the three nations, particularly under current political circumstances, but does anyone realize that Bush signed us into this hellish pact and not one reporter asked about it in the elections. WHY!!!

Ex-President George W. Bush and his Canadian and Mexican counterparts signed the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) in 2005, the United States, Mexico, and Canada had already taken a major step toward integration through the creation of NAFTA. Unbeknownist to most Americans, NAFTA was formed as an embryonic regional government that could later be strengthened, along the lines of the step-by-step development of the former European Common Market into today's European Union. These are F.A.C.T.S that need to be publicly known.

C: Is for Don't Call

Do Not Dial area code 809, 284, and 876. Thanks to a friend recently discovered that a scam written in 1996 - has resurfaced and is being sent and is still thriving, so it's still important to protect yourself. The "809," "284," and "876" scam has many variations but they all involve a message to you (either by email, phone or pager) that you immediately call or fax a number in those area code or some other area code in the Caribbean. Examples of why you should call or fax the phone number include avoiding litigation, receiving information about someone who has been arrested or died, winning a wonderful prize, or getting a job.

The area codes are all in the Caribbean, yet most people are not aware that they are making an international call when they dial the "809" area code, since you simply dial 1-809-xxx-xxxx to make the call. No international codes are required.

The problem comes from the fact that some phone numbers are "pay-per-call" numbers (such as 900 numbers in the US) - but there are no legal requirements that callers be informed that they are being charged extra in the Caribbean. When you return one of these "pay-per-call," The scammers try to keep you on the phone as long as possible, and you may be charged very high rates for the call, reportedly up to $25- $2400 a minute.

It is difficult to get credit for these charges if you do get scammed since you did make the call, and resolving the problem involves getting credit from international phone companies.

Since there are now many area codes in the Caribbean, this scam is no longer confined to just these area code.

AT&T VERIFIES IT'S TRUE:http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=6045

SNOPES VERIFIES IT'S TRUE:http://www.snopes.com/fraud/telephone/809.asp

Now beware for this could be an expensive missed F.A.C.T.

A: is for arts and equality

Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater, announced today that The Public Theater, the cast of HAIR, Broadway Impact and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) are holding a mobilization rally for New York’s theater community in advance of October’s National Equality March. The rally will be held at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater (enter at 81st Street and Central Park West or 79th Street and Fifth Avenue) on Friday, August 28 from 2:30-3:30 PM and will be open to the public. Noteworthy members of both the civil rights and theater communities will be on hand to speak, including Oskar Eustis, legendary gay rights activist Cleve Jones, HAIR star Gavin Creel and producer David Stone.

“The theater community has always been a force for change. This rally will give us the chance to come together to spread the message of Equality and hopefully encourage others to join us at the National Equality March in October,” said Gavin Creel.

The producers of the Tony Award-winning revival of HAIR previously announced that, in an unprecedented move, they are canceling the show’s Sunday, October 11th performance so that the entire cast can join the National Equality March in Washington, D.C.

Last May, civil rights activist David Mixner called for a national march on Washington in support of equal rights for LGBT people, calling on prominent LGBT community leaders Cleve Jones and Torie Osborne to execute and organize it. Days later in Fresno, California, at a rally of approximately 5000 people from all walks of life protesting the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Prop. 8, Cleve Jones stepped to the podium and committed to Mixner’s plea. At that moment Jones’ organization, Equality Across America, was born, along with its first mission: the National Equality March. Between now and October, Equality Across America will develop grassroots leadership in all 435 congressional districts to ensure that their message is heard loudly and clearly by elected officials all across America. In October 1979, LGBT activists from across the country marched on Washington to fight for equal rights towards all. Exactly 30 years later a new generation of equality activists will take to the National Mall and continue that fight -- and not quit until LGBT people are granted equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states.



www.HairBroadway.com

www.BroadwayImpact.com

www.NationalEqualityMarch.com

F: Is for places that sceam grab your hunting rifle and shoot your food

From three Lower East Side and East Village bar vets (White Rabbit, 90s fave and Torch), comes Jo's
at 264 Elizabeth Street (near Houston). This cozy bistro's homespun parlor beconds with dark blue walls, chalkboard menus, and a curvy, white-marble bar, that leads to a rustic, wood-planked dining room. Look for the antler chandelier, and sliding stable doors to an unfinished third room. Food's affordable American (slow-roasted duck breast, 10-hour pork shank, grilled trout), while drinks are $9. Four beers are on draught (Victory Prima, Ommegang Witte...), and ten bottles, including Lionhead, Victory Golden Monkey, and PorkSlap. This is for all those who are need of that rustic down home feeling. I expected everyone to be sporting a plaid shirt and a rifle and that is a ye haw F.A.C.T.