LinorStore.com August News

Humidity It’s so humid in IL, I just want to go and sit in a fountain. Being in air conditioning all the time makes me achey and stiff. I think I’m catching the summer cold that’s going around work. So, I’m a little under the weather, today.

Sponsor Event News
Catch Linda’s gemstone jewelry at a craft booth Riverfest in South Elgin on August 18-19 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can purchase her well thought-out designs and color choices in person. For more information, visit http://riverfestexpress.com/index.html .

One shopper noticed that the patterns are filled with love and are thought about before they’re put together. Repeating designs give a piece symmetry and balance.

The latest colors for you are purple and green: “Purple is to seek spiritual fulfillment. It is said if you surround yourself with purple you will have peace of mind. Purple is a good color to use in meditation.

Green contains the powerful energies of nature, growth, desire to expand or increase. It is also a color of healing and relaxation.

Purchase some new bracelets in these colors at: http://www.linorstore.com/

Plastic
Why are electronic gadgets (Bluetooth® and Zip disks) wrapped in that heavy-duty plastic with compartments for each component? Even though I have a receipt for my purchases and must use scissors and teeth to open them, it feels like I’m trying to break into an illegal substance? I think the product cost is pennies and the plastic is the brunt of the prices we’re paying. And, what about tamper-proof medication? I probably need a child around my house to open the bottle because it takes me a look time.

Job Search Info Think of your job search as a marketing campaign and that you are the product. Use action words in your resume and list your accomplishments in terms of percentages and numbers. For example, “I saved the company $5,000 annually in overnight shipments costs by sending electronic files”.  Keep a log in Excel to calculate costs, time, oranother measure you are reducing.

Personalize your cover letter with a contact name and explain what skills you’re bringing to benefit the company. Consider replacing “I” with “you” to have your cover letter read more like a sales letter.

Web News
Elvis Managers Plan Graceland Overhaul
By WOODY BAIRD, Associated Press Writer

Managers of Presley's famous home want to overhaul its tourist complex with an 80,000 square foot new visitors center, a 500-room convention hotel and high-tech museum displays that can give a new, digital life to the King himself, all for the cost of $250 million.
Last year, Graceland took in $27 million in revenue, and the overall Elvis business brings in more than $40 million a year. That made him the second-highest grossing dead celebrity in 2006, behind only Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, according to Forbes.

Lisa Marie Presley still owns her father's house and 15 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises, but CKX controls Graceland and its sprawling complex of souvenir shops and memorabilia museums. For years, Elvis Presley Enterprises, now a CKX subsidiary, has been buying land for expansion and has put together 100-acres needed for the renovation, which would move the tourist center to the same side of Elvis Presley Boulevard as Graceland.
Sources: CKX Inc. http://ir.ckx.com/
Elvis Presley Enterprises: http://www.elvis.com/

Goldmans Awarded Rights to Simpson Book
By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer

MIAMI - A federal bankruptcy judge, Judge A. Jay Cristol, awarded the rights of O.J. Simpson's canceled "If I Did It" book to the family of the late Ronald Goldman to satisfy a $38 million wrongful death judgment against the former football star.

Fred Goldman, Ronald Goldman's father, said he intends to release the book as a measure of justice to portray Simpson as "a wife-beater, as a murderer, written in his own words. Goldman said he has no plans to alter any of the Simpson manuscript, which describes how the slayings might have been committed and discusses at length Simpson's relationship with his ex-wife. But Goldman said the family may add a prologue or other items.

Simpson has maintained his innocence and insisted that most of the "If I Did It" manuscript was penned by a ghostwriter without his involvement. He was paid about $630,000 even though the book was canceled last year amid public outcry.
Source: Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

Virtual Reality Helps GIs Deal With PTSD
By MELANTHIA MITCHELL, Associated Press Writer

Virtual-reality therapy provides doctors with a tool that uses visual, auditory and thermal cues to set the stage for treatment of veterans with PTSD disorder, which causes nightmares and flashbacks. It can be so severe that some victims withdraw from society. At Madigan, clinical psychologist Greg Reger hopes to begin offering virtual reality or immersive video games, to treat post-traumatic stress disorder by recreating the conditions of war later this summer.

The research is being funded by the Office of Naval Research, which in 2005 provided $4 million to several groups to examine how virtual reality can help treat PTSD. The disorder affects an estimated 15 to 30 percent of Iraq war veterans. Other research is being conducted in California, Hawaii, and Georgia. The Madigan program, Reger said, received a $200,000 grant for its work.

In clinical studies at San Diego's Naval Medical Center and Atlanta's Emory University,”eight Iraq veterans with PTSD underwent virtual reality treatment and six showed a reduction of symptoms,” said Dr. Albert Rizzo, a University of Southern California psychologist developing a virtual reality system. "We're very enthusiastic that this is really going to start to make a difference," Rizzo said.
At Madigan, treatment will involve interviewing the soldier to learn what may have triggered the PTSD symptoms, Reger said. He'll then tailor a virtual reality scenario for that person. "What this technology does is it gives us an environment to help facilitate soldiers telling of their own story," Reger said.
"You really can do a lot of things ... to heighten the level of realism of the experience," said Mark Wiederhold, president and director of Virtual Reality Medical Center in San Diego.

The company uses cognitive behavioral therapy along with virtual reality to treat people with a range of phobias, including fear of flying, heights and spiders. Its clinicians also have worked with patients involved in motor vehicle accidents who were later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Virtual-reality systems are also being used in the rehabilitation of disabled patients at Israel's Chaim Sheba Rehabilitation Hospital near Tel Aviv.

For more information, see:
Madigan Army Medical Center: http://www.mamc.amedd.army.mil/wrmc/wrmcfront.htm
Virtual Reality Medical Center: http://www.vrphobia.com/
Source: http://www.comcast.net/news/health/index.jsp?cat=HEALTHWELLNESS&fn=/2007/08/04/731262.html

I’m busy beading and getting ready for craft shows in August, October and November. Keep watching for the latest ezine version or visit www.linorstore.com for more details.

Linda Blatchford
Jewelry Wizard
www.linorstore.com