Spiritual food for the soul: Allow Jerry to take you on his magical and enlightening soul pilgrimage. As he invites you to accompany him along his life adventures, he introduces you to selfless acts of deep, human spirit and his fascinating relationships. Often, by chance encounters, Jerry immerses the reader into impromptu stories of surrealistic wonder and actual life experiences.

From his friendship with two, elderly sages; or E.T., the street kid - Jerry’s autobiography inspires the uninspired, captivates the soul and brings a vital spark to everyday monotony. Jerry illustrates and exhibits the simplest of miracles - through soul journey.

His words, “…In the shadow lands of life’s most terrifying experiences, something inherently noble in the human heart unexpectedly enters in and renders the voices of good and evil mute…” Poetically expressed, Jerry’s wisdomful words echo transcendental advice into the inner-knowing and evolutionary, inner-peace process.

Broken down into humankind’s most simple form, Jerry withdraws from `normal’ human existence to fully embrace life’s spiritual side. (His eventful life, in my own opinion, somewhat parallels the life of the so-called Jerry in the film, Down and Out in Beverly Hills.) Noncomedically however, he lived purely off chance and engaged in most uninspiring conditions; and made do with what life had to offer - never complaining…only transforming.

A human, but humbling experience, Jerry relays how his internal transformation came full circle. A book that promotes personal growth and comprehension of the mortal experience, The Inspired Heart is awe-inspiring, and an exceptional read.

To learn more about Artist/Author Jerry Wennstrom, feel free to visit his website at JerryWennstrom.com; or if you would like more information about how to get your own copy of his book, visit The Inspired Heart today.

The Inspired Heart - A Book Review

© 2005 - All Rights Reserved

By C. Bailey-Lloyd/LadyCamelot

C. Bailey-Lloyd/LadyCamelot is the Public Relations Director & Staff Writer for Holistic Junction — Your source of information for Holistic Practitioners; Massage Schools, Naturopathic Schools, Chiropractic and Reflexology Schools; Alternative Healthcare; Insightful Literature and so much more!

There are many advantages to Trading FOREX as your main income generator. Let’s start by something that may be worrying you already.

“Do I need a Diploma or some kind of Certification to trade FOREX?” The answer is this:

When attempting to make more profit than losses on the
fluctuation of exchange rates between major currencies
(i.e., Trading the FOREX), nobody is going to ask you for a
diploma, a formal license or verify the amount of hours
you’ve spent studying the Foreign exchange market and
banking industry. All you need is the proper training.

But this is not the only advantage you get when trading FOREX, compared to other ways of investment and speculation; i.e. Stocks and Commodities. You have a whole bunch of advantages over these other options that will be enumerated in the following paragraphs.

The Main Benefits of Trading the FX Spot Market:

1): FOREX is the largest financial market in the world.

With a daily trading volume of over $1.5 trillion, the spot
FOREX market can absorb trading sizes that dwarf the
capacity of any other market. In fact, when compared with
the $50 billion daily market for equities or the $30 billion
futures market, it becomes quickly apparent this gives you,
and millions of other FOREX traders, almost infinite trading
liquidity and flexibility.

2): FOREX is a TRUE 24-hour market.

The FOREX Market never sleeps. Trading positions can be
entered and exited at any moment - around the globe, around
the clock, six days a week. There is no waiting for an
opening bell as in the case of trading stocks. It is a 24-
hour, continuous electronic (ONLINE) currency exchange that
never closes. This is very desirable for you if you want to
trade on a part-time basis, because you can choose when you
want to trade: morning, noon or night.

3): There is never a Bear Market in FOREX.

You can have access to a seamless, mutually-inclusive (two-
way) exchange of currencies. Meaning, because currencies
trade in “pairs” (for example, US dollar vs. yen or US
dollar vs. Swiss franc), one side of every currency pair
(for example, USD/JPY - JPY = YEN) is constantly moving in
relation to the other. Thus, when you buy a particular
currency, you are actually simultaneously selling the other
currency in that particular pair. As the market moves, one
of the currencies will increase in value versus the other.
Of course, it is up to you to choose the correct currency to
be long or short. Since currency trading always involves
buying one currency and selling another, there is no
structural bias to the market. This means you have equal
potential to profit in both a rising or falling market.

4): High Leverage - up to 200:1 Leverage.

You are permitted to trade foreign currencies on a highly
leveraged basis - up to 200 times your investment with some
brokers. This is primarily attributed to the higher levels
of liquidity within the currency markets. Standard 100,000-
unit currency lots can be traded with as little as 1%
margin, or $1,000. Mini FX accounts are permitted to trade
with just 0.5% margin — in other words, just $50 allows you
to control a 10,000-unit currency position. Futures traders,
who are accustomed to margin requirements generally equal to
5%-8% of the contract value, will immediately recognize that
the FOREX market provides much greater leverage, and for
stock traders, who must post at least 50% margin, theres no
comparison. If you are looking for an efficient use of
trading capital, this is it!

5): Price Movements Are Highly Predictable.

Although currency prices in the FX market may be volatile,
they generally repeat themselves in relatively predictable
cycles, creating trends. The strong trends that foreign
currencies develop are a significant advantage for traders
who use the correct “technical” methods.

Unlike stocks, currencies rarely spend much time in tight
trading ranges and have the tendency to develop strong
trends. Over 80% of volume is speculative in nature and, as
a result, the market frequently overshoots and then corrects
itself. As a technically-trained trader, you can easily
identify new trends and breakouts, which provide for
multiple opportunities to enter and exit positions.

6:) Commission-free Trading and Low Transaction Cost

When you trade FOREX, through one of our recommended brokers
(this info is in our private resources section), you’ll do
it totally commission-free! These brokers don’t charge
commissions to trade or to maintain an account, and that
goes for all clients trading the FOREX through them,
regardless of your account balance or trading volume. Even
Mini FX traders can buy and sell currencies online,
commission-free.

What about trading fees? There are none of the usual fees to
which futures and equity traders are accustomed — no
exchange or clearing fees, no N_F_A or S_E_C fees. Because
currencies trade over-the-counter (OTC), via a global
electronic network — in FOREX, what you see is what you
get, allowing you to make quick decisions on your trades
without having to worry or account for fees that may affect
your profit/loss or slippage.

In the equities markets, you must pay both a commission and
exchange fees. The over-the-counter structure of the FX
market eliminates exchange and clearing fees, which in turn
lowers transaction costs.

So, if FOREX broker don’t charge commissions, how do they
make money? Like all traded financial products, over-the-
counter currency trading involves a bid/ask spread, which
represents the prices at which your counterparty is willing
to trade. Because the currency market offers round-the-clock
liquidity, you receive tight, competitive spreads both
intra-day and night. Stock traders can be more vulnerable to
liquidity risk and typically receive wider trading spreads,
especially during after-hours trading.

7): Instantaneous Order Execution and Market Transparency.

Market transparency is highly desired in any trading
environment. The greater the market transparency, the more
efficient the market becomes. Unlike other markets where
transparency is compromised (like in the Enron scandal),
FOREX markets are highly transparent (i.e., analyzing
countries, and having access to real-time research / news,
is easier than companies).

Because of this transparency, as an FX trader, you will be
able to exercise risk management strategies in accordance to
the fundamental and technical indicators we teach at
RapidForex.com

The FX market offers the highest level of market
transparency out of all the financial markets. Because of
this, order execution and fill confirmation usually occur in
just 1-2 seconds. Markets that do not offer executable
prices and force traders to absorb slippage obviously
compromise the trader’s profit potential considerably.

In the forex world, order execution is all-electronic and
because you’ll be trading via an Internet-based platform,
instantaneous execution is routine. There are no exchanges,
no traditional open-outcry pits, no floor brokers, and
consequently, no delays.

http://www.1-forex.com

Omar Vargas
Forex trader and freelance writer
http://www.1-forex.com

Reform Social Security has been talked of Capital Hill for many years. However, it is just put in a real action by President Bush recently. The reason is Social Security could have shortage to pay retirees by year 2018 and bankruptcy by year 2042 because the growth of retirees is faster than the contributors of Social Security. Privatization is the process of putting percentage of payroll tax of Social Security into private account that can be invested into stocks and bounds markets. Stocks and Bounds usually make more interest than the growth of Social Security. Thus, in turn, we respect more money to make up the shortage of Social Security. If it does, the Social Security is saved. Otherwise, It does not. This involves timing, ratio, management, and evidence.

Timing. Someone says SS is not in danger. If legal retirement is 65 years old, then from 2005 to 2018 is 13-year, 65 - 13 = 52. This means if you are 52 years old or older, you have not in the era of the shortage of Social Security Fund. So, Social Security is not in danger for you. From 2005 to 2042 is 37 years, 65 - 37 = 28. This means if you are 28 years old in 2005, you will meet the SS bankruptcy by the time you retire. So, Social Security is in danger for you. However, 37 - 13 = 24 (period from shortage to bankruptcy) If in 2042 you are 65 years old, 65 - 24 = 41. This means you are 41 years old now and you need to do something right now before it is too late. If you are 20 years old in 2005, 28 - 20 = 8. This means that the timing of SS reform is 8 years too late. If we get it done 8 years ago, we won’t have bankruptcy in 2042.

Ratio. Argument on what percentage should we deduct from SS tax for private account. There are so many theories. But I believe that SS should keep 60% and private account 40% because we need 60% of SS tax to support the people who retired now. If 60% cannot cover, it means we have shortage now. For example, you start to work at 20 years old, you have 45 years working history. Your total life income is 45 thousands. 60% is 27 thousands and 40% is 18 thousands. 27000 x 0.3 = 8100 (Interest made from SS. Social Security pay 3% interest). 18000 x 1.1 = 19800 (Interest made from stocks and bounds. Interest is from 11% to 15% ). 45000 x 0.3 = 13500 (stay in SS only). 8100 + 19800 = 27900 (SS + Stocks and bounds).27900 - 13500 = 14400. This means even if your SS is bankrupt you still have 14400 in your private account. Under this ratio, private account can save SS. This is a hypothetical answer. We can choose a real person to reconstruct his working history base on his real 60% SS tax and past 45-year income of stock average on 40% of private account. We will see the real picture and the feasibility of privatization of SS.

Management. Is it true this transition from regular SS to privatization cost us a trillion? And our kids of kids will suffer from this big deficit? It really depends on how we manage private account. If we manage this private account with our regular bank deposit and employers send 40% SS tax to employees’ bank account directly and give a copy to SSA at the same time. There won’t be any transition cost. What trillion dollars are just 40% of private account and our kids of kids are the beneficiaries of this privatization. However, You do not always gain on stocks and bounds, and you may have a chance to lose. Therefore, the new laws need to be established so that investors can move their account from stock account to CD deposit freely and vice versa. When stocks price fall, you move it to saving account. Although the interest of saving account is lower than paid by SS, (current 1.25%) yet you won’t have a complete loss. The government should encourage financial institutions to compete for this business by telling investors how much you can benefit from their financial programs and the government is hand off but supervise the activities. I don’t know who designs the transition plan for the president. Is this plan aim for saving SS? Or boosting the stock market? Or both?

Evidence. President says that he just widens the coverage of federal employees used to have to the general public. I took his words for it. My own experience to prove the advantage of private account is that I put my IRA (Individual Retirement Account) into stock market and was handling by Washington Mutual Bank. The result is much better than my regular IRA account. If it is not for the down fall stock market in 2003, I would have made 4 times more interest than regular IRA account. This is why I suggest to establish new law to governing the practice of financial institutions and ask them to tell the investors when the stock market has big turbulence. Thus, investors’ loss will be minimal. Now everything is on internet, and I can watch stock IRA account closely. I don’t think there will be any big loss. Not all stocks are expensive one. Some stocks, called ‘Small Caps,’ cost only 38 cents per share and turn into $1.25 within a month. So, government should not limit certain stocks for private account. The limitation is financial institutions’ promise what they can do for the investors. All government does is watch financial institution closely and be sure they do what they have said.

In conclusion, majority of Americans go for president’s privatization of SS, but hate the cost of the transition plan. My friend Danny says ‘It is the bankrupt of America.’ Even president has said the transition cost 700 millions. I would rather leave SS alone because it may have some chances for next 37 years that can save SS. Such as ‘Increase immigration.’ ‘Encourage baby booming.’. And ‘Double the interests of SS.’ etc. It will not be too late on spending 700 millions or trillions to save SS then. If everybody follows my simple transition plan and opens a private account in his/her bank. Either 60% or 40% is lost, and he or she still has a manageable income to live. If he or she can have both in success, he or she will have a swell retirement.

Footnote.

Increase immigration. Start from year 2018 we increase immigrants to meet the shortage of workers who contribute the SS tax. Encourage baby booming. Give more birth of babies from year 2005 to year 2010. They become part of work force when they are 20-25 years old in year 2025 to year 2030. 2025 - 2018 = 7 this means that we only need portions of 700 million to support seven years. Or increase immigrants to cover that. 2042 - 2025 = 17. This means that new work force has 17 years to save SS bankruptcy. Double the interest of SS. There are 3 ways. 1. Lend SS tax for governmental projects (e.g., build highways.) Then collect the money from the users of highways to pay back SSA with interests. 2. Sell SS tax as bounds. The price of bounds goes up when more people use the highway. 3. Make the rich pay more tax because they enjoy society more. SS is a social program and is meant to help the poor and disables. The SS account is closed after you died but the private account can be passed on next generation. So, the rich have to pay more for it. We can apply all three in the same time. That is, we need the privatization of SS now but we don’t need to spend so much money for the time being.

Click on Translator choose language, just type in URL & click. You only type in once, it will translate the entire page. And page after page until all done. This page URL is http://drmasiw.tripod.com/privatiz.htm

Dr. Alexander Ma graduated from School of Language and Linguistics, Georgetown Unuversity, Washington D.C.

Final FDA approval of vagus nerve stimulation as a therapy for chronic or recurrent treatment-resistant depression to be issued in May. Psychiatrists will then officially be able to prescribe this remarkable, life changing therapy for patients.

On April 7th, 2005, the manufacturer of the vagus nerve stimulator( Cyberonics, Inc.) announced that it had been notified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) that one the few remaining conditions of final FDA approval had been satisfied. Cyberonics also announced that it was very confident that the two remaining conditions will be expeditously satisfied and that final FDA approval will be issued in May.

Robert P. (”Skip”) Cummins, Cyberonics’ Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer commented: “This major step forward towards the accomplishment of Cyberonics’ mission to improve the lives of people touched by refractory epilepsy and treatment-resistant depression (TRD) would not have been possible without the timely, diligent, interactive and cooperative efforts of the entire Dallas District Office staff led by Michael Chappell, District Director, and the Cyberonics regulatory team. Cyberonics and CDRH continue to make good progress towards our goal of satisfying the remaining conditions of final TRD approval.”

The official launch of vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for depression will take place at the American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Meeting at the World Congress Center in Atlanta from May 21st to May 25th. The Annual Meeting will be attended by over 20,000 psychiatrists.

Major depressive disorder is one of the most prevalent and serious illnesses in the U.S., affecting nearly 19 million Americans every year. Depression is the second leading cause of disability for the general population and the leading cause of disability for American women. Approximately 20 percent of depressed Americans, or approximately four million people, experience chronic or recurrent treatment-resistant depression that has failed to respond to multiple antidepressant treatments. If approved, the VNS Therapy System will be the first implantable device-based treatment for depression and the first treatment developed, studied and labeled specifically for patients with treatment-resistant depression.

Vagus nerve stimulation will be the mainstream treatment for chronic or treatment-resistant depression. Over four million American suffer from chronic depression. The final FDA approval will be considered one of the major breakthroughs in medical device history.

You can learn more at http://www.VagusNerveStimulator.com. There is a free electronic newsletter to keep you up-to-date.

Charles Donovan was a patient in the FDA investigational trial of vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for chronic or recurrent treatment-resistant depression. He was implanted with the vagus nerve stimulator in April of 2001. He chronicles his journey from the grips of depression thanks to vagus nerve stimulation therapy in his book:

Out of the Black Hole: The Patient’s Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression

The book will be exhibited at the American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Meeting in May.

He is editor the http://www.VagusNerveStimulator.com Web Site