Alixito’s Neighborhood

My DSL is repaired but will only work if I'm hooked up to the modem via an ethernet cable.

I've tried, for an hour this morning and another hour tonight, to configure the Linksys wireless router (which I installed and have previously reconfigured a couple times). It comes up as configured and connected but won't let me go anywhere - everything times out.

I think the problem is internet security settings... that I have them configured, somewhere, for the wireless router too. I've checked, disabled, and/or reset everything I can think of but still can't get internet access via my wireless router.

Yes, it is making me insane.

Disclaimer: I do not have Windows 7. The statistical likelihood that I will have it in the next year or so is equivalent to me being descended from Anastasia. You know, the one who died in vain according to Mick Jagger. I'm moneygrubbing and my laptop is 4 years old and I won't replace it for another year or two.

That said, I have long been a fan of the Get A Mac ads, because they were funny and punchy. They would playfully exhibit the differences (both in purpose and daily use) of each OS and it was at a level that was "all in good fun". The latest "Get A Mac" ad, though, is weak.

And here's why:

Every single previous ad brought out a specific feature, issue, or benefit that Mac had over Windows. Maybe it was removing the myth that only Windows OS could do business. Maybe it was exploring Mac's graphics/arts-friendly side. Maybe it was antivirus issues. But each and every ad had a point.

Until now.

This ad ("Broken Promises") is so generic it threatens the whole genre; there isn't a specific target except that each Windows release has promised to improve on its predecessor. Well, I would think that Mac's OS' have offered the same (after all, if there isn't improvement, then what is the point?). It's a below-the-belt punch, and it shows that Apple is truly threatened, or at least perceptually threatened, by Windows 7.

This bothers me on a couple of levels: one, I do have some significant friends and family who busted their @ss on Windows 7, and rightfully so: I hear it's a sweet ride. Two, I'm all for competition and playful (or barbed) banter: but it needs to have substance. The latest Get A Mac ad is the equivalent to Churchill retorting "I know you are but what am I" to any of his foils.

The irony being that it sends me down the path of looking to a Win-specific platform next year, and not switching to Mac.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Marreese Speights converted a go-ahead three-point play with 1:10 to play and the Philadelphia 76ers beat New Jersey 82-79 on Wednesday night, extending the Nets' franchise worst start to 0-8.

Thaddeus Young had 20 points to lead the 76ers, and Speights finished with 19 points and nine rebounds as Philadelphia snapped a two-game losing streak.

Brook Lopez had 23 points and 14 rebounds, but the center did not get a call on a drive to the basket with about 14 seconds to play that could have given the Nets the lead.

New Jersey missed three shots that would have given it the lead in the final minute and turned the ball over with less than 5 seconds to play on an inbounds play when a 3-pointer would have tied it.

Andre Iguodala added nine points, nine rebounds and six assists on 4 of 14 shooting, while Louis Williams had 10 points for Philadelphia, which shot 39 percent from the field.

The undermanned Nets seemed on the verge of their first win when Lopez hit two free throws with 1:26 to play to put New Jersey ahead 79-77.

Young then missed a drive to the basket, but Speights got the rebound and converted his three-point play for an 80-79 edge.

Trenton Hassell, who had 13 points, missed a drive to the basket just seconds later but the 76ers gave the Nets a chance when Iguodala missed a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left and then was called for a charging foul with 21.7 seconds to go after Philadelphia had gotten a long rebound on his earlier miss.

Lopez then drove the left side against Samuel Dalembert and the big center seemed to be hit on his arm but no call was made.

Dalembert was fouled with 12.2 seconds to go but only hit the second shot leaving Philadelphia ahead 81-79.

After a time out, the Nets put the ball in play and rookie Terrence Williams had a wide-open 3-pointer from the right corner bounce off the rim.

Still New Jersey wasn't done. Young made only one free throw with 5.7 seconds left and the Nets got a final chance after with just under five seconds to go.

However, Rafer Alston had a miscommunication on his inbounds pass and it went right to Philadelphia as the Nets stood in shock on the court and the clock ran out.

The Nets, who trailed most of the game, used an 15-4 fourth-quarter run to take a 75-71 lead with 5:33 to go. Lopez scored the final two baskets in the lane after Simmons tied the score with a jumper from the left wing.

Simmons started the spurt with a 3-pointer and Hassell hit four free throws in the run that included a basket by Alston.

A free throw by Speights and Willie Green's only two baskets of the game — a 3-pointer and a jumper, gave Philadelphia a 77-75 lead.

Lopez then scored two straight baskets to give the Nets their 79-77 lead.

NOTES: The start was the first for Nets rookie Terrence Williams. ... New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank got a technical for walking the length of the court to argue a non-call after a turnover by Alston in the third quarter led to a Philadelphia layup. ... Despite having only eight players, forward Sean Williams did not play for New Jersey. ... The 76ers are playing five games in seven days.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

(Health.com) -- Bisphenol-A, a chemical found in hard, clear plastic used to make everything from baby bottles to food packaging, may increase the risk of erectile dysfunction and other sexual problems in male factory workers exposed to large amounts of the substance, according to a study conducted in China.

The health effects of BPA have been hotly debated; although some studies have linked BPA to a risk of brain damage, birth defects, hyperactivity, heart disease, early puberty, obesity, and prostate cancer, other research suggests that the low level of exposure from plastics doesn't pose a health risk to adults. (The picture is less clear for children.)

Part of the problem is that much of the research has been conducted in mice and other animals, and its validity in humans is controversial. Although not conclusive, the potential health effects have caused some baby-bottle and water-bottle manufacturers to stop using the chemical, at least in part because of public concern. BPA is not found in soft, pliable plastic used in most water bottles.

Now, the new study -- one of the first to be conducted in humans -- seems to support a finding previously reported only in animal research.

Among the men who work with BPA, the risk of having difficulty ejaculating was seven times greater than it was among the non-exposed group, and the risk of erectile problems was more than four times greater. The BPA-exposed workers also reported higher rates of low sex drive and lower overall satisfaction with their sex lives, according to the study, published this week in Human Reproduction and funded by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

Researchers compared the rates of sexual dysfunction in two groups of workers in China -- 230 men who worked at factories that produce BPA or epoxy resin (which contains the chemical), and some 400 men, including workers in other industries, who were not exposed to abnormally high levels of BPA. Epoxy resin is used in the lining of canned foods and is another potential source of BPA in addition to hard, clear plastic.

The men who worked in the BPA and epoxy-resin factories were exposed to levels about 50 times higher than average.

The greater a worker's exposure to BPA -- which was measured using spot air and urine samples -- the more likely he was to have sexual dysfunction. Yet the dysfunction was apparent even in workers who had worked in a BPA factory for one year or less.

"This was a very compelling study," says Dr. Rebecca Sokol, the director of the andrology program at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, who specializes in the effects of toxins on the reproductive system. "It's not cause and effect, but when you have the kind of ambient air quality assessment that they made, it comes pretty close to cause and effect."

In the past, the scientists and industry representatives who have argued that BPA is safe at the low level of exposure that occurs for most people have pointed to the lack of BPA research in humans, says the lead author of the study, Dr. De-Kun Li, a reproductive epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research, in Oakland, California.

"They keep arguing, 'Where's the human data? Where's the human data? You can't extrapolate animal studies to humans,'" Li says. "Which is true, sometimes. But now we have human data."

The findings of Li and his colleagues are consistent with the hypothesis that BPA, when it enters the body, can mimic the effects of estrogen and may block male sex hormones (including testosterone). The study has implications beyond male sexual dysfunction, however, since sexual dysfunction is often associated with broader reproductive health problems.

And the fact that a health effect observed in animal studies has been seen in humans, says Li, suggests that the other findings of animal studies -- an increased risk of cancer and obesity, for example -- need to be taken more seriously. "We cannot dismiss them anymore," he says.

Experts caution that the results need to be replicated in other studies, and also in the United States.

The study "opens a new front in [BPA] research," says Peter Myers, a BPA expert and the chief scientist at Environmental Health Sciences in Charlottesville, Virginia. "But as is absolutely necessary when a new front like this is opened up, we need to see replication."

It's unclear, for instance, whether the everyday exposure to BPA that people receive from food packaging and other plastics is significant enough to produce the sexual dysfunction seen in workers who were inhaling the chemical all day.

The BPA levels measured in the study were "extraordinarily high," says Sokol, and they may have little or no relevance to "somebody drinking water out of a bottle."

But, she adds, "We need to be prudent and cautious about whether this chemical actually is impacting reproduction. People have to stop and say, 'Whoa, now we're starting to get data in animals that is manifested in humans.'"

The study did have some weaknesses. It was relatively small for an epidemiological study, according to Sokol, and the rate of erectile difficulty among the BPA workers was still relatively low overall -- a little more than 15 percent.

Health.com: 10 Questions to ask a new partner

This study comes amid mounting concerns over the safety of BPA from consumers, scientists, and public officials. In the summer of 2009, Canada said it was moving towards a ban on the sale and import of BPA-containing baby bottles. A number of states and cities, including Minnesota and Chicago, have passed similar bans or have taken steps to do so. Several companies have also announced that they will voluntarily phase out the chemical from their products.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is also in the midst of reconsidering its stance on BPA. In August 2008, largely on the basis of research funded by the chemical industry, the agency issued a draft assessment on the safety of BPA in food packaging, concluding that "an adequate margin of safety exists for BPA at current levels of exposure" from those sources.

The FDA report caused an uproar in the scientific community and was soon contradicted. The National Toxicology Program (NTP), a federal agency that advises the FDA on chemicals and other environmental toxins, released its own report expressing "some" concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brains, behavior, and prostate glands of fetuses, infants, and children, as well as "minimal" concern about earlier puberty for girls.

The NTP classified its concerns over reproductive effects from workplace BPA exposure as "minimal."

Soon after, the FDA's own Science Board released a report that cited the FDA's exclusion of a large number of animal studies on BPA, and concluded that the agency may have overestimated the safety of the chemical. Following the release of these reports and a spate of media attention, the FDA announced that it would reconsider its assessment. In mid-August 2009, the agency indicated that it will continue to review the research on BPA effects in humans and will "decide next steps" by the end of November 2009.

Although the study of Li and his colleagues isn't likely to drastically change the course of the debate (additional studies will be needed for that to happen), it will help keep the spotlight on the health effects of BPA.

"This study forces some new questions into the arena that need to be answered," says Myers.

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Copyright Health Magazine 2009

A government report released Tuesday found that essential DNA evidence in rape cases is often never sent to crime labs for testing. But what our investigation also found is that even when police departments do send rape kits to crime labs, they can go untested for months -- even years -- while rapists go free.

A 24-year-old single mother from Enid, Okla. (who we will call "Cathy") told police she was raped in July by Kory Mitchell.

"I tried to crawl away and when I got to the door, he pushed me back down," Cathy said.

Justice Department Report
Human Rights Watch Report

"Cathy" knew Mitchell through her ex-boyfriend. What she didn't know was that Mitchell had been accused of rape over a year ago.

"I didn't know I couldn't trust him," she said.

Mitchell, who denies the charges, was not arrested for the first alleged rape because police were waiting for the lab results from the rape kit. It took 14 months for the results tying Mitchell to the crime to arrive. Finally, the results showed up on July 8, exactly one day after "Cathy" says Mitchell raped her. He has been charged with both rapes.

"I don't want him to do it to somebody else," Cathy said.

Rape in America, Justice Denied
Rape Kit Data, By the Numbers

Now, a five-month CBS News investigation of 24 cities and states has found more than 6,000 rape kits from active investigations waiting months, even years to be tested.

On average, six months in Rhode Island, Alabama and Illinois. It can take nearly a year in Missouri. Up to three years in Anchorage, Alaska. One state, Louisiana, has rape kits dating as far back as 2001 waiting to be tested.

"It's absolutely astounding," said Sarah Tofte, Research Director at Human Rights Watch. "What's the point of sending a rape kit to a crime lab for testing if you can't get to it for say, eight years?"

"It worries me that this is not a high enough priority in some parts of the country in law enforcement," said Sen. Patrick Leahy.

Sen. Patrick Leahy says it wasn't supposed to be this way. In 2003, he co-sponsored federal legislation allocating three-quarters of a billion dollars to clear the rape kit backlog. But still delays remain.

"If they don't catch the person on this rape, they are going to commit another one," Leahy said.

That's what David Lisak found. An expert on rape at the University of Massachusetts, he says research shows that 71 percent of rapists are repeat offenders.

"The number of assaults that they commit can be anywhere from, in non-stranger cases, it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 3, 4, 5, 6 offenses at least per rapist," Lisak said.

Even with accused repeat offenders there are delays. Prosecutors had to wait 11 months for lab results before they could charge one man with three rapes in Missouri. And because of a backlog at the Louisiana crime lab, a sex offender was just charged with rape, from 2006. Both men deny the charges.

"We had a sense that there were perpetrators out there who were not being followed up on," said Steve Redding. He's a county attorney in Minneapolis, and started digging through old cases where the victim didn't know her attacker, and for one reason or another, the kits were never tested. He sent 35 kits to the lab. Patterns emerged. A case from 1998 matched DNA from a 2007 case.

"Do I think that the person has not committed any sexual assaults in between those nine years," Redding asked? "Not in my life as a prosecutor for 30 years.

In the end, Redding got DNA matches on eight of the 35 cases, charging all eight with rapes.

Further proof that justice can be found in these kits, if only they are tested, and tested in time.

Homelessness among veterans was higher in Suffolk County than in Nassau and any county in New York City, according to a federal report Sen. Charles Schumer cited Wednesday.

The number of homeless vets in Suffolk totaled 1,261, compared to 1,023 in Nassau, according to a 2008 survey by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Suffolk County United Veterans, a nonprofit advocacy group in Yaphank, characterized the data as an accurate portrayal of the number of veterans living on county streets or in shelters.

"There is still a continuing need to assist in helping homeless veterans," said Wilkens Young, the group's program director.

The report showed that the New York metropolitan area had nearly 10,000 homeless veterans. More than 2,280 were on Long Island.

Nationwide, the report found that about 131,000 veterans experience homelessness at any given time. It said between one-fourth and one-fifth of homeless people in the United States were veterans.

"Too many veterans are suffering, and as a nation we must come together and give them the support they need," Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement released on Veterans Day.

Schumer and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said service members returning from Afghanistan and Iraq are falling into homelessness quicker after their returns than veterans of previous conflicts.

Many returning vets suffer from post-traumatic stress, Schumer said.

Young said many of the vets his group helps struggle with a host of mental issues that lead to homelessness. He said other factors were substance abuse and job loss.

The federal survey by the Department of Veterans Affairs is called Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education and Networking Groups.

The report tallied homeless veterans in New York City's five boroughs: Brooklyn, 776; the Bronx, 549; Manhattan, 629; Queens, 910; Staten Island, 358.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development each year tracks the number of homeless, which includes veterans. HUD's national estimates are usually about 10 percent lower than the Department of Veterans Affairs' report, said Peter Dougherty, a spokesman for the veterans affairs department.

By AMY MERRICK

After months of spending cuts and layoffs, states are drawing up plans for tax increases and an even larger round of service reductions next year as budget shortfalls continue to widen.

In hard-hit Michigan, Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm directed state agencies last week to plan for 20% budget cuts for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2010, on top of 10% cuts made to balance the current budget.

Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels said last week that revenue for the first four months of the fiscal year was 7.4%, or $309 million, below forecasts. He ordered state agencies to cut spending by 10%, on top of 5% cuts at the beginning of the current fiscal year.

A report Wednesday from the nonpartisan Pew Center on the States warned of "fiscal peril" in clusters of Midwestern and Western states, the result of widespread foreclosures, rising unemployment and poor financial management. The report cited Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, California, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona. Florida, New Jersey and Rhode Island also were in bad shape financially, the Pew report said.

Some economists and lawmakers are pressing for another round of federal stimulus aid to states and localities.

The liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said Wednesday that, without more federal help, state budget cuts will shave nearly a percentage point off growth in U.S. gross domestic product, eliminating roughly 900,000 jobs in fiscal 2011, which for most states begins on July 1, 2010.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors said last week that cities faced drastic spending cuts without additional federal aid.

"The problems are evident from coast to coast," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Economy.com. "Without more help to state and local governments, the resulting budget cuts will become a very significant drag on the economy."

Across the U.S., states filled 30% to 40% of budget gaps for the current fiscal year with federal stimulus money. They were allotted about $250 billion of the $787 billion stimulus package, most of which will have been disbursed by the end of next year. That means the stimulus will help fill gaps in fiscal 2011, too, but not as much.

Once stimulus funds have been accounted for, states still face a combined deficit of $142 billion for fiscal 2011, up from $113 billion for the current fiscal year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The budget problems could weigh heavily on political races next year, when 37 governors' seats and 46 state legislatures will be up for election.

In a handful of states, economies are turning up. Moody's Economy.com says Iowa and North Dakota are emerging from recession. They are being bolstered by stable housing markets and relatively high prices for agricultural commodities.

But conditions remain bleak elsewhere. "States historically have their worst years shortly after a national recession ends, as they cope with higher Medicaid and other safety-net expenses, at the same time revenues lag because of stubborn unemployment," the Pew report said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was arrested on Wednesday after brawling with a celebrity photographer at Los Angeles International Airport and injuring the man's head, police said.

The photographer, who was not immediately identified, also was arrested. He suffered a cut to his forehead and was taken to a hospital. It was not known if Tyson was hurt.

"There's a lot of different versions to the story," Los Angeles Airport Police Sergeant Jim Holcomb said. "That's all going to come out later. But in this particular case, both individuals are going to be pressing charges for battery."

The Los Angeles Times, citing an unnamed source, said Tyson told police the photographer struck him in an attempt to provoke him, and the photographer claimed Tyson punched him in the face and tried to take film from his camera.

The scuffle is the latest incident between celebrities and aggressive paparazzi at the Los Angeles airport. Last year, rapper Kanye West was in an altercation with a photographer. West was cleared of charges last month.

Tyson, 43, won his first championship title at age 20, and his reputation as a ferocious boxer in the ring earned him the nickname "Iron Mike" during his heyday in the 1980s.

But he also has had a troubled history. As a boy, he was involved in criminal gang activity in Brooklyn, New York, and he eventually went to a school for troubled youth in upstate New York where he began boxing.

In 1988, as his career soared, he married actress Robin Givens. The pair fought publicly, Givens claimed he physically hurt her, and eventually they divorced.

In 1991, Tyson was accused of raping Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant. He was convicted of sexual assault in 1992 and spent three years in prison.

After he bit off a portion of boxer Evander Holyfield's ear during a 1997 championship bout, Tyson's career never regained the luster of his early years and he eventually retired from boxing in 2005.

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

See that brown bag?  That's poop.  Thats right...poop in a bag.  Brett has to have lab work on it....and in the meantime it needs to stay in my fridge until he takes it to medical.  Thats right people...I have SHIT real SHIT in my fridge.  He better not freaking forget it in the morning because poop in the fridge cannot be sanitary.

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Black women in America, for your own health and safety, please face the fact that this is abuse and STOP accepting abusive treatment. You can't cure an abuser. You can't get them to see the error of their ways by tears or by reason. They are a lost cause. It's that simple. Unless you want them to take you down in flames with them, you need to leave. End the cycle of abuse and save yourself. You do this by NOT limiting your dating pool to one group of men who mainly don't respect or appreciate you.

* Not all abuse is physical. Hate propaganda is a form of abuse.
* Not all abuse occurs in one-on-one relationships. There's such a thing as group abuse.