Abate of Florida 
Next State Meeting

Plant City Bike Fest Sponsor/Organization: Plant City Type: OPEN 
Location: Plant City, Fl 
6 - 9 pm, 1st Saturday of every month. Bike show and more. Restaurants, live music, 50/50 all in historic downtown Plant City. For more info call Sheila at the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce (813) 754-3707 

Too much soap in your washing machine and it's over- flowing? Pour in a capful of fabric softener to eliminate the suds.

It is very easy to line cabinet shelves with peel and stick floor tile. At some time or other these tiles go on sale. I have have known a lot of people who lined all their cabinets and closet shelves with them. The tiles cut very easily with a scissors and clean up with a damp cloth or sponge

Lubricate squeaky hinges. Spray the joint with shaving cream. Or rub soap along hinges. Or lubricate the hinges with furniture polish. 

It is very easy to line cabinet shelves with peel and stick floor tile. At some time or other these tiles go on sale. The tiles cut very easily with a scissors and clean up with a damp cloth or sponge

Employees who surf the Net at work could receive a bill each month for the cost of borrowed bandwidth and wasted time if Australia-based Exinda Networks' URL- and bandwidth-monitoring system takes off. 

Exinda Networks says it's developed a system that allows a company to monitor exactly which Web sites are visited by each employee and how much bandwidth has been used--in terms of a cash loss to the employer. 

Con Nikolouzakis, director of Exinda Networks, said the URL- and bandwidth-monitoring system was designed to ensure that employees are held responsible for the cost of misused bandwidth and time.

"If you use your office computer for Internet banking and booking theater tickets, you're fine. If you choose to use it to download illegal software, research personal interests or other non-business uses, then you could be issued with a 'please explain' and a bill for the costs of the bandwidth and time you wasted," Nikolouzakis said.

According to Nikolouzakis, access to certain sites can be blocked, and bandwidth abusers can have their bandwidth throttled, which would significantly slow that individual's access to the undesirable Web site. 
Additionally, the employee could be presented with a bill. 

"Theoretically, individual employees could be charged a fee for non-business-related Internet usage on a monthly basis, if an employer wanted to get tough on staff abusing their Web access but didn't want to block them altogether," Nikolouzakis said.

However, not everyone agrees that charging employees for personal bandwidth is a good idea.

James Turner, industry analyst for security and services at Frost & Sullivan, said that charging employees for personal bandwidth usage would stir up a hornet's nest because bandwidth is relatively cheap and employees get a "morale boost" from having some freedom to surf at work.

"Most employees sign an acceptable-Internet-usage policy when they join a new company," Turner said. "After that, there is a level of trust between employer and employee. Companies like Computer Associates already have software that can measure an individual's bandwidth usage, so the technology isn't new, and across the market there is not a huge demand." 

However, Turner did agree that there is a need for employers to spot the employees that regularly abuse the system.

"The tiny minority of bandwidth abusers are most likely downloading illegal material (such as pirated movies)," 
Turner said, "and their employers need to be able to detect and stop this for antipiracy reasons. No company wants to be involved in trafficking stolen goods, and storing illegal digital material is an extension of this."

Munir Kotadia of ZDNet Australia reported from Sydney.

ABC News.com
The Free Beach Association of Queensland has called on the Member for Noosa, Cate Molloy, to take a stand against discriminatory laws on nudism and press the State Government to change them.

The association's public relations officer, Anita Grigg, says Ms Molloy, who has already admitted to having gone naked on the beach at Alexandria Bay, should not be silenced by the Premier and should represent her constituents' wishes in Parliament.

Ms Grigg says Ms Molloy should highlight the discriminatory aspects of nudity laws and encourage the Premier to bring Queensland in line with every other Australian state which provides for legal nude bathing.

"I believe [Premier] Peter Beattie has used his power to silence her - there is a large number in her electorate who are nudists and we would wish that she stand up to the Premier and ask him to stop this discriminatory law," she said.

By JANE ARMSTRONG With a report from Julian Sher UPDATED AT 8:14 PM EST Tuesday, Jan 25, 2005 Advertisement VANCOUVER -- Police in British Columbia have charged the top two ranking men in the Vancouver chapter of the Hells Angels with trafficking cocaine, after a 20-month undercover investigation of the wealthy Canadian branch of the notorious motorcycle gang.

The arrests are a significant breakthrough for Mounties in B.C., where the conviction rate against Hells Angels members has been low and confined to more junior members.

Yesterday, the man police say is the president of the Hells Angels Vancouver chapter, Norman Krogstad, was led into a court room alongside Cedric Smith, 55, another senior member.

Mr. Krogstad, 57, is charged with 14 counts of trafficking cocaine. Mr. Smith faces 11 counts of the same charge. 
Eight other men, who police say belong to the Vancouver chapter as well as a puppet gang in the northern B.C. city of Prince George called the Renegades, also appeared in court facing drug and firearm charges.

For the first time, police identified each of the accused in terms of their rank or affiliation with the Hells Angels or Renegades.

Police said the wording was deliberate to show that police don't buy assertions from some Hells Angels members that the group is an unfairly maligned group of motorcycle enthusiasts.

In British Columbia, relations between police and the Hells Angels turned into a bitter public feud last summer when a spokesman for the biker gang, Ricky Ciarnello, went on the radio accusing police of unfairly targeting the group with weak prosecution cases. "If somebody sells cocaine in my club, they do it without the knowledge of the Hells Angels, they do it without the support of the Hells Angels and they do it for their own benefit," Mr. Ciarnello said at the time.

Yesterday, an RCMP spokesman said the recent slew of drug and weapons charges should settle that debate. 
"This should open the public's eyes about what the Hells Angels are really about," said Sergeant Dave Goddard, a spokesman for British Columbia's drug section.

"We look at them more as organized crime and motorcycle gangs. There's a reason those names are attached to them, because they are involved in the commission of a number of offences."

While few people believe the Hells Angels are merely a group of motorcycle enthusiasts, police in B.C. don't have a great track record convicting gang members.

Last year, a Vancouver newspaper estimated that 60 per cent of Crown cases against club members had failed over the past decade.

Police said a key breakthrough in the investigation came when police in Prince George secured a so-called agent who infiltrated clubs there and in Vancouver.

The informant is expected to testify at the defendants' trials. Neither police nor Crown spokesmen would identify the informant.

All 10 accused appeared in B.C. Supreme Court yesterday afternoon, four of them via video link in Prince George. 
One of the accused in Prince George, George McBeth, 36, was released on a $5,000 surety. Mr. McBeth, described as an associate of the Renegades, faces four firearms charges. The other nine are in custody pending bail hearings. 

Ex-Outlaws VP gets 78 months for conspiracy A former Outlaws motorcycle club vice president who pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge has been sentenced to 78 months in prison.

Edward "Shock" Anastas also must serve five years of supervised release and pay more than $23,000 in restitution. Anastas was among 19 members of the Outlaws convicted of federal crimes after a racketeering investigation in the 1990s. 

As part of his plea agreement, Anastas cooperated with the government in its prosecution of Thomas E. "Woody" Sienkowski, an alleged leader in the group's crimes. Within weeks, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman is expected to hand down a new sentence for Sienkowski. The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals last year ordered a new sentencing.

Spirit crushers are those people who try to zap your positive energy. Many times on the surface they seem to be friends or people who care. Everybody has felt the sting of a backhanded compliment. "Gee, Mary, you look great since you started working out. You spend so much time at the gym, I bet your husband is looking elsewhere." 
Comments like this may be said with a smile, but they can hurt. Spirit crushers usually have other issues going on. Perhaps they are jealous of you or feel inadequate with themselves. That doesn't matter so much, though, because the "why" is out of your control. What matters is how you react to situations involving an unsupportive person. 

Start becoming aware of spirit crushers in your life and recognize the way you feel around these people. Then, make moves to surround yourself with a sincere support system Ten Minute Tone-Ups For Dummies, by Cyndi Targosz, can help you succeed with at least one of your New Year resolutions! 

Update from Buffalo Field Campaign
Volunteers were blessed by the presence of six bulls that had migrated out of Yellowstone National Park, along the Madison River corridor, in search of good winter forage. This is one of the most beautiful places in the world, frequented by a vast array of wildlife such as moose, elk, wolves, ravens, eagles, and otters. The buffalo love this place and their presence makes it complete. But, although it is public land that was originally set aside for their use, the fear and greed of Montana's livestock industry dictates that our last wild buffalo not be tolerated on the Gallatin National Forest, or anywhere outside the confines of the Park.