Space Jumping Anyone?

Felix Baumgartner has found his next big challenge. Already the holder of multiple records for skydiving and base jumping, he is currently planning a jump that will set even more. The plan this time is to jump from a balloon at 120,000 ft, in August. If successful it would gain him four more records: the highest altitude free fall, the highest manned balloon flight, the longest distance traveled in free fall and the speed record for the fastest free fall; and he will also break the sound barrier during his fall to the earth. He also hopes that his jump will prove real scientific information and help open up space tourism and new extreme sports, like space jumping.

He will make his way up in an adapted weather balloon. The 400 ft wide scientific balloon will carry a pressurized capsule, with him in it. At 120,000 ft up 23 miles up, he will have to endure temperatures as low as -94 F as well as lack of oxygen and an air pressure that would make his blood boil. To protect him from these difficulties, a suit has been specially designed. The custom suit is also pressurized in a very similar way to the ones NASA astronauts use and carries a supply of 20 minutes of oxygen. His helmet was also specially designed to try and keep him from blacking out when he causes a sonic boom passing through the sound barrier. Due to the difficulties of reaching his parachute's cords whilst in the suit, it also had to be adapted to make the jump possible.

Once he jumps out of the capsule, and away from the balloon, it should take him ten minutes to reach the ground. Thirty-five seconds later he'll break the sound barrier. He'll be traveling close to 700 miles an hour, for the first five minutes, until he reaches 5,000 ft and opens his chute. Five minutes later he hopes to have reached the ground safely, hoping to land in a specific area of New Mexico, but even a slight breeze could cause him to drift 150 miles.

During his jumping blacking will be his worst fear, it would very easily prove deadly. Breaking the sound barrier, the sheer force of the fall, or going into a spin could cause it to happen. Baumgartner stated during an interview that, "I always feel the danger because you might always be subject to an unexpected or emergency event. One single mistake might cause a real catastrophe. You are worried about being where humans shouldn't be."

2011 NFL Awards

With a final vote of 48 to 2, Aaron Rodgers is the National Football League's Most Valuable Player for 2011. Rodgers led the NFL in passing with a 122.5 rating, 45 touchdown passes, six interceptions and a 68.3 completion percentage as the Packers went 15-1 and won the NFC North. He is the fifth Packer to win the award. Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Paul Hornung and Brett Favre have been given it previously. This is also the fifth year in a row that a quarter back has been voted MVP. Tom Brady of the Patriots won it in both 2007 and 2010, with the Colts Peyton Manning taking it the two years between.

Other awards went to the Saints Drew Brees for Offensive Player of the Year. Terrell Suggs of the Ravens received Defensive Player of the Year. Offensive Rookie of the Year went to Panther Cam Newton, while the Defensive Rookie of the Year was split between Bronco Von Miller and Aldon Smith of the 49ers. Lion Matthew Stafford won the Comeback Play of the Year and Coach of the Year went to Jim Harbaugh of the 49ers.

Drowning in Technology

The joy of the 21st century, technology everywhere and easy to use. Sometimes it truly does get overwhelming the sheer amount of information, or how busy it can make you.

That's what happened to me. I found myself stressing over four square. Ridiculous as it may be, if it for whatever reason wouldn't let me check in or said I was too far so it didn't count, I was finding myself getting up set with it. Or help us all if someone took one of my precious mayor ships from me. And driving became stressful too. If I was stopped at a red light I found myself making sure to check in at that intersection.

I had to quit. And last week I did. I kept the app, so I can check in to places with friends, or to use it as a way to invite people to join me, wherever I might be, but otherwise I do not use it at all anymore. And it's great! I can truly feel the difference from just that much stress being going from my life. I'm happier just because I stopped playing a stupid game all the time.

It's made me question what else is stressing me out, that really is not a necessary or even useful part of my life. I'd totally suggest you do the same. Evaluate stuff in your life, and if it's causing you stress and isn't needed or useful get rid of it. It might not even be something technological. But get it out, feel better, and enjoy life.

The Hippie Homemaker ~ Homemade Face Wash

Hello again everyone!

It's been a crazy week and right now I'm in the middle of a potential blizzard! How fun!

If you get stuck in a blizzard and you ran out of face wash, what would you do? Well, I would head straight for the pantry. Yup, you can find everything you need for a lovely face wash in the pantry! It's so fabulous and it saves your skin from all of those chemicals that in the long run will just make it look worse. So open your pantries and let's get started.

Honey-Citrus Face Wash

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup fresh citrus juice (I use grapefruit)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup strong brewed green tea

So here's how this works. Get a bottle, preferably some sort of squirt bottle, but an old shampoo bottle of some sort will work. Add in all of the ingredients and shake.

To use it, squirt onto a washcloth and rub on your face. Let sit for 2-5 minutes and then wash off.

The Science

Honey is anti-bacterial, meaning that it will kill all of that nastiness that is on your face (it is great at preventing acne). The citrus juice is also anti-bacterial, but on top of that it will create a "natural shine" on your face (and this isn't that greasy shine that we all try to avoid).

Like we discussed with the homemade shampoo and conditioner post from last week, the vinegar will help to balance your skin. This means that your skin will produce less oil and therefore less of that greasy shine that we don't want.

I add green tea to mine because of it's soothing effects. Green tea helps to reduce redness of the skin (I happen to have a reasonable red complexion on my face, it doesn't tan it just gets burned).

Overall this homemade product has everything that you need, and it only cost you a couple of dollars to make and you found everything in the pantry! Score! Best of luck everyone, see you next week.

Grip of Winter

It can be beautiful, but it's also deadly. From Alaska around to Russia, the northern hemisphere is in the grips of winter. European reports have at least 164 people dead from the cold. Thousands have been cut off as entire areas of Eastern Europe are no longer reachable, except by helicopter. Air drops have been made in many places, to supply cut off towns and villages. Temperatures have been dropping to the mid negative 30s F.

Record snows have paused in Alaska, where some areas have seen temperatures reach below negative 60 F. And as we speak Colorado and other sections of the Rockies and western plains are experiencing a storm that could plant up to two feet of snow in metro areas, with mountain regions expecting between one and four feet.

If you're anywhere in the cold and or snowy regions, please remember to dress in warm layers. This isn't just to avoid getting sick. Your life could easily be on the line throughout the cold and snowing areas, so take care of yourself and your loved ones.

Joe Coors for Congress

Joe Coors Jr. is running for Congress. He will be going up against longtime Democrat Ed Perlmutter, for Colorado's 7th Congressional District. In his speech he stated that there are "two distinct choices for voters this year. The first option is to continue the expansion of federal government both in size and scope, placing control of far too many decisions in the hands of bureaucrats. This is the voting record of the incumbent and the liberals in Washington, D.C. I believe the best option is the second option: Free enterprise with limited government that allows men and women to start and grow their businesses as large as their dreams will carry them. This formula has made our economy the largest in the world. This is what I will champion in Congress."

Liberal groups, as well as Perlmutter's campaign, have already begun the attacks against Coors. The focus so far is on his wealth, which is considerable thanks to the companies he owns, and those passed down through the family. Will be interesting to see how well he does. Unless another entry appears he will very likely have not just his Republican Party's backing, but the Tea Party as well as many independents.

Unrest in China

Unrest continues to strike nation after nation, and China is no stranger to it. The truth is hard to get out due to the total control of the media by the Chinese government, but some does get out. CNN reports that any articles written on the subject are quickly blocked out by the Chinese government, if they contain any information not being released by state media.

In Xinjiang province an extra 8000 police have been sent in to ensure "the lasting peace and social stability in the region." Xinjiang province is home to the Uighers people, who are mostly Muslim and do not even speak Chinese. The region has seen a rising tide of Han Chinese immigrants, and in 2009 was the scene of riots which killed at least 200 people. Very little is known about the current situation there, other than what state tv reports.

Sichuan province, home to large numbers of Tibetan communities has also seen a large crackdown. Both sides have confirmed deaths occurred, but the stories as to why are very different. The state media says that religious unrest is occurring and protesters attacked police with weapons, and places the blame on the Dalai Lama. Whereas, Tibetan rights groups are saying that police fired repeatedly into an unarmed peaceful protest. Any foreigners or press who attempt to enter the area are turned back well before they can reach the turmoil, with police stating that they can not let them in for their own safety.

No More Debt!

Back in 2008, Obama said, "The problem is that the way Bush has done it in the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion from the first 42 presidents. Number 43 added $4 trillion by his lonesome. So we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back. $30,000 for every man woman and child. That's irresponsible, that's unpatriotic." Yet even in April 2011, "When you're a senator, traditionally what's happened is, this is always a lousy vote. Nobody likes to be tagged as having increased the debt limit -- for the United States by a trillion dollars. As president, you start realizing, you know what, we, we can't play around with this stuff. This is the full faith and credit of the United States." Kind of a radical switch there Barack.

In his eight years as President, George W. Bush raised the debt limit seven times, for an amount of $4 trillion. President Barack Obama however, has in three years raised it five times for $7 trillion. No wonder he's had to change his rhetoric. I'm going to once again quote Obama, "raising the debt limit is a sign of leadership failure." It totally is! As Representative Paul Ryan, said Sunday, "We are not getting the kind of leadership we need. At the time when America needs it the most, we have a debt crisis on our horizon. The Senate hasn't budgeted for 1,005 days now. The president is not even proposing to tackle this fiscal crisis. So, what we need is a new president and a new Senate, and we need to give the country a very specific plan, a set of ideas of how we're going to solve these problems and let the country choose in November what they want America to become."

Raising the debt limit, should never have been an option. There's a limit for a purpose! Why bother even having one, if it is so easy to raise it. If America is ever going to recover from her financial and economic woes and tribulations there can be no more increases. None. As in zero. Nada. No mas. It should not even be something allowed for discussion by the government. To once again agree with candidate Obama's sadly empty words, raising the national debt is "irresponsible, that's unpatriotic".

Reducing the debt has to be the foremost objective of the United States government. Why? Because it is the government's debt. We The People are being held hostage by it. And anytime a government is using anything to hold it's own people hostage, that government becomes an enemy of the people, an enemy of the very country it supposedly is working for. Congress and The President need to receive this message. Are you working for us or against us? If you continue working against us, you are in violation of your oath's of office, and an enemy of the state.

This country separated itself from England due to taxation without representation. Now all of these members were elected, whether their voters were alive or dead. But I seriously doubt any member of congress was elected by their constituents with the expressed purpose of 'bankrupt us further'. In fact, many of the newer members were elected because they promised to not vote for further debt. Congress, let me be clear, you are either for us or against us. Compromise is the nature of politics, but on this issue there is no room for any. No more debt!

Millennium Falcon at Bottom of Baltic?

Representative West's Message