Over the last eight years, our media has provided example after example of wasteful government spending. Of course, each example was blamed on Republicans. This year, few news reports are even mentioning wasteful government spending, even though the government has passed massive spending bills. Fiscal Year 2009's spending report highlights multiple examples of wasteful government spending.

Hawaii and Guam are spending millions on controlling brown snakes. In Fiscal Year 2009, Representatives Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Representative Madeline Bordallo (D-Guam) requested $1.2 million. Representatives Hirono and Borallo requested the money to control brown snakes. Even more astonishing, similar requests were made each of the last 14 years. A total of $14.6 million has been used to control brown snakes.

The next Bill that smells like bacon, is one that House Appropriator Carolyn Kilpatrick ( D-Mich ), requested $50,000 for. This money is being used for tree replacement in River Rouge, MI. According to a census completed in 2000, this town had a population of less then 10,000 people. Could this money not have had a better use? How many trees do you get for $50,000? Does a town of less then 10,000 people really need this many trees. Why not start a community outreach program to keep kids off the streets and off of drugs. Education, in my opinion, is more important then a few thousand trees.

Military spending receives a large amount of attention. Usually, the attention is on spending for the Iraq war. This story is not about war spending but about spending on an access road. Representative Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) joined Senators Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) in requesting $30 million. The $30 million will be spent on Phase Five of an access road at Pohakuloa Training Area. Phases One through Four have already cost $74.4 million. Now that is wasteful government spending.

Veterans benefits and military spending have received a large amount of attention. Our military veterans deserve the best benefits money can buy. This spending story has nothing to do with veterans benefits. It is about a request for money to build a dining hall. Representative Louise Slaughter joined then Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in requesting $9 million to build a dining hall at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

And last but not least, lets end this with an extremely wasteful way to spend money. We can thank the Department of Agriculture and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee member Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). He requested $1,791,000 for Swine Odor and Manure Management Research in Ames IA. The so called purpose of this bill is to generate and integrate knowledge for evaluation and development of new management practices that minimize nutrient excretion, malodorous emissions, and the release of pathogens into the environment as well as have a positive impact on animal health.

Swine are not the only things that give off stinky manure. Just go into the bathroom after Larry the Cable Guy. Yet, we do not study ways to make human feces smell better. It does not make much since to study why swine manure has an odor. It is not a new problem. Is this really the most important problem and the best use for $1,791,000.

Military branches are always researching new weapon systems. It is necessary to keep America the superpower that we are and protect our citizens. It is not surprising the Department of Defense is developing a new jet plane. The Joint Strike Fighter has been in development for several years. Congress decided that the current engine needed competition to make it cheaper. They alotted $465,000,000 to develop a second engine. There was nothing wrong with the current engine being tested. Congress just wanted more competition.

All together 535 Officials have refused to be associated with the uncontrollable spending, and bogus ear marks. 100 Senators and 435 Representatives. Why run and hide, if nothing wrong is being done. These elected officials know what is going on is shady, to say the least. They didn't get elected into office to blow the taxpayers money on these fraudulent and lucrative ideals. I insist that you do your job as an American and as a tax payer. Call your local elected officials and let them know that this kind of behavior and this sort of erratic ear marking, is not what they were elected for. Stand up and take control of the situation.

Every blogger has dreams for their little corner of the Internet. Achieving those blogging dreams is not just a matter of luck. The blogging fairy won't just sweep down upon your latest post some night and grant it a million views. Or maybe she will. There's an element of luck and happenstance in getting a single blog post to jump the hurdle and become a most-viewed post for 24 hours, but if you want consistent success and regular readers then it will take a little work. Why not take the energy of the New Year and pick a few New Years blogging resolutions to apply to your blog this year.

1. Evaluate your blogging goals–or make one for the first time.

Setting goals for yourself is always the first step toward achieving them. What do you want from your blog? Take a few minutes to think about what you hope to accomplish with your blog. Is your plan to make extra money? Create a niche web site? Promote your business? Build your readership? Become famous? Once you know what you want your blog to accomplish, you can make a targeted plan to achieve your goal. (hat tip to Melanie Nelson at Bloggingtips.com)

1. Post more regularly to your blog.

One way to increase readership to your blog is to post regularly. Readers build certain expectations based on your posting frequency, but frequency isn't as important as regularity. If you can only manage time to put up one blog post per week, resolve to post it on the same day each week. Consistency is key–when your readers know what to expect, they'll become more engaged. (hat tip to Nate Whitehill at NateWhitehill.com)

1. Learn how to write fast posts.

Fast doesn't mean low quality. If you can learn to write your blog posts quickly, you can write more blog posts, right? There are many methods to help you pull your thoughts together and put them out as a fun-to-read blog post, but the basic process is the same. Keep a running list of ideas, learn to pre-write posts in your head, learn to write straight through and ignore distractions. (hat tip to Alisa Bowman at Problogger.net)

1. Evaluate your posting frequency.

Are you posting enough or too much? The ideal frequency for blog posts varies according to the kind of blog and type of posts you usually write, but there are ways for you to evaluate whether you should write more or scale back on your blog posting. Once you find your ideal rhythm, stick to it. (hat tip to Darren Rowse at Problogger.net)

1. Pick a remote blogging tool that you like.

Blogging is easy, and you can make it even easier with a remote blogging editor. Being able to pull up an editor and blog from where ever you happen to be on the web lets you write and post blog posts on the fly, while the information is still fresh in your mind - or right in front of you on the page. Top picks: Windows Live Writer and Scriberfire. Scribefire also includes an ad network that you can drop right into your blog.

1. Be a good blog community participant.

Interactivity and community are the two things that make blogs stand out against other writing and advertising platforms. Making the most of your blog means building and/or becoming part of the blog community. Attracting people to your blog starts with reaching out to other blogs. Read, comment, share and link to other bloggers who write in the same niche as your own blog. Get some more tips on building your blog's presence in the wider community from JohnTP at johntp.com– it may be an older post, but the tips are still worth the reading.

1. Write an About Me page.

Yes, you! People who read your blog do want to know who you are, and why they should listen to you. An About Me (or About this Blog) page should be a total requirement for every blog. Your About page should tell your readers who you are, why you're qualified to write about this subject and what they can get from reading your blog. (Hat tip to Jeff Atwood at codinghorror.com for this one. It's another older post that's well worth reading–the whole list of 13 blog cliches)

1. Comment on at least one other blog a day - and be sure to link your name back to your blog.

Commenting on another blog is an excellent way to increase your own readership. Most blogging platforms allow you to include your own blog URL which will be linked to your name when you post the comment. An interesting response will almost guarantee that some readers will follow the link back to your blog to read more of what you have to say, or find out about you. At the very least, the blogger you comment on will check you out– and may even link back to your blog.

1. Slim down your blog's look.

It's tempting to widgetize your blog with every new gadget out there, but all those widgets can quickly become overwhelming to your readers. Go through your "toys" as the new year starts and decide which of them are actually serving a useful purpose and which are just loading down your page with clutter.

1. Find the balance between proviiding and promoting.

With a special hat tip to DJ Francisat onlinemarketingblog.com, take this reminder that there is a balance to be found between promoting yourself and providing something unique with your blog. If you find that you're spending more time promoting than writing, or if you're collecting friends for the sole purpose of raising your rankings, take a step back and re-evaluate your 2009 blogging goals. Remember that no matter how much promotion you do, your blog is only as good as your content but no matter how good your content, no one will read it without promotion. Find the balance, and you'll have the best of both worlds and hopefully, a wildly successful blog.

You are going to want to read this, how to make money blogging, this is a chance of a lifetime, one that I am so thankful I took, and am now reaping the benefits of.

We are all looking for a way to make money other than our daily JOB. The cost of living is rising dramatically, while our income stays the same, leaving us very little at the end of the month. Do you want to start making some extra money and turn it into a full time passive income?

I began working on my stay at home business one year ago, September 2007. I began by writing a few articles, and trying my hardest to learn how make money with Internet marketing. I must say, it was a challenge that I really wanted to give up on. My daughter, Amy Bass is a very successful Internet Marketer, and stay at home mom with 4 little children. I have watched her create an Internet Marketing empire as a mom and a military wife. She was determined to make enough money so that she could pay off debt and become totally debt free.

With this as her goal, she began to learn all she could, and turned a very small business just over a year ago, to making over 5k a month. As I watched her succeed, I begged her to teach me what she was doing and how to make money blogging, and bless her heart, she tried. I was not as computer savvy as she was, yes, I know how to write articles, how to use Microsoft Word, but as far as HTTP and ftp, I knew nothing. I knew a blog was something that someone wrote, but I had no clue that there could be money made from it.

Amy took the time to teach me how to make money blogging, wrote each step out in such a way that I no longer had to bug her with a myriad of questions. She has now taken this information, that has helped me get where I am today, in such a way that anyone can become make money blogging successfully, and be able to replace your day job with some ever increasing passive income.

Please, if you are looking for a way to make more money, whether it be a little or a lot, check out The Niche Blogger, you will be amazed when the checks start rolling in, and as easy as writing a simple blog about something you are interested in. You can make money blogging, give it a try.

The rapid growth of the blogosphere makes it easier than ever to find blogging jobs and blog writing opportunities, and if you're already writing for the web, this will be one of the easiest-and perhaps most lucrative-ways to get published and enjoy a new creative process. If you're new to blogging or just interested in getting started, you'll find a range of job boards and blog networks that can help you get published immediately. This is especially helpful if you're not interested in creating your own domain or website right away-it's also a terrific way to start making money online. Here are a few tips on how to find blogging jobs and blog writing opportunities on the web:

Visit Performancing.com. This is one of the most widely used blogger networks on the web, and offers a listing of current blogging jobs and positions, as well as tips on becoming a better blogger and blog marketing. Bookmark this one as a valuable resource for anything and everything related to blogging.

Problogger. Another widely popular blogger resource, ProBlogger offers a wide range of tools and tips for both beginner and veteran bloggers. Sign up for the e-mail list for a great newsletter packed with opportunities, and visit the Problogger job boards for updated listings each day.

Do a search on Indeed.com. This mega-job search portal extracts job opportunities from all the major job sites including CareerBuilder, Monster.com, and even Craigslist. Just run a keyword search using the terms, 'blogging jobs,' 'blog writing,,' 'blogger,' and other similar phrases to generate a cohesive list of current opportunities.

Head to the networks. Some of the leading blog networks that are regularly recruiting fresh talent include b5media, Creative Weblogging, and Writers Write. Locate the contact us pages to find out which topics or niche subjects need bloggers, or simply submit your resume for review.

Visit BloggerJobs.biz. If you want to learn from the pros on how to make a career out of blogging, this is a great place to get started. The site is updated regularly with openings in various categories including advertising, blog design, blogger jobs, media and podcasting, and professional blogging.

Knowing where to set your sights before publishing makes it easy to start monetizing your blog immediately; instead of waiting to grow your own search engine traffic and audience, the major networks can help you get started with an audience and competitive pay structures so you can start making money online right away.

A few steady blogging jobs and blog writing opportunities can easily supplement your writing income, helping you grow with a network or create a new niche for your interest.

Good dialogue is essential to a great work of fiction. With it, an author can reveal to the reader who the characters are without having to tell them. We can give characters unique ways of talking, certain phrases they like to repeat and have the characters interacting with one another. Like the moonstone, dialogue should be smooth and should reveal important information that furthers the plot.

From the very beginning of my writing career, I have had little trouble in the area of dialogue. I hear the characters in my head and write their dialogue just as they talk. It comes so naturally to me that I had to analyze some of my work to find out how I actually do it that makes it flow and seem real.

Despite having read dialogue over and over again in books, what I didnt have down naturally was the punctuation. Enough of the format was imprinted into my mind that I could remember that the quotes go outside the end punctuation, but my end punctuation and when to capitalize and when to not capitalize tags really tripped me up. A speech tag is the part before or after the words spoken, such as he said or she said.

When I found out that I had been doing something wrong in my dialogue punctuation, I searched the internet and found a lot of drawn out and confusing web pages about it. I did find one site that explained the punctuation so simply, with easy examples, that I was able to get it and within two days, I had wiped out all my habitual mistakes. Now, when I am editing for new authors, I send them this same link: Dialogue Punctuation Made Simple.

There are a few things to remember when writing dialogue. There must be a new paragraph each time another character speaks. When three or more people are in a scene, you must use speech tags or action to indicate who is speaking. When having a long scene with dialogue, mix it up where speech tags are and have action tags that give the reader a visual of where the speakers are and what they are doing so you can avoid the talking head syndrome.

Example of dialogue. Four-year-old Jack held the delicate sand dollar up to show his older sister. Is this candy? Candy? asked Brooke as she took it from him. No, its a sand dollar. Oh, Jack said, is it a vegetable? No, its not a vegetable.

Brooke sat down on her beach towel and placed the sand dollar on her knee. Jack plopped down in front of her and ran his fingers through the warm sand. Is it a fruit? No. Its not food. This is the skeleton of a dead animal. Jacks little gasp and wide eyes made Brooke giggle. Why did you want to know? Jack sighed and in a small, sad voice said, Because I licked it.

Some people find it helpful to write out only the words spoken in a scene of dialogue and add in the tags and actions later. The most important thing is to play around with dialogue until you feel comfortable writing it and it is believable speech. When in doubt, please read the scene out loud.

If you have some tips or suggestions about dialogue, a question or a comment about this article, Id love to hear from you. Visit my fictional writing tips site today.

All of the three foremost credit bureaus publish their own credit report. If you want a summation of all of the reports combined you can get a 3 in 1 report. The 3 in 1 report comprises the economic history of an individual or a group in order to "report their credit-worthiness". It is an approximation of whether or not they have the trustworthiness to pay off a new debt.

All three of the chief credit reporting agencies will offer information for the 3 in 1 report. Many creditors will use the 3 in 1 report rather than the individual bureaus reports in order to see if a consumer will meet the credit strategy to extend credit. They also use the information in this report to set the provisions of the credit.

The three major credit bureaus in the United States are TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. The big three in the United Kingdom are Equifax, Experian and Call Credit. A consumer from the United Kingdom can access their credit report from Call Credit right from the Internet.

When looking at 3-in-1 credit reports, it is fundamental that one understands what the credit score means. A credit score is a numerical index that represents an estimation of a person's credit worthiness. Lenders like credit card companies and banks will look at 3-in-1 credit reports and credit scores to determine what a person's credit limit should be and the interest rate.

Credit scores in the United States are by and large calculated by using a mathematical formula developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation. This is known as a FICO score. All three of the main credit-reporting bureaus in the United States use variations of this consistent scoring procedure but infrequently you may hear it called by another name like the Beacon score or the Emperica score.

Credit scores are designed to measure the amount of evident threat of non-payment on a credit by taking into thought a number of variables. The major considerations are current and existing debt, the reliability of payments in the past, the percentage of present debt related to available credit lines, the duration of the individual's credit history, types of credit used and inquiries into credit for any credit applied for in the recent past.

Two things people often think can affect their FICO score on 3-in-1 credit reports are a individual's current earnings and their employment history, but they simply don't. FICO scores can go from between 300 to 850. A credit score on 3-in-1 credit reports that is above 720 is considered to be decent credit and a score that is below 600 is considered to be a credit risk.

When you improve or repair the credit on all three of the foremost bureaus information you will consequentially improve your 3 in 1 report. You can receive a copy of the 3 in 1 report but most frequently you will be required to pay a small fee.

A woman's wardrobe is what showcases her to the world. It is a means for her to express herself and her point of view. Women's Clothing can help define who a woman is, and what her place is in the world. When a woman is putting together her wardrobe, there are a few key pieces that she will want to be sure that her wardrobe contains.

One of the best pieces of women's clothing is a great tailored black pant. This is an incredibly versatile item that you can dress up or dress down.

Ensuring that it is fit made plus fine fitted is a technique of ensuring that you will own a classic pieces that will take you through the years. Another important item is a fine-shaped blazer. As well as a blazer, you are able to pair it with jeans, a skirt, or the couple of pants. It could improve personality plus professionalism to the outfit of your selection.

Perhaps the most important piece of women's clothing is a great pair of jeans. Jeans are the ultimate in wardrobe versatility. They are comfortable and durable so it makes sense to invest in a nice pair of them. This is one item of women's clothing that typically gets quite a bit of use. You will also want to invest in a great neutral skirt. If you find a skirt that with a silhouette that flatters your figure, you are sure to get a great deal of wear out of it.

At last the last part of women's clothing that you may want to make certain that you include in your wardrobe is a classic oxford blouse. With this button down style, you could blend and match it with several of the existing clothes slices that you have collected.