Common weak points in most citizen training programs have been:
1. They often have inadequate staffing and funding (most are free to the citizens) and
2. Most of them use some type of (often sketchy) version of "Standard" First Aid. (See the article “Why Isn’t Standard First Aid Good Enough”)

"One thing we know about the Bay Area is that there is no escape – we all live near a fault-line." -Bill Lettis, earth sciences co

Orlando Real Estate Agents
There are several websites that provide details pertaining to realtors and their services in Orlando. In fact, with the help of a realtor, anyone looking to buy a home will get the information pertaining to neighborhood, the local taxes need to be paid and such other details.Being a qualified local professional, the real estate agent helps the homebuyers to select a property that is free of litigation, in a community most preferred by new buyers. In fact, the real estate agents help the home buyers by giving the latest information on homes that are coming up for sale and those are under construction. By submitting a profile explaining the specifications of the home you wish to buy, the agents give lot of details about the price range and the community. In fact, the homebuyers will be able to receive several of the details via email, and the real estate agent will notify about the latest offerings. In this way, you find homes for sale and get the most home for the best price that is

"The Bay Area has the highest concentration of earthquake faults in the world." -Bill Lettis, earth sciences consultant.

What happened in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of the United States was not only the worst natural disaster in the history of this country, but also the loudest wake-up call ever experienced by our comfortable over-confident society. We never dreamed something of such horror and magnitude could ever happen here - even though all the TV meteorologists told us it might, then days before the storm hit land, told us it would.

“The bad news: The chances of the Big One happening in the next 30 years are about 90%, and the odds are that it will be in our own back yard.” –reporter Chris Treadway, Montclarion January 1999.

Along the West Coast from Canada to Mexico, we still think the Big Quake won’t really happen, even though we’ve been told repeatedly by every geologist and every emergency response and emergency management agency that it will. The odds of Katrina happening were extremely small - less than a 1% probability. The odds of the Big Quake have been reported conservatively at about 70% probability, and by the specialists in the trenches, 90%.

In the next 30 years, by the way, doesn’t mean after 30 more years (hello) it means any time now, within this 30 year span. It could be today, or tonight while you sleep. How prepared are we? There is no question of IF it will happen; the only question is WHEN, and Katrina surely is telling us we’d best not wait till the last minute to do what we can to prepare. That will be way too late..

Here are a few things we DO know:
1. The areas of destruction probably will be vast, and potentially spread over a much larger area than Katrina.

2. Those areas will look a lot like New Orleans did, except possibly there will be less flooding and more bleeding.

3. There will be thousands more physical and trauma injuries, as structures collapse on people, and buildings and cars trap or crush people, and torn power lines cause electrocutions and fires.

4. The Big Quake is likely to be worse than Katrina. I won’t say more; you already know this.

5. All city, county, and state Disaster Planning and Response agencies have been telling us since 1989, very clearly and specifically, that every citizen should expect and be prepared to manage on our own without outside help for at least 24 hours to three days immediately following a major disaster of any kind.

6. An abundance of information and detailed instructions have been published and widely distributed for free, everywhere on the West Coast. Have you read some of it?

7. The State of California (and I believe Oregon and Washington as well) has mandated every county and city to provide disaster preparedness and civilian disaster response training for their citizens. Do you know where to get it? The majority of these training programs are based on a similar framework called CERT (Citizens Emergency Response Training) or NERT (neighborhood Emergency Response Training) and the training is provided through either Police or Fire Departments. Oakland California has its own program called CORE (Citizens of Oakland Respond to Emergency) which contains most of the elements of CERT.

Common weak points in most citizen training programs have been:
1. They often have inadequate staffing and funding (most are free to the citizens) and
2. Most of them use some type of (often sketchy) version of "Standard" First Aid. (See the article “Why Isn’t Standard First Aid Good Enough”)

"One thing we know about the Bay Area is that there is no escape – we all live near a fault-line." -Bill Lettis, earth sciences con

Oregon's Green Construction Tax Benies
Oregon is often referred to as a green state because its bountiful rainfall. As Oregon’s green construction tax benefits reveal, the title is just as applicable to its environmental philosophy.It is at the state and local level that green construction has been meeting much success in the area of funding and all in tax credits and reductions. Several states have emerged as leaders and supporters of the United States Green Building Council and the LEEDs Certification program. Among the leading states is Oregon. Oregon, which is one of the States that make up the Pacific Northwest region of the country, has a full range of environmental issues. It borders the ocean and has an extensive inland system of rivers and lakes. It has all of the urban issues with the City of Portland, and it is a fast growing state that has seen development encroaching on its pristine forest areas.Oregon has become one to the leaders of the green construction movement, and one of its heroes, with a Sus

hris Treadway, Montclarion January 1999.

Along the West Coast from Canada to Mexico, we still think the Big Quake won’t really happen, even though we’ve been told repeatedly by every geologist and every emergency response and emergency management agency that it will. The odds of Katrina happening were extremely small - less than a 1% probability. The odds of the Big Quake have been reported conservatively at about 70% probability, and by the specialists in the trenches, 90%.

In the next 30 years, by the way, doesn’t mean after 30 more years (hello) it means any time now, within this 30 year span. It could be today, or tonight while you sleep. How prepared are we? There is no question of IF it will happen; the only question is WHEN, and Katrina surely is telling us we’d best not wait till the last minute to do what we can to prepare. That will be way too late..

Here are a few things we DO know:
1. The areas of destruction probably will be vast, and potentially spread over a much larger area than Katrina.

2. Those areas will look a lot like New Orleans did, except possibly there will be less flooding and more bleeding.

3. There will be thousands more physical and trauma injuries, as structures collapse on people, and buildings and cars trap or crush people, and torn power lines cause electrocutions and fires.

4. The Big Quake is likely to be worse than Katrina. I won’t say more; you already know this.

5. All city, county, and state Disaster Planning and Response agencies have been telling us since 1989, very clearly and specifically, that every citizen should expect and be prepared to manage on our own without outside help for at least 24 hours to three days immediately following a major disaster of any kind.

6. An abundance of information and detailed instructions have been published and widely distributed for free, everywhere on the West Coast. Have you read some of it?

7. The State of California (and I believe Oregon and Washington as well) has mandated every county and city to provide disaster preparedness and civilian disaster response training for their citizens. Do you know where to get it? The majority of these training programs are based on a similar framework called CERT (Citizens Emergency Response Training) or NERT (neighborhood Emergency Response Training) and the training is provided through either Police or Fire Departments. Oakland California has its own program called CORE (Citizens of Oakland Respond to Emergency) which contains most of the elements of CERT.

Common weak points in most citizen training programs have been:
1. They often have inadequate staffing and funding (most are free to the citizens) and
2. Most of them use some type of (often sketchy) version of "Standard" First Aid. (See the article “Why Isn’t Standard First Aid Good Enough”)

"One thing we know about the Bay Area is that there is no escape – we all live near a fault-line." -Bill Lettis, earth sciences co

Refinancing is Worthwhile Under These 5 Conditions
Refinancing is a common financial choice among home owners. Refinancing is much like taking out a second mortgage. The terms of the mortgage are usually changed, offering the home buyer a lower interest rate, a shorter term, all of which can save the home buyer money.Refinancing is not a good option for every home buyer. Because it does involve costs and fees to refinance, sometimes the savings are just not enough to justify the refinancing. You will encounter the same type of processes that you did with your first mortgage, and therefore identical costs. This includes closing fees, broker or lender fees, underwriting fees, and more.To start, refinancing is not worth while if your current interest rate is less than two percentage points from the prevailing market rate. This is a generally accepted number also known as the safe margin. This safe margin balances the costs of refinancing a mortgage against the savings.The first condition that makes refinancing good finan

EN, and Katrina surely is telling us we’d best not wait till the last minute to do what we can to prepare. That will be way too late..

Here are a few things we DO know:
1. The areas of destruction probably will be vast, and potentially spread over a much larger area than Katrina.

2. Those areas will look a lot like New Orleans did, except possibly there will be less flooding and more bleeding.

3. There will be thousands more physical and trauma injuries, as structures collapse on people, and buildings and cars trap or crush people, and torn power lines cause electrocutions and fires.

4. The Big Quake is likely to be worse than Katrina. I won’t say more; you already know this.

5. All city, county, and state Disaster Planning and Response agencies have been telling us since 1989, very clearly and specifically, that every citizen should expect and be prepared to manage on our own without outside help for at least 24 hours to three days immediately following a major disaster of any kind.

6. An abundance of information and detailed instructions have been published and widely distributed for free, everywhere on the West Coast. Have you read some of it?

7. The State of California (and I believe Oregon and Washington as well) has mandated every county and city to provide disaster preparedness and civilian disaster response training for their citizens. Do you know where to get it? The majority of these training programs are based on a similar framework called CERT (Citizens Emergency Response Training) or NERT (neighborhood Emergency Response Training) and the training is provided through either Police or Fire Departments. Oakland California has its own program called CORE (Citizens of Oakland Respond to Emergency) which contains most of the elements of CERT.

Common weak points in most citizen training programs have been:
1. They often have inadequate staffing and funding (most are free to the citizens) and
2. Most of them use some type of (often sketchy) version of "Standard" First Aid. (See the article “Why Isn’t Standard First Aid Good Enough”)

"One thing we know about the Bay Area is that there is no escape – we all live near a fault-line." -Bill Lettis, earth sciences co

The Power of a Mortgage
A mortgage is a powerful tool that can work to help you achieve your goals. Used correctly, it can be a financial ally that will help you build wealth. The scenario below illustrates the powerful effect that proper mortgage planning can have on your personal wealth accumulation.Scenario: Borrower Age: 35 Retirement Age: 65 Monthly Investment Savings: $250.00 Current Portfolio Value: $20,000.00 Annual Rate of Return: 10% Total Monthly Obligations: $2,031.25 (Mortgage, credit cards and car payments) Total Monthly Obligations after refinancing: $1,143.18 (Minimum required payment) Savings over 5 Years: $42,194.81 - worst case scenarioPlan A: Mr. John Doe is working hard to save, however a significant amount of money is used to pay the mortgage and credit cards. Anything left over is put toward mortgage principal to reduce the length of the mortgage. We will assume the mortgage is paid within 30 years.Plan B: Mr. Doe uses their

anning and Response agencies have been telling us since 1989, very clearly and specifically, that every citizen should expect and be prepared to manage on our own without outside help for at least 24 hours to three days immediately following a major disaster of any kind.

6. An abundance of information and detailed instructions have been published and widely distributed for free, everywhere on the West Coast. Have you read some of it?

7. The State of California (and I believe Oregon and Washington as well) has mandated every county and city to provide disaster preparedness and civilian disaster response training for their citizens. Do you know where to get it? The majority of these training programs are based on a similar framework called CERT (Citizens Emergency Response Training) or NERT (neighborhood Emergency Response Training) and the training is provided through either Police or Fire Departments. Oakland California has its own program called CORE (Citizens of Oakland Respond to Emergency) which contains most of the elements of CERT.

Common weak points in most citizen training programs have been:
1. They often have inadequate staffing and funding (most are free to the citizens) and
2. Most of them use some type of (often sketchy) version of "Standard" First Aid. (See the article “Why Isn’t Standard First Aid Good Enough”)

"One thing we know about the Bay Area is that there is no escape – we all live near a fault-line." -Bill Lettis, earth sciences co

Article Syndication for Better Search Engine Position
If you're sick of being #987 for your best Google keywordphrase, here are simple-to-implement changes that canskyrocket your listing (and they don't have anything to dowith what is ON your page!) First, write some articles. Write at least one article of150 to 250 words each week. While you can make it “keywordrich,” don't feel bound by particular keywords. Theimportant key is to make it appealing to publishers. Your goal is to get other people to run your articles foryou. Second, syndicate your article. Syndication allows otherwebmasters to use your article on THEIR site. They want torun the articles since it gets them a larger content set aswell as can help increase their own search engine position. You can learn more about syndicating your articles here: http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/groups Third, whenever someone places

RT (Citizens Emergency Response Training) or NERT (neighborhood Emergency Response Training) and the training is provided through either Police or Fire Departments. Oakland California has its own program called CORE (Citizens of Oakland Respond to Emergency) which contains most of the elements of CERT.

Common weak points in most citizen training programs have been:
1. They often have inadequate staffing and funding (most are free to the citizens) and
2. Most of them use some type of (often sketchy) version of "Standard" First Aid. (See the article “Why Isn’t Standard First Aid Good Enough”)

"One thing we know about the Bay Area is that there is no escape – we all live near a fault-line." -Bill Lettis, earth sciences consultant.

The evolution of Oakland's CORE program began in 1989 with the Loma Prieta Earthquake and the collapse of a mile of freeway at the Cypress Overpass. In that catastrophic event, the responsibility for commanding the massive response and rescue operations fell upon Battalion Chief Manny Navarro. He was surprised to see, firsthand, that the greatest number of rescues were not made by the million-dollar earth-moving equipment, not the fire engines or the ambulances or the sonar devices. The greatest number of rescues were made by the people who lived near the freeway, in the neighborhood.

Why? Because in the first crucial moments, they were already there. They rushed to help, climbing up on dangerously unstable broken structures to pull people out and hand them down to others waiting to receive them below, and carry them to a safe area. With no equipment and no training, they responded as human beings and did whatever they could. In his own words, Chief Navarro was professionally and personally “stunned.” Later he said (and I paraphrase, but this is essentially accurate) “I realized we’re spending the most money for the fewest results. It was obvious – We should be training the people in the neighborhood.” And that became a priority of the Oakland Fire Department, and would ultimately result in legislative mandate at the state level..

Now, in theory at least, every citizen in California can receive Disaster Preparedness and Disaster Response Training. However there are some shortfalls. Over the years, municipal OES (Offices of Emergency Services, which usually direct the citizen training, overseen by Fire or Police Department administration) have had repeated staffing and funding cuts. They’ve been cut, trimmed, and cut some more. (You know the drill.) And sometimes, scheduled citizen’s courses can be canceled, delayed, or otherwise trumped by other (higher priority?) activities of the agencies that oversee them. Perhaps that's what happened to the Disaster First Aid all-day training course and Hands-On Workshops.

The CORE volunteers and instructors are serious and dedicated. This program is important, and spirited in the way things used to be when people were really neighbors to each other. That perspective is no longer old-fashioned – and we had better wake up to the reality – it has become a survival necessity.

When a massive disaster happens and thousands of people are injured, NO city has thousands of ambulances, or thousands of empty hospital beds. And even worse, virtually ALL of the hospitals in the East Bay are sitting within one mile or less from an active earthquake fault line. Even if there are roads open, and even if you could get to a hospital, it might be destroyed, or shut down and evacuated. If nobody can help us for 24 hours or more, as they realistically predict, how can we survive? We will have to help ourselves and each other. Do you know how? Can you spare a few hours a week to learn?

Free or very inexpensive classes have