An Amazing New Search Engine - Searchme

While Google still gives in my humble view the best search results on the internet, and kindly hosts this and my other blog for free, there's a new kid in town to shake things up and make things interesting. Searchme shows you the whole web page - I-Tunes Style - and it really is stunning, and fun to play with if you have broadband. If your on dial-up or in a hurry this is not a good choice, but it does render the images fast if your computer is good and your internet is good as well. You can also search for video and images.

Give it a try. Just don't leave Google out of the picture because they are great too.

SEARCHME - Visual Search Engine

26 fabulous freebies

Cheapskate, skinflint, tightwad -- whatever you want to call us, we hate spending money and love finding a good deal. If we can save a few bucks, we're happy. And if we can get something for nothing, we're in heaven.

Even in these days of $400 haircuts and million-dollar starter homes, you can find plenty of things for nothing. We've pulled together a list of 26 of our favorite freebies, and they're not junk. These are valuable goods and services you'd actually want, from free music and movies to legal advice and financial services.

Check it out at MSN Money

A heartbreaking yet heartwarming story - Steven Curtis Chapman on Good Morning America

No one could imagine an accident so terrible, as Maria, the child they adopted from China, now 5 years old and full of life and personality dies due to being ran over in an SUV by their youngest son. Amazingly it seems instead of tearing this family apart, this has brought them closer together. How you might ask? Only by the grace of God and the prayers of thousands of fans including myself. Get out your hankies for this video, this one is going to make you cry.

From YouTube and ABC News.

Two Dozen Uses For Toothpaste (Aside From Cleaning Your Teeth)

Didn’t you know that toothpaste (despite its name) is for so much more than your teeth? It’s truly handy to have on hand (I pity the household - and their teeth - that has no toothpaste at all), because it is quite multi-functional. Here are a few ways you can get your toothpaste working extra hard for you:

Find out out Wisebread

Son of top Hamas leader converts to Christianity - 'I hope my father and family open their eyes to Jesus and the Kingdom of God'

The son of one of the most popular leaders in the Hamas terrorist organization has moved to the U.S. and converted to Christianity, it has emerged.

In an exclusive interview with Israel's Haaretz newspaper, Masab Yousuf, son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheik Hassan Yousef, slammed Hamas, praised Israel and said he hoped his terrorist father will open his eyes to Jesus

and to Christianity.

"I know that I'm endangering my life and am even liable to lose my father, but I hope that he'll understand this and that God will give him and my family patience and willingness to open their eyes to Jesus and to Christianity. Maybe one day I'll be able to return to Palestine and to Ramallah with Jesus, in the Kingdom of God," Masab said.

More from WorldNetDaily

40 Positive Effects of a TV Free Week

“What could you accomplish if you stopped watching TV? What would you do with all the extra time?” My wife asked me these questions two weeks ago. After a short discussion, we decided to find out for ourselves. We completely eliminated television from our lives last week. It turned out to be an incredibly rewarding experience. We now have a plan to drastically reduce our future viewing habits.

See what this writer accomplished. Here are 40 positive effects from our week without television.

Get Rich By Saving Every $5 Bill

There's a woman who saves every $5 bill she gets, blogs Get Rich Slowly. She's been doing so for three years and has saved $12,000.

JD at Get Rich Slowly also shares his wife's personal money saving trick:

For several years, Kris has been rounding every transaction up to the next dollar in her checkbook. If she spends $49.74 at the grocery store, she enters this in her checkbook as $50. If she spends $33.13 on gas, she enters it as $34. As a result, she saves an average of 50 cents every time she performs a transaction. In 2-1/2 years, Kris saved an extra $500 using this method. That's enough to treat herself to something nice.

Learn More tricks at Get Rich Slowly

Abortion clinic prayer vigils coming to 100 cities - For 40 days and nights, Christians will seek end of killing

In two previous campaigns by Christians to disrupt America's abortion industry with continuous prayer, officials with the 40 Days for Life campaign say 35,000 have participated in vigils, 514 babies have been saved and five abortion industry workers have lost their jobs.

Now a third campaign is on the calendar, with a signup deadline of July 29 for cities to take part in the outreach. Most locations will have prayer warriors on the sidewalks outside abortion clinics 24 hours a day from Sept. 24 through Nov. 2.

Spokesman David Bereit said the first campaigns have seen 150,000 people praying and fasting for an end to abortion in the U.S., and half of the 35,000 marching in vigils were on the lines for the first time.

He also said two abortion centers have closed their doors following the campaigns.

"We have had 340 cities express interest [in the new campaign,]" he told WND. "We are well on our way to having more than 100 actually registered.

"It's a massive undertaking. People are committing to call on believers to pray and fast for 40 days – that's 960 hours with people physically present," he said.

More from WorldNet Daily

HERO - Fort Worth dad deploying to Iraq, the country that took his son

In a few days, Francisco Martinez will land in Iraq.

He is one of tens of thousands of men and women who, with various motivations, enlisted in the armed forces, knowing that they’d someday end up there.

For Martinez, Iraq is a kind of perdition, a receptacle for all the dark emotions, anguish and guilt that have buffeted him for the last three years.

When Martinez steps off the airplane, he will be in the country that took his only son, a 20-year-old skateboarder and budding graphic artist whose loss is felt every single day of his father’s life.

This deployment — in fact, his entire enlistment — is completely his doing. Nobody forced this on Martinez, except maybe the sniper who put one well-placed bullet in Spc. Francisco G. Martinez on March 20, 2005, in Ramadi.

More from The Star-Telegram

Getting dream wedding dresses at bargain price

The fairytale weddings that many couples have yearned for are starting to come back down to earth -- leveled by everyday problems like house payments and rising gas and food bills.

The wedding industry has long been considered one of most recession-proof. Most brides, grooms and their parents see the "big day" as a once-in-a-lifetime event not to be skimped on.

Check out these money saving tips from CNN

Why John McCain may still be alive - Billy Graham and McCain's Father Prayed for Son's Release from POW Camp

The Reverend Billy Graham says he prayed for John McCain when he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam -- decades before the two finally met for the first time in North Carolina on Sunday.

Publicist Mark DeMoss says the 89-year-old evangelist told McCain that he met the senator's father, who was an admiral in Honolulu, during the Vietnam War.

Graham recalled that he and Admiral McCain prayed for young John McCain's release, and did so again at a subsequent meeting.

This past Sunday, DeMoss says the Republican presidential candidate prayed with both Billy and Franklin Graham during a 45-minute private meeting.

From Christian World News

Supreme Court finds individual right to own guns - YOU CAN PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY

For the first time in U.S. history, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that individual Americans have the right to own guns for personal use, and struck down a strict gun control law in the U.S. capital.

The landmark 5-4 ruling marked the first time in nearly 70 years the country's high court has addressed whether the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, rather than a right tied to service in a state militia.

In the majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia said the Second Amendment protected an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

More from Reuters

Girl, 3, uses song lyrics to call 911 for mom

A 3-year-old girl used the simple song lyrics "911 green" to call 911 and get help after her pregnant mother fainted. Jessica Eaves, 24, taught her daughter Madelyn the song a week before she fainted due to a medical condition called vasovogal syncope.

When Eaves fainted, Madelyn picked up her mother's BlackBerry phone and pressed 911 and the green button and was connected to a dispatcher.

In the recently released 911 call, Madelyn was able to answer questions about her house and cars outside that led emergency workers to the home.

And this isn't the first time Madelyn has used a phone to call for help for her mother.

Eaves first learned of her condition a year ago and taught her daughter the lyrics "green, green, green."

When Eaves lost consciousness then Madelyn picked up a cell phone and pressed the green button which called the last person Eaves had called and that person called for help.

From Yahoo News

Conservatives really are nicer people, latest research shows

There is plenty of data that shows that Right-wingers are happier, more generous to charities, less likely to commit suicide - and even hug their children more than those on the Left.

Those surveyed were asked: 'Is it your obligation to care for a seriously injured/ill spouse or parent, or should you give care only if you really want to?' Of those describing themselves as 'conservative', 71 per cent said it was. Only 46 per cent of those on the Left agreed.

To the question: 'Do you get happiness by putting someone else's happiness ahead of your own?', 55 per cent of those who said they were 'very conservative' said Yes, compared with 20 per cent of those who were 'very liberal'.

More from the Mail Online

HERO - Hiker sacrificed self to save wife on Mtn. Rainier

A hiker who lost his life high on Mount Rainier lay down in the snow and used his body's warmth to save his wife and a friend from the 70-mph winds of a freak June blizzard, national park officials say.

When it became obvious the trio of friends could not find their way back to base camp in whiteout conditions, they dug a snow trench with their hands. Then 31-year-old Eduard Burceag lay down on the snow and his wife and a friend lay on top of him. Later, when they begged him to switch places, Burceag refused, saying he was OK.

"In doing so, he probably saved their lives," park spokesman Kevin Bacher said Thursday.

Mariana Burceag, also 31, survived the storm, as did the couple's good friend, Daniel Vlad, 34.

More at AZCentral

Cut your grocery bill in half - No, REALLY!

Nearly $5 for a box of cereal is outrageous - and it's probably only going to get worse. But there's a crop of new online resources that can help take the sticker shock out of food shopping.

The average U.S. household spent $3,240 on groceries last year, according to the American Express Everyday Spending index, and prices have risen substantially since then.

Of course, clipping coupons can help, but it's time consuming and tedious. The good news is that now there are Web sites that can help make saving much easier.

More from CNN

Land of the Free - Vacations!

Gas at $4 a gallon? A trip around the country can still be a bargain. These 25 destinations teach a little bit about history, science, nature, and culture -- without costing a cent. Too bad you will still have to pay to get there.

By the way, if your coming through Eastern or Southern KY be sure to check out, Cumberland Falls, Natural Bridge and the The Red River Gorge. They are all great and they are all free too.

From Readers Digest

A Few Massive Storms Won't Stop The Ichthus Festival - Christian music festival to begin Thursday as planned

Bad weather has cometh to the Ichthus Festival yet again.

An overnight storm destroyed more than two weeks of preparation for the annual Christian music festival, which starts Thursday in Wilmore. High winds tossed tables, chairs and tents, destroying about 90 percent of the setup.

But as he surveyed the barren festival grounds Tuesday, Ichthus executive director Jeff James said he expects the festival to start Thursday as planned.

"I've gone through some of this every year," he said, unfazed. Nearby, a telephone pole was snapped into three pieces. Several dozen volunteers and workers were resurrecting mangled tents.

Ichthus has had a history of bad luck with weather, earning the nicknames "Mudthus" and "Ickythus."

In 2005, the festival saw a severe thunderstorm Friday night and snow the next day. In 2004, rain created a logistical nightmare getting people into the campsite, and a severe thunderstorm caused evacuation of the campground in 2002.

More at Kentucky.com

Visit the Ichthus Festival Site

Pediatrician Says Try Discipline before Ritalin

"Could it be that America would rather give unruly kids a pill than a swat?"

That's what Dr. Lawrence Diller asks in a recent article. The behavioral pediatrician in Walnut Creek, Calif., said he thinks Ritalin is prescribed too often.

"There's good solid evidence that when you give parents permission to give one or two smacks on the child's bottom if the child defies the rules of the timeout procedure, the family is more often successful with the approach," he told U.S. News & World Report. "Nobody wants to be pro-spanking. I'm not pro-spanking. I just think a well-thought-out spank ain't so bad and shouldn't be banned."

Dr. Bill Maier, psychologist in residence at Focus on the Family, said: "Spanking is most effective when used rarely, judiciously and as a 'backup' measure for other forms of discipline such as consequences and timeout.

"A parent should never spank a child if their anger is out of control, and they should always follow up with a loving embrace and a review of family rules."

From CitizenLink

3 Internet providers agree to block child porn

Internet providers Verizon, Sprint and Time Warner Cable have agreed to block access to child pornography and eliminate the material from their servers, New York's attorney general said Tuesday.

The companies also will pay $1.1 million to help fund efforts to remove the online child porn created and disseminated by users through their services, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said. The changes will affect customers nationwide.

Investigators said they found 88 newsgroups devoted to child pornography in an investigation over six to eight months. More than 11,000 images were collected using software that identifies child pornography by tracking patterns in the pixels of the images, Cuomo's office said.

Cuomo said the companies acted immediately when told of the concern. He said it was essential to work with the Internet providers rather than trying to prosecute thousands of users.

More from AP