Addressing its focus on assisting community organizations achieve effective visual communications, Creative Core Design recently completed projects for 2 Bay Area non-profits.

Completed was a poster/marketing brochure and call for donations for Centro Legal de la Raza. Centro Legal, based in Oakland, California, protects and advances the rights of immigrant, low-income and Latino communities through bilingual legal representation, education, community organizing and advocacy.

Also completed was a direct mail postcard for the Native American AIDS Project, an organization that provides a wide range of culturally competent services for all Native American People affected by HIV/AIDS and other diseases by promoting and maintaining the overall health of this diverse community. Being on a limited budget, Creative Core Design donated the design services promoting an upcoming fundraising event.

Creative Core Design, an award-winning design firm, was founded in 2007 as an experienced, professional and socially conscious organization.
The design team has over 20 years' collective experience in design and marketing practice and has earned a reputation as a reliable and effective force in the industry. With an important social mission, the design collaborative works with and employs design professionals affected with chronic health problems, including HIV.

What better time to celebrate the wonderful pets in your life... summer family fun and great photo ops and the perfect time to catch that oh-so-perfect pet photo.

The team at www.MillionDollarPetPix.com has pledged to assist a number of Guide Dog and Therapy Dog Charities across the US and Canada during their month-long pet time capsule membership drive... and they've extended the date to July 31st to ensure that more pet people can join in the fun!

The Million Dollar Pet Pix Time Capsule, where pet lovers can "make their pet a star", is a bright and family-friendly showcase for pets that allows pet lovers to give their pet the gift of celebrity. Each pet registered gets their very own star and a corner of fame in this 10-year time capsule... central stage for their photos and story for the entire world to enjoy!

This family-friendly pet website, essentially a monthly pet magazine (e-zine) for pet lovers of all ages, provides pet articles and advice from well-known and respected pet specialists along with pet quotes and jokes, pet news and notes and also features a business directory for pet-related products and services.

Pet lovers can celebrate their pet in style by adding them as stars in the Million Dollar PetPix Time Capsule and a portion of every fee received for new membership registrations until July 31st goes to support these important pet charities.

Pet owners the opportunity to show off their best "paw-pawratzi" skills... so, while their pet gets celebrity as stars in the time capsule, the pet owners get bragging rights as well as the member-only privileges of this exclusive pet time capsule.

To add to the momentum and fun of the pet time capsule membership drive, a free photo contest is now on for registered time capsule members (both current and new). In keeping with the pledge to the Guide Dog and Therapy Dog charities, the theme of this photo contest is dogs.

This "One-in-a-Million Dog" photo contest offers a number of cash prizes and includes a grand prize of a gift certificate for a RoamEO GPS pet locator device, (ARV $419.00 USD), kindly supplied by White Bear Technologies of St. Paul MN.

American punk comedian and writer Tom O'Connor has launched his Ask A Punk advice blog on the Internet "to address the questions of Generations X, Y and beyond, about everything from life and relationships to all things punk because sometimes you can't 'DIY' (do it yourself)," enthuses the blog's founder.

"I think there are more than enough naval-gazing online diaries, record review blogs, and hipster newsletters out there. I don't see the need to create yet another one, so I decided to take on the "advice" angle. These are serious times and there are bigger questions than 'what is or isn't punk?' I wanted to create something with a Punk Rock sensibility that addresses these concerns. No topic is off-limits. My wilder years might be behind me, but I believe I bring a strong and reasoned opinion on most issues...and when I can't, well, that's what research is for," continues O'Connor.

O'Connor is currently posting at least once a week, and is "surprised by the volume and depth of really good questions that are already coming in. Because this is an online blog, I don't have to worry about space limitations. This gives people plenty of room to lay out their questions, as well as their circumstances, which obviously helps me formulate a better answer for them."

O'Connor lives in southern California. He grew up in the sleepy hinterlands of Western Massachusetts where he was one of the few punk rockers in a small town in the early '80s. He "escaped" to Boston in his 20's and then jumped across the continent to California. His punk bands were as numerous as they were "awful & forgettable", but the concepts of self-sufficiency, DIY, and living within (or below) one's means took hold and have never let go. You may have seen him in the mosh pit in any of the following places: Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York, the Raleigh-Durham-Asheville triangle, New Orleans, Phoenix, San Francisco, St. Louis, and innumerable small towns in between, or, most recently Dublin, Ireland.

A natural therapy that activates the alternative cellular energy (ACE) pathway has been developed by the Institute of Progressive Medicine and is available for extended clinical studies in patients with various illnesses, including autism. Qualified parents of autistic children are being offered the opportunity to participate in these studies by acting as clinical investigators within the Institute of Progressive Medicine. According to Dr. W. John Martin, MD, PhD. founder of the Institute of Progressive Medicine, the increasing incidence of autism is attributed to a relatively silent epidemic of an infectious disease process affecting adults that, in pregnant women, can cause brain damage of the fetus leading to the subsequent development of autism. He firmly believes the infectious agents are "stealth adapted" viruses that lack the antigenic components normally targeted by the cellular immune system. "There has been an over emphasis on some of potential triggering factors of an autism breakdown," stated Dr. Martin, "rather than pursuing the fundamental cause of autism; seeking a truly effective therapy ;and most importantly, trying to prevent autism from developing in a susceptible, stealth adapted virus infected child."

The current treatment protocol is predicated upon the underlying postulate that autism is primarily caused a congenitally acquired, persisting, non-inflammatory viral infection that can not be effectively controlled by the immune system. Dr. Martin has proposed and has now proven that the body has an auxiliary defense mechanism beyond the immune system, which can suppress the cell damaging effects of viruses, including those that are stealth adapted. This protection can be increased by activating the ACE pathway using products termed enerceuticals. Some of these products work well if placed against the body and illuminated with an ultraviolet-A light.

The autism related studies using a light stimulated enerceutical medical device are being coordinated, in part, by Mr. BJ McKelvie, the co-producer of the autism anthem song "I'm in Here." "We have begun to see remarkable improvements in the treated children" commented Mr. McKelvie. "It is time to move forward with much more extensive clinical testing and for this we need parent participation. With a well coordinated effort, we can potentially achieve at least a 50% improvement in the intellectual and social functioning of children labeled as being autistic. This has occurred with my own son immediately after beginning the therapy."

While still investigational, the studies also hold promise as a potential approach to preventing autism from occurring in children born to mothers presumptively infected with a stealth adapted virus. "Maintaining an active ACE pathway during the first few years of life may help virus infected infants resist some of the suspected triggers of an autistic breakdown in interpersonal communication" commented Dr. Martin. "A major challenge for public health authorities is to stop denying the existence of stealth adapted viruses, some of which clearly originated from African green monkey simian cytomegalovirus (SCMV) contamination of earlier batches of live polio virus vaccines."

Retired FBI Agent and current risk management consultant Michael Tabman states that there is an urgent need for employers to better understand the threat of workplace violence to avoid further tragedies.

Back in 1989 Kentucky experienced a deadly workplace shooting incident at a printing factory. As incidents of school and workplace violence become more frequent, the need to recognize the contributing factors and warning signs are becoming ever more critical. While professionals are hesitant to create a profile of a violent prone employee, there are certain factors that are often prevalent in these tragedies. "If we were to look at case studies of a number of workplace violence incidents in the United States, we would see certain personality traits in the perpetrator and circumstances surrounding the shooting. For example, the incident is usually preceded by a triggering event. In this case, it appears that an argument with a supervisor was the triggering event. While we do not know anything about the perpetrator now, I will not be surprised if the police later learn that the employee was experiencing significant stress in his personal life, involving perhaps money or an intimate relationship," Tabman said. As often occurs, the employee committed suicide after the shooting.

"Generally, we cannot expect people to predict such outrageous behavior from coworkers with whom they have worked for many years and have become friends. But with some training, employers may become more aware of workplace environmental factors, personal issues and behavioral warning signs that may indicate potential violence," said Tabman. Tabman was the FBI Special Agent in Charge during the investigation of the Red Lake High School Massacre which left ten people dead. Tabman's risk management firm, SPIRIT Asset Protection is hosting a School and Workplace Violence Seminar on October 6, 2008 in Overland Park, KS. For more information or to register, visit the SPIRIT website at www.spiritllc.biz

We all like to feel protected but there may be occasions where a threat from another individual can put us in front of harms way. Modern society is ridden with many hidden dangers. Drink and drug related crimes are on the increase and our national and local authorities have tried to combat this with installing CCTV security cameras on many City and Town street corners. However, we are all aware that this is never enough and in the majority of cases merely acts as a deterrent.

Personal safety is an issue which is being covered more and more in our press. Each day we can read about victims being attacked for their personal belongings such as mobile phones, mp3 players, jewelry etc... "Regretfully, Crime Against the Person is still rising in the UK." said Terry Rattee, Managing Director of Crime Prevention Products, who have an on-line presence at http://www.c-p-p.co.uk

"In the last few days, as an example, a woman was dragged off from a supermarket car park and assaulted resulting in Personal Alarms now being offered FREE by the Supermarket in question at that branch. There is no doubt that Personal Alarms work! An attacker does not want attention drawn to what they are doing because they cannot be sure that the alarm will not be heard bringing other people to the rescue."

It's no wonder that personal alarms are being carried by more and more individuals as a means to help protect themselves. They are small and unobtrusive and can help an individual ward off an attacker.

FitFiend.com, the fastest growing social networking community catering to the fitness FIEND in all of us, announces their official public beta launch scheduled for June 17th, 2008.

Unlike other fitness communities, FitFiend.com provides a free platform for fitness professionals and fitness enthusiasts to connect with each and explore the world of health and fitness.
Pros can promote themselves and their services. FitFiends can search for workout partners and trainers in their area, get fitness and nutritional tips, watch original fitness programming, read about the latest in workout trends, and more.

"It's time to give social networking a healthy makeover while getting consumers engaged in a space with other like-minded individuals," says founder and CEO, Vik Panda. "Our goal is to provide a fully integrated site that adds value to our consumers' lives, whether they are just beginning on their path to a fitter lifestyle or they are already hardcore fitness fiends."

Not only does FitFiend.com provide users with the motivation to move forward with their fitness, it also provides fitness professionals with a tool to build their business, and communicate with current and prospective clients. For fitness professionals, FitFiend.com will be the standard for promoting their businesses and personal brands.

"Training celebrities and running my own gym doesn't always allow me time to do what I love most; connect with the fitness consumer," says Clay Burwell, founder of High Performance NYC, one of Men's Journal's 'Top 100 Trainers in America,' and head trainer for Bravo's Make Me A Supermodel. "FitFiend puts me in direct contact with this community, allowing me to share my expertise, promote events and appearances, and more."


FitFiend.com Core Features Include:
• An elite panel of fitness and health experts providing users with a free database of workout expertise, and the ability to ask questions directly
• Editorial content covering the latest in fitness trends, products, supplements, news, etc.
• A customizable workout feature that allows users to build comprehensive workouts by posting different exercises.
• An endorsement feature that gives users the chance to give positive feedback to their friends and FitPros
• A physical tracking feature that allows a user to track weight and body measurements
• A calendar and events feature that allows users (consumer and professional) to post event details
• A "Jobs" section for employers to post job listings for trainers and other fitness related providers
• A "Classifieds" section for fitness professionals to advertise themselves, and for consumers to search for activity partners
• And much more!