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FAIRHOPE, Ala. —  

Mardi Gras. It brings to mind beads, parties and fancy floats in new Orleans as people cram in all the fun they can before Lent begins.

In reality, Mardi Gras has long been celebrated in coastal towns from Texas to Florida. And it means big business.

“It is more of a regional thing, Mardi Gras is, from Texas down to Gasparilla (pirate festival) down in the Tampa area,” said Stephen Toomey, whose family started a chain of Mobile, Ala.-based Mardi Gras party supply stores.

“It means a way of life for people who live in these communities, but the bottom line is that it creates a lot of jobs.”

Tourism leaders estimate more than 1 million visitors pour into the Mobile area each Mardi Gras season to watch the festivities. the city claims to be the place where the fat Tuesday celebration originated in the U.S. back in the early 1700s.

New Orleans and Mobile have long disputed where the tradition that dates to their French founders really began.

Visitors to Mobile spend money at hotels, restaurants and stores during the celebration that can stretch weeks and includes dozens of parades, balls and other events.

A 2004 study commissioned by the city of Mobile estimated Mardi Gras had a $225 million economic impact for the area and tourism leaders say that has grown as the festivities become more popular.

“I would say tens of thousands of dollars are spent on the different beads and throws and things that are thrown off the floats. It really benefits every kind of retailer and the tourism industry,” said David Randel, president of the Mobile Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“From a convention and visitors bureau standpoint, you hope people come for Mardi Gras, fall in love with the area and come back to visit again when the weather is better.”

In smaller towns like Fairhope, population 17,000, Mardi Gras is a big help.

Heavenly Creations Bakery sold 1,500 traditional Mardi Gras king cakes in 2011. Owner Robyn Yoder hopes to beat that this year. the colorful cakes go for $9.99 for a small and $19.99 for a large.

“Mardi Gras is good for everyone. I think it brings more people downtown and it brings more people in. It’s a boost in sales and it does a lot for all of us, more tips for the girls who work, it’s good,” she said.

Rosie Miller has sold Mardi Gras ball gowns to the women of the Gulf Coast for 30 years. She has thousands of gowns, most for under $300.

“Poufy Gowns this year are really in,” Miller said as she pulled a gown from one the dozens of racks in a back room of her Mobile store on a recent morning.

Miller said Mardi Gras gowns are usually over-the-top and are more fun than traditional formal.

The store has vanloads of women from small towns all over the region who come to shop. Some buy five or six gowns for the various balls they attend during the season.

“Mardi Gras has grown and grown and brings millions of dollars into our economy,” she said, although she didn’t have specific figures.

People who might go to new Orleans for Mardi Gras sometimes drive east and include a beach trip to Pensacola, Fla., said Valeria Lento, spokeswoman for Visit Pensacola.

Lento said Mardi Gras drives up the town’s tourism numbers during its traditional pre-spring break down time.

And the city offers lots of Mardi Gras activities to bring in tourists.

Small towns all over the Gulf Coast have parades, balls and other festivities during Carnival Season. Pensacola Beach’s 2012 Mardi Gras’ Schedule includes 16 events from Jan. 7 to Feb. 21.

Among them are a Moon Pie party, a red beans and rice lunch, a “Kids and Kritters” parade and a shoe box float contest.

“Oh yeah, Mardi is a ball, absolutely, it’s fun,” said Jill Jones, who dressed her Afghan hound up in a headband, jester collar and cape and wore a matching costume during the beach’s pet parade this month.

Mardi Gras means fat business for Gulf Coast

We weren’t satisfied with one presidential candidate forum on January 16, or even two.

Nope. CafeMom is hosting three different candidates in South Carolina on Monday — Rick Perry at 11:00 a.m., Rick Santorum at 1:30 p.m., and now Jon Huntsman at 3:00 p.m.! Pollster Frank Luntz and I, along with a room full of moms, will be asking each candidate questions about the issues that matter most to YOU — but to do that, we need your help!

Do you have a question for Jon Huntsman, or do you live in the Myrtle Beach area and want to ask him your question in person?

Ask a question in the comments of this post and we just might use it during our event!

Plus, I have an RSVP link for the event, as well as some interesting facts about this former Utah governor … after the jump!

Here’s what you need to know about GOP candidate Jon Huntsman:

Got a question for Jon Huntsman? Ask it in the comments and we just might read your question aloud during our event. And if you live in the Myrtle Beach area and would like to attend this forum, go here to RSVP.

VANCOUVER, Wash. — if Portland is the place "where young people go to retire," Vancouver is where 50-year-old’s go to avoid taxes.

At least that’s the suggestion in a new and popular video posted on YouTube that parodies the popular IFC show "Portlandia" with a spoof of its neighbor to the north, called "Vancouvria."

The video, produced by Portland filmmaker Brighton West, is called "The Dream of Suburbia" and humorously depicts Vancouver as a place where you can still get plastic grocery bags, shop at Walmart, and people aspire to work in corporate jobs and live in the suburbs.

"Once I saw ‘Portlandia,’ I knew I had to make ‘Vancouvria,’" West told KGW. He said he got the idea in the spring while chatting with friends over beers. "But it didn’t go very far until my wife told me to stop talking about it and get filming."

West interviewed people at the Vancouver farmer’s market and surveyed Vancouver residents on what stereotypes they found true, untrue and offensive. "I even ate at Applebee’s," said West.

The resulting video was shot in a Vancouver Walmart parking lot. "we filmed really fast," said West, in case they got kicked out.

"in Vancouver, you can drive in a bike lane and not get a ticket," one of the characters in the video boasts, in a poke at Portland.

The video ends with perhaps the most telling line of all, involving the controversial I-5 bridge.

"They really need to replace that thing with a bigger bridge – and make Portland pay for it."

In several of my articles here at Ezine Articles I describe how the Cainite-Judeo-Christian Religion and/or Mainstream Christianity is based upon sorceries, tricks and magic, and one of the best known magic tricks that they use to great effect is the trick known as the Shell Game. Simply put, and for those of you who don’t know, this is a game of now you see it, now you don’t, and very popular it is, too. this, though, leaves us with a question: How can we accurately, honestly and Truthfully apply it to Roman Catholicism with all its Protestant denominational splinters (the Cainite-Judeo-Christian Religion) and, as my title would suggest, incorporate Cognitive Dissonance into the equation as well?

Well, as it turns out, I just happened to be reading an article on a web page this week about this very subject i.e. Cognitive Dissonance and how the author of this article has come to the conclusion that it defines our very lives, today, in this modern world we live in, or is it a post modern world – who cares anyway? to make his case, the author cites a scene from a movie called ‘Chicago’ whereby a man is caught, by his wife, in bed with two other women. in a pathetic attempt to placate his wife he tells her, and I quote: that he is alone. His stunned wife replies: what do you mean, I can see two women?? the husband replies: believe what I tell you, not what you see Now, is this an unbelievably ludicrous state of affairs, and have our lives and/or our minds, in this early part of the 21st century, really reached such a crazed mind numbing level of surreal stupidity? I would have to say yes in my reply to this question. As it turns out the wife in this film shoots her wayward husband, so obviously she was not a victim of Cognitive Dissonance and nor was she having any of it.

Now let’s stop and think about what I have related here, because what I have described raises some very serious issues. One issue might be, is it better to be guilty of a crime, and in this case a murderous crime of passion, than be a victim of this wretched mental disorder known as Cognitive Dissonance? Now, if you think I am out of order by saying this, just wait until you have finished reading this article before you pass judgment.

Before I press on, here is a brief definition of Cognitive Dissonance from the Ethics Score Board web page:

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon first identified by Leon Festinger. it occurs when there is a discrepancy between what a person believes, knows and values, and persuasive information that calls these into question. the discrepancy causes psychological discomfort, and the mind adjusts to reduce the discrepancy. in ethics, cognitive dissonance is important in its ability to alter values, such as when an admired celebrity embraces behaviour that his or her admirers deplore. their dissonance will often result in changing their attitudes toward the behaviour. Dissonance also leads to rationalizations of unethical conduct, as when the appeal and potential benefits of a large amount of money makes unethical actions to acquire it seem less objectionable than if they were applied to smaller amounts.

Now as we can see there is huge potential for deception here unless we keep on our guard and our Spiritual antenna switched on, because this is where many people come unstuck. As we can see, people usually take the line of least resistance with compromises galore in order to excuse their thinking, beliefs and standards, even to the degree of believing these deceivers when they tell them that white is black or black is white. what must be understood here is this; in order for Cognitive Dissonance to work rejection of the Truth must occur and/or the rejection of the facts in any instant matter.

So with that, let’s be clear, for multiple millions of people today are victims of this disorder, especially those deceived by the Cainite-Judeo-Christian Religion (mainstream Christianity). these are people who attend ‘church’ services each week and are told one thing, whilst all the while, if they took the trouble to look and see in the Holy Scriptures, check those Holy Scriptures against the Greek and Hebrew originals, with the assistance of translation helps, they would find something else i.e. the Truth. the Truth is right there within the pages of the Holy Scriptures, but these people don’t want to know the Truth, because they would rather believe ‘the husband’s’ version of things from the pulpit or the Cognitive Dissonant version, for it is easier and more comfortable to live with. this phenomenon is also referred to as ear tickling.

It’s the same in the political arena, too, because very few people study up on the men or women they plan on voting for, and even worse, never check out that the voting process they put their trust in has not been nobbled or corrupted. the bulk of the masses of the people know virtually nothing about how their votes are counted, or how their political masters are pre-selected by those above them and yet go blindly to the polls thinking that they elect these people into office. this, dear people, is mind numbing Cognitive Dissonance at its best, or should I say at its worst? this, too, is why the Lord Jesus Christ gave us this firm warning:

Hosea 4:6 (KJV) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

This verse was spoken by the Prophet Hosea at a time when the ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel were being invaded and taken away captive by the Assyrians (725 BC). They had received warning after warning from the Lord’s Prophets telling them to turn from their evil ways and their general foolish behaviour, but were they listening? no way, and not a chance, because Cognitive Dissonance had set in big time, and they all went, as a nation of people, headlong into total denial or delusional thinking. We need to understand that apart from a tiny few, Molech worship (modern day Bohemian Grove in California) had become the order of the day, whereby they even offered their first born babies into the fiery furnace that burnt in front of this lifeless stone idol. to compound their evil wickedness they would then cover their bets by making an animal sacrifice offering to the real Godhead on the annual Holy Days. How stupid and blind can you be? Easy, as stupid and blind as those who today think the Godhead is a pagan trinity and that Peter was a Pope and/or a Bishop of Rome; that Christmas and Easter are Christian Festivals and that Good Friday to Sunday Morning is three days and three nights and so on and so forth – can you see the Cognitive Dissonance?? I do hope so.

We can also add in the secular political dimension to this, too, because there are multiple millions of Americans who think Mr Obama is President of the United States of America when all the while he is only President of the US Inc. – a corporation registered in Puerto Rico and listed on Dun & Bradstreet (The US Inc. was set up in 1871, for those of you who are not Cognitive Dissonant and who wish to research this). this is why Obama’s US citizenship and birth certificate uncertainties are, in reality, a non-issue to those above him; those who really run things and pull his puppet strings. the Truth is he would not need to be a US citizen in order to be the President or the CEO of the US Inc., so you see folks, all these things begin to add up and make sense once we shed the blight of Cognitive Dissonance and open up our eyes to their deceptive shell games and have a good laugh. We should too, because the Lord most certainly does:

Psalms 2:1-5 (KJV) Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against His Anointed, saying, 3 let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5 Then shall He speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.

Notice how appropriate these age old Holy Scriptures are for us today as we watch the antics of the two-bit clowns that supposedly govern us. the Lord calls them heathen and rightly so ‘cos not one of ‘em is a God fearing being. the people that follow after them are no better, either, being full of vain imaginings i.e. what I call the Three F’s – Fantasies, Fallacies and Foolishness or perhaps we could call it Cognitive Dissonance? Notice, too, how these arrogant people; here called kings (rulers or leaders) take counsel together against the Lord and set themselves, which literally means to position themselves in direct opposition to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they say: let us disassociate ourselves from anything that is Godly and Righteous (just) and cast away any responsibility that the Godhead and/or any right minded man or woman would expect of us. We are all powerful now, they think, and who can overthrow us, they boast? little do they know, for the Lord holds them in derision, which means mocking them as if He were an insightful foreigner looking on from without, and can see all their vain stupidity and weaknesses, which they, themselves, cannot see. so, there we have it, even our puffed up arrogant leaders have Cognitive Dissonance could we even say this is the blind leading the blind? I reckon – QED.

Cognitive Dissonance – The Cainite-Judeo-Christian Religion and The Shell Game

New zealand? – Yahoo! Answers

by on September 9, 2011

what do you guys think of new zealand?(even if you havent been 2 New Zealand, what are your opinions about the country?)

I live in New Zealand check out http://www.westcoastshuttle.co.nz/pics/P… plenty of NZ pics there to see. come next month if you are into snow skiing or boarding.

Hey guys! So I heard that Hurricane Irene is supposed to hit NYC on Sunday, April 28th, 2011. my family and I are departing from JFK airport to Florida early Sunday morning. Do you guys think that our flight will be delayed? Are we gonna be okay?

I'd try to get on a Saturday flight if I were you. I don't think any planes will be taking off (voluntarily) on Sunday morning.

it will most likely be delayed if its hitting NYC its gunna hit hard cuz i live in binghamton and were supposed to get hit the same day so you will probably be hit a little worse…plus if your going to florida youre driving right through it because its supposed to hit the whole east coast… so a delay is quite possible…

No I don't think so. but if you are worried then why don't you just start driving today so that you are far away by the time it hits , if it hits.

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh SUNDAY APRIL 28TH 2011?!?!? THATS PASSED :/

Most likely the flight would be delayed or canceled because Hurricane Irene will be affecting the whole coast. if I were you I would see I could get a flight Friday or Saturday!

It all depends on where the storm is at that time.

The National Weather Service predicts that Hurricane Irene's path will take it almost directly over new York City this weekend, wreaking havoc up and down the eastern seaboard.
Currently the storm is a Category 2, with sustained winds up to 110 miles per hour, and will hit North Carolina's Outer Banks on Saturday. The storm is then predicted to track to the north, gradually losing energy as it skirts the east coast.
Governors from North Carolina to Connecticut have declared states of emergency, and President Barack Obama has preemptively signed a disaster declaration for North Carolina authorizing FEMA to take on a greater role in evacuations and response. Obama will make a statement on the hurricane at 11:30 a.m. today, and may sign similar disaster declarations for other states.
The new York City transit system will be shut down once winds reach 39 miles per hour, according to the MTA — likely on Saturday — and thousands of flights have already been cancelled.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday that the city will decide whether to evacuate residents from low-lying areas by 8am Saturday. NYC.gov and the online evacuation zone map have been crashing due to high traffic, according to the city.
The Weather Service puts the chances of hurricane force winds (greater than 74 mph) hitting new York City at 8 percent — depending on how much the storm weakens after it hits North Carolina and how close the eye passes near the city.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-irene-barreling-toward-new-york-city-2011-8#ixzz1W8tD2eZq

Yeah you will definitely be delayed!! I have a flight to ny sat morning and it was cancelled a day before the hurricane ur flight is the day of the hurricane I'm 100 percent sure that ur flight will be cancelled! sorry :(

I live in NYC & I was supposed to go to Honor's Haven (Ellenville, NY) on Friday and come back on Sunday afternoon. Now that I see all these reports about Hurricane Irene, I don't know if I should still go. Is it safe to be driving back to new York City on Sunday?

It is too early to predict where Irene will travel or how strong it will be. Especially 3 or more days in advance. If Irene does keep traveling north, it can encounter cold dry air will can weaken it or kill it out. You can get more information here http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.sht…

Honestly, if it turns more west as it comes up the coast, there will be big trouble in NYC. because of the right angle the land makes, it can be a very dangerous situation if it sustains a level 2 size. I would say if you can get out of the city for a while, you're better off.

Is Hurricane Irene dangerous for NYC?

I'm a huge fan of Tyler Perry's movies. i live in Atlanta and one of my dream is to be part of one of his movies.I'm not talking about a major role but a really simple thing.

How can I figure in a Tyler Perry movie?

Usually, and yes you can, many people who live in tornado prone areas do just that.

Of course, it partially depends on how the basement is – like if it's just a partial basement that's sort of open to the ground on one side, that might not provide as much protection as a fully underground basement would, depending on the angle the tornado was coming from. but any basement is better than no basement when a tornado is coming.

Is a basement sufficient to protect you from tornado's? Can you make a storm shelter within a basement?

She looks like a dirty thieving gypsie as well.

Don't believe everything you read :) I've seen the stories too, if she is she is if she isn't then she isn't. Travellers & Gypsies get bad names now a days & to be honest I don't think that anyone know's the true meaning of us any more. I am from Traveller family & we don't thieve, hurt or do anything that the bad press claims we do. we don't camp in fields either. I live in house & have done all my life. Judging someone from what people say is a bad thing.

How would you like to be judged because people of the same ethnic group act like stupid people?

Cher lloyd would be an insult to proper gypsies ..i rather like to think of her as a nasty tramp pikey …pikeys means lower class

Gypsy's are actually ok …its the pikeys that are plazzy gypsies that are the worst ….the ones that are in the skip outside your house rumaging through your scrap just to see if they can find abit of copper or brass

think im lying …it happened to us twice …

I rather like Gypsys i think that they have a proper sense of the word family and they all look after each other which is something alot of non gypo families could take a leaf from them about

anyway as another poster said who gives a monkeys if shes a horrible little pikey just get rid of her shes useless

Yes obviously she is a gypsie. All gypsies live in a mansion in a gated community in Malibu right?

I've thought Cher looks like a gypsy from the start. But she lives in Malvern and has a big family so probably they are no longer a travelling family. Don't think it makes any difference.

Yes she is a pikey apparently but she isn't a proper one, its only on her mothers side that they are gypsy's.

i dont care if she is.I wish i was Romany,and anyway i like Cher

How cruel she looks good for her age

hilarious yeah she could def be a gypsy,

No – she's a gipsy and bugger the American spelling! They told us that on "This Morning" very recently.