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He was told he might never walk again. He was told he might not survive.

And then he defied astronomical odds.

Former Buffalo Bills football player Kevin Everett was unable to move his body from the neck down after he was injured making a tackle in the Bills’ Sept. 9 season-opening game. But now, less than five months later, Everett is walking on his own, shocking even his physicians with his quick recovery. He was told he might never walk again. He was told he might not survive.

And then he defied astronomical odds.

Former Buffalo Bills football player Kevin Everett was unable to move his body from the neck down after he was injured making a tackle in the Bills’ Sept. 9 season-opening game. But now, less than five months later, Everett is walking on his own, shocking even his physicians with his quick recovery.
Photos
Kevin Everett’s Road to Recovery

His recovery, a true medical mystery, has captured national attention and caused a stir in the medical community.

On a recent visit to Everett’s home in Humble, Texas, ABC’s Bob Woodruff asked whether he ever considered giving up.

“That’s not me, I don’t give up. I don’t settle for less,” Everett said. “I was thinking the whole time I was going to get better, just like any other injury that I had.”

Watch the story tonight on “World News” and “Nightline” and Friday on “Good Morning America.”

Seventy-one thousand fans watched the Bills’ 2007 season opener. As Everett lined up for the second-half kickoff against the Denver Broncos, he told teammate Anthony Thomas to keep an eye on him.

“I was like, ‘Show me something,’” recalled Thomas, “And he was like, ‘I’m gonna show you. Let me go down there and make a tackle.’”

Expectations were high for the man who wore No. 85. After a knee injury and two disappointing seasons with the Bills, Everett, 25, was eager to make his mark in the NFL.

“It was the year,” said Dick Jauron, the Bills’ head coach. “We were pushing him. He was the guy that we were going to use a lot.”

“We always talked about it. Kevin is very, ‘One day, baby, everybody is going to know who I am. I’m Kevin Everett, I’m going to be the best tight end ever,’” recalled Everett’s fiancée, Wiande Moore.

The kickoff sent the ball end over end into a gray sky. What happened next would make anyone wish it had never come down.

Everett raced down the field and went in for the tackle of the Bronco’s Domenik Hixon. Everett’s helmet collided violently with the side of Hixon’s helmet and shoulder pads, and Everett dropped to the ground, face-first. You knew it was something serious, just the motion of his body and the way he fell, almost lifeless, to the ground,” said paramedic supervisor Scott Karaszewski, watching from the sidelines.

Facedown on the field, Everett was desperately trying to lift himself off the turf.

“I was like, ‘I got to get up,’ because I heard my teammates saying, ‘C’mon, get up, let’s go,’” Everett recalled. “I couldn’t move. I tried.”

An eerie silence draped over the stadium, as players from both teams knelt in prayer and the Bills medical staff surrounded Everett on the field.

Dr. Andy Cappuccino, the Bills’ spine specialist, was quickly by Everett’s side, and recalls asking, “Kevin, can you move your arms and legs?” Cappuccino says Everett’s response was, “I am moving them.”

“No, Kevin, you’re not moving them,” Cappuccino told Everett. “I thought my air supply was going to be totally cut off,” Everett said. “I just saw everybody standing over me asking me, ‘Can you breathe?’ And I was like, ‘I can’t breathe.’”

“Did you know you were paralyzed?” Woodruff asked.

“Yeah, I knew I was,” Everett said. It Wasn’t All Right’

At home in east Texas, Everett’s mother, Patricia Dugas, arrived at a sports bar just seconds before the collision.

“And I’m like, ‘OK, he’s still on the ground. He hasn’t gotten up.’ And it was scary, I couldn’t even think straight,” Dugas said.

“I was just crying,” said Moore. “I didn’t know what to think, what to believe, what’s going on. All I was thinking about was to get to him.”

Everett said his first thought were of his loved ones.

“The first thing that entered my mind is my family. I mean, my mom, my sisters and my fiancée,” Everett said. “And I was like, ‘I can’t go now because they need me.’”

“Death entered my mind, but I wasn’t going to settle for it,” Everett said. “I just wasn’t going to accept that.”

“I felt like my wind was slowly fading away, and I got kind of scared, but, you know, I settled myself down and focused on my breathing,” Everett said.

The medical team carefully stabilized Everett’s head and neck, rolled him onto his back and secured him on a stretcher.

“It was done like clock work,” said Cappuccino. “I don’t think it could be done any better than it was.”

“Then you could see Kevin’s eyes,” recalled head coach Jauron. “He looked worried. He never looked scared to me. He looked strong.”

“I tried to give my teammates a thumbs up when they put me on the stretcher,” Everett said. “I tried my hardest, you know, put all my heart into it. Just to let them know I was all right. But it wasn’t all right.”

‘We Have Given Him a Chance’

Fifteen minutes after the collision, Everett was loaded into an ambulance and taken off the field to thunderous applause. The ambulance started to just vibrate because of all this energy pouring from the stands,” said paramedic supervisor Christopher Zemrac, of Rural/Metro Medical Services.

Inside the ambulance, Cappuccino knew the situation was grave, and decided to take the first of several calculated risks.

“I made the decision in the ambulance to throw the kitchen sink at him, to use some not completely tested [therapies], some therapies that have scientific data but are controversial,” he said.

Cappuccino injected steroids and ran a cold saline solution through Everett’s bloodstream, trying to lower his body temperature to protect his spinal cord from further damage.

“It was the concept of trying to use the body as an ice bag around the spinal cord,” Cappuccino said.  The effect of the decision to cool Everett is still being hotly debated today.

One thing is clear: When Everett arrived at the hospital his life was in danger and his prognosis was grim. We’ve got some tough decisions to make here,” Cappuccino told his patient. “This is bad.” On the phone with Everett’s mother, Cappuccino described the injury as “catastrophic.”

Everett’s neck was dislocated between the third and fourth vertebrae, and the bones were pinching his spinal cord. “The ligaments are destroyed, the tendons are destroyed, so the only thing holding his head on his shoulders really is the skin on his neck and the big muscles,” said Cappuccino.

Cappuccino teamed up with neurosurgeon Dr. Kevin Gibbons to perform an emergency, four-hour surgery to realign Everett’s spine.

“After the surgery we feel somewhat better,” said Gibbons. “We have taken the pressure off. We have given him a chance to get better.”

“It was scary,” Dugas recalled.

“[He was] just laying there with tubes everywhere in his body,” said Moore. “He didn’t even know we were there. When we first saw him, all we could do is just cry.”

The First Movement

But as early the next morning, Everett showed the first sign of hope.

“He was able to gently, against gravity, pull his thighs together on command,” said Cappuccino. “Well, certainly, I was incredibly excited.”

Still, Cappuccino was cautious when asked in a news conference later that day whether Everett would ever walk again.

“I have to tell you that the chances of that occurring are very small,” he said. After Everett’s first subtle movement, his body temperature began to rise and Cappuccino gambled again. He used a cooling machine to lower Everett’s body temperature in a controversial technique known as moderate hypothermia.

“Dr. Cappuccino wanted to cool him for spinal cord protection. I wanted to cool him for neurological protection from a fever, because fevers are devastating for patients with neurological injury,” said Gibbons.

The next morning Everett was moving not only his thighs, but his feet, his toes and his arms. And suddenly, his prognosis changed dramatically.

“If you ask me ‘will he walk again,’ I would say, ‘I wouldn’t bet against it,’” Gibbons said at a Sept. 12 news conference. But was it the cooling, the surgery or the steroids that gave Everett the chance to recover? Or was it the swift response of the Bills’ medical team? Opinions differ, but no one can say for sure.

“People can say that I overstepped my bounds,” Cappuccino said. “They can call it human experimentation. I want them to talk to Kevin Everett, and if Kevin Everett is unhappy with the job I’ve done for him, then I’ll feel bad.”

Everett points out that very few thought he would recover as quickly as he has.

“He promised me that he would do anything and everything that he could possible, to make sure that everything worked out,” Everett said. “Nobody thought I would be recovering like this.”

Milestones

Less than two weeks after his injury, Everett was flown to a rehab facility called Memorial Hermann TIRR, the Institute for Rehabilitation and Research, in Houston.

“When he arrived in our facility he was actually moving his legs, barely moving his arms, couldn’t even take care of himself,” said Dr. Teodoro Castillo, the co-director of the spinal cord program at TIRR.

“The first couple of weeks he would sit in darkness in his hospital bedroom,” Rafferty Laredo, the manager of occupational therapy at TIRR, recalled. “I think it was extremely discouraging for him to know what he was like before, and at this point not able to do anything.”

But he’s made progress since those first weeks.

“The rest of this story is about Kevin Everett and the warrior that he is and his mom and his fiancee not giving him one ounce of slack,” Cappuccino said. “I have never seen one come this far, this fast.”

And the milestones kept coming.

“He couldn’t move his arms or legs at all, and I’d look at the weight that he is picking up now — it is a huge difference,” said Laredo.

With his family looking on, Everett took his first steps at TIRR exactly one month after that terrifying collision in Buffalo.

“I was so proud of him. I was laughing and crying at the same time,” Dugas said. “He’s a tiger, you know, he’s strong. His inner strength … they can’t tell Kevin what he can’t do.”

Dugas said the very best day was when she got her first hug from her son. “I’d been waiting on that like a buzzard,” she said. “It wasn’t a strong hug, but it was good enough for me.”

For Moore, a special day came in the form of a proposal Sept. 29, just weeks after the injury. Everett and Moore are planning their wedding for the fall of 2009 and looking forward to eventually starting a family.

Everett knows he will never be 100 percent again. He still battles decreased sensation and strength, as well as fatigue. And while he will not play football again, coaching is not out of the question.

This week, the story of Everett’s life and recovery will be published in a book called “Standing Tall: The Kevin Everett Story,” written by Sam Carchidi.

“It was probably God telling me, you know, trying to tell me something,” Everett said.

“Do you think God intended for you to do something different in your life?” Woodruff asked.

“I think so,” Everett said, but he doesn’t know yet what that is.

“I’m still trying to find that out,” he said with a laugh.

For all his life, Everett’s goal was glory on the gridiron.

But as the legendary coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That’s real glory.”

BloC-O and 3N Productions are working together in the production of the biography of acclaimmed writer Carmelo rodriguez Torres (cinco cuentos negros and vieques es mas dulce que la sangre).

At this time the project is in production.

There was a tremendous traffic jam in Chicago recently on a major traffic artery. Traffic was backed up for miles in both the north and south bound lanes. Several men were walking back from the area where the tie-up had occured. As one man approached his car, the motorist rolled down the window and inquired about the problem. He was told that terrorists had captured Bill & Hillery Clinton, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and unless a $10 million ransom was raised, the terrorists threatened to pour gasoline on the four and set them ablaze. Several of us volunteered to seek donations. The motorist asked the volunteer, “about how much is the average donation”? “About one gallon”, said the volunteer.

My Congressman gets stopped for driving while black. Of course, if the Moony’s had their way, Congressman Davis wouldn’t even be allowed to own a car, much less drive one.

A black congressman who was issued a ticket this week after being pulled over has accused the Chicago police of racial profiling in the traffic stop.

The representative, Danny K. Davis, Democrat of Illinois, said he was driving his Mercury Grand Marquis just after midnight Monday on the city’s West Side when two police officers pulled him over and asked to see his driver’s license and proof of insurance.

When Mr. Davis asked why they had stopped him, he said, they accused him of weaving, and they ticketed him for driving left of the center line.

Mr. Davis says he did not commit any traffic violation.

“I just could not believe it,” he said Friday. “I had to conclude that race had to have entered the picture, and that the only reason we were stopped is that there were four African-Americans a little after midnight, in a car going down the street. And it really breaks my heart to have to arrive at that conclusion, but I can’t conclude anything else.”
[From Congressman Sees Bias in Chicago Traffic Stop]

Regardless of my personal feelings toward Congressman Davis, harassment for DWB shouldn’t occur to anyone.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) – The city of Long Beach has shut down more than three miles of beachfront to swimmers and surfers because of a sewage spill into the Los Angeles River.

Long Beach recreational water manager Nelson Kerr says between 65,000 and 90,000 gallons of raw sewage entered the river Tuesday night.

The city closed the beaches as a precaution because the city is the end-point of the Los Angeles River before it flows into the Pacific Ocean.

Kerr says city officials will test the water later today before reopening the beaches.

San Clemente, Southern California’s southern most beach town provides a friendly small town feel and is an ideal spot for a two day vacation.

The beaches are clean; the surfing is great and the newly revitalized Downtown area offers some unique shopping and interesting cuisine.

The town lacks a pretentious element so everything is much more laid-back although prosperous.

You can’t beat it for a weekend getaway as most individuals who choose San Clemente as their weekend base will easily agree.

If you are a surfer, you will find areas in San Clemente that you will soon designate as your favorite spot to surf.

To be sure, San Clemente has been the most easily unrecognized as a Southern California beach town. Laguna Beach, for example, springs to mind when naming a well-known beach town; additionally, Newport Beach is another easily known beach location. But San Clemente-not the first town that comes to the forefront nor even the last.

Lately though, things have been changing and have changed. More and more people are finding the town a preferable location to surf, shop and wine and dine. Part of this is due to the revitalized downtown area. The revamping caused a number of new restaurants, specialized shops and boutiques to find there way to San Clemente.

Walk up and down Avenida Del Mar for unique cuisine and shopping.

So how do you find San Clemente? The town is accessible several ways. The best way to access San Clemente’s downtown area is to exit I-5 at Avenida Presidio, (then) turn right on El Camino Real, then left at Avenida Del Mar.

The second way is to board Amtrack’s Pacific Surf line at Los Angeles or San Diego. The train stops (twice a day) at the San Clemente Pier and then it is a brief walk to the downtown area. The train stops (twice a day) at the San Clemente Pier and then it is a brief walk to the downtown area.

For your “Surfin Safari” adventure head for San Clemente’s beaches in the summer. Directions are as follows: Follow Avenida Del Mar down toward the water. There is a “metered” public parking area at Parque Del Mar.

It is a short jaunt to the San Clemente Pier. Below the pier, you will find a great deal of surfing activity during the summer months. The surfers are generally on the north side of San Clemente Pier. The swimmers frequent the south side of the Pier.

Walking about one-quarter mile from the pier you will find T-Street. This is one of the best known surfing beaches in the San Clemente area: surfers are allowed on the T-Street Beach mornings and evening hours only.

Calafia Beach is located just a further bit south. The beach is geared toward families and is located in San Clemente State Park. Metered parking is found in a lot in front of the beach.

If you would like more information on San Clemente beaches then contact San Clemente’s Beaches, Parks and Recreation Department. There number is 949-361-8264.

While you are “camped out” in San Clemente for the weekend, you naturally will want to find comfortable lodging. You will find this easy to do as the beach town offers several options.

One suggestion is to attain a “blissful” night’s rest at the Casa Tropicana Inn and Spa. This is a renovated bed and breakfast with eight rooms. The rooms have a “sand and surf” theme and are very well-appointed. As an added bonus, the Bed and Breakfast is located directly across from the pier. The address is 610 Avenida Victoria.  Once you are “sold” this is the place to stay while in San Clemente, you may call them toll free at 1-800-492-1245. The price per night is approximately $245.00.

How would you like a view of the Pacific Ocean each evening of your stay after a day of shopping or surfing? You will find ocean front views at Villa Del Mar Inn. The Inn provides a balcony for each of its eight suites, facing the magnificent Pacific Ocean. It does not matter which of the eight suites you check into, you will receive a balcony facing the ocean. Each of the suites, additionally, provides a full kitchen. The address is 612 Avenida Victoria. Once you decide this is a place you would like to “hang your weekend hat” then reserve a date by calling: (949)-498-5080. The price is around $295 per night.

Not everyone is a surfer. Some of us like to go different places and shop. Maybe while part of your “tribe” is out “playing beach bum,” you may find delight in visiting one of San Clemente’s fashionable apparel shops: Angel Wings. The fashion-oriented women’s retailer can be found at 165 Avenida Del Mar.

For individuals interested in shopping for antiquities, the place to go is the Antiques & Decorative Arts Center located at 106 Avenida Del Mar.

A Matter of Taste offers “crisp” linens, furniture and stylish gifts. Find them at: 101 Avenida Del Mar.

Lunch fare can “be had” at Antoine’s Café. Simple dishes are part of the lunch menu including salads, and burgers and other dishes in a hospitable surfer environment. Find them at 218 South El Camino Real. Phone for directions, if you need to: (949)-492-1763. Antoine’s is also open for breakfast and serves dinner Thursday through Saturday.

Beach Fire draws crowds on the weekends. It is a fun environment and a great place to gather or take your group. They serve lunch and dinner daily. The address is 204 Avenida Del Mar.

Café Calypso is just the place to go for an intimate breakfast or a lunch for two. The setting is a patio and you may locate them at 114 Avenida Del Mar.

San Clemente offers a variety of many new restaurants so be sure to ask around for possible suggestions.

In conclusion, for a “beach lover’s” short holiday, make sure to visit the recently renovated southern California beach town of San Clemente. It will be a weekend you will soon not forget.

I’ve already mentioned that I have a blistering case of the ADHD … What I’ve yet to share is that, given the proper environment, anything can stress me out to no end. No pewp: I’m the definition of a worry-wart … Just a hop, skip and a jump away from growing a tattered beard and wearing an END IS NEAR sign.

So, it shouldn’t be surprising to learn that I’m deathly worried about always being so damned worried and stressed that I just know I’m going to die of a heart attack by the time I’m forty … If you follow.

Throughout the years, I’ve tried all sorts of remedies: calming sounds, scents, and thoughts. I’ve drunk herbal concoctions. And yes, I’ve tried mediation.

None of them worked.

Probably, because when I’m trying to learn something new I get so damn worried that I’m doing it wrong, I go overboard on the research and ultimately conclude that I’m far too stupid to achieve any measure of success.

Long story,short: Last semester I finally reached the point of no return, and armed with a 90 day money back guarantee, I purchased the StressEraser.

And I absolutely adore it.

For the first time in years, I can actually sleep at night. Hell, I can sit down in front of a test and not feel like I’m going to throw up. Whenever I begin to feel pressure pushing in, I just pull out my StressEraser, slip a finger into the pulse sensor, and try my best to synchronize my breathing with the wave on the screen. Within five to ten minutes I’m calm and ready to look at my work logically instead of emotionally.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that $299 isn’t cheap … It’s more expensive than most can easily afford. But if used properly, it can really help you manage your life in a far healthier manner. (I guess Gizmodo has some problems with reading the manual, because you’re NOT supposed to breathe any deeper than your normal breathing pattern)
Bottom Line: After a few weeks with the StressEraser my productivity started increasing … And I have the grades to prove it.

Want to choose the right portable stress reliever for you?
Compare the StressEraser to the emWave.

Stress can increase over time resulting in insomnia. It can be especiallly hard to calm you mind at bedtime. With the StressEraser you can rapidly calm your mind and relax your body.

With regular use, you will find yourself remaining calm and relaxed even in the midst of stressful life events. It’s portable, needs no computer, uses regular AAA batteries and fits in the palm of your hand.

Stress is largely caused by changes in your body’s nervous system, specifically changes in the activity of your stimulating nerves and your pacifying nerves.

Be sure to watch the StressEraser tutorials to find out everything you need to know about using your StressEraser.

StressEraser     The body’s stimulating nerves extend from the brain stem out the middle of the spine to many parts of the body. When they are highly active, the stimulating nerves:
• Cause your mind to become restless by increasing your brain activity
• Cause you to feel nervous by increasing your heart rate and blood pressure
• Cause you to be tense by increasing the rate of your breathing and making your breathing shallower

StressEraser     The body’s pacifying nerves extend from the brain stem out the top and bottom of the spine to many parts of the body. The pacifying nerves reverse the effects of the stimulating nerves. When they are highly active, the pacifying nerves:
• Calm your mind by stopping your stimulating nerves from agitating your brain
• Relax your body by lowering your heart rate and blood pressure
• Ease tension by allowing your breathing to become slower and deeper

Both the stimulating and pacifying nerves attach directly to many parts of your body, including your heart. The stimulating nerves increase your heart rate and the pacifying nerves decrease it. Your heart rate rises and falls in a wavelike manner based on the interplay of the stimulating and pacifying nerves.
StressEraser

The StressEraser finger sensor monitors your pulse rate on a pulse-by-pulse basis. The StressEraser displays your pulse rate waves in the middle of the screen.

StressEraser

To use the StressEraser, power on the device and then gently place your left index finger in the finger sensor clip.

StressEraser

The StressEraser then decodes the influence of the stimulating and pacifying nerves, and shows you how these nerves are affecting your mind and your body. The activity of the stimulating nerves is displayed using triangle symbols. The activity of the pacifying nerves is displayed using square symbols. The StressEraser guide booklets teach you how to use the symbols to guide your breathing and mental focus. You will learn to use the symbols to alter your breathing in a way that decreases stimulating nerve activity while increasing the activity of your pacifying nerves at the same time. And you will learn to use the symbols to focus your thoughts in a manner that will quiet your mind.

Quiet Your Mind Before Sleeping
A common folk remedy for quieting the mind at night is to concentrate on silently counting in your head. The idea is to take your mind off of the stressful thoughts by focusing it on the counting.
Unfortunately, the more restless your mind is, the harder it is to get it off of the stressful thoughts. When you are stressed, your body’s stimulating nerves are dramatically increasing your brain activity. And as long as these nerves are causing your mind to race, it’s difficult to get your mind off of the stressful thoughts and focus on the counting.

StressEraser

The good news is that the stimulating nerves agitate the brain in a measurable cycle of activity. In other words, the stimulating effect of these nerves increases and decreases in cyclic pulses of activity. The StressEraser monitors each cycle of nerve activity. Every time the stimulation of the nerve activity is at its weakest level of a cycle, a triangle symbol appears on the StressEraser screen.

StressEraser

When your mind is restless, you will notice that the triangles appear on the StressEraser screen more rapidly, closer together. When you see the triangles close together, your stimulating nerves are causing your mind to race, making it difficult for you to quiet your mind. it’s important to remember that each time a new triangle appears, the stimulating nerves are at the weakest moment of their current cycle. With the StressEraser, you will learn to change your breathing so that you begin slowly exhaling each time a new triangle appears. By slowly exhaling as soon as each triangle appears, you will keep the stimulating nerves at a lower level of activity, causing the overall level of nerve stimulation to decrease.

StressEraserAs the activity level of nerve stimulation decreases, you will notice the triangles appearing less frequently, farther apart. When using your StressEraser, you will synch your breathing with the triangles while you also silently count in your head during each exhale. When the triangles are farther apart, the stimulating nerves will no longer be agitating your brain and you will find you can easily shift your attention to the counting, away from stressful thoughts. Without the StressEraser, it can be difficult to shift your mind off of stressful thoughts on to the counting However, with the StressEraser, you can quickly quiet your mind even if it’s restless, filled with constant chatter. And an ideal time to quiet your mind is at night right before sleeping.

Relieve Intense Stress
During intense stress your nerves become over stimulated, causing nervousness, tension, and a restless mind. During these times, you will need to regularly activate your pacifying nerves in order to recuperate from the effects of the over stimulation.

The pacifying nerves become more active as the activity of the stimulating nerves decreases. Therefore, as the triangles become farther apart, the activity of the pacifying nerves will increase. The StressEraser monitors the activity level of your pacifying nerves and displays whether their activity level is low (StressEraser), medium (StressEraser), or high (StressEraser).

StressEraserWith the StressEraser, in addition to synchronizing your exhale with the triangles, you will learn how to decrease stimulating nerve activity by lengthening your exhale. This will move the triangles farther apart, causing an increase in pacifying nerve activity.

It may be difficult to accept that simple changes in breathing can profoundly impact your mind and body, especially during intensely stressful life events. Perhaps you have even tried to use breathing techniques before and did not experience a profound level of relief.

There are two common reasons why people do not experience a deep sense of calm relaxation when using popular breathing methods. First, many methods emphasize deep breathing. Whenever you breathe deeply over and over again, you will hyperventilate, which puts even more stress on your body and mind. StressEraser sessions do not involve deep breathing; rather the StressEraser interactively guides you to change your breathing rate and rhythm.

The second common reason why people don’t find profound relief through breathing is that they exhale too long. Many stress reduction counselors encourage people to exhale for a very long time with each breath. However, this can cause more stress than it alleviates. If you exhale longer than your nervous system can handle, you will put stress on your nervous system with each and every breath you take. You can see this for yourself with your StressEraser.

StressEraserFinding powerful relief through breathing requires that you breathe in sync with your own nervous system. If your exhales are too short, you will not suppress the stimulating nerves enough to activate the pacifying nerves. If you exhale too long, the pacifying nerves will literally shut down. There is a precise window of opportunity which, when you find it, provides you with the relief you have been looking for, even during intensely stressful life events.

With the StressEraser guiding you, you will quickly find a breathing rate and rhythm that keeps your pacifying nerves highly active on an ongoing basis. By keeping these nerves highly active while also quieting your mind with the counting, even the most intense stress will decrease moment to moment— until it completely subsides. It has to. Your pacifying nerves will systematically undo the effects of your stimulating nerves while the counting continues to keep your mind quiet and calm

Gain Freedom From Chronic Stress
Chronic stress results when the body and mind accumulate stress. The idea that the body and mind can accumulate stress may seem a bit strange at first, yet they do accumulate stress in very real, measurable ways.

For example, certain types of stress can cause your heart rate to temporarily rise for a moment. But if you experience this type of stress over and over again, your heart rate can become increasingly elevated over time. This is one way you can accumulate stress in your body.

Likewise, certain types of stress cause your brain activity to increase. Brain activity levels can actually be measured using equipment called EEG machines. Repeated exposure to mental stress can cause your brain activity to remain increasingly higher. This is one way you can accumulate stress in your mind.

There are many places where stress can accumulate in your body and mind. As stress accumulates, its harmful effects continue 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In other words, its effects are chronic.

Becoming free from chronic stress takes time. Chronic stress results from repeated exposure to stress, and the antidote requires repeated exposure to deep relaxation. By deeply relaxing the mind and body each day, you can readjust, decreasing the amount of accumulated stress day by day.

StressEraserThe StressEraser’s point system makes it easy for you to undo chronic stress. The StressEraser gives you 1/2 point for each wave when pacifying nerves have a medium level of activity (marked byStressEraser ). The StressEraser gives you 1 point for each wave when your pacifying nerves are highly active (marked by StressEraser).

The points get reset at midnight. Therefore, you can accumulate points throughout the day in as many sessions as you wish. To reduce chronic stress, we recommend that you accumulate a minimum of 100 – 125 points per day. By accumulating enough “relaxation points” each day, you can reverse the process by which you accumulated chronic stress.

If you are chronically stressed, it’s good to remember that you can use the StressEraser to calm your mind and relax your body whenever you want. Whenever you want to feel relief, we recommend that you do a session of at least 30 points. Most people find that a 30-point session makes a strong enough impact for them to actually feel the difference.

During your quest to free yourself of chronic stress, you can experience temporary moments of calm whenever you want—even on the first day you use your StressEraser. And by accumulating enough points each day, you can cultivate a lasting therapeutic benefit.

Availability
The StressEraser is classified by the FDA as a Class II (510(k) exempt) medical device. As an FDA regulated medical device, exportation to foreign countries may be restricted. At present, Helicor is accepting orders from U.S. residents only.

Package Contents:
• StressEraser Unit
• 4 AAA batteries*
• Leather case
• Warranty registration card
• Welcome Letter
• Quick Start card
• Getting Started booklet
• Owner’s Manual
• “Relaxing Nights” program
*The batteries can last up to 30 days with regular daily use, a little less with frequent use of the backlight.

Guarantee
The handheld StressEraser medical device comes with a one-year manufacturer warranty against any defects that occur during normal use. We offer a 30-day guarantee.

Google Earnings Beat Estimates—Again
The search megalith reported stellar third-quarter earnings, though it warned that margins may thin as it makes needed investments.

The Google stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Oct. 10, 2007 Getty

As a company that regularly beats Wall Street’s earnings estimates, Google needed to blow away expectations on Oct. 18 to impress investors who have propelled the stock to record highs in recent days in anticipation of yet another blockbuster quarterly announcement. Anything less and investors would sell off the stock as they had in past quarters when Google just met or narrowly exceeded analysts’ projections.

Google (GOOG) did not disappoint. The search-advertising Goliath said third-quarter net revenue rose 61%, to $3.01 billion, a number that takes into account the amount Google pays Web site owners to put ads on their pages. That soundly beat analysts’ average estimate for sales of $2.9 billion. Not counting the amount of stock awarded to employees, earnings per share rose to $3.91, beating forecasts of $3.78 a share. “We had a very strong quarter across the board,” said Chief Financial Officer George Reyes.
Online Ad Dominance Assured

Wall Street assumed that Google’s revenues, minus traffic-acquisition costs, would grow about 57% from the prior year. They also assumed that Google could hit that number despite an anticipated credit-crunch-related slowdown in financial-services advertising, one of the largest Web marketing categories. “When you have a company that has performed as consistently as they have to the upside, there is an inherent expectation that gets built into performance,” says Derek Brown, an Internet analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. “They are larger, growing faster, and are more profitable than any company in the Internet sector by a wide margin.”

Google owes its growth mainly to its dominant share of the online advertising market. Google captures roughly 32% of the $21.4 billion in U.S. advertising spending, according to an Oct. 16 report by research firm eMarketer. Google is especially adept at search advertising, which comprises more than 40% of the U.S. online advertising market.

Now Google is racing to gain a larger slice of other forms of online advertising, including display advertising, the term given to ads that run in a fixed spot on a Web page. That’s why Google agreed to acquire ad network DoubleClick for $3.1 billion (BusinessWeek.com, 9/28/07) earlier this year.
New Ad Forays Won’t Come Cheap

Google is also taking steps to get into video advertising, a segment that eMarketer estimates could comprise more than 13% of the online advertising market in four years, up from 8.2% this year. In August, Google announced plans to embed ads in YouTube videos. “We have a really nice ad that shows up in the bottom half of the video,” Google co-founder Sergey Brin said during the analyst call.

Google’s forays into other advertising arenas are still early, and its success is by no means guaranteed. A deal that lets Google place ads on News Corp.’s (NWS) social network, MySpace, is going well, according to Google, but it’s still not a resounding success. “It is obviously a challenge because there is so much inventory and people can be distracted by many different things,” Google co-founder Larry Page said on the conference call. “So there are a lot of things that make it hard.”

One thing that makes it difficult to carve a slice of new areas of advertising is the cost. Google executives have pledged that they will continue to spend money on the infrastructure improvements and the personnel necessary to innovate around new ad formats. During the earnings call, CFO Reyes cautioned analysts that such investment could take a toll. “Margins may decline as we continue to invest in our business,” said Reyes.
Analysts Worry About Spending

Despite the blockbuster quarter, analysts expressed some concern that Google may be investing too much, too quickly. During the call, several analysts posed pointed questions about Google’s decision to hire an additional 2,100 employees during the quarter. Google blamed a less-than-amazing performance last July in part on hiring more aggressively than it had initially planned (BusinessWeek.com, 7/20/07). Chief Executive Eric Schmidt tried to allay concerns, saying, “this is an area where we need to spend more time and focus on what is the appropriate rate…We are paying a lot of attention to head count.”

But for now, it’s hard for even cautious analysts to be negative about Google’s numbers.

Source: Free Blog

Google didn’t miss Wall Street’s fourth-quarter earnings estimates by much, but it’s Google and every little shortfall matters. The miss was enough to send its stock falling about 7% in after-hours trading. The search giant said its net profit rose 17%, to 1.21 billion, or $3.79 a share. Subtracting stock awards to employees, profit was $4.43 a share, a penny shy of analysts’ estimates.

Sales rose 51%, to $4.827 billion, just a hair under analysts’ estimates. Revenue after payments to marketing partners, known as traffic acquisition costs, was $3.39 billion, also shy of analysts’ $3.45 billion estimate. Google doesn’t give guidance, so its results are often subject to guesswork by analysts.

After Yahoo missed estimates on its fourth-quarter earnings, investors were looking to Google for clues to whether the economic slowdown would hit online advertising. With the conference call about to start, it’s not yet clear what accounts for the earnings shortfall, or at least the perceived shortfall. But with sales more on target than earnings, it looks like expenses, in particular those traffic acquisition costs, came in high. More to come as the call starts. …

But a quick summary first: Execs are pretty firm that the slowing economy isn’t affecting Google yet. CEO Eric Schmidt declares: “We have not yet seen any negative impact from the rumors of a possible recession.” (Oral italics are his.)

The call starts: CEO Eric Schmidt calls out strong international growth. He also calls the fourth quarter “a solid quarter, without a question.”

CFO George Reyes says AdSense revenues flagged a bit because of quality improvements that reduced the clickable area around content, which reduced clicks but increased return on advertising.

When talking about traffic acquisition costs, Reyes also says: “Social networking inventory is not monetizing as well as expected.” Sorry, MySpace (Google’s key social network partner).

Execs say they’ll continue to keep spending on data centers and other capital improvements.

Schmidt summing up: “We’re quite optimistic about ‘08.”

Now to questions.

Question on why paid click growth was down 15%. Jonathan Rosenberg, senior VP of product management: Search ads grew faster than content ads, and Google weeded out low-quality (low click-through-rate if I heard right) ads.

Question about any impact from the slowing economy: Cofounder Sergey Brin: “We have not been able to detect any such effects from macroeconomic concerns.” Rosenberg adds that direct marketing, which is what search advertising largely is, generally fares better in a downturn.

Question on Google’s role in the wireless auctions: No comment. At all.

Will the European regulators approve the DoubleClick deal? No firm answer, of course, but Schmidt says, “We’re very hopeful that they will clear (the deal) as well.”

More questions on problems making money from social networks: Rosenberg says they haven’t been able to slice up social networking pages into targeting enough groups. Brin adds: “I don’t think we have the killer best way to monetize social networks. But it’s a big opportunity” because it’s such a large amount of inventory.

More thoughts: Some analysts focused on the decline in the growth of paid clicks in the fourth quarter–up 9% from the third quarter, compared with a 22% gain from last year’s third to fourth quarters. The question is whether that decline in paid click growth is due to the economy. If so, look out. But Google execs seemed quite firm in saying they saw no negative impact from the economy yet. Since companies are usually only too happy to blame any shortfalls on the economy, Google should probably be taken at its word. In any case, the details of Google’s miss show no indication any wheels are falling off.

With the stock market slowly moving off of lows set early last week, look for Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) earnings to be just what the doctor ordered to rocket the market forward. As Brian White posted, “Google’s shares have been shaken from a high of over $700 this past Christmas to under $543 today, as the company has joined in with the overall market teeter-totter amid continued housing worries and recession talk and FUD that spreads like wildfire every week.”

I think that the company will report blow out numbers, as it has done in the past. The catch this time is that the market hasn’t set Google up for a fall. I don’t believe expectations are all that high due to the market rout. If Google surprises to the upside, this will be what the bulls among us have been waiting for, and I would expect a nice 7-10% market move to the upside in the next two to three weeks.

A strong Google report would help justify what I have been saying that technology will be leading the market higher. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) had a great report last week, let’s hope Google has a similar report tonight.

Google Inc. yesterday reported that its first-quarter profit more than quadrupled and revenue nearly doubled because of surging online ad sales. The news, disclosed after the close of the regular trading day, sparked a rally in the search engine giant’s stock price.

For the three months ended March 31, Google reported profit of $369.2 million ($1.29 a share), up from $64 million (24 cents) in the first quarter last year. Revenue, almost entirely from online advertising on Google and its partner Web sites, increased 93 percent, from $651.6 million to $1.3 billion this year.

Google stock shot up nearly $20 in after-hours trading as share prices pushed above $220. Google shares, which started the week trading at about $185, started rising earlier this week following rival Yahoo Inc.’s positive earnings report, which was released late Tuesday. Google went public in August at a price of $85 a share.

“Our focus remains very clearly and steadfastly on long-term growth. In the meantime, we have a quarterly earnings report about which we are very pleased,” said Google chief executive Eric E. Schmidt.

Millions of computer users use Google to find information rapidly on the World Wide Web. The firm profits when people click on the text-based ads that it serves up alongside its free search results. The company does business in the United States and dozens of foreign countries.

“We were very busy this quarter launching dozens of new products and features,” said Google co-founder Larry Page. But, he added, “We remain most focused on the core technology of search.”

Sergey Brin, the other co-founder, said the company also put new systems in place that made it easier for large advertisers to join the thousands of small and medium-size firms that promote their products and services on Google. He said Google’s online ads enable firms to measure the results of their spending more precisely than with traditional media. “We also see more use of Google advertising by companies for branding to make sure their name and products are known throughout the world,” Schmidt said.