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Mark Scriven asked:


The USA is one of the best destinations in the world for a driving or road touring holiday. The sheer diversity and stunning beauty of the country combined with high quality roads, which are often uncrowded away from major urban areas, produces a long list of classic drives. This classic drive takes place in the far south eastern corner of the country.

On the scenic 113-mile Overseas Highway, the southernmost leg of U.S. Highway 1, you cross 42 bridges on your journey from Miami to the southernmost point in Key West. With the Gulf of Mexico to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, much of the highway is built on the route of a former railway line started early in the twentieth century. An engineering marvel, the line was partially destroyed in the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, and afterward converted to a roadway. It was rebuilt in the 1980s, including the well-known Seven Mile Bridge at Marathon.

The journey, mostly over water, can take less than four hours, however, if you take time to enjoy the ocean and mangrove vistas along the roadway, plus the glorious sunrises and sunsets, there is potential for the journey to take longer. And holiday traffic congestion can add to the drive time.

South of Miami, the highway skirts the southern edge of the Everglades and hops across the chain of isles, hummocks and reefs running off the tip of Florida. Passing through the tropical vegetation of Key Largo, with its fishing fleets and flashy tourist traps, you reach John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, an underwater state park, where you can take glass-bottomed boats to snorkel the nearby coral reefs.

The Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail, a multi-use bicycle and pedestrian facility running along old Flagler railroad bridges, allows you to cross between bayside and oceanside. The Trail has interpretive signage, maps, and benches. The Grassy Key Bikeway, part of the trail, offers areas for hiking, running, bicycling, in-line skating, sightseeing, fishing and kayaking.

Past Plantation Key, at Windley Key, the Theater of the Sea has performing sea lions, sharks, and dolphins. After Islamorada in the Middle Keys, the uninhabited 280-acre Lignumvitae Key State Botanical Site, with its rare virgin tropical hardwood forest, is accessible via boat tours from Robbieís Marina.

You can also take a boat tour from here to the Indian Key State Historic Site, and take a walk around the remains of an old village established to salvage ships that had run aground on the reefs. Past the heavily developed commercial center of the Middle Keys, you island hop to Marathon, then cross the spectacular Seven Mile Bridge, one of the world’s longest, with its sweeping views of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. Across the bridge, Bahia Honda State Park has white-sand beaches.

The road travels southwest, past isolated and less-populated keys, over Big Pine Key, with its large slash pines and endangered Key deer, towards Key West. This southernmost of US cities, with its Caribbean atmosphere and distinctive ambience, is the perfect place to kick back and relax.



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Robert asked:


Grammy Award winning singer Alicia Keys believes the U.S. Government is responsible for gangster rap. The singer is worried that the proliferation of this genre of rap gives young people a false sense of what being a gangster is all about.

Rappers often use images and scenes from the gangster life when making music, videos and album covers. They often depict gangsters as wealthy, popular and successful African Americans who defeat the system and fight back against authority by using violence.

Keys commented during an interview with a magazine that she believes the government invented and promoted gangster rap to incite violence within the African American community. She adds that there have been complaints from concerned citizens about the popularity of violence in gangster rap and that the government has done nothing to try to curb the trend.

The singer even cites the murders of west coast and east coast rivals Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. as casualties in the gangster rap conspiracy, saying that the government let these murders take place as part of an anti-black campaign. Keys even said that the U.S. government used gangster rap to prevent popular African American leaders from emerging.

Tupac Shakur’s death in September 1996 and Notorious B.I.G.’s death in March 1997 are believed to be brought about by the rivalry between East Coast and West Coast rappers. Tupac Shakur was a part of Death Row records stable of artists, a recording company owned by Marion “Suge” Knight and Dr. Dre. Notorious B.I.G. was part of the East Coast record company Bad Boy Productions owned by Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs. The two were gunned down in separate incidents that came within mere months of each other. Today, there have been no convictions made in the incidents.

Gangster (or gangsta) rap is a sub-genre of music that rose to fame with Ice-T and the N.W.A. in the 1980’s. The music often depicts the urban life and the tough times the rappers grew up with, particularly difficulties with money, drugs, crime and the police. It has proven to be one of the most financially successful rap genres after the success of its early stars Bone Thugs N’ Harmony, Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, N.W.A. and Dr. Dre.

While recent trends in rap music tend more toward the laid back and sometimes inspirational tunes of industry leader Kanye West or the danceable RnB tunes of T-Pain and Akon, there have been some influences of gangster rap in the recent music. Recent success by the artists 50 Cent and Chamillionaire, who both adopt the gangster lifestyle in their music and songs, are reflective of the presence of the sub-genre. Also notable is the presence of white artists in the gangster rap genre such as Marshall “Eminem” Mathers and The Beastie Boys.

Alicia Keys’ first album (“Songs in A Minor”) was released in 2001, and this album made Keys win 6 Grammy awards including song of the year, best new artist and best R&B album. The New York native has already sold over 25 Million records and has also released her fourth album.



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Westly Lager asked:


Today it is nearly impossible to keep up a decent lifestyle on a single paycheck, but in a household with kids it becomes very difficult for both parents to work away from the home. Child care costs, needing a second vehicle, and time away from your family are a few of the likely negatives of a household with two parents working.

This is a great example of where a home based business could solve this predicament for a family. Home Based Businesses can work for anyone and can be highly profitable. Keep in mind that you must acquire the correct skills in order to succeed with a home based business or participate in a system that is already developed and proven to get the type of result you desire. Otherwise you end up wasting a huge amount of time, resources, and money which goes against starting a home based business in the first place.

I wrote this article to help the average person to get an idea of what to expect and give them a guideline for starting a home based business properly. I want to help you save time and money and most of all the frustration of being a beginner trying to figure out how to make money online. Below I will share the three main keys I’ve found that identify a strong home based business that will succeed.

Key #1:

The business you start must have costs you can afford. Many businesses such as franchises have start-up costs of $50,000 and above. Ideally you want your start-up cost for a home based business to be under $5,000 so if you don’t have the capital in your bank account you can put it on a credit card at first and pay it back as you become profitable rather than having to get a $50,000+ business loan. If your start-up costs are too high then it can take awhile to get into profit. As I stated earlier you want to get into profit as soon as possible and too much debt once again goes against the reason you wanted to start a home business in the first place.

Key #2:

You have to be able to set it up and automate your home based business so you don’t spend every hour of the day working on it. This is why many people look for a turnkey system that is already proven and can be setup quickly with minimal effort upfront. The more technical the project is to setup the more likely you will set it aside and forget about it before you start reaping profits. Once again you want your business to be automated so you can get back to spending time with your family and doing the things you love, don’t make the mistake of creating something that you are tied down too every minute of the day. The first two keys of a strong home based business are necessary for the third to occur.

Key #3:

You must be able to earn your return on investment (ROI) as fast as possible. A lot of people end up spending a great deal of time on their home based business and start to get some results but don’t generate profit for a long time and end up getting discouraged and give up. So what is decent amount of time before you see profit? My thoughts are you want to start seeing profit in less than 30 days. If you find the right system, it is not unlikely to be able to get into profit within a few weeks and by the second and third month, completely replacing your income earned at your job. This will happen for you if you treat your home based business, like a BUSINESS, not just some get rich quick scheme. If you are willing to go out of your comfort zone and learn some new skills and put in the effort, I assure you, you will succeed.

Whatever the business is that you choose, be sure that it fits the three keys mentioned in the article. Don’t over think and complicate your efforts or you will get bogged down and end up wasting a lot of time. Here’s to a prosperous future in your own home based business journey.



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Dhiraj Bandurkar asked:


Cheap Key West Hotels

Key West is another popular destination in Florida, United States, which attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. This place is simply magical with the nature sprawling across every inch of space to give you the most magnificent views of lifetime. The weather here is splendid with almost clear skies for most time of the year that makes it a popular tourist destination for travelers across the globe as well as from United States. Key West is not only a popular tourist destination but also Naval Air Station Key West is an important year round training site for Naval Aviation due to the superb weather conditions, which is also a reason the site was chosen as the Winter White House of Harry S. Truman.

The most fulfilling tourist destination, Key West is a city and an island of the same name near the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, Florida, United States. Key West is also known as the southernmost city in the Continental United States. The city features much diversity with a motto of “One Human Family.” Apart from the natural splendors of Key West it offers many tourist attractions in the form of Museums, Parks, beaches, cemeteries and other places of interest. With many attractions and sight seeing tourists find it very difficult to manage the time in Key West.

The beaches of Key West are a real treat to the visitors with many exiting ways to have unlimited fun. If you are an avid fisherman you can go to saltwater fishing or deep-sea fishing. If you want to relax amidst the beautiful sea you can hire a small charter to see the dolphins in the wild. Or the adventure buffs can go for surfing or indulge in other water sports. If you had enough adventures for the day, just laze around on the sand of the Key West beaches. The nightlife in Key West is full of vigor and is really rewarding after a long day on the beaches or other sites. There are many restaurants, nightclubs, discos, and pubs that offer the best of the music, ambience and food. Apart from the late night parties you can also go on a shopping spree and unleash yourself in the best of malls and other shopping destinations in the downtown.

On an average Key West experiences well over 18000 tourists each day. With many events that take place around the year the number of tourists can go well above 75000. The increasing number o tourists in Key West are well complimented by the hotels and restaurants here that offer the best of services and food. There are around 64 hotels and over 250 restaurants here in Key West. The hotels in Key West suit every budget and offer varied services. Many of the Key West restaurants serve the finest fresh seafood, which is greatly cherished by the tourists. To make your Key West holidays more memorable, plan your trip ahead and make prior reservations.



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Stefan West asked:


Everyday, possible home buyers are calling me about Temecula and Murrieta foreclosure homes. The foreclosure market is a hot topic at this time with market conditions being what they are, so I am taking a moment to put down my thoughts for Temecula Valley foreclosure home buyers thinking about buying. The initial point to realize is that in a poor credit or lending situation you will see foreclosures and short sales popping up.

Often people dread this situation, it comes up very rarely and is a major opportunity for them to take a major financial leap. The conditions necessary for a foreclosure market center around a decent sized percentage of equity loss, over supply of homes available, and a restricted or limited amount of qualified buyers. Right now, we have all three of these and it is a safe bet to say that we will be in a a foreclosure real estate market for the next year.

It is a short sale and foreclosure market that starts people strongly examining foreclosures over other homes. Why? Because they find great homes and save lots of money. Solid and approved buyers are rare in our current credit market. Due to this fact, approved buyers can get incredible on Murrieta and Temecula homes in foreclosure.

However, often people assume any home in foreclsoure is a deal but that is not very realistic. Many times homebuyers need to see the truth in regards to Murrieta and Temecula Valley foreclosed homes. When working with Temecula Valley foreclosures, three bulletpoints that will aid you guarantee what you find is a good investment:

Top-Line and knowledgeable real estate representative

Get numbers and approval on necessary loan

Make sure you consider how to value the long term value

First, it is paramount that you have a knowledgeable Temecula Valley real estate expert working for you. You are shopping for a home, so the broker’s service is 100% free of charge and is incredibly valuable to you. They will help you target the properties, detail out the pluses and minuses of different properties in terms of which is the better investment.

Any agent worth their name will use their experience to investigate the total investment value and team up with escrow and loan partners to make sure everything flows in concert. Just make sure that the Temecula Valley real estate broker you select actually has foreclosure experience and success.

The next step, is to get your team in place by choosing and getting pre-qualified with a loan officer that is fluent Temecula, Murrieta, Wildomar, and Menifee bank foreclosed home sales. The chosen lender needs to be able to react quickly and highly competitve rate wise. I have always thought of a buyer as the the big team boss, who then hires a team leader.

In this case the quarterback is the real estate broker and then lending or loan broker would be the the tailback on the squad. Many times your real estate agent or broker will be able to offer some names for you to evaluate that they have had good transactions in the past. With a Temecula Valley home foreclosure, the real estate broker and loan officer have to be in sync or you may miss the best long term investment opportunities.

This is where we get to the third important step in buying a foreclosure home, weighing the pros and cons. This is where a great broker goes into action and begins breaking out some important foreclosure investment values. For example, how much work is needed on each? Which home has a superior lot location inside the development and what are the other properties like? Has either foreclosure been damaged? Is there any criminal events at the either property or past insurance claims? What is the property tax rate of each property and how do they contrast with each other?

Those variables and others need to be examined thoroughly, in a small period of time to work out the superior investment value. Often people purchasing a Temecula foreclosure house just assume they will get a great deal. Perhaps they see a Temecula banked owned home that is $60k under the last few sales in the community, so it is a excellent opportunity. However, if it is in need of any major repairs, has a marginal lot, or is positioned poorly in the tract (facing a main road, etc.) its total valuation is severely affected.

But lets say that the Murrieta property is the ideal 3-car garage style in the home development, has a big lot on a cul-de-sac, but needs carpet, paint and some minor yard repairs, I am going to send it over to my homebuyer. A good broker will be detail oriented and examine the school system, look for value-added options like a view, or check crime statistics, etc. Because when all is said and done the Murrieta home has the combination of value features that make it by far the best bet over the foreclosure home in Temecula.

The last key that plays a large part in buying any good Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, or Wildomar foreclosure home is time. How long will you take to get an offer in? Will some other homebuyer beat you to the punch? You have your squad in place, the broker has foreclosure home background, and your financials are pre-approved and just waiting. All that is vital because the best Temecula foreclosed home deals go FAST! Make sure you know the payments, know your contingencies, and are set to go. Be smart and fully understand the valuation and investment potential of a foreclosure purchase, you will do fantastic in today’s market!



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