A family tree is a chart which represent the information about all family members. It shows information in a conventional tree structure. It uses boxes and parallel lines to show relationship between family members. It includes information about date of birth, date of death, date of marriage, birth place and other important data.

Creating a Family Tree is an exciting activity. There is a great enjoyment and fun in the process. Its a great activity to spend quality time with your family members. Make sure to include your kids in the process. Doing so will sharpen their mind as well as confidence and also, they get to know where they come from.

Here is a step-by-step Guide on Making Family Tree:

1- Begin by taking a chart and creating an easy to understand format using lines and boxes or you can also download a good format from various websites on internet.

2- Start recording details about your family members. Dont take help of your family members. Just use your own brain and write down whatever you know about your family members.

3- When you have used your knowledge to the end and you have recorded everything you know about them, then its time to take help of your family members and relatives. Ask them about your ancestors. You can go to your grandparents and other older relatives in your home as they can give you detailed information about your past family members.

4- After getting all the information from your near and dear ones, you need to do some more research online and offline as well in order to find out the information about birth place and home place of your ancestors. You can do your research online or offline via internet searching, birth and date registers, local newspapers, library. Choose the method as per your needs and budget. Make sure to note down the source of any information you have gathered.

5- Organize your information in a proper way and start filling it on your family tree format. It depends on your creativity how effective and beautiful you can make it your tree. Inserting pictures of family members in a tree sized paper shape can be very effective.

6- Also, you can place in some Famous Family Quotes in the background of your chart or at the end of chart to elaborate it.

Authorities say Bear, who went missing several days ago, was found safe, but dirty, Sunday morning by a man walking to a hardware store.

The man says he saw the dog at a cemetery and flagged down Officer Ann Jaros, who says Bear recognized her squad car and “jumped right in.”

A microchip in the dog’s neck confirmed it was Bear.

The black and tan German shepherd scaled a wooden fence and disappeared Wednesday night after roaring thunder apparently frightened him.

He was in the yard of Officer Rick King’s home at the time. King says he’s slept little since Bear’s disappearance, hoping the dog was OK.

King has said Bear’s always been afraid of thunder.

via FOXNews.com

Alexander Morley, 28, of Concord, faces charges of DWI, leaving the scene of an accident, and resisting arrest, police reported.

Police said Morley lost control and rolled his car in the median along the off-ramp at about 10:39 p.m. Friday. Morely tried to beg a ride from several drivers who stopped to help, and then ran off into nearby woods, police reported.

An off-duty state prison corrections officer chased Morley, but was unable to catch him, police reported. Trooper Christopher Rollston and his police dog, “Ozzy,” were able to track down Morley in the area of Fort Eddy Road, however.

Morley was later released on personal recognizance, pending arraignment in Concord District Court.

via Nashuatelegraph.com

Aggressive dogs can be an issue for all concerned. They can be especially frightening for small children and adults alike. Even though some breeds are more aggressive than other breeds there is usually an underlying reason that a dog is aggressive. If you figure out why your dog is acting out you can tailor your training efforts to curb his aggression. You will be a more contented pet owner if you can trust your dog to be calm in most situations.

Sometimes aggressive behavior is because your dog wants to establish dominance. Dogs are pack animals and there is always a hierarchy to the pack. The alpha dog is the leader and the other dogs follow. Appropriate training will establish you as the alpha dog or the leader. Never allow your dog to think of himself as the alpha dog or you will constantlyencounter difficulties. Even so your dog may still want to establish his dominance over other dogs or animals and this may be the cause of his dominance aggression.

Dogs can also act aggressively because they are protecting their territory. Your dog thinks certain things are “his” including you, your home and your family. While this can be seen as a good thing in certain circumstances it can create problems with visitors or neighbors if it gets out of control. If you dog is excessively aggressive in protecting his territory his behavior may need to be contained.

Often a dog will lash out from fear. Something scares your dog and rather than back off he lashes out and attacks. The dog will start growling, pull his ears back and tuck his tail between his legs. Many times this type of aggression is mistaken for direct aggression. Fear aggression is mostly caused by a situation that has scared the dog. He is lashing out because he is scared and does not know how to handle that fright.

A dog’s aggressive behavior can be misdirected. Something happens that causes the dog anxiety yet he is not able to take his aggression out on what really caused the aggression so he takes it out on something else. This may be a reason why your dog may be fighting with other dogs for no apparent reason. He is releasing his anxiety and aggression that was caused by something else.

Sometimes aggression is caused by a biological or medical reason. For example, we all understand that a mother dog may become aggressive when she is protecting her litter. Less understood though is that sometimes aggression can be caused by a medical reason. That is why it is important to take your dog to the vet for a complete examination to rule out any medical problems.

Getting your female dog spayed and your male dog neutered can curb aggressive tendencies. This also contributes greatly to the good health of your dog. If you are not in the business of breeding dogs it is just the responsible thing to do and it will make your aggression training easier.

If you know the causes of why your dog is acting aggressively you can fit your training efforts to fit your dog and you will find success comes easier. There is most often a reason for excessive aggression in dogs.

About 90% of American pet puppies live indoors with their owners. If you are thinking of having your dog live inside with you and your family, you have to go through the process of housebreaking them. Many pet owners are daunted by the responsibility of potty training a puppy. But it’s really not that hard to accomplish, it doesn’t need to be messy, and you don’t have to struggle with your pet when housebreaking him. You have to keep in mind though that this is a training issue and you have to put in a little more than just casual effort. You will need time, a little more involvement, as well as some training tools such as puppy training pads.

The Puppy is Boss

Two guiding rules exist for helping puppies and dog owners when training your puppy. The first and most important rule is not to punish your puppy unless you actually catch her in the act! Secondly, always tell puppy how good he is for the things he did correctly. Don’t fall into the trap of only responding with ‘no’ when you see your pet doing something you don’t want them to do. Praise them or offer them a reward when they do the right thing.

House Training/Breaking Puppies

There are different ways to housebreak puppies. When you start indoors, encourage them to use papers or puppy training pads for their bathroom acts. Puppy pads are usually scented with chemicals that attract little doggies to use them. As soon as you see them starting with their pre-potty pattern of walking around and sniffing the floor, pick them up gently and without saying anything, and carry them over to the puppy training pads or paper and reward them for the doing their bathroom acts properly.

When the new dog is comfortable with the papers or puppy training pads, they can then be put near the door or even outside. The transition is accomplished by focusing their toilet habits in a specific in the home to an outside place. In the very near future you will have no need for papers or training pads indoors.

The drawback of this approach to housebreaking is that more time is required to get the pup to do his business inside. Some other popular techniques used for house training your puppy are puppy crate training or using cages which require constant looking after by the owner.

The maximum amount of time that dogs can hold their bladders and bowels is between seven and eight hours, so you should keep that in mind when using a crate or a cage, trying to housebreak your dog. Usually this technique is very effective because most puppies consider their cage or crate as their sleeping area and they don’t want to have to lie in their own mess. Leaving them in their cage or crate for very long, however, is not good to do.

Constant supervision on the other hand, does not involve the use of training paper or puppy pads, and crates or cages. Here pet owners choose to spend all the time necessary with their pet puppies. This is very ideal for people who work at home, retired persons, or owners who can afford to spend a lot of time with their puppy. With this method, pet owners usually hustle their puppy outside as soon as they notice the pre-potty signs. Puppies should be watched at all times to ensure that no accidents or slip-ups occur.

In summary, housebreaking your puppy should be considered a part of command trainings like ‘come’ or ’stay’. But puppy potty training and housebreaking will be the most difficult forms of puppy training due to the fact that they are simply the messiest. Don’t give up!

Deputy Jim Hughes said the crime-fighting dog — a German shepherd named Rony (RAHN’-ee) — was “one of the better dogs around, if not the best.” Rony died Tuesday at the Kansas State University veterinary clinic in Manhattan.

Sheriff Glen Kochanowski said the department has lost a law enforcement valuable tool and vowed to find the money to replace Rony at a time when budgets are extra tight. He said a Saline County K-9 Fund has been established at UMB Bank.

Hughes said the dog helped seize more than 500 pounds of marijuana, 100 pounds of cocaine and seven pounds of methamphetamine. He won numerous competition awards and performed countless demonstrations for scouts, senior citizens and community groups.

via Saline County Loses Police Dog ‘Rony’ To Pneumonia.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation of FBI has said that identity theft if the fastest growing crime problem in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission says that an estimated 10 million Americans become victims of identity fraud. Thieves use their names, social security, and bank account information for selfish gains.

Identity theft happens when someone obtains your personal and financial information and “claims to be you” to apply for loans in banks or withdraw money. This can happen in different levels: corporate and personal. Identity thieves can access databases of companies to get your info. They can also look into your garbage and take disregarded bills and use the information stated there; or peer over your shoulder when you get money from the ATM.

Identity thieves can cause a lot of trouble. They can put you in deep debt. This is why you must always be protective of your information and avoid identity theft.

Here are some ways on how you can protect yourself from identity theft:

1. Keep your Social Security Number safe. Your Social Security is very important; it is a critical piece of info that can be used in fraudulent activities. Do not print out your social. As much as possible, don’t carry it in your wallet, in case you lose it. Most importantly, don’t let anybody else use it.

2. Check and protect your mail often. This will reduce the chances of someone going through your mail and finding out your personal information.

3. Shred documents before you put them to the bin. Destroying bills and financial statements will definitely prevent thieves from gaining access to your personal information. Make sure you do this before you throw it to the trash.

4. Beware of spam and other phishing emails. Most of the times, spam, those emails that kept landing in your inbox would ask you to put in your personal information in exchange of something. Do not ever do that because scammers will take advantage. Know that legitimate companies will never ask you to put in your personal info.

5. Don’t provide personal information over the phone.

6. Use virus protection in your computers. Never let a stranger use it or respond to unsolicited requests for personal info. Always use passwords to ward off wrongdoers and don’t share it with anyone.

7. Protect your wallets. Do your best not to lose it because it contains your ids and credit cards.

8. Regularly check your financial statements and reports to spot any unusual activities.

Identity theft protection is very important especially these hard economic times. Desperate people can try to hack into your accounts and use them for their benefit. In all of your transactions, practice caution and be aware of any signs of identity theft.

Most parents take their kids everywhere. Has your child ever had you drop them off somewhere else because they didn’t want to be seen with you, or that’s just what they tell you, One of those things that we just roll our eyes at and eventually get over, but is your child really visiting somewhere they are not supposed to be? How much danger could they be in?

Next time you are asked to drop your child off in front of a house rather than walking him or her in, or next time your child wants you to drop him or her off down the block with no explanation, you may want to take note of the address. Here’s why.

Your child could be visiting someone very dangerous or be placing himself in a terrible situation. You don’t want to invade your child’s privacy, however you don’t want your child to become injured or hurt.

If you would like to do this without making your child hate you, do it secretly! You can visit a reverse address site, and place an address or a phone number in the text box. You will receive reports about who owns the house or the phone and what kind of person they are in a full report with all criminal records

You will instantly be able to tell whether your child is in danger or not from the people who live here. In fact, you can find out if they have ever been charged of a felony or a misdemeanor, you can have access to their criminal and civil court records and much more.

Your child will never know that you have checked, and neither will the people that you search for. Many times, parents have no idea how to check and make sure that their children are safe. This is one resource that watchful parents just can’t live without.

You can find out if they have ever been charged with a crime, you can see their marriage and death certificates and you can find out if they are a danger to your child. If you have questions about where your child is going or who they are calling, all you need is the address or the phone number.

Utilize the tips and advice above along with this site or another site that allows you to search in this way, so that you can rest assured that your child is safe. In this day and age, we can’t afford to assume that our children are safe ” we simply have to make sure.

During Wichita’s “Gay Pride Fest” in June of 2007, Mark Holick, the Pastor of Spirit One Christian Center, went with about 30 members to a park downtown where the gay fest was going to end. They went to spread the message of salvation and its power over the abomination of sodomy.

However, once they arrived at the public park, they were told they had to move out of the park and beyond the street just outside the park or face arrest. Within minutes, the police had arrested Pastor Holick for trespassing on a public sidewalk..The arrest was made before they were able to speak at the festival, according to Pastor Holick.

The Christians were treated here as though they were second rate citizens. Pastor Holick filed a motion to dismiss the case and the City Attorney quickly dropped the charges. However the damage had been done, so Pastor Holick along with an attorney named Joel Oster of the Alliance Defense Fund, filed a federal lawsuit against the city.

It took a year and a half, but they were able to reach an agreement upon. The City of Wichita was required to pay the attorney fees, give Pastor Holick $11,700.00, and a “Consent Agreement” where the City of Wichita and the WPD admit their unlawful arrest and violation of Christian rights. The “Consent Order” of the City of Wichita states in part:

“WHEREAS the Defendants (City of Wichita/WPD) do not contest that they violated Plaintiff’s (Pastor Mark Holick’s) constitutional rights…

“NOW, THEREFORE, it is ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Defendant (City of Wichita/WPD) violated Plaintiff’s (Pastor Mark Holick’s) rights to free speech, due process, and free exercise of religion by arresting him based on his religious speech in a traditional public forum.”

2. The City of Wichita agrees to permit Mark Holick to engage in his First Amendment rights in the future on the same terms and conditions as all other citizens, and will not be discriminated against due to his religious speech.”

3. The city Defendant has paid Plaintiff $11,700.00 in damages for the unlawful arrest in accord with the City’s ordinary accounting procedures.”

Pastor Holick stated, “Hopefully, due to this settlement, in the future, the Christians in Wichita will have the freedom to practice their God given inalienable Christian religious rights, without fear of arrest due to their Christian beliefs, even when that belief is not popular or politically correct.”

He continues to pursue is religious rights by using his church’s marquee with post messages such as, “AMERICA WE HAVE A MUSLIM PRESIDENT THIS IS SIN AGAINST THE LORD! EX. 20:3.”

06:29 AM CDT on Friday, March 27, 2009

DALLAS — A Dallas County Sheriffs Department deputy is recovering from injuries suffered after crashing his patrol car late Thursday night.

The deputy had been chasing a suspect in a pickup truck who failed to yield for what was called a routine traffic stop when the squad car hit a utility pole and caught fire at Harry Hines Boulevard and Market Center.

The suspect abandoned his vehicle a short distance away near the medical district and made a run for it. He was cornered by a Dallas police dog and taken into custody.

The suspect was bitten by the dog and taken to nearby Parkland Memorial Hospital for surgery.

The deputy was treated and released for minor injuries.

via Police dog gets suspect after deputy crashes | Texas Cable News | TXCN.com | News for Texas | Local News: TV .