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The great thing about creating an income via the internet is that you are not faced with one-on-one sales or the problems involved with storing or managing inventory. You don't need to have a complete understanding of exactly how the internet works, the decision of when and for how long you want to work is yours and, best of all, you never have to leave the house.

Naturally, it's necessary to have some insight as to how the process works and it is essential that you conquer a few specific strategies along with understanding the fundamental know-hows. Once this is accomplished, you will have the ability to move around the internet with ease and to create the size of income you have dreamed of. Of course, you heard correctly; the only limitation in the equation is you.

My advice is to steer clear of any scams when you're attempting to generate an internet income. Pyramid schemes, CPA offers, completing surveys and reading e-mail are only a few of the deceitful practices running rampant on the internet. In cases such as these, the only successful individual is the one promoting the practice.

Listed below are the top five fail-proof strategies to make money online fast:

5. Creating E-books: Without question, this has become the most profitable and enterprising approach to an online income. However, this method requires time, effort and experience in order to generate a substantial income. If you are new to the internet, as a business, I would not recommend this as your first endeavor.

4. E-Commerce: This approach can create a substantial and comfortable income and it has proven itself time and again. But, since you are dealing with a physical commodity, it's necessary to have a comprehensive understanding of e-commerce, the ability to maintain a consistent client and provider relationship and it takes a great deal of time. This is another endeavor I would not suggest to newcomers.

3. CPA Network: For creating a quick income, this approach is simple and easy. In this case you are paid for each referral you submit to various product owners and companies. While simple to use, the negative aspect is that it is necessary to generate a substantial amount of traffic, for a constant income, since payment for each referral is typically pennies.

2. Google AdSense: This method is comparable to the CPA Network since you are paid per referral or per each click you forward to a particular offer. The only difference is that it is all handled through Google.

1. Affiliate Marketing: I rank this as the number one method and my personal favorite strategy for creating a continuous and significant income.

This method requires no inventory, you don't need to create a product and you are paid much more than pennies on the dollar for your hard work. In this case, I receive a commission from the sale of each product I decide to advertise and, in most cases; the rate of commission is more than sixty percent of the product's cost.

Typically, internet marketers utilize blogs or websites for their promoting purposes; however, this is not absolutely required to create a substantial income through the internet.

This is, without a doubt, the quickest and most simple manner to use to create an income. Less than one hour is all I need to build a new website and promote a few products and shortly after lunch I see a positive cash flow. I'm not kidding. It is this quick and simple if you understand how to go about it.

Few strategists believe that the disclosure about his out-of-wedlock child will permanently derail Arnold Schwarzenegger's political or entertainment pursuits.

Over tea this spring in Redondo Beach, Arnold Schwarzenegger met with Tony Blair to seek the former British prime minister's advice for his new role on the world stage, now that his seven-year stint as California's governor had ended.

Schwarzenegger was launching an ambitious new phase: accepting lucrative offers for a Hollywood comeback, carving out a new role as an ambassador for green technology companies, reengaging his charity work and flying around the world delivering speeches at rates commanded by former president

But the stunning revelations in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times that he had fathered a child out of wedlock more than a decade ago with a member of his household staff shifted interest far from those pursuits.

As Schwarzenegger's personal misconduct reverberated around the world Tuesday, public condemnation was swift. Former First Lady Maria Shriver issued a statement that for the first time sought to put distance between herself and the former governor.

"This is a painful and heartbreaking time," she said. "As a mother my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal. I will have no further comment."

Yet despite the international headlines, few strategists believed the disclosures would permanently derail Schwarzenegger's political or entertainment pursuits.

Timing was key, several experts said, noting that if the details had emerged during Schwarzenegger's campaigns for office or during his seven-year tenure, they could have had a far more devastating impact on his career.

"If it had come out during the recall campaign, it would have kept him from being elected governor. Had this come out while he was governor, it would have been a very big deal," said Dan Schnur, director of USC's Unruh Institute of Politics. But since Schwarzenegger is no longer an elected official, "a month or two from now, it's hard to see that much of an impact," he said.

The coming weeks, however, are likely to be rocky. News organizations swarmed for the identity of the woman and her child, throwing out different names. To protect their privacy, The Times did not publish their names.

A bounty of as much as $1 million is probably being offered for the first picture of the child, said veteran Hollywood publicist Howard Bragman.

"They will be hunted like Bin Laden by the paparazzi," he said.

When Schwarzenegger and Shriver announced their separation last week, former colleagues and friends initially expressed sadness. But reaction to the admission of infidelity and deception was sharp.

"Another guy guv admits 2 cheating on his wife. Maybe we need more women governors. Guys: keep ur pants zipped, for Pete's sake. #Arnold," tweeted former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

Mark Young, a professor at USC's Marshall School of Business, said Schwarzenegger's image was "tarnished."

"The fact that it's been going on for 10 years — he can't claim he was drunk or high, or that he'd had a bad day. It was really premeditated lying," he said.

Still, the long-term reaction was not expected to be quite so harsh.

On the political front, the impact could be limited because Schwarzenegger has no apparent interest in running for elected office again. And philandering is hardly unprecedented in politics: former President Clinton has emerged as a world statesman after his White House indiscretions and former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, forced to quit after consorting with an escort, is hosting a television show.

Aides said that before this week, Schwarzenegger had been seeking advice on how to expand the work of R-20, the organization he founded in 2009 to bring regional and state leaders together to combat climate change.

He has consulted with others active on such issues, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, former Secretary of State George Shultz and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). His group has explored collaborating with an organization headed by Clinton and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg that is focused on reducing emissions in large cities.

Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday became the first British monarch ever to visit an independent Ireland, a historic trip that shows how far Anglo-Irish relations have come.

The queen arrived in Dublin on Tuesday morning, landing at a military airbase named after an Irish nationalist whom the British executed for treason in 1916. Later, in a solemn and highly symbolic ceremony, she laid a wreath in a garden dedicated to those who died in the struggle to free Ireland from the often harsh rule of her ancestors.


Not since a visit by the queen's grandfather exactly a century ago has a British monarch set foot in the south of Ireland. For years, the idea was anathema to many Irish, who remember how many of their forebears suffered under British rule.

But official ties have matured into a regular, working and even warm relationship between two sovereign states that are, after all, each other's closest neighbor.

"It is at last possible to say that the relationship between Britain and Ireland is simply normal. It is what it ought to be between neighboring countries bound together by strong economic, political, cultural, social, sporting and personal ties," the Irish Times said in an editorial Tuesday.

But mindful that some emotions still run high over Britain and Ireland's bloody past, authorities have mounted a massive security operation — said to be the biggest in Irish history — to ensure that the visit goes smoothly.

One of its first tests came on Monday, when authorities found and disabled a bomb on a bus bound for Dublin. In London, also on Monday, Scotland Yard was on alert over a bomb threat believed to be from republican dissidents in Northern Ireland.

The state visit was announced last year. The queen is expected to spend four days touring the country, including a stop at a stud farm in southeast Ireland, reflecting her interests and skills as an accomplished horsewoman.

Well goodness gracious we are back. With fiery lion roars, our most volatile Housewives—prone to violent lashings out—returned to the airwaves and, madonn, did they lash out.

As is usually the helpful thing to do at the start of a Housewives season, and because we have two new ladies to talk about, let's go character-by-character to see where everyone stood.
Caroline

Our most stable Housewife is mostly doing what she does best, tending to her rambling, chatty brood with a mixture of jokey tough love and teary mama-ness. There is something undeniably charming about this wing of the Manzo clan, cheery and good-humored folks who seem to like nothing more than standing around the kitchen and bullshitting with each other. Sure Caroline can be a bit of a bulldozer with the other ladies, barking and stubborn, but with her family she's good old mama Caroline, pulling her children in close to her bosom and telling them to never leave.

Unfortunately, they did not listen! Though they are not getting married, and therefore as good Italian boys should still be living at home, shining honey god Albie and his runted, black-eyed brother Chris have decided to leave the house and get an apartment in Hoboken, a sunny high-rise overlooking the Hudson with yawning views of Manhattan, the city teasing them with its proximity.

It's a nice bachelor pad, with balconies and soft pink carpeting, and I'm sure that Albie will lure many a lady there, reeling them in with his ice cream smile and mama's boy gentility. And perhaps he'll bring a scrap or two back for his brother the jokester, the dark prince Chris, who will get the girl laughing with his dopey Cajun voice and other various quips, but then she will feel his cold clammy hand on her neck and know that he has other, more sinister intentions than making her laugh.

It won't be a bad life, but this doesn't mean that Caroline has to be happy about it. The boys showed her the apartment as a surprise, but Caroline knew what was coming. She pretty immediately started crying and did not much stop throughout the apartment tour. Her babies! Leaving! Of course there is still the sister, oft-forgotten Lauren, but it's not the same.

Not the same at all. Later at Sunday night dinner — they tried to cook Southern food and mused about whether Southern people can cook Italian food, specifically pasta, and Caroline and Chris decided no and Albie rolled his eyes at them, he's not as skeptical of the wider world as they are, no he's got his gaze fixed on the distant horizon — it was revealed that Chris will also be stepping down from his post at the Brownstone, because he and his father think that he needs to find his passion.

"Something with all the jokes and stuff you make," his father said. And that, coupled with Chris saying he was "working on a Cajun character" filled me with the dreadful thought that he is maybe going to pursue a comedy career. Oh no. Oh no. That's just what the Manzo kingdom needs, another embarrassment from one of their sons. First Albie's law school and now this? Comedy? It will not stand. Send him to the war in Prussia! That will set his constitution right.

The performing arts are for beggars and whores, not princes, not even ones like Chris. Caroline's happy family, shamed! Shamed! For her part, Lauren and her dopey, affable boyfriend Vito are getting serious. Vito says he has a plan to marry her, but not just yet. Which suits Caroline just fine. If Lauren leaves, then that's it. Empty nest. No chicks to feed. Only silence and occasional echoes. She's not ready for that just yet. She tucked into her bowl of beans (that's what Southern people eat) and prayed for a very long engagement.
Jacqueline

Jacqueline and her husband Chris were at the Sunday Manzo dinner, and while Albie and Chris talked about their new apartment with excitement, a sad cloud of resignation passed over Jacqueline's face. "Yeah," she sighed. "Ashley's thinking about moving out too. To the city." Haha, yes. Our old flop-hatted friend Bouffant is back, and she is going places. Moving on up! She's gotten an unpaid internship in the city, working in PR for... Lizzie Grubman. !!!! Yes, Lizzie Grubman as in the nefarious red lobster who, in a fit of pique, drove her SUV into a crowd of people outside a Hamptons nightclub, supposedly while shouting "Fuck you, white trash!"
That Lizzie Grubman! Great person to intern for in the city. I mean, I'm sure that Bouffant has grown up around a lot of people who have run people over outside of nightclubs, so it fits. It's a natural pairing. So she's off doing that and living like Sex and the City, as Caroline put it, and everything is going fine until her stupid mom has to come and ruin it.

Yes, as a little surprise Jacqueline decided to show up at Bouffant's fancy city office and it was really embarrassing for everyone. "Mooom..." Bouffant bouffanted. "I just wanted to see where you work!" Jacqueline said, chipper and silly, blind to the fact, either willfully or not, that she was embarrassing her daughter so very badly. Then, with the clacking of claws and the shuffle of antennae, Lizzie came out from under her rock to meet Jacqueline. "She's doing good, she's doing good..." Lizzie said, entirely unconvincingly. "She just needs to come in every day." Haha, ohhh dear. Bouffant. Why are you not coming in every day? This is your big city chance!

Bouffant glowered and pouted and said "It's really hard with my commute... That's why I wanted to talk to you and dad about me getting an apartment in the city..." To which Jacqueline basically laughed and said "How are you going to do that? Maybe if you get a second job that actually, y'know, pays?" And that got Bouffant all upset, which got me all upset because you really should not be doing this, getting upset with your mom about your bratty apartment plans, in front of your boss, especially if you are an intern who can't even manage to make it to work every day. But that's what happened! Bouffant excused herself to go cry in a storage closet and was followed by Lizzie, who said something like "You act differently around your mother," which I'm not sure exactly what that means but I can sorta see being true, and then of course Jacqueline had to barge in and try to comfort her daughter, which was the last thing anyone needed, and it was just one big blubbery, lobstery mess.

Jacqueline dragged a sniffling Bouffant off to lunch at a local diner, where Chris was waiting, and Jacqueline related the whole story to him and he just looked so tired by the situation. "You're not going to work every day?" he asked Bouffant exasperatedly. "I have to commute. And it's hard..." she whined. "I have to wake up early, take the train..." Ha.

That's true. So few jobs require people to wake up in the morning and commute to an office. That is a very rare, very hard thing to have to do and Bouffant is right to feel that, because she endures such hardship, she, at 19 years old, deserves an apartment in Manhattan that she does not pay for. And she wants it now! Right now. Jacqueline tried to point out the silliness of this, but she was too interested in fighting to be productive, so Chris sort of shushed her and Jacqueline got fed up and said "Clearly it's just you two talking, no one wants my opinion, so I'm gonna go.

Find me when you're done talking." Oh, Jacqueline. Way to impress upon your daughter the value of consistency and seeing things through! Ah well. Chris laid out a very reasonable plan for Bouffant — he'd pay her transportation costs if she went to the internship every day, and then once she got a paying job she could get an apartment, "Apartments in New York don't just happen," he said soberly, "Thousands of kids your age live in the city, but they work for it," which I wish was entirely true — but Bouffant wasn't really hearing it. She doesn't understand why her parents make everything so hard for her.

All she wants to do is teeter around New York City in her too-high heels (girls wearing shoes they can't walk in sends such rage shivers up my spine I don't really know what to do) and say she works in PR, but of course not actually work in PR. I don't really get where this sense of entitlement comes from, but I suspect it might be somewhat curbed if Jacqueline decided to, hey, I dunno, not put her daughter on a reality show that gives her false impressions of fame. Maybe! Who knows. You never do know.
Kathy

Kathy is one of the two new wives, and happens to be Teresa's cousin. So far she hasn't really done much but proved herself to be a bit of an eccentric. She lives in a pretty typical Northeastern colonial house, and yet in a quick shot of her backyard, we saw that it was done up will billowing curtains and Roman lounge-type stuff as if she's wintering on Capri in the year 12 A.D. Or like she lives in King's Landing in Game of Thrones. You know, something like that. Very funny. She also had a weird scene where she rode her bicycle down a highway of sorts to go to the grocery store.

I guess it was a whimsical, charming little thing to do, but I also got the impression that, after she'd weirded out a bunch of supermarket employees and loaded her basket with grocery bags, she maybe doesn't actually ride her bike to the supermarket all the time? She kinda wobbled there a bit too much, didn't she? I don't know. It felt like a very Joan Allen in The Ice Storm kind of thing to do, this bicycle thing. Not befitting a Jersey Housewife at all. Quit trying to be all classy-like with your bicycle riding, Kathy!

The most amusing thing about Kathy, though, is probably her husband Rich. He's a bit like if Jeff Goldbum and Garry Shandling had a baby together and raised it in New Jersey. He's got a very expressive face, let's say. He's a Lebanese guy, but can clearly roll with the Italians pretty easily, and the two seem to get along pretty well. They have two kids, a 14-year-old son with a mischievous look about him and a 16-year-old (right?) girl who appears to be a pouting princess.

They didn't do much this episode but bicker a little, and I suspect they're both likely too young to really do anything interesting this season. But Rich! Rich, if nothing else, is definitely good for an occasional comic relief moment, and that's always welcome. Kathy herself seems a bit too serious and a bit too willing to get in on family drama that doesn't really require her presence. What drama, you ask? Well, let's talk about it.
Melissa

Ohhh boy. Mellisa is Teresa's sister-in-law, married to her brother Joe. (Everyone on this show is named Joe.) Melissa is a pretty in a very processed way and lives proudly in a giant faux-classical mansion fill of painted portraits, puttering around with her three kids (two boys and a girl) and making sure she's got a hot meal on the dinner table by the time Joe comes home. Joe, a lumpy knuckle of a man, seems to work in some sort of real estate development, the kind of bubble business that makes me feel uneasy, like all this wealth and luxury isn't here to stay.

Not that I would feel that bad if something like what happened to Teresa and her Joe were to happen to Melissa and Joe Gorgon. They don't seem like very pleasant people? Melissa doesn't much like Teresa because she feels a sense of competition there, and claims that Teresa is not very attentive as a member of the family. Joe feels much the same way and has problems with Joe as well. Not Joe himself, Joe Teresa's husband. I got the impression last night, and maybe you did too, that Melissa, and possibly Joe too, bore a little resentment about Teresa's reality TV fame and were thrilled now, finally, to show off their own surely more luxurious lifestyle.

Their big debut came in the form of a christening party for their baby son Joe, a lavish affair at The Manor that included shimmering crystal crucifixes hung in the centerpieces, a cross-shaped cake, and a cross-shaped ice sculpture. Melissa is very religious it seems? "Are you ready to enter Jesus's Kingdom?" she cooed at her baby in the car on the way to the church, which seemed a little creepy in a "You're going to be in Heaven soon" kind of way? I think that Melissa, like her subservient deeply religious West Coast counterpart Alexis, might be putting on a bit of a show of faith.

So they zoomed off to the christening and, with an ominous wish from Joe (the father, not the baby) that there be no drama today, they entered the fray.
Teresa

Meanwhile, Teresa is living a busy life. Her Joe is busy running the pizzapie parlor, shuffling around in newly jovial (Joevial?) fashion serving up pizza and sodas and strange slices of ham piled appetizingly on a plate, while Teresa has fabulous book signings in a random room of the restaurant. This particular signing was obviously staged, as it was really just Teresa sitting by herself behind a table signing weird drawings of herself, no book people in sight. But that's OK! It was all meant to show how happy and pleasant post-bankruptcy life can be, and hey they still even live in their enormous marble airplane hangar and everything. Things ain't that bad. Or so we thought.

As Melissa had alluded to before, there's some intra-family trouble. Teresa and her brother are increasingly estranged, partly because Melissa is hard to get along with (as is, I'd imagine, Teresa) and also because there's some thing where her brother Joe is jealous of her husband Joe's relationship with her father. T. Joe is maybe whispering bad things to Teresa's father about his son, which clearly displeases M. Joe. But Teresa is trying, as best as Teresa can do anything. Which is to say, not well. The day of the christening was a frenzied nightmare, with children squealing and Teresa running around half-styled (her usual hair stylist had been poached for the morning by Melissa, which Teresa found pointed and on purpose, and probably was).

Also, T. Joe had a bad case of the poops and decided he wasn't going to attend the church service. He'd be there for the free booze and food party, no doubt, but he was a bit too poopy to go to church. Which, fair enough. We've all been too poopy to do one thing or another in our lives. There but for the grace of Imodium go we, I suppose. But you knew that Melissa and M. Joe would take offense to Teresa showing up with only half her family in tow (little Spumantia, Teresa's oldest and M. Joe's goddaughter, had a gymnastics competition, so could only attend the party as well), they'd perceive it as some sort of direct slight rather than just a symptom of Teresa being a dazed mess. Come on, Teresa. Get it together. For your family.

She finally staggered in late to the church service and tried to act like nothing was wrong, cooing and kissing over the baby and giving Melissa and her brother tentative hugs. It seemed that Melissa and M. Joe had started the day already mad at Teresa, so they were probably satisfied when she didn't let them down and continued to do things to confirm their disdain.

The whole Giudice clan eventually assembled at the party (Teresa just had to comment on how many more people had come to her recent christening, and by "her" christening she, uh, meant her daughter's) and the booze flowed like, uh, wine, though T. Joe turned down taking a shot with M. Joe and his bellowing band of brothers, which M. Joe didn't like. Of course T. Joe didn't want to say "I don't want a shot because I have the poops," but maybe, for the sake of harmony, he could have. Oh well. Too late now. So the party went on, with everyone getting drunker and drunker, especially M. Joe, who kept making big, broad, movie-like declarations about his family, so excited was he to finally be a Character on a TV Show.

His smooth bone-thick head glistened with both pride and a growing curdle of rage and the air hummed with a strange, nervous energy. Something bad was going to happen. (To be fair we already knew something bad was going to happen because we'd seen it start happening in a flash-forward prologue at the beginning of the episode.) M. Joe watched as Teresa and T. Joe danced with baby Joe, which they were only doing, Melissa surmised, to appear to be good aunt and uncle to this newest member of Jesus's Kingdom. Nothing about it was for real, Melissa was convinced, and as she kept driving these little nails in, needling to her fellow tablemates, M. Joe got drunker and madder, madder and drunker.

So when Teresa came over to say one last self-serving congratulations to the happy family, M. Joe couldn't take it anymore. "Why don't you just walk the fuck away? Do what you do every day and walk away." Teresa was shocked! Such rudeness! "Huh??" she kept asking, "Are you serious??"


Then Melissa got into it, as did Melissa's nattering sister Lysa (that is not how you spell Lisa, fyi), and while Teresa should have walked away, that is not the Teresa way. No, the TT way is to engage, to grunt and hoot at her aggressor until it's actually unclear who is aggressing upon whom. Well, OK, to be fair, Teresa was walking away, until stupid drunk M. Joe said "You're fucking garbage" (whoa, unless your sister is actual garbage, if maybe you are both Garbage Pail Kids, you do not call your sister garbage) and Teresa went back up in his face and yelling began.

Poor Spumantia, whom her beloved uncle M. Joe creepily dotes on, was trying to pull her mother away, pleading with them not to fight, but it was too late. The train had already skipped the rails (sorry all you MTA people this morning, heard it was brutes) and there was nothing to be done. Then, all of a sudden, the child now pushed somewhere to the side, there was a loud groan and the sound of wires snapping and before we knew what was happening, there was a flurry of fists and arms and legs and shrieks and T. Joe was barreling through the crowd and a real fight broke out.

The melee went on for some time, with people holding both the Joes back and, I think at one point but maybe I'm crazy, that someone holding a gun was tackled? It was bad, basically. Very, very bad. The fight at that point had become more about the two Joes than about Teresa, with M. Joe yelling about "My fucking father! My fucking father!" and everyone looking confused and scared and bewildered. Of course alllll the children were sobbing messes at this point, because who wouldn't be, I'm an almost-28-year-old adult and I would have been a sobbing mess by then, and some thoughtful adults (Kathy among them, I believe) decided to whisk the children away to places more pleasant. (Hopefully not Jesus's Kingdom, though.)
The fight continued, with various ebbs and flows, and then at one point Teresa's old dad was in M. Joe's face and there was yelling about that, and then people scattered and diffused and M. Joe and his father had an intense confrontation that ended with M. Joe screaming "You're my father!! You're my father!!!!" in a raspy, pained wail and it was really, really, really quite embarrassing. One of M. Joe's mooks was all "C'mon, let's just go to the bar," trying to calm M. Joe down. No, mook, no! That is not where you take M. Joe right now. You take him to the drunk tank or at least to his own house and don't let him drink anymore of his curious red liquor. (I assume it was Campari?) Don't get him more to drink. He has enough booze floating around in that thumb-head of his already.

So that was basically the fight! The video above tells a better story than I can, as it's the actual story. But what a way to be back! I am a little disappointed that the inevitable yearly TeresaFight (it comes every year, like crocuses) happened so early in the season, but still what a way to come back. They're really reaching for the Beverly Hills-level stars here, and it couldn't be better timing, what with New York and Orange County droning along so dully.

I'm weirdly happy that we're back! Back to Bouffant, flubbing around like lazy flubber. Back to sweet lion angel Albie, all perfect grins and cold-hearted ambition. (Does it look to you like he got plugs or at least Rogaine or something? I noticed more hair, I think.) Back to dark, scheming Chris. Back to frustrated puppy dog Jacqueline. And welcome to you, new ladies. May the fake sun of the tanning bed shine forever on your faces and Teresa punches always rise to greet you in the kisser. Ah, New Jersey. A state away, and yet worlds apart.

Have you heard of the Disney Cruise Line? Here are just some of the thing they offer: live Disney shows, “meet-and-greets” with the Disney characters, children’s clubs and adults-only spots as well. None of those sound good? Okay, fine. How about first-run movies at the theater onboard?

Are your kids looking to get away from their geeky parents? Not a problem. From a Little Mermaid themed daycare to Vibe, a place where 14 to 17 year olds can chill out and listen to music, watch TV or play the latest and greatest video games, kids should be able to find whatever it is they’re looking for, regardless of their age.

I read about the Disney Cruise Line on the Telegraph, and I must say, it sounded quite impressive. I mean, the only thing missing I could think of was Zach and Cody, though as much as Disney offers? I wouldn’t be so quick to rule them out, either.

Each Disney Cruise has roughly 950 employees who represent over 60 nations and you can rest assured that you’ll be well taken care of because there’s a Disney associate for every three passengers. There are several cruise lines from which to choose. The Disney Dream might be a good choice for those of us in the U.S. as it sets sail from Florida. It also offers the AquaDuck waterslide which is billed as the first “water coaster” ever on a cruise ship. It sounds like a blast as it offers those brave enough to partake all kinds of twists and turns as it eventually extends beyond the actual ship itself (whoa) and culminates in a four-deck drop. (I’d recommend that one before lunch, for what it’s worth.)

So would my family and I enjoy such a cruise? Tough to say. I’m certain my 9-year-old would be all about it. She watches a fair amount of the Disney Channel and given all that the cruise lines offer, I bet she’d find real value in it. My wife and I?

While I’d never say never, we’re not really cruise people. We like a little more control over our vacation. Though Disney would offer us the gamut of family-friendly choices, I have a feeling we’d get cabin fever.

Having said that, I’m fully aware that there are many folks who love cruises. If you’re one of them, and you’ve got a big family vacation planned this summer, you should really consider looking into the Disney Cruise Lines. Who knows? You just might wind up having the time of your life.

Which oils are healthy? 

Eating fat can be heart-healthy if you pick the right kind. Too many of us cut fat willy-nilly and replace it with refined carbs, so we miss out on the benefits of healthy fats, says Suzanne Rostler, a registered dietitian and nutritionist in Framingham, Mass. What’s more, eating lots of refined carbs—like white bread and white rice—can increase triglyceride levels, which can contribute to heart and blood vessel disease.

Adults should get 20% to 35% of their calories from fat, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Here’s how to make sure you’re getting enough of the right kind.


Trans fat

Goal: Limit or eliminate
Trans fats are liquid oils bombarded with hydrogen so they stay solid at room temperature. They’re found in many processed and fried foods.

Trans fats increase total cholesterol and LDL, or bad cholesterol, and lower HDL, the good cholesterol.

Food manufacturers can say a product is trans fat free if it contains less than half a gram per serving. These can add up. Check a product’s ingredient list. If you see the words hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, or shortening, it contains trans fat; you’re better off leaving it on the shelf.

Saturated fat 

Goal: Limit
Saturated fat increases total cholesterol and LDL, and may boost your type 2 diabetes risk. Meat, seafood, and dairy products are sources of saturated fat. Some plant foods, like palm and coconut oil, also contain it. Animal or vegetable, saturated fat carries the same risks.

Choose low-fat or fat-free dairy products to get their key nutrients while cutting saturated fat.

The Dietary Guidelines recommend no more than 10% of total calories come from saturated fat. So if you eat 2,000 calories a day, for example, keep your saturated fat intake below 22 grams.



Unsaturated fat

Goal: Get more!
Unsaturated fats are mostly good guys—although trans fat is technically an unsaturated fat. However, healthy unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature, while trans and saturated fats are solid.

To increase your unsaturated fat, replace solids, like butter, with olive and vegetable oils, and swap red meat for seafood or unsalted nuts. (Seafood and nuts also contain saturated fat, but usually less than red meat.)

The two main types of unsaturated fats are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats; their chemical structure is slightly different, as are their health benefits.



Cholesterol
Goal: Limit
Scientific understanding of the dangers of dietary cholesterol has shifted. "It used to be thought that eating dietary cholesterol, like in shrimp or eggs, would raise cholesterol," Rostler explains. "It does to some extent, but it’s more important to focus on not eating saturated and trans fats."

For people with normal cholesterol levels, Rostler says, the current recommendation is no more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol daily, while people at high risk of heart disease should consume less than 200 milligrams daily. For perspective, one egg contains about 200 milligrams of cholesterol.




  
Polyunsaturated fats
 
Goal: Get more!
You can find polyunsaturated fats in nuts, seeds, vegetable oils such as corn and safflower oil, and fatty fish. This category encompasses omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are known as essential fatty acids because our bodies don’t make them—we have to get them from food.

Polyunsaturated fats can help lower your total cholesterol level, says Sari Greaves, a registered dietitian and nutrition director at Step Ahead Weight Loss Center, in Bedminster, N.J.



Monounsaturated fats

Goal: Get more!
Monounsaturated fats raise HDL (good cholesterol) and lower LDL. Canola oil, olive oil, peanut oil, nuts, seeds, and avocados are good sources.

Trade sour cream dip for hummus (which is rich in olive oil) or guacamole; use veggies or whole-wheat chips to dip. Try peanut oil in a stir-fry to jazz up your diet while helping your heart, says Greaves, who is also an American Dietetic Association spokesperson and coauthor of The Cardiac Recovery Cookbook.

Unsalted nuts contain monounsaturated fat, but they’re high in calories. Sprinkle them on salads or yogurt, rather than eating a 170-calorie handful.

Omega-3 fatty acids

Goal: Get more!
In the world of good fats, omega-3s are superstars. They fight inflammation, help control blood clotting, and lower blood pressure and triglycerides.

Fatty fish like albacore tuna, salmon, mackerel, and sardines are good sources, Greaves says. You don’t have to break the bank to get them; canned Alaskan salmon and canned sardines are okay too.

Vegetable sources include soy, walnuts, and some vegetable oils. There are no specifics on how much you should consume, but the American Heart Association suggests eating at least two 3.5-ounce servings of fish each week.


 Omega-6 fatty acids

Goal: Jury still out
Most of us have no trouble getting enough omega-6s, which are found in vegetable oils and many snack foods.

The ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s in the typical Western diet is around 10 to 1. Some research suggests that between a 2-to-1 and a 4-to-1 ratio reduces the risk of death from heart disease.

There has been some controversy over whether omega-6s can actually be harmful to the heart, but Greaves and Rostler agree that as long as you’re eating them instead of saturated or trans fats, and you make a point of upping your omega-3 intake, you’ll be helping your ticker.

How to lower blood pressure

People with hypertension often need several medications to control blood pressure. But lifestyle changes can ratchet it down too, and maybe even eliminate the need for drugs.

"Anybody who has hypertension should be encouraged to work with their physician to try various things that might help them lower their blood pressure without the use of pharmacologic agents," says Matthew Burg, PhD, an associate clinical professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

Here are 10 natural ways to lower your blood pressure.


 Exercise more
By following current guidelines on exercise—30 minutes a day, most days a week—you can bring down your blood pressure significantly, says Gerald Fletcher, MD, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic, in Jacksonville, Fla., and a spokesman for the American Heart Association. If you’ve been sedentary, try aerobic exercise to reduce your systolic blood pressure—the top number—by three to five points, and the bottom by two to three, says Dr. Fletcher.

People who get moving are often able to reduce the number of hypertension medications they’re on, he adds. Pick something you like—walking, running, swimming, cycling—and stick with it.


 Eat bananas

You probably know that eating too much salt can raise blood pressure, but most people aren’t aware of the benefits of potassium, which counters sodium’s ill effects. Most don’t get enough of this mineral.

According to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, people with hypertension may especially benefit from upping the amount of potassium in their diet. Adults should get at least 4,700 milligrams a day. A few good sources: bananas (422 milligrams each), a baked potato with skin (738 milligrams), orange juice (496 milligrams per cup), and nonfat or low-fat yogurt (531–579 milligrams per 8 ounces).




Cut salt 

People with normal blood pressure, moderately high blood pressure, and full-fledged hypertension can substantially reduce their blood pressure by cutting salt intake. The Dietary Guidelines recommend that people with hypertension limit their intake of salt to less than 1,500 milligrams (600 milligrams of sodium) a day.

We get most of our sodium from processed foods, so stick with whole foods. When you do eat foods with nutrition labels, be sure to check their sodium content.







Don’t smoke

Smokers are at higher risk of hypertension. But even though tobacco and nicotine in cigarettes can cause temporary spikes in blood pressure, smoking itself is not thought to cause chronic hypertension.(Instead, factors associated with smoking, like heavy alcohol consumption and lack of exercise, might be responsible.)

Nevertheless, quitting smoking may help you lower your blood pressure a bit, says Dr. Fletcher. And, of course, the other health benefits are countless.



Lose weight

Research has consistently shown that dropping just a few pounds can have a substantial impact on your blood pressure. Excess weight makes your heart work harder. This extra strain can lead to hypertension, while losing weight lightens your cardiovascular workload.

If you’re overweight or obese, losing weight may be enough to get your blood pressure under control.







Cut back on alcohol

Even though moderate drinking—no more than one drink a day for women, and two a day for men—has heart-health benefits, drinking too much can elevate blood pressure in some people.

Research has found that consuming more than two drinks a day increases the risk of hypertension for both men and women. If you do drink, enjoy your alcoholic beverage with a meal, which may blunt its effects on blood pressure.




De-stress

Managing the stress in your life effectively may help reduce your blood pressure, but there’s not enough research to offer a step-by-step stress-reduction plan for everyone, says Burg.

"There are a number of things that people have developed as practices to induce a state of relaxation and ... which one is better, which is the right one, these are questions that remain to be answered in clinical trials," he says. Nevertheless, Burg recommends that people with high blood pressure look into stress management and find an approach they will be able to practice consistently.


Yoga

Yoga is a great de-stressor. A New Delhi study recently found that yogic breathing exercises reduced blood pressure in people with hypertension, possibly through their effects on the autonomic nervous system, which governs heart rate, digestion, and other largely unconscious functions.

But people should not think of yoga as providing the same benefit as aerobic exercise, Burg says. "Each potentially produces benefit in different ways."






 Skip caffeine

Coffee has some health benefits, but lowering blood pressure isn't one of them. Caffeine can cause short-term spikes in blood pressure, even in people without hypertension.

If you have high blood pressure, it’s a good idea to moderate your caffeine intake to about two cups of coffee per day. You can check whether you’re sensitive to caffeine’s blood-pressure-boosting effects by checking your blood pressure before and within a half hour after consuming your caffeinated beverage. If it increases by 5 or 10 points, you could be caffeine sensitive.




Meditate

Meditation—whether it involves chanting, breathing, visualization, or all the above—can be an effective stress-management tool for many people, Burg says. Again, the important thing is that it makes you feel good, and that you can commit to doing it consistently.