I saw some folks talking about Qivana being some kind of scam. They were just curious because it’s a new company and there was not a lot of info on it at the time.

However a bunch of "advisors" jumped in to say it’s "probably a scam." I always find it interesting that people will open their mouth to express an opinion about something which they know absolutely nothing about. Of course the internet is sort of like writing on the bathroom wall…. just a really BIG bathroom wall.

My question is… when it’s easy to just use internet search to do a few minutes of research, why do people, instead, choose to just throw out any old opinion as if they know what they are talking about?

Here is what you can find out about Qivana if you want to do a bit of research…

CEO - Derek Hall. Mr. Hall was with McKesson Pharmaceutical for 26 years, the last 10 as their Chief Sales Officer. He was also CEO of Unigen Pharmaceutical and CEO of Natures Way… increasing income at all three dramatically. With Natures Way they were in the red when he came on board and he took them to the neighborhood of 47 million a year in revenue within a few years.

Other management - from top network marketing companies. Check their web site.

No "magic pills" … these are products that are UNIQUE, put together as a "systems approach" and designed by top Doctors in their field…..

Dr. Marcus Laux - author of "Natural Woman, Natural Menopause" and responsible for coining the now, well used term, bio-identical. Considered the "Doctor to the Stars," Dr. Laux has had a full time practice in Malibu and Beverly Hills for about 20 years, and has traveled the world lecturing about natural health practices and botanicals.

Dr. Donald K. Layman, University of Illinois, winner: Shannon Award from the National Institute of Health and 2009 Nutrition and Metabolism Leadership award. Dr. Layman is considered to be the top nutrition and metabolism researcher in the country and has the awards to back that up. The average Doctors publishes 2-5 peer reviewed papers over the course of his career. Dr. Layman has published over 90!

The company has two health "systems" - unique, integrated products that work together to improve the immune system, detox the body, and provide a nutritional jumpstart system for weight management.

Qore is for immunity and detox. MetaboliQ is for weight management.
These systems have NO competition in the marketplace and are superior in composition, ingredients and formulation. You can research this and find the information.

Sales for the Metaboliq system alone are predicted to (if they continue at the current pace) end up being the number #1 selling weight management system in the US by the end of the year. But this is not a "diet" system… it’s for anyone that wants to build muscle and burn fat using healthy, perfectly balanced products.

It’s "weight management" because it is NOT some "fad" diet, but simply a system to give a little jump-start to a healthy eating lifestyle that will build muscle and burn fat naturally. The system is based on 30 years of research by Dr. Layman at the University of Illinois and it consists of the products… but also EDUCATION.

So my question is… What genius would think that people of this calibre, would be involved in a company that was in any way questionable? I’m hoping that those "negative nellies" have already figured out the truth… but, if not, they can start their own research right here…

www.HealthyConnections.MyQivana.com

Sue, You did exactly what you’re supposed to do. Research! And after doing the research, it does sound like it’s not a scam. You’re the one who has to decide if you want to spend the money to try it!
Best of luck, whatever you decide! (It sounds pretty good to me!)

Okay… so here’s a quick run down on each

Urban Decay Lip Junkie Lip Gloss:
According to the description on the site, it applies really smooth (which is a big plus for me) lasts long (also a bonus), and also it’s supposed to have a lip plumper which is good cause my lips are far from full. There’s no shade of it that I’m really crazy about, Runaway (peachy shimmer) is okay, but I wish they had some better options… It is the cheapest one though

Laura Mercier Lip Glace: It’s supposed to have a beautiful shine to it, and it also has so many great shades… My favorites are Opal (light pink beige) or Bellini (peach coral)… It’s also fairly cheap, and it got good reviews… Only, it doesn’t have a lip plumper, and I also like flavored glosses, but I don’t think this one has any flavor…

Stila Lip Glaze: It seems like a really really nice gloss, only there is SO many shades to choose from, like I don’t even know where I’d begin picking. Each shade is so nice, but it’s just insane how many there is. On the Stila website there’s a color adviser thing, but for some reason it didn’t work on this product. I do like the shades Kitten, Honeydew, Praline, Apricot, Lemongrass, Grapefruit, Passion fruit, Mango, Watermelon, Peach, Guava, Starfruit, and Sweet Orange. How would I ever pick though? Also, this doesn’t have a plumper… It said on the description the texture of the gloss is supposed to make your lips look bigger but I don’t know….

Stila Plumping Lip Glaze:
Okay, so on the Stila website, it shows this one as only two dollars more, but in Sephora it’s WAY more expensive… as in 35 dollars…. There’s not many shade options, but the colors are very nice, subtle pastels, and this one is supposed to have a nice fruity, mint flavor. I like all the shades, well, two are just flesh toned, yellowy ones that probably go on clear… but I don’t just want a clear gloss, I want a bit of color… It has a plumper that’s supposed to work really well…

here’s the link for each gloss so you can see what all the different shades look like:

stila lip glaze
http://www.stilacosmetics.com/product_detail.asp?PMID=235&dept=4&cat=13

stila plumping lip glaze
http://www.stilacosmetics.com/product_detail.asp?PMID=411&dept=4&cat=13

urban decay lip junkie lip gloss
http://www.urbandecay.com/categories/LipJunkieLipGloss.cfm

laura mercier lip glace
http://www.lauramercier.com/store/shop/Lip-Gloss_Lip-Glac%E9_prod190018_sku100098

So…. which one of these should I buy, and also, which shade should I get? I have light golden brown hair, and blue gray eyes, and fair skin with freckles

I love lip junkie, but it’s expensive. Go to WalMart and by some Hard Candy lip gloss!

Has anyone flown Air Asia? I’ve heard good things, but wondered if it was too cheap and nasty??

Does anyone have any good website for travelling tips? I already use Trip Advisor to check out hotel reviews

Whats the cheapest and easiest way to contact family whilst over there? Also, what’s the best way to hook up to an internet connection to check emails etc?

I’m looking at getting a little notebook (laptop) closer to the time of travel to take over there (know I need to take it on the plane and remove battery for going through check in/security etc). Any recommendations for a good notebook?? Also tips for travelling with it?

Can anyone recommend accommodation they know of that do Triple Rooms or have 3 single beds? Not fussed how cheap it is - happy to economise here!

Can’t seem to find a search-able accommodation site where I can search by the number of beds per room - if you know of one that would be great!!

Have looked at Travelodge which have great prices starting at 19 pounds per night but they don’t seem to have triple rooms/sleep 3 separately, so we’d need to book 2 rooms. Not sure that it makes it a cheap option necessarily!

Does anyone know any other cheap hotels/chains? I know there’s a lot located in service centre places just off the highways - eg has accommodation, food, petrol stations

Money saving ideas, and tips for travelling in the UK etc would also be very much appreciated. Last time we shopped at Tesco and made packed lunches so that saved a little.

General international travel tips welcome too!!!

thanks!!!!

Sounds very similar to a trip I took last May, London, Ireland, and Scotland.

I have never flown air asia and haven’t heard anything about it. I flew from DC to Heathrow and got the flight for a really decent price through us Airways, something like 600 round trip. Check out www.momondo.com for flights; I’ve found some really incredible deals using it.

I took my laptop and was able to very easily find wireless, most of the hotels we stayed in had complimentary wireless and if not the front desk could tell us a near by coffee shop or bar that did have complimentary wireless. I used skype to talk to my family. If you don’t know what it is just check it out online, completely free to talk to someone on the other side of the world.

trip advisor was one of the best sites I found while planning my trip. I didn’t book anything without checking out other peoples reviews on there. Don’t hesitate to book cheap or small rooms, when you are traveling you spend so little time there. (and the time you are there to sleep you are so exhausted you could pretty much sleep anywhere!)

As for the traveling questions. I’ll start with Ireland because it was my favorite part of the trip.

Put out the money to rent a car. It’s completely worth it, and split three ways, it will be pretty affordable. (this also means buying or borrowing a GPS and buying the european maps for the GPS prior to the trip, which is a bit pricey, but again, completely worth it to be able to drive around Ireland and just have the GPS telling you where to turn. You can concentrate all your efforts into constantly repeating to yourself "stay on the left side, stay on the left side, stay on the left side." We took a wrong turn once or twice and those were the best parts of the trip because we found our self in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nothing but fields and stone fences - beautiful.
I don’t know your age, but we stayed in hostels many of the nights. I can’t remember the names of many of them right now. I know in Dublin we stayed in Barnacles which is a hostel RIGHT in the middle of temple bar. We could not have asked for a better location. The hostel was also very nice & clean. If you go to the west coast be sure to check out Doolin, it’s a tiny town near the Cliffs of Moher.

Getting from country to country is really easy using the trains and ferries. Our trip started & ended in London. Flying from the U.S to London, staying there a few days, train+Ferry to Dublin, rented a car and drove all over Ireland, ending in Belfast, ferry then train to Glasgow in Scotland, a train from Glasgow to Edinburgh, and finally a train back to London, then flew back to DC.

If you are going to London while in England, lodging will not be cheap! I believe we stayed at the Premier Inn near the tower of London. At the time we booked it was the cheapest and pretty convenient to everything.

While in Glasgow we decided to splurge for staying somewhere really nice, which I would suggest you do too! plan that night for about halfway through your trip! here is where we stayed: http://www.glasgowlofts.com/ this place was incredible!! Floor to ceiling windows in all rooms, a full kitchen, huge jetted tub. It did cost a bit but like I said, it was totally worth it! The view of the city at night alone was worth the money spent.

It seems to me that in Edinburgh we stayed in a hostel as well, nothing too special if I recall, but it was clean. Just be sure to checkout trip advisor and do lots of research for the best place for the money.

Check into the VAT refund stuff in Ireland, you can read about it online & it will probably explain it a lot better than I will be able to. I got a pretty good bit of money back in my account (which was nice after draining it for everything I bought on the trip)

Have a great time and best of luck planning everything!

We dont know what else to do - any suggestions?

Contact Trading Standards on Tuesday, and see what they have to say.

The venerable British Medical Journal has an offshoot publication, BMJ Clinical Evidence, whose mission is to provide physicians and patients with the best available evidence, garnered wherever possible from randomized, controlled clinical trials (RCTs), which are considered to be the most reliable and rigorous standard for measuring treatment effectiveness. The journal describes itself as "the international source of the best available evidence for effective health care."

"What proportion of commonly used treatments are supported by good evidence, what proportion should not be used or used only with caution, and how big are the gaps in our knowledge?" asks the publication’s Web site (BMJ 2007).

Of around 2500 treatments so far reviewed by the journal’s distinguished team of advisors, peer reviewers, experts, information specialists and statisticians, only 13 percent have been found definitely beneficial. A further 23 percent are rated as likely to be beneficial; 8 percent can be classified as a trade off between benefits and harms; 6 percent as clearly unlikely to be beneficial; 4 percent are likely to be ineffective or harmful, and a whopping 46 percent - almost half of all treatments reviewed - are rated as being of unknown effectiveness.

Reproduced by kind permission of BMJ Clinical Evidence
If you cannot view the above file, please click or go to:
http://www.cancerdecisions.com/images/bmjclinicalevid.gif

As the journal acknowledges, these figures suggest that most treatment decisions rest not on solid evidence obtained through properly conducted clinical trials, but on the individual preferences of clinicians, unsupported in the majority of cases by any concrete evidence of benefit.

So, given that very few of conventional medicine’s standard treatments have been demonstrated to have any clear benefit whatever - and conversely, that a substantial proportion have been shown to be potentially harmful - it is somewhat ironic to see the term ‘evidence-based medicine’ used as a war cry by those who are virulently opposed to CAM.

Conventional medical treatments are just anecdotal.

It will still take years before scientific altMeds will recognize conventional medicine.

PLEASE don’t respond with tours that are not even near Samana! Check on Google maps before you post!

I would love to hear from people who have traveled here before. Reviews from anyone who has done an excursion while porting in Samana would be great too!

When we stopped in Samana on our last cruise, we didn’t even get off the ship. And, from what I heard from fellow passengers, it was a good choice. One fellow passenger took the tender into shore, figuring she’d just get a cab to a beach and hang out. She didn’t like the "feeling" she got once on shore and the drivers all said it would be at least a 30min drive each way to get to a beach. She got back on the tender and came back to the ship.

Having said that, there are lots of positive reviews for one particular vendor in Samana at CruiseCritic.com. Click on "Boards" then go to "Ports of Call".

The excursions there tend to involve a long bus ride each way, as there is nothing near where the ship anchors. IF you can get an excursion to the famous beach there [Levantado, maybe?] that would be nice, it sounds like. [I wouldn't do this independently - only thru the ship.] The ship’s excursions don’t sound "great" because there isn’t that much there.

For me looks like a scam, the prices are too good to be true, and second, no wholesale company will sell any products to individuals. I’ve did a ‘online presence’ check on them it’s very hard to find any costumer review if at all.

So what do you think?

Here are some details:

Domain Name: YYLIUAI.COM
Registrar: BIZCN.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.bizcn.com
Referral URL: http://www.bizcn.com
Name Server: NS5.CNMSN.NET
Name Server: NS6.CNMSN.NET
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Updated Date: 13-may-2010
Creation Date: 13-may-2010
Expiration Date: 13-may-2011

Domain name: yyliuai.com
Registrant Contact:
chenyouliang
fenglong chen 1d914e077cd59ba66db28489d4ea3db2
010-098989789 fax: 010-098987898
beijin
beijin HK 130000
cn

And very important, this review that I’ve found it on McAfee Site Advisor:
http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/yyliuai.com/postid?p=5033459
Fraudulent electronics store in China.

Keep in mind that brand electronics are usually more expensive in China due to VAT. If you see low price brand items you will get scammed.

The way it works is:

1. You send the money (usually via Western Union)
2. You get informed there is problem (usually customs etc.)
3. Problem can be fixed for more money (another 10-20%)
4. After payment, there is yet another problem…

This will repeat until you realize that you got scammed.

I got my domain names from this site http://www.thewebpole.com/
It provides many so many benefits.
I don’t know about this site which you ask.

There must be plenty of other sites where you can do it or even write your own blog.