The 'X' Zone Broadcast Network

Donna Lee Howell is a ghostwriter and acquisitions editor, whose first book, Ebenezer: The Final Years of Scrooge pre-sold nearly two thousand copies before its release last October. Born in California and raised on the west coast, Donna developed a healthy and expressive approach to fairytale endings at an early age. Constantly signing up for debate teams and actively involving herself in artistic endeavors, including majoring in creative writing and acting in college, she settled on channeling herself toward becoming what she does best: a free-thinking fiction novelist, who challenges the unrealistic happily-ever-afters. Her favorite story as a child was A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. By the time she was fifteen, she could no longer accept the idea that a man in Ebenezer's position would actually face the life-changing events as told in the original classic, and then simply go on living as the quintessential "Santa Claus" equivalent. In her passion to unfold the truth, Donna collected all the materials she could find regarding London in the 1800s, and brought a serious sense of reality to the well-written sequel. The book has had favorable reviews. As a result of her book and questions about ghosts, a theme that runs through both her book and the original Dickens classic, Donna has been invited onto a series of radio shows recently to describe what was believed in Dickens day, and what is believed today about ghosts.

Mysterious World® is a quarterly online travel guide to exotic travel destinations around the world that focuses on providing you all the information you need to truly appreciate what these travel destinations have to offer. More than just a standard travel guide to standard travel destinations, however, Mysterious World focuses on bringing you cutting-edge information about travel destinations that have a certain mystery about them. To this end, Mysterious World provides you with all the relevant historical, archaeological, and travel information, as well as biographical information about famous people and artifacts related to these famous locales, that you need to make your travel experience complete. And Mysterious World is more than just a travel guide - it is also an online journal wherein writers can submit research articles and essays on various topics - such as ancient history, religion and mythology - for publication. If you would like to submit an article for publication, or become a Mysterious World Reporter, please contact us at [email protected] to learn more. Mysterious World is owned and operated by Doug Elwell, Inc., a marketing communications consultancy based in the suburbs of Chicago. If you would like to know how Doug Elwell, Inc. can take your website and other marketing communications methods to the next level, please contact us at [email protected] to learn more. - www.ireland.mysteriousworld.com

Mike was born in Norris Green, a working class suburb of Liverpool, England, in 1942. After attending a Roman Catholic primary school and, for one year a local Roman Catholic Grammar School, he applied to enter St Joseph's College, Upholland, a seminary or training college near Wigan in Lancashire, North West England, a college preparing boys and young men for ordination to the priesthood. Mike was ordained priest in Liverpool in 1967. For the next twelve years, he lived and worked for the Archdiocese of Liverpool in Kirkby, a 1950s working class housing development of Liverpool, as an assistant priest and as chaplain in the town's comprehensive school for girls (aged 11-18). In 1978, he was sponsored by the Archdiocese of Liverpool and a charitable trust to follow a course in reading texts from the Bible, Marx and Freud - the course being set by the Mission de France, the French 'Worker Priest' movement, based at Fontenay-sous-Bois, Paris. The course led Mike to finalise a decision to resign from working directly for the Archdiocese of Liverpool - which he did in May 1979. He had been increasingly uncomfortable with what he saw as a clerical way of life at odds with the lives of many people with whom he had worked in Kirkby. He remains an ordained priest. He began working for the Merseyside Probation Service in May 1979. Some months later, Mike met Marie. They married in 1980 and have two children. In 1982, Mike qualified as a social worker after being awarded post-graduate diplomas in Social Administration and Applied Social Studies by the University of Liverpool. He returned to employment with the Mersyeside Probation Service. In 1990, he was appointed Senior Probation Officer and remained in social work management - moving into the Family Courts - until he retired from social work altogether in 2007. Mike had been awarded a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice Management in 1996 by the Liverpool John Moores Univesity. Anticipating retirement from social work, however, he successfully completed a research programme in theology and was awarded the degree of Master of Philosophy from the University of Liverpool in 2005. The thesis (available in the University Library) was entitled: The Roman Catholic Eucharist - Its Erotic Heart. Theology remains the central focus of Mike's intellectual life. In May 2007, Janus Publishing published a fictional re-working of his MPhil thesis under the title: Emily and the Mystagogue.

Annette Sym is Australia's No.1 self-published cook book author having sold over 2.5 million copies, and in March 2009 debuts her new American cook book 'Symply Too Good To Be True' . After struggling with her weight all of her life Annette decided to do something about it and went about transforming everyday meals into low fat, low sugar and low salt versions that still had the flavors she loved. Annette lost 77 lbs in 20 months and has maintained that weight for over 17 years. With no tertiary education or previous business experience, she has turned the triumph over her own weight loss and health struggles into a multi-million dollar business in just ten years. Annette has become a well known Australian identity appearing regularly on National T.V and Radio. - www.symplytoogood.com

Paul Taitt and Andrew Barnes formed Soul Smack in 2007, bringing together two minds that have long sought for answers to the unknown. Taitt began his fascination with the supernatural back in 1978, and after becoming a professional videographer and relocating from the UK to the U.S. in 2006, he served as an investigator and videographer with Central Maine Paranormal Investigators. Barnes, meanwhile, was born in Maine but has traveled the world learning all the can about man and about himself, including spending an entire winter living in a tent 10,000 feet up in Summit County. Soul Smack has over a dozen films planned for future release, delving into the many multi-faceted and thought-provoking subjects that encompass the unknown. - www.soulsmack.com

Christopher Balzano is the founder and director of Massachusetts Paranormal Crossroads, an online collection of legends and ghost stories from Massachusetts and the surrounding states. He has been investigating the paranormal for almost fifteen years and has been writing about those experiences for the past ten. He has been a contributor to Jeff Belanger's Encyclopedia of Haunted Places and Weird Massachusetts and was one of the writers behind Weird Hauntings. His writing has been featured in Haunted Times and Mystery Magazine and has been covered by local and national media. Christopher is the author of several books about regional hauntings, including Dark Woods: Cults, Crime, and Paranormal in the Freetown State Forest and Ghosts of the Bridgewater Triangle, as well as the collection of true ghosts stories Ghostly Adventures and the new how-to paranormal book Picture Yourself Ghost Hunting. He has appeared on radio stations in Massachusetts and throughout the Internet, as well as being called upon by television shows to comment on ghosts and urban legends. He now runs the paranormal news from Ghostvillage, one of the oldest and largest websites dedicated to the paranormal, and is the founder and director of ParaRelations, a public relations firm for people in the paranormal community. - www.masscrossroads.com

How Private Military Forces Like Blackwater Could Be Training Under Your Nose Powerful private troops who don’t have to answer to anyone. Richly-funded, battle-trained mercenaries ready to settle scores for wealthy “warlords.” Does this sound like something that could only happen in volatile third-world nations, remote jungles or isolated desert installations? How about here in the U.S.? Long-time journalist and best-selling author Robert Liparulo spent hundreds of hours researching private armies. What’s legal? Who could bankroll such secret forces? Who would join? Who is safe? CREDENTIALS: Robert Liparulo has authored several best-selling thrillers, including COMES A HORSEMAN and the new DEADLOCK. He has several movie scripts in development in Hollywood. - www.robertliparulo.com

At the age of thirteen, Beatrice had a profound spiritual experience where she crossed over to the "other side" and was met by a group of "light" beings. She was informed that she was on Earth for a higher purpose. Beatrice was told that her real name was Jeanne Louise and to add it to the end of her given name and she was told to "Become a vegetarian, study Astrology, never see a doctor and do not get a credit card." Thirty-two years later, she still have never been to a doctor nor do she have a credit card and she is a great astrologer, healer and spiritual guide! Beatrice has spent years guiding and assisting others in the quest to awaken the inner goddess, the feminine intuitive ability within each and every human being that allows for our magical side to express itself. This includes learning telepathy, trusting the inner voice for guidance, direct downloading from universal mind for information and knowledge and co-creating with the divine for your highest good and the highest good of the planet. Her life is devoted to awakening the human spirit to its unlimited potential as co-creator with the divine. Her mission is to teach about true magic and manifestation, to teach others how to communicate with spirit for answers to all of life's most important queries and to enlighten the minds of those she touches by showing them that spirit is always aware of every breath, thought and deed of each and every one of us. We all have spirit guides in the form of our ancestors, angels and our wise teachers from Jesus to Merlin from Krishna to Buddha from Laksmi to Mother Mary. She offers guidance to help you understand what your role is in making our planet whole and insuring future generations will live in peace and harmony. This is her higher purpose. - www.goddesscentral.com

Patti Starr is a world renowned paranormal investigator who owns the Ghost Chasers International organization founded in 1996 based in Lexington, Kentucky. She is also owner of the Ghost Hunter Shop located at 835 Porter Place, Lexington, Kentucky. Patti is the tour guide for the immensely popular Bardstown Ghost Trek which she started in 1997 in Bardstown, KY. With over 30 years of paranormal research and ghost investigations Patti has captured many anomalies in photos, videos and audios while investigating haunted locations. Her goal as an experienced and accomplished paranormal investigator is to collect evidence to support the premise that life goes on even after death. She is very active as a ghost researcher, author, lecturer, consultant, dowser, and teacher. Her book, Ghost Hunting in Kentucky and Beyond, is widely hailed as a must-have resource for all serious ghost hunters. Patti has been teaching ghost hunting courses at the Bluegrass Community and Technical College in Lexington, Kentucky since 2001. Her Ghost Hunter Certification Home Study Course is in great demand and she has students from all over the world enrolled. She is currently lecturing at numerous universities, colleges, and libraries throughout the United States. Colleges and universities Student Activity Directors can book Patti by contacting Wolfman Productions. Patti's work has been documented in numerous newspapers and magazines including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Oracle 20/20, Ghost Magazine and Southern Distinction. Patti writes for the Lexington Herald-Leader online newspaper under the heading "Ask the Expert". It is a forum for posing questions to certain professionals. Questions and answers are published for information and discussion purposes only. In 2006 Patti Starr was voted as one of the Top Ten Ghost Hunter Paranormal Investigators in America for 2007, 2008 and again for 2009. - www.ghosthunter.com

Grief is the normal and natural reaction to loss, yet most of the knowledge and information we acquire about dealing with loss is not normal, natural, correct, or helpful. In the course of our work, we are constantly called upon to explain what we mean when we make the statement that the majority of what we are taught about dealing with loss is not of assistance to us when a real-life emotional crisis occurs. With that in mind, we present here a series of articles that we have written and have published over the years that can help you get a clearer picture of what is true and accurate in relationship to both grief and recovery, for yourself and on behalf of others about whom you may be concerned. The articles were written by Russell P. Friedman, Executive Director and John W. James, with input from Eric J. Cline, Director of The Grief Recovery Institute of Canada. Russell and John are co-authors of The Grief Recovery Handbook and When Children Grieve. The articles combine educational information with answers to commonly asked questions. We present them here in the order they were written. - www.grief.net