Fashionista ~ “Style” is an expression of individualism mixed with charisma. Fashion is something that comes after style. ~ John Fairchild

 

 

I believe.. if you seek .. then you’d find the beauty within. It totally depends on one s’ individuality..

 

Some are reluctant to believe this phenomena but the conviction may sink in rather a rude manner, if you try some thing of an ill fitting dress, and wonder how well your friend could carry it on but why on earth you can’t.

 

The simplest explanation is … she’s not you and she can never be you – visa versa.

 

No matter how many shrinks you see, pills you pop and exercise regimes you follow; if you are not aware of who you are and what’s best for you; the cruel attitude you have towards you, would never stop, until it’s learnt how to become your own best critic.

 

But first step is first, you should be able to see things as it is. If one believes the appeal lies in this greatly thin and no flesh of a body which normally a runaway model would have; I disagree. The immaculate beauty we see in magazines and shows is not of a natural borne and that is no secret. And when it comes to “Appeal”, once in a way a few people come to know the truth of it from the very beginning. They claim the true appeal first should be of yours, it’s no use if one become a mannequin and try to appeal a hundred of others if your inner self is unsatisfied; this, I agree.

 

Being born as normal and a capable human is it self a blessing, so why not enhance what you have got naturally instead of trying to do a complete make over and ultimately make your self a complete fool.

 

 

Dressing Your Body Type

It’s time to embrace our bodies, curves, flaws, and all. When it comes to beauty and fashion, there is no ideal body shape. All female body types have their own unique attributes, and with style and clothing, knowing how to dress for your body type will let you have fun with your wardrobe so that you can flatter your body shape and bring out your best features.

Whether you’re looking for appropriate clothing for special occasions, workwear, or casual clothes and outdoor clothing, a wide range of women’s clothing options will allow you to find the best clothes when dressing for your body type.

Apple-Shaped

If you have a round or apple-shaped body type you will tend to have heavier breasts, narrower hips, and slimmer legs.

Do

• Show off your legs! Wear an A-line skirt to add emphasis to your waistline
• With tops, choose turtlenecks, boatnecks, or shirts with collars. Knits and woven stretch fabrics are best for your body type
• The best jeans for your body type are ones with front and back pockets. These will help disguise a rounder middle area while defining your curves. But avoid pants with pleats, and choose a flatter front instead

Try to avoid tops with puffy sleeves, or overly baggy clothing. Slim skirts and tight clothes should also be avoided, since they will only emphasize a slimmer lower body half and create the illusion of imbalance.

The Pear Shape

Dressing pear shaped women involves balancing a slender neck, narrow shoulders, and a small bust with a shapely waist, generous hips, and full thighs. Your best assets are your waistline, delicate upper body, shoulders and arms, so try to accentuate these features when dressing for your body type.

Do

• Look for strapless or sleeveless dresses to play up the arms and shoulders. Or look for empire waistlines and dresses that begin to flare at the hips
• Choose flowing fabrics, especially when it comes to pants, and remember that straight skirts are ideal for your body shape
• Wear semi-fitted tops with square or cowl necklines to broaden narrow shoulders

Avoid tops that are too loose or too tight and make you seem out of proportion. When looking for a blazer or jacket, make sure the bottom does not meet the widest part of your hips. Lastly, avoid straight dresses that tend to tighten at the hips; this will only accentuate them.

Banana

The straight body type features upper and lower halves that are equal in width. If you gained a few pounds, they would most likely be equally distributed throughout the body, instead of going straight to your curves.

Do

• Choose tops with necklines that fall below the collarbone to elongate the upper body and neck
• Look for a longer suit jacket that will help lengthen the torso
• Skirts and pants with details can broaden the lower half of the body, while shirts with pockets on the bustline will emphasize the area

Try to avoid belts or pleated fabrics at the waistline. These can make the area look thick instead of narrowing the waist.

*******

Now are you interested in how to dress an hourglass shape? If so, keep reading for some fashion tips and hints on how to look your best.

 

What is an Hourglass Shape

 

Hourglass figures are round and curvy. They are considered the dream figure to have and many men actually prefer a woman with curves. An hourglass shaped woman has a well-defined waistline and fuller hips and bust. Their shoulders and hips are equal in width. Woman with hourglass shapes can look sultry and seductive or classy and elegant, depending on what they wear and by dressing in the most flattering way for their particular shape.

 

 

How to Dress an Hourglass Shape

 

Many women with hourglass shapes try to hide their curves and by doing so, wear clothes that do not fit them properly. Instead of choosing big, baggy clothes to hide your shape, choose clothes to enhance what you have. By knowing the best styles for your particular shape, you can dress with confidence and always look your very best.

Show off your Waist

Since hourglass shapes typically have well-defined waists, drawing attention to your waist with a belt or a top with a fitted waist will accentuate this great asset. Do not be afraid to show off a small waist! It is often most flattering to draw attention to your smallest part of your body.

 

Foundation First

 

An important item for an hourglass shape to have is a well-fitting bra. A bra is the foundation to all your clothing and if it doesn’t fit properly can make your clothes look terrible. Since most hourglass figures are well-endowed, a properly fitting bra is a must have wardrobe staple. Remember that a bra that fits will show off your bust and lay a smooth foundation for all your tops.

 

Tops and Pants

 

Another must have for hourglass shapes is a top with either a v-neck or scoop neckline. Both styles slim the neck and chest and will make you appear smaller and slimmer.

 

The best pant styles for an hourglass shape are:

 

Flat front trousers

Boot cut jeans

Pants or jeans with flared bottoms

Pants that fit properly will give you a slim look that will enhance your figure.

Skirts and Dresses

 

There are many styles of skirts and dresses that work perfectly for hourglass shapes. Curvier women should choose skirts that accentuate your curves and flatter your legs. Some styles to try include:

 

Pencil skirts

A-line cut skirts and dresses

Wrap skirts

Wrap dresses

 

Some other figure flattering items are belted jackets, cardigans and wrap style coats.

 

Style Tips

 

There are many tips to follow if you are an hourglass shape. Keep in mind the importance of dressing for your body type. Some things to keep in mind when choosing an outfit are:

 

Wear a darker bottom and lighter colored top to emphasize your waistline and to minimize your curves.

A monochromatic outfit with a slim belt will slim your figure and balance your body.

Buy clothes in the correct size. A top that is too big will only make you look bigger and sloppier and clothes that are too tight will also make you look larger.

Choose lighter weight fabrics without extra bulk to give you a lean look.

 

Celebrities with Hourglass Body Shapes

 

Some the most beautiful and admired stars in Hollywood have hourglass figures. Many embrace their curves and don’t give in to the pressures and demands of being stick-thin that many stars do. Hourglass shapes stars include:

 

Marilyn Monroe

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Salma Hayek

Kim Cattrell

Scarlett Johansson

Kate Winslet

Mariah Carey

 

 

General Tips

For women with lots of curves, shapely legs, and a defined waist, accentuate an hourglass figure by wearing belts or choosing tops and bottoms with defined waistlines.

Petite women should avoid a cropped pant, and choose ones with a long and straight cut that will cover shoes to lengthen the legs.

Remember that these rules are not written in stone, but can provide you with some helpful tips on how to dress different body types. The best rule to stick to is finding what flatters not only your body shape and size, but your personality too. While darker colors tend to be the most slimming, a fun accessory can add life to any outfit, regardless of your body type.

 

End Notes

 

Hourglass figures can show off their curves and camouflage their imperfections by knowing how to dress an hourglass shape and choosing the right styles for their particular body type. By wearing clothes that fit properly any woman can look stunning and feel confident. Embrace your best assets and don’t hide behind improperly fitting clothes anymore..

Man In the Mirror ~ “As children, we played hide and seek with one another, as adults with ourselves – Yahia Lababidi ~

 

 

Some things in life I must say – never would change. Reproduction is one such thing. From the perspective of science or even of religion; we believe; being born is endless. For human species to continue surviving, it is essential that mature adults who are capable of producing fertile offspring, to continue for the existence of the species, and pass on genetic information from generation to generation.

 

 

 

Having said that, questions remain, those logical justifications we have, on having kids, do they really reveal the truth behind our decision to have them? Why really, do we need children in our lives? Even for a moment, does the continuation of human existence or continuation of our generation cross our mind when we plan for a child?

 

Or – do some of us have our own pathetic, selfish reasons?

 

 

 

Kids – what would happen, if some one decides to have a kid, just for the sake of having a kid? Perhaps some children are being considered “an accidental thing”, yet does any one realizes what follows with such a thought? Isn’t it decisive of the future of that particular human being? Or – what will happen if some of us are just trying to follow a trend – “Oh they are having a kid, why not we too do the same”-  thing?  Or- is it because we need them, just so we could use them, to (re) live our selves through them? Or – should we have them because we sure might need some one around, whom we could call our own, on our dying day?

 

 

 

It’s not quite clear why this particular mother and father had to have their children, not just one or two kids but a several, controlled them with high and mighty fists, made them live their lives through such a folly to make their egoistical dreams come true, not willing  or supporting them full fill their own unique dreams. At the end, they were really successful creating a few ominous souls, but surprisingly one of them happened to be an accomplished entertainer of all times ….. yet, couldn’t escape of being a pitiful entity. It utterly disgusts me when I think some are capable of betraying their own flesh and blood. Why not having a farm; instead of having children; raise some hens, cows and goats, so you could still sell them, don’t they too bring you dough? if not prestige? People like them should do just that. Then at least, you are not violating basic human ethics, oh god, this is definitely a weird world.

 

 

 

It’s some how too late, by now every one knows the story. It’s all I read about these days, one of the most tragic deaths of Showbiz and the reasons led to that untimely death. It’s not a remarkable thing to criticize a dead person on his living years, why do it now? If we must, then we should have done some constructive criticism in his living years and it could have probably bail out a few more years of his life. Momentous this is, if we could grasp a few lessons, probing a tragic life and it would serve the living ones good.

 

 

 ”They are lost without the only person they’d trusted”

Now once again returning to the nix, why did he ever want children of his own in his life, if he meant to fail them like this, a similarly thing, what his parents did to him long time ago?  May be he never thought of bidding good bye so soon yet I have a forlorn feeling, imagining them growing up among such contempt kin.

 

 

So does that mean you fell through?… seems you never recognized the “Man in the Mirror” … you just couldn’t, hence never knew your worth.

 and worse … you left them, unsafe, in a bizarre world!

 

 

 

Sadness … envelopes me …  & here comes Death … ”The inevitable” … so I’d say R. I. P … there’s non to hurt your soul now !

 

All Things will Die BY Lord Alfred Tennyson

 

All Things will DieClearly the blue river chimes in its flowingUnder my eye; Warmly and broadly the south winds are blowingOver the sky. One after another the white clouds are fleeting; Every heart this May morning in joyance is beating Full merrily; Yet all things must die. The stream will cease to flow; The wind will cease to blow; The clouds will cease to fleet; The heart will cease to beat;For all things must die. All things must die. Spring will come never more. O, vanity! Death waits at the door. See! our friends are all forsaking The wine and the merrymaking. We are called? we must go. Laid low, very low, In the dark we must lie. The merry glees are still; The voice of the bird Shall no more be heard, Nor the wind on the hill. O, misery! Hark! death is calling While I speak to ye, The jaw is falling, The red cheek paling, The strong limbs failing; Ice with the warm blood mixing; The eyeballs fixing. Nine times goes the passing bell: Ye merry souls, farewell. The old earth Had a birth, As all men know, Long ago. And the old earth must die. So let the warm winds range, And the blue wave beat the shore; For even and morn Ye will never see Through eternity. All things were born. Ye will come never more, For all things must die

 But it came all too soon for you  MJ !

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1196188/Michael-Jacksons-life-long-confidante-J-Randy-Taraborrelli-I-saw-eyes-dying.html

The purpose of life is not to be happy – but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all. ~Leo Rosten

 

My mother used to tell me, if she ever wanted to calm her young baby (her eldest daughter); all she had to do was to play the radio …… The radio? ? Not lullabies?? Yep …… the radio …… She had no worries after wards she says; whether the baby s awake or not it made no difference, she could get on with her other work at hand because her baby was at peace listening to all the beautiful sounds the Radio made. So her home is always full of beautiful tunes …

The baby she was referring was me …… I still wonder if that was one reason why my life is inseparable from Music.

When I was a kid, the love I had for music, took me to a world so colorful. I yearned to learn, to learn a few notes and I did, I play a few instruments like; Drum, flute, key board and piano. I was afraid; thought I won’t grow up with a pleasant voice and there ……  I learnt how to sing too.

Where did my inspiration come from? Surely it started because of the Radio and then I came across personalities the whole world loved and I learnt how dedicated they were for what they loved. I thought I should dedicate a special post …… for those conquered the world, not with weapons but with sweet melodies …… and their heart stopping voices!

Legends of My time – PART I

Lata Mangeshkar  - (Marathi: लता मंगेशकर; born September 28, 1929) is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in the Hindi film industry. Mangeshkar’s career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades.

She sang in over 980 Bollywood movies and has sung songs in over twenty regional Indian languages, but primarily in Hindi. Lata is the second vocalist ever to have received the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honor. Mangeshkar was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records from 1974 to 1991 for having made the most recordings in the world. The claim was that she has recorded no less than 25,000 solo, duet, and chorus-backed songs in 20 Indian languages between 1948 to 1974 (30,000 songs between 1948 and 1987, according to 1987 edition). Over the years, while several sources have supported this claim, others have raised concerns over its veracity, claiming that Mangeshkar’s sister, Asha Bhosle, had more song recordings than she had.

Lata Mangeshkar was born in a Marathi speaking family in Sikh Mohalla, Indore, which then used to be in Central India Agency and is now in the State of Madhya Pradesh. Her father, Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, was a classical singer and theater actor. Her mother Shudhhamati, who was from Thalner, was Deenanath’s second wife.

The family’s last name used to be Hardikar; Deenanath changed it to Mangeshkar in order to identify his family with his native town, Mangeshi in Goa. Lata was named “Hema” at her birth. Her parents later renamed her Lata after a female character, Latika, in one of her father’s plays, BhaawBandhan. Lata is the eldest child of her parents. Asha, Hridayanath, Usha, and Meena are her siblings in sequence.

Lata took her first music lessons from her father. At the age of five, she started to work as an actress in her father’s musical plays (sangeet naatak in Marathi). Her father’s recitals and lessons left a strong impression on her, as did the songs of K.L. Saigal, who was her favorite singer and idol. Her formal education was limited to one day in the school. On the first day in the school, she started teaching songs to other children. When the teacher stopped her, she was so angry that she stopped going to the school. Other sources cite that she left school because they would not allow her to bring Asha with her, as she would often bring her younger sister with her.

 

Enjoy her melodious voice:  

 

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (born August 9, 1963) is an American recording artist, actress, and fashion model. A relative to several prominent soul singers, including her mother Cissy Houston, cousin Dionne Warwick, and godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston began singing at her New Jersey church as a member of a junior gospel choir at age eleven.

Her first solo performance in the church was “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”. When Houston was a teenager, her parents divorced and she continued to live with her mother. She attended a Roman Catholic single-sex high school, Mount Saint Dominic Academy, where she met her best friend Robyn Crawford, whom she describes as the “sister she never had.”

While Houston was still in school, her mother continued to teach her how to sing. In addition to her mother, Franklin, and Warwick, Houston was also exposed to the music of Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Roberta Flack, most of which would have an impact on her as a singer and performer.

During the 80s, MTV was just coming into its own and received harsh criticism for not playing enough videos by black artists. With Michael Jackson breaking down the color barrier for black male artists, Houston did the same for black female artists. She became one of the few black female artists to receive heavy rotation on the network following the success of the “How Will I Know” video.

Following Houston’s breakthrough, other African-American female artists such as Janet Jackson and Anita Baker were able to find notable success in popular music. Baker commented that “Because of what Whitney did, there was an opening for me… For radio stations, black women singers aren’t taboo anymore”. Mary J Blige commented that after Houston invited her onstage during the highly rated Divas Live show in 1999, that it “opened doors for [her] all over the world”. Years later, Blige would have her biggest commercial success.

Enjoy her mind blowing performance:

 

Asha Bhosle (Marathi: आशा भोंसले) (born September 8, 1933) is an Indian singer. She is best known as a Bollywood playback singer, although she has a much wider repertoire. Her career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over 1100 Bollywood movies and sold many records. She is the sister of the equally accomplished Lata Mangeshkar.

Bhosle is considered one of the most versatile South Asian singers — her range of songs includes film music, pop, ghazals, bhajans, traditional Indian Classical music, folk songs, qawwalis, Rabindra Sangeets and Nazrul Geetis. She has sung in over 14 languages including Assamese, Hindi, Urdu, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, English, Russian, Czech, Nepali, Malay and Malayalam.

Asha Bhosle’s first big success was B R Chopra’s Naya Daur (“The New Age”, 1957). Her duets with Rafi like Maang ke saath tumhara, Saathi haath badhana and Uden jab jab zulfein teri, penned by Sahir Ludhianvi and composed by O. P. Nayyar, gave her recognition. Asha and O P Nayyar had worked earlier as well. But it was the first time that she had got to sing all the songs for the lead actress. B R Chopra, the producer of Naya Daur recognized her talent and got her to sing in many of his later films including Waqt and Gumraah, Humraaz, Aadmi Aur Insaan, Dhund etc.

In 1980s and 1990s, Asha went globe-trotting, staging concerts in Canada, Dubai, UK, U.S. and many other countries. In 1989, during a world tour, she performed in 13 US cities in 20 days. Immediately after this, she had an already sold-out concert scheduled in Stockholm, Sweden.

Due to the stressful schedule, Asha suffered a massive attack of colitis, together with fever, cough and weakness. In Stockholm, a pre-concert crisis meeting was called, attended by Asha’s son (and manager) Anand and the sponsors. It was decided that the orchestra will play many instrumental tracks, the accompanying singers like Suresh Wadkar will shoulder the load, and Asha will make a small appearance. But Asha rejected all such proposals, and sang at the concert with great difficulty, in a not-so-good voice. Her first set of six Bollywood songs did not receive any response from the audience, which consisted mostly of Indian and Pakistani expats. Before the start of the second set of songs, a fan in the crowd requested her to sing a Marathi song. Asha obliged and sang Naach-naachuni ati mi damale (“I’m very tired of this endless dancing”). When the song ended, the auditorium erupted with claps and the encores started. After the concert, Asha was in bed for a month, recuperating from overexertion.

Take it away Asha:

  

To be Contd ……

The guns and the bombs, the rockets and the warships, are all symbols of human failure.

I t was not long ago …..

ALABAMA

“Authorities say at 10 people have been shot and killed in two southern Alabama towns, including the gunman.

The Alabama department of safety says at least four shootings by a single gunman left at least nine people dead before he killed himself.

The department says in a statement that the shootings began late yesterday afternoon in Samson. The shooter killed five people in one home and one each in two other homes. The gunman then shot at a state trooper’s car, striking the vehicle seven times and wounding the trooper with broken glass.

Police pursued him to Reliable Metal Products just north of Geneva, where he fired an estimated 30 rounds. The statement says the gunman then went in the business and shot himself.

GERMANY

A CRAZED teenager taunted his victims after he gunned them down at a school yesterday. Tim Kretschmer asked the wounded as they lay on the floor: “Are you not all dead yet?” In a murderous rampage which killed 15 people, he blasted classrooms with semi-automatic gunfire.

But he returned three times to one room and on his last visit uttered the chilling words – his first since marching into his old school. Kretschmer, 17, claimed 12 victims in the school in a suburb of Stuttgart and three more as he fled.

He died later in a police shootout.

Eight of the nine pupils killed were girls and two of the three teachers who died were women, sparking speculation that the killer had a grudge against females. Kretschmer had never had a girlfriend, according to former schoolmates. Brave teachers sacrificed themselves to save their pupils from the fury of the boy they knew from his schooldays as a troublemaking bully.

One of the victims, a female student teacher, flung herself over a young girl as Kretschmer took aim at her. The killer, in black combat gear similar to that worn by German Special Forces, shot the woman, who had been at the school only four weeks, in cold blood with his high caliber Beretta semi-automatic pistol.

As his victims lay dead and wounded, Kretschmer, the son of a wealthy businessman who kept an arsenal of weapons at home, went on the run, claiming three more lives. Police tracked him down and there was a gun battle. It is believed he killed himself after being wounded.

Former friends said last night trainee salesman Kretschmer had become “quite peculiar” and kept a collection of thousands of horror videos in his bedroom, along with a number of air rifles. Shocked witnesses spoke last night of the corridors and classrooms running with blood as other pupils and teachers were hit. Seven of the wounded were female pupils.

One classroom – 10D – seemed of particular interest to the gunman. Kretschmer, who left the Albertville high school in the rural suburb of Winnenden last year, went in and out of room 10D – which some sources said was his old classroom – three times.

It was on his final visit that he asked coldly: “Are you not all dead yet?” It is believed the classroom was being used by pupils aged 14 and 15. Police said the killer walked calmly along corridors and through classrooms, shooting his victims in the head as children ran and jumped from windows to escape him. As they jumped, there were screams of: “He’s killing everyone.”

Pupil Eileen Toraman said she had lost a friend in the tragedy. “I think his leg was broken and he was unable to run away,” she said. “Another friend broke her leg jumping from the third floor. I don’t understand why this happened.”

Rapid response officers, alerted by a panicked call from a pupil’s mobile phone, arrived at the school as shots were still ringing out and began to climb up the stairs. But Kretschmer opened fire to keep them at bay before running away. Regional police Chief Erwin Hetger said: “He went into the school with a weapon and carried out a bloodbath. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

After his two-minute rampage, inside the school, Kretschmer headed away from the campus, which houses two other schools. He gunned down a passer-by, believed to be a gardener at a psychiatric clinic, before disappearing for about two hours. At about noon, two-and-a-half hours after storming into the school, Kretschmer hijacked a van, telling the driver: “Get me out of town”.

As they approached a police checkpoint, he forced the terrified man to swerve off the road. But when the car left the road, the driver escaped and Kretschmer ran off into an industrial area 25 miles from Winnenden. The driver rang the police, who arrived as the gunman escaped on foot into a shopping centre.

He shot the owner of a car showroom and one of the customers before trying to escape across the parking area. A police spokesman said: “He shot at almost everything that was there in that industrial area. He was shot in the leg by our officers, he fell, got back up, picked up his gun and a short while later he was found dead. It appears that he shot himself.”

Two police officers were seriously wounded in the gun battle.

Police had already swooped on his home as stunned survivors emerged in tears from the gates of the school, which has more than 1000 pupils. All of Winnenden, described as an “idyllic” area, was locked down while the gunman was at large. More than 1000 police and commandos flooded into the area. Other schools in the region were closed and drivers were warned not to pick up hitch-hikers.

Police seized 15 legal weapons from the gunman’s home, where his family kept a “small arsenal” of rifles for hunting. But a Beretta semi-automatic pistol was missing from the collection, along with a cache of ammunition. Frank Nipkau, editor of a local paper, said: “He went in there and started shooting immediately.

“We are told it is a gruesome sight.”

Meanwhile, former teachers and other locals said Kretschmer never stood out at school. Heribert Rech, the interior minister of Baden-Wuerttemberg state, last night refused to speculate about whether the gunman was targeting women.

He added police did not yet understand why Kretschmer turned killer. “We don’t have any clear indications this rampage could have been foreseen or prevented,” he said. “The motives at this point are very unclear.”

Jurgen Kiesl, the mayor of a nearby town, said he had twice awarded keen table tennis player Kretschmer prizes for his sporting achievements. “I can’t understand what could have brought this young man to do such a thing,” said Kiesl.

A former acquaintance, Dustin, said: “He got nearly everything he wanted. He had friends, but not many. They were interested in him only because he had money.” One former classmate said: “Timwas always very withdrawn.

He never just came up and talked to you. He just used to play ball games.” Another classmate said Kretschmer, an only child, used to get “very frustrated”, and hadn’t passed his exams last year.

The death toll is one fewer than Germany’s previous worst school shooting in 2002. Chancellor Angela Merkel said: “This is a day of mourning for Germany. It is unimaginable that in just seconds, pupils and teachers were killed – it is an appalling crime.”

Meanwhile, another classmate could only say the family had seemed perfectly normal and trustworthy, an average family.

“The only thing which stands out,” he said, “is that Tim was always very good with weapons.” “

Germany it is said, already has some of the strictest gun laws in the world. Handguns are only on sale to those aged 18 or over, with heavier weapons restricted to those over 21. No weapon can be purchased legally without a firearms ownership license, which is only available after personal checks.

It is unlawful to sell, give, lend or deliver a handgun to any person under 18, or to a person whom the seller has reasonable cause to believe has been convicted of a crime of violence, is a drug addict, a habitual drunkard, or of unsound mind – says the Alabama ‘GUN LAW’.

Why does one need a Gun … for self protection?  If it so does it really work that way? I have many queries … what good does it do when any criminal have more ways to lay their hands on guns than we do … can we fight all of them? every where?

Hence I read … I’d love to learn how …

“Criminals make use of weapons to control their victims to ensure a high success rate. In many cases the criminals have more firepower than the local police and unfortunately the threat of coming face to face with an armed criminal is not diminishing, in fact it is increasing.

More and more people are looking into reality based type training to address real situations they might encounter in the streets of today. CombatCoaching.com is changing the way people are learning self defense, from beginners to specialized security and safety personal. We believe that when it comes to your life and lives of your loved ones, you should make the commitment to train as realistic as possible preparing you to protect and survive the streets of today. The key element for a civilian to be able to defend him/herself during a street encounter is in his or her training.  The training must be realistic and closely related to the type of situations you might encounter     ‘One fights like one trains’

One of the most common weapons used in violent crime today is the handgun. Buying illegal weapons on the black market is as prevalent as the drug trade. Don’t think for a moment that the government can keep weapons out of the wrong hands, because they can’t. Criminal make use of handguns for several reasons:

1. Effective and deadly
2. Low maintenance
3. Easy obtainable on the black market
4. Easily concealed
5. Very intimidating

Three attributes make a handgun an ideal personal defense weapon for civilians and security personal.
- It is compact
- Easy to carry
- Brought into action very quickly and effectively at close range.

If you do not own a firearm why would you want to learn how to use one?
First of all if you want to learn how to defend yourself against a specific weapon or threat the best way to do so is to study the weapon/threat or enemy. Learn how a firearm works. Know what the pros and the cons are of this lethal weapon. This way you will have a better knowledge base to draw from to structure your training on how to defend yourself against a firearm. Secondly, you might land up in a life or death struggle with your attacker and he looses control of his weapon and drops it. If you are able to pick it up surely you will use it to control the situation in your favor? If you have never handled a firearm before picking it up could count against you. If you find yourself in a self defense situation wherein you disarm a gang member, it would be wise to know how to use that weapon – especially if other gang members are present who will harm you.

It has been found that most of the situations involving handguns i.e. pistols as defense weapons take place at very short distances, usually in low light conditions. Of course, there is no guarantee at what range one might have to defend oneself with a handgun but, although pistols can shoot accurately over quite long distances, they are designed as close range weapons. All gunfights are situations where one is either launching an ambush, or responding to it (sometimes by preempting it). Gunfights never look like those in the classic western movies where the two antagonists face each other at opposite ends of the street and fast draw against each other. Sadly, this model is what the training of many shooters is based on. There is also the bottom-line issue that the fight deals with both shooting and getting shot. It is far more important not getting shot than shooting well (at the expense of getting shot).

Being able to just shoot against a stationary cardboard target does not translate well preparing oneself for an urban shootout. You need to take your training to the next level and this is where airsoft training takes the lead. The airsoft gun allows the student to learn and train a specific technique and test it in a ‘real’ situation with an adversary not all willing to allow it in the form of scenario training. In other words you can place the student in a scenario where he actually has to make tactical decisions under pressure while being shot at simulating an urban shoot out, home invasion, hi jacking etc. As a large percentage of violent crime occurs during the hours of darkness, the ability to shoot accurately at night or bad light is very important. Unfortunately, this aspect of defensive shooting is sadly neglected, largely due to the difficulty many shooters experience in finding suitable facilities for night shooting. Nevertheless one can become proficient in lowlight shooting by just using an airsoft gun which can be used in almost any environment. The amount of light that will be available in low light shooting varies. It is recommended you prepare yourself as comprehensively as possible and train in as many conditions as possible from where the target is totally visible to where it is barely visible.

 

Basic Tactical Firearm Training guidelines:
- Make sure you expose yourself to all the ranges and aspects of fighting. This means to prepare yourself as comprehensively as possible to deal with almost anything and everything. This includes factors such as improving your fitness, dealing with attackers in various ranges including close quarter combat without your firearm. Also to take into consideration the various environments and conditions you could be dealing with.
- Next is the concept of the Observe – Orient – Decide – Act cycle first codified by the late Col. John Boyd. This cycle describes how men process information in combat, we all Observe the enemy. We Orient ourselves in accordance to the situation, as well as with what we observe. We make a Decision based on the prior two steps, and finally we Act upon it. All of these steps take time, and as short as that time may be in a fight, there are gaps in the timing and chinks in the process that can be identified and exploited. By understanding this, and being able to exploit its process, one can turn the tables on an attacker very quickly and decisively. By understanding this and organizing your fighting responses in accordance with it, one can turn a predator into prey. 
-  Move, Don’t be a target! It’s imperative to move off the line of force, or as some say, “Get Off The X”. This basically involves moving off the assailants aim, or evading the direction of his gun muzzle and learning to shoot while moving. – - -
-  Accessing your weapon under pressure. It just as important if not more  than actually taking the shot to being able to access your weapon under pressure. Accessing your weapon doesn’t just mean from your holster or somewhere concealed on you. Accessing also incorporates being able to get to your firearm effectively at 3am if it is locked away in your safe. Accessing is also learning how to deal with an ambush attack in a close quarters situation and then being able to access it. Placing yourself in a tactical better position may seem like a small matter but it is a crucial item of study. Your movement off the line of fire may save you from the first shot, but the ability to return fire as you keep moving will save you from his second and subsequent shots. 
- Train to use combative sighting. During an urban shootout you will rarely get the opportunity to make use of the sights on your firearm. So how do you aim then? Urban combat shooting uses mainly the concept of point and shoot. The general idea is making use of ones fingers to point to the suspect. You will quickly experience the pressure when someone is shooting back at you in a well set up training scenario. You rarely find time to take aim or to use your sights. As long as the gun is surrounded by the target  and you use your full peripheral vision and not closing an eye you stand a good chance of hitting your target.
- Keep shooting until the attacker is no longer a threat. We know the resilience of the human body and especially when it is under adrenaline. We also know the deficiency of small calibers (anything less than a rifle is a small caliber). So you are not about to trust that limited shooting will solve the problem, you shoot until it is in fact solved. 

When training students in firearms we follow the following 8 basic rules. These rules are used when we train with airsoft or the real McCoy. Because most students can go to a real shooting range everyday and fire live rounds we treat the airsoft sessions the same as with live fire. This way the students get even more quality training in and do not need to adjust when shooting live rounds.
1 – Treat all firearms as if they are loaded and ready to fire
2 – Always point the muzzle in a safe direction
3 – Keep shooting finger indexed to avoid negligent discharge
4 – Alchohol, drugs and/or medication and firearms do not mix
5 – Make sure the weapon is clean and clear of obstructions
6 – Never point a weapon at someone, unless you intend to shoot him or her.
7 – Know the laws
8 – Keep handguns away from children. Lock them up to avoid criminal and civil liability

In conclusion. If you are serious about self defense or personal protection, your training has to include firearms. Whether you like them or not, many violent criminals carry them and use them in the commission of their crimes. It doesn’t matter whether you live in a ‘gun culture’ like South Africa or in country with strict gun control – criminals have guns. At CombatCoaching.com we don’t just offer self defense training against firearms but also on how to tactically use firearms. Part of the training is also focused on scenario training where you are exposed to actually tactically applying yourself in a life death situation, giving you a better chance surviving the streets of today! The self defense/Personal protection practitioner must train with replica firearms against live human adversaries in situations replicating those he or she is likely to face in a real confrontation. Right now your enemy is preparing how to take your life. Don’t let him do it when you meet. Train hard, stay sharp – stay alert and always be ready. Your final exam may come at any moment – God willing we will get to train again soon.”

 

mmm …so criminals have guns … what if you didn’t have time to react … if you don’t have time to put all your training in to action? You might happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time… Does this weaponry training any use if you just don’t have a heart to harm another … shoot another … looking in the eye… cos all of us are not criminals … we … don’t think like psychopaths … but knowledge & being alert will definitely save lives …

The world is so dreadfully managed, one hardly knows to whom to complain. ~Ronald Firbank

If you’re yearning for the good old days, just turn off the air conditioning.  ~ Griff Niblack.

For me, the quote has many meanings. I thought it‘s the best one I could use for today s blog. We humans, love to ‘discuss’, discussions on this, discussions on that. Weather has been one of the topics for many of us. But who’s really truly bothered I wonder. At least about one s own surrounding? I guess “saving our own environment” is limited only for discussions. If not then the conditions we face now wouldn’t be there, right? …Money, another topic we discuss every day but we smart ones, find numerous solutions to money matters don’t we? Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said A man is usually more careful of his money than of his principles”, at a speech in Boston, 8 January 1897. I cannot disagree. We can talk big, show off our intelligence (of course, “Human, the most intelligent creature on earth”) but mind you, we are not above the law of nature, destroy the simplest things belongs to Mother Nature and she will bring you destruction unimaginable.

Note the examples, read the following, if one thinks one can challenge a storm and beat it … very well.

 Cold, dark nights ahead in wake of deadly ice storm

From staff and wire reports: USA Today.

 

More than a million households remain without power after snow and ice slammed the country from Texas to Maine, disrupting hundreds of flights and forcing Kentucky state troopers to use four-wheelers to find stranded residents.

 

Warmer weather Thursday was proving to be both a blessing and a curse, as sections of eastern Oklahoma and northern Arkansas began the grueling process of recovering from the latest ice storm.

 

Sid Sperry, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives, said warmer conditions will help crews accelerate the restoration process but the warmth could also lead to more outages.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” he said. “Anytime the weather warms up above freezing and the ice melts off power lines, it causes them to bounce, so you may have a few more outages.

“Another downside is that as the roads begin to thaw, rural roads are not paved, so they become difficult to drive through. Warmer temperatures have a negative and positive effect.”

There were about 20,000 households without power in Oklahoma as of Thursday morning. The numbers soared into the hundreds of thousands from northern Arkansas through Kentucky, where as much as 1 to 2 inches of ice burdened trees and power lines.

In Arkansas ‘ northwest, Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale got more than an inch of ice. At Wal-Mart Stores headquarters, work continued, but a lot of employees had to take Wednesday off. The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department said most north Arkansas highways still had ice and travel was slow in many places. All major routes were open by Thursday morning.

Kyle Brashears and his family fled their home in Mountain Home at 3 p.m. Tuesday because he was afraid of sagging branches from the oak trees that surround his house. Brashears, 33, returned that night to find his fears confirmed. The trunk of a thick oak split down the middle: sending half of the ice-heavy timber crashing onto his roof.

“It caved the roof in and ripped the gutter off, although it didn’t penetrate inside,” he said. “I was walking around outside until about 1 a.m., and it was just a non-stop medley of tree limbs cracking off.”

Brashears and the family headed to his father-in-law’s house where there is a gas fireplace to keep them warm. They used butane burners to cook their food and bundled up to stay warm in the house.

In Kentucky, the snapping of utility lines cut off phone service and even e-mail, said Kentucky State Police Sgt. David Jude, commander of media relations. Even cellphone service was being disrupted, Jude said.

More than a half-million customers in Kentucky remained in the dark. Many of the people had no heat and no working phone service to call for help.

“We have places across the state where even state police can’t get their cruisers working and they’re out in their own four-wheel-drive vehicles,” Jude said.

It could take a week or more for utility operators in Kentucky and Arkansas to restore power to everyone.

Late Wednesday, President Obama signed requests from Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe for federal emergency declarations. Crews, even the National Guard in Kentucky, worked around the clock to resurrect power lines downed by thick ice in both states. Officials in states from Oklahoma to West Virginia fought to do the same.

In Ohio, passengers on an AirTran Airways flight were held up to 10 hours before finally taking off. Travelers in Columbus boarded Flight 373 for Orlando at a little before 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. Passengers say it took more than four hours for the plane to push out of the snow at the gate, then were delayed even more when deicing wouldn’t work as freezing rain and snow fell.

People were allowed off the plane at lunchtime, then got back on board and sat for several more hours until AirTran gave up on the deicing and brought in another plane, passenger Tiara Berger said. AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson said the flight probably should have been canceled, and that the passengers will receive free roundtrip tickets.

Kentucky added two to the weather-related death toll, bringing the total to 24. A woman died while an ambulance on the way to her was blocked by impassable roads, and a woman fell on her basement stairs while she was retrieving a kerosene heater. A woman in Indiana died while shoveling snow.

 

‘Extreme heat’ interrupts Australian Open

Wednesday January 28, 2009  : Weatherzone reports

Australian Open organisers were forced to interrupt the tennis tournament for the first time today as temperatures rocketed to a sizzling 41 degrees Celsius.

The women’s singles quarter-final between Serena Williams and Vera Zvonareva was halted for about 45 minutes as organisers enacted their “extreme heat policy” and closed the roof on Rod Laver Arena.

Doubles matches on the smallest of the main stadiums were moved to Hisense Arena, which also has a roof.

The move comes a day after Novak Djokovic pulled out of his quarter-final with heat-related problems, the first time a defending champion has withdrawn in the Open era.

On Monday, Belarus’s Victoria Azarenka became ill and staggered around the court in tears during her last-16 match with Williams, which was also played in baking heat.

Spectators on Rod Laver Arena fanned themselves, sucked ice lollies and held up signs saying “Thank you for closing the roof!” as the policy came into effect.

 

“The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man”

 

Global Warming: A Primer

By Larry O’Hanlon –  Discovery

 

In the simplest terms, global warming is just what it sounds like: the worldwide rise in surface temperatures. The National Academy of Science has put the rise at 1 degree F over the course of the 20th century, but measurements from satellites of both land and sea surfaces are showing that the rate of warming is increasing sharply.

It’s more than just surface temperatures that are going up, however. A lot of research into temperature changes in the upper layers of the atmosphere, as well as the deep oceans, is showing warming. Then, there are the more obvious signs: the rapid retreat of glaciers in Greenland, Alaska, the Himalaya, the Antarctic Peninsula and on high tropical mountains; the thinning and disappearance of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean during summer; the melting of permafrost in Canada, Alaska and Siberia; and the rise of sea level and an increase in extreme weather.

The cause of global warming is what’s called the “greenhouse effect.” That’s shorthand for the ability of gases in the atmosphere to slow down the release of heat into space at night. Some gases are better at this than others. Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are the top three “greenhouse gases.” They are very good at absorbing sunlight and converting that energy into heat – rather like a rock does just sitting in the sun.

Surprisingly, the greenhouse effect isn’t a bad thing. It’s essential for life on Earth – when it’s not too vigorous. If not for the greenhouse effect, the temperature on the surface of Earth would be like that of the airless moon – swinging wildly from 225 degrees F (107 C) during the day to -243 degrees F (-153 C) at night. Not a good place for life.

The greenhouse effect is only troublesome when it gets too strong and warms things too much. And that’s just what scientists say has happened over the last 150 years or so as the people of industrialized nations have extracted Earth’s vast buried stores of fossil fuels and burned them. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased nearly 30 percent, methane has more than doubled, and the nitrous oxide concentration is up about 15 percent. All those extra greenhouse gases mean more and more solar energy is being trapped in the atmosphere, exacerbating the greenhouse effect and making things warmer.

The result: 2005 was Earth’s warmest year in a century, according to NASA climatologists. The years 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2004 were the next four runners-up. The year 2005 was also a record-breaking year for Atlantic hurricanes in which the coastal city of New Orleans – made all the more vulnerable because of sea level rise – was almost wiped off the map by Hurricane Katrina.

Of course, because the effects of global warming on local climates are very complicated, it remains to be seen exactly how different regions will feel the heat.

“Global warming is a term that’s extremely useful when you’re running a planet,” says John Cox, author of the book Climate Crash. “But it’s regional change that affects people. It’s the wet and cold and hot and dry.”

That’s why climate modelers are constantly refining their simulations, and climate scientists continue to refine our view of past climate changes to create a better idea of what to expect.

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/globalwarming/interactive/interactive.html

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/globalwarming/interactive/interactive.html

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so, therefore, A pint of example is worth a gallon of advice

Celebrities; what are they, why are they here? Are they here just for our entertainment or to manipulate some of us a little?

Why should one encourage a Celebrity to control other s’ life? So, does that mean media has an equal responsibility of the publicity they receive over their bad behavior?

 

One can argue it’s their right to conduct their private life the way they desire; being famous, do they really have a so called private life anyway?

Is it really them, them only? We parents, do we have more responsibility over the disastrous lives our teenagers end up with?

High time to look for answers…

Poll Shows Adults Worried Celebrity Party Girls A Bad Influence On Young Girls

 By Judy Faber (CBS)

Are images of party girl celebrities like Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan harmful to young girls?

In a recent Newsweek poll, 77 percent of respondents said that these celebrities and others have too much influence on young girls. Eight-four percent of those polled said sexuality plays a bigger role in American popular culture than it did 20 or 30 years ago and 70 percent say this is more of a bad influence on young people today than a good influence.

“Our kids are being bombarded by images of oversexed, underdressed celebrities who can’t seem to step out of a car without displaying their well-waxed private parts to photographers.”

Kathleen Deveny, Newsweek

“Our kids are being bombarded by images of oversexed, underdressed celebrities who can’t seem to step out of a car without displaying their well-waxed private parts to photographers,” writes Newsweek assistant managing editor Kathleen Deveny with assistant editor Raina Kelley in a cover article in this week’s issue.

The news isn’t all bad though. “Teen pregnancy, drinking and drug use are all down, and there is no evidence that girls are having intercourse at a younger age,” they add.

Yet, a study published last year in the journal Pediatrics found that kids respond to a repeated exposure to sexual content in television, movies and music.

“Specifically, the study found that 55 percent of teens who were exposed to a lot of sexual material had intercourse by 16, compared with only 6 percent of teens who rarely saw sexual imagery in the media,” the article says.

Photos: Britney Spears
Photos: A Year Of Lohan
Photos: Fashion’s Hall Of Shame

The best defense may be a good offense: parents must realize that they are ultimately the moral compass for their children.

“So watch your behavior; don’t gossip with your friends in front of the kids and downplay popularity as a lifetime goal,” Deveny and Kelly advise. “Parents need to understand and talk about the things that interest their kids—even if it’s what Paris is wearing—without being judgmental.”

Are Hollywood’s Bad Girls a Bad Influence on Teens?

Parents Should Take Advantage of Teachable Moments, Expert Says – abc News

 

Hollywood’s “It” girl Nicole Richie was arrested on charges of driving under the influence. It’s just the latest in a string of scandals and potentially deadly behavior by celebrities whose every move is watched by kids.

So what kind of lessons are they learning?

Young celebrities influence the way teenagers; girls especially, dress, eat, and see the world, according to child experts. “Every parent worries that [their] kid is going to want to be like this idol that they have plastered all over their room,” said “Good Morning America” parenting contributor Ann Pleshette Murphy.

Police say Richie was arrested alone in her car driving the wrong way on a California highway at 4 a.m. to the alarm of onlookers. At 5 feet 1 inches and just 85 pounds, she failed a field sobriety test. Police say she admitted to smoking pot and taking the prescription painkiller Vicodin.

With recent polls showing that so-called bad girls are the envy of school hallways, news of Richie’s arrest spread fast. “She got arrested this morning, I think,” one girl told ABC News. “It was all over the Internet.”

Like most American teenagers, the girls who talked to ABC News already seemed to know every detail about the latest celebrity girl gone bad. They agreed that the celebrities were teenagers’ role models today, but that what they were saying to teens wasn’t good.

This all has some parents concerned.

“It’s so outrageous,” Toni Ann Rinaldo, a mother, told ABC News. “You just hope as a parent they’re going to take what you say and do the right thing.” Richie is following in the high-heeled footsteps of other fallen teen queens.

Lindsay Lohan has been scolded by Hollywood co-stars for partying too hard and working too little. Paris Hilton was arrested on a DUI charge in September. And, of course, Britney Spears has been leaving two kids at home to celebrate her newfound freedom

So with all that glitz and glamour to compete with, what are parents to do? “Whenever anything happens in the news that becomes what we call a ‘teachable moment,’ we really need to take advantage of it,” Murphy said. “It becomes an opportunity to really share your values with your kids.”

Most research finds that drug and alcohol use among kids from eighth grade to 12th grades has fallen from 10 percent to 25 percent, from the peak usage years of the mid-1990s.

Pregnancy, a high risk for teenage girls, has also declined overall.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in 2005 that the teenage birthrate was the lowest in 65 years of record-keeping and marked a 35-percent drop since 1991. However, it appears that the long, steady decline in teen smoking has come to a standstill, worrying health officials.

A report released by the CDC in June found that around one in four teens said they smoked, the first time that the percentage of teen smokers had actually risen.

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Hunger knows no friend but its feeder – If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one

 

We, humans on earth are unsatisfied creatures, for one reason or another; it’s the nature, we always find that there are things that we ’don’t have’. When some of us, think what we have always s ‘not enough’, some of us have ‘nothing at all’, fulfilling life s basic requirements s a fight for them.

 

Those who feel, “ I’m so damn lucky and I don’t need to worry as my wallet is okay, World in hunger? who cares”, please re think … for humanity… if it’s not for others … save it for your own kin … for their future … please don’t waste food.

 

 

Almost two-thirds of people – 60% – in 26 countries say higher food and energy prices in year 2008 have affected them “a great deal”, a BBC report has found. The study found that many people in the developing world have simply been forced to eat less this year owing to the higher cost of food.

 

US: Food Waste and Hunger Exist Side by Side

NEW YORK – ”Do you want these? They are so fresh,” says Catherine, holding up a bunch of grapes she just pulled out from one of the trash bags piled up on the sidewalk. ”Take this, man. It’s good too,” adds her friend Morlan, holding out a loaf of bread. Though happy to have found something for dinner, both Catherine, 21, and Morlan, 19, wonder why some edible food is thrown out as garbage in New York City ”They only sell this food to the rich,” says Catherine pointing to the upscale grocery store that put out the bags. Inside the store, the manager is visibly upset with Catherine and other young people who are stuffing their backpacks with fruits and vegetables from the trash bags. ”They are picking up garbage,” says the manager. ”I don’t know why they are doing this.” ”I have zero cash right now, and no place to stay,” Morlan told Tierramérica. ”What do you expect me to do?” Such scenes are becoming increasingly commonplace on the streets of U.S. cities, despite the enormous quantity of food that the world’s most affluent nation produces every year. Official surveys indicate that every year more than 350 billion pounds (160 billion kg) of edible food is available for human consumption in the United States. Of that total, nearly 100 billion pounds (45 billion kg) — including fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, and grain products — are lost to waste by retailers, restaurants, and consumers. By contrast, the amount of food required to meet the needs of the hungry is only four billion pounds, according to Food Not Bombs, an advocacy group, which estimates that every year more than 30 million people in the United States are going hungry on regular basis. ”The American government has billions of dollars in surplus money, which could go towards poverty elimination nationally or globally,” Samana Siddiqui of the Sound Vision Foundation, a Chicago-based non-profit group, told Tierramérica. But Joyce Glenn, a novelist who lives next to the grocery store, where Catherine looks for food in the trash bags, has a different take on the wastage of food and over-consumption in her country. ”Americans consume as much as they are able in order to lull themselves into a sense of complacency as long as the need for food, as well as even luxurious food, gives them a sense of well being,” says Glenn, who is in her 60s, and often invites homeless people she sees in the street into her home. Noting that food production in the United States and the world has increased more than the population, food rights groups say they believe more people are likely to suffer from lack of food as long the agri-business firms continue to be driven primarily by profits. ”We don’t have a democratic say in how food is produced or distributed,” according to Food Not Bombs. ”In our society, it is acceptable to profit from other people’s suffering and misery.” The group’s position is based on the assertion that people from the more affluent and middle class sectors of U.S. society are drawn to over-consumption as a lifestyle — validated by a study carried out by the Washington-based World Watch Institute earlier this year. ”U.S. consumption styles have not only spread to other industrialized nations,” says the State of the World 2004, ”they have succeeded in penetrating much of the developing world as well.” The study shows how millions of middle class people across the globe have adopted the diets, transportation systems and lifestyles pioneered in the United States. To some degree, ”rising consumption has helped meet basic needs,” said World Watch president Christopher Flavin. ”But this unprecedented consumer appetite is undermining the natural systems we all depend on, and making it even harder for the world poor to meet their basic needs.” According to the report, the U.S. and Western European consumers, who constitute only about 12 percent of the world population, are responsible for about 60 percent of consumption of private consumer goods. By contrast, the people of Latin American and the Caribbean, whose share in the world population is just nine percent, spend only seven percent on non-essential household goods. ”Agriculture, free trade, and intellectual property policies have become a leading edge of the U.S. corporate push for global economic dominance,” says Kathy McAfee, executive director of the San Francisco-based Institute for Food and Development Policy (better known as Food First). ”But at the same time,” she adds, ”farmers and ecologists around the world have been achieving impressive successes in increasing food production by sustainable methods. We are seeing the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of small farmers from Mexico to Brazil, from India to Thailand to the Philippines in defense of their rights.” By Haider Rizvi Rest of the story goes like …. CHRIS MORRIS, DELHI, INDIA Ordinary Indians are facing significantly increased hardship because of the rise in the cost of food. The rate of price increases seems to have slowed, but many basic foodstuffs like rice and lentils are far more expensive than they were a year ago.   And that means people on or below the borderline – hundreds of millions of people – are struggling to make ends meet. In the most extreme cases, severe malnutrition is a life-threatening condition. There are about eight million children under the age of five in India who are in urgent need of therapeutic feeding and nutritional treatment.   But there are also tens of millions of children who suffer from chronic malnutrition which may not be immediately visible. They are deprived of many of the nutrients they need to lead healthy productive lives. In India, the rise in the cost of food has not created a crisis; it has simply made a bad situation worse. Rising inflation has received considerable attention in the Indian media, but the recent focus has been on the global financial turmoil, and its impact on Indian markets.   That is of little immediate relevance, though, to the vast majority of people in this country. What matters is the price of vegetables, the price of flour, and whether there is any work to be had to buy the food they need. Two thirds of India’s population are forced to get by on less than two dollars (£1.15; 1.47 euros) a day. And the little money they do make now buys less food than it used to. Something has to give.     CHRISTIAN FRASER, CAIRO, EGYPT Inflation in Egypt is at a 16-year high with soaring food prices triggering violent protests in some areas of the country this year, prompting the government to raise public sector salaries by 30%. But the pay rise was soon followed by increases in prices of fuel, which sent the cost of goods and services even higher.   Egyptian economist Samir Radwan says that while the levels of salaries and subsidies may have risen, “the government’s liberalizing of some other commodity prices means the poor are actually worse off than they were before May”. Many poorer families in Cairo – some of whom spend 80% of their household income on food – have been making savings by cutting their meals from three a day to just two. Egypt is also the world’s largest importer of wheat, which explains why the country has been hit so hard by these international price rises. Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali says a large part of the inflation in his country stems from the higher prices of imported goods. But he believes that, as the year progresses, things will start to look better.   The wheat Egypt has, in the past, bought from Russia and Ukraine now looks much cheaper. “Look at international commodity prices,” he says. “Wheat used to be $480 a tonne, it has now fallen to around $200 a tonne. Corn is the same. Soybean the same. Edible oils the same. All of this is bound to translate here. We will see prices fall.     JULIA CAESAR, LONDON, UK Despite the UK’s wide variety of shops competing for custom, many here are feeling the pinch. But, after nine long months of price rises, food inflation seems to be slowing down.   According to the BBC’s Food Price Index compiled by Verdict, which tracks the cost of a typical trolley of UK food items, meat and fish products rose by 22.9% from January to August. General store-cupboard items, such as tinned foods, registered a 15% increase and seven items in the survey leapt in price by more than 40%. A pack of four croissants, for example, was 47.4% more expensive and a 125g packet of ham went up by 45.4%.   Another survey shows that fruit and vegetables have seen the biggest price rises – up by 30% at leading supermarket chains in the UK over the past year. Retailers are blaming poor crop harvests and high supply chain costs. But at least the shoppers in the UK have choice and they are making the most of it, according to consumer research. In the last 12 months, 41% of shoppers have switched to cheaper brands, with two-thirds searching for promotions and deals more often than a year ago. Hard discounters have become more popular too, forcing big-name supermarkets to compete more on price than they used to.     MICHAEL BRISTOW, BEIJING, CHINA Those in charge of the Chinese economy received some welcome news this summer – inflation fell to its lowest level in more than a year. Earlier in 2008, prices – particular for basic food items such as pork and eggs – had been rising faster than at any time in the past decade.   Shoppers across the county complained that they had cut back on the kind of food purchases they make every day. It was a worrying time for the Chinese leadership. As in other countries, inflation has sometimes led to street protests in China. In a keynote speech given to China’s parliament, Premier Wen Jiabao said tackling inflation was top of the government’s agenda. But even in the midst of this bad news, Chinese officials said they were confident that they would get inflation under control. They claimed the food price rises were the result of temporary supply problems and not because of long-term shortages.   That confidence now seems to have been well-placed. Beijing shoppers say prices are still going up, but more slowly than before. A senior finance official recently predicted that inflation in China would slow to 3% in 2009 from a high of 8.7% earlier this year. Having largely escaped the worst effects of the global financial crisis, economists are urging China to concentrate on turning that prediction into a reality. And the government will need to, because Chinese people remain acutely sensitive to price rises, particularly for everyday items.   LIZ BLUNT, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA It is easy to tell when one of the local “kebeles” in Addis Ababa is selling wheat – residents cluster outside hoping to be able to buy a sack of half-price grain and unemployed youngsters hang around hoping to earn a little money by carrying their sacks.   The “kebeles” are a leftover from communist times – part local government offices, part community centers, part instruments of social control. Now the Ethiopian government is using them to distribute subsidized wheat. Food prices have more than doubled in the past year here. It was easy at first to blame world prices, market forces and globalization. But, with wheat prices in Ethiopia much higher than world prices, it looked as if there would be a lot of profit to be made by importing wheat, yet market forces show no sign of bringing down the price.   The government’s attempts to flood the market have cost a lot but have had little effect. If you are lucky enough to be at the front of the queue when the wheat arrives, you can buy a 100 kilo sack for 350 birr (around $35; 25 euros). But the markets are still selling wheat for 600 or even 700 birr per sack. Not surprisingly, much of the subsidized wheat is taken straight down the road to the market where it is sold for twice the price. Perhaps merchants and farmers are being greedy, but more likely there is just not enough food in the country.   JONATHAN HEAD, BANGKOK, THAILAND Rice – the staple crop in this part of Asia – reached record prices this year. Even after falling back from highs of around $1000 (735 euros; £573) for a tonne of good quality rice, to $600-800, it is still double what was being paid last year. Yet the majority of farmers – who farm small plots of land of three hectares or less – have taken home very little of this bonanza. The reasons are complex, and vary from country to country, but they underline a simple fact: whereas driving up the price of other smallholder agricultural commodities such as coffee or rubber often does enrich those who work the land, it rarely works that way in the case of rice.   Many small rice farmers do not actually grow enough for their families to eat so they still have to buy rice at market prices. In Cambodia, for example, despite the government’s pride in becoming one of the world’s ten largest rice exporters, only a third of rice farmers produce any surplus they can sell – and one fifth of the population does not get enough to eat.   This lead to a bizarre situation where the government planned to sell 1.6m tones of locally grown rice on world markets this year, but was also forced to ask the Asian Development Bank for a $38m food security aid package for Cambodians who could not feed themselves. Thailand – the region’s largest exporter – has done well out of rising prices, but its farmers have not as most of the profits have gone to the middlemen. Farmers usually have no storage facilities, so they need to sell their rice the moment it is harvested. As prices started to ease from their highs in May, almost everyone in the region breathed a sigh of relief.     DANIEL SCHWEIMLER, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA There is no doubt that food prices in Argentina are rising – you just need to ask any shopper. But to get an idea of just how much will depend on who you talk to. Argentina’s official statistics office, the INDEC, says inflation is under control, at around nine percent a year. But shoppers, independent economists, newspapers and even some staff at the INDEC say those figures do not reflect the reality. Prices, they say, are rising at more than 20% annually.   About one third of the Argentine wage goes on food, and meat takes up a fair amount of space in the basket. Argentines are the biggest per capita consumers of beef in the world and the government has worked hard to keep the price down – negotiating with producers and restricting exports.   But soya has become the new Argentine beef. They aren’t eating it but exporting it – mostly to China and India. The little cream bean was, until recently, fetching high prices on world markets and has been the driving force behind Argentina’s economic recovery from the crisis it suffered seven years ago. More and more land previously used for other crops or for pasture is being turned over to the lucrative soya crop, reducing supplies and pushing up prices. Earlier this year farmers nationwide protested against government plans to increase export taxes, mostly on soya. The four-month protest and the worst drought in a century in Argentina’s northern provinces have both had an effect in a country which produces nearly all its own food and imports little Courtesy of BBC. Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have few desires

It takes two to lie ~ One to lie and one to listen

Why do you think a person would lie to another? I can think of number of reasons but what ever the reason or the excuse some one has for their actions (lies), it is indeed a bad thing by all means. The hardest tumble a man can make is to fall over his own bluff.

Remember, “Those who think it is permissible to tell white lies soon grow color-blind” ~Austin O’Malley

 

19^th POST

How to Detect Lies

Become a Lie Detector

Introduction to Detecting Lies

The following techniques to telling if someone is lying are often used by police, and security experts. This knowledge is also useful for managers, employers, and for anyone to use in everyday situations where telling the truth from a lie can help prevent you from being a victim of fraud/scams and other deceptions.

Warning: Sometimes Ignorance is bliss; after gaining this knowledge, you may be hurt when it is obvious that someone is lying to you.

Signs of Deception:

Body Language of Lies:

• Physical expression will be limited and stiff, with few arm and hand movements. Hand, arm and leg movement are toward their own body the liar takes up less space.

• A person who is lying to you will avoid making eye contact.

• Hands touching their face, throat & mouth. Touching or scratching the nose or behind their ear. Not likely to touch his chest/heart with an open hand.

Emotional Gestures & Contradiction

• Timing and duration of emotional gestures and emotions are off a normal pace. The display of emotion is delayed, stays longer it would naturally, then stops suddenly.

• Timing is off between emotions gestures/expressions and words. Example: Someone says “I love it!” when receiving a gift, and then smile after making that statement, rather then at the same time the statement is made.

• Gestures/expressions don’t match the verbal statement, such as frowning when saying “I love you.”

• Expressions are limited to mouth movements when someone is faking emotions (like happy, surprised, sad, awe, ) instead of the whole face. For example; when someone smiles naturally their whole face is involved: jaw/cheek movement, eyes and forehead push down, etc.

Interactions and Reactions

• A guilty person gets defensive. An innocent person will often go on the offensive.

• A liar is uncomfortable facing his questioner/accuser and may turn his head or body away.

• A liar might unconsciously place objects (book, coffee cup, etc.) between themselves and you.

Verbal Context and Content

• A liar will use your words to make answer a question. When asked, “Did you eat the last cookie?” The liar answers, “No, I did not eat the last cookie.”

•A statement with a contraction is more likely to be truthful: “I didn’t do it” instead of “I did not do it”

• Liars sometimes avoid “lying” by not making direct statements. They imply answers instead of denying something directly.

• The guilty person may speak more than natural, adding unnecessary details to convince you… they are not comfortable with silence or pauses in the conversation.

• A liar may leave out pronouns and speak in a monotonous tone. When a truthful statement is made the pronoun is emphasized as much or more than the rest of the words in a statement.

• Words may be garbled and spoken softly, and syntax and grammar may be off. In other
words, his sentences will likely be muddled rather than emphasized.

 

Other signs of a lie:

• If you believe someone is lying, then change subject of a conversation quickly, a liar follows along willingly and becomes more relaxed. The guilty wants the subject changed; an innocent person may be confused by the sudden change in topics and will want to back to the previous subject.

• Using humor or sarcasm to avoid a subject.

Final Notes:

Obviously, just because someone exhibits one or more of these signs does not make them a liar. The above behaviors should be compared to a person’s base (normal) behavior whenever possible.

 

 

 

 

Black or white

 

Shades Apart: Twins, One Black, One White

Unusual Pair of German Twins Illustrate Relatively Rare Phenomenon

 

Twin boys born in Germany July 11, 2008 are turning heads for more than their baby faces: in an unusual genetic occurrence, the brothers were born with dramatically different skin colors.

The babies’ mother, Florence Addo-Gerth, called her twin infants “black and white” in an interview with German broadcaster RTL. The older twin, Ryan, takes after his white German father, Stephan Gerth, while the younger, Leo, looks more like Addo-Gerth, who hails from Ghana in West Africa, she said. “I could not believe it at first, I think people will probably laugh when they see my boys and hear they are twins,” Addo-Gerth told RTL. But while some passersby will stop and stare, others might not even blink an eye — and with good reason, according to genetics experts. “That sort of combination is not as rare as you might think,” says Dr. Melissa Fries, director of genetics and fetal medicine at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C.

She says she was “not a bit” shocked by the recent news, and cites the handful of similar cases to occur in the past three year, including several sets of twins born in the U.K. to mixed-race couples. In fact, dramatically different twins are born every day. This occurrence is no different than if one twin was a curly-haired brunette and the other a straight-haired redhead, says Lawrence Balter, professor of applied psychology at New York University.

Fraternal twins are just two children born at the same time,” he says.

How Does This Happen?

Birthing twins who have different skin colors might seem like a one-in-a-million shot, but the odds are dictated by genetics. “Just as siblings receive different genes, so do fraternal twins,” Fries says. Fraternal twins are the product of two different eggs fertilized by two different sperm. Therefore, they receive different genetic information. Scientists believe that at least seven genes are responsible for a person’s external hue, Fries says. And though it’s more likely that the genes from the mother and father would have caused both children to have blended skin tones, it’s simply a matter of chance that the children ended up as opposites. “That is how our genes work,” Fries says. “They randomly assort. … If you look at human beings, we are all slightly different colors.”

How to Tell the Kids

Though these twins have likely drawn attention from day one, experts say that the German brothers need a few more years to understand their chromosomal coincidence. “No child could possibly understand what’s going on here until they were probably elementary-school aged,” says Ricardo Ainslie, a psychoanalyst and professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas-Austin. “It’s a very abstract and complicated thing to make sense of.”

While the children may not understand the genetic basis for the difference, it may cause them to identify more with the parent with whom their skin color is closest — similar to a set of opposite-sex twins in which the male identifies with the father and the female with the mother, Ainslie says. To children, it’s simple, says Washington Hospital’s Fries: “I got my color from mommy and you got your color from daddy.” The difference might only become an issue when the children reach school age.

“Until the world becomes defined in racial terms … they may not fully grasp it,” Ainslie says of the skin color difference. “It may just feel like part of the known world.” But when the children step outside their family bubble and become more integrated in society, problems could begin. “The way in which society values or devalues different color typing or ethnic markers may influence how the child feels about him or herself and how they feel about the other twin,” Ainslie says. NYU’s Balter agrees. “We know in this country that there is so much racial prejudice and profiling that one kid may be treated differently,” he says. That behavior, however, is culturally based, whereas the twins themselves are a product of pure scientific coincidence. “Since the parents are different races, the children are mixtures,” Balter says. “We’re all different mixtures of our parents.”

 

The Biology of . . . Skin Color

 

Ten years ago, while at the university of Western Australia, anthropologist Nina Jablonski was asked to give a lecture on human skin. As an expert in primate evolution, she decided to discuss the evolution of skin color, but when she went through the literature on the subject she was dismayed. Some theories advanced before the 1970s tended to be racist, and others were less than convincing. White skin, for example, was reported to be more resistant to cold weather, although groups like the Inuit are both dark and particularly resistant to cold. After the 1970s, when researchers were presumably more aware of the controversy such studies could kick up, there was very little work at all. “It’s one of these things everybody notices,” Jablonski says, “but nobody wants to talk about.” No longer.

 

Jablonski and her husband, George Chaplin, a geographic information systems specialist, have formulated the first comprehensive theory of skin color. Their findings, published in a recent issue of the Journal of Human Evolution, show a strong, somewhat predictable correlation between skin color and the strength of sunlight across the globe. But they also show a deeper, more surprising process at work: Skin color, they say, is largely a matter of vitamins.

Jablonski, now chairman of the anthropology department at the California Academy of Sciences, begins by assuming that our earliest ancestors had fair skin just like chimpanzees, our closest biological relatives. Between 4.5 million and 2 million years ago, early humans moved from the rain forest and onto the East African savanna. Once on the savanna, they not only had to cope with more exposure to the sun, but they also had to work harder to gather food. Mammalian brains are particularly vulnerable to overheating: A change of only five or six degrees can cause a heatstroke. So our ancestors had to develop a better cooling system.

The answer was sweat, which dissipates heat through evaporation. Early humans probably had few sweat glands, like chimpanzees, and those were mainly located on the palms of their hands and the bottoms of their feet. Occasionally, however, individuals were born with more glands than usual. The more they could sweat, the longer they could forage before the heat forced them back into the shade. The more they could forage, the better their chances of having healthy offspring and of passing on their sweat glands to future generations.

A million years of natural selection later, each human has about 2 million sweat glands spread across his or her body. Human skin, being less hairy than chimpanzee skin, “dries much quicker,” says Adrienne Zihlman, an anthropologist at the University of California at Santa Cruz. “Just think how after a bath it takes much longer for wet hair to dry.”

Hairless skin, however, is particularly vulnerable to damage from sunlight. Scientists long assumed that humans evolved melanin, the main determinant of skin color, to absorb or disperse ultraviolet light. But what is it about ultraviolet light that melanin protects against? Some researchers pointed to the threat of skin cancer. But cancer usually develops late in life, after a person has already reproduced. Others suggested that sunburned nipples would have hampered breast-feeding. But a slight tan is enough to protect mothers against that problem.

During her preparation for the lecture in Australia, Jablonski found a 1978 study that examined the effects of ultraviolet light on folate, a member of the vitamin B complex. An hour of intense sunlight, the study showed, is enough to cut folate levels in half if your skin is light. Jablonski made the next, crucial connection only a few weeks later. At a seminar on embryonic development, she heard that low folate levels are correlated with neural-tube defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly, in which infants are born without a full brain or spinal cord.

 

Jablonski later came across three documented cases in which children’s neural-tube defects were linked to their mothers’ visits to tanning studios during early pregnancy. Moreover, she found that folate is crucial to sperm development— so much so that a folate inhibitor was developed as a male contraceptive. (“It never got anywhere,” Jablonski says. “It was so effective that it knocked out all folate in the body.”) She now had some intriguing evidence that folate might be the driving force behind the evolution of darker skin. But why do some people have light skin?

As far back as the 1960s, the biochemist W. Farnsworth Loomis had suggested that skin color is determined by the body’s need for vitamin D. The vitamin helps the body absorb calcium and deposit it in bones, an essential function, particularly in fast-growing embryos. (The need for vitamin D during pregnancy may explain why women around the globe tend to have lighter skin than men.) Unlike folate, vitamin D depends on ultraviolet light for its production in the body. Loomis believed that people who live in the north, where daylight is weakest, evolved fair skin to help absorb more ultraviolet light and that people in the tropics evolved dark skin to block the light, keeping the body from overdosing on vitamin D, which can be toxic at high concentrations.

By the time Jablonski did her research, Loomis’s hypothesis had been partially disproved. “You can never overdose on natural amounts of vitamin D,” Jablonski says. “There are only rare cases where people take too many cod-liver supplements.” But Loomis’s insight about fair skin held up, and it made a perfect complement for Jablonski’s insight about folate and dark skin. The next step was to find some hard data correlating skin color to light levels.

Until the 1980s, researchers could only estimate how much ultraviolet radiation reaches Earth’s surface. But in 1978, NASA launched the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer. Three years ago, Jablonski and Chaplin took the spectrometer’s global ultraviolet measurements and compared them with published data on skin color in indigenous populations from more than 50 countries. To their delight, there was an unmistakable correlation: The weaker the ultraviolet light, the fairer the skin. Jablonski went on to show that people living above 50 degrees latitude have the highest risk of vitamin D deficiency. “This was one of the last barriers in the history of human settlement,” Jablonski says. “Only after humans learned fishing, and therefore had access to food rich in vitamin D, could they settle these regions.”

Humans have spent most of their history moving around. To do that, they’ve had to adapt their tools, clothes, housing, and eating habits to each new climate and landscape. But Jablonski’s work indicates that our adaptations go much further. People in the tropics have developed dark skin to block out the sun and protect their body’s folate reserves. People far from the equator have developed fair skin to drink in the sun and produce adequate amounts of vitamin D during the long winter months.

Jablonski hopes that her research will alert people to the importance of vitamin D and folate in their diet. It’s already known, for example, that dark-skinned people who move to cloudy climes can develop conditions such as rickets from vitamin D deficiencies. More important, Jablonski hopes her work will begin to change the way people think about skin color. “We can take a topic that has caused so much disagreement, so much suffering, and so much misunderstanding,” she says, “and completely disarm it.”

 

Think a minute