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Romancing the Bean
Who knew that mild vanilla had such a sexy history? Eleni Gage seeks out its origins south of the border.
Today, most people consider chocolate to be the world's most lust-inducing food. But historically, it has been vanilla that excited the libido. The beans were first harvested in what is now the state of Veracruz, Mexico, and when Aztecs conquered the indigenous Totonaca, they taxed them in precious vanilla. After the Spanish invaded, they imported vanilla to Europe, eventually using it as a treatment for impotence. More recently, in the late 1990s, the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago found that vanilla is one of the most arousing scents to mature men.
For such a flirty flavor, vanilla sure plays hard to get. It begins as an orchid, vanilla planifolia--in Mexico, it's called la flor recondita (the hidden flower) because it's so elusive. There's a month-long period in March and early April during which the orchid flowers, but usually only one bud on each stem blooms per day. To produce a bean, a blossom must be fertilized within four hours of flowering, so cultivators hand pollinate the orchids instead of relying on bees. Today, the vanilla orchid is cultivated predominantly in Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific. But I wanted to see the coy flower in its natural habitat, so I went on a culinary tour of Veracruz led by chef Susana Trilling.
The region is obsessed with vanilla, and on our journey through the area, so were we. In Tecolutla, we drank Xanath, a vanilla liqueur. In Papantla's town square, we bought souvenirs from artisans selling vanilla beans twisted into scorpions, roses, and even a crucified Jesus.
The high point in our vanilla pursuit took place in Gutiérrez Zamora, home to the Gaya Vai-Mex factory since 1873. A number of vanilla plantations offer tours by appointment, but Gaya Vai-Mex is the oldest and the only one run by a woman, a slim 30ish dynamo named Norma Gaya. She employs over 500 farmers--all men. "The first day, I had to drink a lot with the vanilla producers, so they would accept me," Norma said.
We toured the 173 acres of orange, cocuite, and pichoco trees that act as hosts for the orchid vines, following Antonio, the foreman, who cleared a path with a machete until he spotted an orchid. As we watched with hushed reverence, Antonio dipped a stick into the pollen at the stamen, then gently brought it up to the stigma. This was a whole new level of food porn--but it was beautiful. The flower would fall off by the next day, and in nine months a bean would be ready to harvest.
Back at the Gaya Vai-Mex factory, we saw acres of vanilla beans curing in the sunshine. Sorters separated the biggest pods to sell as beans, the medium-size ones for artisans to craft, and the smallest ones to make vanilla extract. On a wall, a mural showing a Totonaca princess alludes to vanilla's legendary origins. After Princess Morning Star was abducted by her admirer, Young Deer, they were caught and beheaded, and from earth soaked with their blood sprang the first vanilla orchid.
The next day, we attended the Cumbre Tajín, the spring equinox celebration held at the ruins of El Tajín, a complex of palaces, ball courts, and pyramids dedicated to the Totonaca gods of thunder. El Tajín was abandoned in the 12th century, but each March the ruins come to life for the festival with a series of sound and light shows. Outside the ruins, a vanilla queen, wearing a crown and necklace made of beans, circulated among visitors watching the voladores (flying dancers) perform an ancient Totonaca fertility ritual. One played a flute and danced atop a 75-foot-tall pole, while four others rappelled down it, spinning from ropes.
It's an occasion to celebrate traditional Totonaca culture, but the equinox is also an opportunity to make a fresh start. Visitors wear all white--the better to receive the sun's healing vibrations--and the ruins complex bustles with curanderos, or healers, offering guests a kind of spiritual spring cleaning.
On the morning of the equinox, I circled the ruins looking for the right curandero to cleanse me. Bypassing several old women beating their supplicants with herbs, I picked an old man in Totonaca garb--white bloomers and shirt, red kerchief, straw hat. He instructed me to spread out my arms to embrace the blessing, and seemed to skim my aura, moving his hands along my head and upper body without ever actually touching me. Finally, he raised his left hand in front of my forehead and his right toward the pyramid behind us. In a loud, deep voice, he intoned in Spanish, "Lord Tajín, give this woman a brilliant mind, like mine. Good health, like I enjoy. Multitudes of friends, like mine."
I stood quietly, receiving his blessing, although the truth is, I didn't want to be like him, but like the plant that had brought me there. As he chanted, I prayed to become as sought-after, as mysterious, as beloved as vanilla.


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Avalanche move ahead of Blackhawks with victoryby Rick Sadowski
DENVER -- In what might have been a Stanley Cup Playoff preview Wednesday at Pepsi Center, the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 and moved into second place in the Central Division.
Colorado (43-18-5) took a one-point lead (91-90) on Chicago (38-14-14) with 16 games left in the regular season. The Avalanche won four of five games between the teams.
"Yeah, we're happy right now, but we're not satisfied," said Avalanche center Matt Duchene, who had a goal and an assist to stretch his scoring streak to nine games (five goals, nine assists). "We're going to keep pushing. We want to try and climb as high as we possibly can. This is a nice accolade to have right now and we just have to keep it going."
The Blackhawks closed within 3-2 with 2:17 left in regulation when Brandon Saad knocked in the rebound of Andrew Shaw's shot during a goalmouth scramble 15 seconds after goalie Antti Raanta left the ice for a sixth attacker.
Raanta went to the bench again with 1:34 remaining, but the Avalanche held on. Goalie Semyon Varlamov made a stop against Saad with 4.9 seconds to play and finished with 37 saves for his 100th NHL win.
"They threw the kitchen sink at us in the third and we withstood it," Duchene said. "Even the goal we gave up with the goalie pulled, we didn't give them much there. It was kind of a hack and whack at it and it went in. It was unfortunate, but give them credit. They came hard. We did a good job only giving up one goal 5-on-5."
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville wasn't happy with the result, but didn't seem too concerned about how the season series went against the Avalanche.
"Over the course of the regular season against certain teams, your record isn't as good as you'd like," he said. "It looks like a landslide against you, but every game's been different, every game has been close. I didn't mind our game tonight. Very even, very competitive. We gave up an early goal, the first goal of the game, it's kind of what's gone on against them all year. We're playing from behind, we chipped away, chipped away to get ourselves back in the game with a chance in the end to tie it. When they scored on a 5-on-3, it was a big one."
Avalanche coach Patrick Roy called the victory a "character win" without injured forwards PA Parenteau (knee), Paul Stastny (back) and Alex Tanguay (hip surgery).
"It certainly means a lot to us," Roy said. "I'm so proud of this group. I think our guys showed a lot of character. It's amazing, the depth that we have, but at the same time how resilient our players have been. They play with pride, they play with heart."
The Avalanche snapped an 0-for-13 drought on power plays at 10:53 of the third period when Ryan O'Reilly scored on a 5-on-3 advantage for a 3-1 lead.
Duchene took a shot from low in the right circle that Raanta stopped, but O'Reilly handled the rebound at the edge of the crease and swept it in for his team-high 25th goal.
"They were playing pretty high and O'Reilly had a lot of room there," Duchene said. "I tried to get the puck towards him. He has great hands and I knew he'd finished that one off. It was a big goal and obviously the game winner. It was what we needed."
The goal came with five seconds left on the two-man advantage with Shaw (interference) and Marcus Kruger (delay of game) in the penalty box.
"I had a lot of room out there and Dutchie is really poised with the puck and he took a quick shot," O'Reilly said. "If it didn't go in, it was going to drop right to my stick. It was a smart play by him. I had tons of time in front and I just had to move it over and put it in."
The Avalanche took a 2-0 lead on goals from Brad Malone late in the first period and by Duchene early in the second.
Malone was recalled from Lake Erie in the American Hockey League on Wednesday, along with rookie Paul Carey, because the Avalanche were down to 10 forwards without Parenteau, Stastny and Tanguay.
Malone bounced the puck to himself off the boards in the neutral zone, skated down left wing and took a shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle that handcuffed Raanta and wound up in the net at 18:24.
"The first one was not the kind of goal you want to give up," said Raanta, who had 26 saves. "Lots of good things and a couple not so good things. Still, it's a learning experience."
Duchene was alone in the right circle after Jamie McGinn's shot deflected to him and he fired the puck by Raanta at 19 seconds of the second period for the 2-0 lead.
"It was a little give-and-go hockey," Duchene said. "He tried to throw it on net and it got a nice little bounce and it came over to me. I missed one earlier in the game when I hit [Raanta] in the shoulder and I saw an opportunity where I wanted to rip it on net and get it up where I wanted it and it found its way in."
The Blackhawks outshot the Avalanche 14-8 in the second period after Quenneville put a Patrick Sharp-Jonathan Toews-Patrick Kane line together and got on the board at 8:23 when Kane scored his 29th goal of the season, tying Sharp for the team lead.
Kane skated down right wing, put a move on Avalanche defenseman Jan Hejda and beat Varlamov to the short side.
"They're great players," Roy said. "It's amazing to see how hungry they remain. It's good for our players to see that. I think we're learning a lot from players like this."
The Avalanche gave up at least one power-play goal in seven of the previous nine games, but killed all three of the Blackhawks' advantages.
"Give them credit, they're a good team, they played well," Toews said. "But I guess we need to find that urgency and determination we had later in the game and bring that right from the start, especially with their speed and energy. Getting behind against that team, it's not an easy thing to come back, especially with the way their goaltender is playing. We need to find a way to be better early in games.
"Maybe we can learn our lesson now that games aren't going to get easier this time of the year. It's time to play hard, it's time to play playoff-style hockey if we want to win games. That's another two points we let slip, six in a row against this team."

subset: commoncrawl


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D'oh! Homer Simpson takes ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
After sweeping the globe, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has reached Springfield.
Producers of The Simpsons have released a clip of everyone's favourite father, Homer J. Simpson, being doused with ice – and more.
The 40-second clip was published on YouTube around lunchtime Wednesday, Australian-time, and accumulated more than 2 million hits by Thursday morning.
It shows Homer nominating Ned Flanders, Lenny and Donald Trump to take the challenge, before dousing himself with a glass of water.
"Boy, ow, that was cold, brrr... but it was all worth it to raise awareness for ALS," he says rather unconvincingly.
A curtain of water then knocks him to the ground, followed by a range of cold-climate appropriate objects and animals, including penguins, a polar bear, ice hockey players, a Yeti and an ice cream truck.
A pan upwards reveals Bart Simpson in a helicopter, laughing, having just dropped the motherload.
"Fight ALS," Homer says to the camera before passing out.
ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, is a form of motor neurone disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, rendering sufferers unable to control the muscles of their body.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge began in late July when former Boston baseball player and ALS sufferer Pete Frates challenged his friends to perform the task to raise awareness.
It subsequently went viral, with millions of challenge videos posted to social media accounts, and a sharp rise in donations to ALS.
Dozens of celebrities including Robert Downey jnr, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, Patrick Stewart, Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith and George W. Bush have taken part.
In Australia, the challenge is being supported by MND Australia, which has so far raised more than $200,000 in donations.
The 26th series of The Simpsons, which is screened on Channel Ten in Australia, premieres in September.
Natalie Bochenski is a reporter for Brisbane Times.


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If you're in the Ann Arbor, MI area, the kids of National Homeschool Music Ensembles, www.nhme.org, are hosting a free concert and open house for their local communities and prospective students.
The venue is: The Tecumseh Center for the Arts
400 North Maumee Street, Tecumseh, MI
May 21, 2013, 7:30pm, free admission.
Come hear a thriving homeschool music program and see what we're all about!
Free Homeschool Music Concert!
The arts are sometimes overlooked, but they're a valuable part of culture and history.
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At a called meeting Tuesday night, the Winder City Council unanimously appointed Alfonza Brown to serve in the seat left by former Ward 2 council Charlie Eberhart who died Jan. 30. Eberhart held the seat for 22 years. Brown was one of seven applicants for the position. Brown stated on his sign-up form that he has been a resident of the election ward for more than 30 years, and he listed his occupation as a volunteer.
For the full story, see the March 20 issue of the Barrow Journal.
Al Brown appointed to fill Eberhart's seat
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Editorial Analysis: JAN/23/2016, SSN;
Watching the Norwegian Ambassador in Juba, Ms. Tone Tinnes, participating in an undeserving demonstration of her country's inappropriate so-called 'development aid' during the opening of a new building her country constructed for the Juba electricity and water department, one feels utterly disgusted by this misdirected generosity.
Although the building only cost 3 million dollars, this apparent benevolence to the Juba government was an unwise and ill-advised usage of money by Norway to an unworthy recipient, the corrupt Kiir government.
It also seriously begs the obvious question: How come the Kiir Juba government of South Sudan can't afford to construct for itself such a simplistic and supposedly "modern" building during the last ten years of its failed reign in South Sudan?
By any technical standard, the building itself was a simplistic and normal construction of concrete and glass, and at the price of a mere 3 million dollars, the government of Kiir would have easily paid the entire bill if proper financial prudence was effected in the usage of the billions of oil money received by Kiir over the ten years.
Furthermore, if the oil monies remitted to Kiir's government by Norway immediately after the peace agreement (CPA) in 2005 was used properly, schools, hospitals, roads and bridges would have been constructed across the country without ever soliciting much of Norwegian generosity and pampering.
Ambassador Tone Tinnes must surely be fully cognizant of the prevailing realities in Juba; 3 million dollars is just small personal change for both president Kiir and his vice, Wani-Igga, the latter, who whilst officiating the ceremony must be laughing at the sheer Norwegian stupidity to so easily succumb to the government's scam.
It must be clearly recalled that Norway was the country chosen to take custody of all the money accruing from the sale of South Sudanese oil during the war years and it was Norway itself that repatriated all those billions (over 50 billion dollars) to president Kiir Juba regime.
Most certainly, Ambassador Tinnes must have some delegated responsibility of keeping an eye on how and where the billions have gotten out or misused, or who has siphoned this money to foreign bank accounts since Norway, like the good matron, must morally assume some responsibility on how that money was being utilized or misappropriated.
Unfortunately, almost all the money was avariciously looted and most of it eventually ended up in the pockets of Kiir, Wani and the rest of the SPLM/A gangsters. A shinning example, Arthur Akuein once the finance minister initially responsible, was accused of stealing the money and briefly incarcerated but was expeditiously released by fellow tribesmen.
Norway obviously stands morally culpable of criminal negligence in the eventual massive corruption seen within the Kiir SPLM/A monstrosity that expeditiously ensued and consumed the entire oil revenues.
Basically, Norway and the others like the USA, who expedited the CPA deal between North and South Sudan and subsequently took up the responsibility of midwifying the new nation, should have continued with the responsibility of dishing out the money according to some approved financial modality.
Giving president Kiir all the money at once and at the same time generously providing massive so-called 'donor support' only served to increase the Juba ruling mobsters' appetites and propensities to loot.
Furthermore, it must be recalled that when the British ambassador in Juba reportedly exposed that infamous list of those 75 corrupt individuals in Kiir's government who allegedly looted over 5 billion dollars, the Norwegian Ambassador in Juba must have certainly been one of the few privileged diplomats who accessed the list of the 75 alleged thieves.
Unfortunately and inexplicably, up to date, Norway, like Britain and the rest, is conspiratorially silent about exposing these very thieves who blatantly looted the nation's resources.
The badly depraved people of South Sudan deserve to know who the thieves are so that they are prosecuted in the courts of law and the money stolen is rightly repatriated back to the national coffers.
Norway, in most South Sudanese eyes, has been justly regarded as a truly committed friend of the people and thus its support was most expected in the exposition to the public of that list of thieves.
Sadly, Norway has unwisely chosen not to divulge the kleptocrats and this act of irresponsibility has severely disappointed many in South Sudan.
Instead, in spite of the Kiir's regime becoming increasingly repressive and having committed a terrible genocide against its people in 2013, Norway and its embassy in Juba under Ambassador Tone Tinnes are blatantly in full collaboration with and abetting the terror regime of president Kiir.
One is forcefully reminded of Walter Rodney's famous book, "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa," and it's becoming more apparent that Norway today is obviously contributing to the ongoing 'underdevelopment' of South Sudan by its collaboration and collusion with the corrupt 'tribal colonial' regime in Juba.
Walter Rodney aptly contended that, "Colonialism created conditions which led not just to periodic famine but to chronic undernourishment, malnutrition, and deterioration in the physique of the people." Isn't that what is now happening to the South Sudanese people?
Predictably, Ambassador Tone Tinnes of Norway in Juba is unfortunately an unwitting accomplice in the perpetuation of the corruption in Juba, she'd be made fully aware that monies probably allocated earlier by Kiir's government for the building of this very same structure for Water and Electricity might have long been callously pocketed by the same ruling regime of Juba.
One is compelled to assert that Norway is currently behaving like an insidiously active imperial power in South Sudan by its over-domineering presence in practically all facets and events taking place within and across the country, from war to peace and again to war and back to peace.
Since first coming to the country in a big way in 1972 after the Addis Ababa peace agreement and the establishment of the first self-rule government in South South, Norway has been favorably accorded a special status and an unfair domineering role in the country.
Norway was allowed then to literally 'colonize' the then Eastern Equatoria province but, arguably, in spite of its preponderance in those so-called 'development' projects, there was little that can truly be classified as tangible development of the people in those areas allocated to Norway.
However, despite the altruism and benevolence renown of the Norwegians, in reality the Norwegian NGO's practically provided little in terms of tangible 'development." Most of the men in the area became bonded employees of the NCA and their women ended up doing basket weaving and other futile projects just for petty cash.
The Eastern Equatoria area, unfortunately, after a decade of Norwegian dominance, never achieved any self-reliance or self-sufficiency, instead, the NCA callously impoverished the area and its people.
Quoting Rodney again, "wealth has to be produced out of nature, from tilling the land or mining metals or felling trees or turning raw materials into finished products for human consumption. These things are done by the vast majority of the people who are peasants and workers."
South Sudan is providentially blessed with a lot of natural resources which could go into making a better life for its people. A country like Norway itself which is also blessed with plentiful of natural resources like us, should direct more of their aid to helping the common people in exploiting these possibilities and not in only fattening or comforting the leaders in Juba.
This is where Ambassador Tone Tinnes should now direct her country's efforts and money to, instead of paying for the construction of a luxurious building for a government agency better known to the entire residents of Juba for gross corruption, inefficiency and thievery of fuel and other materials by its employees while Juba residents perpetually wallow in darkness and thirst.
When the second liberation war erupted in 1983, once again, Norway and its NGO's intruded massively on the side of the SPLM/A and this perhaps explains its contagious and misguided infatuation with the corrupt regime of Kiir.
Arguably, just like turning a blind eye to the egregious human rights abuses that were being blatantly perpetuated by the Garang's SPLM/A, Norway today is shamefully and financially abetting the genocidal and kleptocratic Kiir's Juba regime whilst the citizens are being deliberately oppressed and impoverished.
In her benign infatuation to perpetuate the well-acclaimed generosity of the Norwegian people since 1972 to the people of South Sudan, Ambassador Tone Tinnes, is being blinded by her impulsive compulsion to pamper and appease the ruling gangsters in Juba.
Finally, whether in terms of rendering development aid or participating as a Troika member in the current peace talks between the Kiir junta and the SPLM-IO, Norway must assert fairness and a clear stance on the side of the common people of South Sudan.


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You may be almost done with the typical spring cleaning chores, such as organizing your closets, but how about detoxing your diet to spring clean your health?
This is not about expensive cleanses that may be harmful to your bodies with short-lived results. By making healthy changes to your diet, such as the ones suggested below by CalorieCount.com Director of Nutrition Rachel Berman, you can detox naturally and enjoy a healthier spring and summer.
Foods to add to your diet:
* Leafy greens such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts and kale contain cancer-fighting compounds called glucosinolates. They are also a great source of calcium, which is important for muscle contraction and therefore can improve the "spring in your step." Frozen veggies often can be even more nutritious than fresh since they are frozen at the peak of ripeness.
* Citrus fruits are loaded with soluble fiber. This type of fiber increases the amount of healthy bacteria in your colon to help flush out toxins from your system. They are also loaded with immune boosting nutrients and antioxidants such as vitamin C, which can improve the health of your skin. Choose the whole fruits, not juices, to get the maximum fiber benefit and improve satiation.
* Garlic not only tastes and smells good, but it also has powerful antibiotic, antiviral, and antiseptic properties. It can protect our bodies against cell damage that comes from air pollution, cigarette smoke, radiation, and UV light that contributes to aging, cancer, and heart disease.
* Green tea has high amounts of antioxidants called catechins that have been researched for their disease fighting capabilities including protecting the health of our liver. One of the liver�s main functions is to process and remove toxins from our body so its health is important for any detox process.
Food strategy:
* Make time for a lighter breakfast, including fresh fruits and low-fat yogurts.
* When dining out, start your meal with a salad or light veggie soup/gazpacho to help fill you up on fewer calories.
* Drink plenty of non-caloric fluids, such as water, throughout the day to stay hydrated and energized.
* No need to do away with the "bad" foods you love. You can still enjoy a small soft-serve ice cream cone as a snack, splitting a small bag of popcorn or potato chips with a friend (or saving the portion for another day), or eating a small portion of candy or a muffin.


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As promised, Carlos Beltran is off tonight. He needs to be refreshed Jerry Manuel says. I think Beltran was rushed back if he needs to be treated with kid gloves.
I also think he should be playing one of the corner outfield positions and batting lower in the order.
Here's tonight's line-up vs. Rockies:
Jose Reyes, SS
Fernando Martinez, RF
Angel Pagan, CF
David Wright, 3B
Ike Davis, 1B
Chris Carter, LF
Josh Thole, C
Ruben Tejada, 2B
Mike Pelfrey, RP


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|Taking it on faith
By Lady Liberty
I read a lot, and much of what I read is science fiction. I'm capable of suspending all disbelief for hours at a time while I live in the world of the book I'm enjoying, at least until it's over. But seeing something on the printed page, no matter how immersed in imagination I might become, is no comparison to actually experiencing something the real world.
Given my interests, more than a few people have asked me if I believe in UFOs. The answer to that question is an unqualified "yes." After all, people see UFOs all the time. A UFO is simply an "unidentified flying object," no more and no less. To deny that such things exist is obtuse, something I sincerely hope I'm not. But then comes the follow-up question: Do you think that UFOs are of alien origin? My answer to that is a little less definitive. I hope they are -- come on, how amazing would it be to meet intelligences from another world? -- but I don't really know. To say yes again would be to imbue the lack of evidence with nothing more tangible than wishful thinking. I hope I don't do that, either.
I've often wondered how I would feel if I were to actually see an alien spaceship coming in for a landing. Would I be afraid of the possibility of creatures who most resembled those from War of the Worlds or Independence Day? Or would I eagerly go to greet aliens that I hoped were something like those in Close Encounters of the Third Kind? I finally got the chance to see just how I really would feel late one night in Phoenix, Arizona.
I was outside on beautiful clear night, standing in the front yard of a house not too far from the central part of town. Despite the reasonably well lit neighborhood, I could see some of the brightest stars sparkling above. And then I saw it, rising above the silhouette of the palm trees. It was a gigantic silvery cigar-shaped object with brightly colored lights flickering along its circumference. It didn't make a sound despite its substantial size. It hung there in the sky glowing and twinkling before me, and it was beautiful.
The truth of the matter is that it took me less time to figure out what it really was than it did for you to read my short description of the event. It was merely a blimp, lit from within its semi-transparent skin, making its majestic way across the Valley of the Sun. But in the split second between one breath and the next, in that fraction of a moment after I saw it but before I knew what it really was, I discovered what my reaction would be to the sight of real visitors from "out there:" Pure, unadulterated joy. Even now, I can recall the moment and the feeling.
My point here actually has nothing to do with UFOs, but rather with the fact that there are some things we just can't know without experiencing them. And the more alien (pardon the pun) those things are to us and our experiences, the less likely it is our imaginations can come close to creating an accurate reaction or emotion for the circumstance. Consider, for example, a man who tries to imagine going through childbirth. A man doesn't have the vaguest frame of reference to even begin to understand the physical or emotional impact of labor and delivery!
That's why I get so exasperated with those in Congress who claim to "feel your pain," or who insist they know what "the American people" wants or think. The vast majority of these men and women are well educated and wealthy. The majority of Americans are not. Congressional representives claim to be in touch with their constituency -- and to be fair, phone numbers and address for each of them are broadly disseminated -- but the reality is that they're typically quite well insulated from direct contact with the rest of us. Who can gain access to politicians with relative ease? Bigwigs from big companies and movie stars, both of which most Americans are also not.
When President George W. Bush says that "most Americans want Social Security reform," he may or may not be right. He also says that most Americans think that reform should involve private accounts. There are some polls that seem to bear that out. But if the polls are right and the president is right, how come so many in Congress say that their constituents -- their segment of "the American people" -- disagree? And more importantly, how can men and women who enjoy a guaranteed pension program about three times better than the average worker (and most workers don't have any pension plan at all) really understand how most of us feel about our only "pension" plan?
President Bush likes to talk about the innate goodness of the American people, and he speaks regularly of prayer and his Christian faith. Congress, too, typically becomes quite devout during election years. Even the Democrats are spotted going to church or talking about how much of an effect Jesus has had on their lives. But the fact is that substantial numbers of Americans don't attend church on anything resembling a regular basis, and significant numbers aren't Christian at all (and most members of Congress, at least in deed, aren't particularly Christian even by the most charitable of definitions). At the same time, moral judgments are made and solemnly rendered as if it is the will of "the American people" and not merely the will of the politician making the statement.
What complicates matters further, of course, is the fact that some of these politicians actually believe they're doing the right thing. And all too many voters have faith that the politicians they elect and re-elect will do the right thing. Whether or not they actually do the right thing is almost immaterial to a faith that, except in the cases of the most grievous abuses, remains unshakable. And much as the politicans don't truly relate to the every day lives of their constituents, the voters don't really grasp what it's like to the lives of the men and women who make the laws -- which is probably how they manage to keep their faith in them.
I'll let you in on a secret. I have faith that there is, indeed, intelligent life on other planets. The universe is just too big for me to even consider any other alternative. But I don't have much faith at all in politicians. Their universe isn't nearly so large, and contrary to the belief of many in Congress, the rest of the world does not revolve around them and their doings. Besides, the evidence of wrongdoing in Washington seems to be as overwhelming as the evidence of extraterrestrial visitors seems lacking.
What would convince me that UFOs were visiting ETs? Photographs. Alien DNA. Seeing it for myself, maybe. What would convince me that politicians really wanted to do what was best for "the American people?" For them to stop doing what they want to do, and leave off making decisions based on what they think (or even what they're sure) "the American people" want. Everyone's personal life is, when you get right down to it. largely alien to everyone else's. No one can decide how I should live my life, spend my money, raise my children, make my friends, or enjoy my free time better than I can.
Taking responsibility for ourselves -- whether we want to or not -- is what's really best for each and every one of us and our families. That's how good parents raise their children, and how children become productive citizens and good parents in their own right. Unfortunately, many in government consider that "the American people" need care and coddling just like children. And these bad politicians are also bad "parents" who won't allow their charges to grow up and make decisions on their own.
That's how we've ended up with a large percentage of Americans who are essentially young adults still living in Mom and Dad's basement and living off their largesse. That's why we have a problem with high crime rates among the young. In short, all of the things "the American people" don't want. Space aliens could conceivably destroy the planet. Illegal aliens could conceivably destroy our culture. But it's the people who live in Washington, many in lifestyles entirely alien to ours, are the ones who are making substantial inroads into destroying our country. It's going to take more than faith to fix that.
Lady Liberty is a graphic designer and pro-freedom activist currently residing in the Midwest. More of her writings and other political and educational information is available on her web site, Lady Liberty's Constitution Clearing House, at http://www.ladylibrty.com. E-mail Lady Liberty at
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Murrion needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 47 designs submitted by 14 freelance designers.
The application is called "Delivery Impact"
Delivery Impact is a brand new email marketing application which adds on to popular email clients.
The goal of our software is to help a business create an impact with the marketing messages they send out to the public.
We are developing this application to help businesses create better email newsletters to increase open rates and sales.
We are a small software company developing a lot of email marketing and social networking applications for businesses to use to promote their businesses on the web.
Our target audience are small business owners and individuals who wish to promote their own business via email and other online services.
The goal of our software is to help a business create an impact with the marketing messages they send out to the public.
We would like our logo to be colourful and to stand out.
We would prefer the logo to have a white background but it's not essential.
Email is a big part of our business but its not everything, we don't necessarily want an image of an @ email symbol or an envelope in the logo.
We would like if the logo was not too tall, in places it will be used where there is not much vertical space.
No Cartoons, we would like it to be colourful and professional.
Some logos we like are:
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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