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Saturday, March 14, 2009
Dear Mr. President and Congress... It's Time To Legalize Marijuana
AP – A state police officer stands amid marijuana plants found in a greenhouse at a ranch in Tecate, Mexico, …
Could marijuana be the answer to the economic misery facing California? Democratic state assemblyman Tom Ammiano thinks so. Ammiano introduced legislation last month that would legalize pot and allow the state to regulate and tax its sale - a move that could mean billions of dollars for the cash-strapped state. Pot is, after all, California's biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion a year in sales, dwarfing the state's second largest agricultural commodity - milk and cream - which brings in $7.3 billion a year, according to the most recent USDA statistics. The state's tax collectors estimate the bill would bring in about $1.3 billion a year in much needed revenue, offsetting some of the billions of dollars in service cuts and spending reductions outlined in the recently approved state budget.
"The state of California is in a very, very precipitous economic plight. It's in the toilet," says Ammiano. "It looks very, very bleak, with layoffs and foreclosures, and schools closing or trying to operate four days a week. We have one of the highest rates of unemployment we've ever had. With any revenue ideas, people say you have to think outside the box, you have to be creative, and I feel that the issue of the decriminalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana fits that bill. It's not new, the idea has been around, and the political will may in fact be there to make something happen." (See pictures of stoner cinema.)
Ammiano may be right. A few days after he introduced the bill, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that states should be able to make their own rules for medical marijuana and that federal raids on pot dispensaries in California would cease. The move signaled a softening of the hard-line approach to medicinal pot use previous Administrations have taken. The nomination of Gil Kerlikowske as the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy may also signal a softer federal line on marijuana. If he is confirmed as the so-called drug czar, Kerlikowske will take with him experience as police chief of Seattle, where he made it clear that going after people for possessing marijuana was not a priority for his force. (See a story about the grass-roots marijuana war in California.)
In 1996 California became one of the first states in the nation to legalize medical marijuana. Currently, $200 million in medical-marijuana sales are subject to sales tax. If passed, the Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act (AB 390) would give California control of pot in a manner similar to that of alcohol while prohibiting its purchase by citizens under age 21. (The bill has been referred to the California state assembly's public-safety and health committees; Ammiano says it could take up to a year before it comes to a vote for passage.) State revenues would be derived from a $50-per-oz. levy on retail sales of marijuana and sales taxes. By adopting the law, California could become a model for other states. As Ammiano put it, "How California goes, the country goes."
Despite the need for the projected revenue, opponents say legalizing pot would only add to social woes. "The last thing we need is yet another mind-altering substance to be legalized," says John Lovell, lobbyist for the California Peace Officers' Association. "We have enough problems with alcohol and abuse of pharmaceutical products. Do we really need to add yet another mind-altering substance to the array?" Lovell says the easy availability of the drug would lead to a surge in its use, much as happened when alcohol was allowed to be sold in venues other than liquor stores in some states. (Read why Dr. Sanjay Gupta is against decriminalizing pot.)
Joel W. Hay, professor of pharmaceutical economics at USC, also foresees harm if the bill passes. "Marijuana is a drug that clouds people's judgment. It affects their ability to concentrate and react, and it certainly has impacts on third parties," says Hay, who has written on the societal costs of drug abuse. "It's one more drug that will add to the toll on society. All we have to do is look at the two legalized drugs, tobacco and alcohol, and look at the carnage that they've caused. [Marijuana] is a dangerous drug, and it causes bad outcomes for both the people who use it and for the people who are in their way at work or other activities." He adds, "There are probably some responsible people who can handle marijuana, but there are lots of people who can't, and it has an enormous negative impact on them, their family and loved ones." (See pictures of Mexico's drug wars.)
In response, retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray, a longtime proponent of legalization, estimates that legalizing pot and thus ceasing to arrest, prosecute and imprison nonviolent offenders could save the state $1 billion a year. "We couldn't make this drug any more available if we tried," he says. "Not only do we have those problems, along with glamorizing it by making it illegal, but we also have the crime and corruption that go along with it." He adds, "Unfortunately, every society in the history of mankind has had some form of mind-altering, sometimes addictive substances to use, to misuse, abuse or get addicted to. Get used to it. They're here to stay. So let's try to reduce those harms, and right now we couldn't do it worse if we tried."
Read "An American Pastime: Smoking Pot."
Friday, March 13, 2009
John Stewart and the Daily Show... doing the Best Investigative Journalism in America.
10 Conservative Blacks Who Have Done the Most to Hurt Blacks: Can You Say Yes Sir Boss!!!
9. Larry Elder
8. Armstrong Williams
7. Alan Keyes
6. Niger Innis & Roy Innis
5. J.C. Watts
4. Clarence "Uncle Tom" Thomas
3. Michael Steele
2. Ken Blackwell
1. Ward Connerly
While they all sat around listening to Chip Saltsman's rendition of "Barack the Magic Negro," these Negroes of opportunity take advantage of Mr. Charlie's generosity of offering them token positions in their establishment. The testament to that is how Party Boss Rush Limbaugh went after Michael Steele for speaking the truth about conservatives on D.L. Hughley's talkshow on CNN. Too bad these men wake up on the morning and look in the mirror and deny who they are and the white supremacy that oozes from the pustules of their party. We should all thank all of them for taking us back to the days of Dred Scott.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Ari Fleischer Goes On Hardball To Once Again Claim That Saddam Hussein Attacked Us On 9/11. Jesus, how dumb does he think we are?
For the Record "We have no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in the September 11th Attacks." - George W. Bush September 18, 2003.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Right Wingers Continue To Turn To Ayn Rand. Even Though It Was Greed and Selfishness That Got Us Into This Mess.
| Culture of corruption: the legacy of Ayn Rand
By Julian Edney
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Jan 24, 2006, 22:16
| Email this article
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A Zogby poll conducted when Bush was re-elected showed American voters actually more worried about economic justice than abortion. Specifically, when asked to choose the most urgent moral crisis, 33 percent of voters chose 'greed and materialism' and 31 percent 'poverty and economic justice.' Twenty percent named abortion [1].
We've had no moral relief in the intervening year. More high profile businessmen have appeared in court after looting their clients; the Senate majority leader booked on money laundering charges; Martha Stewart, style-setter -- in and out of jail and grinning for the cameras. Those petro giants' profits while some poor could not afford to buy gas; other people lined up in droves to file bankruptcies.
A recent poll shows 49 percent thinks Congress is corrupt [2]. The official line is that the place to find evil is in the Middle East.
Whichever way you connect this year's dots, there is a shadow on the land.
My point: we haven't been ambushed. We're not entitled to surprise. This corruption is a slowly rising tide and plenty of time to notice, but once more, the public just doesn't know what to do. Largely, we just stare. So typically, when New Orleans filled with water and FEMA did nothing, we stared, and we watched an old pattern unfold: where there are a lot of people in crisis, somebody will make formidable money.
We should have known it was coming.
If FEMA's response had been swift and effective it would have looked heroic, for both the common person and for the common good. FEMA's inaction was not a botch. There are deep corridors behind this.
It was close to what Ayn Rand's disciples have in mind, and I believe there are plenty of Rand's disciples in places of high influence.
Ayn Rand's ideology, powerful since the 1940s, denies the common good. It actually prescribes not helping. In particular, selfishness and greed are virtues, altruism is a vice.
You laugh: that's a stretch, nobody reads Rand anymore. Actually Rand's ideology, an elaboration of the Nietzschean superman ethic which was carried in two novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and two books of essays [3] is still selling very well; one biographer estimates that after 50 years, Ayn Rand's books and those of her followers are still printed worldwide at 400,000 copies a year [4] -- and I am guessing there are dog-eared copies on many American baby-boomer's bookshelves.
While she was alive and touring, Rand's oratory was persistently confrontational. She was restlessly negative and she did everything she could to hoist herself up to position of philosopher and authority, to establish her dogma. In practice she was a humorless bully, and she browbeat her students. Philosophers largely rejected her published harangues, but she did attain status as an ideologue of the era.
Rand's toxic ideas of the good life, and how businesses should be conducted, are more than popular: they saturate upper business echelons. Alan Greenspan was a personal student of Rand's; he contributed three of the essays to her Capitalism [5]. The Reagan administration was largely Randian [6]. And her values, expanded in derivatives such as Ringer's popular Looking Out For Number One and Winning Through Intimidation were catalysts for the 'me' generation of the 1970s and 80s. They continue to spread.
The trademark arrogance in her ideas (and personally Rand always insisted on everything) also animates her novels' protagonists. They were heroes who were no-holds-barred productive, and who were arrogance incarnate. Rand rewrote Nietzsche's point that very successful people, the very strong, are categorically different from the rest of us. They are above public morality. Rand also insisted on no compromises, because compromise betrays weakness [7]. She argued for a return to the 1890s Golden Age style of business, monopolies run on personal will power, in which great fortunes were made, partly through inhumane exploitation of immigrants and the poor.
The dark side of business is nothing new, but in Rand's utopia there was nothing wrong with letting the laggards perish. Rand was also a Social Darwinist. Social Darwinism was a robber baron-era philosophy which held that evolutionary pressures -- natural selection -- apply to humans. It held that you actually help the nation along by permitting the weak to fall by the wayside: thus welfare is a mistake because it interferes with nature's way of weeding out the unfit. Absolute laissez-faire was Rand's ideal -- no government constraint on business and no assistance to the poor, only glorious liberty to be as selfish as you want. This, she said, is also rational.
One of her novel's heroes stated that a nation's morality is its money. That was a silly thing to say; but modern Libertarians embrace these points, and many young readers still find her message uplifting.
My second point: if you tried to overlay the administration's post-Katrina actions on Ayn Rand's dogma, the fit would be snug.
In the days after hurricane Katrina folded death and despair into the doorways of New Orleans, the Wall Street Journal blithely ran a front page interview with a member of the city's moneyed elite, whose house was largely spared, being on higher ground. Sipping a highball he told the reporter that after the worst was over he and his neighbors had plans for New Orleans to be rebuilt differently. New Orleans had a teeming underclass; and this Great Gatsby character was going to change all that. What local African American leaders fear now is that the moneyed elite plan a rebuilding which shifts the political base by largely excluding the poor and blacks [8].
We all read the news. The tectonic divide between American rich and poor grows. American poverty is up [9], American hunger is up [10], more and more ordinary people are deeply in debt; and the nation itself is deeper than ever in deficit.
Trust is fading year by year [11]. Sun Tzu's The Art of War is required reading in many corporate boardrooms. Citizens everywhere continue to buy guns.
In many quarters it appears the rich are disinterested in any but the rich. Whatever happened to the concept of the common good?
This is the threat: Without a focus on people helping one another, for the common good, it may be difficult to prevent a gradual decay into a war of all against all. But Ayn Rand's propaganda -- and she insisted her ideology was propaganda [12] -- dismantles the common good. In Rand's utopia, the good people are brass-knuckled individualists who are never interested in anything average; they despised the weak. The powerful are in splendid position to loot lesser people, and this never offended Social Darwinism.
So we read the news, and wonder: is the official policy in New Orleans a war on the poor?
I am saying there is nothing here that could not be predicted. This past year's events in New Orleans are a legacy of sorts. We are where Rand in the 1960s wanted us to go. The concept of the common good has all but disappeared. This, I believe, goes hand in hand with the nation's ebbing morality -- the common factor is a decline in altruism, which Rand actually insisted was incompatible with freedom [13] and destructive to civilization.
Pick that copy of Rand's The Virtue of Selfishness off your bookshelf and glance through it:
"It is only on the basis of selfishness . . . that men can live together in. . . . society." [p. 32]
Something out of a bad dream.
Ayn Rand is not with us any more, but the ideological boulders she pushed down from her heights are still falling; in fact they are gathering. Public corruption is getting worse.
After decades of "looking out for number one," it is not surprising the left wing has been brought to a collapsing halt. It stands ideologically naked. Now in policy making, and now in business, Liberty exalts; Equality hides her face.
Social Darwinism is rising again. It is poisonously inegalitarian; it is a frontal threat to democracy. But we have heard so much, and with such insistence, that we have become cowed. We have become like dogs that bite the stones thrown at us, not the thrower.
In conversations with right-wing business people, I hear the same timbre: this insistence. Liberals, unfortunately, sound different. From them I hear a kind of thin and sophisticated despair, a hope that somehow this will all be humanized. But that is not enough to halt corruption.
There was no Ayn Rand of the left. So what are we supposed to be doing, and which direction to start?
As grim as Rand's rants were, she reminded us ideas are everything.
The first order is awakening, a raising of consciousness and a reclaiming of our positions. Policy makers will hear us if we also start insisting.
Our values are not abandoned. Nor is reason. We can still watch for justice, pick up our concerns over greed and materialism which were dropped after the '60s. We should reclaim these basics: What is isn't the same as what is right. Might still does not make right. Selfishness is still a vice. Corruption is still wrong. Democracy is still precious. The common good exists.
Stand up. Bring it up.
Explain: We want our morality back.
1. "American voters say urgent moral issues are peace, poverty and greed," The National Catholic Peace Movement -- Zogby International, 11/12/2004.
2. "Poll: -- Half believe Congress is dirty" CNN.com 1/3/2006.
3. Rand, A. Capitalism: the unknown ideal. New York: Signet Books, 1946 and The
virtue of selfishness. New York: Signet Books, 1961.
4. Walker, J. The Ayn Rand cult. Chicago, Ill. Open Court. 1999.
5. Rand, A. Capitalism: the unknown ideal. New York, Signet Books, 1946.
6. Walker, The Ayn Rand cult.
7. Rand, The virtue of selfishness, p. 68.
8. Cooper, C. "Old-line families escape worst of flood and plot the future." Wall Street Journal. A1. 9/8/05.
9. Havemann, J., and Alonso-Valdevar, R. "US poverty rate rises again in 2004." Los Angeles Times 31 August 2005 p. A 13. This article reports some recent US Census Bureau statistics, and other sources.
10. Nord, M., Andrtews, M., Carlson, S. Household Food Security in the United States, 2004. United States Department of Agriculture report ERS-ERR-11, October 2005.
11. Lane, R.E. The loss of happiness in market democracies. 2000. New Haven: Yale University Press.
12. Walker, The Ayn Rand cult. p. 288.
13. Rand, The virtue of selfishness. p. 94.Julian Edney teaches college in Los Angeles. He can be contacted through his website.
The Failure of Ayn Rand: George W. Bush's America
by Johann Hari
In a depression triggered by raw greed and unhinged deregulation, who should you turn to for advice? I would say the last person - the very last on earth - would be Ayn Rand, the Philosopher-Queen of America's billionaire CEOs, a woman who wrote a book called 'the Virtue of Selfishness' and meant every word. Yet she is one of the strange beneficiaries of this crash.
Her philosophy was summarised perfectly on 30th December 2004, when it was becoming clear that the Boxing Day tsunami had washed away whole generations in South East Asia. The Ayn Rand Institute sent out a stark press release. It was headed: "US Should Not Help Tsunami Victims." Do not give cash. Do not send help. Leave them.
This was not a random piece of spite. It expressed - with admirable clarity - a philosophy that has influenced some of the most powerful people in the world. Ayn Rand is the only novelist whose work has been read by every single US Congressman. Nor is her appeal confined to an elite: when the Library of Congress recently conducted a massive poll to find the most influential book in the US, her 1070-page parable of market fundamentalism, Atlas Shrugged, came second. The only author to beat her was God. Rand's centenary was greeted with a slew of official celebrations, including a US postage stamp bearing her fierce smile.
The story of Ayn Rand is strangely revealing about the world - and the America that is slipping away. She was born into a family of wealthy Russian merchants during the moody dawn of the twentieth century, and she spent her teenage years watching their riches and their dignity being stripped away by the Bolshevik Revolution and the psychopathic police state it created. She escaped as a young woman to America, and began to outline a philosophy called 'Objectivism' that was the exact opposite of everything she had fled. Where the Bolsheviks collectivised everything and left the individual with nothing, Ayn demanded a mirror-image world where everything was privatised and nothing - no scrap of humanity - was left for the public sphere. The pure, unfettered individual was all. There should be "no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest" - so taxation should be abolished, and all human worth should be measured by "exchange value". Altruism - like giving to an orphaned tsunami victim - is an "evil" betrayal of your own ego, an unforgivable act of pity. The only beneficiary of you actions should be you.
She explained her philosophy at first through pot-boilers like The Fountainhead. One of her heroes boasts that he is the polar opposite of Robin Hood: "He was the man who robbed the rich and gave to the poor. I'm the man who robs the poor and gives to the rich, or to be more exact, the man who robs the thieving poor and gives back to the productive rich." If you want a sign of Rand's quiet victory, close your eyes and realise this could be Dick Cheney in one of his more candid moments, explaining the logic behind his massive tax cuts for the wealthy.
Rand's morality was a perfect fit for the age of the celebrity billionaire. She conjures a world where the CEO is Messiah, where the sign of the Cross is replaced with the sign of the dollar, and where hideous penis-proxies like Trump Towers are the pinnacle of human achievement. In her novel Atlas Shrugged, the world's billionaires - the Ted Turners and Donald Trumps - go on strike in protest against the "insane regulations" and "exorbitant tax" handed down from Washington D.C. The country quickly regresses into anarchy, with businesses collapsing, food distribution networks falling apart, and America becoming a wasteland - until finally the grateful populace welcomes back their economic Overlords and promises to never again pester them with wild notions like taxation or regulation.
Rand's extremism is often indistinguishable from parody. In an episode of The Simpsons, baby Maggie is despatched to the Ayn Rand School For Tots, motto: Crying is Futile. The headmistress explains that babies are not allowed bottles because "When a baby reaches for a bottle, she is saying 'I am a leech!' Our aim here is to develop the bottle within." But is this more comic than the actual decision of the Ayn Rand Institute to picket Bill Clinton's summit discussing how to increase volunteerism in the United States, on the grounds that unpaid voluntary work is an "unforgivable act of altruism"? Is it more ludicrous than that fact that when Rand died in 1982, her body was laid out beside a six-foot tall floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign?
It is just about possible to understand how Rand herself could have formulated this preposterous vision as a kind of political post-traumatic stress disorder after the nightmare of Leninism. But how can we explain her extraordinary popularity in the United States among people who have never experienced communism? Many of Rand's personal disciples now fill the most powerful slots in US public life, from the benches of the Supreme Court to (until this year) the head of the Federal Reserve. For example, Alan Greenspan - who was considered by many people to be the most powerful man in America for the decade he headed the US central bank - was a fervent Randroid. He wrote that Atlas Shrugged is a great novel because it shows how "parasites who persistently avoid either purpose or reason perish, as they should." Her appeal spread higher still: Ronald Reagan loved her novels, and if George Bush could read, he would too. Nor is her appeal narrow: her books still sell half a million copies a year, and even the freshmen class of the putatively liberal Berkeley campus recently voted her the author who had most influenced them.
Of course, her practical influence should not be exaggerated. Even most right-wing Americans consider the specifics of Rand's philosophy to be loopy. Many prominent conservatives loathe her strident atheism (one of her few appealing characteristics), and some even see fascism in her tracts. Whittaker Chambers famously wrote in the National Review, "Just as her operatic businessmen are, in fact, Nietzschean supermen, so her ulcerous leftists are Nietzsche's 'last men', both deformed in a way to sicken the fastidious recluse of Sils Marnia... [In her vision] resistance to the Message cannot be tolerated because disagreement can never be merely honest, prudent, or just humanly fallible. Dissent from revelation so final can only be wilfully wicked. There are ways of dealing with such wickedness, and , in fact, reason itself enjoins them. From almost every page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard, from painful necessity, commanding, "To a gas chamber - go!""
But Rand's rabid anarcho-capitalism has clearly tapped into something primal in American conservatism: it is revealing that she is almost invariably described as an "idealist", rather than a maniac. She appeals to the ugliest side of Americanism (contrasting with its many, many strengths): a fear and hatred of the state, even in its most democratic form, and of wider collective action. Rand has only one conception of liberty -freedom from government. As one of her heroes, Howard Roark, says, "The only good which men can do to one another and the only statement of their proper relationship is - hands off!" Like most of the American right, she has no conception of positive liberty. When asked how free a man in Harlem with no healthcare insurance and a kid with cancer is, she has no answer. She cannot see when hands have been kept too far off.
And - again like the rest of the American right - she finds it impossible to imagine a clash between the interests of the super-rich and the rest of society. While Rand is (rightly) appalled when the state kills people, she considers businessmen taking risks with the lives of ordinary people or government bureaucrats to be actually heroic. In Atlas Shrugged, the heroic Nat Taggart "murdered a state legislator who attempted to revoke a charter granted to him" and (ho, ho) "he had no trouble with legislators from then on." And that's not all: "He threw down three flights of stairs a distinguished gentleman who offered him a loan from the government." Anybody who tries to impose regulations to protect ordinary workers is "a louse." This is partly because she really does seem to see the rich as more deserving of life than the poor. She refers to the rich as "really alive," while ordinary people are described variously as "savages," "refuse," "inanimate objects," "imitations of living beings." Who cares if the Ubermenschen take risks with these creatures? Who needs regulation?
Indeed, her contempt for ordinary people extends so far that when a railway worker in 'Atlas Shrugged' decides to punish the wicked socialist government by making a train crash happen, Rand implies the passengers had it coming. She runs through the politics of the train crash victims, implying they were accessories to the socialist government that is being justly punished: "The man in Bedroom A, Car No One, was a professor of sociology who taught that individual ability is of no consequence, that everything is achieved collectively, that it's the masses that count, not men... The woman in Roomette 10, Car No 3, was an elderly school teacher who who spent her life turning class after class of helpless schoolchildren into miserable cowards, by teaching them that the will of the majority is the only standard of good and evil, that they must not assert their personalities, but do as others were doing." And so endlessly on, through over a dozen deserving victims. "There was not a man aboard the train who did not share one or more of their ideas," she notes - so let them burn.
Rand did not even understand why her beloved capitalism works. She attributed its success to the unleashing of the "motive power" of a few rich men, a concept chillingly similar to Nietzsche's will-to-power. In fact, markets are a useful tool - provided they are checked by democratic regulation, a redistributive state and strong trade unions - for Haykian reasons, not Randian ones. Friedrich von Hayek saw that the strength of markets lies in their epistemological function: markets can access dispersed pockets of knowledge and process them better than any central planner. Look at the housing market, for example. Hundreds of thousands of dispersed home buyers sending signals about what kind of house they want by buying them is a far more effective way of gauging the kind of homes people actually want to live in than a central planner - however smart - trying to guess their desires. But Rand cannot see this reasoning. She cannot see that even if her beloved handful of geniuses did indeed go on strike, market economies would still be fairly efficient at generating wealth, and the world would carry on much as before. The genius (such as it is) resides in the system, not in a string of Ubermensch at the top gazing in horror at the imbecile masses.
But that is not the only flaw in her understanding of markets. She did not understand that the kind of pure selfishness she advocated would quickly corrode capitalism itself. The economist Alfred Marshall has shown that without "economic chivalry" - a willingness to stick by the rules, even when they work against your selfish interests - markets become unworkable. Only regulation by (cue thunder) the state can guarantee this chivalry. Rand's philosophy would simply create an unsustainable Enron economy of rip-off merchants - much as the Bush administration's bonfire of regulations has. But Rand could not see the dense interconnection between the market and the state: she spoke absurdly of establishing "a separation between government and economics" analogous to the constitutional separation between church and state. But without institutions of government like the police and courts, who would enforce contracts? Nor could she admit that the corporations she lauded as heroic were just as often beneficiaries of government subsidy as of market innovation. Wal-Mart, for example, is often supposed to be an icon of the success of the free market, when in fact it has - according to Multinational Monitor's investigations - received over $1bn in state subsidies.
Although Rand despised Russia, she was far more shaped by her Russian adolescence - and her interaction with Bolshevism - than she could ever have imagined. Even as she preached freedom, she created a personality cult around herself - sardonically dubbed The Collective - which permitted no dissent and even adhered to her list of banned books. Any dissent from the Leader's opinions was punishable by excommunication - a fate that even befell her lover, Nathaniel Braden, when he withdrew his sexual favours. She ended up creating a Leninism of the market fundamentalist right, based on the need for a small cadre of true believers to enact a violent revolution against the state (democratic or otherwise) that will usher in a utopian society without conflict, modelled on the Ideal Man of her own creation. Even her Objectivist epistemology reeks of Lenin's dialectical materialism.
It is a sweet, neat irony that the centenary of this fifth-rate Nietzsche of the mini-malls was marked by something she would have despised: an unprecedented burst of charitable giving in response to the corporate elite. No society, not even George Bush's America, could be run on Randian principles. When confronted with raw human need - or a single crying child - the elaborate reasoning behind Ayn Rand's off-the-peg morality for an off-their-head corporate elite melts. Yes, read The Fountainhead if you must - but as a guide to the philosophy that brought us skidding into the catastrophe, not a roadmap for how to get out.
Johann is interviewed on the latest Drunken Politics podcast about Palestine, piracy, and what makes him happy. Part One is here. Part Two is here.
Johann Hari is a writer for the Independent newspaper. To read more of his articles, click here or here.
Jim Cramer is a Hack. Claims as a Hedge Fund Manager He Manipulated Markets. But I'm sure he's Not Doing That As A TV Host is he CNBC?
Jim Cramer Shorting Stocks, Manipulating Markets, Says the SEC Doesn't Understand and "It's a Fun Game."
From HuffPO
In light of the current economic crisis, and with the hullabaloo ignited recently by Jon Stewart over the accuracy of CNBC's reporting, we thought it might be useful to revisit this shocking 2006 interview Jim Cramer gave to TheStreet.com's Aaron Task.
In it, the host of Mad Money says he regularly manipulated the market when he ran his hedge fund. He calls it "a fun game, and it's a lucrative game." He suggests all hedge fund managers do the same. "No one else in the world would ever admit that, but I could care. I am not going to say it on TV," he quips in the video.
He also calls Wall Street Journal reporters "bozos" and says behaving illegally is okay because the SEC doesn't understand it anyway.
Here are some gems:
-On manipulating the market: "A lot of times when I was short at my hedge fund, and I was positioned short, meaning I needed it down, I would create a level of activity before hand that could drive the futures,"
-On falsely creating the impression a stock is down (what he calls "fomenting"): "You can't foment. That's a violation... But you do it anyway because the SEC doesn't understand it." He adds, "When you have six days and your company may be in doubt because you are down, I think it is really important to foment."
-On the truth: "What's important when you are in that hedge fund mode is to not be doing anything that is remotely truthful, because the truth is so against your view - it is important to create a new truth to develop a fiction," Cramer advises. "You can't take any chances."
Special thanks to our tipster Henry Chukuka! Keep those tips coming team!WATCH:
Labels: CROOK
This Weeks Sign That The Apocalypse is Upon Us. The Punisher Talks about "The Biggest Loser"
For those of you that don't know, "The Biggest Loser" is a show about fat people trying to lose weight. They stay at a camp where they are trained daily and taught about how to eat properly.
The results are amazing. People lose 100 pounds in 10 weeks. Seriously. It's nuts. They're filmed the whole time competing in challenges for prizes etc. etc. and in true "reality show" fashion they are voted off when they don't lose enough weight or they have stinky gas, or they're a threat to someone else winning blah blah blah.
But the part I want to talk about are the commercials.
It used to be that product placement was subtle. You might not even notice that it was there. Or a product would sponsor an event like "this morning we're doing the Wheaties 13 mile mini-marathon." And I was cool with that.
But this show has taken commercials to a whole new level. The first time I saw one I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The scene was two of the contestants sitting down with the trainer "Jillian" and Jillian was explaining to them how to eat healthy. She kept emphasizing how fresh food was important.
Then, in a scene straight out of "The Truman Show" Jillian starts explaining how Ziploc Bags are the best for keeping food fresh. "That's why we have so many Ziploc Bags around here, because Ziploc Keeps Food Fresh!"
It was disconcerting. Jarring even. Here's a trainer who's supposed to be giving you unvarnished information about your health, and it turns out she's a paid shill for Ziploc.
Flash forward to this week. There's a scene where two of the contestants are sitting at computers. The other trainer "Bob" walks up and asks them what they are doing. They say they are making out their food menus for the week. Bob then says "Well.. make sure you include lots of Fiber." The contestants feign innocence... Fiber? And Bob says yes you need lots of fiber. And one of the Best Ways To Get Fiber is to Eat General Mills Fiber One Bars! They contain 35% of your daily Fiber! (Made with plenty of High Fructose Corn Syrup!)
I thought I was going to Vomit.
This kind of blurring the lines with advertising has gotten way out of hand.
Doesn't anyone have any standards anymore? Doesn't anyone look at this garbage and say enough is enough? How can these trainers sleep at night?
Maybe I'm just getting cranky in my old age, but this crap makes me lose all respect for anyone who would participate in it. Sorry Bob and Jillian, but you guys are now just paid shills, pushing products. Nobody should rely on either of you for objective information about weight loss.
Hugs and Kisses,
The Punisher.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The Employee Free Choice Act: It's Good For America and You.
Five Things You Need To Know About The Employee Free Choice Act
Today, the Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in Congress. Want some great reasons to support this bill that you've been hearing so much about? Here's five. (And if you already support it, please contact your Members of Congress and ask them to do the same.)
1. Because more jobs should be good jobs.
Unless you've been living under a rock for the last year, it's no surprise that millions of Americans are out of work, losing their health care or their retirement money, or are otherwise in financial straits. Times are tough. And who's taking this economic crisis on the chin? Well, we are, of course.
Four million people have lost their jobs since the recession began in December 2007. It's not for lack of trying. In terms of productivity, people are working harder than ever-- but American workers still haven't gotten a raise. And while jobs and wages are down, the cost of living continues to rise: The average cost of family health insurance plan will go up to $24,000 by 2016. $24,000!
The Employee Free Choice Act says that workers should have the ability to bargain with their employers for better wages and benefits--like affordable quality health care.
2. It's good for the economy.
One of the biggest reasons for our current economic crisis? People literally don't have the cash they need to buy goods and services--which would in turn help the economy. Higher wages and higher benefits would give workers the purchasing power they need to buy more of the goods and services that this economy produces. According to a February report from the Center for American Progress Action Fund, unionization could pump more than $49 billion into the economy.
But don't take it just from us. Last month, forty leading economists, including three Nobel prize winners, took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post offering their reasons for supporting the bill. In the ad, they argued that one of the main reasons for our economic slump is the "erosion of workers' ability to form unions and bargain collectively," that shifted the wealth of our country from "broadly-shared prosperity" to "growing inequality."
3. Barack Obama loves it, and so do most of you.
Not to mention Joe Biden, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, and majorities in both houses of Congress. And according to recent polling, 73% of the public supports it. Just last week, speaking in front of a labor gathering, President Obama vowed to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, stating,
"I have every confidence that if we are willing to do the difficult work that must be done, we will emerge from these trials stronger and more prosperous than we were before. And as we confront this crisis and work to provide health care to every American, rebuild our nation's infrastructure, move toward a clean energy economy, and pass the Employee Free Choice Act, I want you to know that you will always have a seat at the table."
What's not to love about that?
4. Because CEOs should be helping workers, not hurting them.
Want to get really depressed about your paycheck? Compare it to a CEO's. As a testament to the growing income disparity between CEOs and the workers they employ, look no further than Wal-Mart's former CEO, Lee Scott. Scott earned $15,000 an hour in 2007 while Wal-Mart workers earned just $10.68 an hour. On average, CEOs earn 344 times what their typical employee makes.
And yet, when Goldman Sachs received $10 billion in Wall St. bailout funds, they turned around and spent $6.5 billion on bonuses! If the Employee Free Choice Act passed, workers would have more of an opportunity to share in the prosperity they helped create.
5. Because the other side is really scary.
Or at least, they're trying their hardest to scare us. The corporate interests opposing the Employee Free Choice Act have warned of everything from rioting in the streets to, literally, Armageddon if the bill passes. For a sense of just how extreme the other side has gotten, check out our "scary movie" video here:
Corporate interests are bent on lying about the Employee Free Choice Act - they'd have you believe that the bill means the end of the secret ballot - but nothing could be further from the truth. The Employee Free Choice Act simply gives employees the choice to join unions - not the employers. Right now, workers can join unions through majority sign-up or a secret ballot election, and they can do so under the Employee Free Choice Act, too. The only difference is it will be the employees' choice, not the employers.
But don't take it from me - watch Rachel Maddow destruct this argument:
If you're as fired up as we are, go to SEIU.org and sign up to help. It's time for the Employee Free Choice Act.


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|Item Name
|Pumpkin Engine
|Trick or Treat!
|First Engine
|The very first engine designed for Cart use.
|Second Engine
|An improvement of the First Engine that provides more power.
|Dural Engine
|An engine built to emphasize structure and durability.
|Tricky Engine
|An engine that emphasizes performance rather than speed.
|Jet Engine
|The greatest engine of this era.
|Bull Engine
|A Bull Engine.
|Sport Engine
|Engine designed for sport carts.

subset: commoncrawl


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- Breast Examination by a Health Professional: Women ages 20 – 49 should have a physical examination by a health professional every 1 – 2 years. Those over age 50 should be examined annually.
- Self examination: See slide no. 3
- Mammograms: Mammograms are very effective low-radiation screening methods for breast cancer. There is, however, debate on when women should begin to have mammograms and how frequently they should have them.
- Biopsy: A definitive diagnosis of breast cancer can be made only by a biopsy -a microscopic examination of a tissue sample of the suspicious area. When a lump can be felt and is suspicious for cancer on mammography, an excisional biopsy may be recommended.
Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: October 18, 2016


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a case for oxygen-only rebreathers in our past, present, and future
Some legs of the journey are predictable, and others just aren't. I first got the deep diving bug almost 20 years ago, and at that time (circa start of the 21st century) deep diving for the masses meant suffering through nitrogen narcosis, and severely limited bottom times given only open-circuit tech being in the mainstream. For the fortunate few who were ahead of the game, helium was accessible, though far from commonplace. Even further from the day to day was the use of mixed-gas rebreathers. Sure, there were a few early adopters, and those more elite individuals and groups just starting to push the limits of this technology, but they were far from commonplace. At that time, those very few out there doing exploration with rebreathers were able to very easily generate a public appeal for the technology given their solving the two aforementioned issues with deep diving – narcosis...Read More


text: A recent visit to my father's hometown of Abbadia San Salvatore in Siena gave me interesting insight into the concept of dialect. Family had taken me to a local restaurant, and the cousins who'd moved out of town ordered "una latina di Coca Cola" or a can of Coke. Those relatives who still resided in town similarly ordered Cokes, but pronounced it much differently, dropping the hard C sound entirely, instead asking for "O'a-Ola." As any native Bostonian knows, dropping a letter (like an R) gives the English language a certain flair all its own, and certainly gives the listener ...Read More »


text: Mumbai Darshan is and blog website that helps people to trip and tour of Mumbai. When they are coming from out of Mumbai. It will try to save time and money when especially travelers from another part of India. We display so many places in Mumbai and how to travel to them and which station or buses is good that will save your time and money. We try to do some pictorial presentation to understand easily so anyone and understand and reach their destination.


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For safe tanning choose products that offers protection against both UVA and UVB radiation. All Green People Sun Lotions conform to the latest EU recommendations for sun protection.
For most skin types SPF15 normally offers sufficient sun protection – properly applied this filters out over 90% of the UVB radiation hitting the skin. Higher SPF levels may be useful for people with very fair skin or who burn easily. Liberally apply cream to the skin approximately half an hour before going outside. This gives the filters time to work.
Be sure to reapply every 2 hours if sun exposure is to continue.
Sun Lotion SPF30 Scent Free 100ml€18.50
G031 100ml
© 2020 The GreenPeople Company


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PA State Tax Filing Deadline Moved, Office update
In this period of change due to the COVID-19 threat, we have seen how decisions by government officials alter by the hour. As a result of this, after we sent out our announcement on Friday,
In this period of change due to the COVID-19 threat, we have seen how decisions by government officials alter by the hour. As a result of this, after we sent out our announcement on Friday,
Do you work for yourself? Then you may want to consider the solo 401(k), which marries a traditional employee retirement savings account to a small-business, profit-sharing plan. To have a solo 401(k), you must either
Do you know the difference? Traditional Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA), which were created in 1974, are owned by roughly 33.2 million U.S. households. Roth IRAs, however, were created as part of the Taxpayer Relief Act
Why do so many people choose them over traditional IRAs? The IRA that changed the whole retirement savings perspective. Since the Roth IRA was introduced in 1998, its popularity has soared. It has become a
Focusing on Your Strategy During Turbulent Times. Investors are people, and people are often impatient. No one likes to wait in line or wait longer than they have to for something, especially today when so
The 24-Hour News Cycle moves from Impeachment to COVID-19 to the Primaries – What's next? In recent weeks, we've seen several major stories in the news. On the political front, in addition to the arrival
Often, God shows the "experts" just how little they know and how poor they are at predicting the future. Last fall, everyone was concerned about a potential recession. Since then, fears had calmed down and
Paying them down and managing their financial impact. Total student loan debt in America is now around $1.6 trillion. Since 2008, it has more than doubled. Federal Reserve data states that 44.7 million Americans
Steps to get your credit rating back toward 720. We all know the value of a good credit score. We all try to maintain one. Sometimes, though, life throws us a financial curveball and
See if you are prepared to begin your retirement by answering four key questions. How do you know you are psychologically ready to retire? As a start, ask yourself four questions. One, is your


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October Things To Do
We love Autumn. It's the perfect time of year with fresh fallen leaves, crisp air, and of course, everything pumpkin! Get inspired and discover something new this month!
Zuri Girl's Top Picks For October…
Fun at the Farm.
Through Saturday October 31st, you can find gigantic pumpkin sculptures, pumpkin specialities like soup, seeds & oils, hundreds of pumpkins to buy, and a creepy bash on Halloween night with carving stations.
Where: Jucker Farm Bächlihof (map)
Cost: Free to visit, F&B additional
Ghost Walk in Zurich.
Join Reginald Dent, Paranormal Entertainer, on a journey through Zurich's haunted heart. You will hear tales from the cities past about it's phantoms, executions, murders, and other past time events. Want more? Reginald is also a professional palm reader! Every Friday at 8pm, starting and ending in Paradeplatz. Website
Make a New Recipe.
Minh Cakes in Zurich has a few fun, pumpkin recipes to try. One we recommend? Pumpkin cupcakes! Give it a try and print the recipe on the website. While your at it, sign up for a cake decorating or basic Macaron making class.
Lunch Date. Choose from a gorgeous menu of fresh sashimi and nigiri, to Dim Sum and Bento Boxes at HATO…our favorite spot for a light lunch or romantic dinner, now open on on Mondays!
Escape from the Game.
It's that time of year again, where we get the creepy crawlies. Book an escape room game right here in Zurich with your friends. 60 minutes of fun, locked in a room, solving riddles. How much better can it get. Rated best in Zurich on TripAdvisor, give it a try this October. Website
Loewenstrasse 69, Zurich 8001, Switzerland (Map)
For All Wine Lovers. The Mövenpick Wine Fair is on again this year at Papiersaal on October 27 and Kalanderplatz on October 28. And heres the deal…think Expovina, but much smaller and more intimate and only the top 250 Mövenpick exclusives. You can buy your entrance ticket online.print


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Jungle in My Pocket Series 2 – Spike
Name: Spike
Species: Giant Chameleon
Spike is patient, quiet, and sneaky like your typical Chameleon. He will grow to be over two feet long! Found in Madagascar, the Giant Chameleon is very docile, which is deceiving. Spike has a tongue that stretches nearly 15 feet to catch his prey!


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How Businesses Benefit From Augmented Reality
Augmented reality app development is on the rise in recent years and thanks to the work of various mobile app developers, it is slated to become a much greater aspect of business promotion in 2017 and the years to come. Virtual reality app development also plays a role in the growth of augmented reality and these technologies have now advanced to a stage where businesses can utilize them more frequently.
Let's take a closer look at how these forms of technology can serve to benefit a business going forward and how they will affect the way we consume their goods and services.
The first aspect that requires closer inspection is the effect that augmented reality has on our smartphones, tablets and laptops. Imagine a world where a consumer who wishes to shop for clothes can try them on without having to leave the house or a marketplace where you can shop for furniture while you are still in your living room.
Thanks to the advancements made in the world of augmented reality, this is going to become reality much faster than any of us could have ever expected. Augmented reality will also serve to improve a number of other areas of commerce, including manufacturing, banking, health care and even real estate.
Instead of being forced to call a real estate agent and spend a sizable amount of time shopping around for different houses to look at, you will soon have the ability to take a virtual tour of any home that you are considering without even having to get out of bed or put on a clean pair of pants.
Online shopping is also poised to become much easier. Not only does the consumer benefit from having the ability to shop for clothes and try them on without having to leave the house, but the business benefits as well.
They are no longer forced to spend large amounts of time handling returns from customers who were unable to find what they wanted while shopping at their store and studies show that businesses that reduce the amount of returns that they experience are able to increase their overall revenue as a result.
The manufacturing process is also simplified with the use of augmented reality. A project manager no longer has to remain present during the manufacturing process to ensure that everything is going smoothly, as they now have the ability to simply place augmented reality markers on the equipment being used.
Training workers and streamlining the teaching and learning process is also critical. With the use of augmented reality, the workforce is given the chance to enjoy real experience before placed in a high pressure environment. A medical student can practice surgeries in a low stakes setting, while the astronauts of tomorrow practice their space missions in an environment that allows them to make mistakes without consequence.
While augmented reality may still sound like something of a far fetched concept to some readers, those who have already been paying attention to all of the recent technological advances can tell you that it is closer to becoming a regular, accepted part of our existences than you may realize. Now that businesses have begun to reap the benefits of augmented reality, there is no end in sight to the implementation of this highly useful form of technology.
This post is part of our contributor series. It is written and published independently of TNW.
Read next: GIPHY's Gaming Roundup: "Nier: Automata," "Battlefield 1," "Watch_Dogs 2!"
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For tips and tricks on working remotely, check out our Growth Quarters articles here or follow us on Twitter.


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Home loans with free offset accounts
Pay off your home loan earlier than you had originally planned with a free offset account.
Last updated:
A home loan with a free offset account works much like a home loan with a linked transaction account but with one major difference: it allows you to save money by reducing the amount of interest being charged on your loan balance.
With this type of free feature added to your home loan, more money is applied to your principal balance with each monthly repayment that you make.
Offset home loans comparison
*The table below contains mortgages with offset accounts attached. While the majority of them charge no extra fee for this there may be some that add a small extra fee if you wish to open an offset account.
How does a home loan with a free offset account work?
As mentioned, an offset account functions as a regular transaction account which is linked to your home loan. If the account is a 100% offset account, any funds in it will offset the interest charged on your home loan. For example, holding $10,000 in your offset account on a home loan of $200,000 will see interest-only charged on $190,000.
This means that the daily interest on your loan is calculated on a smaller amount. This type of account will save you money on interest and help you to pay off your loan faster than expected.
Offset accounts can be free or charge monthly fees. If your offset account is being offered with no monthly or annual fees, you will save even more money over the lifetime of your home loan.
How do I compare mortgages with free offset accounts?
- Fees and interest rates. When looking at a home loan that offers an offset account, be sure that you are not going to be charged any other fees for this service, such as higher annual fees or application fees, or higher interest rates. Also be sure to look into the comparison rate in addition to advertised interest rate, as this takes into account some of the fees due.
- Percentages. You'll find some lenders that are only offering offset accounts at low percentages. To get the full benefit of such an account, you want to make sure that 100% of your transaction account balance is being deducted from the balance of your home loan before the interest for the day is calculated.
- Accessibility. Make sure that you are able to withdraw and deposit funds from your offset account where you'll want to access them, such as ATMs, online and with a teller.
- offset account fees. While you may not be charged any fees for having your offset account, the bank could try and make up for it with fees for different transactions or to receive statements. Compare things such as monthly charges, cheque fees and charges for ATM use when comparing different lenders' offset accounts.
Case study
Jim's offset account search
Jim applies for a home loan with an interest rate of 5.5%p.a., with an offset account but first wants to make sure that not only are there no added fees being charged for this feature but that he's getting a 100% offset account.
Jim has a smaller loan balance of $150,000 and plans to keep $5,000 in the linked offset account. With a 100% offset account, the interest rate would be applied to a balance of only $145,000. If Jim finds a home loan with only a 50% offset account, interest would be applied to the amount of $147,500 as only half of the $5,000 would be applied against the principal balance.
Jim uses the finder.com.au home loan offset calculator to find out how much this balance would save him over the 15 years of his loan.
The calculator shows that Jim will pay his loan off five months earlier and save $2,200 in interest. If he bumps his offset account balance up to $10,000, he would save nine months off his home loan and save $4,268.98.
Pros and cons of a home loan with an offset account
- Pay off your loan quicker. When used right, an offset account can allow you to pay off your home loan faster than your original terms.
- Save money on interest. By having your account balance deducted from your loan amount, you are being charged less in interest fees with each repayment.
- Flexible transaction account. With an offset account you also get all of the flexibility and options that you expect with a transaction account. You can have your salary paid into it directly, and use your account for a variety of purchases.
- Interest earned. The balance of your offset account won't be earning interest like it could in other types of transactions accounts. This is usually outweighed by the fact that most savings accounts will offer an interest rate lower than that of your home loan, meaning you actually gain more from placing funds in your offset account as opposed to a savings account.
- Fees. Check for any fees associated with the transaction account you plan to use. Even if you're not charged monthly fees for having an offset account, there might be fees for different transaction types or services.
What should I avoid when it comes to home loans with free offset accounts?
- Low offset percentage. When looking into a home loan that offers a free offset account make sure that it is a 100% offset account. If not, you will not be getting the full benefit of this feature.
- High-fee transaction account. Avoid linking a transaction account that has high monthly or annual fees. These can quickly eat into the savings you get from reducing the interest amount of your home loan.
Frequently asked questions
When is the interest calculated on my home loan?
The interest on a home loan is typically calculated on a daily basis and then added together at the end of each repayment period.
Related Posts
Home Loan OffersImportant Information*
UBank UHomeLoan Variable Rate - Discount offer for Owner Occupiers, P&I Borrowing over $200,000 (*now 2.84%, drops to 2.59% on 3 April)
Take advantage of a low-fee mortgage with a special interest rate of just 2.59% p.a. and a 2.59% p.a. comparison rate.
HSBC Home Value Loan - Promotional Offer (Owner Occupier P&I)
Get a low interest rate loan with no ongoing fees. Plus you can make extra repayments and free redraw online.
loans.com.au Essentials - Variable (Owner Occupier, P&I)
A competitive interest rate home loan with interest only options. Interest rate 2.79% p.a.
comp rate of 2.81% p.a.
loans.com.au Smart Home Loan - (Owner Occupier, P&I)
Get one of the lowest variable interest rates on the market and pay 0 application or ongoing fees.
Ask an Expert


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Home »Unlabelled » Simple Split Breast Recipe
Simple Split Breast Recipe
July 11, 2013
8 comments:
You me both Kim! Thanks for sharing this, I also love chicken with garlic salt and rosemary cooked in butter!!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJuly 12, 2013 at 2:52 PM
Simplest is so often best, isn't it? And you forgot "healthy," too--chicken breasts are a great lowfat source of protein. Beautiful pics!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJuly 18, 2013 at 1:04 PM
Yummy! Love the idea Kim. Healthy, simple and delicious meal for both me and the kids to enjoy! I'm going to make this for dinner tonight! Thanks so much!ReplyDelete
I'll need to try this. I am in the same Keep it Simple boat when it comes to cooking. I started to buy pork because it is so much cheaper than steak (my mom didn't prepare pork when I was growing up and my husband and I are just starting out in our new home) and found a super simple pork chop recipe that I craave!ReplyDelete
Hey~ before you go, let me know what you think! I love comments and respond to them all. Thanks so much for visiting! *Please refer to our privacy policy if you have questions regarding your profile.


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...what's the weather like in...?
What is it that they want to know? What kind of clothing to bring? The actual temperature and rainfall?
I get that they think I know the answer, but if they could figure out how to find a website for a place in this state what's so hard about doing a query on the weather and getting yearly averages? We all know that as soon as we put it in writing the weather will be exactly the opposite.
Unless someone tells me what they plan to do here (hike, water activities, museums) I have no idea what to tell them to bring for clothes. I do know that the TOP selling item on a whale watch is the $39 sweatshirt sold to whole families who never thought the temp would drop by 30 degrees away from land. Sometimes they make more money on the sweatshirt sales than the ticket sales!
Everyday, for good or ill, we intersect with some else's story and become a part of it.


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"Legends" Blue Big Convoy Toy Review
General Information:
Release Date: February 23, 2019
Price Point: ¥8,640 (about $77.46 USD) - Takara Tomy Mall Suggested Price
Retailer: Takara Tomy Mall Exclusive
Accessories: Big Cannon, two missiles, two Mammoth Haken missiles, Energon Matrix
Product description from Takara Tomy Mall as translated via Google Translate:
What is Blue Big Convoy!?
Based on the phantom "Blue Color Big Convoy" gifts given at the time of the magazine at the time of 1990, it is a limited blue collar's big convoy changed to some special specifications.
In robot mode, the arm "Mammoth tuner" and the leg "Mammoth Harken", in the beast mode the movable nose gimmick with the head lever is alive. Big Cannon can be equipped in robot mode, mammoth tank mode can also be reproduced. The proof of the leader stored in the chest "Matrix" can be done both hands!
Profile Translation below by Doug Dlin:
Said to belong to the mysterious organization known as "The Primus Vanguard", as that group's leader, this being is a deified character of many mysteries. There are also rumors that he is an immortal who has gained the power of the Matrix, and it seems he has become a subject of research for numerous historians.
In 1998, Big Convoy was released as the leader of the Cybertron crew featured in "Beast Wars Neo". The figure was then given a mostly blue deco in 1999 as a Japanese exclusive "Lucky Draw" item. Twenty years later, Takara Tomy would wind up using that Lucky Draw inspiration for "Blue Big Convoy", released as part of the Takara Tomy Mall exclusive "LG-EX" line. This review will focus on the changes made to the figure for this release.
Beast Mode:
Blue Big Convoy's beast mode is unusal among Transformers figures. As a Woolly Mammoth he looks like a shaggy elephant with giant tusks. There is no doubt this mode looks fierce.
This mode is mostly metallic light blue plastic with dark blue on the tusks. His eyes are painted a darker blue and the toes each have silver on them. It is a fairly basic color scheme and it serves as a preview of what is to come in the robot mode.
The issue many fans have with this mode is that it is basically a giant brick. There are only two real points of articulation: the ears, which can move back and forth. That said, there are two "action" features: the tusks move if you pull the ears back and the tusk moves up if you pull back the lever on the top of his head. These features still work beautifully on this figure. Personally I think so long as you don't go in expecting a fully articulated mammoth you're good.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
- Raise the panel in the back with the tail piece on it.
- Split the halves of the back, pull out the sides of the head slightly.
- Detach the back piece from the trunk to the tail and set it aside for now.
- Move the crescent missile launcher panels outwards.
- Straighten out the robot legs and fold up the mammoth legs on them so they fit in the back.
- Fold out the front and back halves of his feet.
- Twist the waist around.
- Fold out the arms and straighten them out.
- Push the chest section down to reveal the robot head.
- Swing the horns on the head out to the sides.
- The halves of the mammoth head swing back and wind up behind the shoulder section, extending out to the sides.
- Near the beast mode forehead on the cannon, swing out the peg that allows Blue Big Convoy to hold the weapon.
Robot Mode:
Blue Big Convoy is made up of metallic light blue, metallic dark blue, silver and translucent blue plastic in this mode. The colors are well distributed, but the light blue winds up making up most of the figure. The implication is that he is bathing in Matrix-like energy, so the blue color makes perfect sense. The choice of using metallic versions of each color really helps make the base colors on this figure pop.
The smaller details on this figure are mostly silver and blue. You'll find these colors on the legs, arms and torso. The head has silver on the crest and mouthplate. The eyes are gold, but instead of being painted a flat gold they look like they are vacuum metallized. Same with the Maximal symbol in the center of his chest. The Matrix inside the chest is vacuum metallized silver with a translucent blue core.
Overall this deco is gorgeous. For you fans who are worried about this release "devaluing" the original Lucky draw version, fear not. While this deco is largely inspired by that figure, there are two very obvious differences. First, the left arm on the Lucky Draw figure is translucent blue. This one is solid blue. Second, the pistons on is lower legs are painted silver here while the ones on the Lucky Draw figure are light blue. I am basing this off photos I found of the Lucky Draw version online here.
The tooling for this sculpt is now over twenty years old, so I expected some type of issue and indeed there was one. That said, there is only one. Most of the joints are tight and the missiles in his cannon and on the lower legs fire without a problem. The Matrix also holds nice and firm in his chest and it fits in his hands without a problem.
Unfortunately, for some reason the ball joint that is connected to the beast mode leg on the right side cannot hold on to the beast mode leg well at all. I have pressed the leg back into that ball joint repeatedly, and it pops off whenever I move it just a tiny bit. Press it in and it stays in place for display, but if you smash this figure against another and play around with it, the piece will fall off.
Final Thoughts:
I absolutely loved the original Big Convoy, and this figure is no different. Its colors may not have as much heavy contrast as the original, but the blue "Matrix" theme is beautiful in its own way. The ball joint/beast mode leg issue is unfortunate, but I am hoping it may just be my copy of the toy. This is not a cheap figure however, so you really have to be into the sculpt to spend the average of $90 USD it will likely cost. Recommended!
- Beautiful sculpt.
- Gorgeous deco that pays homage to a super rare figure.
- Plenty of fun features.
- Still one of the few Transformers figures that has a Matrix it can hold in both hands.
- The issue with the beast mode leg popping off in robot mode is really annoying.
- The beast mode is basically a brick.


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Report 10
ĀThis report makes its appearance at a time when we approach the 10th anniversary of the fateful July of 1983. The current phase of the war is over 2 1/2 years old. The Tamils have no readily identifiable political leadership. Those who promote the LTTE as political leaders do not also feel an obligation to raise issues with them nor demonstrate that they could be influenced to give priority to the welfare of their people. The government's military enterprise is widely talked of as being at a dead end. The political approach based on the parliamentary select committee was handled in the worst possible manner. Instead of a consensus the Tamil parties found themselves bull-dozed towards giving up perceived gains of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord for what a Tamil SLFP MP described as a `paper rose'. Instead of giving the Tamils the necessary confidence and apply pressure on the LTTE, it tended to strengthen the only plank of Tamil chauvinist politics - that the Sinhalese cannot be trusted. The navy's act of piracy in the Jaffna Lagoon which left more than 35 dead or missing, reinforced some of the worst fears. It must be said here that the Tigers too must be blamed for not allowing the development of any structure to safeguard the interests of civilian travellers and forcing civilians to travel under contrivedly provocative conditions. Even 1O days after the incident the government was `unable to verify the facts', although several of the dead were leading government officials and the informant was the government agent, Killinochchi. Unable to give political leadership, it was once more covering up for the forces. If the hard facts, such as the navy hacking civilians with knives and robbing jewellery from the victims are admitted, an inquiry would be unavoidable.
ĀStill, one need not despair of history standing still or repeating itself. Every positive action leaves its mark. We have no doubt that although we may be far from realising the full potential of an international presence,including the ICRC,UNHCR,MSF and others, such a presence has had a benevolent influence. Even with political paralysis at the top, international organisations working closely with well motivated military leadership at local level can greatly improve the general situation in the area. It gives the people greater freedom to articulate their interests, which in turn constrains the Tigers towards greater accountability. Such an outcome is not a victory or a defeat for either side, but a victory for humanity. It is such an outcome that mature leadership ought to aim at, now that we know that talk of a military decision is futile. This is not theory, but is based on recent benign developments in some areas, as isolated and unnoticed as they may be. [See Ch.5]
ĀWe have from the beginning (the IPKF days) paid far greater importance to such developments, and have urged action in this direction. Giving precedence to the well-being and dignity of ordinary people,we needed to disagree strongly with Tamil nationalists of various shades for whom the Tamil people did not exist. We increasingly felt that our approach of checking human rights violations by goverment forces while exposing the inhuman depravity of the dominant Tamil nationalist politics,is, in practical terms, the right one. Checking the violations of government forces in the East and bringing greater accountability to the people will go a long way to make it very costly for the Tigers to massacre Muslims and Sinhalese. This would, in both the short term and the long term, beĀ the practical way forward.
ĀAnother aspect where time has thankfully not stood still is that there is some visible openness in the Southern press in trying to understand what is happening to the Tamil people. There is no total blackout in the independent English press on human rights violations by the forces.Inspite of this, whenever questions of accomodating the minorities arise, undue prominence is given in these papers to individuals with no sense of history. They are unable to grasp the crucial reality of the development of the Sri Lankan state since independence as an essentially Sinhalese state, and the consequent alienation of the minorities. Much credit for the positive developments in reporting should go to some of the smaller Sinhalese papers. Unfortunately there is little openness in the Tamil press, even in some earmarked for that purpose, in examining the legacy of Tamil nationalist politics, and particularly the murder and alienation of Muslims.
ĀA number of incidents involving LTTE massacres of Muslims have taken place since the publication of Report No.9, the last being on 15th October 1992. In this instance three villages in the Polonnaruwa District populated almost exclusively by Muslims were attacked resulting in 16O civilian deaths. This followed an earlier attack in the same district the previous May. We refer the reader to reports published by the International Centre for Ethnic Studies in Colombo. We will cover aspects of these in coming reports.
ĀFor the present, high level talks in Colombo may be of little consequence. Where therefore the people are not involved and the electoral map remains fluid, there is little substance in the promises of politicians and `betrayals' will remain the order of the day. With unpromising leadership the deep paralysis brought about by decades of Sinhalese and Tamil chauvinism will take long to thaw. Hence the role of international and non-governmental organisations assumes a disproportionate importance. They must be vigilant against slipping into some kind of paralisis. It is finally a climate of opinion and a desire to act among the people that would move the politicians.
ĀIn this report we once more highlight the issue of Tamil political prisoners. We have repeatedly raised the matter involving the lives of about 4OOO persons which hang in the balance. Commendable work in exposing this phenomenon has been done by Amnesty International and Article 19, and representations have been repeatedly made to the LTTE. Even though this information reached a limited circle, the work mentioned has had a positive influence over the LTTE's thinking on prisoners. Some of the prisonersĀ have been allowed visits by relatives. The LTTE has been trying to improve its image on that score by giving publicity to token releases of prisoners. Much more will be accomplished if concerted publicity is given to the matter and the politics behind it is questioned. If not those in Jaffna and elsewhere trying to raise the matter will continue to face considerable danger. Major news organisations appear to view the matter with some incredulity and are not geared to what would require a greater commitment to human rights rather than routine journalism. That people in Jaffna do not talk about prisoners seems an adequate reason for ignoring the existence of this phenomenon. Will this too be exposed when it is too late for the victims, like the horrors of Nazi concentration camps? This may be unfair to journalists when issues of this kind and the fate of Muslims somtimes come low in the attentions of major humanitarian and religious institutions.
ĀThe government's poor showing in the desire for a settlement and continuing human rights violations by its forces, appear to have persuaded more expatriates to render `negative' support for the Tigers. These are often persons who would privately admit that the Tigers are `brutal' and `fascist, but also that if the Tigers are weakened now the Tamil people will be `finished'. Indeed while we write this preface,as though to emphasise their point, news came in of 9 civilians killed in Siththankeni, Jaffna, as the result of the airforce bombing a civilian area. We have argued throughout that to say that the Tigers have in any sense protected the Tamils is to take a very blinkered view of events. The only evidence, starting from events in June 199O upto the massacre at Kilaly is that the Tigers deliberately endangered civilians for their own benefit, in the face of brutal state forces.
ĀBut time has not stood still and there is another stark ground reality. The population of the North-East has declined from about 1.7 million in 1987 to about O.9 million today. (5.1 inside). Disease and malnutrition are rife. In 1987 when bombing and shelling in Jaffna was more murderous, people did not flee in such large numbers. Why this situation today? Why such deep rooted disillusionment about our future? Why much of our best potential in underground prisons and foreign climes? What sort of liberation politics is this that tries to excel the government in its oppressiveness?
ĀEven the present population of the North can only decline. Most people have their only capital in terms of the one house giving a roof over their head. They are not allowed to sell this and use the money to move to Colombo. If they leave they lose their house to the Tigers. Thanks to the dedication of individual teachers and university dons, the system of education remains reasonably good at least for the present. Under these conditions it makes practical sense for those with children to let them complete their education in Jaffna, rather than being destitute in Colombo. The Tiger pass system meant to keep people in the North is in many ways superfluous,except to keep children, who are regarded as potential recruits, a captive population. Again a very large number have decided that once their children complete higher education, and are old enough to be on their feet in Colombo or abroad, they will follow them - house or no house. If peace does not reeturn, it is the Mosquito rather than the Tiger that will be master of the land. This is hard reality.
ĀIf the government is determined to destroy the Tamils in the
North-East, they do not need to waste money on new weapons and aircraft. The president has only to talk peace, do nothing about it, and ask the army to stay put. Tiger politics will do the rest.
ĀIt is important that the Tamils see this for themselves. We haveĀ argued that a politics relying onĀ destructive strengths will only destroy the people. The survival of the people of the North-East surely needs a more positive strategy. Our approach of putting human rights first is based on experience and has been sufficiently vindicated. [Top]
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Makes 12
1/2 cup TrueProtein Pea85 French Vanilla
1.5 tbsp True Protein Matcha Powder
1 tbsp TrueProtein Organic Greens Powder (for that health boost!)
1 cup oats
1/2 cup desiccated coconut + extra for rolling
1.5 cupsMedjooll dates
1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C.
2. Combine all ingredients into a food processor and combine for a few minutes. If the mixture seems a bit dry, continue to process the mixture. It should all come together into one big ball. If the mixture remains dry, add almond milk (1 tbsp at a time) to help moisten.
3. Take a heaped tbsp portion out and roll into balls using your hands.
4. Spread the extra desiccated coconut out onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 1-3 minutes, or until lightly golden. Remove from oven.
5. Roll the balls into the toasted coconut to finish them off.
6. Store in the fridge if not consumed right away.


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Star Wars: The Blueprints
Star Wars: The Blueprints is a soon to be released oversized volume loaded with over 200 blueprints, drawings and photos from George Lucas' Star Wars series, 94% of which have never been seen by even the most ardent fans. Here's a sneak at some of the blueprints and links to pre-order.
Materialized by
laura sweet
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Past Events
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November 2018
Future of Work Meetup: How technologies like A.I. change what we work?
Whenever we talk about the future, one of the most often mentioned and probably feared technologies is A.I. There is a general fear of machines coming and taking over the world. We all know that there will be enormous changes with the more extensive introduction of A.I. but what most people don't know is how…Find out more »
January 2019
Future of Work Meetup: How new organizational structures change how we work
Due to the exponential speed of innovation, companies have to be very fast in order to get ahead of the competition. They need work processes and structures, which allow them to be responsive to quick market changes, customer as well as new employee expectations. Our current organizational structures, which derive from the time of the…Find out more »
March 2019
Future of Work Meetup: Self-organization in practice
With the steady increase of economic well-being, money is not anymore the first motivator but people strive to find happiness at workplaces. They aim to find purpose in their work and attain wholeness at their workspaces. They aspire to have more impact and freedom in what they do. Traditional structures cannot fulfill these aspirations, which…Find out more »
June 2019
Future of Work Meetup: How to navigate work in a remote world: remote teams and location flexibility
In view of the rapid development of technology, Internet connectivity, online tools as well as changing employee expectations, work becomes geographically spread. When we talk about remote work we have to differentiate between 2 trends: location flexibility and remote teams. According to a Gallup study, 43% of U.S. workers already worked remotely to some extent…Find out more »


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Sometimes you end up on location and you find the frame that will look the best visually is obstructed either by something man made or something natural like a tree.
The man made stuff can still be taken care of but you just can not chop off a tree for a shot.
I was stuck in a similar situation recently, I took a back up shot first just to be safe and then I captured real frame.
I was thinking I will do something about this tree in post but I had no idea that I will end up chopping the tree, at least in post it's all legal.
This is the 'Before' shot
Apart from the tree I ended up growing some grass in the foreground, removing the cars and stacks of bricks from the background.
And lastly I thought if I have cut a tree I must plant one too so I planted a tree in the background, that tree helped me get rid of the stack of bricks.
The client was more than happy. Looking at it now I feel I can still make it look better, but then I think about the Fine art images on my computer waiting for my attention.


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v weight or violence of blows.
2. load ·vt to magnetize.
3. load ·vt to adulterate or drug; as, to load wine.
4. load ·v the charge of a firearm; as, a load of powder.
5. load ·v the work done by a steam engine or other prime mover when working.
6. load ·v that which burdens, oppresses, or grieves the mind or spirits; as, a load of care.
7. load ·v a burden; that which is laid on or put in anything for conveyance; that which is borne or sustained; a weight; as, a heavy load.
8. load ·v the quantity which can be carried or drawn in some specified way; the contents of a cart, barrow, or vessel; that which will constitute a cargo; lading.
9. load ·v a particular measure for certain articles, being as much as may be carried at one time by the conveyance commonly used for the article measured; as, a load of wood; a load of hay; specifically, five quarters.
10. load ·vt to lay a load or burden on or in, as on a horse or in a cart; to charge with a load, as a gun; to furnish with a lading or cargo, as a ship; hence, to add weight to, so as to oppress or embarrass; to heap upon.


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How to use Wikicamps for free camping spots in New Zealand
For a successful search with Wikicamps, it is best to use the following settings to find your place in your non-self contained Mini Van or your car (where you are sleeping in).
Please note that you definitely have to read the comments in Wikicamps, sometimes there are places in the map that may not be allowed for camping. In addition, you can usually read interesting information about how the condition is and what else is there to note or know for that place.
Installing the app
First, if you don't already have it, you need to download the app WikiCamps NZ. Available for Android and IOS. After downloading please install the app.
Search criteria
Go to filters and then set the following settings. Press on site types and features. Please use then in the search settings the following options, if you are traveling longer, it makes sense to save these settings. Then you can easily use them every time you search for a free camping spot.
- Show Campgrounds (all other options in Block Site Types on Hide)
- Requires Free, Without Self-Contained Vehicles only (if you have an SC then please do not set the filter).
These are all settings to find free campsites for your NSC within New Zealand.
If you are traveling with a tent, the selection is a lot smaller, then please add the filter Requires Tent Area in your search.
Questions, ideas or anything else?
Just leave us a comment underneath this article. Thank you!


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Airport Landing Dues Information System
ALDIS is the next generation of Airport Landing Dues Information System and is the successor to the market leading ALDIS software which has been installed in over twenty-five airports.
ALDIS Extract provides a structured data output that can be used by Business Intelligence (BI) tools.
This software retains all of the functionally of the previous version. In addition it has added functionally that offers the user greater flexibility in airport management.
ALDIS is for the airport that wishes to take advantage of the latest technology and use a powerful and flexible management information system from the company that is the market leader in airport business systems.
- Open system/Client Server Architecture
- Windows look and feel
- Industry standard networking, hardware and operating systems
- ODBC compliant
- I.C.A.O. and I.A.T.A. databases for airports, airlines, aircraft
- Aeronautical Billing System
- User profiles
- Full access permissions
- Drill down facilities
- Powerful interactive validation routines
- Nine levels of V.A.T. or sales tax
- Multi-currency invoicing including the Euro
- Charging engine
- Target incentives
- Range of discounts and surcharges
- Invoicing process is an automatic function
- Detailed audit facilities
- Interface to a range of accounting systems
- Range of statistical and accounting reports with export to modeling and graphical packages
SAP Interface
Guernsey Airport order SAP interface to connect Guernsey and Alderney Airports to the States of Guernsey SAP accounting system.
Ireland West Airport Knock
Ireland West Airport Knock go live with ALDIS and AFIDS. ALDIS will handle credit and cash invoicing including fuel with all the normal...
Exchequer Interface
The City of Derry Airport order an interface between ALDIS and their new Exchequer accounting system.
Humberside International Airport
The airport are replacing their current FIDS and airport billing system and have ordered ALDIS & AFIDS software with Fuel and Cash...


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I know there were more than a hundred-thousand prophets. But was wondering if Hazrat Eesa (alaihas salaam) was among the last prophets mentioned in the Quran?
Was Prophet Eesa/Jesus (alaihas salaam) the second last prophet before Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)?
By pure coincidence, just today I was reading the طبقات by Ibn Saʻd. In his chapter on the death of the Prophet he cites a tradition to the effect that every prophet lives half as long as his predecessor. Then he says that Muḥammad lived to be 62 and that his predecessor ʻĪsā b. Maryam lived to be 124. This does imply that ʻĪsā was the second-to-last prophet.
Talking without references, it is said that there are 124,000 prophets all together from the beginning.
And Allah says,
And for every nation is a messenger. So when their messenger comes, it will be judged between them in justice, and they will not be wronged (Qur'an 10:47)
Since, we've heard only about Prophet Isa(peace be upon him) as the chronological Prophet after Prophet Moosa(peace be upon him) and before Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) does not mean there weren't other prophets in this time gap. Who knows some prophet(peace be upon him) was sent to one of the dense forests of South America, but we do not know or are not notified about. All we know for sure is the fact that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the last and a seal.
May the creator guide us all.
This cant be answered. The Bible calls the Prophet Muhammad the "Holy Spirit", IMO, and off the top of my memory states that the Prophet Jesus is not a king on this earth but has prepared the way him whom I take to be the Prophet Muhammad since he was a leader of a growing kingdom.
So the two Prophets followed each other for that place but this is only one culture out of many.
Interesting question, I hope to learn this in the next world :))


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Skin picking, also known as Dermatillomania or CSP (compulsive skin picking) is an impulse control disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pick at one's own skin. Who doesn't scratch his/her own skin from time to time? The problem is that most people aren't aware that skin picking can be a real disorder. Let's try to understand the underlying causes of this disorder and how dermatillomania can be treated with Dr. Alison B. Segal, expert in the treatment of anxiety disorders including body-focused repetitive disorders, such as skin picking.
Dr. Segal, at what stage does skin picking start to be a real disorder?
Skin picking becomes a disorder when it takes up a significant amount of time (> 2 hrs/ day), causes excessive discomfort (individual's mood/self-esteem is impacted), or interferes with a person's functioning (e.g., late for work because he/she is stuck in the bathroom picking/covering up picking damage; avoids socializing secondary to shame/embarrassment from picking or skin's appearance).
What can start the pattern of picking and why does it sometimes turn into a compulsive behavior?
The pattern of picking can be started by a variety of triggers. Some individuals begin picking pimples during their pre-teen/teenage yrs. and experience a sense of relief after popping a pimple. Others begin by squeezing pores or picking scabs and might be fascinated by the process and even enter a trance-like state. Some individuals just scratch at their skin/scalp because they experience an uncontrollable urge. The scratching causes damage/lesion formation which begins a vicious cycle.
Is there any hereditary factor?
Skin picking like most psychological disorders seems to have genetic component.
It is said that the disorder is typically found among females more than males. Is this true?
Yes. A higher proportion of females than males suffer from skin picking. However, I have certainly seen a number of males who struggle with this issue.
Is there any appropriate and most effective therapy?
Research has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) seems to be the most effective method of treatment. Specifically, the use of HRT (habit reversal training) and SC (stimulus control) are widely accepted methods for the treatment of skin picking.
What about medication?
If CBT alone is not working for a patient, I always encourage individuals to consult with a psychiatrist. Some individuals are unable to do the work required of them in CBT without the addition of medication. The combination of both is highly effective for many individuals.
Can hypnosis be an effective way to stop skin picking?
Hypnosis alone will not stop skin picking. However it can be a helpful adjunct to CBT. I almost always incorporate relaxation training (a form of hypnotherapy) into treatment plans for those seeking help for skin picking.
Do you have any other tips to break the pattern of skin picking on a daily basis?
The first step is always awareness of what triggers you to pick. Who? What? When? Where? Start to keep track of this information. These are key when starting Habit Reversal Training and Stimulus Control.
Have any of your patients stopped picking completely?
I have had patients stop picking completely, although this is rare. What I always tell my patients is that success is having control over your behaviors. Sometimes you choose to implement tools to prevent you from picking sometimes you don't. But its always your choice. No outside force is causing you to pick.
If you have a friend or a relative who suffer from skin picking, what can you do to help her/him?
Read about skin picking. Know that it is can cause an extreme amount of shame and embarrassment, so if your friend or relative is not ready to discuss it with you, give them the time and space that they might need. If they are open to talking with you, offer your support by asking your friend or relative what you can do to help them. Telling someone who is struggling with this disorder to "Stop Picking!!", generally, is not going to be helpful.


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The University of Alberta Faculty of Engineering is one of the top engineering schools in Canada.
As an Engineering Student, find the help you need and the opportunities to grow.
Professor, Construction Engineering and Management
Director, Construction Innovation Centre
Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Fuzzy Hybrid Decision Support Systems for Construction
NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Strategic Construction Modeling and Delivery
Ledcor Professor in Construction Engineering
Postdoctoral Fellow
Technical Writer
Hole School of Construction Engineering
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Alberta
7-203 Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering
9211 116 St NW
Edmonton AB T6G 1H9


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According to ERIA's research, the amount of energy consumption in this region will practically double in 2040. Therefore, conventional energy may still be used by most ASEAN and East Asian countries to satisfy the growing energy demand, with efforts to reduce the environmental impact and to gradually increase the use of renewable energy. ERIA produces annual research on energy outlook and energy saving potential in East Asia to look at the balance of energy best-mix based on each country's policy and targets, as well as to predict the pattern of future energy consumption.
Some of ERIA's studies on renewable and clean energy includes projects on biomass energy utilisation, nuclear energy safety and efficiency, energy saving, energy security, eco town, low carbon emission, and power generation. Furthermore, ERIA have also contribute suggestions on energy policy, energy market integration, emission regulation, as well as country specific energy consumption statistics.
Energy Demand and Supply of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar 2010-2017
04 February 2020
This report on the Energy Demand and Supply for Myanmar in 2010–2017 was prepared as an update of the Myanmar Energy Statistics 2017 publication, which … Read More
Lao PDR Energy Outlook 2020
03 February 2020
The Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) has been assisting the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), Lao PDR to produce Lao … Read More
Energy Demand and Supply of the Lao People's Democratic Republic 2010-2018
03 February 2020
This report on the Energy Demand and Supply of the Lao PDR in 2010–2018 was prepared as an update of the Lao PDR Energy Statistics … Read More
Energy Demand and Supply of Cambodia 2010-2018
03 February 2020
This paper on the Energy Demand and Supply for Cambodia in 2010–2018 was prepared as an update of the Cambodia Energy Statistics 2018 publication. The … Read More
Unlocking the Potential of Private Financing for Low-carbon Energy Transition: Ideas and Solutions from ASEAN Markets
29 January 2020
Under the Paris Agreement in 2015, the opportunities for the ASEAN Member States (AMS) to maximise low-carbon energy sources to achieve the Nationally Determined Contributions … Read More
Building the Banking Sector's Capacity for Green Infrastructure Investments for a Low-Carbon Economy
28 January 2020
The construction of green infrastructure, using advanced technology and retiring inefficient technology, is essential for the low-carbon transition. Various green infrastructure programs are being implemented, … Read More
Scaling up Private Investment in Low-Carbon Energy Systems through Regional Cooperation: Market-Based Trade Policy Measures
20 January 2020
This study aims to analyse the possibility and challenges of encouraging private sector investment in low-carbon energy systems in Asia, particularly across the Regional Comprehensive … Read More
Public Acceptance of Nuclear Power Plants in Hosting Communities: A Multilevel System Analysis
20 December 2019
Problems with public acceptance have resulted in significant setbacks for nuclear power plant projects in ASEAN and East Asian. Trust within the communities that host … Read More
Study on the Biomass and Coal Co-Combustion in the ASEAN Region
16 December 2019
Co-combustion of agricultural waste and coal could make a very significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions compared with simple coal combustion for power generation. Since … Read More
Household-level Analysis of Electricity Consumption on Welfare and Environment in Cambodia: Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications
26 November 2019
About the Journal Economic Modelling, December 2019, available online 26 November 2019 through https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2019.11.025 Authors Han Phoumin, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, … Read More


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This Week in Queensland Theatre: Aug 2-8
2 August, 2010 No Comments
Check for details on company websites
The Secret Love Life of Ophelia by Steven Berkoff Dir Brenna-Lee Cooney (Friday) at !Metro Arts
Boy Girl Wall created and performed by Lucas Stibbard at !Metro Arts
I Love You Bro' by Adam J Cass Dir David Berthold for La Boite Theatre at the Roundhouse
The Seven Stages of Grieving by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman. An education production Dir Rosalba Clemente for Queensland Theatre Company. Bille Brown Studio
Shadowlands by William Nicholson Crossbow Productions at Brisbane Powerhouse Visy Theatre (Wed-Sat)