Sunday, 28 February 2016

The golden rule of stock options trading

Have you ever lost all your money in Stock Options trading?


If you are like most of us, then you might have lost an entire trading account just trading stock options before. No matter how hard you try, you seem to always lose all your money eventually even if you made some initial profits. Why is that so?


The truth is, stock options trading is risky business! Why is it risky business? Stock options trading is risky because you could lose all your money on any stock options trade if the stock eventually close with the options out of the money during expiration! Yes, even stocks that seem to be rising very quickly and steadily could take sudden and unexpected drops near expiration, taking your in the money call options way out of the money before you can react to it! This means that no matter how certain you are in stock options trading, there is always the possibility of a total loss. Stock options are fantastic leverage instruments but if you simply throw all your money into every trade and hope to strike lottery, then stock options trading would one day wipe out your entire account in one fell sweep.


So, how do we avoid such a predicament?


Simply by applying the golden rule of stock options trading! That is:


Use Only Money You Could Afford To Lose!


Yes, if you could afford to lose only 10% of your account at any one time, you should use no more than 10% of your account on any single stock options trade! This rule is especially important if you are trading out of the money options which have an incredibly high chance of expiring worthless.


For example, if you have a $10000 account and you do not wish to lose more than $1000 at a time, $1000 should be the amount you use on any single stock options trade. Simple as that! The obvious drawback of this rule is that you will not make as much money as you would have if you had simply punted all your money on a single trade, however, just like you would never bet all your money on a single gamble, you should also never put all your money into a single options trade no matter how confident you are! In fact, this applies to any form of trading as well. It takes a little discipline to stick to this rule especially if you are “on a roll” and tempted to go for a “show hand”. Let me assure you that there never is a problem with making lesser money but there always is a problem losing more money!


In fact, when you are using only money that you could afford to lose in stock options trading, you sleep better knowing that you cannot lose more money than you have decided to lose! Your holding power becomes greatly enhanced and you could ride out temporary downturns better than those stock options traders who punted all their money in one trade. This consequently translates to a higher chance of a win as most stocks eventually come back profitably after temporary pullbacks!


So, stick to the “Use Only Money You Could Afford To Lose” golden rule of options trading and you will be safe in your journey to financial success with stock options trading!


Saturday, 27 February 2016

Credit cards and divorce

If you’ve recently divorced or are going through a divorce, one of the important issues that you should settle is how any joint debts are to be handled. This includes mortgages on a jointly owned home and any joint credit cards that you have. You also need to be aware of how failure to pay those debts on time will affect your credit rating – even if your divorce decree states that you are not the party responsible.


There are two kinds of credit card accounts – individual and joint – and each is seen differently in terms of credit history. Don’t assume that just because you have a credit card with your name on it the account was a joint account. The account holder of an individual account may designate ‘authorized users’ and issue cards in their name, but the account holder is still the responsible party for the payment of the bill.


If you authorize a user on an individual account, the account may show up on both your credit report and theirs. If you have a joint account, it will appear on both of your credit reports. If you divorce, you are both responsible for any bills on joint accounts – but you may also be responsible for any bills on individual accounts held by your ex-spouse if you live in a community property state.


Credit companies are obligated to close or freeze a joint credit account at the request of either holder on the account, but they may not close the account without that request. To protect yourself in case of divorce, financial advisors recommend the following:


Freeze all joint credit accounts immediately.


This will prevent the credit cards from being run up further and hurting your credit further. Most creditors will not close an account with an outstanding balance, but will freeze it at your request.


Remove your ex-spouse as an authorized user from any individual account that you hold.


It’s important that only you will have the authorization to charge items on your individual accounts. This will help protect your accounts, and will ensure that you have your own credit after the divorce.


Ask credit card companies to convert joint accounts to individual accounts in the name of the person who will be responsible for paying them.


The credit card company is not obligated to do this. They may require that the balance be paid in full, or that the individual apply for credit in his or her own name, and then transfer the balance.


Allocate the debts for repayment responsibility.


The best way to allocate debts is for each of you to agree to be responsible for repayment in full of specific accounts. Be aware that any agreement between the two of you is not binding on a third party – the credit card company. If your ex-spouse agrees to pay an account and then defaults, it is still legally your responsibility to the credit card company to pay it. You ARE entitled by law to sue your ex-spouse for that money – but few ex-spouses do.


Friday, 26 February 2016

Kiss your mate day

What a lovely name for a day. A must celebration for those in love. April 28th is Kiss Your Mate Day. And obviously all the readers know what it means. Send ecards full of love messages if you are away with a promise to kiss him or her when you meet. Send an ecard planted with kiss - that will be difficult, but not impossible. And if you are with your mate on 28th April, you know what to do.


Rather than talking about kiss, how about talking of mate? The dictionary defines mate as companion, chum, friend, buddy and so on. In short, some one who is your real good friend. In common parlance, mate refers to a girl friend / boy friend with whom you are in love. Love and kisses obviously go together. A kiss seals the promise of love. But we were speaking about mate, so let us continue. Who do you call your mate? Do you have one? Did you have one? How was your life when you were together? How is your life now, if you have a mate?


Life is heavenly. Life is great. Life is lovely. Life is divine. Life is celestial. Life is marvelous. Life is pleasant. Life is delightful. Life is enchanting. One lives life when one is with one's mate. Am I correct? There is nothing better in life than to have a mate for life with whom we can share everything - all that is good and all that is bad. Many a times, we find that those in love try to hide certain bad things from their mate. A man will find it difficult to tell his mate that he is facing money problems when he is wooing her. Isn't it? Similarly girls will always try to show their best side.


When we call someone a mate, we cross all these limits that we have set for ourselves. We become one heart, one mind in two bodies. Nothing is hidden from each other. All our joys, worries, pleasures and anxieties, our phobias, our pains and our pleasures, we share all with our mate whom we love. Unless we can do that, our love and togetherness will be missing the essential joy that comes out of baring all.


Please kiss your mate on April 28th and make sure that you both become true mates for life with nothing left to hide. Unless you do that, the kiss will miss the purest love. Good Luck.


How to maintain a mop bucket

How To Properly Care For Your Mop Bucket


Caring for your mop bucket properly can help extend the life of the mop bucket and reduce contaminants and bacteria growth in your environment. Here are some simple steps to take in caring for your bucket:


Rinse mop buckets thoroughly after each use. Turn the mop bucket upside to dry.


Check mop buckets for cracks and cleanliness regularly. Check to see if the casters roll smoothly. If your casters are stuck or rusty replace them as soon as possible. If your casters are bad don't throw away your mop bucket because most mop bucket manufacturers sell casters separately.


Rinse your mop wringers thoroughly. It us best to hang the wringer up to dry so that they can drain completely. Check handle and pressure mechanisms regularly. Most mop bucket manufacturers sell these parts separately.


Try to have a different mop bucket for specific tasks. This reduces the mixture of chemicals and contaminants you may have in your bucket.


When using floor finish extend the life of your mop bucket by lining the inside with a trash can liner. After you're done finishing the floor you can discard the trash can liner saving you time in clean up and keeping your mop buckets free from finish buildup.


8 easy tips for cheaper home insurance

No one likes paying for home insurance, but it's a necessary evil for most of us. This doesn't mean you have to pay through the nose for it though - try these 8 easy tips for cheaper home insurance and see how much you could reduce your premiums by.


- Shop Around


By comparing prices from several insurance companies, you'll probably be able to reduce your premiums by a substantial amount. This may seem obvious, but research has shown that a surprisingly large proportion of people either just renew their current policy, or get only one or two quotes. Many insurance web sites will automatically compare dozens of policies for you, making this one of the easiest ways to reduce your insurance bill.


- Buy online


If you buy your policy online you can often get a discount of up to 20% on normal prices, because there are less administration costs involved and the savings can be passed on to you.


- Combine your buildings and contents policies


Many insurers will give you a discount if you take out both types of home insurance with them, and this usually works out cheaper than getting the two kinds of policies from different companies.


- Pay upfront


Although most insurers let you pay your premium in monthly instalments, many will charge interest for this. If you can afford to pay a full year's premium in advance, then this will work out cheaper in the long run.


- Don't claim for small amounts


Making many small claims can increase your insurance costs, as your insurer may see you as a greater risk and increase your premiums. You will also lose any no claims discount your policy has. Of course, you're entitled to claim for anything your policy covers, but ask yourself if making a small claim is really worth the hassle and possible future costs.


- Voluntary excess


This is related to the last point. Insurance policies feature something known as 'excess', which basically means that the policy won't pay out on claims below a certain value. On some policies, if you choose to raise your excess to a higher level, then your premiums will be lower.


- Increase your home security


Beefing up your home security with better door locks, window locks, outdoor lighting, and alarm systems can all result in lower premiums. Ask your insurer what you could do to get extra discounts.


- Reduce your cover


Many policies feature benefits that you might not need, such as cover for personal possessions while travelling, or 'free' legal advice. Look through your policy and see what parts of it you really need - by cutting your cover down to size you may be able to reduce your premium.


Wednesday, 24 February 2016

Better reading fluency results in better reading comprehension

Reading fluency is the ability to read quickly and accurately. A person with good reading fluency is able to comprehend more because they instantly group and recognize words. Doing this instantly frees up the brain for comprehending what is actually being read. Good reading fluency will help people learn more and excel at school or on the job. It is common for people to struggle with reading fluency. There are, however, specific training programs that allow an individual to strengthen their reading fluency.


An individual struggling with reading fluency can be extremely frustrated with learning because they have to spend extra time trying to understand what they are reading. This can negatively impact people in a school or professional work setting. When a person struggling with reading fluency reads out loud their reading will typically be slow, choppy, and without natural expression.


Besides having difficulty reading aloud an individual who struggles with reading fluency may also notice that they identify words in a list well, but they can't read the same words fluently in a phrase. It is vital that you help students move from word recognition in isolation to reading fluency in context. This can be accomplished with the proper testing, training, and practice.


The National Institute for Literacy said on their website that, "Repeated and monitored oral reading improves reading fluency and overall reading achievement." This is one of the two steps researched by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The second step they found for improved reading fluency is silent reading done independently by the students. Practice is one of the key factors to an improvement in reading fluency.


The NAEP has also laid out their definition of reading fluency. They define it as: "the ease or 'naturalness' of reading."


In 1995 the NAEP found that 44% of United States fourth graders were on the lower end of the fluency scale. The study also confirmed that reading fluency and reading comprehension are directly related to each other. It has been proven that many American classrooms neglect to teach or train students to become more fluent readers. This in turn affects student's reading comprehension in the present and carries over later in life.


To help your child or a loved one become a more fluent reader it is important to have them take a simple reading fluency test at a quality learning training center. This test will help you understand their strengths and weaknesses on the reading fluency scale. After the test the learning training center can put together a plan of action for helping to improve the reading fluency. This includes having your child receive professional feedback on their reading. This training process has proven to help improve reading fluency for a lifetime.


On empathy

The Encyclopaedia Britannica (1999 edition) defines empathy as:


"The ability to imagine oneself in anther's place and understand the other's feelings, desires, ideas, and actions. It is a term coined in the early 20th century, equivalent to the German Einfьhlung and modelled on "sympathy." The term is used with special (but not exclusive) reference to aesthetic experience. The most obvious example, perhaps, is that of the actor or singer who genuinely feels the part he is performing. With other works of art, a spectator may, by a kind of introjection, feel himself involved in what he observes or contemplates. The use of empathy is an important part of the counselling technique developed by the American psychologist Carl Rogers."


Empathy is predicated upon and must, therefore, incorporate the following elements:


Imagination which is dependent on the ability to imagine;


The existence of an accessible Self (self-awareness or self-consciousness);


The existence of an available other (other-awareness, recognizing the outside world);


The existence of accessible feelings, desires, ideas and representations of actions or their outcomes both in the empathizing Self ("Empathor") and in the Other, the object of empathy ("Empathee");


The availability of an aesthetic frame of reference;


The availability of a moral frame of reference.


While (a) is presumed to be universally available to all agents (though in varying degrees) - the existence of the other components of empathy should not be taken for granted.


Conditions (b) and (c), for instance, are not satisfied by people who suffer from personality disorders, such as the Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Condition (d) is not met in autistic people (e. g., those who suffer from the Asperger syndrome). Conditions (e) is so totally dependent on the specifics of the culture, period and society in which it exists - that it is rather meaningless and ambiguous as a yardstick. Condition (f) suffer from both afflictions: it is both culture-dependent AND is not satisfied in many people (such as those who suffer from the Antisocial Personality Disorder and who are devoid of any conscience or moral sense).


Thus, the very existence of empathy should be questioned. It is often confused with inter-subjectivity. The latter is defined thus by "The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, 1995":


"This term refers to the status of being somehow accessible to at least two (usually all, in principle) minds or 'subjectivities'. It thus implies that there is some sort of communication between those minds; which in turn implies that each communicating minds aware not only of the existence of the other but also of its intention to convey information to the other. The idea, for theorists, is that if subjective processes can be brought into agreement, then perhaps that is as good as the (unattainable?) status of being objective - completely independent of subjectivity. The question facing such theorists is whether intersubjectivity is definable without presupposing an objective environment in which communication takes place (the 'wiring' from subject A to subject B). At a less fundamental level, however, the need for intersubjective verification of scientific hypotheses has been long recognized". (page 414).


On the face of it, the difference between intersubjectivity and empathy is double:


Intersubjectivity requires an EXPLICIT, communicated agreement between at least two subjects.


It involves EXTERNAL things (so called "objective" entities).


These "differences" are artificial. This how empathy is defined in "Psychology - An Introduction (Ninth Edition) by Charles G. Morris, Prentice Hall, 1996":


"Closely related to the ability to read other people's emotions is empathy - the arousal of an emotion in an observer that is a vicarious response to the other person's situation... Empathy depends not only on one's ability to identify someone else's emotions but also on one's capacity to put oneself in the other person's place and to experience an appropriate emotional response. Just as sensitivity to non-verbal cues increases with age, so does empathy: The cognitive and perceptual abilities required for empathy develop only as a child matures... (page 442)


In empathy training, for example, each member of the couple is taught to share inner feelings and to listen to and understand the partner's feelings before responding to them. The empathy technique focuses the couple's attention on feelings and requires that they spend more time listening and less time in rebuttal." (page 576).


Thus empathy does require the communication of feelings AND an agreement on the appropriate outcome of the communicated emotions (=affective agreement). In the absence of such agreement, we are faced with inappropriate affect (laughing at a funeral, for instance).


Moreover, empathy does relate to external objects and is provoked by them. There is no empathy in the absence of an empathee. Granted, intersubjectivity is intuitively applied to the inanimate while empathy is applied to the living (animals, humans, even plants). But this is a difference in human preferences - not in definition.


Empathy can, thus, be re-defined as a form of intersubjectivity which involves living things as "objects" to which the communicated intersubjective agreement relates. It is wrong to limit empathy to the communication of emotion. It is the intersubjective, concomitant experience of BEING. The empathor empathizes not only with the empathee's emotions but also with his physical state and other parameters of existence (pain, hunger, thirst, suffocation, sexual pleasure etc.).


This leads to the important (and perhaps intractable) psychophysical question.


Intersubjectivity relates to external objects but the subjects communicate and reach an agreement regarding the way THEY have been affected by the objects.


Empathy relates to external objects (the Others) but the subjects communicate and reach an agreement regarding the way THEY would have felt had they BEEN the object.


This is no minor difference, if it, indeed, exists. But does it really exist?


What is it that we feel in empathy? Is it OUR emotions/sensations merely provoked by an external trigger (classic intersubjectivity) or is it a TRANSFER of the object's feelings/sensations to us?


Such a transfer being physically impossible (as far as we know) - we are forced to adopt the former model. Empathy is the set of reactions - emotional and cognitive - to triggering by an external object (the other). It is the equivalent of resonance in the physical sciences. But we have NO WAY to ascertain the "wavelength" of such resonance is identical in both subjects. In other words, we have no way to verify that the feelings or sensation invoked in the two (or more) subjects are one and the same. What I call "sadness" may not be what you call "sadness". Colours have unique, uniform, independently measurable properties (like energy). Still, no one can prove that what I see as "red" is what another calls "red" (as is the case with Daltonists). If this is true where "objective", measurable, phenomena are concerned - it is infinitely true in the case of emotions or feelings.


We are, therefore, forced to refine our definition:


Empathy is a form of intersubjectivity which involves living things as "objects" to which the communicated intersubjective agreement relates. It is the intersubjective, concomitant experience of BEING. The empathor empathizes not only with the empathee's emotions but also with his physical state and other parameters of existence (pain, hunger, thirst, suffocation, sexual pleasure etc.).


BUT


The meaning attributed to the words used by the parties to the intersubjective agreement known as empathy is totally dependent upon each party. The same words are used, the same denotates - but it cannot be proven that the same connotates, the same experiences, emotions and sensations are being discussed or communicated.


Language (and, by extension, art and culture) serve to introduce us to other points of view ("what is it like to be someone else" to paraphrase Thomas Nagle). By providing a bridge between the subjective (inner experience) and the objective (words, images, sounds) - language facilitates social exchange and interaction. It is a dictionary which translates one's subjective private language to the coin of the public medium. Knowledge and language are, thus, the ultimate social glue, though both are based on approximations and guesses (see George Steiner's "After Babel").


But, whereas the intersubjective agreement regarding measurements and observations concerning external objects IS verifiable or falsifiable using INDEPENDENT tools (e. g., lab experiments) - the intersubjective agreement which concerns itself with the emotions, sensations and experiences of subjects as communicated by them IS NOT verifiable or falsifiable using INDEPENDENT tools. The interpretation of this second kind of agreement is dependent upon introspection and an assumption that identical words used by different subjects still possess identical meaning. This assumption is not falsifiable (or verifiable). It is neither true nor false. It is a probabilistic statement with no probabilities attached. It is, in short, a meaningless statement. As a result, empathy itself is meaningless.


In human-speak, if you say that you are said and I empathize with you it means that we have an agreement. I regard you as my object. You communicate to me a property of yours ("sadness"). This triggers in me a recollection of "what is sadness" or "what is to be sad". I say that I know what you mean, I have been sad before, I know what it is like to be sad. I empathize with you. We agree about being sad. We have an intersubjective agreement.


Alas, such an agreement is meaningless. We cannot (yet) measure sadness, quantify it, crystallize it, access it in any way from the outside. We are totally and absolutely reliant on your introspection and my introspection. There is no way anyone can prove that my "sadness" is even remotely similar to your sadness. I may be feeling or experiencing something that you might find hilarious and not sad at all. Still, I call it "sadness" and I empathize with you.


This would not have been that grave if empathy hadn't been the cornerstone of morality.


The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1999 Edition:


"Empathy and other forms of social awareness are important in the development of a moral sense. Morality embraces a person's beliefs about the appropriateness or goodness of what he does, thinks, or feels... Childhood is ... the time at which moral standards begin to develop in a process that often extends well into adulthood. The American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg hypothesized that people's development of moral standards passes through stages that can be grouped into three moral levels...


At the third level, that of postconventional moral reasoning, the adult bases his moral standards on principles that he himself has evaluated and that he accepts as inherently valid, regardless of society's opinion. He is aware of the arbitrary, subjective nature of social standards and rules, which he regards as relative rather than absolute in authority.


Thus the bases for justifying moral standards pass from avoidance of punishment to avoidance of adult disapproval and rejection to avoidance of internal guilt and self-recrimination. The person's moral reasoning also moves toward increasingly greater social scope (i. e., including more people and institutions) and greater abstraction (i. e., from reasoning about physical events such as pain or pleasure to reasoning about values, rights, and implicit contracts)."


But, if moral reasoning is based on introspection and empathy - it is, indeed, dangerously relative and not objective in any known sense of the word. Empathy is a unique agreement on the emotional and experiential content of two or more introspective processes in two or more subjective. Such an agreement can never have any meaning, even as far as the parties to it are concerned. They can never be sure that they are discussing the same emotions or experiences. There is no way to compare, measure, observe, falsify or verify (prove) that the "same" emotion is experienced identically by the parties to the empathy agreement. Empathy is meaningless and introspection involves a private language despite what Wittgenstein had to say. Morality is thus reduced to a set of meaningless private languages.


The Encyclopaedia Britannica:


"... Others have argued that because even rather young children are capable of showing empathy with the pain of others, the inhibition of aggressive behaviour arises from this moral affect rather than from the mere anticipation of punishment. Some scientists have found that children differ in their individual capacity for empathy, and, therefore, some children are more sensitive to moral prohibitions than others.


Young children's growing awareness of their own emotional states, characteristics, and abilities leads to empathy--i. e., the ability to appreciate the feelings and perspectives of others. Empathy and other forms of social awareness are in turn important in the development of a moral sense... Another important aspect of children's emotional development is the formation of their self-concept, or identity--i. e., their sense of who they are and what their relation to other people is.


According to Lipps's concept of empathy, a person appreciates another person's reaction by a projection of the self into the other. In his Дsthetik, 2 vol. (1903-06; 'Aesthetics'), he made all appreciation of art dependent upon a similar self-projection into the object."


This may well be the key. Empathy has little to do with the other person (the empathee). It is simply the result of conditioning and socialization. In other words, when we hurt someone - we don't experience his pain. We experience OUR pain. Hurting somebody - hurts US. The reaction of pain is provoked in US by OUR own actions. We have been taught a learned response of feeling pain when we inflict it upon another. But we have also been taught to feel responsible for our fellow beings (guilt). So, we experience pain whenever another person claims to experience it as well. We feel guilty.


In sum:


To use the example of pain, we experience it in tandem with another person because we feel guilty or somehow responsible for his condition. A learned reaction is activated and we experience (our kind of) pain as well. We communicate it to the other person and an agreement of empathy is struck between us.


We attribute feelings, sensations and experiences to the object of our actions. It is the psychological defence mechanism of projection. Unable to conceive of inflicting pain upon ourselves - we displace the source. It is the other's pain that we are feeling, we keep telling ourselves, not our own.


The Encyclopaedia Britannica:


"Perhaps the most important aspect of children's emotional development is a growing awareness of their own emotional states and the ability to discern and interpret the emotions of others. The last half of the second year is a time when children start becoming aware of their own emotional states, characteristics, abilities, and potential for action; this phenomenon is called self-awareness... (coupled with strong narcissistic behaviours and traits - SV)...


This growing awareness of and ability to recall one's own emotional states leads to empathy, or the ability to appreciate the feelings and perceptions of others. Young children's dawning awareness of their own potential for action inspires them to try to direct (or otherwise affect) the behaviour of others...


...With age, children acquire the ability to understand the perspective, or point of view, of other people, a development that is closely linked with the empathic sharing of others' emotions...


One major factor underlying these changes is the child's increasing cognitive sophistication. For example, in order to feel the emotion of guilt, a child must appreciate the fact that he could have inhibited a particular action of his that violated a moral standard. The awareness that one can impose a restraint on one's own behaviour requires a certain level of cognitive maturation, and, therefore, the emotion of guilt cannot appear until that competence is attained."


That empathy is a REACTION to external stimuli that is fully contained within the empathor and then projected onto the empathee - is clearly demonstrated by "inborn empathy". It is the ability to exhibit empathy and altruistic behaviour in response to facial expressions. Newborns react this way to their mother's facial expression of sadness or distress.


This serves to prove that empathy has very little to do with the feelings, experiences or sensations of the other (the empathee). Surely, the infant has no idea what it is like to feel sad and definitely not what it is like for his mother to feel sad. In this case, it is a complex reflexive reaction. Later on, empathy is still rather reflexive, the result of conditioning.


The Encyclopaedia Britannica quotes fascinating research which dramatically proves the object-independent nature of empathy. Empathy is an internal reaction, an internal process, triggered by external cue provided by animate objects. It is communicated to the empathee-other by the empathor but the communication and the resulting agreement ("I know how you feel therefore we agree on how you feel") is rendered meaningless by the absence of a monovalent, unambiguous dictionary.


"An extensive series of studies indicated that positive emotion feelings enhance empathy and altruism. It was shown by the American psychologist Alice M. Isen that relatively small favours or bits of good luck (like finding money in a coin telephone or getting an unexpected gift) induced positive emotion in people and that such emotion regularly increased the subjects' inclination to sympathize or provide help.


Several studies have demonstrated that positive emotion facilitates creative problem solving. One of these studies showed that positive emotion enabled subjects to name more uses for common objects. Another showed that positive emotion enhanced creative problem solving by enabling subjects to see relations among objects (and other people - SV) that would otherwise go unnoticed. A number of studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of positive emotion on thinking, memory, and action in pre-school and older children."


If empathy increases with positive emotion (a result of good luck, for instance) - then it has little to do with its objects and a lot to do with the person in whom it is provoked.


ADDENDUM - Interview granted to the National Post, Toronto, Canada, July 2003


Q. How important is empathy to proper psychological functioning?


A. Empathy is more important socially than it is psychologically. The absence of empathy - for instance in the Narcissistic and Antisocial personality disorders - predisposes people to exploit and abuse others. Empathy is the bedrock of our sense of morality. Arguably, aggressive behavior is as inhibited by empathy at least as much as it is by anticipated punishment.


But the existence of empathy in a person is also a sign of self-awareness, a healthy identity, a well-regulated sense of self-worth, and self-love (in the positive sense). Its absence denotes emotional and cognitive immaturity, an inability to love, to truly relate to others, to respect their boundaries and accept their needs, feelings, hopes, fears, choices, and preferences as autonomous entities.


Q. How is empathy developed?


A. It may be innate. Even toddlers seem to empathize with the pain - or happiness - of others (such as their caregivers). Empathy increases as the child forms a self-concept (identity). The more aware the infant is of his or her emotional states, the more he explores his limitations and capabilities - the more prone he is to projecting this new found knowledge unto others. By attributing to people around him his new gained insights about himself, the child develop a moral sense and inhibits his anti-social impulses. The development of empathy is, therefore, a part of the process of socialization.


But, as the American psychologist Carl Rogers taught us, empathy is also learned and inculcated. We are coached to feel guilt and pain when we inflict suffering on another person. Empathy is an attempt to avoid our own self-imposed agony by projecting it onto another.


Q. Is there an increasing dearth of empathy in society today? Why do you think so?


A. The social institutions that reified, propagated and administered empathy have imploded. The nuclear family, the closely-knit extended clan, the village, the neighborhood, the Church - have all unraveled. Society is atomized and anomic. The resulting alienation fostered a wave of antisocial behavior, both criminal and "legitimate". The survival value of empathy is on the decline. It is far wiser to be cunning, to cut corners, to deceive, and to abuse - than to be empathic. Empathy has largely dropped from the contemporary curriculum of socialization.


In a desperate attempt to cope with these inexorable processes, behaviors predicated on a lack of empathy have been pathologized and "medicalized". The sad truth is that narcissistic or antisocial conduct is both normative and rational. No amount of "diagnosis", "treatment", and medication can hide or reverse this fact. Ours is a cultural malaise which permeates every single cell and strand of the social fabric.


Q. Is there any empirical evidence we can point to of a decline in empathy?


Empathy cannot be measured directly - but only through proxies such as criminality, terrorism, charity, violence, antisocial behavior, related mental health disorders, or abuse.


Moreover, it is extremely difficult to separate the effects of deterrence from the effects of empathy.


If I don't batter my wife, torture animals, or steal - is it because I am empathetic or because I don't want to go to jail?


Rising litigiousness, zero tolerance, and skyrocketing rates of incarceration - as well as the ageing of the population - have sliced intimate partner violence and other forms of crime across the United States in the last decade. But this benevolent decline had nothing to do with increasing empathy.


The statistics are open to interpretation but it would be safe to say that the last century has been the most violent and least empathetic in human history. Wars and terrorism are on the rise, charity giving on the wane (measured as percentage of national wealth), welfare policies are being abolished, Darwininan models of capitalism are spreading. In the last two decades, mental health disorders were added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association whose hallmark is the lack of empathy. The violence is reflected in our popular culture: movies, video games, and the media.


Empathy - supposedly a spontaneous reaction to the plight of our fellow humans - is now channeled through self-interested and bloated non-government organizations or multilateral outfits. The vibrant world of private empathy has been replaced by faceless state largesse. Pity, mercy, the elation of giving are tax-deductible. It is a sorry sight.


Tuesday, 23 February 2016

Which article directories should i submit my article to

There are an ever increasing number of article directories springing up, attemting to take advantage of the popularity that has become of writing articles as a form of website promotion. What people can be unsure of however, is which of these sites to post their article to. In this article I write about the article directories which I use.


Ezinearticles


Ezinearticles was where I posted my very first article. It seems so long ago now, where in truth it was probably only around ten months ago. This directory was recommended to me by a friend and in my opinion is certainly one of the best. Each article is reviewed before being accepted, this is not true of many of the other directories, especially the newer sites.


When you search for the title of your article a few days after it has been accepted in for example the search engine google, you are normally able to see it highly placed in the results. One of the first articles I submitted was called stuttering and its effects, this article is still placed in the top ten of google after many months.


If you are only planning on submitting your article to one directory this is the one I would advise that you use.


Goarticles


Many people have told me that they prefer to use goarticles when looking for an article to add to their site. For this reason alone, I always ensure that I submit my article to this directory.


Articlealley


The thing I like about articlealley is that they also include the article you submit to them on one or two of the sister sites. This is without you needing to do any extra work. Additional exposure is always good.


Articledasboard


I have been advised that this directory is becoming increasingly popular and is one I should be posting my article to. The site has a page rank of six which is always a good sign.


Ideamarketers


This directory is my fifth choice in order of merit and has many interesting articles.


It is hard to know how many of these directories people should be submitting their article to. I have been given lots of different advice on this subject and have decided to come up with my own conclusion. I personally normally submit my articles to around twenty of these sites but always the five above.


These are the other article directories I use:


amazines


contentdesk


theezine. net


yeeheey


isnare


impactarticles


activeauthors


morganarticlearchive


articlefeeder


articlecity


netterweb


simplysearch4it


linksnoop


articlehub


articlelocker


The one thing to remember is to only submit original content. Private label articles are becoming popular in some quarters, however I would advise to avoid these at all cost.


I hope article marketing brings you as many rewards as it has for me.


Video poker how to play the game

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If you are looking for a fun and challenging alternative to playing slot machines, video poker is the game for you. Instead of simply pulling the machine handle and hoping that you will be lucky enough to meet a row of identical icons, in video poker your moves would rule whether you win or lose. Moreover, the house edge in video poker is much lower than at slots.

Playing video poker is similar to playing draw poker on a slot machine. It enables you to enjoy the action of poker without having to face other players who may be more experienced and skilled than you are. In addition, in video poker, there are no dealers, no rakes, no bluffing, no cheating; it is all about you and your poker skills.

How to Play Video Poker:
There are several variations to video poker. Some of the video poker variations are played with standard 52 card decks while others are played with additional wild cards. All the variations are based on the traditional card game of poker. Therefore, a basic knowledge of poker hand ranking is necessary.

You start by choosing the coin value you wish to play and then pick the number of coins that you want to bet. Afterwards, you click on deal and five cards will appear on your screen. You can discard some or all of the cards and replace them with new ones. After pressing hold on the cards you wish to keep, you push the deal button and the machine replaces your discarded cards with new ones.

The outcome of the second draw determines whether you win or lose. Each video poker machine displays its payout table, which details the number of coins the machine pays for each five card poker hand. The payout table differs from one video poker variation to the other and so is the minimum hand that qualifies for a payout.

Video poker odds are the same as in regular card poker. A 52 card deck produces more than 2.5 million hand combination. Each video poker machine is set by a random number generator, which simulates the probabilities of drawing any of the poker hand combinations. While in regular card poker, the casino ensure its profits by collecting a rake, in video poker the casino ensure its profits by setting each machine pay table differently.

Video Poker Tips:
1) Learn the basics of draw poker before you start playing video poker at online casinos or at a casino nearby.
2) Know the machine payout of the table you have decided to play at by selecting the machine that offers the highest return.
3) Adjust your strategy to the specific video poker variation you intend to play.
4) Use a mathematical strategy to play the game correctly.
5) Do not keep cards that cannot be used to form a winning hand.
6) Hold on to any pair instead of keeping a high card.
7) Keep any pair rather than draw into a straight or a flush.
8) Practice playing online video poker in a play money mode.

Vitamin b-1

Did you know that vitamin B-1 has two other widely used names? Thiamine is a name used in the US and Aneurin is the popular name in Europe. Thiamin (without the e) is also used to refer to B-1.


Vitamin B-1 is important to your body's health. You probably have heard of beriberi before. It can have pretty severe effects on your nervous system, heart, brain, cellular health and energy levels to name a few problem areas affected by a deficiency of B-1.


Interestingly enough, a person with beriberi that has reached the point of barely being able to move, will often respond to a B-1 injection in just a few hours to the point that they will be able to get up and walk again. Beriberi is truly a deficiency disease.


Thiamine is important to the energy production system of every cell in your body. ATP or Adenosine Triphosphate is the energy currency that powers your body. There are a few pathways that your cell uses to make ATP, the major one being Kreb's cycle. Without sufficient quantities of B-1, your body is restricted in being able to produce the all necessary ATP.


Fortunately, especially in North America, you can get Thiamine from your diet. You can get B-1 from many foods. A few are pork, peanuts, whole grains and beans (legumes). There are other foods, this is just a short list for you convenience.


White rice has the hull stripped from it which causes the rice to become devoid of B-1. This leads to high incidence of beriberi in some Asian countries as rice is relied upon heavily upon as a staple food.


Some seafood may actually inhibit the absorption of B-1 in the digestive tract. Heat and radiation will destroy thiamine and alcohol will interfere with it's uptake from the digestive track.


Vitamin B-1 is a water soluble vitamin which means that an extra supply is not stored in your body tissues. A fat soluble vitamin, which B-1 is not, would be stored in body tissues. Vitamin B-1 must be continually obtained from your diet.


Some symptoms in the early stages of thiamine deficiency include irritability, fatigue, apathy, abdominal pain, drowsiness and poor concentration. Later stages of thiamine deficiency are much more severe and can manifest in a number of ways. A few manifestations are tachycardia (fast heart beat), vomiting, heart failure, weakness, itching, blue skin color, numbness and memory loss.


Alcoholics, dialysis patients, HIV patients, Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patients often suffer from thiamine deficiency. If you would like a more exhausting list of symptoms, risk groups and other information associated with B-1 deficiency, try emedicine. com.


Vitamin B-1 is available at your local health food store and drug stores without a prescription. A B-1 deficiency usually is accompanied by a deficiency of other B vitamins. Therefore, B-1 is usually taken within a B-complex and not usually taken alone.


Supplementation for pregnant mothers should be done under the advisement of a physician. This article is for information purposes only and is not intended to treat, diagnose or prescribe a solution to any health condition. If you have or think you have a health condition, consult your physician immediately.


Uk mortgages - need to know information

Whatever stage of the mortgage game you’re at, unless you happen to be a qualified financial advisor, solicitor and broker all rolled into one, you’ll need professional help to find and arrange your loan. This guide presents some basic information on mortgages, but you’ll need to take specialist advice for your individual circumstances.


Having a general awareness of the processes involved and an idea of what’s available to you should help you to make the right decision when you choose your mortgage.


You should be aware, too, of the difference between ‘information’ and ‘advice’. Anyone can give information, and a survey of the web will offer literally thousands of pages about mortgages. Be aware of the legal aspects of mortgages and finances – any agreements should be in writing, and you should check all documents carefully before signing. Verbal agreements and information should always be backed up by written copies. Below are some useful starting points for you to explore. Good luck!


Information


The web offers any amount of information on mortgages – check that the pages are recent as rules and offers change constantly. Good sources of official information are:


The Financial Services Authority – includes a guide to money, mortgages and debt, plus details of regulatory bodies and ombudsmen fsa. gov. uk


Direct Gov – general information on finances and benefits


direct. gov. uk


Inland Revenue – check the tax rules that apply to you


hmrc. gov. uk


Advice


Anyone offering you advice should be a qualified professional. They should be registered with an appropriate independent regulatory body, and you can ask to see copies of their qualifications. There’s a lot of free advice out there, that should help you without obligation, and it’s worth taking advantage of.


Independent Financial Advisors


Find an advisor at impartial. co. uk and a mortgage specialist at unbiased. co. uk


Solicitors


Often family or friends will recommend a solicitor, otherwise look for one that specialises in conveyancing and house buying. Check lawsociety. org for professionals in England and Wales, and lawscot. org. uk for Scotland.


If you have a query or complaint


The FSA are now the body that regulates financial professionals and lenders – the Financial Ombudsman can investigate complaints or disputes and usually resolve them. Contact the professional or lender first – they should have a complaints procedure. If you are still not satisfied, you can ask the ombudsman to consider your case: financial-ombudsman. org. uk


.


(The websites of the respective law societies of England & Wales and Scotland are the place to find out how to make a complaint about a solicitor or firm, see above.)


Roofing basics

Roofing is something that every home owner needs to know something about, after all it is about the roof over your head and is directly linked to the quality of life in your house. Looking for anew roof for a house can be an exhausting work, the research for the materials and the negotiations with the professionals, even before any material has been purchased and any work begun you may find yourself giving up the idea, just for the sheer scale of the project and what it involves.


If you are looking to get a new roof on your house, you will have to think about the way you are going to get the work done, many people think that they can do the work themselves only to later discover that they cant, and than they are in a desperate situation that needs urgent help, which usually costs them much more than if they would have planed things right. When you are thinking of getting a new roof for your house, chances are that you will not want to go at it alone. Not only is the construction dangerous, but it is hard to select the correct roofing materials and to construct it in a structurally-reliable manner.


There are, of course, advantages to getting a professional to do the roofing for you. The number one advantage of hiring a roofing contractor is that you will be able to get expert feedback on what materials you need, for both aesthetic and practical reasons. If you have any questions about damage to your roof, or anything to do with style, you will be able to speak with your roofing contractor. Another advantage of using a roofing contractor is that you are ensured of having the job done right the first time, there should be maximal efficiency to the roofing contractor work, allowing you minimal time of work on your house and the absolute minimum discomfort for you and your family while the work is being done.


Not only can they do what you request of them, but your roofing contractor may also be able to locate any problem areas that may be arising. This is very important because if you can get these areas repaired early on, you may be able to avoid a lot of damage to your home down the road. It is very important to get a roofing job done as professionally and as thoroughly as possible, since most people do not go about changing their roof every few years you may want to think of all the aspects of this project before you sign any agreement or buy any material.


Naturally you should find out if the contractor you are going to hire is the right person for the work so you may want to ask them for some references. The best way that this can be done is asking what other houses in your neighborhood that they have worked on, look at the work, listen to other peoples experience and that would make your decision easier. This way you can go by and see what the roof looks like, and also ask these people what they thought of the level of service that they received. By checking out potential contractors up front, you will be able to avoid running into problems after they have already started the job.


Monday, 22 February 2016

Nba basketball betting

Do you want to know a little secret? NBA basketball betting can make you a lot of money. NBA basketball is a game that has helped turn sports betting losers into happy sports bettors with larger bankrolls. It’s really no secret to winning sports bettors—NBA basketball is the easiest game to make money at. The game itself gives sports bettors plenty of opportunity and the ability to win right up until the end. Unlike Football, Baseball and Hockey, NBA basketball does not have limited scoring. In those other games you might see a handful—or less—of scoring executions per game. If your side gets behind too much, it’s over no matter how much time is left. However, in NBA basketball, your team is usually in the game until the end.


Think about it for a moment. If you were to bet a -8 point favorite in football and the game was tied with 6 minutes left and the other team had the ball, would you have a realistic shot at winning? The answer is probably not. However, let’s apply the same situation to an NBA basketball game and chop 4 minutes off the clock—so there’s 2 minutes left. Would you have a realistic shot at covering the 8 points? You bet! Teams must shoot the ball within 24 seconds and each made basket is worth 2 or 3 points. You would only need 3-4 baskets to make the 8 points. Granted, the other team can score too, but in the NBA, two minutes at the end of a game is an eternity when the teams are close.


Let’s look at another scenario. Imagine that it’s half time in Basketball and Football, it’s the 5th inning in Baseball and it’s the 2nd period in hockey. Which of these four following scenarios have the best outcome?


1.The team you bet on in Baseball is down by 6 runs.


2.The team you bet on in Hockey is down by 3 goals.


3.The team you bet on in Football is down by 21 points.


4.The team you bet on in NBA Basketball is down by 22 points.


The answer, of course, is number four. Scores are hard to come by in the first three options. While comebacks happen sometimes, in the NBA, teams always go on runs. Each season is filled with games where a team was down 10,15, even 20 points and came back to win. There are many other games where the underdog was down by a lot and game back to lose by just a few points. With the NBA, you are almost always in the action right up to the end of the game. Can you say that about any other sport?


Finally, let’s talk about NBA basketball totals. You might find that betting the total points in a game (under or over) is your thing and you would not be alone. There is a theory out there that those who can get a feel for totals betting are among the most successful sports bettors alive. You could debate that theory, but it does point out a very important idea. Totals betting in NBA basketball is full of winning opportunity and the sports books don’t set them as well as the spread. Will this translate into more money in your pocket? That’s for you to decide.


If you are not on fire right now for some NBA basketball action, check your pulse. NBA basketball presents one of the greatest opportunities open to sports bettors. Don’t miss out of a great thing. Sports bettors and handicappers look forward to the NBA basketball season every year and now you know why.


Saturday, 20 February 2016

How to win any fight in under 3 minutes review - good or bad

After looking through what the product has to offer in terms of self defense, I felt compelled to write this How to Win Any Fight in Under 3 Minutes review. Is it true that martial arts schools and pepper spray aren’t enough when it comes to protecting yourself? I’ll answer this question and more in this brief review, all with the goal of helping you to decide if How to Win Any Fight in Under 3 Minutes is something you should look into on your own.


The statistics are scary. Every 22 seconds, there is a violent crime committed somewhere in America. Every six minutes, somebody gets raped and each year there are more than 49,000 car jackings or car jacking attempts. Even more frightening is the fact that most of the self defense seminars and martial arts techniques don’t work in real life situations. Fortunately, there’s a guide out there called How to Win Any Fight in Under 3 Minutes.


How to Win Any Fight in Under 3 Minutes is a set of techniques that were created by a man with two black belts and significant time in a maximum security prison to his credit. The moves taught in the guide are banned in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a fighting sport where anything goes. Well, almost anything.


How to Win Any Fight in Under 3 Minutes will show you how to easily and effectively destroy your attacker’s eyesight, how to dislocate shoulders, how to break kneecaps and more. Literally, your life is too precious not to protect. How to Win Any Fight in Under 3 Minutes is just as valuable as any firearm, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is concerned about being attacked. No matter what neighborhood you live in or what your body type is, nobody is immune to potential attackers.


Thursday, 18 February 2016

Africa lion tours safari kenya top africa lion tours parks kenya-african lion tour series

Africa lion tours safari in Kenya is offered in several of the country’s wildlife parks. Most famous is the Maasai Mara game reserve where sightings of the African lion are guaranteed-the same way the sun will rise in the morning and set in the evening. Other Africa lion tours safari parks in Kenya famous for their African lion populations include the Tsavo, Amboseli, Nairobi, Nakuru and Meru safari Parks. With a little effort and your diver guide’s acumen, you will be able to spot a pride in each of these Africa lion tours safari land parks.


1. Africa lion tours safari of Maasai Mara


Maasai Mara game reserve is said to host over 10 prides of lions if not more. The African lion in Maasai Mara is famous for its black mane. The mane will usually be golden in the African lion’s youth turning to black as it advances in age. The lions of the Mara will be heard roaring next to your camp where they have marked territories and location.


The prides usually occupy one territory (which might be next to your lodge) and it’s guaranteed that they will always be in those environs every day. The Maasai Mara Africa lion tours safari land park is rife with succession battles between male lions. The dominant male is constantly fending off other challenging males. The male will in most cases be heavily scarred on the face as a result of battles fought and won before.


The Africa lion tours safari in the Mara will find you in the middle of a pride that wants to use your car for shade. They will sprawl underneath and besides your vehicle for hours ignoring your presence. By and large, the Maasai Mara African lion is to an extent used to humans, but that’s not to mean they are any less dangerous. So take no chances.


2. The Africa lion tours safari of Tsavo safari park


The lions of Tsavo East especially, are the most dreaded, and were upon which the movie “the ghost and the darkness” was based. The lions of Tsavo killed hundreds of railway workers and at one point halted the construction of the East African railway line in 1890’s. They came to be known as the “man eaters of Tsavo”


The lions here are the most feared and un-habituated due to their limited contact with humans. They are equally harder to locate but more due to the expansive nature of the park. Your tour driver guide in most cases will most certainly know how to locate a pride since they are familiar with their territories.


3. Africa lion tours safari in Nairobi National Park


Nairobi National park is the only wildlife park in the world within capital city boundaries. It is therefore easily accessible and a show case of what other country based lion safari parks have to offer. The African lion prides of Nairobi national park are fewer due to the relative size of the park. They can however be heard at early mornings and late evenings roaring away. It is always an exciting experience in your Africa lion tours safari to see the elusive lions in this park before proceeding to the major national parks in Kenya.


4. Lions of Meru National Park


The Meru National park easily holds the number one position of the most remote wilderness areas in the country. The wildlife here, unlike other parks is very aggressive and un-habituated. The African lions of Meru National park compare to those of Tsavo and are as such the most feared. Meru national park however is a darling for tourists in search of virgin natural places in their Africa lion tours safari photo hunt.


5. Lions of L. Nakuru National park


Lake Nakuru national park is the most visited park in Kenya. The park is also located 2Ѕ from Nairobi and within the Nakuru town and is host to Lake Nakuru, an important Ramsar site. (An Important water-body equivalent to a UNESCO’s heritage site). The park is famous for the millions of the pink coloured flamingo that ring the sides of the lake like one large pink bracelet.


The African lion park prides are easily found and are located in a particular area called the lion hill. L. Nakuru is a very famous park since it also hosts the Black and White African Rhino. The white Rhino populations in the park have improved tremendously and are touted as a resounding success of the rhino breeding programme by the Kenya Wildlife Service.


Let your operator advice you on your itinerary to maximize your Africa lion tours safari experience in Kenya. For sure you will see enough African lions and more of the big five game here. That’s not a fact it’s a promise. Enjoy!


Happy days out for the whole family

A day out with the family always seems like a great idea – until you discover that everyone has different ideas about where they’d like to go and what they want to do. Particularly true in families that have children across a wide age range, it makes it difficult to find something that pleases everyone.


Traditionally, theme parks have been the preserve of older children and thrill-seeking adults, but these parks, especially those in Europe, have followed the USA’s model of providing a range of rides and activities that suit all ages.


1. Adults


Just because you’re an adult it doesn’t necessarily follow that you love thrill rides. Those who do can happily spend all day queuing for roller coasters and water rides, always on the lookout for the scariest experience or the most extreme ride. Others may prefer more sedate boat rides, scenic walks or sophisticated shopping. A park that can cater for the less adventurous parents and grandparents will often manage to lure the whole family through the gates.


2. Teenagers


The majority of teenagers love rides; and the faster, scarier and more daredevil the better. Teens can usually be allowed to roam the park without adult supervision, just meeting up for lunch or for a family ride. The enclosed environment of the park, together with modern safety measures and the convenience of mobile phones mean that teenagers can have their independence and parents can relax.


3. Younger children


Extreme rides have height, and health warnings allow parents to decide what sorts of rides are suitable for younger children. Whilst some kids want to experience the bigger rides, others are happier with theatre shows, low-thrill rides and other experiences.


A theme park that can cater for the whole family offers value for money as well as a great day out. It allows parents to share experiences with their kids, it gives teenagers the independence they need, and it gives everyone something to talk about on the journey home. A good theme park indulges all the senses and usually leaves you wanting more – so why not go back again tomorrow?


Carson palmer pitches a great cause on american cornhole boards

The Game of Cornhole has the attention of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer and Lighthouse Youth Services of Cincinnati is cheering Who-Dey.


On Saturday September 1, 2007 the Cincinnati Bengals practice field was dotted with American Cornhole Tournament Series Cornhole Boards for the Second Annual Carson Palmer Cornhole Classic.


The Cornhole Classic is a fun-filled charity outing much different from a charity golf outing. The entire playing area is confined to the Cincinnati Bengals practice field allowing guests and participants to have much more one on one contact than at a golf outing. Whether signing autographs, talking football, or pitching cornhole bags, the atmosphere is relaxed and engaging.


The game of cornhole is simple. Pitch a bag of corn toward a 6" hole cutout on a 2' x 4' elevated board. In this event all boards are American Cornhole Boards. These are the best cornhole boards available. The boards are made of hardwood with all rounded edges, and the AC Cornhole Bags are the Official Tournament Series SoftTouch Bags, so excuses are limited to the individual not to the equipment.


The participants at this event vary in size and demeanor. Each having their own special cornhole bag delivery and style, hoping to be good enough to win the round they are playing in so as to avoid elimination and go on to the next round.


Proceeds from the Carson Palmer Cornhole Classic go to Cincinnati based Lighthouse Youth Services. Carson is a strong supporter of the Emancipated Youth Program of Lighthouse Youth Services that provides supervised apartment living and aftercare services for youth 18 and over who have been discharged from HCJFS custody.


It's true the Carson Palmer pass game is setting records for the Cincinnati Bengals, however it is his cornhole pitch that is making a difference in lives at Lighthouse Youth Services.


Wednesday, 17 February 2016

How to cook turkey on natural gas grills

The holidays bring with them thoughts of carving and serving delicious turkey dinners to your family and friends. Tradition has its fans, but perhaps this year you'd like to try a twist to your turkey recipe. If you have a gas grill and enjoy the smoky flavor of grilled meats, why not try grilling your turkey this year? It's not only possible, it is rather simple. And it delivers a delicious flavored bird to your table. Plus, having the turkey on the grill instead of the oven leaves you with all the room you need to prepare the rest of your dinner in less time.


When you are ready to buy your turkey, the first thing to consider is the size of your grill. You don't want a bird that is so enormous that it can't fit on the grill rack. Ideally, the turkey you select should sit on the grill and the lid should close without touching the bird. If this isn't possible, don't worry, you can still grill your turkey. You'll need some heavy duty aluminum foil and either a V shaped grill stand or another metal cooking instrument that you can safely use to prop open the lid of the grill.


Prepare and stuff the turkey as you normally would. Place it on the grill so that it is positioned over one burner that you can turn off. Turn that burner off and the other burner or burners on. Since you can't really "flip" a turkey, you want the turkey to cook by indirect heat, not by a direct flame underneath it.


You get the smoky flavor by using wood chips. If you haven't used wood chips before, they're easy to use. You soak them in water so that as they dry out from the heat of the grill, they'll release a flavored smoke that infuses the turkey. You can purchase a tray that is designed for putting wood chips on the grill or you can make one yourself from heavy duty aluminum foil. Take the wood chips out of the water and put them into your tray. Place the tray on the grill over the lit burner.


Next, close the lid fully if possible. If not possible, prop the lid up just enough to keep it from touching the turkey. Then cover the remainder of the opening with aluminum foil. If heat gets out you will probably have to cook the turkey longer. However, the foil creates enough of a barrier so the smoke is kept circulating inside the grill and flavoring the turkey.


The time required to cook the turkey will vary depending on whether or not you were able to close your grill completely. If you can, it will take less time. If you can't, you might want to increase the heat on the other burner or burners to try to make up for the lost heat by having to prop open the grill. After a couple of hours, rotate the turkey 180 degrees to help ensure even cooking.


As with any method of cooking poultry, it's important to make sure that the internal temperature of the meat reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Ideally you should use a meat thermometer to monitor the temperature as you cook. If you don't have one, then you'll have to check the readiness by poking the thigh with a fork or skewer. If the juices that run out are clear and the turkey has turned a nice golden-brown color, then you are ready to remove it from the grill. Consider glazing the turkey with a sauce you use on other meats, or possibly adding barbecue sauce to the traditional cranberry sauce as a condiment. Don't be afraid to experiment - enjoy the new twist you're putting on an old family tradition.


Tuesday, 16 February 2016

Vaccinating your pit bull terrier keeping your dog healthy

There are many different vaccines available today that can prevent infection and disease in your Pit Bull. Vaccines are also available that can help keep many diseases and infections from severely affecting your dogs’ health. Vaccination will boost your Pit Bull’s immune system to help him be less susceptible to these diseases.


Most veterinarians recommend beginning vaccinating your Pit Bull at around eight weeks of age, and continuing every four weeks until around eighteen weeks old. Vaccination against rabies is now a legal requirement for all dog owners. Rabies can be transmitted easily to humans, and there is no cure for the disease once it is contracted. The rabies vaccine is usually given to Pit Bulls at around twelve weeks old, with a booster at one year, then every two years after that.


Many vets also recommend a distemper combination vaccine beginning at six weeks of age and continuing every four weeks until the Pit Bull is around eighteen weeks old. This one vaccine can be used to prevent five different diseases: distemper, parvo, influenza, adenovirus, and coronavirus. Distemper is very contagious, and affects the respiratory and nervous systems. It can cause many problems, including: fever, coughing, diarrhea, seizures, and even possible death. Parvo and coronavirus are more severe in puppies, but can affect dogs of any age. These two diseases usually occur in conjunction with each other, and can cause weight loss, diarrhea, vomiting, and possibly death. Influenza and adenovirus cause a dry hacking cough that can lead to more serious infections, such as pneumonia.


Some owners choose to also vaccinate their Pit Bulls against lyme disease, the first dose usually given at around twelve weeks old. The second dose is given around three weeks after the first, and a booster is needed once a year thereafter. Lyme disease can affect the joints, heart, kidneys, and brain if left untreated.


It is important that you limit your Pit Bull puppy’s contact with other dogs until he has received all of his vaccines to prevent him from getting sick. Occasionally serious side effects from the vaccines may occur, but it is well worth the risk to protect your new Pit Bull from all of these potentially deadly diseases. Annual boosters should be given in a timely manner to ensure your dog will continue to be adequately protected throughout his lifetime. For some vaccines, there are three year boosters now available, but they are not recommended for use until the dog is an adult.


Monday, 15 February 2016

Marketing your va website

It should go without saying that all virtual assistants need a professionally designed website. Assuming that requirement has been met, what do you do with your website once it has been built? You've spent a great deal of time and/or expense to have a web presence; yet that was the easy part.


"If you build it, they will come" is a line out of an old movie; it doesn't apply here. Simply building it will not drive customers to your web site. Marketing your VA website will be vitally important to your business. You want it to be your spokesperson 24/7.


There are a number of ways to market a virtual assistant website online. The very first thing to do is ensure that your website is keyword rich and the meta tags are properly worded. If you don't know what that means, check with your web designer.


Always have your website URL listed in your signature line in all emails you send. Keep your signature line to four lines or less. It should include your name, company name or slogan, the web URL and a phone number.


You're going to get far more business if people know you. One of the best ways to meet potential clients is to join forums or networks such as Ryze, Yahoo or MSN groups, etc. When first joining a group, always briefly introduce yourself with a brief blurb about your business. You don't want your first expose to the group to be a big ad.


Proper netiquette says that you will not immediately start spamming the networks with your ads. Networking online takes time. People need to get to know you before they'll consider doing business with you.


Join in the discussions and contribute regularly. Most networks allow you to have your signature line in your posts and replies. The more you contribute to the online discussion groups, the more your website will be exposed.


Make sure you're a member of the networks that will bring you clients. If your target market is the male entrepreneur, ages 35-55, above average income with a secondary income, you're not going to find those people in a WAHM group.


Make yourself available to your potential clients. Even if you don't feel you have much to contribute to the group, if you participate long enough you will find that you can add value to the forum.


Take advantage of ad days on the forums; just make certain you are balancing your posts with non-advertising contributions. The trick to get your website seen by as many people within your target market as possible is to actively participate. Now go join an appropriate forum!


Sunday, 14 February 2016

Foreign mortgages. new horizons

There has been a tremendous boom in overseas property ownership. Whether for personal use as a family, holiday or retirement property or as an investment property, the market shows no sign of slowing down.


In the excitement of making the decision to go ahead, it’s easy to overlook the importance of taking professional advice with regards to the legal situation.


The law in respect of property and mortgages abroad is very different from that in the UK. Local practices, customs and regulations are very different and vary from country to country. One of the most common mistakes made by people purchasing overseas property is to assume that everything will be similar to the UK and there can be nasty shocks in store when the reality of the very different legal system strikes them. Television programmes have highlighted problems in proving ownership, lack of planning permission or plans for three lane highways cutting virtually cutting through the garden.


It needn’t be like this. Expert advisers are in a position to guide buyers through the maze of foreign property purchase and to help them to get independent and specialized advice from professional people such as surveyors, architects and the all-important solicitors.


As far as financing the purchase, it is usual to think about either raising the money on existing UK property or alternatively to arrange a mortgage using the foreign property as security, via an overseas lender.


Assuming you own property in the UK and are buying your overseas property as a holiday home or investment, the easiest route to take would be to arrange a loan on the equity in your home. By releasing this equity you would be able to complete any deal without undue delay.


Alternatively, it may be possible to get an improved interest rate by raising a mortgage on the overseas property you plan to buy. There is an added advantage in this option, in that the legal title of the property would be checked by the lender, who would ensure that all other aspects of the purchase would be in order, such as registration in the buyer’s name, valuation and checking of any building certificates, regulations and planning permissions.


European interest rates are generally lower than those in the UK. Because of this, with Spanish property, most buyers are advised to take out a Euro mortgage, although technically you could choose all major currencies. If buying property in France or Italy then a Euro mortgage is required.


Euro mortgage repayments must be in euros. There will be some currency fluctuations and this should be taken into account when planning your monthly repayments.


Your adviser will be able to help you with the choice of which mortgage is for you. For instance, if you intend to rent out your Spanish property via a Spanish agent, any income will be in euros. Rental received can be paid into a Spanish bank account to help to fund the mortgage repayments, thus avoiding any fluctuation in currency when transferring money each month. Obviously in this case a Euro mortgage makes sense.


A sterling mortgage would avoid the fluctuating currency problem if the property is purely for personal use and there is no foreign income. However, the savings on interest rates still make a Euro mortgage an attractive proposition.


For help on overseas mortgages, we strongly advise you to take some guidance from the experts. This can be found by going on-line to find a broker, where you’ll find their knowledge of the whole foreign property market invaluable.


Saturday, 13 February 2016

Web site monitoring. can you afford downtime

Supposing that you’ve gone that long way through from choosing the right hosting provider to final files uploading to your brand new server you proceed with setting up million other things like permissions, nameservers, email and ftp accounts but some people forget about just one thing which is also one of the most important things after they launched their websites or online business. This is your website uptime and availability. It is not enough to verify daily if your website is up. To be really certain that your website is accessible most of the time, you should monitor server uptime in a serious manner.


That’s where remote web site monitoring service comes into play. The service is simple and doesn’t need any technical skills to set up. It also doesn’t require any software installation. All you need to do is register for a free monitoring account and the service will start checking your website immediately every 60, 30, 15, 10, 5, 3, 1 minute and instantly alert you via email and sms about any website downtime and outage.


The way system checks your site is almost the same as if you personally would come to your web site to check that it is responding and returns proper content. As every simple thing gets complicated easily there is much more than just web page monitoring to verify that your server is up and fully functional. You should also know there are many other ports/services on the server that should be checked. HTTP monitoring – to make sure your website is accessible and returns proper content. SMTP, POP3, IMAP – to check your mail servers. MySQL monitoring for database connections check. HTTP/SSL monitoring – secure hosts. DNS/NS Lookup monitoring to verify that your domain resolves to proper IP and server. Complete list of monitoring ports/services is available at ServiceUptime website.


A main advantage of remote monitoring service is that such service monitor uptime using more that a single server but has many locations in different parts of the world, located in different networks, excluding the issue when website is inaccessible from one certain network or because of one particular ISP. The system will also verify when your website goes down from multiple locations to avoid any false alerts. If more than 2 worldwide locations report unavailability that’s a firm indication of server being down or experiencing problems that you should be aware about and take appropriate measures before your customers start contacting you about this.


You can start from a free monitoring service as it allows checking your website every 30 minutes free and has no limitations to ports/services monitored. It also has sms notifications available for free accounts. The service has been ranked number one monitoring service at Undertesting. com and is widely used for websites, servers, routers, pages, links, ports monitoring. Other monitoring service providers are also reviewed at Undertesting review website.


ServiceUptime goes further and not only alerts you but stores all uptime statistics. This is available in Users’s Control Panel. The statistics is never deleted so you may see daily, weekly, monthly, yearly uptime statistics and average response time for any period. There is also an option to show your uptime statistics to your users.


5 main questions about monitoring service.


1. Is there free service or trial period (usually 15-30 days trial. ServiceUptime gives free lifetime account).


2. What ways of notifications available (email, sms, messengers).


3. Check frequency/interval (usually from 60 to ever 1 minute).


4. Monitoring services/ports (HTTP, SMTP, POP3, IMAP, FTP, DNS, MySQL, Ping, etc).


5. Additional features (public statistics, maintenance schedules, etc).


Remember, even 10 minutes of downtime daily may affect your online venture in a strong way. Lost revenue and bad reputation is the result of downtime. Whatever you do, monitor your website’s uptime. It’s good to know if your website is up and verify if the host is providing a good service.


Friday, 12 February 2016

Professional web design services

Are you looking for a professional web design service, however are only on a small budget? This article gives you free advice and tips about how to obtain a cheap but quality web design. There are also some very valuable website promotion tips. I hope you enjoy the read.


How To find cheap website design companies.


You may think that you need to spend hundreds of pounds to have an internet prescence. I do not agree and believe that for a basic information type website, the maximum you should have to spend is Ј100. There is a large amount of competition in the website design sector which means that you are able to pick and choose the best deals available. For people who are willing to be patient and who are prepared to make lots of phone calls and send lots of e-mails, a quality company offering cheap web design services should not be difficult to find.


You can find these cheap website design companies by looking on internet auction websites such as ebay, internet search engines such as google or in the Yellow Pages. It could also be worth asking family and friends and also looking in newspapers.


Website promotion advice


It is likely that most people who have a website are looking at ways to increase the amount of traffic they have to their site and would like a higher page rank. In general the higher the page rank you have, the more visitors you are likely to obtain.


The best way to increase your websites page rank is by getting as many backward links to your website as possible. You can do this by e-mailing other websites preferably in the same business sector as your own and asking if they would be willing to swap links with your site. This can be a very time consuming project and it could be worth your while joining a program like linkmetro.


Writing articles like the one you are reading here is another way of obtaining backward links. This is what I believe is the best form of website promotion as the links that you will receive are one way, and have a higher value in the eyes of the search engines. By submitting these articles to article websites, other webmasters are then able to use your article on their website, thus giving you an extra link. This is because you are able to add your information and web address in the author bio at the bottom of the page.


You may also want to consider google adwords. This is a form of pay per click where you pay to appear on the right side of the search results in the paid advertising section of the google search engine for a specific key phrase. Always remember not to spend more on the advertising than you are likely to earn from the website.


If you would like to earn extra money from your website you may want to consider google adsense. This is where the search engine google, put adverts onto your website. When your visitors click on the ads you get paid.


Wednesday, 10 February 2016

Home equity loans versus consumer credit counseling for debt consolidation

With the recent bankruptcy reforms, some consumers might turn to consumer credit counseling to get out of their heavy debt. But, do not forget one of your biggest assets is the home in which you live. While consumer credit counseling does work for many people, some mortgage industry experts think a home equity loan could erase your debt faster and improve your credit almost immediately.


First, let’s talk about Consumer Credit Counseling. When a consumer signs up for Consumer Credit Counseling, or CCC for short, the CCC agency contacts each of the creditors and negotiates lower interest rates or no interest at all, and sets up a payment schedule. In severe cases, the National Foundation for Consumer Credit Counseling shows consumers should participate in a Debt management plan or DMP.


"A DMP is a systematic way to pay down your outstanding debt through monthly deposits to the agency, which will then distribute these funds to your creditors. By participating in this program, you may benefit from reduced or waived finance charges and fewer collection calls. And when you have completed your payments, we'll help you reestablish credit."


"When you use a credit-counseling service to structure a debt-management plan, the accounts included in that plan are usually noted on your credit report as "not being paid as agreed,” says Don Taylor, Ph. D. "These creditors may also report that the payments are being received through a credit-counseling service."


A consumer choosing to use a home equity loan to eliminate debt, pays off the debt immediately. Experts say "After using the funds from a 2nd mortgage to repay credit cards, many make the mistake of closing the credit accounts. However, if hoping to boost credit rating, closing older accounts will have a counter-effect. For this matter, never close accounts. If unable to use restraint with credit, cut or destroy the credit cards." Another benefit to using a home equity loan is the IRS allows you to deduct the interest from your “debt consolidation” whereas CCC usually requires you to pay some interest, and personal credit card interest is no longer a valid tax deduction.


"Once credit accounts are paid in full, and homeowners begin making regular payments toward reducing the balance on the 2nd mortgage, a noticeable credit score increase will begin to occur. The key to boosting credit rating is keeping low balances, paying bills on time, and avoiding late payments."


Learning about hatha yoga

Yoga has become one of the most popular types of alternative medical treatments and its popularity is growing rapidly every year.


Hatha yoga is only one of many "types" of yoga that exists today.


Yoga was originally meant to be a spiritual treatment of the mind and the soul.


It has, in today’s world, become more of a physical treatment than anything else.


Hatha yoga is the type of yoga that prepares your body for its spiritual journey. This is mainly done with physical and breathing exercises as well as asceticism. This type of yoga requires the most physical exercise than any of the other types of yoga.


A few of the main factors for Hatha yoga are concentration on your breathing and your posture. This type of concentration can be more difficult than you think. Once you try this for yourself and see what this type of concentration can do, you will want to continue with this type of yoga. The purpose of practicing a great posture is to practice great meditation. You need to find a position that you can sit in for a long period of time. If you cannot be comfortable in your meditation and yoga positions, then you will be unsuccessful. The more postures and positions that you can acquire, a better meditative state will result.


Hatha is the form of yoga that anyone should begin with. Hatha begins with the basics of yoga and teaches you the inner workings of meditation and how you should begin. Once you master your own postures and positions of meditation comfort, it is time to master your breathing patterns. If you can master your own breathing patterns, than mastering your mind is not far out of reach for you. It takes many steps to reach these different levels of meditation and yoga. With practice and concentration anyone can do it.


If you are beginning your new adventure with yoga, Hatha is the form of yoga that you should begin with. If you want your yoga career to be successful you must begin with the proper steps and then learn in the right order. If you only learn the superficial methods of yoga, then you will not experience the desired results from this amazing technique of holistic meditation.


In today’s world, Hatha yoga mostly used for its physical exercise. We do not take advantage of the other benefits that Hatha yoga can give to us. It is a form of yoga that if done properly, can heal you in the most holistic way possible. Hatha yoga does evolve from its physical exercises. It is these exercises that begin and promote the mind and soul healing. No matter why you are participating in yoga, you can receive all of these benefits. The only way you can recognize them or use them to your benefit is to practice the other side of yoga, meditation. If you are unaware that these features, they will be of no use to you. When practicing yoga, you need to be aware of everything going on within you. Pay attention to yourself and you will instantly be able to see the changes that are going on within you.


Hatha yoga can be easy to learn if you are open minded and want to learn. It is a technique that can be mastered if you put all your energy and concentration into it. By learning the techniques of Hatha yoga, you are well on your way to an alternative way of healing in the most holistic way possible.


Why you wont make money without traffic generators

Traffic Generator: Godsend


The thing is getting traffic with traffic generator is the most important thing in the world of online business nowadays. Make certain the report has value for the subscriber or they may feel it was simply a bribe to capture their email address.


Are More Always Better?


More isn't always better and if you focus your marketing on 'targeted traffic' you'll quickly find that the hits your getting on your website aren't just empty numbers - they'll be potential customers and more importantly sales. Things will get very interesting for you when the viral effect takes over and your articles get re-posted in hundreds and then thousands of other sites all over the web. And with your link still intact in the resource box. There are many conventional and many not so conventional ways to drive targeted traffic to your website but we'll explore them in other articles. The purpose of this article is to point out the difference between website traffic and targeted traffic.


Make Sure you Monetize Your Traffic!


Another method of monetizing your traffic are affiliate programs. You can link up with other tried and tested sites and online companies and monetize your traffic by having a percentage of sales generated by traffic coming from your site. Make sure you use simple language not industry-specific jargon. You are sending a message to your potential customers. Make sure you do it with the right Traffic Generator software.


Getting Targeted Traffic All Day!


It will also ensure that they can send you targeted traffic (customers) so that you can get that 83% of first time visitors your online business needs to survive. If you've got a motor-related site writing an article on "how to sell a car" could be an excellent idea. Give away the autoresponder course as a free gift to your current customers as a way of letting them know you appreciate their business.


Tuesday, 9 February 2016

Where to find affordable health insurance

Affordable Health Insurance offers you a wide variety of medical insurance policies to protect you and your family against the high costs of health care. Affordable individual health insurance is likely for all of us who are in need of it. We just have to do a little homework to understand what is available, and ask ourselves what we need and what we can afford.


Affordable health insurance can be of different types. It can be like affordable individual health insurance, affordable family health insurance, affordable child health insurance, affordable employee health insurance known as group health insurance, affordable business health insurance etc.


The web is amazing in all of its diverse sources of information, and with all the possible that are out there in the insurance world, it is very likely that by using there in the insurance world, it is very likely that by using the internet as a resource, you can find affordable health insurance policies. You can also discuss your possibilities with an insurance broker, or you can call the customer service departments of the major health care providers. There are many ways to obtain the information you need in order to find the right policy for you.


Affordable individual health insurance is likely for all of us who are in need of it. We must have to do a little homework to understand what is available, and ask ourselves what we need and what we can afford. After we have done the research, we can begin to fill out the applications and be on our way to have the health care coverage we need.