Funny things hits

Although you might expect people who seek out obscure products to derive more pleasure from their discoveries than those who simply trudge off to see the occasional blockbuster, the opposite is true.

Tom Tan and Serguei Netessine of Wharton Business School have analysed reviews on Netflix, a popular American outfit that dispatches DVDs by post and asks subscribers to rate the films they have rented.

They find that blockbusters get better ratings from the people who have watched them than more obscure ones do.

Even the critically loathed “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is awarded four stars out of five.

Ms Elberse of Harvard Business School has found the same of ratings on Quickflix, the Australian equivalent of Netflix.

Perhaps the best explanation of why this might be so was offered in 1963. In “Formal Theories of Mass Behaviour”,

William McPhee noted that a disproportionate share of the audience for a hit was made up of people who consumed few products of that type.

Many other studies have since reached the same conclusion.

A lot of the people who read a bestselling novel, for example, do not read much other fiction.

By contrast, the audience for an obscure novel is largely composed of people who read a lot.

That means the least popular books are judged by people who have the highest standards, while the most popular are judged by people who literally do not know any better.

An American who read just one book this year was disproportionately likely to have read “The Lost Symbol”, by Dan Brown.
.
He almost certainly liked it.
.
This explains why bestselling books, or blockbuster films, occasionally seem to grow not just more quickly than products which are merely very popular, but also in a wholly different way.
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As a media product moves from the pool of frequent consumers into the ocean of occasional consumers, the prevailing attitude to it—what Hollywood folk call word of mouth—can become less critical.
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The hit is carried along by a wave of ill-informed goodwill.

Onions

This is worth the read

Warning though this has been dismissed as nonsense and "There's no scientific basis for this old wives' tale, which dates at least as far back as the 1500s"

Interestingly it should be noted that large drug companies have been known to make similar statements about old remedies which might, just might by sheer coincidence compete with their own expensive alternatives

Onions or Tamiflu for example?
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In 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people there was this Doctor that visited the many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu.
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Many of the farmers and their family had contracted it and many died.
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The doctor came upon this one farmer and to his surprise, everyone was very healthy.
.
When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms of the home, (probably only two rooms back then).
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The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions and place it under the microscope. She gave him one and when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion. It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy.
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Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser in AZ.
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She said that several years ago many of her employees were coming down with the flu and so were many of her customers.
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The next year she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop.
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To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work - and no, she is not in the onion business.
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The moral of the story is: buy some onions and place them in bowls around your home.
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If you work at a desk, place one or two in your office or under your desk or even on top somewhere.
.
Try it and see what happens.
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We did it last year and we never got the flu.
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If this helps you and your loved ones from getting sick, all the better.
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If you do get the flu, it just might be a mild case.
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Now there is a P. S. to this for I sent it to a friend in Oregon who regularly contributes material to me on health issues.
.
She replied with this most interesting experience about onions:
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Thanks for the reminder.
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I don't know about the farmer’s story...but, I do know that I contracted pneumonia and, needless to say, I was very ill.
.
I came across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion, put one end on a fork and then place the forked end into an empty jar, placing the jar next to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be black in the morning from the germs.
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Sure enough, it happened just like that...the onion was a mess and I began to feel better.
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Another thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years ago.
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They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.
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This is the other note.
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LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS
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Onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked onions.
.
You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced onion.
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It's not even safe even if you put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in your refrigerator.
.
It's already contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a bit, it can be a danger to you (and doubly watch out for those onions you put in your hot dogs at the baseball park!)
.
If you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you'll probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put it on your sandwich, you're asking for trouble.
.
Both the onions and the moist potato in a potato salad will attract and grow bacteria faster than any commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down.
.
Also, dogs should never eat onions.
.
Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions.
.
Please remember: it is dangerous to cut onions and try to use them to cook the next day, they become highly poisonous for even a single night and create Toxic bacteria which may cause Adverse Stomach infections because of excess
.
Bile secretions and even Food poisoning.
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Proof: when you have paint fumes in a room, peeled and cut onions in a bowl of water neutralize the fumes, so, it does the same for germs and bugs.

One by one

They disappeared

Our friends over time they disappear

One by one they go

Our partner didn't like him

We moved to another place

We changed jobs

We stopped doing that activity which brought us together

And for all of us this is the reality of life

When we are young we make friends easily

We have no thought for later years

Until we find ourselves there

Wrapped up in the importance of our own lives

Being the centres of our own little universe

Being sooo busy

We did not notice how they disappeared

Shame really

One thing about later life is finding ourselves alone

Children off and living their own lives

Partners busy in their own hobbies and interests 

You lost your job

Your firm downsized

You did not get that promotion

Whatever the reason you find your friends gone

Disappeared and you never noticed being so involved in the importance of your own life

Guess what

This is a tough recognition, not nice at all

Tough because suddenly there is no one to listen

No one cares

You can of course drink, take drugs, sex

However they only dull the pain

Take care of the loneliness for a short time

And so what to do with all that time alone?

Find a hobby, yes this is a good idea although if your life has been devoted to other things a hobby might seem difficult or less interesting to you

Friends in later life can be found through a hobby or interest and often are so think about what you would really like to do

Helping others more in need than yourself is also a way for creating friendships

Either with those you help or others like yourself who care to help and who are lonely

Whatever your choice having a reason to get out of bed is so important

Endless retirement without a reason to be alive is hard

Ask those who went in pursuit of the dream to some tropical paradise

After a while the same issues arose

And after a time having no reason to be or get out of bed will really get to you

Communication is important for all of us

Make the effort to build activities now before you find yourself alone

And yes it might seem a long way away today

But not really, notice how time is going faster and faster

So give some thought to this now

Amazing

Truly amazing to see how loud and insensitive some people are

No thought for others

Totally immersed in their own world

Their own importance

Their own selfish needs

And then totally oblivious to others they continue to monopolise the space

And should one interrupt then they are truly shocked

Indignant that someone should have the temerity to suggest that they are selfish

Self-centered even

But then this does not happen often as self centered people tend to refuse any comment or criticism

Turning any negative comment with defensive and dismissive denial

Justifying

Denying

And guess what

They usually get away with it

And what is more those challenging them usually back off

Back down

Go along with the denial or outright lie

Why?

So often good manners cause many to abstain from outright argument

From stating clearly the truth

And so it goes on

Until one fine day unknown to us

The selfish one is all alone

The audience went home

No one cares any more

No one wants to spend time with them

And so they live alone

A life filled with loneliness and often bitterness

And while this might seem a reasonable karmic action it may well take too long for you

So if you know selfish and self centered people then feel free to move away

You have the right to say no

To avoid their company

Use this right knowing that in nature's good time they will pay a heavy price for their behaviour

Not your timing perhaps but as nature sees fit

And that should be good enough for all of us

Baby gap

Increasing numbers of women in the developed world who wanted to have babies didn't in their natural time
.
For reasons of career
.
Or they just wanted to have fun
.
Did not feel the desire
.
Then later decided that they wanted to have a baby
.
Turning to IVF they then had babies
.
Older parents
.
Wiser?
.
Maybe, maybe not
.
Other women have decided not to have babies at all
.
Just wanting to enjoy life without children
.
One unconsidered side effect of these choices is our altering demographics
.
The demographic profile in many western countries is changing
.
Not even meeting replacement levels
.
In general uneducated women are having more babies than those more educated
.
Meanwhile in China and India where boy babies are prized
.
Millions of women have terminated pregnancies when they were carrying girl babies
.
A huge and growing imbalance has occurred
.
Many young Chinese and Indian men will not be able to marry
.
Unless they find women partners elsewhere that is
.
In Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia women are having more babies than their sisters in Europe or North America
.
Worldwide man is interfering with nature
.
And where man interferes with nature he usually creates a disaster one way or another
.
And gender imbalance is one sure way to provoke nature

Last one standing

You lived longer

One by one the people you knew died

Family

Friends

One by one they went

Might seem like something we should not talk about

Why not it will happen

All of us die

The difference is how we approach death

Nobody talks about this

Nobody in polite circles talks about getting older and death

Why not?

Simple

Modern Christian teaching is not helpful

Heaven or hell for ever and ever

Childish and manipulative idea

Put your money in the box and we will absolve you from your sins

Might have sufficed in times gone by

Does not do it today

Ever and ever?

What do you mean a million a billion a trillion years doing what?

Heaven?

What is that sitting around with relatives you could not stand for Christmas let alone ever and ever

And at what age will we be in heaven with our loved ones?

When your mother was young or when she was old and infirm?

Or maybe the fashionable total end to everything when we die

Big black hole

Nothing after this life, just the end of everything

A lazy man's idea of death

Lazy because there is overwhelming evidence for something more

So in polite society we do not talk about death

Easier to ignore

We can all ignore it until we find ourselves getting older

Then as friends start to die we feel pressure

Hidden thoughts of death

And because we have not given the subject any thought it is frightening

And the fear grows and grows

When the next thing in your life is death

You know fear

Unless of course you understand that death is a transition

A transition to something more congenial than life for many

Hell is here and now not some place in the sky

Heaven or devachan is a state of being

A state where our higher self is our reality

So before you find yourself the last one standing find out what death is for you

Should your view be negative or frightening then check out the ancient or perennial wisdom

This contains the truth about where we go and how it works

Processing

Women are particularly good when it comes to distinguishing between fear and disgust, according to new research published in the online version of the journal Neuropsychologia.


Live actors were asked to simulate facial expressions in front of 23 men and 23 women aged 18 to 43, who were asked to identify the emotions.

The research found that women were better than men at processing facial expressions and completing assessments, something that had always been suggested but never conclusively proved.


Olivier Collignon, from the University of Montreal, who led the research, said the research was not a gender competition but a means of better understanding "mental diseases which have a strong gender component."


That means they affect men and women differently.

Autism is a good example, because it affects more men than women and one of its features is the difficulty in recognizing emotions, he said.


Previously, other researchers have suggested that autism and Asperger's syndrome are an extreme in male interpersonal behaviour characterized by impaired empathy and enhanced systematizing.


Seeing as our results show that men identify and express emotions less efficiently than women, it supports this theory to a certain extent, Mr Collignon added.


Evolutionary psychologists have suggested that females, because of their role as 'primary caretakers', are effectively wired differently to detect distress in young infants


However, these studies should not rule out the fact that culture and socialization do play a powerful role in determining gender differences in the processing of emotional expressions
Mr Collignon said.

Telegraph - Chris Irvine

Changing youth culture

Or is it youth culture changing us?

Happening out of sight of adults

Reinventing the very ideas of youth culture

Now the young are doing it themselves

A creative explosion is taking place

They can set trends themselves

Age of the amateur, they know the technology better than their elders

They have enough youth to believe that things can be done, can be changed 

A tech youth quake

A veritable shift in many areas

Not prepared to pay money for music 


Talk on the phone for free, invented kick started texting

Old rules of paying are going

So new a generation of the young will not pay for many things

Look at the music industry busy suing those who would not pay

And while they were busily doing that as CD sales continued to fall

Live music made a come back

Not because of any brilliant insight from music industry moguls 

Basically because youth found the live experience unique and worth paying for

You cannot download it for free you have to be there in that hall

Certain bands create a very communally exciting experience

Prince gave away his new CD for free

Then went on tour

Made more than $11 million pounds from his tour

He and others like him changed and are changing the music business

Youth are by their choices and actions shaping adult businesses

And the next generation of youth what will they do?

No one knows however things are a changing

Yes our world is beginning to march to different drums

Youth does not know it cannot

Adults on the other hand know they cannot

And this marks out the interface

The future is theirs

Where will they go?

What do they want?

Same as us maybe but then again maybe not

Let us hope that each generation can bring a change

For only through change can we save our planet

Arguments

Are not nice

However there are not many humans who do not experience them from time to time

And how are you at arguing?

Do you shout?

Do you lose control?

Do you use impeccable logic?

Do you resurrect points from previous arguments?

Do you?

And when the temper subsides can you say sorry?

Can you say I was wrong?

Do you insist on inflicting the maximum possible pain on the other party?

Do you sulk?

Do you go silent?

Do you?

Whatever your style

Whatever the rights and wrongs

We lose unless we can learn from our arguments

Unless we can see the other person's point of view we are locked in our own need to be right

A need that is dangerous over time

Unless we can learn to control our anger we lose

And we can only learn to control it once we can admit we can be wrong

We are all wrong in some way or another

So grow

Learn to go back and say sorry

So often there was no right or wrong just our need to feel this way

Just our need to be right

Being right can be very wrong

Learn that arguments are a no no

A no no we can overcome with effort and time

Healthy in 2010

Healthy is one reasonable goal for this year, to be healthy 

Ten years into the new decade already

Remember before the new millennium when all the world's computers were going to crash?

Tsunami in Asia

Then a global financial crisis

The next big disaster projection is for the end of the world in 2012

According to those who believe this it is from Maya folklore or beliefs

The world will end

So many times during my life has the world been going to end

This latest scare one feels like the others is unlikely to come to pass

Certainly in it's time the planet will cease to exist but probably not just yet

We have things to do

Things to sort out

Like being good stewards of planet earth

And for sure we have a way to go on this one

2010 is where we are now

Let us each make one new contribution during the course of this year

Let those who want to worry about the end of the earth do so

For the rest of us let us be healthy

Healthy means not just our physical well being

Our thoughts and actions must be healthy too

Banish fear that's not healthy

Yes being healthy sounds fine

Make being healthy your starting point for your contribution in 2010

Nearly seven billion of us

A few hundred million in Europe, a few hundred million more in the United States

But this is just in one priviliged part of the world

Most of the other four to five billion are living in situations that we would not like at all
.
Like someone thrown without fair trial into a Russian prison or those obliged to live in a Darfur refugee camp or a Palestinian subsisting in a Gaza hovel
.
Come to think of it if we go country by country and just casually look at people's lives
.
Our lives are pretty good
.
There are one hell of a lot of people worse off than you and me
.
So why do we keep comparing ourselves with those who appear better off than ourselves?
.
Why do we not give thanks every day that we are not rotting in some prison or refugee camp?
.
Or suffering life under the abuse of some criminally despotic regime?
.
Funny thing in a perverse way many people like to feel hard done by
.
Need to feel that life is unfair
.
And where did they ever get the idea that life is fair?
.
In one way it is fair for we all get exactly what we deserve under karma
.
This might not be comfortable to some however this is how it truly is
.
Our birth into a particular country
.
Into a particular family
.
Our sex
.
Our health
.
Our experiences today all are a function of the karma we created earlier
.
How we relate to these conditions is what counts
.
The choices we make then determine what comes next
.
So those who moan about fairness time to stop
.
Time to understand that seeing yourself as victim of unfairness is useless
.
We create what we experience
.
So spend your energy finding the best in things
.
Finding things to smile about
.
This will help overcome adversity
.
As will thinking of others
.
Doing things for others
.
How about giving away something every day?
.
Don't panic I am not talking about money although yes you can do that if you are able
.
I am talking about a smile
.
A word
.
A moment of your time
.
A thought or action for others
.
All these little things add up
.
Not only that they help create a shift in your perceptions of life in a positive way
.
Every little helps
.
Helping yourself by helping others is how it works

Steven Wright

If you're not familiar with the work of Steven Wright, he's the guy who once said:
.
"I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize."
.
Here are some more of his gems:
.
- Borrow money from pessimists - they don't expect it back.
.
- Half the people you know are below average. (Not true! Even if YOU are average.)
.
- 42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
.
- A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
.
- If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
.
- All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand.
.
- The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
.
- I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met.
.
- OK, so what's the speed of dark?
.
- How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?
.
- If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked
.
something.
.
- Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
.
- When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
.
- Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
.
- Hard work pays off in the future, laziness pays off now.
.
- I intend to live forever - so far, so good.
.
- If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
.
- Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
.
- What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
.
- My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your
.
horn louder."
.
- Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
.
- If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
.
- A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
.
- Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
.
- The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.
.
- To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is
.
research.
.
- The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.
.
- The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.
.
- The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it.

Male sweat

The smell of a man's sweat differs according to what mood he is in and women can pick up on changes that indicate attraction, according to new research.
.
The study, led by Dr Denise Chen, assistant professor of psychology at Rice University, in Texas, America, involved introducing two types of male sweat to 19 women in their 20s - one type was labelled 'normal', the other 'sexual'.
.
The sweat was gathered from a selection of men who had polyester pads attached to their armpits.
.
The 'normal' sweat was gathered during a 20-minute session in which the men were asked to watch educational videos.
.
They were then asked to watch 20 minutes of an erotic video, during which the 'sexual' sweat was gathered.
.
The female participants were exposed to these different scents while researchers monitored their brain activity.
.
The women did not realise it but their brains not only recognised the scents but responded to them.
.
Dr Chen said the 'sexual' sweat lit up different regions of the participants' brains.
.
She added her results suggested the female brain is capable of recognising the smell of a man who is attracted to her.
.
Dr Chen and her colleagues now intend to expand their research by look at how these scents actually affect a man and woman's behaviour towards each other.
.Telegraph News

Evolving thoughts

Our culture has always lied to divert attention from the pain of the truth

To hide those things deemed inappropriate to share or disclose

To hide those things that disclose the hidden agendas of those in power

Those things that interest groups have paid them to hide

These judgements being made by those in power

Often lies

The system then closes behind the lies

Sometimes many years later freedom of information reveals the lie

Usually it is still protected under the guise of national interest

In our times Iraqi war anyone?

Or Afghanistan maybe?

Lift your eyes and see

Go beyond and think of how things in our world might be

Hold that thought and examine it in and out from top to bottom

Check what is going around that idea on the Internet and elsewhere

If it still sounds right then give that thought strength and clarity and send it into the world

Into the ether

Once thoughts reach a critical mass they appear

Yes they appear in public, someone picks them up and they appear

Once enough of us support that thought and idea it gains inertia

Who knows where it goes then

Try it

Not a trivial selfish thought to be sure

A sound clear idea for improving our world

Another marriage

Men really do get better the older they get. 
.
When younger we are obsessed with our career, struggle with having children and have an insatiable appetite for sex. 
.
Yes we lie to our partners. 
.
Women are not perfect either though.
.
A second marriage between two older people usually brings together equals - men and women who are sexually confident, more willing to share or pool finances and have a more reflective, philosphical approach to life. 
.
You have made a lot of mistakes so you can avoid making them the second time around. 
.
Men's emotional intelligence definitely develops as they get older, we learn the value of being thoughtful, of putting other people first - a small gift, a surprise dinner, booking a decent not the basic hotel room when on holiday. 
.
And women learn too, if they want to keep a man, they give him space to meet his mates, have a boys' weekend and make an effort in the bedroom - above all they learn to accept him for what he is, that he can not be changed. 
.
He will always wear that tie you don't like, get irrationally excited over sport on television and look down your best mate's cleavage.
.
But women end up, if lucky, with a happy, contented husband who is by and large faithful and who will look after them and make them feel a bit special too.
.
Andrew Janders

Rx for success

What turns a dummy pill into a catalyst for relieving pain, anxiety, depression, sexual dysfunction, or the tremors of Parkinson's disease?

The brain's own healing mechanisms, unleashed by the belief that a phony medication is the real thing.

The most important ingredient in any placebo is the doctor's bedside manner

But according to research, the color of a tablet can boost the effectiveness even of genuine medications

Or help convince a patient that a placebo is a potent remedy




Yellow pills make the most effective antidepressants, like little doses of pharmaceutical sunshine.





Red pills can give you a more stimulating kick

Like a wake up





The color green reduces anxiety, adding more chill to the pill.





White tablets— particularly those labeled "antacid"—are superior for soothing ulcers, even when they contain nothing but lactose.





More is better, scientists say.

Placebos taken four times a day deliver greater relief than those taken twice daily.




Branding matters.

Placebos stamped or packaged with widely recognized trademarks are more effective than "generic" placebos.



Clever names can add a placebo boost to the physiological punch in real drugs.

Viagra implies both vitality and an unstoppable performance 

Steve Silberman

Sharing beds - no

Couples should consider sleeping apart for the good of their health and relationship, say experts.

.

Sleep specialist Dr Neil Stanley told the British Science Festival how bed sharing can cause rows over snoring and duvet-hogging and robs precious sleep.

One study found that, on average, couples suffered 50% more sleep disturbances if they shared a bed.

Dr Stanley, who sleeps separately from his wife, points out that historically we were never meant to share our beds.

He said the modern tradition of the marital bed only began with the industrial revolution, when people moving to overcrowded towns and cities found themselves short of living space.

Before the Victorian era it was not uncommon for married couples to sleep apart.

In ancient Rome, the marital bed was a place for sexual congress but not for sleeping.

Dr Stanley, who set up one of Britain's leading sleep laboratories at the University of Surrey, said the people of today should consider doing the same.

It's about what makes you happy.

If you've been sleeping together and you both sleep perfectly well, then don't change, but don't be afraid to do something different.

We all know what it's like to have a cuddle and then say 'I'm going to sleep now' and go to the opposite side of the bed.

So why not just toddle off down the landing?

He said poor sleep was linked to depression, heart disease, strokes, lung disorders, traffic and industrial accidents, and divorce, yet sleep was largely ignored as an important aspect of health.

Dr Robert Meadows, a sociologist at the University of Surrey, said: "People actually feel that they sleep better when they are with a partner but the evidence suggests otherwise."

He carried out a study to compare how well couples slept when they shared a bed versus sleeping separately.

Based on 40 couples, he found that when couples share a bed and one of them moves in his or her sleep, there is a 50% chance that their slumbering partner will be disturbed as a result.

Despite this, couples are reluctant to sleep apart, with only 8% of those in their 40s and 50s sleeping in separate rooms, the British Science Festival heard

Telegraph

Women and make up

The findings are the result of more than two years of research by cosmetics giant Kanebo but came as a surprise to the team, headed by brain scientist Dr Ken Mogi.
.
The researchers had expected to find that women experience positive emotions after they had applied the make-up.
.
The company's "Cosmetics, Beauty and Brain Science" project determined that there are distinct cognitive activities involved in a woman's perception of her face with and without make-up. 
.
Using a brain scanner, the scientists were able to monitor activity in the caudate nucleus of the brain and confirm that when a woman sees her own face without make-up, she anticipates how she will eventually appear to others and a "reward system" is activated, releasing dopamine to give sensations of pleasure.
.
We know from previous research that when this area of the brain is activated we can derive pleasure from certain activities, said Keishi Saruwatari, of Kanebo's laboratories.
.
We interpret that as meaning that when a woman looks at her face she is imagining how she will look when she has applied her make-up.
.
There is a mixture of expectation, encouragement and ambition, he said.
.
Make-up contributes to building relationships with others and feelings of pleasure in women.
.
The research focused on female responses, but the team believes similar feelings may be at work when a man shaves or puts on cologne of a morning.
.
We can now not only put a functional value on a product now, but also measure the emotional appeal, said scientist Yasuhiko Tanaka.
.
By using quantifiable research, we will be able to strengthen the emotional value of a product and enable us to develop more appealing versions."

No causation of rising temperature with rising CO2

The earth has gone through many past episodes of warming and cooling - all without human intervention either way.
.
The problem then arises is differentiating contributions by man against natural variation.
.
The IPCC chose CO2 because it had to.
.
There is no other human contributed gas of any consequence even though, water vapor is 95% of all GHG's (CO2 is a mere 5% roughly).
.
Humans contribute just 4% of that CO2 anyway - so basically 0.2% is us.
.
All of this is simply to show how miniscule is the supposed measurement criteria that we're supposed to be able to observe - so they'd have us believe.
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If the leaked emails show anything, it is that the scientists making these grand pronouncements haven't wanted us to see the data, and not one of them has actually shown causation of CO2 producing increased warming.
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So far, its entirely circumstancial.
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Free the data, free the code and stop using our tax money without accounting for what it produced.

Mikegeo

Climate Science

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That is extremely easy to prove.
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No one can state the theory.
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Ask a climate scientist for his theory and all you will get, if anything, is a discussion of the properties of the CO2 molecule.
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Climate scientists cannot tell us where in Earth's atmosphere CO2 concentrations are to be found.
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In fact, in all their work, they assume that CO2 particles are distributed randomly throughout the atmosphere, including all the way up.
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Shocking, is it not?
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If climate scientists are serious about measuring CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, they will create tens of thousands of measurement stations in Earth's atmosphere.
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Does it matter where in the atmosphere CO2 concentrations are found?
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Surely, it does.
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Since CO2 molecules increase warmth by reflecting various kinds of rays that come from reflected sunlight, then molecules that are higher in the atmosphere will reflect proportionately fewer rays because most rays will be reflected to the side, not down.
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Molecules 50 miles high will reflect hardly anything back to the surface.
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Climate scientists do have one thing that strikes some people as theoretical, and that is computer simulation.
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Yet everyone knows that their simulations are woefully inadequate as a model of Earth?s atmosphere and that, at this time in history, no useful scenarios can come from them.
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Again, my evidence is rock solid.
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No one will present a computer model to refute my claims because there is none.
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Finally, the case of Jones, Mann, and CRU.
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Their work involved no theory whatsoever.
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They were looking in nature for proxy records of temperature change.
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In that kind of endeavor, where you are simply counting tree rings, there is little work that can be called theory.
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Of course, there are statistical calculations to be made, but Jones and crew refused to share their raw data and, consequently, their work could not be checked.
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Even if the raw data had been shared there is ample evidence on the Internet that the number of measuring stations is woefully small on Earth's surface and essentially nonexistent in Earth's atmosphere.
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Tens of thousands of measuring stations are needed.
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More important, a high-tech method of collecting data from measuring stations is desperately needed.
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In addition, there needs to be a uniform code for the siting of weather stations.
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So, tell me, Sir, if you can, where are the interesting features of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere?
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Are there CO2 hot spots?
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Are there rivers of CO2 flowing to and fro?
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Please state the theory that explains these matters or concede that there is no theory that explains how global warming is caused by man made carbon dioxide.
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Theo  GoodwinThere is no theory behind so-called climate science.

Purple patch

A purple patch is when you are in the zone

When everything goes your way

You can do no wrong

Usually  a term used in sport when the athlete is untouchable

Totally focused and winning every point

Opposite a purple patch is that time when everything seems to go against you

It seems like everything that can go wrong does go wrong

These times can really get you down when they go one week in week out

Sometimes they last for years

Not easy

Only way out is to accept that this is the way it is

Focus on each day not letting the cumulative irritants occupy your mind

Taking one day at a time

One half day at a time

Deciding that there is a beginning, middle and end for any situation helps

You can sense that at some point some time things will turn

2010 is likely to be one of those difficult years for many

Stay cool do not let things run over you

Get out in nature

Exercise

Do different things even if that is only to walk down different streets

Shop in different stores

Little things that make us pay attention to what we are doing so that our minds cannot force us to go round and round dwelling on our problems

Be tough with your mind keep it from getting into a groove that makes you think over and over about your problems

If you mind is still then you are too

If your mind goes round and round thinking about your problems then you will feel down and tired

Try seeing new sights

Keeping your life fresh in little ways helps

Yes there is a beginning, middle and end

Where are you?

Time of their lives

Time of his life actually

Centre stage as Chairperson on the IPCC is Dr Rajendra Pachauri

That's the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The IPCC it was who branded man made CO2 emissions responsible for global warming that then became climate change

A very successful campaign of persuasion it was too

Many politicians jumped on the bandwagon

Few thought to examine the raw data on which the IPCC claims were made

Dr Pachauri busily running hither and thither rubbishing all those who dared challenge the IPCC claims

Rubbishing those who dared challenge the IPCC global warming hypothesis

Just look at this global warming story

First we were told that unless we acted immediately the world is doomed

As part of this story we are told that man made CO2 emissions are largely responsible

We are then told we must all stop flying, driving, and generally emitting CO2, and that we must reduce our carbon footprints

Then we are told Oh and by the way we have set up a carbon emissions trading scheme, whereby some of us will make a fortune

Recently the top cops in Europe say carbon-trading has fallen prey to an organized crime scheme that has robbed the continent of $7.4 billion -- a massive fraud that has received relatively little coverage in Europe

This is £7.4 billion of tax payers money

Professor Phil Jones of the East Anglia University who supplied much  of the IPCC data, that which they did not lose or adjust that is, was asked to step down after his emails were published has received $26.6 million in grants

And these are facts that are not featuring prominently in the mainstream media

As a matter of routine the  IPCC when challenged about it's figures and raw data indulges in calling doubters deniers, flat earthers and other derogatory names

Then we find out that the IPCC people who started the whole thing have changed and manipulated the so called facts in the scandal of climate-gate

Russian information stated that the IPCC had only used a percentage of the data from Russia leaving out much from Siberia, which altered the total world temperature figures on which the IPCC hypothesis was based

We are told that even if they have distorted things we still have to act now, immediately because, well because

Then along comes the big jamboree, the Climate Change conference in Copenhagen

Which by all accounts was a flop from the standpoint of the stated objectives

Although a follow up is planned for later in 2010

From the standpoint of those who consider IPCC figures to be flawed, manipulated and just plain wrong it was a modest success as more information about flawed IPCC statements began to emerge

But wait Copenhagen is commiting  $10,000,000,000 over the next decade for various global warming, now climate change causes

That's one ten billion dollars that could be spent on other things of maybe more importance than transferring money to regimes that do not have such a great record of honest implementation

But then again many people have jobs doing research into climate change, which are being well funded while other scientists are having their budgets cut

But then looked at from another angle the conference gave many thousands of delegates, hangers on,politicians their staff, NGO staff, journalists and many others an all expenses paid jamboree in Copenhagen

Next the IPCC is found to have used bogus information concerning glacier melt in the Himalayas

The decade we find not been getting hotter

The Antarctic ice is increasing

The glaciers in the Himalayas are not all melting at an increased rate

The sea levels are exactly where they should be

And yet Dr Pachauri shrilly tries to shout down those who challenge the IPCC

Yet this same Dr Pachauri has not told us of all his personal conflicts of interest, nor has he disclosed his involvement in organisations such as Tata that profit from the IPCC story of global warming

He and others have been having the time of their lives

Lots of fame and publicity

Lots and lots of money making opportunities

Time of their lives

And now?

Will they continue to protest that they are right

Of course they will

This is the change from a decade or so ago when if you were caught out lying or cheating you resigned or were sent off in disgrace

Today you spin your way out and lo and behold you stay right where you were

Will this cast of characters succeed in remaining?

We will see

Time of their lives indeed

Liars and thieves

Once upon a time there was honesty

Well maybe not  total honesty

But a time at least not so long ago when those caught out people knew to resign or admit the error of their ways

Not any longer

Spin

Lies

Are the typical reaction to being caught out today

What can we say?

Lies are lies and no amount of spin changes this

For a while they prevail and then eventually the truth outs

Small compensation for those hurt or destroyed

Not fair is it?

No it is not fair

And who ever said life is fair?

Where you can voice an opinion do so

Where you can make a difference do so

Otherwise hear this

It is not your business 

Karma will take care of the person

Yes karma will to the last gram balance the books

No one escapes karma

If you want to believe otherwise that is your choice

If you take the trouble to understand how things work then karma explains all

More than explain it changes your life once you truly believe

How?

By helping you let go of your anger about the unfairness of life

Seeing some goon getting away with murder or mayhem

Injustice is inevitable in a primitive species such as ours

Being able to let it go and stay in equanimity is pretty neat

Over a lifetime this saves an awful lot of wear and tear

Your choice

Understand karma and reincarnation

How is she

When she is angry
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What does she do
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Does she sulk
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Does she scream
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Or shout maybe
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Does she bring up every real and imagined wrong from the last five hundred years
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Does her sulking go on for days
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Does she refuse to talk about the issue
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Does she go away
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Into a room and lock the door
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Whatever the behaviour observe and learn
.
Do this if you can at the beginning of the relationship
.
Then multiply this behaviour two or three times
.
For this is what you will experience further into the relationship
.
Learn how to best to deal with this
.
Figure out how to let her down gently
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No matter male or female we all have our dark side as some like to call it
.
Learn this well it can save you a lot of grief knowing how to best handle the dark side

Q - Fever

Even for one of Europe’s most efficient countries, it is a tricky problem.

At least 40,000 pregnant goats must be destroyed in the coming weeks to head off a new outbreak of Q-fever, a nasty disease that has killed six of the 2,300 people in the Netherlands who caught it last year.
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The culprit, Coxiella burnetii, is one of the most infectious bugs around.
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Released into the air during birthing or miscarriages by infected goats, a single bacterium is enough to infect a human, causing symptoms much like flu, though more persistent.
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Though treatable with antibiotics, it can cause fatal complications if undiagnosed.
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Governments have investigated it as a potential biological weapon.
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The epidemic has been growing since 2007.
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In 2008 infections exceeded 1,100, a record. In 2009 that doubled, and the disease claimed its first human victims.
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That has prompted the Dutch authorities to order the destruction of all pregnant animals testing positively for Q-fever, including healthy but vaccinated ones.
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Farms marked as “infected” face breeding bans and may not buy more animals.
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So far, some 60 out of 400 goat farms have been marked as infected.
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The question now is whether this outbreak will remain limited to the Netherlands, where large numbers of big goat farms in the south of the country may have formed fertile ground for the disease.
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If it spreads elsewhere in Europe, it could become a wider agricultural calamity, like the foot-and-mouth epidemic in Britain of 2001.
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But unlike foot and mouth, Q-fever infects people
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The Economist
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And guess what comes next?
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Swine flu was a dry run in many respects
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Whatever comes next you can be sure that man provoked it in some way or another