Archive for December, 2007

Take a Sauna: Lose Weight, Lose Toxins, Gain Health, Gain Happiness, and Feel Great!

Monday, December 31st, 2007

By Chris Robertson The sauna is nothing new, in fact it has been around for generations and is known for relaxing muscles, and even easing tension. Taking a sauna is an enjoyable experience for most, but it appears as though saunas can actually do away with excess fat and toxins in the body to accelerate weight loss. Many people are finding that taking a sauna every day for a week can result in ten pounds of weight loss, and this isn’t just water loss, this is true fat loss like nothing else! The sauna has been used therapeutically for years, but no one has really known what the health benefits are, it turns out all along it was enabling us to lose fat, rid our bodies of toxins, and simply feet great inside and out. Enjoy the Sauna and Lose Weight! Could weight loss really be as simple as turning on your sauna heater and sitting back and relaxing? Many people truly believe that saunas are the answer to rapid, healthy weight loss. Of course, if you want to keep this weight off you will have to continue to take a sauna every day! That’s right! If you want to lose weight in a sauna you don’t have to stick to any silly diet for the rest of your life and deprive yourself of the foods that you love, instead you are sentenced to a life where you step inside a room that is 104 temperatures so that you can relax, and lose weight! It’s Not Just About Weight Loss An infrared sauna is not just about weight loss, it’s also about ridding the body of the toxins from the foods we eat so that we can lead happier, healthier lives than we have been living. Unfortunately, a lot of the foods we enjoy are toxic to our body and our bodies have no way of metabolizing these toxins. When you step inside an appropriately heated and installed home sauna you can sweat these toxins out quickly and effectively so that you can lose weight and even prevent disease. The infrared sauna is not new; in fact saunas have been around for a long time. Many doctors and medical researchers are just putting two and two together, though. And the use of an infrared sauna in the United States is just catching on as more and more people reject the idea of taking yet another medication to control their health problems. Instead, more and more people are buying a sauna kit and putting one up in their home to lose weight and feel great. There is actually a portable sauna that can be taken down and moved from home to home, as you see fit. This is a great idea if you have a summer home and a winter home, so that consumers can benefit from a far infrared sauna no matter where they are located. You can find a sauna at your local gym, but this may not be an infrared sauna that will help you lose weight. You can purchase the correct type of infrared sauna and have in installed in your home so that you can sit back, relax, and lose weight in the comfort of your own home sauna. Who could think of a better way to rid the body of toxins than to sit in a comfortably hot room for awhile and actually watch the weight and toxins sweat right off of your body? You can order your sauna online right now, and have it delivered to your home soon so that you can start losing weight, and be many pounds lighter in just a week, and a new person in six months! Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web.Learn more about Sauna for Weight Loss or Majon’s Health and Beauty directory. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Robertson http://EzineArticles.com/?Take-a-Sauna:-Lose-Weight,-Lose-Toxins,-Gain-Health,-Gain-Happiness,-and-Feel-Great!&id=219569 phentermine no prescription no doctor phentermine without prescription mastercard phentermine no prescription cod low cost phentermine no prescription

Wedding Reception Venues Ideas

Sunday, December 30th, 2007

By Janey McKenzie Finding a great, unique wedding reception venue location is a hard task for any wedding couple to undertake. It sets the scene for the celebration of your wedding. Your choice depends on your taste as well as your needs and purposes. Hopefully we will start you off on your path to finding a great wedding venue for your reception. You may have planned for a themed wedding so it may be a good idea to consider your theme ideas when planning for your wedding venue. So you may want to consider an overall theme to cover both your wedding ceremony and your wedding reception depending on what youre your needs are and what can be accommodated by the wedding venues. Sometimes, couples just stick to simplicity and plaster the ceremony location and the reception area with a color scheme that is covered by the table covers, the pew decorations and the flower combinations used at the locations. First of all, before you step out of the house wondering aimlessly through the unlimited number of wedding reception ideas, it is best to sit down and gather your thoughts as to what kind of wedding venue you would like for your reception. Would you like it indoors? Or outdoors? Are you inviting a lot of people or a small group of people? Do all these people like each other (if they dont you may want more space)? Or do you like a nice cozy setting? This pre-thinking will allow you to be more specific in your search and allow you to focus in what you really want and hence help you not to be indecisive in your booking and finalizing a wedding reception venue. So once youve written your thoughts down, you can go make some calls and ask them if they fill your criteria. Once youve created a shortlist it may be a good idea to visit those potential wedding venues. From there you should be able to make a proper and informed decision as to which venue is the right fit for your wedding theme or purpose. Other things you may like to look at when you visit these locations is the various facilities that the location offers you may want to create a list promoting the advantages and disadvantages of all locations you visit so you can weigh up which wedding reception venue to use. Will you be able to decorate the reception venue easily with your wedding theme? Is the venue easily accessible for guests not too far? Enough car parking space? Sometimes the smallest of all details can catch you out. Good luck in your search for the perfect wedding venue for your reception. Janey McKenzie is a staff writer for BetterWeddingIdeas.com, a free wedding planning guide providing couples with wedding hints and tips to enable them to plan every aspect of their wedding effectively. This article can be found in our wedding venues category. You may publish this article on the condition that it is not edited and all html links to our website is kept intact. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Janey_McKenzie http://EzineArticles.com/?Wedding-Reception-Venues-Ideas&id=131559 buy phentermine online prescription where to purchase phentermine buy cheap phentermine cod buy phentermine 37.5 online

Today’s Consumer Is A Moving Target

Saturday, December 29th, 2007

By JoAnn Hines Todays consumer is a moving target. Choosing the right consumer and the right demographic to target is an important decision. Monitoring what is hot and whats not can dramatically influence a package designs success or failure. Package design is an integral way to connect with your customer. But do you clearly understand the needs and wants of these elusive markets? Understand the customer is critical. The problem today is that one package may not satisfy the needs and requirements of all buyers. There are many niche markets out there and each one requires specialized packaging. So if you are targeting one of those, do your research first. What works for one target market may not work for another. EXAMPLE: Child resistant closures on medicines are almost impossible for those over 50 to open. Market Trends: Here are a couple of important market trends that will affect who will or will not buy your product regardless of how innovative or well designed it is. 1) People are buying in smaller quantities. Our busy lifestyle keeps many people from eating at home on a daily basis. Gone are the days of the sit down dinner with the entire family. When these occasions due occur it is usually a holiday or a special occasion. The notable exception is the over 50 generation that now have the time to cook and enjoy a leisurely dinner at home. What this means to you: People are looking for smaller sized packages and are willing to pay a premium. A good example is the 3-pack baking potato; quality potatoes in a three pack that can cost as much as a 5lb bag. Why? People don’t use three pounds of potatoes before they go bad. 2) Time is NOT on your side. Consumers are looking for the quick fix. The ready to eat or with minimal preparation market is booming. People want products that require little or no work but still taste good and are nutritious — not just fast food. You will notice the shrinking of the fresh meat counter in favor of the pre-seasoned, easy to prepare, or ready to eat meats. The proliferation of new products is amazing. In this category, convenience is mandatory not just an issue. A good example is Banquet, the longtime staple of frozen TV dinners, (the first convenience food offering in the mid 50s) has introduced new crock-pot frozen meals. Grab-and-go packed carrots and celery produced by California-based Ready Pac will appear in grocery stores this year. Ready Pac is also selling ready-to-go bistro salad bowls Cobb salad, chicken Caesar, blue cheese. The package keeps meat and other proteins separate from greens. It comes with a fork and dressing and is ready to tuck into a lunch bag. Del Monte makes grab-and-go cups of fresh-cut fruit. Important info: The prepared meals market will grow by 16.5% over the next five years according to Research and Markets company. What this means: Products need to be simple to prepare or almost ready with minimal food preparation time. The easier you make someones life, the more loyal they will become to your product. Keep thinking about the top tier restaurants that are offering take out service in great branded packaging. 3) People are becoming more health conscious and really are learning more about what they eat. How many diets have you read about this week? Is the low carb craze in or out? The low carb craze and the trans fat concern are just two of the recent health trends. What this means: Products that contain unhealthy fats or other ingredients are being scrutinized. Companies are providing reduced calories versions in addition to regular product offerings. People shop for healthier versions of products they used to buy. Even fast food companies are taking notice with healthy new product offerings. Watch for continued growth in this category. Pay attention to ingredient panels and special information tags such as contains no trans fats or only X carbs. What this means to you: Make clear ingredients statements in your package design. Dont confuse or mislead the customer with hidden information. They will read the ingredient statements and make an informed purchasing decision. 4) People are looking for products they can access on the run. When was the last time you or your significant other went to the store and purchased everything you needed for the entire week? Consumers are buying products in unconventional places like a drive throughs with take out service or a convenience store with high caliber products. What this means: Unconventional types of retail outlets, such as convenience stores, are experiencing strong growth. Look for continuing packaging innovations in this category. 5) People are spending money to treat themselves to a little luxury.Feeling a little neglected or sorry for yourself? You deserve something special and you are not alone. Luxury purchases are on the rise. People are willing to buy expensive treats for themselves for daily use not just for special occasions. Important info: Last year the typical luxury consumer spent $33,188 on average buying luxuries, an increase of 33 percent over their reported spending of $25,010. 6) Food safety is becoming paramount. What this means to you: No longer are the words tampering and bio terrorism buzz phrases. They are facts of life. Product integrity will become increasingly important to consumers. New packaging ideas have been developed in response to growing food manufacturer fears about food safety and tampering. Packaging is likely to perform a key role in establishing and maintaining consumer confidence. 7) Environmentally friendly biodegradable packaging is another growth area, reflecting consumer and retailer awareness of the issue of waste disposal and excess packaging materials. What this means to you: A large number of packaging firms are launching products made of 100 percent recycled materials. There is increasing evidence of biodegradable inks on the market. All it takes is a few early adapters to make huge swings in the use of environmentally friendly materials. Do you remember how quickly the market changed when McDonalds switched from an EPS clamshell to a paperboard product? It changed literally overnight. The entire packaging climate changed and some packaging companies went out of business because of it. 8) Niche markets for products are continuously created. Niches that are large enough to be very profitable. What this means to you: New products are introduced for specific target markets. No longer can one product capture the majority of a consumer segment. Many of these markets are obscure but very lucrative. Innovation is continuing at a rampant pace. Look for new and previously untapped markets. Two growing areas are products marketed to women and boomers. Important Info: The over 50 market is the hottest underserved market. With 76 million U.S. boomers born between 1946 and 1964, the potential for profit and growth are enormous. Every seven seconds, someone is turning 50 years old. Baby boomers will push the number of 50-and-over adults to more than 108 million by 2015. Think of all those product sales that is if you are smart and are targeting those markets 9) Look for the continued growth of dual-purpose products. What this means to you: Growth can come from unlikely areas. Markets that were once strong have become so diluted they have become unprofitable. New product categories will continue to develop. The phood or pharmaceutically engineered and enhanced food category is hot. Explore the opportunities for new product introductions that fall under these parameters. 10) Competition will continue unabated. What this means to you: Today’s market leader may be tomorrow’s out of business company. Keep abreast of changing technology and packaging innovation is the key to continued success. So no matter who is your consumer you need to understand what will drive them ultimately to purchase your product. JoAnn Hines the Packaging Diva has been on TV, traveled to China, worked with the SBA and spoken at the White House (twice). Why do they seek her out? Because she knows how to package products so that people will buy them. When Faith Popcorn made her business trend predictions for 2006, she called JoAnn to find out what was going on in the world of packaging. Businesses large and small call upon her to solve their packaging problems. She loves to share her proficiency in packaging. JoAnn speaks on the subject around the globe and made the packaging world more understandable when she created several web portals, http://www.packaginguniversity.com, packagingcoach.com, womeninpackaging.org and packagingdiva.com, to answer packaging questions and resolve packaging problems. Her expertise is important because packaging is the third largest industry. In fact, 10% of every dollar spent at retail goes directly to packaging materials. Most importantly, you cannot have a product without a package. If you need to package products to sell email the #1 packaging expert at packagingdiva@aol.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=JoAnn_Hines http://EzineArticles.com/?Todays-Consumer-Is-A-Moving-Target&id=164751 phentermine without prescription overnight buy phentermine online pharmacy pharmacy selling phentermine phentermine pills online

Weight Loss Alternatives - Because Diets Are Not The Only Answer

Saturday, December 29th, 2007

By Simon Volk Studies show that 58 million Americans are overweight and 80% are more than 25 lbs overweight. 70% of heart disease and 80% of all type 2 diabetes is directly attributed to obesity. 15% of children are obese. Although I firmly believe diet, exercise, water, and plenty of sleep is the answer I thought I might look at some alternatives for those who are looking for something else. Before trying any of these techniques or any diet or exercise program, consult with your doctor to determine what is right for you. Hypnosis Hypnosis has been used for many things through the years including weight control and to stop smoking. Your metabolism can be trained by using weight loss hypnosis. Hypnosis works by re-training your unconscious mind; where the cravings and impulses come from, and allowing you take back your choice over what you eat. Hypnosis can help you regain control and find success in your weight loss goals. Self driven methods of hypnosis are extremely effective in making lasting changes. There are many do it your self packages available; most contain some sort of audio (tape, cd, etc.) that you listen to over and over. Of course if you have more money and less time there are professionals available to help you. Acupuncture Despite having a long history, acupuncture has only been used for weight control purposes recently. Acupuncture for weight loss became popular international in 2003 when CNN reported on successful acupuncture weight loss clinics in China. The usual regimen of acupuncture weight loss is ten sessions, typically three times per week and then one to two weeks off before resuming treatment again. Acupuncture treatments for weight loss improve the functioning of two neuroendocrine pathways, which regulate the bodys metabolism. When combined with a healthy diet and proper exercise it can be very effective. Weight loss herbs Scientists and traditional herbalists believe that better weight loss results are achieved when green tea is used in conjunction with other weight loss herbs like Spirulina, Garcinia Cambogia, and ma huang. Ma huang, the native-Chinese herb used in fat-burning supplements and also known as ephedra, has been used as a natural treatment for a variety of illnesses spanning the past five thousand years. Herbal teas have been used for centuries to help control weight, based on supposed properties, such as effects on metabolism, appetite or even by directly dissolving fat. When used in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise program, these herbal extracts can give you the extra boost you need to reach your diet goals. Hoodia The Hoodia weight loss diet has been featured on prime time TV shows such as Oprah, 60 Minutes, and the Today Show, causing it to generate huge interest from the millions people looking for help in weight loss. Hoodia Gordonii also known as Hoodia, xhooba, khoba, Ghaap, and hoodia cactus is a natural weight loss supplement. Hoodia is a cactus like plant found in the Kalahari Desert. The San bushmen, one of the oldest and most ancient tribes, have been using the hoodia gordonii cactus for thousands of years to fight off hunger while on long hunting trips. It works on the principle of an appetite suppressant. There are many kinds of hoodia plant. The hoodia gordonii is the only species with the active ingredient to suppress your appetite. It really all boils down to finding something that works for you and is approved by your physician. If one doesnt work try another, in the end it will be your determination and desire that results in a healthier you. Good luck and good health. Simon Volk has been a contributing author for websites and is an acknowledged expert in the field of health and fitness. He can be found on the internet at the website: Health Fitness Articles | Health Fitness Exercise or Mega Traffic Site | Blogs Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Simon_Volk http://EzineArticles.com/?Weight-Loss-Alternatives—Because-Diets-Are-Not-The-Only-Answer&id=374160 buy cheap phentermine online cheap phentermine online online pharmacy phentermine no prescription discount phentermine without prescription

A Guide to Growing Palm Trees

Friday, December 28th, 2007

By Robert Carlton Palm trees are popular in gardens all over the world. Some species are considered fast growing. These grow faster than many other species. In fast growing trees, the trunk quickly becomes tall. This may be important if you want a tall line of trees around your property in a shorter amount of time. The climate affects the growth of most types of trees. Some need continually warm weather. This equates to faster growth in some species. Others grow well in slightly cooler areas, and can even with stand frost. Its important to find out the requirements when choosing the best plants for your garden. Types of Palm Trees The King Palm is a quick growing tree. They are a good choice if you want a canopy of trees. This palm likes rich soil with ample nutrients and needs plenty of water. They can grow twenty five feet in ten years, with good care. The maximum height they reach is about forty feet. They grow faster in full sun. Queen Palms are the most common species of tree. These grow about twenty five feet in seven to ten years. They can reach heights of up to sixty feet at maturity. Queen palms need good soil and lots of water. They are hardy in colder weather. Majesty Palms are fast growing palm trees. They grow about ten feet in ten years. They often reach thirty five feet within twenty years. This species needs plenty of water and soil that is rich in magnesium. They do well in sun for part of the day. Majesties dont do well too near the ocean. There is too much salt in the air. Royal Palms are moderately fast growing. They will grow twenty feet in ten years with good care. This species needs soil rich in nutrients, water and plenty of sun. They grow a fat trunk base and then grow tall. This species does not do well in temperatures below twenty six degrees Fahrenheit. Fishtail Palms are a common and fast growing species. They reach thirty feet tall in about seven years. At maturity, they can reach over sixty feet tall. The trunk diameter of this species is about twenty four inches. Fishtails need rich soil and plenty of water. King Kong or Black Trunk Palms are fast growing trees. They get wide before they get tall. They can reach up to eighty feet tall and grow large, horizontal leaves. This is one of the wider species in terms of trunk diameter. Growing Palm Trees Consider the needs of the species before you plant it. The temperature range needed varies by species. Some do better in consistently warm climates. Others do well in slightly cooler areas. A few can survive frost, while others will die. Make sure the species you choose is hardy in the climate where you live. Ask about the day length of each species. This need varies by species, so ask at the nursery. The tree will need enough to promote growth and prepare for changes with the seasons. Some need a lot of sun, while others do better in partial sun. The heat needs vary according to species as well. Find out the heat and sun tolerances of the species when shopping for trees. How much water does the species need? Some need a lot more water than others. If you choose a species with a high water requirement, make sure you can meet those needs. If you dont get much rain, you will need to be sure to water it frequently. The pH range needed varies by species as well. Find out the proper pH for your species to take up water and nutrients. You may be able to add nutrients to balance this range as needed. The nursery will be able to help you with this. Concentrating on informating about plants, he publishes mainly for http://www.alicante-spain.com. You might discover his articles on palm trees over at http://www.alicante-spain.com/palm-trees.html and other sources for palm trees news. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Carlton http://EzineArticles.com/?A-Guide-to-Growing-Palm-Trees&id=344270 order phentermine on line phentermine 37.5 mg overnight shippimg no prescription buy phentermine us pharmacy is it legal to buy phentermine online

Blackberry Pearl- Smart Phone With Entertaining Features

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Alice_Erin]Alice Erin The much anticipated BlackBerry Pearl 8100 from Research in Motion (RIM) is now available in the market. Unlike other smartphones from the manufacturer, BlackBerry Pearl has been packed with some added features for entertainment like camera, music player and a video player. These features have been crammed in an attractive looking case. A small navigation key on the front side which looks like a pearl spells luxury and style. Research in Motion (RIM) has tried to bring more customers to its fold and widen its consumer base beyond professionals by adding some entertaining stuff in the camera. In addition to that, the design of the BlackBerry Pearl handset has been significantly improved over classical BlackBerry phones and the new looks has got appreciation from the mobile users across the globe. As expected, the BlackBerry Pearl has a vibrant display with good resolution for great viewing. The Pearl uses RIM’s hybrid SureType keypad, with two letters on each key. Though, typing texts is not as speedy as it gets on other handsets with QWERTY keypad still, you can type texts with ease. A microSD card slot for the expansion of memory space has been added which is refreshing in a BlackBerry phone. The handset has an onboard memory of 64MB for storing downloaded songs and pictures. The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 features a high quality camera, video and music player to add more value to your handset. A 1.3-megapixel camera with flash to click spontaneous photographs. The image quality is good. A music player which supports popular file formats like MP3 and AAC to help you listen to favourite music on the go. You can also shoot good quality videos with this handset. Fast Internet, data transfer and downloading in addition to various office utility features make this handset appealing to one and all. [http://www.directphoneshop.co.uk/dealset.asp?act=mobset&id=382] Blackberry Pearl Alice Erin is an expert Author. He has written good quality articles on [http://www.directphoneshop.co.uk/]Mobile Phones.Check out Some latest [http://www.directphoneshop.co.uk/contract-mobile-phones.asp] Contract Phones Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alice_Erin http://EzineArticles.com/?Blackberry-Pearl–Smart-Phone-With-Entertaining-Features&id=486844 phentermine 37.5 mg no prescription low cost phentermine no prescription buy cheap phentermine online low cost phentermine no prescription

Acupuncture and Sports

Monday, December 24th, 2007

By Hotaka Sutton The fact acupuncture has become such an accepted practice is exemplified by the number of sports enthusiasts that use it in modern time. At the Chinese National Games held in 1993, a total of nine Chinese women broke world distance running records. There was a big scandal over this as the athletes were accused of the use of steroids or other banned performance enhancing drugs. An investigation revealed that, indeed, the women had used performance enhancing drugs, but they were not banned ones at all. They were Chinese herbal remedies. They had been selected and given to them based on individual examinations and a diagnosis of the individuals strengths and weakness based on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This event was an indication of the growing use of Traditional Chinese Medicine is the field of Sports Medicine. The use of herbal supplements is not the only part of TCM being used. Acupuncture is widely used in Sports medicine to both treat sports injuries and to improve performance in actual competition. Players have found the treatments to be extremely beneficial in both areas. The use of acupuncture in the management of pain is quite common. It is little wonder that players would find the treatments beneficial for this reason alone. Many athletic injuries involve a great deal of chronic pain and individuals are often called upon to function at a very high level despite the pain. There is a rather unsavory image of the professional being given an injection just prior to the big game to mask his pain in order to be able to perform. This practice is usually portrayed as having very negative and serious consequences. Acupuncture using players are in one sense doing exactly the same thing. The difference is in the fundamental difference between the approach of Chinese medicine and Western medicine. The acupuncture treatment would not be a localized injection designed to reduce or mask pain from an injury. It would be a long term treatment designed to restore the natural harmony of the body and promote the healing. To put it another way, the shot in the locker room is treating the pain itself, while the acupuncture treatment is dealing with the cause of the pain. One practitioner who treats players with acupuncture explains his approach as having three prongs. The first prong is the Yin approach. It restores the health of the individual and addresses past injuries and deficiencies. The Yang approach is geared toward enhancement of performance during actual competitions. The final prong is the application of all the resources of Traditional Chinese Medicine such as herbal supplements and healthy lifestyle practices. The world of sports can be highly competitive and the use of harmful and dangerous chemical aids has become a world wide concern and scandal. The use of acupuncture can give an edge that is both safe and legal to the sports enthusiast. Read more acupuncture information at AlternativeHealthCompanies.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hotaka_Sutton http://EzineArticles.com/?Acupuncture-and-Sports&id=521947 tramadol without prescription free shipping tramadol prescription dna paternity test penis enl canada online order pharmacy ultram order clickdrugstore vip customs meds orawan tramadol

Jesus Was a Hippie

Monday, December 24th, 2007

By Robert Baird Actually he was more appropriately called a Cynic, but that kind of free-thinking humanist is indeed kin to being a Hippie. The Cynics were a school of thought or religious approach to intellectual understanding which many more modern hippies seem to emulate. Jesus may have been a zealot seeking to establish a country or kingdom like David (his ancestor) or he may have harkened back to a time when Brotherhood existed, as most Cynics really saw must happen. Seneca and all the other rich or poor Cynics clearly saw man must think and learn for himself, or else things would continue to grow ever more class and racially differentiated. I think Jesus had the Gnostic training of ecumenism and was not into the Kingdom of Israel zealotry as much as he was against Rome and Empire in general, even if he was a zealot at some point in his life. I also think Plato was no where near as elitist or Fascist as his succeeding philosophic school up to Hegel and Fukayama today have become. In fact I think Plato would have preferred universal education and enablement of citizens as the foundation for his Republic. But lets be real! Even today it is hard to find interested and open-minded thinkers. Easy answers sought to explain what humanity has feared or regarded through superstition as gods, are not the kind of things that allowed adepts to know themselves and their soul. The structures of power and priestly prevarications are rife even in the halls of supposed fair and academic institutions. Pardon me for disagreeing with the likes of Fukayama and others who would have us believe in absolute religions of any form. As a human with the ability to consciously apprehend his or her environment; we must all eschew these black and white answers that our education has expected us to regurgitate in order to get better grades. Maybe the noted Jesus scholar from DePaul University can shed a little light on Jesus and his Cynical accoutrements and inclinations. I suggest and recommend reading his many books on Jesus who was (like most of us) incarnated in a variety of different groups and beliefs during his time on earth. There were three main philosophic attitudes in the Classical world. They were Stoic, Epicure and Cynic. It is important to see the way Jesus dresses in the accounts of the myth and to know there is veracity in these myths. Here are some words from Farrand Sayre which will help set this idea in perspective. The Cynics sought happiness through freedom. The Cynic conception of freedom included freedom from desires, from tear {Again the all important Keltic Creed is here.}, anger, grief and other emotions, from religious or moral control, from the authority of the city or state or public officials, from regard for public opinion and freedom from the care and support of wives and children {Not to suggest Mary Magdala required support due to her family wealth, which is certain if she was the daughter of Joseph of Arimathaea.} The Cynics scoffed at the customs and observances of others, but were rigid in observance of their own. The Cynic would not appear anywhere without his wallet, staff and cloak, which must invariably be worn, dirty and ragged and worn so as to leave the right shoulder bare. He never wore shoes and his hair and beard were long and unkempt. Knowing Jesus is a Cynic or at least was one for much of his life, we are asked to consider how this might be. I hope there is merit in evaluating the people he would have been associated with. I think Jesus was a lot like Seneca who was one of Thomas Jeffersons great inspirations. Here we find Crossan detailing some of this matter. By the middle of the first century of our era, elements of the Cynic and Stoic tenets were fairly well merged, according to Cora Lutz, in the teachings of the popular philosophers. Cynicism was founded by Diogenes of Sinope, who lived from about 400 to about 320 B.C.E. and was born on the mid-southern coast of the Black Sea {Where Pont of Phoenicia had been.} The term itself comes from kyon, the Greek word for dog, and it was used of Diogenes by Aristotle, as if quoting a well-known nickname. It was originally a derogatory term for the provocative shamelessness with which Diogenes deliberately flouted basic human codes of propriety and decency, custom and convention, doing as the third-century historian of philosophy Diogenes Laertius delicately puts it, everything in public, the works of Demeter and Aphrodite alike (6.69; Hicks 2.70-71). Stoicism was founded by Zeno of Citium, who lived from about 333 to 264 B.C.E. and was born on the southeastern coast of Cyprus. That title comes, more demurely, from the Athenian agoras Stoa Poikile, where Zeno taught for many years. Both philosophies sought the happiness of inner freedom and personal self-sufficiency, but where Stoicism found it in detachment from the world, Cynicism found it in abandonment of the world. Insofar as they interacted together, and especially on the popular level, Cynicism was practical and radical Stoicism; Stoicism was theoretical and moderate Cynicism. Take for example, the case of Seneca. Lucius Annaeus Seneca Seneca the Younger Stoic philosopher, author, and multimillionaire, lived between about 4 B.C.E. and 65 B.C.E. As tutor to Nero, his responsibility for the imperial virtue and vice remained somewhat ambiguous, but he was, in the end, ordered to commit suicide for alleged participation in the anti-Neronic conspiracy headed by Gaius Calpurnius Piso. Despite his extreme wealth, he was greatly influenced by the Cynic philosopher Demetrius, who lived in his household during the years between 51 and 65 C.E. when Seneca was composing his Epistulae Morales, moral treatises fictionalized as letters to his friend Gaius Lucilius. One can see, for instance, the difference between the theoretical dispassion of the Stoic Seneca (I have but do not care) and the practical dispossession of the Cynic Demetrius (I do not have but do not care) in this story: When Gaius Caesar [Caligula] wanted to give Demetrius two hundred thousand, he laughingly refused it, not even deeming it a sum the refusal of which was worth boasting about. If he meant to tempt me. said he. he ought to have tested me by offering me his whole kingdom. (Seneca, De Beneficii 7:11; Basore et al. 3.482-483) (1) We can look at the words of Camus and the naturel ordre of Rousseau that may have guided him and see there is something the Cynics and undoubtedly many before them perceived which is archetypical to humankind. Some would like us to believe we are naturally competitive and aggressive and there is some truth in that too. Civilized humankind has higher aspirations though. At least that is how a Hippie sees it. Make LOVE not War was certainly a mainstay of the recent humanitarian effort and it binds many Goths, Beatniks and Hippies together. But this natural order is no simple thing wherein there is one obvious approach which makes sense to all people who seek good acts or results for the bulk of life on earth. I knew many Hippies felt confident that Jesus was just alright with them and the man inspired them to act as he would. But there was no agreement from the Churchians to the most part. A True Hippie Leader Speaks His Mind One of my correspondents on the World Wide Web goes by the nickname Eternum1 and we have many philosophical similarities to say the least. Here are some of his thoughts. He is a far better wordsmith than I am. He was in the front lines of the era and its expression. Dear Robert: The existential Jim Morrison represented a time when Hippies captured the imagination of a generation. Kurt Vonnegut and his theme of absurdity and free will in Slaughterhouse Five, other flicks like Vanishing Point played the same theme during that era. What a journey lay before us in those times. The broad rubric of existentialism could be seen in the ethics of Do Your Own Thing. Sartre said “Man is condemned to be free”. I believe it was a condemnation because real freedom requires a commitment in ones life. A commitment not to succumb to mediocrity or the lukewarm approach to living. The jewels of life should not be left untouched and revolution is the only sane response to a society whose fabric is docility and Pavlovian consumerism. Insanity is keeping your ticket to ride in your pocket and waiting to live in the next life. I loved Vonnegut’s illustrations of this in Slaughterhouse Five, the juxtaposition of the insanity of being in the meat-grinder of war and the bland existence in suburbia when “Beauty” or the actuality of it was always within our heros grasp and this stark realization on his deathbed. There have been many wars, revolutions, uprisings for the sake of freedom. Many speeches saying “I have a dream” etc. beg for it, demand it. Yet we are pacified by others telling us what it means to be free and the price we must pay. But the ’system’ as we used to call it knows only the price of freedom not its intrinsic values. Camus idea is that the absurd man suffers individually, but once he begins to rebel, he has realized that this suffering is shared and it is in this meeting of minds that the minds begin to exist. Camus no longer speaks of just the individual, but brings in the individuals relation to others. It is obvious how this found some harmonics with Marxism in the minds of many contemporary radicals. When I interviewed people like Black Panthers the question was not one of commitment to freedom but how far one was willing to go to achieve it. People like Huey Newton and Bobby Seale saw the system perpetuating a form of genocide with the ghettoization of the black population and in some cases saw killing others as a reasonable alternative to the suicide that living in ‘free America” offered. When we see others are not free, we begin to question our own ideas of what freedom means. We begin to move away from the idea of individual freedom and into rebellion. A rebel by definition belongs to a rebellion and is not a simple absurdity like the common hedonist. The Rebel is about rebellion, which assumes a relationship between the individual and some power, a master, government, etc., and a sense of going too far. The rebel has been subservient, he has chosen not to rebel, but then the master crosses a line. The rebel has an idea that he has rights which are being violated, in a certain way, he confronts an order of things which oppresses him with the insistence on a kind of right not to be oppressed beyond the limit that he can tolerate (Albert Camus’ The Rebel). Camus conclusion about murder is that it cannot be justified. The rebel cannot suspend his principles in the present as a move toward them in the future. This idea comes from the earlier thinking in that if living is a choice not to die and therefore an assertion of lifes value, then there is an intrinsic value in life. Life is worth living for its own sake, which is not to say that life has inherent value, we are still dealing with a value-neutral philosophy. Life does not have value (in the sense of value as a noun), but the rebel values life in his choice not to die. Therefore the rebel cannot kill for his rebellion. Another part of this is the authenticity based in the present which Camus speaks of over and over again. Existentialist freedom is based in the present and beliefs cannot be suspended in the present to provide means to an end. This is where I parted company with radicals back in the days of the Weathermen etc. I recorded their stories but argued in my columns that ‘the end justifies the means was the cancer in all ideologies and the true enemy of freedom. That is why I respected Allende and not Castro both were ‘rebels’ but the first was committed to freedom while the latter just became another ruler prepared to sacrifice others on freedoms altar.Hippies could have told them so.Et Needless to say, I have not had the in the trenches experience of Vietnam as a reporter or all the other things around the world that Et has had. I always enjoy his posts and thoughts. I hope the reader of my books can appreciate them too. Et was at the event in Chicago that spawned a great deal of awareness that something was wrong with how things were proceeding in America. Walter Cronkite is a rare breed and we saw him depart our TV screen far too early in my opinion. Here is part of his observation about the Bush regime of unilateral domination and disregard for international accords. The unilateralism has been a virtual addiction - a truculent constant in a presidency otherwise marked by inconstancy. Author of Diverse Druids, Columnist for The ES Press Magazine, Guest writer at World-Mysteries.com, Dennis Schmunko is the man using the handle Eternum1 and he has a new book coming out soon. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Baird http://EzineArticles.com/?Jesus-Was-a-Hippie&id=55915 ultram no prescription no prescription ultram buy tramadol cheap cod pay pal order ultram

Organic Roses in the Flower Garden

Saturday, December 22nd, 2007

By Sandra Wilson Many people believe growing their flowers and vegetables organically is healthier for them and their environment. It is natural that you may wish to grow your roses this way also. Using the pesticides and insecticides that are usually considered to go along with growing roses and keeping them healthy can cause many people have to health problems . Maybe you just don’t want those kind of chemicals in your garden and around your children. This article will give some pointers in using more natural methods of growing your roses. 1. First do your homework and find out what type of roses grow well in your area. Buy disease resistant varieties. If you live in an area that has problems with a certain disease, look for a variety that is resistant to it. If you can, purchase organic roses. As they have already been growing with organic methods, this supposes they are “healthier”. and not already loaded with chemicals. Thus they have a stronger immune system. Of course, buy roses with no blemishes on them. 2. Roses like full sun. Make sure they are placed so as to get 6 to 8 hours of sunlight a day. 3. Do not crowd your roses together. Ensure that stress is reduced by providing lots of space for air to circulate around the bush. Take growth of the rose bush into account. 4. Plant your roses in good loamy soil. If your soil is not ideal, then amend it with organic material such as from your compost pile. You do have a compost pile, don’t you? Roses like well draining soil but they don’t want it draining as fast as you might get with sand, so amend your sandy soil. If you have clay soil, an alternative requiring a bit of work is to build a raised bed for your roses much like vegetable gardeners use. It should be at least a foot deep but more is better. Fill it with will amended soil. 5. Keep your watering consistent. Don’t allow your plants to dry out and suffer stress before watering. Roses can need up to 2 inches of water a week. Water every two to three days. This, of course, depends on your area and the type of weather (how much rainfall) you are getting. Also, be careful not to stress the plant by overwatering and depriving the roots of oxgen. 6. Mulch, mulch, mulch! Mulching can reduce the stress on your rose in several ways. It helps to hold in moisture which can be very good in a hot, dry climate. It helps maintain a more even temperature in the root zone. And mulch can smother weeds that could be competition for your lovely roses. As the mulch decomposes, it adds more nutrients to the soil around your plant. Lastly, it can cut down on some of your work. ;-) 7. Roses are, what could be considered, heavy feeders. They respond well to fertilizer and should be fertilized on a consistent schedule. Most organic fertilizers are slow-acting and may produce less spectacular results of a non-organic fertilizer. Some organic fertilizers to consider are composted manure, fish emulsion, alfalfa meal, blood meal, and cottonseed meal. If you wish to have a truly organic rose garden, you should ensure that your fertilizer is also organic. Of all these the only one you can be sure is truly organic would be your composted manure if you know exactly where it comes from and how the animals are raised. Perhaps you should consider your own animals raised organically. Chicken manure is very high in nitrogen and some localities allow a small backyard flock. Make sure it is composted thoroughly as chicken manure is very “hot” and will burn your plants. 8. Prune your roses in the early spring. To keep your roses healthy, get out the dead wood, damaged wood and anything that starts to look diseased (and don’t compost these trimmings). Thin out your plant to keep it from being crowded. Don’t allow branches to rub against each other. This will allow air and sunlight to get to the whole plant keeping it healthier. In part 2, we will discuss some organic methods of combating specific diseases and pests. 2005, Sandra Dinkins-Wilson Find more Rose Garden articles, as well as part 2 of this article, and other gardening tips for Flower Garden Lovers at our website. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandra_Wilson http://EzineArticles.com/?Organic-Roses-in-the-Flower-Garden&id=27787 tramadol order by 3 00 pm order ultram without a prescription buy tramadol online 150 pills prescription ultram

Sprucing Up Your Garden With Solar

Saturday, December 22nd, 2007

By Richard Chapo Fountains are a popular addition to most landscaped yards. Solar fountains give you the benefit of traditional fountains without running up your electrical bill every month. Sprucing Up Your Garden With Solar Mention solar power and people get an image of large, bulky solar panels on the roof of a home. This stereotypical view is really incorrect as large panel systems are now going the way of the dodo bird. Current solar technology is all about small size and unique applications. Heck, they even make them for kayaks now. Solar fountains may sound like a fairly complex landscape addition. They really arent. Solar technology has advanced to the point where most landscaping items are now best run on solar technology. This includes solar lighting used for paths, overhead lighting, bird deterrents and general ambience. At their root, solar fountains are incredibly simple pieces of machinery. The solar aspect of the piece is simple the power generation for the pump. Practically all solar fountains look the same as regular fountains. The energy source is simply a small panel system either connected directly to the fountain or placed in a location that gets plenty of sun. The type of system is dependent upon the amount of flow you want to move with the pump. Solar fountains range from incredibly simple to complex applications. You can buy floating solar pads that you simply put in a pool. The panels look like black pads and power a small pump that sucks content out of the pool. More sophisticated solar fountains include entirely contained systems as well as systems that move massive amounts of the pool from low points on your property to higher areas where gravity takes over. There really is something for everyone in this area. Much like solar lighting, solar fountains are a cost saving addition to your landscaping and provide soothing ambience. Plenty of quality models exist, so give them a look. Rick Chapo is with SolarCompanies.com, a directory of solar energy companies. Visit us to read more solar power articles. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Chapo http://EzineArticles.com/?Sprucing-Up-Your-Garden-With-Solar&id=206341 buy ultram online at lowest price ultram online without prescription pharmacy order tramadol medication online pharmacy ultram