Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Fwd: National Geographic Apocalypse The Rise of Hitler 1of2 Becoming Hitler - YouTube

Interesting video
     

From Evernote:

National Geographic Apocalypse The Rise of Hitler 1of2 Becoming Hitler - YouTube

Clipped from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=3hEG-5_9nK4&NR=1

What can we learn about the fall and fate of this alter boy? 
lie to them starve them beat them and people will rise to the treatment - unfair treatment begets responses to the treatment

National Geographic Apocalypse The Rise of Hitler 1of2 Becoming Hitler

Loading...
Uploaded by on Feb 1, 2012
Apocalypse: The Rise of Hitler
Infamous for his crimes against humanity, Hitler's rise to power was unexpected and devastating. But how could a political party so intolerant gain so much power under one man? Using historical newly colourised and impactful footage, Apocalypse: The Rise of Hitler is a two-part documentary which takes a remarkable look into the Nazis' ascent, exploring Hitler's path from mediocre student and failed artist to totalitarian dictator.


1) Becoming Hitler
Documentary charting the dictator's rise to power, from his beginnings as a struggling artist in Vienna to his eventual demise in Berlin. The first episode focuses on Hitler's formative years and how, when he returned home from the First World War, his nationalistic diatribes were largely ignored by the public, until the 1929 economic crisis put him and his ideas in the spotlight.

Category:

  • . Imagine army doctors who had to deal with dozens of cases a day... Great documentary though.
Loading...

Thursday, January 05, 2012

How Congress is Signing its own Arrest Warrants in the NDAA Citizen Arrest bill | Naomi Wolf

Force does not ensure peace   -agree  and learn from history

They may have supported this bill because—although it’s hard to believe—they think the military will only arrest active members of Al Qaida; or maybe, less naively, they believe that ‘at most’, low-level dissenting figures, activists, or troublesome protesters might be subjected to military arrest. But they are forgetting something critical: history shows that those who signed this bill will soon be subject to arrest themselves.

Our leaders appear to be supporting this bill thinking that they will always be what they are now, in the fading light of a once-great democracy — those civilian leaders who safely and securely sit in freedom and DIRECT the military. In inhabiting this bubble, which their own actions are about to destroy, they are cocooned by an arrogance of power, placing their own security in jeopardy by their own hands, and ignoring history and its inevitable laws. The moment this bill becomes law, though Congress is accustomed, in a weak democracy, to being the ones who direct and control the military, the power roles will reverse: Congress will no longer be directing and in charge of the military: rather, the military will be directing and in charge of individual Congressional leaders, as well as in charge of everyone else — as any Parliamentarian in any society who handed this power over to the military can attest.

Perhaps Congress assumes that it will always only be ‘they’ who are targeted for arrest and military detention: but sadly, Parliamentary leaders are the first to face pressure, threats, arrest and even violence when the military obtains to power to make civilian arrests and hold civilians in military facilities without due process. There is no exception to this rule. Just as I traveled the country four years ago warning against the introduction of torture and secret prisons – and confidently offering a hundred thousand dollar reward to anyone who could name a nation that allowed torture of the ‘other’ that did not eventually turn this abuse on its own citizens — (confident because I knew there was no such place) — so today I warn that one cannot name a nation that gave the military the power to make civilian arrests and hold citizens in military detention, that did not almost at once turn that power almost against members of that nation’s own political ruling class. This makes sense — the obverse sense of a democracy, in which power protects you; political power endangers you in a militarized police state: the more powerful a political leader is, the more can be gained in a militarized police state by pressuring, threatening or even arresting him or her.

Mussolini, who created the modern template for fascism, was a duly elected official when he started to direct paramilitary forces against Italian citizens: yes, he sent the Blackshirts to beat up journalists, editors, and union leaders; but where did these militarized groups appear most dramatically and terrifyingly, snapping at last the fragile hold of Italian democracy? In the halls of the Italian Parliament. Whom did they physically attack and intimidate? Mussolini’s former colleagues in Parliament — as they sat, just as our Congress is doing, peacefully deliberating and debating the laws. Whom did Hitler’s Brownshirts arrest in the first wave of mass arrests in 1933? Yes, journalists, union leaders and editors; but they also targeted local and regional political leaders and dragged them off to secret prisons and to torture that the rest of society had turned a blind eye to when it had been directed at the ‘other.’ Who was most at risk from assassination or arrest and torture, after show trials, in Stalin’s Russia? Yes, journalists, editors and dissidents: but also physically endangered, and often arrested by militarized police and tortured or worse, were senior members of the Politburo who had fallen out of favor.

Is this intimidation and arrest by the military a vestige of the past? Hardly. We forget in America that all over the world there are militarized societies in which shells of democracy are propped up — in which Parliament meets regularly and elections are held, but the generals are really in charge, just as the Egyptian military is proposing with upcoming elections and the Constitution itself. That is exactly what will take place if Congress gives the power of arrest and detention to the military: and in those societies if a given political leader does not please the generals, he or she is in physical danger or subjected to military arrest. Whom did John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, say he was directed to intimidate and threaten when he worked as a ‘jackal’, putting pressure on the leadership in authoritarian countries? Latin American parliamentarians who were in the position to decide the laws that affected the well-being of his corporate clients. Who is under house arrest by the military in Myanmar? The political leader of the opposition to the military junta. Malalai Joya is an Afghani parliamentarian who has run afoul of the military and has to sleep in a different venue every night — for her own safety. An on, and on, in police states — that is, countries with military detention of civilians — that America is about to join.

US Congresspeople and Senators may think that their power protects them from the treacherous wording of Amendments 1031 and 1032: but their arrogance is leading them to a blindness that is suicidal. The moment they sign this NDAA into law, history shows that they themselves and their staff are the most physically endangered by it. They will immediately become, not the masters of the great might of the United States military, but its subjects and even, if history is any guide — and every single outcome of ramping up police state powers, unfortunately, that I have warned for years that history points to, has come to pass — sadly but inevitably, its very first targets.

LINKS:

How Congress is Signing its own Arrest Warrants in the NDAA Citizen Arrest bill | Naomi Wolf

Saskatchewan whistleblowers silenced | FAIR

Saskatchewan whistleblowers silenced FAIR

More teeth needed

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Friday, August 12, 2011

Emergency

This is the example of the worst kind of spam or phishing . My apology to any who received this .I have tried to get this scammer delisted . I leave it on the site as a illustration for everyone to be cautious There is no emergency -this is not me -let the spammer rot in hell

Editor


Hi

My regrets for this sudden request, I have been involved in a robbery during my trip London. I got mugged and all my belongings cash, mobile phone and credit cards were all stolen at gun point.  I need your help as am trying to raise some money.

I've made contact with my bank but they are not providing a fast solution. I need you to lend me some money to sort my self out of this predicament, will pay back once I get this over with.

Please let me know if you can assist me in anyway so i can forward you details to effect a transfer. You can reach me via email or the hotel's desk phone 08495950777



Thanks.

--
Hollecrest & Associates Inc  -"Turnaround Consultants"  .

Sunridge Lodge   "Back to Eden"  Quality 24/7 care
261 Oakhill Drive, Brantford  backtoeden.ontario@gmail.com
"Building elder peer communities that are cozy,caring and comfortable" -

Brant Positive Action Group  "a positive community affirmative action group"
promoting goodwill and timely cost effective creative solutions to enhance the competitive well being of Brant, Brantford and Six Nations 


Saturday, April 16, 2011

Happy Easter Everyone

Easter is almost here with its promise of rebirth and new beginnings. Buds are appearing on the trees and change is in the air. It's the time of year to celebrate big.
Enjoy this special time of renewal with your family and friends




Have a good day, be well and take care      Sieg

a simple natural lifestyle and a chuckle a day keeps the doctor away'

-





Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Blood Test for Brain Trauma

There are days when I especially love this job -- because I have the chance to tell you something positive that can benefit all of us. And that is this -- Army doctors have made a tremendous breakthrough developing a simple blood test that can detect mild brain injury and concussion. This has been a dream of our armed forces doctors -- especially in recent years, as they work with such a high percentage of soldiers injured in bomb blasts during combat operations. If a concussion is misdiagnosed -- even a mild one -- and then a second concussion occurs soon after the first, permanent brain damage is more likely to result. And this breakthrough test is going to help anyone who might one day receive a mild concussion -- not just soldiers on a battlefield, but teen athletes, car accident victims or any of us.

A little background: Certainly a first concussion can cause brain damage, but doctors tend to worry about a second concussion as most likely to do significant harm. Until now, brain injury could be accurately detected only with X-rays, CT scans and/or MRI scans... and even then, only moderate to severe brain trauma was revealed. Mild brain injuries could easily be missed. Doctors have had to depend on a patient's medical history and neurologic exams -- from simple in-office visits to EEGs, MRIs and brain scans, to attempt a diagnosis.

But now the Army has identified unique proteins that spill into the blood when brain cells are damaged. Earlier on, scientists had assumed proteins did not cross the blood-brain barrier, but through laboratory tests on rats, Army researchers found proteins normally present only in the brain that were clearly measurable in the body afterward. Next, they found the same thing held true in humans.

A New Field of Study

Army Colonel Dallas Hack, MD, MPH, Combat Casualty Care Research Program director, US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, told me that the study of proteins in the body -- called "proteinomics" -- has advanced greatly in the past decade. The search for a brain trauma protein was inspired by the momentous 1970s' discovery of a protein released into the blood by damaged cardiac tissue, which changed the way doctors identify heart disease. After years of rigorous trials, that test was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the 1980s, became available to the whole medical field -- and is now run routinely to diagnose cardiac injury.

To win FDA approval for the new brain trauma blood test, the Army will have to conduct three successive phases of testing on humans. Phase I was concluded in early 2010, and Phase II in late 2010. Phase III will take another 18 months and will include about 1,200 subjects at civilian trauma centers around the country.

Dr. Hack told me that the new blood test for the brain trauma protein is "very accurate, very sensitive and very specific." Tests for other biomarker proteins have been discovered that may be able to screen for subacute and chronic brain injury and will enable military doctors to make early diagnoses and monitor brain injury over time. Dr. Hack eventually wants to see test results sent directly from the lab to the battlefield.

This Will Change the Whole Field

It isn't hard to imagine the tremendous effect this test may have on civilian health, too. In fact, we don't have to just imagine -- Dr. Hack's team is already working with the National Football League to define requirements for concussion screenings in its players. School athletes will also benefit tremendously from such a clear-cut diagnosis. All too often symptoms such as dizziness, headache and disorientation are downplayed by athletes who risk serious injury when they continue playing. The test will be equally useful for people who have been in vehicle accidents... children who bang their heads on playgrounds... elders who fall... and even people who simply have persistent, unexplained headaches, which can be a symptom of a mild blow to the head -- one that actually is a concussion -- that someone might not even remember sustaining. And finally, there will be safety measures that can be taken, whether it's giving someone on the bomb squad a desk job, taking a soldier out of combat -- or an athlete off the field.

So there you go: A piece of good news for all of us that is, in fact, a game changer.
Source(s):

Army Colonel Dallas Hack, MD, MPH, director, Combat Casualty Care Research Program, US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Frederick, Maryland.




Have a good day, be well and take care

a simple natural lifestyle and a chuckle a day keeps the doctor away'

- additional interactive resources are at our Back to Eden site-





Monday, April 11, 2011

wind -positve

Manitoba wind farm comes online

ST. JOSEPH, Manitoba (UPI) -- Manitoba's largest energy wind farm has been completed and is in operation to deliver enough energy for 50,000 homes in the province, officials said.

Located in southern Manitoba community of St. Joseph, the facility is capable of generating 138 megawatts of power, a release by Pattern Energy, builder of the project, said Tuesday.

Manitoba Minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines, David Chomiak spoke at the opening ceremony to mark the start of operations.

"This wind farm is one of the largest in the country and will produce enough energy to power 50,000 homes," Chomiak said. "It showcases our province's dedication to creating renewable energy and continuing to build Manitoba Hydro. This project has also provided a solid boost to the local economy creating new opportunities and jobs."

The first group of turbines in the project was set in motion by Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger in January. Now fully operational, the wind farm will contribute to a regional reduction of more than 350,000 tons of greenhouse gases, Pattern said.

Pattern Energy will pay an estimated $38 million to landholders and an additional $44 million in local municipal taxes over the life of the project.


Copyright 2011 by United Press International

Sunday, April 10, 2011

good thinking

How to Overcome Life's Disappointments

Rabbi Harold S. Kushner


Most of us must face the disappointment of not having all of our dreams come true. The fact that we experience failure does not make us failures -- although the way in which we respond to our failures could do exactly that. Here's what to do when you have trouble getting past life's disappointments...

Remember for whom you are working -- you. The promotion you had hoped for went to someone else... your family doesn't appreciate the many things you do for them. It is natural to feel disappointment when things like this occur, but our mistake is to rely on others for validation. We should work hard because to do any less would be letting ourselves down. We should work hard for the sake of our own sense of integrity and knowing we have done our best.

Understand that those who have never been disappointed are the real failures. People who achieve everything they set out to achieve in life obviously have set their bars too low. We achieve more if we aim high -- though this also means that we will be disappointed more often, because lofty goals are difficult to reach. Understand that disappointments are inevitable when we strive for greatness, and consider your life successful if you accomplish just a fraction of your goals.

Escape the isolation of disappointment. We feel alone when we lose a loved one... suffer a life-threatening illness... or experience a major financial setback. Our loneliness then drives us further into despair. Example: My wife and I saw only happy families around us when one of our children was seriously ill. Not until after our child had died did we discover that other families we knew had gone through similar ordeals.


A tragedy does not separate us from everyone else. Sharing our grief brings us closer to the brotherhood of the afflicted, a huge club consisting of everyone who has ever endured pain or inequity. Our misfortune even makes us qualified to help other grieving people. Assisting others can get us past the sense of helplessness that often comes with major disappointments.

Keep disappointments in perspective. Try to remember what was worrying you two weeks ago. Many people cannot. Most disappointments are less consequential than we feel they are at the time. Psychiatrist George Vaillant, MD, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which followed 800 men for five decades, found that it is not the bad things that happen to us that stay with us in life -- it is the good people we meet along the way. People who handle misfortune best are the ones who focus not on what happened to them but on all the people who rallied around them when it happened.

Fashion a new dream. There's no reason that you have to let the failure of one dream stop you from dreaming -- and trying. The experience you have gained can help you create a new, more realistic and achievable dream. Example: When Al Gore lost the presidential election, he recast his dream. He moved from politics to environmentalism, producing a highly acclaimed documentary on global warming called An Inconvenient Truth. His success and impact have been tremendous since his "failure."

Get angry with God. Some people consider it wrong to get angry with God. I believe that if we cannot get angry with God, then we have a constrained, artificial relationship with God.


When the world disappoints you, go ahead and blame God. Vent your anger, and bemoan the inequity. Voicing unhappiness with life's disappointments brings you closer to moving beyond them. God does not mind. He will continue to stand by you no matter how angry you become. God understands that you really are getting mad at your misfortune, not at Him.

WHEN OTHER PEOPLE DISAPPOINT US


The friends, coworkers and loved ones on whom we rely sometimes will disappoint us. Two ways to forgive them...

Don't focus on the mistake. Before ending a relationship based on a single failure -- however great -- consider this person in full. Think about who he/she has been in the past and who he can become in the future. Example: A husband cheats on his wife. The wife might choose to end the relationship, but she also might choose to view this as a single error from a loving but flawed partner.

Consider forgiveness a favor that you do for yourself. People often believe that if they forgive those who have wronged them, the transgressors "get away with" the misdeeds. But forgiveness benefits you more than the transgressor. Offering forgiveness removes a heavy burden that you have been carrying around. It cleanses your soul and eases your pain. The sooner you forgive, the sooner you can move on from your disappointment


Have a good day, be well and take care
a simple natural lifestyle and a chuckle a day keeps the doctor away'

- additional interactive resources are at our Back to Eden site-





Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Take the pressure off Care system -more alternative resources needed

Report says more midwives needed worldwide

LONDON (UPI) -- A global shortage of midwives means one in three womenworldwide gives birth without the benefit of expert help, a report bya U.K. charity says.

Save the Children says more than 1 million babies could be savedannually if the shortage of trained midwives, estimated at 350,000,was eliminated, the BBC reported Friday.

Launching a campaign for more midwives, the charity said having experthelp during delivery could save both mothers and babies from easilypreventable birth complications.

"It doesn't have to be complicated: Someone who knows how to dry ababy properly and rub its back to help it breathe can make thedifference between life and death," said Justin Forsyth, chiefexecutive of Save the Children. "No child is born to die."

Women in the poorest countries suffered the most from lack of experthelp at delivery, the charity said, and were much more likely to losetheir baby or be at risk of death themselves during childbirth.

 

Copyright 2011 by United Press International

--
Hollecrest & Associates Inc  -"Turnaround Consultants"  .

Sunridge Lodge   "Back to Eden"  Quality 24/7 care
261 Oakhill Drive, Brantford  backtoeden.ontario@gmail.com
"Building elder peer communities that are cozy,caring and comfortable" -
 
Brant Positive Action Group  "a positive community affirmative action group"

promoting goodwill and timely cost effective creative solutions to enhance the competitive well being of Brant, Brantford and Six Nations 


Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Raising the debate level from the taxpayers

Dear Supporter:

CTV, Global TV, and CBC are hosting the federal leaders' debate scheduled for Tuesday, April 12th and are inviting questions from the public. It's important they hear from taxpayers. Can you take a minute right now and send in a question or two? Here are some suggested topics:

1. Taxpayers pay $84.4-million a day on federal debt interest. Do you think this is a good use of tax dollars, and if not, why is there not more urgency around balancing the budget and paying down debt?

2. Will you commit to no tax increases during your term as prime minister?

3. Will you commit to not increasing your MP compensation in the next term or at least until the budget is balanced?

4. Will you commit to making the auditor general's audit public on how Parliament spends half-a-billion tax dollars when it comes out later this year?

5. The federal government hands out billions in direct subsidies and loans to business in Canada. Instead of high business taxes, why not lower them for everybody and end subsides for select businesses and industries?

6. Employment in the civil service has grown by 3,700 bureaucrats since 2005, a 13% increase. Do you think this is responsible or sustainable given the deficit?

7. What plan do you have to address the costs associated with an aging population whereby fewer taxpayers support higher costs associated with social security and health care?

8. The tax-funded compensation of all elected officials in Canada is subject to public disclosure except elected officials on native reserves. Will you support a law requiring the compensation of reserve politicians be posted online?

9. MP Pensions are wildly out-of-line with public expectations. For every $1 contributed by an MP, taxpayers contribute $4. Is that reasonable? Don't you think it's time to reform pensions to a dollar-for-dollar arrangement as many provincial legislatures have done?

10. Senator Raymond Lavigne recently quit his job in order to hold onto his pension after being convicted of fraud and breach of trust. If elected, would you put in place the necessary reforms so that convicted fraudsters such as Lavigne would not get access to the taxpayer-funded portion of their pension?

Questions posed in your own words will have a better chance of being considered. Submission deadline is this Thursday, April 7th. Please e-mail questions to
question@electiondebtate2011.ca, and be sure to include your name, address, and daytime telephone number.

Thanks for all you do,

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

For the spring tune up -you smoothie-Pass it on for your health

Health & Flavor Enhancers


Crocker has a long list of spices, herbs and other health promoters that you can add to smoothies, but the following are among those she particularly advises. Many of these are in your supermarket and if not, health-food stores will have them. Note: Always put these in with the other ingredients before you blend to be sure that they are well mixed.


Here are some suggestions to help improve general healing...
Cinnamon promotes digestion and insulin sensitivity and relieves nausea. Add one-quarter teaspoon per smoothie serving -- especially delicious with apples and blueberries.
Ginger calms nausea, aids digestion, relieves diarrhea and flatulence and may soothe pain of arthritis. Try one-quarter teaspoon of powdered ginger per serving or one-half inch of crystallized or peeled fresh ginger, coarsely chopped. (Ginger is not recommended for anyone with a bleeding disorder, gallstones, or who is taking a blood thinner, and it is not recommended for children under age two.) Ginger is a good complement to pears and peaches.
Dandelion supports liver, gallbladder and kidney health, helps with high blood pressure and is a mild laxative. Add one teaspoon of crushed, dried roots to vegetable smoothies.

To boost the immune system...
Astragalus boosts the immune system and alleviates adverse effects of chemotherapy. Use one teaspoon of dried, powdered astragalus per serving. It has little or no taste. Note: If you are using steroids, you should discuss with your doctor whether it's okay to consume astragalus.
Burdock, a mild laxative (it contains the fiber inulin), has prebiotic properties and is a diuretic. Crush dried roots into a fine powder, and use one to two teaspoons per serving. It has a crisp, slightly sweet taste. Burdock often is used in sushi, so it goes well with sweet or savory smoothies.
Cayenne stimulates blood circulation and digestion, is a diuretic, and has a beneficial effect on the nervous system. Start by adding just one-eighth teaspoon of powdered cayenne per smoothie serving and increase to one-quarter teaspoon if the spicy flavor doesn't bother you. Cayenne can be used in fruit or vegetable smoothies.
Cloves have antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, and help relieve nausea, flatulence and diarrhea. If you don't mind the strong taste, add one-eighth teaspoon of ground cloves per serving.  Cloves mix well with apples and peaches.

Other healthful candidates...
Flaxseed is a good vegetable source of omega-3 fatty acids, plus it contributes to regularity. Add one tablespoon of ground flaxseeds per serving. Note: Flaxseed will thicken your smoothie -- especially if you leave the smoothie standing awhile before you drink it.
Lecithin is an excellent source of choline, which improves memory. Add the contents of two capsules or one tablespoon of granules to one to two cups of smoothie.
Sea vegetables provide a high concentration of vitamin A, protein, calcium, iron and other minerals. These work as a diuretic and may be an immune enhancer and also reduce risk for cancer. Add one to two tablespoons of powder or crumbled leaves to vegetable smoothies -- their salty taste isn't good with fruit. You may want to start with a smaller amount and increase as you get used to the taste. 
Wheat germ is a good source of vitamin E and thiamin. Use two tablespoons per smoothie.
Blue-green algae, a type of sea vegetable, is rich in carotenoids and chlorophyll. Add two tablespoons per serving to vegetable smoothies.
Coconut oil improves cholesterol ratio by raising HDL (good cholesterol). (See Daily Health News, "Coconut Oil Helps Keep Weight Off," November 25, 2010.)
Protein is helpful for satiety and stabilizing blood sugar. Good choices include one tablespoon of powdered whey or two tablespoons of nuts, such as almonds or cashews.

Easy Smoothie Instructions


Always make smoothies in a blender, not a juicer, to retain fiber and those important cell wall constituents. Cocker recommends using a blender with numerous speeds, including one for crushing ice.

--
Hollecrest & Associates Inc  -"Turnaround Consultants"  .

Sunridge Lodge   "Back to Eden"  Quality 24/7 care
261 Oakhill Drive, Brantford  backtoeden.ontario@gmail.com
"Building elder peer communities that are cozy,caring and comfortable" -
 
Brant Positive Action Group  "a positive community affirmative action group"

promoting goodwill and timely cost effective creative solutions to enhance the competitive well being of Brant, Brantford and Six Nations 


Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Be Happy

Are happy people healthier?

People who laugh a lot are much healthier than those who don't. Dr. Lee Berk at the Loma Linda School of Public Health in California found that laughing lowers levels of stress hormones, and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds have it best - they laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

the other side of tobacco-point of view

Tobacco is good for the brain

 The feds want you to believe nicotine will turn your mind into mush... but in reality, a good smoke might be the best "brain food" there is!

  New research confirms that nicotine can slash inflammation levels in the brain and actually halt the self-destruct sequence that leads to Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other neurodegenerative diseases.

  Those diseases often start when acetylcholine, a key neurotransmitter, goes AWOL.

  Without it, your brain's immune cells go haywire -- and instead of attacking dead cells, they attack the brain itself.

  But in a series of lab tests at the University of South Florida College of Medicine, researchers found that nicotine can actually fill in for the missing acetylcholine -- keeping the immune cells in check and lowering levels of inflammation.

  You'll find this study in the Journal of Neurochemistry, and it's a fascinating read.

  It's also a gutsy position to take in this PC age -- but it's nothing new.

  I've pointed out for years now that smoking can protect the brain from Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and other degenerative diseases -- and the benefits don't end there.

  Smoking can also prevent heart disease and even stop cancer cold.

  Don't expect to hear about any of this in the mainstream. It's practically against the law to write positive news about tobacco, but I have all the evidence you'll need right here.

  And if you're a smoker, that means it's time to stop apologizing for yourself and your habit.

  Fast food and soda have created the world's greatest public health burden -- yet McSlobs want Medicare to buy them electric wheelchairs so they can scoot around and complain about secondhand smoke.

  Enough!

  A couple of cigars a day won't hurt you, your neighbors, your neighbors' kids, or their dog -- and they could even prevent disease and help you to live a long and happy life.

  Next time someone complains about your secondhand smoke, tell them they should thank you for it instead.

  Not clouding the issue,

 William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.

--
Hollecrest & Associates Inc  -"Turnaround Consultants"  .

Sunridge Lodge   "Back to Eden"  Quality 24/7 care
261 Oakhill Drive, Brantford  backtoeden.ontario@gmail.com
"Building elder peer communities that are cozy,caring and comfortable" -
 
Brant Positive Action Group  "a positive community affirmative action group"

promoting goodwill and timely cost effective creative solutions to enhance the competitive well being of Brant, Brantford and Six Nations 


Friday, March 04, 2011

Smoking alternative

 
Snail toxin could fight smoking habit

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher says toxins produced by marine cone snails could help fight tobacco addiction by blocking the action of nicotine on the brain.

Chris Armishaw of Florida's Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies has been searching for drug compounds to block nicotine cravings, treat withdrawal symptoms, and reduce the negative side effects such as depression and mood swings often experienced with other anti-smoking drugs, TCPalm.com reported Wednesday.

"Tobacco addiction is the leading preventable cause of death in the Western world," Armishaw said. "One particular class of molecules derived from cone snail venom is the alpha-conotoxins, which block the action of nicotine in the brain."

Marine cone snails are found in tropical reefs of the Indian and Pacific oceans and utilize a venom-laced harpoon that shoots out of their shells to stab and shock their prey of fish, worms and other marine snails.

Armishaw's research has found the venom could be used to develop new molecules, the alpha-conotoxins, to treat conditions such as pain, depression and drug addiction.

With subtle modifications to the alpha-conotoxins, he found, they could block specific functions in the nervous system that lead to tobacco addiction.

"An improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms of nicotine addiction in the brain is crucial in order to develop smoking cessation drugs, which in turn lower the burden on the health system," Armishaw said.


Copyright 2011 by United Press International

--
Hollecrest & Associates Inc  -"Turnaround Consultants"  .

Sunridge Lodge   "Back to Eden"  Quality 24/7 care
261 Oakhill Drive, Brantford  backtoeden.ontario@gmail.com
"Building elder peer communities that are cozy,caring and comfortable" -
 
Brant Positive Action Group  "a positive community affirmative action group"

promoting goodwill and timely cost effective creative solutions to enhance the competitive well being of Brant, Brantford and Six Nations 


Friday, February 11, 2011

why competition works - restrictions often fail -worth a read

history shows that regulated solutions do not always work 

http://www.fcpp.org/publication.php/3544

--
Hollecrest & Associates Inc  -"Turnaround Consultants"  .

Sunridge Lodge   "Back to Eden"  Quality 24/7 care
261 Oakhill Drive, Brantford  backtoeden.ontario@gmail.com
"Building elder peer communities that are cozy,caring and comfortable" -
 
Brant Positive Action Group  "a positive community affirmative action group"
promoting goodwill and timely cost effective creative solutions to enhance the competitive well being of Brant, Brantford and Six Nations 


Wednesday, January 26, 2011

new positions -become a VA- virtual assistan

bpag.jpgHow to Become a Virtual Assistant     Chris Durst and Michael Haaren 

If you have a flair for entrepreneurship and a good work ethic, you might want to take a look at the virtual assistant industry. Known as "VAs," they're independent contractors who provide office-support services to smaller businesses and solo professionals remotely, via e-mail, phone, courier, etc.

WHAT EXACTLY DOES A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT DO?

Virtual assistants perform a variety of duties. They offer word processing and transcription services, and they can take care of daily schedules and correspondence. They keep busy executives on time and on task.

Some virtual assistants provide concierge services (getting tickets to that Broadway show, for example). Others take care of the growing Facebook and other social-networking responsibilities that businesses small and large must now assume to remain competitive.

Virtual assistants design websites, brochures and other marketing materials. They plan events and perform Internet research. They handle PowerPoint presentations and database management.

WHO HIRES A VA, AND HOW MUCH CAN YOU MAKE?

Smaller businesses (fewer than 10 employees) often hire virtual assistants, as do professional speakers, attorneys, freelance writers, Realtors and other "soloists." As independent contractors rather than employees, VAs are less expensive than conventional staff, and they can be used on an as-needed basis.

Depending on their expertise, VAs earn $20 to $35 per hour. VAs with legal, software programming, translation or other specialized skills can earn considerably more money per hour.

THREE TIPS FOR LAUNCHING AND GROWING A VA BUSINESS

Virtual assistant businesses are generally straightforward to launch and operate. They are almost always home-based and can be formed for less than $1,000. Many VAs choose to operate as limited liability companies, or LLCs, which help protect their assets from personal liability.

Here are three tips for making the experience rewarding and successful:

-- Do the Necessary Self-Assessment: Not everyone is cut out to be self-employed or to work from home. In addition to a quiet and up-to-date home office, VAs also need entrepreneurial aptitudes or character traits.

For example, virtual assistants must be self-actualizing and self-reliant. They must understand the difference between self-employment and employment. If entrepreneurs don't drum up clients and workflow, disaster can follow. If they charge too little for their services or a major client doesn't pay on time, the business may fail. In short, there is no "guaranteed" paycheck at the end of the month.

-- Make Sure Your "Significant Other" is On Board: Caught up in the magic of launching their own enterprise, many entrepreneurs increase the odds of failure by assuming that the household is as excited about the project as they are, but the family's perspective can be radically different.

Don't assume that everyone will smile when you are no longer nearly as available as you used to be, or disappear into your basement office to "take a peek at e-mail" and emerge three hours later. Make sure everyone has grouped under your flag before you march off to do battle on the grand field of commerce.

-- Marketing, Marketing and More Marketing: Most VA businesses fail from ineffective marketing, and a mediocre VA who markets well will trump an exceptional VA who markets poorly. Make sure you've got the financial and emotional reserves you need to get out there and sell your new enterprise. In other words, "build it and they will come" makes a better movie line than a business motto.

For more on becoming a VA, see the International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA) at www.IVAA.org. It's a good place to start, as we should proclaim. We founded it in 1999 before transferring it as planned to its members.

--

Hollecrest & Associates Inc   -"Turnaround Consultants"  .

Sunridge Lodge  "Back to Eden" quality 24/7 care
261 Oakhill Drive, Brantford  backtoeden.ontario@gmail.com
"Building elder peer communities that are cozy,caring and comfortable" -
 
Brant Positive Action Group -a positive community affirmative action group that promotes goodwill and timely cost effective creative solutions to enhance the competitive well being of Brant Brantford and Six Nations  

Friday, January 21, 2011

Interesting frontier read on smoking nannyism

 
The debates leading up to these final decisions were almost universally conducted on the premise that bars are public places and their patrons have a right not to inhale second hand smoke.Both of these assumptions are untrue.

A typical bar is very obviously a private place, owned and operated by a private individual or a company of them.
As for having a "right" not to inhale others' cigarette smoke, that much is reasonable (and makes the case for banning smoking on public streets).However it is illogical to say that anybody has a right to enjoy somebody else's property in a particular way of their own choosing, including smoke free. If people have a "right" to enjoy smoke free bars, then who assumes the duty of providing them?

The current laws, by allowing smoking in genuinely public places, are failing to protect Canadians from the actions of others. What is worse, the emasculation of property owners as decision makers about smoking on their own premises is an erosion of Canada's tradition of property rights.  Smoking may be dangerous, but eroding the principles of a free society is immeasurably more so, and right now we've got the worst of both worlds. We should reverse the current laws to mimic the Japanese model.  

 
Hollecrest & Associates Inc   -"Turnaround Consultants"  .

Sunridge Lodge  "Back to Eden" quality 24/7 care
261 Oakhill Drive, Brantford  backtoeden.ontario@gmail.com
"Building elder peer communities that are cozy,caring and comfortable" -
 
Brant Positive Action Group -a positive community affirmative action group that promotes goodwill and timely cost effective creative solutions to enhance the competitive well being of Brant Brantford and Six Nations  

Food forthought is technology killing jobs

Great for consumers bad for busines?
 
Three Ways Technology Is Killing Businesses   Cliff Ennico

It's been more than 30 years now since the first personal computers, and more than 15 years since the Internet, gave us all a digital life. Who today can remember what it was like to do business in the days before e-mail, PowerPoint, laptops, BlackBerries, iPhones, iPods, iPads, mobile apps, Facebook and Twitter?

Today's technology is truly a marvel -- all the information in the world in your hands, at any time. But it is making it harder for businesses to make an honest buck.

Proposition No. 1: The Internet Is Killing Jobs. Back in the 1970s, if you ran a billion-dollar (in sales) corporation, you needed hundreds if not thousands of midlevel executives running around, managing the systems that made those complicated business models possible. Many of those employees were duplicating effort, providing checks and balances to ensure that all of the key functions were executed properly and correctly.

Today's information technology solutions have made most of those people obsolete. With the right technology solutions, a billion-dollar (in sales) corporation can be run by fewer than 100 full-time employees.

Think I'm kidding? In 2008, YouTube.com was acquired by Google in a $1.65 billion transaction. At the time, YouTube.com had only 72 full-time employees.

By doing complicated tasks effectively, quickly and with 100 percent accuracy, the Internet enables today's executives to perform tasks in a few minutes that used to take a team of employees days to accomplish. Great for productivity, but lousy for the employment picture.

Greater efficiency and productivity kills jobs. A famous British advertisement of the 1980s showed a photo of several angry-looking factory workers wielding sledgehammers, baseball bats and other weapons of mass destruction, over the caption "The lads would like to have a word with the new computer." While the information technology industry has created some jobs, these are dwarfed by the number of jobs lost to technology in traditional industrial and manufacturing companies.

Proposition No. 2: Technology Turns Everything into a Commodity. Today's technology creates a world of "perfect information," especially for those too lazy to spend time comparing prices. I just read about a new mobile phone application that will tell you exactly where you can find the lowest price for just about any piece of brand-name merchandise.

Great for consumers, but think about it from a retailer's perspective. When you can see competitive prices at a glance, and can order the items electronically in "real time" for instant gratification, why in a million years would you choose anything but the lowest price? Retailers who provide greater service to their customers and accordingly cannot discount to the lowest levels a Walmart, Amazon.com or Costco can are bound to suffer. People will visit these retailers to do their research, learn more about the available options, make their decision, then go online and buy the item elsewhere for the greatest possible discount.

One of the great myths of small business is that customers will actually pay more for better, more personalized service. Baloney. People want the service, but they also want everyday low prices.

Someone -- I think a famous economist -- once said that "in a world of perfect information, everything would sell for exactly one penny over cost." Many traditional retailers have relied on the unavailability of perfect information to inflate their prices on the assumption that people are too busy or basically lazy to engage in aggressive price comparison. The Internet, by making comparative price information instantly available, will force all retailers to congregate at the bottom of the market, turning virtually all products and services into "commodities" that compete only on price.

Proposition No. 3: Technology Is Killing Margins By Eliminating "Barriers to Entry." It costs a lot of money to publish a book in print format. There's the cost of paper and ink, the bindings, the cover design, the shrink-wrap, the author's royalty, shipping, warehousing and fulfillment, yada, yada.

By comparison, it costs hardly anything to publish a book in electronic format. You get the manuscript from the author, you edit it and lay it out in the appropriate e-book format, post it on your website, and people pay to download perfect, identical copies that live only in cyberspace.

Great for the reading public and wonderful for the environment, except for one thing: Can you realistically charge more than a few pennies for each download when your production costs are so low?

A quick look at Stephen King's books on Amazon.com shows that his e-books sell for a significant discount from his hardcovers and paperbacks. What's interesting is that the e-book prices are only 25 percent to 30 percent (on average) lower than the printed book prices. That won't last, especially for authors who don't have the industry clout King has.

By minimizing production costs and other "barriers to entry" generally, today's technology is also erasing margins. Once something can be produced for pennies, in a competitive market, it becomes impossible to sell them for dollars. Unless, of course, you have a monopoly (for example, patented technology or exclusive rights to a popular author's novels) and can charge whatever you like.

No wonder there's such a ruckus about the future of copyright protection in the publishing world ...

--

Hollecrest & Associates Inc   -"Turnaround Consultants"  .

Sunridge Lodge  "Back to Eden" quality 24/7 care
261 Oakhill Drive, Brantford  backtoeden.ontario@gmail.com
"Building elder peer communities that are cozy,caring and comfortable" -
 
Brant Positive Action Group -a positive community affirmative action group that promotes goodwill and timely cost effective creative solutions to enhance the competitive well being of Brant Brantford and Six Nations