The Goat and the Rope [a Poem: in Spanish and English

The Goat and the Rope where there were devils I saw none. nothing. the air is hot. milky substance. I am and we are looking at this deep. souls lost. we are looking at this terrain. the moon is dead. over my head. like a shadowy curtain. hanging. most of the kings in westminister abbey are here. all the rest of us are on the hill. no ice-cream down here. we are the discarded. the seduced. most of us slept through our earthly lives. they're still sleeping through the whole thing. like a fat cat rolling over for mama. pass out the beer. slide one under the door. Use the bible for wrapping paper. once you're dead, you're dead. woooo. here comes the torture. give me chloroform. quick. I am dead. but something tells me I'll still feel it. there are no carcasses down here. only the feathered weird. they move their wings like crippled wasps. they sweat like a bull snorts. they seem satisfied. they've been in the dark way too long. they walk noble. naked. like jungle rats. civilized with stench. a black hawk is over head. it's turned about. looks like an albino now. I wish I wish I had a helicopter. here comes the torture. give me chloroform. a shot of whisky will do. crippled wasps get out of my way. slide one under the door. please. first time I ever said that. cat rolling over. where there were devils I saw none. wish I had a helicopter. I wonder if sex is part of the dead program. I think I lost the goat and the rope. #816 8/27/2005 In Spanish Translated by Nancy Penaloza La soga y la Cabra Donde all hubo diablos yo no vi ninguno. Nada. El aire est caliente. Sustancia lechosa. Yo estoy y estamos mirando esto profundo. El alma perdida. Estamos mirando a este terreno. La luna est muerta. Sobre mi cabeza. Como Una cortina vaga. Colgando. La mayor parte De los reyes en la abada de los ministros del oeste Estn aqu. Todo el resto de nosotros est sobre la colina. Ningn helado aqu abajo. Somos los desechados. Los seducidos. La mayor parte de nosotros dormidos A travs de nuestras vidas terrenales. Ellos todava Duermen a travs de todo esto. Como un pez gordo Dando vueltas por mam muerta. La cerveza. Deslice una bajo la puerta. Use La Biblia para el papel de envolver. Una vez que usted Est muerto, usted est muerto. Woooo. Aqu viene La tortura. Dme el cloroformo. Rpido. Estoy muerto. Pero algo me dice que todava Lo sentir. No hay ningn cuidado aqu abajo Slo, el con plumas extrao. Ellos mueven sus Alas como avispas tullidas. Ellos sudan Como un resoplido de toro. Ellos parecen satisfechos. Ellos han estado en el camino oscuro demasiado tiempo. Ellos andan nobles. Desnudos. Como ratas De la selva. Civilizados con hedor. Un halcn negro Esta sobre la cabeza. Este esta dando vuelta. Parece a Un albino ahora. Deseo, deseo que yo tuviera un Helicptero. Aqu viene la tortura. Dme El cloroformo. Un tiro de gisqui lo har. Avispas tullidas fuera de mi camino. Deslcese Una bajo la puerta. Por favor. La primera vez Alguna vez dije esto. Gato dando vueltas. Donde Haba diablos yo no vi ninguno. Deseo que yo tuviera Un helicptero. Me pregunto si el sexo es parte del Programa muerto. Pienso que perd la soga y la cabra.

Winning The Big Pitch - The 7 Deadly Sins Of Business Presentations And How To Avoid Them!

this working on your 'I-You Ratio'. Are poor presentations costing you Business? The ability to deliver a presentation to potential investors or clients is an essential skill for any budding entrepreneur, sales professional or consultant. Whether it's a '15-second elevator pitch' or a more extensive presentation, winning over and persuading audiences is vital in today's competitive capital raising and sales environment. Learning the art of making powerful and persuasive presentations in any Business situation and you will win more work. My premise is every start-up entrepreneur, seasoned business operator or consultant can win more Business by being a better presenter. Here are the Seven Deadly Sins of Business presentations and How to Avoid Them. 1. Not Having a Clear goal. It is essential to know what the objective or end outcome of your presentation is. Is it to raise funds, educate and inform, build relationships, to sell or build credibility? 2. No Structure. This is an absolute must for any presenter - at the very least have a beginning, middle and end. You may be the best presenter in the world with outstanding delivery skills but poor structure will lead to a poor presentation. 3. Not Connecting with Your Audience. Building empathy and rapport with your audience is critical. Connect with them on three levels - head, heart and hip-pocket. 4. A Poor Beginning. First impressions always matter. If you have to raise $8 million in 8 minutes, make every word count. I learnt this tip from attending Patricia Fripp's speaking school recently and I think its brilliant. For Business presentations she says avoid using 'Thanks, its great to be here' as your opener. She rightly points out you've just wasted 10 seconds. At a million dollars a minute that equates to nearly $167,000! 5. Too Much Content. The cardinal sin of all Business and technical presenters. In my media career, I estimate I have attended more than 300 conferences, events and seminars. That's 1500 hours worth of presentations I've had to sit through and the most common mistake I've seen is presenters rush and overload the audience with too much content. Remember, presentations rely on the spoken word and the visual - use the written word and a handout to provide more detail. 6. The Presenter's 'I's' Are Too Close Together. We all like to talk about ourselves. As a radio manager, I spent hours listening to and providing feedback to broadcasters. Those that really connected with their audience talked with them rather than at them. I observed they used the word 'you' a lot more than the word 'I'. This led to the saying that with some presenters their 'I's' were too close together! Here's another great tip I learnt from Fripp. Record your presentation and have it transcribed. Every time you see the word 'I', cross it out and replace it with 'you'. She calls 7. Poor Closer. Again it is beginning and the end that is the most important part of any presentation. With your closer - what is the key message or action you want the audience to take away with them as they walk out the door? In Business presentations the closer is often the 'call to action'. When I heard Bill Clinton speak at a Fundraising event for sick children, his closer was 'I want you to help'. Simple, direct and effective. Here's another tip I learnt from Fripp. If you want to take questions, take them before your closer, because ending on question time is a poor and weak way to end a presentation. Worse still, you are unlikely to be able to control the last question. Take questions for a set period before the end, wrap that section up and then end with a strong closer. I've already tried this on several audiences and it works a treat!

Develop The Winners Edge Through Conversational Hypnosis

Communication is vital for survival in an age of information that is undergoing a "shock-wave" of changes. Nationally and globally, we remain in a crisis in traditional literacy. Literacy, according to most dictionaries, is an unmoving term -- the ability to read and write. According to National Institute for Literacy: ? American Businesses are estimated to lose over $60 billion in productivity each year due to employees' lack of basic skills -- translated, means -- reading, writing, math and interpersonal skills all need radical improvement. ? The number of companies reporting skilled worker shortages more than doubled between 1995 and 1998, from 27 percent to over 47 percent. ? A survey of more than 300 executives found that, while 71 percent reported that basic written communication training was critical to meeting their workplaces' changing skills demands, only 26 percent of companies offered this kind of training. In order to stay competitive in the global economy, employers need workers who can read, write, compute, solve problems, and communicate well. Virtually everyone recognizes the emergence of computer-technology literacy and has ignored the counterpoint that is just as important, for navigating our way through the new world of communications -- oral communications. Oral skills necessary for survival and success, goes beyond traditional literary communications -- to mastery of communications. Those who understand and become word merchants will be the winners of the future. We mistakenly think that "great communicators" were born with a magical or god given ability to get across their messages with such command, influence and eloquence. Just as the language of computer-technology is, a learned language, so must the language of the spoken-word learned. Spoken-words that influence and grab the listener's attention -- focus the listener's attention, interest, and compel the listener to take-action -- both greatly increase the suggestibility as a form of conversational hypnosis. Conversational hypnosis is ethical, effective and a leaned skill demonstrated by masters, such as our late president, John F. Kennedy, Ted Kopple, and Lee Iacocca. Iacocca moved a nation with words: "If you can find a better car, buy one!" "Chrysler must be given a chance." During the Chrysler crisis, Iacocca made a riveting statement "My heart bleeds for those guys." All statements are very powerful and hypnotic. Mastering mesmerizing conversation hypnosis will lead to maximizing your career because your communications will turn negative thinking into positive thoughts. Here are five steps to mastering conversational hypnosis: 1. Organize your thoughts and learn how to use vivid word pictures that free up the human imagination and activate creativity in the mind of your listener. 2. Listen carefully to the dreams and desires of your listener. Communicate the benefits of your products, service or ideas that help support their innermost dreams while connecting to each person in a real flesh and blood way. 3. Use the power of repetition in your communications. Example: "You'll love this program and it will absolutely change your life." "You'll love the way this program will change your life for the better." 4. Master the art of using metaphors and stories. Stories reduce banal communication, reduces tension and your listener becomes less critical when getting information in a relaxed and entertaining way. 5. Hone your communication skills -- your voice, articulation, tone and learn how to relate to you listener, talk with them and not at them. Deliver your message with heart, truth and cutting emotion.

End of the World | Predictions Prophecies How and When

It's the End of the World as we know it... When did you think the world population would annihilate itself... i.e. bring about the End of the World... 2012! Yes... 2012 would announce the End of the World as it is today. Imagine as of now... a world without computers and mobiles... what shall be the shape of the world to come... would it not mean the end of the world! End of the world is not merely a saying; its implications would vary from place to place and country to country. Nostradamus predicted the End of the World in 1994, 1998 and also 2012. Why? If the End of the World did not occur in 1998, it was merely because the entire population of the world sensing the impending danger of the world war engrossed itself in massive prayers... this led to the delaying of the End of the World as it is today! Every passing day brings us nearer to End of the World. Why? Even a layman can understand the catastrophe human beings are landing themselves in because of the breaking down of the family and the moral values in daily life. Literally the human beings as of today find indulgence in materialistic tendencies as humorous and entertaining. The happenings in Iraq and Afghanistan are a testimony to this absolute truth. The end of the world shall accompany with itself a fight to the finish between Christianity and Islam. End of the World is imminent for the trust between various countries, religions and castes is coming to an end. The faith lost shall only lead us towards the End of the World. There is no escape for the upheaval of the society is not possible without a looming World War Three. Every revolution... every sacrifice carries with it the seed of the oncoming golden era. As of today when the manifest science is at its peak... in a short while from now and around 2012 we shall witness the End of the World... the most ghastly event that the humanity as of today shall face. Who shall survive this End of the World phenomenon? Everyone... nay every human being for that matter who has a positive balance of Karma shall survive. One may witness a missile exploding at a short distance... the gods will shall save us from experiencing the rigors of the holocaust. Everyone with Punya Karma (positive balance of Karma) in balance shall experience a win-win situation. End of the World Prediction by Nostradamus and others astrologers is purely based upon the balance of Karma of the total mankind at any given point of time. When the End of the World shall be can be assessed with fair accuracy as of now. The End of the World does not mean a doom for the mankind... it shall only be a revival of the cherished golden values in the society. After the End of the World occurrence... the society shall again start from the basics... with no science to support initially... the mankind shall as stated by Einstein begin life as man had experienced it during the Stone Age. The balance of Karma of the total humanity as of today indicates the looming danger around 2012. Every Era (Yuga) indicates the arrival of a Sanatana Purusha (manifest god himself)... one who is much above the level of man gods like Mahavira, Buddha, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed. This true son of god... imbibed with godly powers shall be able to scale the barriers that separates the societies and the countries all over the globe. He shall completely overall the existing social and moral values of the society which result in the End of the World predictions. One who carries with him the conviction of Napoleon Bonaparte, the bulldog determination of the Winston Churchill, the humility which formed part of Mahatma Gandhi, the compassion of Buddha, the persistence which forms part of every Indian, and the flawless dedication for mankind as experienced in Madame Curie... all the powers combined shall be the forte of the representative of God the Almighty on mother earth. One who shall uplift the values of the society back to their pedestal and bring back the society from the rigors of End of the World and usher it into a new era... One who delivers the mankind from the presently existing ills...? Sri Kalki Bhagavan... who shall he be? Nostradamus has predicted one with a blue turban shall rule t he world after the End of the World. Many all over the world who try to interpret this particular quatrain of Nostradamus do it wrongly. Quatrains by Nostradamus are not to be literally interpreted. One has to search for the hidden inner values in each and every quatrain. Nostradamus in his quatrain by the blue turbaned one... simply meant that the advent of the true son of God shall be from a land which is of the shape of a blue turban... a piece of land surrounded by water on two sides... like in a turban. The peninsular shape of India which is surrounded by seas and oceans on two sides confirms this. The blue turbaned one shall be from India... the country which produced Sri Krishna, Mahavira, Buddha, Jesus Christ and also Prophet Mohammed. India has since times immemorial been considered the place of worship and wisdom. And India shall pay a significant role in the End of the World saga. Those who practice compassion and forgiveness in the face of the most extreme adversities are the true spiritual torch bearers of the society. The values practiced in India have no parallel in mankind. You hit on the one face and the other turns over... such was the compassion and forgiveness practiced by Mahatma Gandhi! End of the World flash, End of the World cartoon, End of the World video and end of the world lyrics confirm that the End of the World is very near. As of today none wants to face the disastrous End of the World! Yet, we do not have a remedy! Why not all of us brace ourselves for the most tragic happening of the era... the End of the World!

The Unwritten World Of The Reality Of Letterwriting

You may wonder why I have chosen this title of this post. Well from my experience is that it is really hard to put the feeling into words about what letter writing means to me. Letter writing is becoming a lost art on many levels. It is fading into the background of society. It is still practised by many people. It is those people that I am looking to connect with. I have been told by many people whom have read my posts that they feel the same way about letter writing as I do. I want to hear from those people what they feel; I want to hear their words. I think that it is so important that we embrace the things that we are passionate about. In this case, I want people from all walks of life, all over the world. Put a pen to paper that is letter writing; pen pals, snail mail whatever it is you call it and tell your story about what writing and receiving actual physical mail in the mail box means to you. For me I love the whole process from finding kwel and interesting stationary, note cards, ticklopes (they are so cute) to stickers, to colour full envelopes to tuckins to put in the envelopes. For me it is to make others happy to see a letter to them in their box. I want to hear from you yes you the one reading this post. I know you love to get a letter addressed to you? Who doesn't? Is there some that you have kept? If so? Why? When? How? Yes I want all the 5 W's answered. The reason is I think that it is important to have book that expresses just how important this art of letter writing is to our society. I have heard from a publisher that they are interested. Now I just have to create the masterpiece called the unwritten "reality" of the lost art of letterwriting. Help me help shine the light on this amazing gift so that it doesn't disappear from the future. If you want more info please feel free to contact me. I have more to share as always. If you can think of other places to post or spread the word please do. This is dedicated to you. I would appreciate any help in getting the word out. I don't think that I could do this book justice with out having fellow letter writers sharing their experiences about the passion of this amazing hobby.

Learning to Question Your Elephant Child: Who, What, Where, When and Why

Having problems writing? I don't know why. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll writes up to five columns a week. After all, if he can write five columns, you should be able to write a five-lined poem-but that does not seem to be the case. How does he do it? Carroll claimed to recite lines from Rudyard Kipling's "The Elephant Child": "I have six humble serving men They taught me all I knew Their names are what And where and when And why and how and who." I'm more than sure that two incentives for Jon Carroll are 1.) Creating deadlines and 2.) His salary! Yes, we writers DO get paid every now and then! Basing my philosophies on those few lines of Kipling's "The Elephant Child", my advice is to "Simply Ask Questions". Rummage through some old work (whether it be poetry, nonfiction, or fiction) that you've written and use the following techniques to enhance your skills. And, then, ask yourself the follow questions. WHAT is the underlying theme? Try to come up with a single-word or phrase to describe your story. Perhaps one reason your story has not been effective in the past is that you have too many intertwining stories. This, in turn, can cause confusion for the reader. So, ask yourself, "What is my story about?" And, give yourself answers such as: Desolation, Lost Hope, Self-Confidence, Racism, Attained Dreams, etc. If you can KISS (keep it simple stupid), then your readers won't MISS your point. As practice, read some of the great contemporary writers and ask yourself the same question-"What is the underlying theme?" Describe the book in one word or one phrase, instead of using a high school book-report technique. WHERE does your story or poem take place?Knowing the setting can allow you to be a bit more descriptive with your work. Does your poem or prose take place in Alaska? Florida? China? Yugoslavia? Hawaii? Kentucky? Each of these places is, perhaps, equal opposites of the next. To know your setting you have two choices-- 1.) Be a good researcher; collect pictures and read as much as you can about the location, or 2.) Take a road trip! Nothing can be grander than to spend your weekend visiting unknown territories. WHEN did the events take place in which you are writing?If you're doing factual reporting-this is especially a MUST-DO. For instance, if you read a news article a reader wants to know when Ms. Johnson's house was burglarized. Did it happen June 20, 2001? June 20, 1984? Did the events take place when it was winter with ten inches of snow? Or, better still, did the events take place at Virginia Beach mid-August? WHY did the events take place?Is there a conflict within your character? A lot of times character's (and real people too) have problems only because their conscious is "eating them away". Is this the case? If so, why does your character feel so guilty that he made such decisions? Perhaps the events that take place are only cause-effect. Most always people cause their own mental downfall and breakdown. Always know why your characters complete every task and why the events take place. How did the events happen?Too often people will say, "I had a car wreck today?" But, do they leave it at that? No, no, no. You must always tell how the events happened. Were you driving in the incorrect lane, but still feel it's not your fault? Did you skid uncontrollably on a patch of ice? Maybe, you wanted to avoid the slow-moving tortoise that crossed your lane? If other characters are involved, it's important to get their perspective in dialogue. Maybe they feel the events happened differently. Who did the events happen to?Who your events happen to is one of the main focuses. You have to choose your characters carefully. Why? Well, it would change a story completely if you wrote of a 68-year old cheerleader. Your work would be a different story if the character were an autistic adult. How would the events change if, let's say, the main character was indeed the Elephant Child, child of the deceased Elephant Man? Be creative with your characters and allow their personalities to work well for you when creating your piece. Sometimes writers can use techniques that allow them to disregard some of these steps. Oh, Really? -You question. Yes. For instance, a writer may know the intentions of a character, a location-but you may not want to put it in print. My suggestion is that you KNOW all the answers to the above questions to make the work have more substance. By knowing all the answers you can create images, people, and scenarios by using symbols and customs of a particular area. About The Author Stephen Jordan has five years experience

Interviews - Five Tips To Handle Tough Questions From Reporters

Journalists are trained and often experienced at getting information out of their subjects. Conflict and other negative situations often make the news and journalists often have a knack for taking a positive situation and twisting it into something else in order to make it more "sell"-able as news. It's a common scenario. The media calls after your organisation has put out a news release on the latest groundbreaking achievements. You've done the hard work in preparing your media message, spending time honing the features, benefits, evidence and proof that will build your case to overcome even the most cynical journalist. After hours of brainstorming, you've come up with a great quotable quote that even the most seasoned PR pro would be proud of. You've practised and warmed up your voice. You've spent time to quietly relax, using your favourite visualisation technique to anchor your feeling of confidence as the moment of truth comes quicker than you realise. You've never been more prepared for this media interview in your life. The opening questions go well and you grow in confidence. Your body language and eye contact show you're in control and on message. And, then it comes. Like an unannounced steam train, a question out of the blue. A tough 'red herring' completely throws you off balance as their ambush technique works with devastating effect. Crushed, your media interview stumbles from bad to worse. You miss several opportunities to stay on message and make the most of the media opportunity. Afterwards you feel deflated, humiliated and let down. How can you avoid this situation and prepare for the tough questions that often come from seasoned, cynical and 'so what - who cares' journalists? Here are Five Ways To Handle Tough Questions In A Media Interview. 1. COMPLIMENT THE JOURNALIST Many journalists are attracted to the media because they want to see their face on TV, hear their voice on radio and read their name in the paper. I call them 'ego-driven' journalists. Work to their egos and stroke them. Compliment them on a great question. For example, use "that's a great question and I'm glad you asked it, ....." 2. GET BACK ON MESSAGE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. Once you've paid the compliment, get back on message as quickly as possible to show you are in control and not the reporter. For example, after the compliment use "...but what I want to say is this ..." 3. FOCUS. Good reporters will always look for an angle to make the story more newsworthy and will try a range of techniques to get conflict into the story. Keep your focus, be disciplined and avoid going down a line of questioning that is not relevant to the story or your message. Be firm, but polite. For example, "I really think we're getting off track here, the main point I want to make is ...." 4. KEEP YOUR COOL. Under no circumstances should you lose your temper, shout or get angry. This only inflames the situation and comments said in the heat of the moment when emotions are running high can often get you in trouble. Remember they make great copy and sensational 'news grabs'. Remain calm. Remember you are the one in control with the information that the media wants. You have every right to call a halt to an interview if the journalist become overly aggressive or offensive. 5. PREPARE and PRACTICE. I've lost count of the number of times a novice interviewee has taken the whole bait and been taken down the garden path and completely off message by an irrelevant question during a media training exercise. Most people are quick learners and when they see it happening to others quickly learn not to do this once they've seen how easy it is to stay on track. Prepare for tough questions prior to the interview in a formal media training course or with a colleague. Road test your messages prior to talking to the media and you are more likely to stay out of trouble.

Privilege - Alfred Lee Loomis and Hecateus

ALFRED LEE LOOMIS: Privilege sometimes leads to productivity and creativity through community efforts such as this man made possible at his Tuxedo Park mansion. The community he created included the likes of Einstein, Fermi and Heisenberg. The things they studied helped develop many technologies and lead to the Manhattan Project. Loomis had investigated everything from ultrasonics to brain waves as the world moved toward war in 1940. The combination of ultrasonics and brainwaves or ESP is my special interest. The Chaos science of pre-Ice Age humans might well have allowed more fantastic things than the atom bomb. I heartily recommend serious study of the pentagon-dodecahedron and The Lost Chord which Pythagoras learned a little about from the Pyramid. This enabled Pythagoras to be credited with creating the musical octaves. Please ask yourself just how much credit was Pythagoras due if he only learned a little about these things that can heal through his 'Singing of the Spheres'? I implore society to understand what his Dean of Studies might have been part of in a long line of pre-Empire knowledge systems that Phoenicians like Thales and Pythagoras kept a small amount from. That Dean of Studies is Abaris (Rabbi) the Druid according to a noted scientist who passed over his privileged opportunity to be a top Basilidae political agent or priest. That noted scientist is Hecateus of Miletus and ML or Mile and his kin are indeed rabbis and Stuart BEES. Author of Diverse Druids and many other books available at http://www.World-Mysteries.com and elsewhere.

The Concept of the Sublime in Eighteenth Century Philosophy

The development of the concept of the sublime as an aesthetic quality distinct from beauty was first brought into prominence in the eighteenth century in the writings of Anthony Ashley Cooper (third earl of Shaftesbury) and John Dennis, in expressing an appreciation of the fearful and irregular forms of external nature, and Joseph Addison's synthesis of Cooper's and Dennis' concepts of the sublime in his Spectator, and later the Pleasures of the Imagination,. All three Englishmen had, within the span of several years, made the journey across the Alps and commented in their writings of the horrors and harmony of the experience, expressing a contrast of aesthetic qualities. John Dennis was the first to publish his comments in a journal letter published as Miscellanies, in 1693, giving an account of crossing the Alps where, contrary to his prior feelings for the beauty of nature as a "delight that is consistent with reason", the experience of the journey was at once a pleasure to the eye as music is to the ear, but "mingled with Horrours, and sometimes almost with despair." Shaftesbury had made the journey two years prior to Dennis but did not publish his comments until 1709 in the Moralists. His comments on the experience also reflected pleasure and repulsion, citing a "wasted mountain" that showed itself to the world as a "noble ruin", but his concept of the sublime in relation to beauty was one of degree rather than the sharp contradistinction that Dennis developed into a new form of literary criticism. Shaftesbury's writings reflect more of a regard for the awe of the infinity of space, where the sublime was not an aesthetic quality in opposition to beauty, but a quality of a grander and higher importance than beauty. Joseph Addison made the "Grand Tour" in 1699 and commented in the Spectator , (1712) that "The Alps fill the mind with an agreeable kind of horror". The significance of Addison's concept of the sublime is that the three pleasures of the imagination that he identified; greatness, uncommonness, and beauty, "arise from visible objects" (sight rather than rhetoric). It is also notable that in writing on the "Sublime in external Nature", he does not use the term "sublime", but uses terms that would be considered as absolutive superlatives, e.g."unbounded", "unlimited",as wellas "spacious", "greatness", and on occasion terms denoting excess. Addison's notion of greatness was integral to the concept of the sublime. An art object could be beautiful but it could not rise to greatness. His work Pleasures of the Imagination,, as well as Mark Akenside's Pleasures of the Imagination, (1744), and Edward Young's Night Thoughts, (1745), are generally considered as the starting points for Edmund Burke's concept of the sublime in Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful, (1756). The significance of Burke's writings is that he was the first philosopher to argue that the sublime and the beautiful are mutually exclusive. The dichotomy is not as simple as Dennis' opposition, but antithetical to the same degree as light and darkness. Beauty may be accentuated by light, but either intense light or darkness (the absence of light) is sublime to the degree that it can obliterate the sight of an object. The imagination is moved to awe and instilled with a degree of horror by what is "dark, uncertain, and confused." While the relationship of the sublime and the beautiful is one of mutual exclusiveness, either one can produce pleasure. The sublime may inspire horror, but one receives pleasure in knowing that the perception is a fiction. Burke's concept of the sublime was a stark contrast to the classical notion of aesthetic quality in Plato's Philebus,, Ion,, and Symposium, , and suggested ugliness as an aesthetic quality. The eighteenth century was an active period for investigation of the sublime as an aesthetic quality with many writers making contributions, but Immanuel Kant was the first philosopher to incorporate aesthetic theory into a philosophic system in the Critique of Judgment,. In accordance with his critical method of the first two Critiques, Kant poses the question "How are judgments of taste possible?" In other words, how can we be certain that a judgment concerning aesthetic quality can be known to be universally true? For Kant, judgments of taste, or beauty, corresponded to the

Beauchamp Brings Diversity to Music

Everyone has a talent. For Miami, Okla.'s, Brian Beauchamp, it's playing music. Beauchamp who began playing guitar in 1998 while attending college at the University of Oklahoma said he first played after borrowing a guitar from his friend, Jamie Neal. He now plays rhythm guitar and is lead vocals. For this he was nominated for the Payne County Line 2005 New Artist of the Year award. The first baby born in Alaska in 1976, Beauchamp was born in Anchorage and moved to Miami when he was six months old. He later graduated from Miami High School and attended college off and on at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma and a college in Kentucky, where he played soccer. He said that although he didn't start playing music a lot until college, it has been a passion of his since grade school. "I credit Priscilla Fullerton, a grade school teacher, for my interest in music," Beauchamp said. "I was interested in Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, as well as Garth Brooks, Clint Black and Keith Whitley, while in high school. So, my music taste has evolved. I like non-Nashville type stuff and I have my own style." Currently, Beauchamp has gone single, but is interested in reforming a group. He's played with two bands and made a live CD. His last band, Backslider, has a group on yahoo.com where Beauchamp's fans can keep up to date with what he's doing now and view what the band was like while they were together. It's located at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Backslider/. While with the band, Backslider, he played in bars, saloons, various functions and parties around Stillwater, Okla. He recently sat in with a band playing at Turtlehead's in Joplin, Mo. He's also starting a consulting program in forestry to allow himself the freedom to work in forestry [one of his college majors] and to have time for his music. "I've been writing a lot since the last band split up," Beauchamp said. "My music has a lot of diversity in it from throughout life experiences with family, friends and relationships. It's a release for me. Whenever I play I feel like a different person. I can say what's on my mind and not be judged for it." I am currently in my third year of college majoring in public relations. I am aspiring to become either a music publicist, or a music journalist. I have six years of journalism experience, including high school and college, as well as professional experience at two local newspapers. In the past year I have had to opportunity to meet with and interview bands and musicians such as Trace Adkins, Rascal Flatts, Blake Shelton, Keith Anderson, Foghat, Rich McCready, Doug Stone, Cross Canadian Ragweed and The Great Divide.

Musical Improvisation Basics - 8 Vital Things To Remember

This article discusses 8 vital things to remember as improvisers - whether advanced or just getting started: 1. Your technique is probably miles ahead of your ability to think. This isn't just true for classical players. I've known lots and lots (and lots) of jazz players who have let their technique run the show as opposed to their brains. Happens all the time. With players who are just beginning to improvise, this is vital to keep in mind. Slow down! Even at furious tempi, you can "long meter" melodic phrases that dance and skip over the fast tempo - thinking them in real time. And you can have great precision and musicality in doing so. FYI, most players who play so fast you are asking yourself how can they think that stuff in real time - probably aren't really thinking that stuff in real time. Most are performing a memorized, yet impressive move. Sort of a human software, "sub- routine call." To me, not the real thing. Personally, I'd rather listen to simple ideas that are inspired than impressive, over- thought, over-prepared ideas any day. Particularly when they are masquerading as "improvisation." 2. You will be playing unexpected notes (mistakes) in the best of situations. Yes, I know, we're supposed to KNOW what we are doing. But to get good at anything, we have to stretch, and stretching means taking risks, and taking risks means making mistakes. Over time, you really will be able to hear a melody and execute it flawlessly. But by then, you'll be stretching into new realms of harmony or rhythm and hearing more possibilities in melody - and making more mistakes. It really never stops, if you're doing it right. 3. Keep a music manuscript journal. Write down any ideas that you have - chords, bits of melody, melodic shapes, anything. Use the notation system devised over hundreds of years. If you can't be precise, don't be. If all you can think of is a rhythm with undefined notes, write the rhythm with X's as the notes - defining them as non-specific. Non-specific is good. 4. Here's a big one - sing with your playing. Start now. Start with your current repertoire. By doing so, we are unconsciously hooking up our brain with our voice with our instrument. What we're reaching for is the ability to "sing" our lines as we create them, simultaneously playing the right notes on our instrument. That's a non-linear jump, but we can build the muscles for that now. If you've ever heard a Keith Jarrett record, you've probably heard all the weird noises he makes with his phrases. Sounds like he's squeezing one out (and that's probably not far from the truth...). I think I can safely say that he is letting his phrases force the issue, physically and mentally. He doesn't sing perfect notes, but almost the intention of his lines - as I have said in the past, "riding the forward momentum of the moment's creation." You'll note that the intensity of his vocalizations seem phrase related, as opposed to note defined. He sure ain't singing melody. So, if you can't sing your phrases, growl them. Get yourself to the next level by allowing the force of the music to drive the notes and phrases out of you. In time, they begin to align. 5. Here's a related one - Think in terms of phrases, as opposed to notes. Be non-specific. Any way we can keep the big picture in mind is a very good thing. I have found that painting the big picture, tends to forgive the micro mistakes. Another approach is to think in terms of texture as opposed to notes. This frees us from note definition and allows for us to discover the music that transcends note specific thinking. 6. Create some time every day for you to experiment and not sound good. This process really does take a daily commitment to achieve. Spend a good 20 minutes playing stuff you are willing to sound outright "wrong." If you have to wear headphones with an electronic instrument in order keep the ego unmolested - so be it. But spend this time. 7. Mistakes often are the best means for discovering something that is unique to you. This is a really big one. We are all shaped by a compilation of experiences, positive and negative, over the course of our life. Why would music be any different? When you make a mistake, you may find a new melodic idea, a new harmony, a new voicing. Write these down in your music manuscript journal (see above). They will become the basis for your own library of musical ideas that are unique to you. A caveat. Your mistake generated idea may not be totally original. Your F minor 9 voicing may be the same one 40,000 other pianists may use. But it is your process that delivered the idea, and that process is entirely unique. It may make you write material that is particularly F minor 9 centric. Maybe that way, you'll write music that hasn't been thought of before coming from that point of view. music improvisation is a non-linear explosion of creative thought. What makes us unique in life, works the same way in the music that we create. Even if you were an identical clone of someone, there is no one who has all of your experiences and made the mistakes you've made. Use this. 8. Finally, build a safe space for this development so you aren't dissuaded from your path. This process is a very personal one. Sharing your results may not impress anyone except yourself for now. That's fine. Keep it private as needed. The last thing you need to do is show your journal to someone who says, "Oh yeah, I've seen that before. So and so did it this way, and so and so did it that way." Deflation does not breed continuity. It's almost as though you are building your "Chi." In martial arts, "Chi" is the life force that is released upon a move (maybe that's what Jarrett is up to...). You are interested in building your musical "Chi," because that will permit things to happen that won't happen any other way. Deflating it by sharing with the wrong people is counter-productive and makes little sense. I hope that this article has been helpful to you. If you like it, gift it to someone. I only ask that you credit me as below: 2005 Ben Dowling, the author of "The Metaphysics of Improvisation" - is a pianist, composer and an authority on music improvisation who publishes Music- Improv.com, a web site that provides useful paradigms and practices for musicians interested in expanding their ability to improvise.

An Interview with Jon Bon Jovi - 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Cant Be Wrong

The idea originated with singer Jon Bon Jovi. Jon kept upping the ante with his label and ultimately they consented to a four-CD set of essentially new material. Here, he talks about this 20th anniversery project (100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong) and the things that make Bon Jovi unique. 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong was released November 16, 2004 Steven: Did it begin as a simple one or two CD box and then just started to grow? Jon: I didn't know what it would be, to be honest with ya. It was dependent on what the record company would allow and what kind of package they would want to do. So, being brutally honest with you, it was dependent on what they were willing to pay for. It came down to what they would sell it for and there was this whole discussion [about that]. So they were cool. At first they were like, 'Well, we'll do a 24-song set' and I said, 'Keep it, that's not a box to me, it's a two-record set.' And then they said, 'Well, what do you want to do?' and I said, 'Well, how 'bout 50 songs?' And they said, 'OK, we'll do that.' Steven: Was there a lot of re-mixing and re-mastering that had to be undertaken? Jon: No; 40 of these songs nobody in the world has ever heard. Forty. And the other ten are rare soundtracks and things that people wanted us to release and we didn't have the vehicle. Like there's a song called 'Edge Of A Broken Heart' that was a fan favorite from the Slippery When Wet era that was on a soundtrack for a little movie called The Disorderlies. And so this was an opportunity to release it finally. So, that was like a no brainer. Things like that. Steven: Jon, not having heard the record, can I randomly choose some titles here and have you talk about them? Jon: I think it would be better for me to tell you a couple songs because you haven't heard them. You know what I mean? It would be a better story. There's a couple things on the first CD but there's one called 'Why Aren't You Dead?' Certainly would be a fan favorite and it was during the period between '90 and '92; we wrote it, having written songs in the past like 'Bad Medicine' and 'You Give Love A Bad Name' so we knew how to write those kind of tongue in cheek, cute choruses. When we tried to do it because we knew how when we did it for what was to become Keep the Faith, it didn't ring true anymore. We knew it was time to move on, so this is the classic case of this is the one that got away. So, people who were big fans of that era of the band will hear this one and go, 'Yeah, that's what I love.' So that's a good example of that. 'Miss Fourth of July' is a great one. That one and a song called 'Only In My Dreams' that Tico [Torres] sang, very influenced [when I was] in my Tom Waits era. Tom was such an influence on me in those great ballads that he writes and the great picture lyrics. And I wrote songs like 'Bed of Roses' because of Tom but while I was knocking out songs like this, these didn't make it. But '?Fourth of July' which is really a pretty neat song, something that perhaps I'd love to hear Don Henley sing, really talks about the loss of innocence and youth and how at that point in my career, I was really dis-enfranchised by what the Business of music had become. Steven: Speaking across the board, when you're trying to determine what songs will eventually make their way onto a CD, you try to determine what really makes the song work, the poignancy of the lyrics and ? Jon: What works for a record when you consider that, for me, a record has to say something about who you are at that point in your life and that it's not repetitious and then finally that there's continuity in the record so it has, in fact, a beginning, a middle, and an end. You can't have two songs that are a 6/8 waltz, the Tom Waits-influenced thing. You can have one and then you move on and the other one doesn't get hurt. Steven: As you were sequencing the material and re-listening to this music, could you sense a growth in the songwriting and your own profile as a musician? Jon: Oh, sure. I think we've gotten better with time but that's subjective, I guess. It depends on who you ask and how the song touched people. You know, you get a song like 'It's My life' and it moves the masses; you get a song like 'Everyday,' you think it's the end all, be all, and it's not a hit single, it doesn't mean I don't love it just as much. So, am I supposed to judge everything by hit singles? No. It's a hard question to answer. I think we've gotten better; we're certainly diversified, we've grown. We're not still writing 'You Give Love A Bad Name' twenty years later, or trying to. Let's put it that way. Steven: What about your relationship with Ritchie as a guitar player? How would you explain that? Jon: Ritchie is twenty times the guitar player I'll ever be. I play guitar as good as a songwriter, to be honest with ya. You know what I mean? Jeff Beck's got nuttin' to worry about with me. The truth of the matter is what I wanted to do with the guitar was write songs and the way I learned to play was about that. It wasn't mimicking some guy's hot solos, it was 'What chord progression was that?' and 'What inversion is that?' That stuff actually never ends either; you never stop learning. In fact I really feel humbled on this new studio record by John Shanks who I think is going to surprise a lot of new people. Because he and Richie went just crazy with guitar stuff like tunings and different instruments and it was really fun to watch. You know when to chime in and when not to but those guys, they're great. It [new record] sounds like us but it's very contemporary. It's hard to describe what it is but it's pretty rockin,' I can tell you that. And there's only one song that's a slow song on the record. That song is called 'These Open Arms' but that's it, man. This is a rock record. Steven: You just mentioned how this new record sounds like you and at the some time has a modern feel. How have you been able to consistently change without ever losing your core integrity? Jon: When grunge came along, we didn't pretend we were from Seattle; when rap came along we didn't add a scratcher. And a lot of times, guys are real guilty of that stuff, they jump on the bandwagon. Even the great Stevie Tyler was out there singing with Britney Spears and 'N' Sync [during the halftime ceremonies of a Superbowl game]. I wouldn't have done it. A lot of my peers suddenly in '92 pretended to be from Seattle and got all dark and pretend to be somethin' they weren't. Or, as much as I dig Gwen Stefani, when I heard them puttin' a rapper in the middle of the record, I went, 'Oh, that's a different thing.' That's not for me, I'm not doin' it. We stayed true to who we were, we grew with what we did. Like it or not and trust me, there's people on both sides of that coin, the one thing I can say is it's honest. It is what it is but at least you know what it is. It's not trying to be something it's not. Steven: So you were honestly a bit skeptical about the reception of Crush in the marketplace? Jon: Not skeptical, I believed in it, but I didn't know it was gonna find another generation of fans. That was the amazing thing because that record touched six-year olds and sixty-year olds. Everybody felt some reason to say, 'No, it's my life.' And of course everybody wants to be in control of their own life. I didn't realize that when we wrote it. When we wrote it I was selfishly thinking of my movie career. Like Frankie said 'I'll do it my way.' Sinatra. I'm gonna get a president elected, I'm gonna make movies, I'm gonna make records, I'm gonna do everything you tell me you don't want to hear from me. And that was exactly what that song was about and then you see athletes using it, kids chanting to it, and all this amazing stuff happened. Who knew? Steven: And that guides us to the final question: You have all the money and cars and prestige anyone could ever want so what is the guiding force? Jon: You know, I just really enjoy writin' a song. That gives me greater pleasure than recording it, which is second, and touring it, which is last. I get great pleasure out of it. You know it's gonna be there forever and that to me is the greatest feeling of all of them. Thanks a lot for your time, you did a great job. Steven Rosen is a Rock Journalist. Since 1973 he has accumulated over 1000 hours of audio content and 700 articles and interviews...all now available for licensing or purchase.

Aphasia: The Cruelest Language Barrier

Imagine the following scenario: You wake up one morning and instead of speaking English, everyone around you--including your family and friends--is speaking Hungarian. This is a problem because you don't speak Hungarian and you don't have a clue what they're saying. You become frustrated. The people around you become frustrated, too, but instead of switching back to English, they speak Hungarian more loudly. Somebody gets the bright idea of writing you a note. You take the note in your hands and study it. Unfortunately, it's in Hungarian, too, and you can't read it. So they write you another note, still in Hungarian, but this time with large, block letters. You can't read the second note, either. This strange scenario is almost exactly what happens to people who have a stroke (circulation impairment) to the left side of the brain, except that the family and friends aren't really communicating in Hungarian. They're speaking and writing English--same as ever--but to the stroke victim their words are suddenly incomprehensible. This sudden disruption in language-processing is called aphasia. Different patterns of aphasia occur with damage to different parts of the left side of the brain. The preceding scenario, in which comprehension of language is impaired, is called a receptive aphasia and is associated with injury to the upper portion of the brain's left temporal lobe, roughly adjacent to the temple and top of the ear. In receptive aphasia the affected individuals can still produce sentences, but, in an odd twist of fate, they can't make sense of or properly monitor their own words, so their output is riddled with errors. A pattern of language impairment opposite of receptive aphasia is called expressive aphasia, in which individuals can understand what others say or write, but cannot produce much, if any, speech or writing of their own. In 1861 Pierre Paul Broca, a French surgeon, recognized a case of expressive aphasia and followed through with an autopsy of the patient's brain. For much of the nineteenth century most scientists and physicians believed that the brain was homogenous, and that its different actions were spread diffusely throughout the entire brain. They did not believe that functions were localized to specific regions of the brain. (The phrenologists believed otherwise, but that is a story of its own.) However, when Broca treated a patient who lost his power of speech (the only word he could still say was "tan") he was able to correlate this language impairment with damage to the left side of the man's brain. Instead of being in the temporal lobe, the destroyed brain-tissue was in the frontal lobe in an area now referred to as Broca's area. In fact, expressive aphasia is also known as Broca's aphasia. Dr. Broca's case was the principal salvo in a reversal of understanding about how the cerebral cortex (the brain's wrinkled gray surface) operates. Now we realize that many functions--not just language--are localized to specific regions of the cortex. Receptive and expressive aphasias are not the only patterns of language impairment, but nicely convey the basic idea of a sudden disconnect in language processing. What becomes of these cases? As is seen with strokes affecting other parts of the brain--for example, those causing weakness or paralysis of muscles on the opposite side of the body--recovery varies widely among patients. Some patients become normal again and others don't improve at all, but the usual outcome is somewhere in between. Improvement in language function that occurs within the first week or two following a stroke is due to brain cells that were sick from the stroke--but not quite dead--becoming healthy and operational again. By contrast, improvement in language function occurring over ensuing weeks, months and even years is due to the retraining of surviving brain cells that take over for their fallen comrades. A younger stroke patient with more brain cells in reserve has a better chance for recovery than an older patient with fewer reserves. Is there anything that can be done to improve outcome? First of all, there is the management of the stroke itself which generally takes place in a hospital. One important point to emphasize is that a stroke causing aphasia is no less a stroke than one causing paralysis of muscles. Sometimes it seems that the latter receives more serious attention than the former. management of fundamental issues--like blood pressure, body temperature and blood sugar--can set the stage for the best possible outcome. Following a first stroke, physicians also implement "secondary stroke prevention" to decrease the odds of a second stroke. In cases of stroke due to hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) this often takes the form of ratcheting down blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol, along with elimination of smoking and other unhealthy behaviors. Also, the doctor usually prescribes a Medicine to reduce blood-clotting. Other causes of stroke might call for other measures. Does speech therapy help stroke-patients with aphasia? So far, this form of treatment has not been proved beneficial. Randomized, controlled trials (the standard of proof in clinical Medicine in which patients receiving the treatment are compared to similar patients receiving either a dummy-treatment or no treatment) have not clearly demonstrated that speech therapy is better than either no treatment or treatment provided by family or friends. Sometimes patients with aphasia are perceived as "confused" in the sense of having a delirium or dementia. But this is not the case. Acutely aphasic patients need to be recognized as having suffered a stroke to a specific part of the brain so they can be triaged for appropriate medical care. Over the longer term, family and friends need to remember that the stroke victim is still a perceiving, self-aware human being who happens to have a communication problem. He or she should be loved, appreciated and otherwise included in activities just as before.

Learn to Speak Basic Chinese (Mandarin) Words and Phrases

The Chinese Language and dialects Each province, each city and even each village speaks their own dialect. There are hundreds of Chinese dialects in China so much so that each dialect speaker is not likely to understand another dialect speaker from another village or city. Fortunately, Mandarin, the official dialect, is understood by all dialect speakers. Let's learn a few useful basic and common Mandarin words and phrases that will help you break barriers with your Chinese friends. How are You? -Ni Hao Ma Also commonly shorten to Ni Hao. This is likely to be the first Mandarin phrase that you will ever learn. Useful as a greeting or a ice-breaker. Suitable for use with all ages and professions. Thank You -Xie Xie. Another polite term that is easy to remember and use. Very Good -Hen Hao. This is useful when giving praise for a job or task well done. Also useful as a reply to anyone who says "Ni Hao Ma?' to you. Ni Hao Ma? (How are you?) Hen Hao (Very Good) No Good -Bu Hao. This is useful when there is a need to comment on a shoddy or incomplete job or task. Can also be used as a reply to Ni Hao Ma? but may not be such a good reply. Ni Hao Ma? (How are you?) Bu Hao (No Good) Very Expensive -Hen Gui. When bargaining at the shops, this is the best term to use when driving a hard bargain. Don't want or No -Bu Yao. This is the best term to use for touts - street hawkers who approach you at every tourist stop to ask you to buy things. Bu Yao....will stop them in their track. This is beautiful -Hen Piao Liang. Use this phrase to praise something that is nice or beautiful. May also be used when meeting a pretty girl too! Taxi -De Shi. De Shi is the correct term but you should be understood even if you use the English word for Taxi. They sound alike anyway. Good Bye or See You Again -Zai Jian. Well, I guess this is another term that will be easily understood even if the English word is used. Excuse Me -Jie Guo. There is always a crowd in touristy areas. There are so many Chinese who wants to see the same monuments too. Rather than push your way through the crowd, using the term Jie Guo may just open the path ahead for you! Receipt -Fa Piao. Always ask for the receipt or Fa Piao at the shops or from a taxi. This may be useful if you need to complain about a fraud or shoddy product. Also useful if you leave behind your bag or camera in the taxi. I don't want -Wo Bu Yao. Useful when refusing a tout or when offered a drink too many at the Dinner table

How To Learn Spanish Quickly and Easily

Spanish is a very useful language to learn as it is the world's second most popular language. Outside of the popular coastal tourist resorts a basic knowledge of Spanish is invaluable. Even in the tourist resorts you will find the Spanish will not go out of their way to speak English to you. If you try a few words and get stuck you tend to find they suddenly can speak a bit of English! The bottom line is that if you are moving to Spain and looking for work you might as well not bother if you don't learn the language. If you are a tourist then obviously you don't have to learn the language, you will get by, but learning a few basic words or expressions will actually add to the enjoyment of your holiday as you delight the locals (and yourself). I don't think it is fair to describe learning any language as easy but if it's any consolation, there are hundreds of English words that are virtually identical in Spanish - so you already know a lot of Spanish vocabulary! TIPS ON LEARNING SPANISH * Get motivated. The best way to do this is to imagine your ideal outcome. If you don't do this you will most likely fail when you start hitting a few inevitable hurdles. We all go though this stage but if you have burned into your mind the positive results that will follow then you will succeed where thousands have failed. Imagine something like getting a job in your dream destination or having a relationship with a handsome Spaniard or meeting a pretty Senorita! * Take baby steps to build your confidence. Remember that the first objective is to master a few basic words like hello, goodbye, thank you etc. This will give you confidence to go forward - DO NOT start learning long and complex words. * Buy a good book or better still a good tape series where you can hear the language and how it sounds. Obviously you need to buy this but there are books that you will waste months on and get nowhere and there are books where you will start to be able to speak and learn Spanish very quickly. * Don't be afraid. Fear is a terrible emotion. You have to try and speak Spanish to people otherwise you won't know how you are progressing. It really doesn't matter that you will make mistakes, it is only by making mistakes that you will learn. The worst that can happen is that the person who are talking to will not understand you, yes it's frustrating but don't beat yourself up about it. * Go to Spain. Visiting Spain itself is a great motivator to learn the language. If you don't keep practising what you have learned then you will be surprised at how quickly it is forgotten. * As much as you want to learn Spanish, there must be other people who are equally keen to learn English - place an ad and try finding someone who you can trade with. * Spanish grammar is different to English - leave it at that. Don't keep trying to make sense of it in English terms - just concentrate on being able to communicate with people - otherwise you will end up confusing yourself. * There may be thousands of Spanish words but you only need to learn a fraction of them. If you analysed your own vocabulary during the day you would be surprised to find that you are not speaking like a dictionary but instead use a very limited amount of words. Spanish is the same, you just need to know the most commonly used words. * Turn wasted time into valuable time. Learning Spanish is great when you are doing things like driving, jogging, waiting for someone, ironing, cooking the dinner etc. The more time you practice the quicker you will accelerate your learning. Copyright Mark Eastwood. Feel free to use this article online and in your email newsletters as long as you leave it intact and do not alter it in anyway. The byline and biography must remain in the article

Propaganda and American Journalism, Born Joined at Birth

Passion was the main stuff of journalism long before the Civil War, the birthplace of modern American journalism. The Press of the American Revolution during the War and before it, was borne of it. Newspapers then were not as we know them today. Weekly advertising mediums they were, but they were primarily opinion pieces designed to protect interests or to provoke the readership. They were propaganda organs in the truest sense. They were virtual flagpoles of ideology from which the editor could wave his political flag. As tools of political activism they often published articles of principles treating of various freedoms or governmental responsibilities, as the editors saw them to be, mostly by pseudonymous authors sometimes using names taken from the Greek or Roman classics like Cato or Ovid. What news did exist was usually a local crime graphically treated, a poem perhaps, or a reference to a literary work or some happening from Europe that occurred months previously and brought to the editor's notice by people arriving in town. Newspapers shared news too, for as fever rose in the colonies and happenings became more frequent the need to know took place and the sharing of news from paper to paper became more commonplace. But news gathering during the war coverage was not organized, newspapers relied almost wholly on the chance arrival of private letters and of official and semi-official documents. News sources were scarce, but opinion was abundant and it covered both sides. Tory and patriot presses would fire verbal broadsides at each other's interests and any newspaper hoping to maintain a dispassionate objectivity examining both sides of the issues, found themselves in a "no-man's land" and was considered "on the other side." Often the news was engineered, perhaps none so well as the 'reportage' of the Boston Massacre by the Boston Gazette. What led up to the shootings, deemed a " Boston massacre", was the Business of quartering British troops in the public houses and private Homes of residents in America when barracks space was not available. The additional insult to the public was that the colonial legislative body was to provide financing. This was going on for four years after the British Parliament enacted a piece of legislation called the Quartering Act in 1765 and expanded it in 1766, ostensibly to economize on troop expense. When the soldiers first appeared in Boston in 1766 resplendent in redcoats and brandishing gleaming muskets and bayonets, they were held in awe but when it was learned that they were ordered never to use force and that in order to fire a musket they would first have to seek an order from a magistrate, bellicose crowds of youth began to taunt them. A mutual dislike developed between soldier and citizen, taunts epithets and curses the main discourse. Tempers began to flare as Boston tolerance dipped to increasingly low levels. One citizen's distaste for things British turned extreme resulting in the shooting of his neighbor's son, Christopher Seider, an eleven year old Boston youngster Tension between soldier and citizen was stretched thin and snapped on March 2 after rumors were circulated through Boston that the soldiers were planning a massacre of Boston citizens following an incident in which one soldier with a broadsword, slightly injured one young man, who with three companions wished to pass in an alleyway. Later a brawl between some troops and some rope makers erupted, the latter besting the former leaving emotions in a tattered state, then on March 5th, a group of youths taunted a British sentry who took exception by beating one of them with his musket. Fire alarms sounded bringing a crowd of about four hundred to the scene, surrounding the sentry and throwing snowballs, ice and sticks at him. Seven soldiers led by Captain Thomas Preston came to the sentry's support but suffered the crowd's taunts and physical assault with clubs. Daring the soldiers to fire on them, one soldier did after being hit with a club and the others followed suit. Three citizens died on the spot, another the next day and another one a few days later, five were dangerously wounded and a few slightly. One can imagine the reaction of the citizens in the tavern as they heard, through sips of ale , the report in the Boston Gazette informing its readers that the man with a broadsword,who was described as having grown "to uncommon size" and who was now accompanied by " a person of a mean countenance armed with a large cudgel," attacked two of

Young, Fabulous and Broke? Suze Orman Has Debt Relief & Financial Freedom Advice Books for You!

Are you a parent that has all the financial responsibility in the world on your shoulders and living paycheck to paycheck? Does it seem like there is no way out of this endless cycle of working just to pay your bills? Well, I certainly felt this way. I have been in consumer credit counseling, which was very helpful, but I still felt like a financial idiot. What was I supposed to do to get ahead? How was I going to ensure that my family was going to get the best they deserve which includes the finer things in life AND me? Well, I was sitting at Home one day contemplating this and watching my local PBS station when an infomercial came on that was an real eye opener. Enter Suze Orman, my financial guru! I had heard of Suze Orman before briefly and about her cable TV shows, but didn't really know what all the hype was about. I decided I would watch this infomercial and see if there was anything to the Suze Orman phenomenon. The infomercial was to raise money for PBS and promote Suze's Book "The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke". I got a chuckle out of the title, but thought to myself, "I'm young, fabulous and definitely broke" let me hear what this Suze Orman person has to say! Suze revealed some very interesting things to me such as: Your credit score can have an impact on your car insurance premiums! Your Fico Score is different from each of the credit bureaus and they are combined to make ONE Fico Score. Each credit bureau has their own credit report on you, and they don't always have all of the same information that the other ones do. If you have debts that are way overdue, they automatically fall off of your credit report in seven years. If you make a payment on those old debts at any time during the seven years, even if it is at the sixth year and eleventh month, you have started the seven year cycle all over again! As if you didn't know it already, bankruptcy is the WORST thing you can do to yourself and you should avoid it all costs. Suze recommends joining a consumer credit counseling agency if necessary. It's actually OK to live off of your credit cards while you are young for necessities so you can work the job of your dreams and put away the maximum amount of money in your 401 K Plan (only if they match). You should switch credit card balances to other credit cards as often as you need to to get the best interest rate. Despite what you may have heard, you should avoid interest only home mortgages at any cost, because if anything were to happen to you and you lost the Home for any reason, you would have no equity and would have to start from scratch. And much more! In addition to the advice above, in Suze's "The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke" book, Suze gives you an access code so you can access more financial secrets at the Suze Orman website. All in all, I would recommend any of Suze Orman's books, they are a real lifesaver and will put you on the path to financial freedom! Christina Khan is a single-mother and a recovering young, fabulous and broke parent. She runs a baby birth announcement website with parenting advice and articles for new and expectant parents. Christina also runs a cccs credit counseling debt relief blog that gives consumers a place to share and discuss their credit counseling experiences with others.

FDA Approved Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy Can Improve The Quality of Your Life

As of August 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) approved vagus nerve stimulation therapy as a treatment for Depression. This therapy completely changed my life, when everything else had failed. It can improve the quality of your life as well. You need to educate yourself about this new medical breakthrough therapy. In my book: Out of the Black Hole: The Patient's Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression I include all of the information and benefits of this remarkable procedure. However, until vagus nerve stimulation(VNS) therapy for Depression reaches universal coverage at the overall policy level, every reimbursement decision (Medicare, VA and private insurers) will be on a case-by-case basis. This is despite the fact the procedure and codes are identical to those of VNS Therapy for epilepsy (which does have universal coverage). Congress needs to pass the Paul Wellstone Mental health Parity Act, named in honor of the late Senator Paul Wellstone. This act would eliminate the discriminatory insurance coverage of mental illness by third party payers. The Case Manager (which is provided free of charge by the manufacturer of the vagus nerve stimulator) that would be assigned to you, will help with the reimbursement process. In my book, Out of the Black Hole: The Patient's Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression, I list the procedural codes, sample letters( with the help of the Patient Advocate Foundation) as well as how to contact a Case Manager responsible for your geographic area. The Case Manager is your "go to" person who can provide additional patient education and referrals to psychiatrists and surgeons with experience and training in VNS located near you. You need to be your own best advocate by fully educating yourself. For more information visit http://www.VagusNerveStimulator.com There is a free newsletter to keep you up-to-date on the latest developments. Charles Donovan is the author of: Out of the Black Hole: The Patient's Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression and is founder of the VagusNerveStimulator.com Web site. He was implanted with the vagus nerve stimulator on April 4, 2001 in the investigational trial of vagus nerve stimulation and Depression. He testified at the FDA Medical Devices Panel Meeting in Washington,D.C.

How to Survive Sudden Leadership Challenges - Covey Has Some Clues

I have decided to start with this text as simply far too many people have said to me I should - it clearly has an enormous following of people who found the message rang true for them. In the introduction to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Covey talks about how we perceive reality based on certain beliefs or paradigm. As an example, he tells the story of a ship in a fog, apparently on a collision course with another craft. The captain, having become quite agitated at the other crafts refusal to alter course, experienced a significant paradigm shift when it was realised that the other craft was a lighthouse. The captain then faced a situation in a new light(no pun intended). His reality and behaviour altered by the new understanding. The message is that often we forget that what we think is reality, is only what we see. Just ask any magician!! A strong thread through this first section is that people don't do things to you. They are acting on their reality in the same way as you are seeing motives behind their actions based on what you can see. When the feeling of being "done to" rises we too often look to blame something external. What Covey is saying, is that only by understanding the perceived reality of the do'er, can we find the common reality necessary to both appreciate the true middle ground. This is not easy. When I have been in the position where I was sure someone was doing something just to get back at me, I struggle to even consider their position in any unfiltered light. I have needed someone I trust to take me aside and say "Listen Steve, no matter what you think, this person is doing this because they truly believe it for the good of the group". This was something I would not even had heard from the person in question, and frankly was not that easy to hear from my then trusted coach. Covey has a great quote "What you are shouts so loudly in my ears I cannot her what you say" -how many times has that been the case? He speaks of an "inside-out" approach to problems, that means to start with ourselves and what?s happening on the inside. As an example this approach says that private victories precede public ones, that keeping promises to ourselves precedes keeping promises to others. "Character is a composite of our habits" "habits are the intersection of Knowledge, Skill and Desire." These statements under pin the rest of the book. Covey talks about three levels of maturity. Dependence where everything is about "you"(someone else) that we are dependent upon. Independence, where its all about I - I am responsible and I can do it. This is where I feel many leaders stop. With the confidence of only themselves they try to drive others to their dreams. Interdependence is where its all about we. Being a natural introvert, this is something I have to learn. I am far more comfortable doing my stuff on my own. The thought of having to rely on others for part of my dreams does not feel natural. That may be a bit harsh, in fact there are a few individuals I have worked with where is has not been an issue of leadership, more of partnership. My issue is to expand these to a wider number of people. Covey talks about how interdependence can feel like dependence and therefore not a step forward. Often phrased as "doing their own thing" or being liberated people move back from potential interdependence to independence. The rest of the book is divided into three main parts. The first three chapters deal with taking people from dependence to independence. Now if you are like me, you think this is a step you have already taken. This maybe so, but these chapters are going to heighten our self awareness and cement us at or above the level of independence. Covey describes these as "Private Victories". Habits four to seven are the "Public Victories" that will move us from independence to interdependence, and the last habit is about continuous improvement. Covey then talks about efficiency as the necessary balance between return and investment. Or as he calls it Production and production Capacity (P/PC). An interesting quote here for me was "..always treat your employees as you would have them treat your best customers." He speaks of how you can employ people but the extra special part of the individual has to be won, passionate employees are there for more than the money, is the way I see it. This is where the interdependence and trusting those you work with all starts to come together. The final message of the introduction is: "No one can persuade another to change. Each of us guards a gate of change that can only be opened from the inside". For me this is a moment of commitment. I feel that I have a choice here and now. I can leave the gate closed and go on as before, or open it and dive into the rest of this text... "and see how deep the rabbit hole goes" as Morpheus said.

Crank Out More Articles More Often With An Article Swipe File

If you write copy you need a swipe file. A good swipe file can save you lot's of work and enable you to crank out more articles more often Every good copywriter has a swipe file. A Swipe file contains Headlines, Articles and Article paragraphs you have previously written. Your Typical article will consist of the Following 3 Parts Introduction Body Wrap up By mixing and matching the above elements from your article swipe file (and writing some new text) you can often turn 10 Articles into 20 or 30 articles. As an example You have written an Article on 10 Steps to starting an Online Business. Can some of these steps be used to starting an MLM Online Business. Let's say only 7 of these Steps would apply to an Online MLM Business you now have the Body of an Article called 7 Steps to Starting and Running an Online MLM Business. The First thing you do is cut and paste the 7 Steps you are going to use. Next rewrite these steps just a little so they more closely apply to an Online MLM Business. Next Look over the Introduction for the source article. Can you rewrite this introduction to apply to your new Article? Would it be better to just write a new introduction? Now look at the wrap-up. Can you rewrite the wrap-up to apply to your new Article? Would it be better to just write a new wrap-up? In some cases you may only use the Title or part of the title from your swipe file. In other cases you may mix and match the Introduction, Body and Wrap-up from 2 or more articles to create a new article. In all cases make sure your new article does have some new material.