Archive for December, 2009

Hip Hop Dancers

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Hip hop dancers are those persons who perform strong and energetically choreographed dances with a number of body movements. Dancing is done in upright position instead of floor rock manner. The rhythm is slow for such dances compared to the rhythm in break dances.

Hip hop dancers place a lot of importance in creating their own styles and their own body movements while dancing. They always look for new steps and movements to include in their dancing movements and styles. The dancers have a lot of creativity. But this is not the case with technical dancers. The technical dancers generally follow the movements and steps taught by dance instructors without making much use of their creativeness.

One of the top most honors for hip hop dancers is the recognition rewarded as a b-boy or b-girl. Being a b-boy or b-girl, is an acknowledgment of the dancer’s knowledge of hip hop culture and the various hip hop dance movements. This recognition helps dancers to be self sufficient and to get differentiated from other ordinary dancers. Such persons do not require a choreographer or a dance routine to perform dance.

Hip hop dancers are known by their nicknames, in most cases. These names are an ideal way to express the particular style of the dancers. Some of the nicknames are crazy legs and rubber band.

Hip hop dancers are individuals who have experience with traditional dance movements or have already acquired some kind of training in body movements. Dancers can be professionals, beginners or experienced ones. There is no need to have an instructor to become a dancer. All those who are interested, regardless of age and sex can become a hip hop dancer by self teaching and practice. But the sad part today is that most dancers do not have adequate experience in hip hop dancing.

z-HipHop.com Hip Hop provides detailed information on Hip Hop, Hip Hop And Rap, Hip Hop Music, R&B Hip Hop and more. Hip Hop is affiliated with karaoke-web.com Karaoke Music.

The Greatest Tragedy

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Life is a journey of discovery
The greatest tragedy
Is to not live purposefully
To squander your destiny
Even to not discover it fully
To live halfheartedly
Never establish your priorities
To be continually busy
But never truly effective
Assigning and allocating your time
Is by no means an elective.

Destiny is not left up to chance
It is a matter of choice.
Therefore lift up your voice
Do away with distractions
Divorce devilish attractions
Sever destructive seductions
Become increasingly aware
That everything and everyone
Around you don’t sincerely care
About what is best for you
Neither esteem what you’re meant to do
Many talk nonsense and quickly spew
There opinions about you
They vie for your precious time
Without concern, reason, or rhyme.

Therefore you establish correct priorities
Whereby you can express your abilities
Not waste your life on trivialities
Discipline yourself to focus mightily
On your utmost priorities powerfully.

Holy Spirit help harness and direct me
God above enable me to realize my identity
My hidden potential clearly see
And celebrate it unashamedly
Be a person of undivided focus and destiny
Let me utilize my talents and gifts fully
Manifest my best and shine brilliantly
Bringing to my heavenly Father joy and glory.
Most kind Creator, make the most of my life story.

Turn my misery into victory
My tragedy into triumph
Reverse the curse of the past
Thrust me forward furious and fast
Give me stability and longevity to last
Make me unstoppable and indefatigable
Fortify me within like a strong citadel.

Give me understanding and laser like vision
To discern and make the right decision
Live a life of influence and dominion
So that when all is said and done
More will be done than is said
That when all gather and I’m dead
Many will be encouraged and lift up their head
Let it not be said of me and my legacy
That my life was ill spent and a tragedy
On the contrary, help me live magnificently
To awaken and uplift all humanity
And future generations following me.

Paul Davis is a FL real estate professional, life coach (relational & professional), worldwide minister, and change master.

Paul is the author of several books including Breakthrough for a Broken Heart Adultery: 101 Reasons Not to Cheat Are You Ready for True Love; Stop Lusting & Start Living Waves of God Supernatural Fire; Poems that Propel the Planet and God vs. Religion.

Paul’s compassion for people & passion to travel has taken him to over 50 countries of the world where he has had a tremendous impact. Paul has served in many war-torn, impoverished and tsunami stricken regions of the earth. His Dream-Maker Inc. is building dreams, breaking limitations & reviving nations.

Paul’s Breakthrough Seminars inspire, revive, awaken, impregnate with purpose, impart the fire of desire, catapult people into a new level of self-awareness, facilitate destiny discovery and dream fulfillment.

Contact Paul to minister, speak at your event or for life coaching: mailto:RevivingNations@yahoo.com RevivingNations@yahoo.com, 407-284-1705.

For additional info:
DreamMakerMinistries.com DreamMakerMinistries.com

Ness Notes for August 14

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

The Raiders and Vikings conclude Week 1 of the NFL’s preseason with ESPN’s MNF debut tonight in Minnesota at 8:00 ET. Home teams went 11-4 SU but just 8-6-1 this first week and in a stat that should not be too much of a surprise, 11 of the 15 games went under (I’m counting Saturday’s Saints/Titans game that fell 19-16 in the under category, as the game opened 37 but did close at 34 1/2 at some places). Throw in an under in the HOF game and its 12 unders in 16 games.

My free play for Monday is on the NY Mets over the Phi Phillies at 7:05 ET. After completing my second straight 3-1 Saturday and Sunday in MLB, I’m opening the new week with my 15* NL Favorite of the Month. Although I dropped my total play on last night’s game, I have opened the NFLX season by winning THREE of four sides. Don’t miss my 15* MNF Game of the Month tonight.

Brad Childress makes his coaching debut for the Vikings in this one, the last of 10 new head coaches this year to do so. Art Shell is new to Oakland this year as well but made his 2006 debut in the HOF game on August 6. Teams with new head coaches this year have gone 5-4 SU and ATS so far, hardly providing any edge. The current line for tonight’s game is Minnesota favored by three points with a total of 36.

The Jags scored the most points in Week 1’s highest scoring game (31-26 over the Dolphins). Four teams totaled more than 400 yards of offense in Week 1, led by Atlanta’s 423 yards in the Falcons’ 26-23 win over the Patriots. New England also gained over 400 yards in that game (407), joining the Rams (404 vs the Colts in a 19-17 win on Thursday) and the Saints, who just topped the 400-yard mark with 401 in their 19-16 win over the Titans on Saturday.

The Jets, Packers, Redskins and Seahawks tied for Week 1 lows, all scoring just three points. Three teams didn’t gain 200 yards in their Week 1 games. The Chiefs gained a meager 172 yards in their 24-14 loss to the Texans (Saturday), the Browns gained just 179 in their 20-7 loss to the Eagles (Thursday) and the Jets accounted for only 185 yards in their 16-3 loss to the Bucs.

Detroit’s 20-13 win on Friday ended Denver’s four-game preseason winning streak. That modest streak was actually the longest active preseason winning streak of any team. The longest active ATS winning streak ended in Week 1 as well, when the Browns saw their seven-game ATS streak end with a 20-7 loss in Philadelphia on Thursday. The 49ers, who beat the Bears 28-14 on Friday, now own the longest active ATS streak at five consecutive covers.

The Colts saw their preseason losing streak extended to seven with Thursday’s 19-17 loss in St Louis and Kansas City matched the Colts’ seven-game losing streak on Saturday, when they lost in Houston to the Texans, 24-14. However, the Colts did cover in their loss, making them 2-5 ATS during their slide. As for the Chiefs, their Saturday SU loss was also their seventh consecutive ATS loss as well, the longest active preseason streak.

MLB notes

The Dodgers don’t own MLB’s longest active winning streak but it’s hard not to acknowledge the team′s amazing 15-1 run since July 28. Of course what makes their current streak even more unbelievable, is that it was directly preceded by a post-All Star break slide of 1-13! LA owns a 2.42 team ERA during the last 16 games with their starting pitchers going at least six innings, all but two times. Since having their 11-game winning streak snapped last Wednesday, LA has won four consecutive one-run games.

Surprisingly, the 53-64 Cleveland Indians open the new week with MLB’s longest active streak, having won six straight games. The Rangers are right behind the Indians with five straight wins (neither team plays tonight). The Indians’ surge has moved them out of the basement in MLB’s “moneyline” standings, as at minus-$1,908 on the year (at $100/game), they are $89 better than the (Pirates (minus-$1,997), who by the way, swept the Cardinals over the weekend.

MLB’s longest active losing streak is owned by the Devil Rays, who lost all six games this week in Seattle and Oakland, respectively. Tampa has now lost 17 of its last 18 road games, including a 1-15 mark since the break. The Giants have lost five straight games, 16 of their last 19 and 13 of their last 14 on the road. Joining the Giants with five straight losses are the Detroit Tigers.

The Tigers were 76-36 prior to their losing streak, which is now the second-longest in the last 30 years (since 1977) by a team that was at least 40 games above .500 at the beginning of the slide. The 1993 Giants were 89-48 before losing their next eight games. Detroit’s lead in the AL Central is now down to just 5 1/2 games over the White Sox, a team that was a season-high 10 games behind the Tigers just last Monday.

Things don’t get any easier tonight for Detroit, as the Tigers open a three-game series in Fenway against the Red Sox (7:05 ET), as part of MLB’s 11-game schedule for Monday. The Red Sox swept the Orioles over the weekend, ending a five-game slide and open the week just one game behind the Yankees in the AL East.

Speaking of the Yankees, they will conclude their four-game series with the Angels at Yankee Stadium tonight, at 7:05 ET (Lackey vs Johnson). The Angels have taken two of the first three games, including a 5-3 win on Sunday. The Angels, now 53-50 against New York since 1996, are the only team in the Joe Torre era to have a winning record against the Yankees.

Jered Weaver improved his career record to 8-0 in the win and became only the third pitcher in the last 100 years to go undefeated in his first 11 starts in the majors while winning at least eight of those games.
Whitey Ford (1950) and Livan Hernandez (1997) were both 8-0 at that juncture of their careers. No pitcher has posted a better mark in his first 11 big-league starts since Hooks Wiltse, who won each of his first 12 for the 1904 Giants.

While Jered was making history this weekend, his older brother Jeff picked up his 100th career loss (just 83 wins) in the Cardinals’ 3-2 loss to the Pirates on Saturday.

Ness Notes is available Monday through Friday by 1:00 ET.

Larry Ness is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at procappers.com/Larry_Ness.htm procappers.com/Larry_Ness.htm

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

The Right Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968), man of probably a googolplex of titles given him from an extremely wide variety of real sources, including many grateful colleges and widespread Southern universities, was born just plain old Michael King, but as his Dad had a special and rather moonlike mission in mind for him, the name was changed to Martin Luther King and the documents were appropriately switched around. When he died, his name was not really in dispute, although for all intents and purposes, this cool icon of quarks turned out to be hardest to track down. He was fortuitously surrounded by an entourage of like minded people the majority of the time.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations was constantly on his tail, trying to tell him to sit down and shut up. This was due to several underprivileged space cadet illegal laws that must have been one long road to nowhere. They even tried to drive him indirectly into suicide through his own wife. It helped, because his life was one long attempt on it, although he secretly enjoyed times of lovely peace and prosperity.

MLK was a vital figure of the modern era. His lectures and dialogues stirred the concerns and sparked the consciences of the general wide world of street philosophical ethics. The spontaneous movements and marches he led brought significant changes in the fabric of American life through his vast courage and almost selfless devotion. Being their figurehead, he was contacted for forms of sexual and racial harassment. While performing his duties, he was constantly under threat by a strange variety of government agencies, religious groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the awesomely powerful church in general, and many significant others. These were all leftovers from the times of the Inquisition to some extent, which included the ridiculous persecutions of many individuals.

These threats involved such things as kidnapping, extortion, harassing his family members, torture, being assassinated, being hosed up against the wall by alleged firefighters, exposing him deeply and psychologically to some incredibly weird lifestyle patterns, and otherwise harming the mind of a rapidly maturing young and well suited gentleman. Although he handled this well, certain parties who shall remain nameless will probably worry about him forever, as long as the planet doesn’t happen to split first. However, spirituality issues were stuck being a particular forte of his. Some may argue that indeed others had to suffer, but unfortunately, he was perfectly willing to do so with them as long as the world turned upside down. In one famous speech, he referred to the valleys becoming mountains, the hills opening out, and the level plains become splendid, which included wonderful things like women’s rights and the fact that Northern Canada is expanding and growing.

These all had an influence on his increasing and expanding way of prescient thought, which includes continuing acts upon humanity such as the Rainbow Coalition, headed by the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Therefore, this general direction his life took is still making major impacts on people’s lives, probably enabling his influence to extend potentially far into the very distant future. The man was practically a major Negro meteor who “rocked” the life forms of this entire planet. We hope to so impact you so by relating a brief history of The Man. His charismatic leadership inspired men and women, canaries and fictional characters, young and old, in this nation and around the world. We hope to someday carry him back to Jupiter.

His grandfather began the family’s long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. In general, the life of this young man was a vast improvement upon the spartanly reported upon times of the original Martin Luther, a white man from Germany who nailed a protest upon the door of a Catholic Church and got away with it clean in the middle of the night. He then had to go underground and into hiding. The church of the time was hovering in the background, pretty much waiting to consume him, but our original Martin simply survived without being assassinated. Then he founded the entire worldwide Protestant Church, which still continues the practice of worshipping Jesus Christ, the supposed One and Only Saviour. I have a feeling there has been more than one of those at that.

In short, this may appear overall to be the continuing adventures of the same man in some strange and peculiar ways. Let’s face it; the original Martin Luther had to endure the self same acts of potential persecution, but not so much on a world stage. It was the same dire threats of torture, and as far as I am aware, far worse ones such as the dungeon, the rack and the iron maiden. People were a bit tough during those days, but he still had to go into hiding to get the church founded. Our present Martin Luther also attended viciously segregated public schools in Georgia, involving the use of rabid authority trained dogs on people and other such Inquisitional practices. He thus graduated from high school at the age of fifteen; he next received the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. Purportedly many of his degrees involved acts of hitting the authorities back such as having other people directly write his term papers for him. It looks like he was fully capable of writing his own papers.

The coalition that MLK built and based his career upon seems to have been derived from the list of the group of people that the Ku Klux Klan was persecuting, fighting with, or otherwise trying to keep under control in America. The KKK used extremely perverse methods on diverse groups of people to try to keep our country in a peaceful state. This is not a case of good guys versus bad guys. It’s more a sad matter of war, where diverse groups and cultures of people had conflicts and were at sore odds.

After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married a gorgeous, sophisticated, well bred and charmingly red haired woman, Coretta Scott, a colored lady of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments who mostly studied music, the fine arts, and how to get along with people. He was somehow due to mystery reasons “mostly black” next to she. Two sons and two daughters were too swiftly born into their ever growing family, and these would be all of the children born to them, although there may have been others.

Dr. King is purported to be the actual original source of the concept of “Somebodiness,” which symbolized the celebration of human worth and the conquest of rituals of subjugation. This all inclusive attitude problem of his gave primarily black, poor people and the Universe in general hope and a sense of dignity. His philosophy of nonviolent direct action, which was derived largely from Mahatma K. Gandhi’s Indian Hindu struggles programs, the Four Freedoms and several others involving similar rainbow points of light, and his strategies for rational and non-destructive social change, galvanized the conscience of the entire American nation and drastically reordered its priorities.

Items such as organizing unions, reparations for African Americans and affirmative action programs for everybody were duly scrutinized and implemented. Pretty much everyone who struggled, from Henry David Thoreau to Adolph Hitler to Susan B. Anthony to Sojourner Truth to nature knows who and everyone else who had gone before who managed to write their books from an illegal jail cell and become an author helped bleed their innate wisdom into his studies. During this entire time, this man was considered to be held illegal in multitudinous ways. His wisdom, his words, his actions, his commitment, and his dreams for a new way of life are deeply intertwined with the American experience, and now are easily accessible across the World Wide Web. Persons of many nations and children who have never heard of his life before can now study him. Also, I have definitely found an association between this gentleman and the ancient Hindu deity Ramah, which has something to do with the sun. Maybe somehow he symbolizes or otherwise was one of our original African leaders in some fashion. It’s a mystery to me.

Perhaps more people like you should read about this “cat-dog” who organized as much of humanity as he possibly could to react against social injustice. Me personally, I want to spend the rest of my short life going on about him at great unadulterated length, but due to the fortunes of life, I am going to stop sooner or later. He was a general in an army of peacetime love, and we can all go for that, but due to serious overpopulation problems, he was forced to invert that army upon Washington DC at a time of war. Therefore, he had to with no choice whatsoever to subjugate the President of the USA to the views of a nation of people who needed jobs and social justice. It seems to have simply timed out that way. Some people think he was a Communist sympathizer, however.

The theory has been advanced that many of the problems he was addressing, including things having to do with racial segregation that were definitely leading to an entire population of “colored” people being lead offstage to an unknown place, and yes, it is again in this instance, had to do with gradually forming up concentration camps or something rather like that down in the American South. Obvious references to such things as isolated curfews, slots of restrooms, areas of seatage on buses, lunch counters in separate restaurants, and other such general “crimes against humanity” were opposed by this particular consummate and wittily intelligent slavery opposed business suited superhero and his crowd of other reasonably sentient civil rights workers.
Yes, he was the Superman of his own nescient ethical attack, having been born into the exact same era of time as that American cartoon character. He was even a speed demon who was forced to plagiarize most of his important work while on the run. To me, he will always be a kind of man in the moon who never got there. His sex life was always questioned, every move he ever made was photographed and reported on, and in general he was one of the lifestyle trendsetters of his times. Many people think that when he was finally assassinated by James Earl Ray, who was probably hired by the KKK, he could sort of have used the rest and gone into retirement. However, he was an earnest lover of life who wanted to go on to run for President of the United States under conditions of the Separation of Church and State which entirely precluded his ever managing to get there. This had to do with the general subjugation of black people in America.

MLK was dashing, handsome, and romantic, a charmer even as a seriously overweight young man, who died at almost forty to serve mankind. He was trying to get people to get off of the backs of black people in general, so he used his charisma and ability to get media attention as much as possible. Some think his speeches were a little lowest common denominator, designed mostly to appeal to the masses and not intellectuals.

Meanwhile, as population problems enclose upon our beautiful world unto this very day, concentration camps are once again slowly engulfing humans. The Mexican problem of the United States may end up having to be solved this way unless dramatic other measures are taken, such as God melting the giant glaciers which inhabit Northern Canada through the Ice Age up there and the problem being gradually taken care of by Global Warming. Why God is oft known as the Planet Terra otherwise called Earth is its own scientifically sophisticated mystery. We are now entering an age where the Black Chap may be able to pull ahead of the White Chap in North America. The planet itself may be supporting his skin color, but due to widespread global changes resulting, this fact may be held widely in dispute. I myself am praying to whatever gods may be for Martin’s own unconquerable soul, a sun produced love that I can never attain. It should be studied by scientists who could obtain its intriguing powers. Meanwhile, I suppose we shall need all types of people here, one way or another.

Concentration camps are the thing of thick plot and disgust that this chosen man managed to at least briefly avoid for his own people, but of course they are generally an unavoidable occurrence in a world oft run seriously awry. Nightmarish conditions preclude their ever being a place of anything but hostilities, as economic conditions manifest themselves in them. Once again, it is not so much good versus evil as situational ethics. It would be best to study other methods of population control.

Why this peculiar phenomenon of “The Camps” lasts to this very day, particularly in the outlying areas of China, having made its impact on Western Europe, Russia, the United States and God help us so many other places, is unknown. Personally, I know this mature and interesting man would have tried to lead us all out of them, but now it may be your job to attempt to do so. It is a vast planet so full of ripe uncertainties, and he manages to continue to live on it, although he himself died in the 1960s.

And for some reason, I seem to have also discovered a certain Fab Foursome. Dr. King, Coretta Scott King, Betty X and Malcolm X. They seem to have somehow represented the Four Freedoms, which are peace, love, freedom and happiness. And for some reason, as Dr. King represented Ramah, Malcolm X represented Krishna. These are two ancient Hindu deities from many millennia ago, and why that happened in Black America in the 1960s is entirely beyond me. It may have to do with the Ice Age receding, Global Warming, the Greenhouse Gas Effect, and the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. I also like to think it has to do with being earthy.

Really, I wonder if it’s just because Dr. King studied under Mahatma K. Gandhi, who used Christianity on behalf of getting the English somewhat out of India sometime in the twentieth century. They both used Christian nonviolent protest by being willing to die at their enemies instead of killing them. It seems to have worked somewhat – an odd plan at that. I myself used this technique to stop a Jack the Ripper style attack on a house in 1986. I was willing to die – and a little further than that - to slow down some house burglars. It worked, and the burglars never came back. Sorry if that sounded like boasting. At least I did manage perhaps to break the infamous Glass Ceiling through this method.
And now for something completely different:

Ben Volio in my Port Folio

I dreamed of a large gentleman who died to
Save my life. He laid out a road so long and
Too narrow - but it was paved entirely with
The bones of other people. I was gonna be a
Firefighter and dive into the lake to lay fish
Out such others from fire, but tomorrow as
Today - I am far too small to be that way.

I have Benvolio. The guy is everywhere, telling
The villagers by getting between both groups
Of weirdos to stand down, always stand down.
Benvolio is adamantly opposed to your gravity.
He was a minor in Romeo and Juliet - and simply
Told them he’d rather be run through with swords
Than see it done to me and you. They named a
Freeway after him. But when it comes to sleep,
I feel I can no longer play that sort of game.
I only receded to be scratched and nicked.
Signed, Mercutia. Death just may be my schtick.

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Screenwriting — Two More Screenplay Plots with Cell Phones

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Cell Phone Boiler 3 – Max Has a Maximum Surprise

A woman finds a cell phone in a public bathroom. There is a text message displayed on its screen: “Leave Now!!! Max.” Before she can leave the bathroom, the phone explodes with a tremendous bang, turning everything into a rubble.

When she comes to at a hospital bed, a detective wants to know all about the phone. She says its not hers. Does she remember anything about the phone? She mentions the name “Max” and the detective’s mouth drops… “You are under arrest,” is his next sentence and produces a pair of handcuffs.

What’s going on?

Cell Phone Boiler 4 - Elephants Never Forget

A woman finds a cell phone in a public bathroom. As she is messing around with out out of sheer boredom, she discovers that there are photos and a video clip recorded earlier by the phone, images of a gruesome murder taking place in the same bathroom… What happened to the victim?

Horrified, she rushes to the police but she is an immediate suspect because the only fingerprints on the phone belong to her. What’s worse, the cops find out about the years she has spent in a mental institution. She is autistic. Which is a plus as well since she basically remembers EVERYTHING that has happened in her life! That’s why she ended up in a mental institution.

So, a detective that falls in love with her gently guides her back through the immaculate memory lane. As she describes one by one all the people she had met on the way to the bathroom, something picks the detective’s curiosity… how come she kept referring to coming across a woman wearing a trench coat on a bright August day?

With a few more troubling details she describes vividly the woman in a trench coat, and the hunt is on…

Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Senior Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases, movie reviews and hi-tech documentation. He has worked as a Technical Writer for Fortune 100 corporations since 1999.

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He is the editor of PRIVATE TUTOR FOR SAT MATH SUCCESS web site privatetutor.us privatetutor.us

In addition to being an Ezine Articles Expert Author, he is also a Senior Member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), Member of Bethesda / Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce of Maryland, and a Member of the American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI).

The End of the World - or is it?

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Many people darkly hint that “the end is at hand”. They claim that they see a direct connection between the apocalyptic final book of the Bible, Revelation, and the world around us. Just look at the weather, they say. Look at the pollution, look at the continuous threat of war. And what about all those rocks flying around in space? Look around you. Look everywhere. How is it possible not to believe?

But is it? What of other theories? What about science? Don’t we have several millennia to go? Then again, it seems increasingly likely that earth has a date with an asteroid in the not too distant future. So will the four horsemen ride? And most importantly, will all this happen in our lifetime? And why are we so obsessed with the end of everything anyway? Isn’t it better to just live life as it is and be as happy as possible? When all is considered, it is equally likely that I will die and that the world will end tomorrow. Either way, I won’t be here anymore if either event happens. So why not just enjoy what I have now?

There are many questions. Further research will probably result in only more questions. This is okay. We’re human and we’re curious. Let’s hope we have a while yet to try and satisfy some of our inquisitive nature.

The most poignant question is perhaps, what is the point? What is the point of worrying about the end if it inevitable anyway?

From the religious point of view, the reason for worrying is one’s eternal soul. The Christian religion, and to some extent Judaism, has a very specific set of events lined up for the end of our world. Christians are madly preparing themselves for the end of all.

The problem with this is the nature of the society in which we live. Once, long ago, when nations were still living separately, each in its own little corner, religious segragation was acceptable and even vital. Now however, we are required to live next door to any number of freaks. And we’re expected to accept these freaks for who they are. Christianity and many of the fundamentalist, organized religions do not see things this way. They worry not only about their own souls, but also about those of others. Nevertheless, society is inevitably moving towards tolerance. Not everybody is very open to the idea of the religious end and the actions required to prepare for it.

Much more current is the question of the physical end. This is something we can see coming, and it strikes many people as much more urgent than their eternal souls. Of course even scientists admit that there is little that we can do to stop flaming rocks from the sky or aliens suddenly deciding that the earth is in their way. But we can do something about the ecological disaster we seem to have inherited. Much is already being done. Organizations have been registered and officially recognized in order to save everything from the whales to the tiniest of endangered seedlings. Every day we are told to recycle, to reuse, to protect and clean up. This is the end most of us are trying desperately to avert.

If we succeed, the human race can survive until the end of time, or at least until the sun burns away, until a rock bigger than Earth hits us, until an alien destroys us, or until a religious entity comes to judge us.

Maybe that is the point. Ignore what we cannot change and do something about what we can. Perhaps this is the reason behind all action attempting to avert the end. We are biological beings. Even the most religious among us has a sense of the survival instinct. Maybe the madly preparing Christians are no stranger than those working madly to save our rain forests or ozone layer or endangered gecko. It is all a matter of survival. The only difference is perspective.

Catherine holds a Master’s in English from the University of the Free State in South Africa. She is an instructor in a special program there, teaching year long seminars to help disadvantaged students improve their English academic reading and writing skills in preparation for University studies. In addition she is a reviewer and proofreader for the Institute of Groundwater Studies, also at the University. This department is concerned with the management of borehole water and other underground water sources mainly in South Africa, and also in other parts of Africa. Highly interested in the Internet as the new form of international communication, Cathi has established two Blogs, one on self improvement subjects and one on Web site reviews of sites she has found to be excellent and rewarding experiences for Internet surfers.
Cathi’s self-improvement blog can be found here:
writingup.com/Cathi. writingup.com/Cathi.
Her Web site review blog can be found here:
cathe-reviews.blogspot.com/2006/03/introduction.html cathe-reviews.blogspot.com/2006/03/introduction.html

Poker Stars Review

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

It’s important for players to review different poker rooms before deciding on a specific site. There are so many places to play on the Internet, and no two online poker rooms are alike. Taking the time to appraise multiple sites doesn’t take a great deal of time, but it could make a huge difference once you start playing. It’s important to know what to look for in a particular poker room, and to make frequent comparisons in order to choose the site that’s right for you.

Poker Stars is one of the most popular poker rooms on the Internet. The site has a great selection of tournaments. If qualifying for live competitions like the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour is something that interests you, Poker Stars has more qualifiers than any other poker room on the net. The last three WSOP champs, Chris Money Maker, Greg Raymer, and Joe Hachem have endorsed this online poker room. In 2003, Chris Moneymaker paid $39 to enter a satellite tournament on Poker Stars. With this modest investment, Moneymaker was able to qualify for the 2003 WSOP. He was the last man standing at the main event, and he took home $2.5 million. The following year, Cory Raymer used Poker Stars to qualify for the WSOP, and he ended up taking home $5 million. In 2005, more than a fifth of the competition at the WSOP qualified for the tournament through Poker Stars. The $7.5 million champion that year, Joe Hachem, said that Poker Stars was the online site where he learned to master his game.

Poker Stars is an innovative staple in the world of online gambling. It was the first site to feature game statistics, notes, satellite tournaments, and multi-table tournaments. Lower stakes games feature light competition, but once the stakes increase you’ll facing off with some formidable foes.
The software at Poker Stars is reliable and quick. The players notes, images, and statistics are all excellent. You always know where you stand in relation to other players, especially in tournaments. The customer support, although limited to email queries only, is still efficient and effective. Another cool feature is the ability to transfer money between players.

Players can make deposits on the site using Visa, MasterCard, debit cards, money orders, cashiers checks, NETeller, CentralCoin, and Fire Pay. Although Poker Stars does not offer sign-up bonuses, it still remains one the most popular places to play poker online. Frequent player points and re-deposit bonuses are available, but some bonus money to start with would also be nice.

Poker Stars is the place for tournament players. Whether you’re looking to enter a free-roll, guaranteed pot, or satellite qualifying tournament, Poker Stars has the best tourney selection on the web.

Rick “Stone Face” Ellers started playing poker while he was a paratrooper stationed in Fort Bragg, NC. He currently writes part time for PokerListings.com where you can learn about the exciting pokerlistings.com/world-series-of-poker World Series of Poker and find great information about pokerlistings.com/online-poker-rooms Online Poker Rooms.

“The Birth of Hell,” & “Midnight Moon’s Harp” [Poetic Prose]

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Midnight Moon’s Harp
[Poetic Prose; date: 6/6/2006]

Immersed in deadness, in a solar system without grace: incased in an orbit like prison: harvesting mounds of dusty crypts: century after century, here resides Earth’s moon. I heard the sound of doom one evening: its, resonance, hum (like a grief-stricken harp): it was the moon: moaning, oozing, melting the only grace God gave it: a portion of the sun’s light: feeble as it was, it was, far-scattered on this twisting, airless shadowy sphere—trying to absorb each cramped beam from the beaming orb.

#1368 6/6/06

The Birth of Hell
[Poetic Prose: Hell’s Creation]

God knew there would be heresy and impiety (contrary to his teachings; his likings, when he created the living)—but he did not ponder these crimes: the allure to the dark-divinity he allowed: even to living souls, a glance in the depthless abyss, why not? Everyone needs a home, do they not? Yet He did not peer from the light downward to Hell’s iron gates; He was perhaps dizzy from looking downward to the immeasurable sins of mankind, which were taking place on the surface of planet earth, that was enough, I gather beneath its crust, would be way too much.

Now that Hell was created, found and formed (by its four-fathers), the wreckage of antiquity, those lost faces, phantoms of chaos: allowed to remained formed so all would recognize each other, and their utterly fading time and place.

Perhaps now God said, “Beneath me, not above me, build your castle as you wish I will send you all the wreckage, do your everlasting incantations, your chaos, invade your own creation, why should I make you another home. Make your own.” And so it was, the birth of Hell.

#1369 6/6/2006

See Dennis’ web site: dennissiluk.tripod.com dennissiluk.tripod.com

Thoughts on the Cave

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

The allegory of the Cave is one of the most famous in philosophy. Plato develops a really relatable and understandable allegory to describe knowledge itself. This defining and describing of knowledge can help support different views on education. One can get a better sense of the world and knowledge, and more importantly how they are divided by examining this allegory closely. He clearly splits them into an intelligent type and a wisdom type, the first being “having sight put into blind eyes” and the second being having “your soul turning around.” One cannot thrive without the other to truly benefit a person.

The allegory of the cave points out two different types of knowledge and education in the world. On the first hand, you have the knowledge that is told to you and expected to be believed and accepted. This is exemplified by the images on the cave wall created by the puppets and figures with the fire. This knowledge represents the more learned, intelligent knowledge of the world. It is explaining a type of knowledge that is more based on memorization, fact and being told it is truth without having a personal way and connection to back up this reasoning. This is the knowledge that the allegory does not promote for it is not the knowledge that philosophy is based on.

The second type of knowledge is what is truly learned by experience. It is not the knowledge that others tell you and explain to you. This is the knowledge represented by the sun and the awakening of a soul upon finding the entrance to the cave and able to see the real world. It can not be learned by reading facts, memorizing things or just having faith on what others have told you. It has a personal connection with the person through experience and a type of individual devotion and connection. This is the knowledge that the allegory does promote for this is the knowledge that philosophy aims for.

Plato is putting great emphasis on this second type of knowledge. He is promoting an awakening of the soul to experience and view life as it is meant. This is a knowledge more based on wisdom, a kind of knowledge that isn’t just earned by reading books and memorizing facts, but rather exploring, questioning and pondering the world. Plato pushes for this type of knowledge not only as a philosopher but also as a human. He expresses the importance of aiming for such knowledge to better yourself and expand your mind, body and soul. It is not just about having the answers but rather having a completion to grow in life. He strives for a kind of balance between the physical and spiritual world.

Education in school for the most part is the first type of knowledge. It is “having sight put into blind eyes.” Throughout school you are told facts and expected to believe they are true. In some instances you are allowed to personally justify them, usually through experimentation especially in science. For the most part though you simply read books filled with knowledge that others have proven in one way, shape or form and just accept them to be true. This is a kind of intelligent knowledge.

It is hard to truly teach a more “you soul being turned around” type of knowledge in school, though. It is much easier and more affordable to simply mass produce books telling of information and facts for students to learn. One must take this into consideration. One can’t be expected to learn everything first hand. That would require more time than a person has to spend alive. That is why there are certain types of knowledge that tend to be more accepted through secondhand information. For knowledge where there is no known cause or effect, such as the case with subjects like creation, religion, and other more philosophical and ancient subjects, it is hard to give truth by telling it to others. Therefore, when such subjects are taught in school they usually provide guidance for the student to find the answer and not a direct answer itself.

The knowledge I have experienced, for the most part, is the “having sight put into blind eyes” type. It has simply just been teachers giving you a bunch of information and you accepting it. As stated earlier, it’s the easier of the two types of knowledge to teach. In truth, it is the only of the two types that can be taught. While the other can be directed to and given guidance, only the first type can be taught to others. It is created by a series of facts, information and knowledge. This is why it is what makes up school. More importantly, it greatly balances the other type of knowledge. By a combination of both and not just one, a person can truly get a more sense of completion and understanding of the world.

It is a fact that we live in a society, and to ever have a chance to reach a type of enlightenment that Plato and other philosophers emphasis we must thrive in our society. An intelligent knowledge of acceptance and relating to others is achieved through this first type, and with this we are able to coexist with other humans and benefit not only ourselves but our species. It is vital to our survival, maybe not on all levels or subject matters, but enough that it keeps us going in a productive and positive way. One can debate the extent of this potential and power, but it is present.

On first view it might seem like education is deficient if it can only teach one type of knowledge, but on a second look it makes more logical sense. Each knowledge serves a different purpose in general. The first type is the type of knowledge that helps a person adapt and grow in society. It is almost like a manmade recollection that helps define what we are as a species. While a lot of it can seem mundane and boring, requiring certain preferences in learning and personal taste, it does help give a better sense on how the world works. But it does not explain the world in ways beyond human powers and thought. The second type is the type of knowledge that helps a person grow and adapt in life itself. This is more of the “beyond” human powers and thought type of knowledge. It is independent of the social structure and culture that the first type of knowledge can be derived from.

Plato is not wrong in his definition of knowledge and education or in his allegory. While I agree that the second type, this more worldly and wisdom kind of knowledge, is more important in the long run, the first type is a necessity to the world structure. Without it, societies and cultures would not thrive as they do, nor would history have unfolded or developed as is. Most likely it would not have prospered as well. There would not be a growth and evolution of man as a species. Without the knowledge being passed on from generation to generation and culture to culture, there would be no new finds or discoveries to improve life. These two types of knowledge are two completely different forms that compliment each other to create a well rounded and balanced person. It may be almost cynical to say that without others telling you what is the truth in certain subjects and views you would not be able to live as well as you do, but if one can realize the defining differences between personal and social knowledge as outlined here, then it really isn’t that unfathomable.

Jake Rose is an artist and an author on Writing.Com/ Writing.Com/
which is a site for

Online Golf Games Hit the Mark

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Since the inception of the World Wide Web, online games have been popular. Enthusiasts have embraced everything from online gambling to the Sims and have spent hours playing games either alone or in virtual communities. Sports enthusiasts have carved out their own niche on the Web, with fantasy football and baseball leagues and all types of sports-related online games.

More recently, online golf games have risen in popularity. This could be due to the fact that general interest in the game has risen recently. Although phenom Tiger Woods may not make headline news as he did a few years back, Michelle Wie has taken his place while re-energizing professional golf. The six-foot tall 16-year-old, a native of Hawaii, made news when she turned pro in 2005, then again when she narrowly missed the cut against the men in the Casio World Open.

The beauty of golf is that you don’t have to be a pro to enjoy the game. Walking the course, hitting buckets of balls on the driving range, and practicing on the putting green is just as satisfying as playing a round.

When the weather turns inclement, it doesn’t mean that you can’t roam the course and play eighteen holes from the comfort of your own home. Free online golf games are available at a number of websites, and have a number of features in common. Most free golf games allow you to play at the amateur or professional level (the difference often being how you use the mouse to control your swing), and offer you the choice to play alone or play with a group. Many online games allow you to create a private group so that you can play with friends, family, or duffers you’ve met online. You can also join a group of online players and make new friends in the process.

Online golf games generally offer you the opportunity to chat in real time with other players and to play in live online golf tournaments. Some even give away cash and prizes to players who do well.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular