Debate Blog

Age difference – is it important?

As everyone knows, girls as usual mature faster than boys. In the FSU countries this process is even more accelerated. Many children here know about a lack of money and food (it’s not a secret that Soviet government sold corn while people there were duying from femine), they watch all that corruption and unfair proceedings of the country, challenges of life. Girls, in particular, often face behavior that in some other countries could be considered harassment: many women can find a job and earn money only if they win favor of their male bosses; often ladies are perceived as merely dolls without brains. Basic instinct of self-preservation and aiming for improvement make Russian brides search for better alternatives and men, who can appreciate them.

Until recent years there was a tendency among Russian/Ukrainian women to marry men close to their age who were either their high school sweethearts or college and university pals. Statistics show that 50-60% of marriages break within first three years of the union. Many women end up leaving the relationship with children, as well as disappointment in men their age from their home country. As a result, they turn to foreign men who are older and expect them to be more courteous, wise and caring.

An additional factor in searching for older men is also women’s psychological perception. Since many girls grow up in “incomplete” families and are abandoned by their fathers, when they search for a relationship, on a subconscious level they veer more towards older partners. In other words, they are looking for a “father figure”. They sometimes don’t even realize it, but when they turn to older men, they are looking for someone to be their protector, someone who’d take care of them and give them security they were deprived of as a child.

Although such pressure is getting less in the current days, until recently a lady could be viewed as an old maid unless she got married by the age of 22-23. On the contrary, most men do not face much pressure and begin getting serious about starting a family only close to their 30s. That automatically puts a 7-8 year difference between the partners. Add to it the time that men spent with the “wrong” partner in a previous marriage or relationship, and that puts available male candidates right at their late 30s – early 40s, which creates such a drastic age difference between the ladies and them.

Bottom line is: true love has no boundaries. If you find someone who seems attractive and interests you as a person, be daring and take a chance of finding your Russian bride despite the age and distance.

web dir links
web url links directory

Aflac Donates $1 Million to African-American Museum

In Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian Institution will soon welcome an addition to its family of museums that house priceless works of art and other relics.

To celebrate the legacy and contributions of black people in the U.S., the Smithsonian is developing the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. The museum will be the only institution devoted exclusively to the documentation of African-American life, art, history and culture. Its exhibits will cover topics as varied as slavery, post-Civil War reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights movement.

Aflac, an insurance company based in Columbus, Ga., donated $1 million to the Smithsonian for the museum, making it the first Fortune 500 company to donate funds toward the landmark’s construction. Corporate donations like these are vital to the museum’s future success and timely presentation of the facility to the public.

“Aflac is proud to lead the way in contributing to this most worthy cause,” said Dan Amos, chairman and CEO of Aflac. “The museum will serve as a great way to spotlight America’s diverse history while honoring the African-American experience that has been instrumental in the development of our great nation.”

During the presentation of the check to the Smithsonian, Aflac was presented with a special smithsonite stone in honor of its gift to the museum. Further, Aflac was recognized with a special glass engraving of the company’s name that will be housed in the Benefactors Room of the Smithsonian, an honor designated for museum donors.

Aflac also is dedicated to the fight against childhood cancer and sponsors the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta as part of its major philanthropic effort. The company has pledged more than $20 million to the center and over 66,000 plush Aflac Ducks have been sold, with proceeds benefiting the center.

the url directory
uber links directory

Affects of the Tsunami on tourism

It was December 26,2004 a beautiful sunny day. There were vacationers all over the gorgeous Asian beaches not a worry in the world. Certainly no one was expecting the devastation that was about to unfold. A tsunami struck out of nowhere going down in history as the most devastating earthquake killing over two hundred thousand people. The coasts of South East Asia had been building popularity with Europeans when this occurred, understandably so tourism dwindled down after this, but not for long.
Some of the more popular vacation spots that were affected the most were Sri Lanka, South India, Thailand, and Indonesia. After the tsunami struck most locations started planning ideas or events to bring tourism back. They knew the travel industry would be affected and wanted to make sure it did not last long.

Sri Lanka one of the hardest hit places came up with an idea they called “Io Vado A Sri Lanka”. What they did was get a group together of more than two hundred and seventy people consisting of the Italian media, tour operators and retailers and they toured the island. They visited all their interesting sites on the island.

The idea was that the Italian media would share their experience on the island and would be encouraging people to come visit at the same time. When the tsunami struck South East Asia the tourism industry lost billions of dollars. Immediately after the tsunami the government was encouraging vacationers to stay away from the areas affected.

Fortunately the travel industry was not going to stand for this. They have been working hard since the Tsunami to regain their visitors. Shortly after the Tsunami the Association of Southeast Asian Nations intensified their marketing to gain tourists again. They began to encourage the government to help them assure travelers that this tsunami was an isolated event, something that just does not happen. There was one good thing that came out of this tragedy. With all the media coverage on the tsunami more people became aware of these ideal vacation destinations.

One other thing the travel industry has been doing and will continue doing is giving advisory updates. They are informing the necessary sources of the conditions and improvements of these destinations and encouraging people to visit. By giving updates this will help get tourism back to 100% on the beautiful coasts of South East Asia.

Fortunately for everyone tourists have begun to realize that a tsunami of this magnitude is rare, something that happens once maybe every hundred years and they are not letting it scare them away from enjoying a piece of paradise.

net links directory
quality linking directory

Addiction: When Gambling Becomes a Problem

While most people enjoy casino gambling, sports betting, lottery and bingo playing for the fun and excitement it provides, others may experience gambling as an addictive and distractive habit. Statistics show that while 85 percent of the adult population in the US enjoys some type of gambling every year, between 2 and 3 percent of will develop a gambling problem and 1 percent of them are diagnosed as pathological gamblers.

Where can you draw the line between harmless gambling to problem gambling? How can you tell if you or your friend are compulsive gamblers? Here you can find answers to these questions and other questions regarding problem gambling and gambling addiction.

What is the Meaning of Problem Gambling?
Problem gambling or compulsive gambling is defined as an uncontrollable urge to gamble despite the destructive effect of gambling on the gamblers life and despite feelings of guilt and remorse. Problem gambling tends to have a negative effect on the gamblers financial state, relationships and daily life. Severe cases of problem gambling can be defined as pathological gambling.

Am I a Compulsive Gambler?
1) Do you gamble until your last penny runs out?
2) Do you gamble to win back your former losses or debts?
3) Did you ever had to borrow money to continue gamble?
4) Did your gambling habit ever made you lie to your friends or family?
5) Did you ever skip work or other obligation to gamble?
6) Do you tend to gamble to forget about your personal problems or to celebrate happy occasions?
7) Does gambling have a negative affect on your daily life or relationships?

If you have answered yes on at least one of the questions listed above, then you have a problem.

Can Anyone Become a Compulsive Gambler?
Theoretically, yes. Any gambler can develop gambling problem regardless to the type of gambling he is occupied with, the amount of money and time he is spending on gambling. Researches show that slot machines that can be found in bars and convenient stores are the most addictive type of gambling activity, while lottery draws and bingo games are located on the other end of the scale. Gambling addiction is an emotional problem; its symptoms, causes and treatments are similar to any other form of addiction.

How Can I treat Gambling Addiction?
1) Group Therapy:
Gamblers Anonymous offers a 12 step self help program similar to the one offered to alcohol addicts in Alcoholics Anonymous. Group therapy also offers gambling addicts advice and support from professional counselors and other gambling addicts in different phases of their recovery process. Gambler Anonymous centers are available in more than 1,200 locations statewide.

2) Individual Therapy:
Cognitive or behavior therapy can help gambling addicts to identify their unaware thinking and acting patterns, which led them to gamble compulsively, and to replace them with controllable and healthier ways of thinking.

3) Psychiatric Medication:
It has recently been proven that antidepressant medications from the family of SSRIs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors can be affective in treatment of gambling addicts.

internet listings directory
link url directory

Accessorize with Halloween Jewelry

For many people, the holidays are some of the best times of the year. They often mean a chance to take a little time off of work, gather the family together, decorate, and basically just have fun. Having fun and happy times make the day to day drudgery of the everyday that much more bearable.

Of course, some people dive into the holidays a little harder than others. And everyone has their own personal favorite – some like Christmas with the lights and the gifts, others Easter with cuddly bunnies and chocolate eggs, and then there is Halloween, with scary costumes and more candy than you know what to do with. And for those who dive whole heartedly into the holidays, accessories are just a part of the celebration.

A new trend

Wearing holiday jewelry is a newer trend. Starting with Christmas, it has now spread to the other holidays as well. So while you can have candy canes, nativity scenes, and packages in December, there are other things that you can wear throughout the year to celebrate the other holidays as well. Bunnies and crosses for Easter, snowflakes and snowmen for winter, menorahs for Hanukkah, and flags four the Fourth of July and Memorial Day are all popular additions to holiday accessories.

How you can accessorize for Halloween

While Christmas might still hold the lead for holiday accessories, Halloween is a close second. You can now choose anything from little ghosts, witches, pumpkins, black cats, spiders and more. And these Halloween icons can be found on earrings, pendants, bracelets, and other jewelry items so that you can mix and match your favorites into your everyday wardrobe.

Why do it?

You might wonder what would possess someone to don a pair of skeleton earrings during the month of October, or sport a brooch shaped like a black cat with glowing red eyes. However, it is an easy way for you to celebrate the holiday that you love without being obnoxious about it.

Take, for instance, the average office situation. Chances are, there is probably a dress code that you have to follow involving wearing business attire. So unless your office takes a casual day and allows you to dress up, wearing the clown, monkey, or witch costume to work on Halloween is probably going to be considered inappropriate. However, most bosses will not say anything about a tastefully chosen jack-o-lantern lapel pin or earrings shaped like black cats. So it can be a discrete way to observe the holiday without putting your job at risk.

Halloween accessories can also be that finishing touch that you need to your costume. For instance, what glamorous witch would you be without some flashy bat earrings or a large spider ring to complete your look? Halloween jewelry will add that finishing touch.

If you are looking for a fun, and possibly discrete, way to observe Halloween, or any of your other favorite holidays, choosing some holiday jewelry can be a fun way to do it.

directory url links
fabulous links directory

About Apologizing

We all make mistakes. Howsoever intelligent we may be, or wealthy, or experienced, we all make mistakes. Sometimes we realize, other times we don’t. But we all make mistakes because we are human. Only God does not ever make any mistake.

Some of our mistakes hurt our interest. They don’t hurt anyone else. But sometimes, we do few things knowingly or unknowingly that hurt others. That is the time to apologize. Why do many of us apologize immediately, and why do many of us avoid it? Why do many of us say sorry even for an insignificant hurt, while some wait for ages to sorry after committing gigantic blunders? That is a mystery. It all depends upon our thinking, our upbringing, our humility, our sense of right and wrong, and our opinion of others feelings and so on. But do we become smaller by saying sorry? Are we confessing a blunder by saying sorry? Are we hurting our ego by saying sorry? Certainly not.

We rather become better by saying sorry. When we say sorry, we feel good, the other party feels good. By saying sorry, we are not making a mistake of confessing a blunder and putting ourselves to risk of ridicule, but saying that- look here, I made this mistake, and I am very sorry for that. Please forgive me and let us be friends again. An apology makes us a better person by cleansing us of our guilt. Let us all say sorry as soon as we realize that by any act of ours, we have hurt someone even if the hurt is insignificant. If the mistake is bigger, our apology should match it to bring matters back to normal.

Let us apologize at all the times, we make a mistake and make someone happy again and get happiness in return.

web directory links
web url directory

A Sweet Way To Make A Difference

It would be a sweet reward to find a cure for pediatric cancer and other life-threatening diseases that affect children-and ice cream fans now have a way to help.

Fans of ice cream-whether it’s on a stick, in a cup or on top of a cone-can visit Icecream.com to “stick up” for kids with cancer.

For every virtual frozen pop stick message sent from the site between May 15 and Dec. 31, 2006, Nestlé Ice Cream will donate 25 cents to City of Hope Cancer Center, where the money will be used for pediatric cancer research, treatment and education.

Visitors to Icecream.com are invited to write some words of inspiration, a favorite joke or simply a message of hope on a virtual frozen pop stick that will be shared with kids who are currently undergoing treatment.

At the end of the program, the number of virtual frozen pop sticks will be counted and an equivalent number of real-life frozen pop sticks will be used to construct a sculpture. A talented artist will design a kid-friendly, whimsical sculpture that will be placed at City of Hope to remind children that people throughout the country are wishing them well.

The sculpture will be erected in spring 2007 and an image of the sculpture may be placed on selected frozen treat packages to support and grow the program.

“Nestlé Ice Cream is proud to partner with City of Hope to support research and treatment programs that will benefit kids with cancer,” said Maggie Hughs, senior manager, Nestlé Ice Cream. “We hope enabling ice cream fans across the nation to send a virtual message of hope will not only help this worthwhile cause, but also inspire both the sender and recipient of each message.”

City of Hope is one of the world’s leading research and treatment centers for cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. Named by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s best medical centers for cancer treatment, City of Hope is a Comprehensive Cancer Center, the highest designation bestowed by the National Cancer Institute, and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a pioneer in the fields of bone marrow transplantation and genetics.

City of Hope’s scientific knowledge is shared with medical centers locally and globally, helping patients battling life-threatening diseases.

the net directory
uberdir directory

A Sneaker Evolution

Those shoes that you just can’t live without, that you use for working out, doing yard work, walking, running or just hanging out – the sneaker – has a fascinating history.

The sneaker has been around since the 1800s when the Industrial Revolution took hold on America and rubber began being produced. Sneakers were once called plimsolls when they were first made in the 1800s as a plain rubber soled shoe. Goodyear, now a tire manufacturer, began as a rubber shoe company and in 1892 introduced Keds Ò to the world. The word “sneaker” was also introduced to the world about a decade later when an advertising agent gave these rubber soled shoes the name sneakers because the soles were so quiet and didn’t make any noise on any surface.

Converse was the next company to release a sneaker to the world in 1917. They called it the Converse All Star and it was the shoe worn by basketball players. This shoe – the Converse All Star – later became the Chuck Taylor All Star and became a necessity to basketball players, kids and others for more than 50 years.

Adi and Rudolph Dassler introduced the first shoe used for tennis, or the tennis shoe, in 1931 and the brand name Adidas was born. Soon after Rudolph Dassler teamed with Puma Schuhfabrik to produce the Puma brand shoe for football.

It took until the 1950s for sneakers to be the preferred footwear of teenagers after James Dean was photographed wearing his jeans and white sneakers. Girls and boys wore their sneakers as a symbol of rebellion.

In 1968 the sneaker giant Nike enters the sneaker scene after Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman partner to create Blue Ribbon Sports shoes which was later changed to Nike after the Greek Goddess of Victory. In 1971 the famous Nike swoosh was bought from a graphic design student for a mere $35! In 1979 Nike created the first Nike Air sole shoe claiming a revolutionary air-cushioning shoe. They introduce the first shoe using this technology called the Nike Tailwind. However, one of the most memorable shoe lines that Nike released was the Air Jordan which hit the markets in 1985.

Since then Nike has captured the athletic shoe market. In 2001 they introduced their Nike Shox advanced support technology. This system uses columns of engineered foam to give runners and athletes superior cushioning and support. This was a new revolution in shoe design.

Nike continued to lead the market in 2003 and acquired Converse, Inc. The Chuck Taylor All Star is reintroduced and is again a fashion staple in the lives of teenagers across the country.

Sneakers have come so far that they are not strictly for athletes anymore. In 2004 Reebok formed a partnership with music professionals to create their Sound and Rhythm line. This was done on an attempt to grow and heighten sales and to recognize the growing popularity of the music industry and it’s effect on today’s youth.

Whether you are a professional athlete, casual athlete, music enthusiast or lover of fashion only, there is sure to be several pairs of sneakers in your wardrobe to fit every facet of your life. But did you ever know that this staple item had such an interesting history behind it?

netlink directory
quality link building directory

A Reminder to Parents: Holiday Gifts Can Open Pandora’s Box – Protect Your Child’s New PC

sk any expert and they will tell you that computers should be kept in high-traffic areas of the house, such as the kitchen or family room. Almost everyone will agree that letting a teenager have his or her own computer in the bedroom is not a good idea. But in a time when many families have more than one PC in the home, teens having their own Internet connection is an unavoidable reality. Add to that fact that this is the season of giving and making young wishes come true, chances are a lot more teens will be online with their own connections within the next month.

As technology advances, however, parents can easily give their online youngsters privacy and freedom, while at the same time protect them from the dangers online. One word: monitoring software!

Parents need to be smart when giving teens their own PC. It’s important to adopt and enforce a new set of rules, such as leaving the door open and a “no Internet after” time. Also, visit your child’s room often when they are online, and ask them questions about what websites they are visiting and who their online friends are.

“But before you even do that, as you get ready to give them the ‘big gift’ this year, make sure it is outfitted with the proper parental control software, such the latest PC Pandora release, version 5.0.” says Pandora Corp. co-founder, James Leasure.

Tools like PC Pandora make it easy to find that happy medium between teens being able to freely use the Internet socially, and parents not being left in the dark about their child’s online activity.

Co-founder Manuel Coats explains, “PC Pandora works like a TiVo for your PC, by recording and taking sequential snapshots of what is on the computer screen. This enables parents to see exactly what their children see.” Coats continues, “ In addition, it has all the features that other programs utilize, such as website filtering and blocking, time scheduling, and it will even email a busy parent at work with updates on their child’s online activity.”

The new version 5.0 boasts a revamped user interface, new webcam snapshot capture and Instant Messenger blocking.

If someone is approaching your kids with ill intentions, you will know. It’s really the best all-around defense you can get to help keep your children safe online.

As a special promotion for the holidays, the company is offering the software at a discounted price. Parents can use the code ‘holiday07’ at the pcpandora.com store to get $15 off the Standard or Pro editions of the program.

The www.PCpandora.com website has become a place where parents can go to discuss issues, get tips, educate themselves and find answers. They have an interesting Blog and you can find 18 Tips for Safe Surfing.

Online safety is an important topic, now more so than ever – and parents are the first and best line of defense for their kids. Parents, educate yourself on the Net, talk to your kids and protect your PCs with PC Pandora!

internet links directory
linking web directory

A place to meat and greet

I took a lunch meating with a Hollywood pal in May, 2005.

We talked movies, and we talked meat. Meat, meat and more meat.

Tri-tip. Pepper steak. Garlic steak. Beef kabob. Top sirloin.

It’s (almost) all about meat when you’re at Amazon Churrascaria in Fullerton (in Orange County, Calif.). Churrascaria are a particularly Brazilian mix of barbecue and steakhouse, featuring waiters who roam the room bearing sword-length skewers, each loaded with a chunk of meat, still steaming hot from the open-flame grill tucked into the kitchen.

Brazilian touches extend to the decor. A waterfall cascades down a wall facing the front door. Faux jungle plants, and crypto jungle-ruin panels cover the walls. It made me think of the kid-favorite Rainforest Cafe chain, sans roaring animatronics, flashing lights and corporate-restaurant mega-merchandising.

A curious touch of the American Midwest dominates the middle of the large restaurant, which has served in former lives as a Chinese buffet and a Country Inn buffet. A salad bar of sorts, the kind popular in Peoria in the ’80s, harbors mayo-based salads, three-bean salads, cheesy breads, some soups. And in one corner, the very Brazilian treat of banana frita: ripe banana strips rolled in cinnamon-flavored flour, deep-fried and coated with sugar. Delicious.

Returning to your booth, it’s pretty basic. Red oilcloth-covered tables, well-worn water goblets, a short list of Chilean table wines and the guys bringing the meat. As long as you keep a little tabletop red-yellow-and-green spindle turned green-side up, they keep carving. It’s all you can eat, for as long as you can eat. (Put the spindle red side up and it means stop, already! Sideways means bring the bill.)

For lunch ($12.75), the fare typically is limited — if you can call it that — to a dozen cuts of beef, pork sausage, giant chicken drumsticks and turkey cubes wrapped in bacon.

At dinner ($21.75), the choices expand to 22 different meats. All the beef you can get at lunch, plus skirt steak, succulent beef and pork ribs, ribeye, lamb. There’s roasted salmon. And now the exotics come in. Alligator, duck, quail, chicken heart.

The aroma of smoky meat fills the room, and depending on your sensibilities, it is either delectable or overpowering.

None of it should come as a surprise. You know what you’re getting the minute you pull into the parking lot.

One of those big photo banners hangs on the exterior wall facing the parking lot. A smiling meat server manhandles a loaded skewer. A dozen other full skewers loom next to him. Barbecue smells, richer than anything that wafts over your backyard fence, fill the air.

My pal (who introduced me to this place that we’ve come to call “that meat palace” while we were each in our Atkins Diet phase) and I liked the smell outside and in. My wife, who joined me for a Saturday-night meal, was firmly in the overpowered camp.

She liked the skirt steak and the ribeye, but six or seven servings of different meats later, she was full and ready to go. She waited patiently for me to work through the beef rib — as beautiful as any prime rib I’ve had — the quail, the alligator, the rabbit, the pork.

For her patience, she rewarded herself with a chocolate cheesecake served from a rolling cart by Jessica, the “dessert girl” — another curious Midwestern touch — and we split a pineapple sorbet that was a perfect cap to my gorging: light, creamy, cold and served in a hollowed-out pineapple husk.

Restaurant manager Roman Alcaraz says they’ve built a loyal following, among area Brazilians to be sure — perhaps it’s the caipirinha cocktails, a sort of Brazilian margarita made with cachaca, a type of Brazilian rum — but also from the full melange of Orange County’s many immigrants, be they Asian, Latin or Illinoisan.

Owner Kent Choy, a CPA in Los Angeles’ Koreatown, got the idea for Amazon from a client, and in December 2002 it opened as the only one of its kind in Orange County. A few churrascaria serve Los Angeles County, and the staff in Fullerton hears rumors of a competitor coming to Irvine.

But for now, it’s a singular kind of experience, a great place to meat a pal.

cool directory
fabulous directory directory