Gun Digest

VICTORIA CROSS & SOUTH AFRICA MEDAL 1877-8-9

HOOK, Alfred Henry. (reg.No.592).

Private. 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment. (Later South Wales Borderers)

London Gazetted on 2nd May 1879.

Digest of Citation reads:

On 22nd and 23rd of January 1879 at Rorke’s Drift, Natal, South Africa, a distant room of the hospital had been held for more than an hour by three privates, and when finally they had no ammunition left the Zulus burst in and killed one of the men and two patients. One of the men, Private J.Williams (Reg No.1313)however succeeded in making a hole in the wall large enough to get through,and taking the last two patients into the next ward, where he found Private Hook. Working together; the two men, one holding the Zulus at a distance with his bayonet, while the other managed to knock through three more partitions; and they were able to bring eight patients into the inner line of defence.

Additional information: No. 1373 Private Alfred H. Hook was born at Churcham in Gloucestireshire on the 6th August 1850. He served with the Monmouth Militia, for five years, before joining the 24th Regiment. He saw service in the Kaffir War of 1877-8 and also served in the Zulu War 1879 where he won the Victoria Cross at Rorke’s Drift. He later served as a Sergeant in the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. He was also on the staff at the British Museum.

His first wife believing he had been killed in South Africa went of with another man. He remarried in 1897 at Islington, London.

Alfred Henry “Harry” Hook, VC (6 August 1850 – 12 March 1905). He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his role in the defence of Rorke’s Drift in 1879.

VICTORIA CROSS

Introduced as the premier award for gallantry, available for all ranks, to cover all actions since the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854.

Ribbon: Crimson

Description: A cross pattee. On the observe a lion statant gardant on the royal crown, with the words FOR VALOUR on a semi-circular scroll. The Cross is suspended by a ring from a seriffed ‘V’ attached to a suspension bar decorated with laurel leaves.

SOUTH AFRICA MEDAL with 1877-8-9 clasp

The campaign began in 1877 and culminated in the showdown between the Zulus and the British when Lord Chelmsford’s column was annihilated at Isandhlwana. When 3,000 Zulus advanced on Rorke’s Drift, however, they were checked with heavy losses by a tiny garrison of 139 men. The campaign concluded with defeat of Cetshwayo’s warriors at Ulundi.

Ribbon: Gold with broad and narrow deep blue stripes towards each end.

Description: The observe has the Wyon profile of Queen Victoria and on the reverse, an African lion crouching in submission beside a protea shrub with a Zulu shield and four crossed assegais in the exergue.

HOOK, Alfred Henry. (reg.No.592).

Private. 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment. (Later South Wales Borderers)

London Gazetted on 2nd May 1879.

Born on 6th August 1850

Died on 12th March 1905 from pulmonary tuberculosis at Osborne Villas, Roseberry Ave.Gloucester.

His grave is in St. Andrew’s Church Yard, Churcham, Gloucestershire.

His gravestone is a Cross mounted on a plinth surmounted with a laurel wreath, in the centre of which is engraved, the Victoria Cross.

Memorials on grave at St Andrews Church, Churcham, Gloucestershire and the Havard Chapel, Brecon Cathedral, Wales.

If you wish to use this article please include the “About The Author” below

Barry Sheppard, Author/Publisher can be found on Google & Amazon. His interest in Victoria Cross Recipients comes from his collecting British Military Medals. He is building a website http://www.medalnews.com and will be putting complete replica medal sets of Victoria Cross holders on it.

I sat daydreaming in my chair one day as my mind started to wonder about what it would be like to shrink down to size to make a journey through the human body.

My first step is to find a suitable mode of transport. I cast my eyes on a tiny toy submarine and step into its interior to find to my delight that it’s fully equipped for the journey. As I position myself at the helm of the submarine I familiarize myself with the controls and check that everything else is in working order.

Suddenly I find myself being shaken; I look into the periscope to see a child has picked up the submarine and throws it. It misses its target and lands in the food, unnoticed by the person eating I am in the process of being consumed.

My entrance into the mouth is like entering ‘Luna Park’ without paying for the admission fees; gleaming white teeth close like trap doors behind me and throw me into complete darkness. With my high beam lights on, I look through the periscope and see that the salivary glands in the mouth, located in the cheeks and under the tongue, are continuously and slowly releasing moisture in the mouth to soften and lubricate the food, so that it can be swallowed easier. The sight or smell of food or sometimes the thought of it starts a reflex action that causes the mouth to water! And because of this I am experiencing some turbulence in this area as my sonar is picking up some peculiar sounds, the splashing of the saliva juices, and a belching sound of a volcano is echoing in my ears. I experience a tumbling movement of the tongue as it is manipulating the food around the interior of the mouth. The teeth are housed in the upper and lower jaws and the gnashing sound of them is thunderous, as the food is being ground down to smaller portions! My ride is a bumpy one and I steer my submarine to avoid being crushed to death! As the force of the food being swallowed is causing my submarine to be propelled down a narrow tube, the passage of which is called the gullet, leading me directly into the stomach.

I experience a wave like movement in this tube causing my submarine to be whisked along to the stomach, but decide that I will detour and head towards the upper region of the throat, I see an organ that looks like it is made up of cartilage, muscles and ligaments. The two most important ligaments are the vocal chords, which, when air passes through them – at varying degrees – cause the cords to tense, (being like pulling a guitar cord tight and then releasing it), causing a vibration and an audible sound, being part of the airways system by which I now make my way down towards the lungs.

I head in the direction of the lungs and whilst the airway leading into this area is closed off by a small door which stops the food from entering into it, I use my controls on my panel to suspend my submarine above it and wait for my host to take a deep breath of air. This opens the door so that I can navigate my submarine into the opening. I make my way into one of the lungs and find that the air sacs which are surrounded by a network of web like blood vessels allowing the spent air in the blood to be passed through the lung wall and into them to be breathed out again. When fresh air is breathed in, it combines with the red blood cells and is carried by them to all parts of the body. In the meantime my sonar has picked up some sounds caused by some of the cells heading in my direction which have been alerted by my host’s brain, it has detected an unbalance of air in one of the airways which I am exploring and has been sent to expel me as the intruder As the cells have not reached me yet, I prepare my torpedo tubes for launch as soon as they are sighted. In the meantime I hear what sounds like coughing. I engage my thrusters to direct my submarine into the gullet as I hear the next bout of coughing: the force of this action causes my submarine to rise, the power of my motors forces me along the passage and towards where digestion takes place.

My journey continues into the stomach, and as I enter I look through my viewing windows and turn on my windscreen wipers. I can see the contents clearly. I see it contains a membrane to protect the walls from the enzymes and acids, this sac like organ has a lining to protect it from the acids which are secreted by glands in the stomach wall, breaking down the nutrients in the food into simpler forms which are carried in the bloodstream to different parts of the body.

I exit the stomach and use my laser gun to make an opening in the wall of the small intestine and head towards the pancreas, noticing that this organ lies under the stomach, aids the further breakdown of foods, by supplying enzymes which break down starches, and balance the blood sugar levels. I leave the pancreas and speed towards the liver (which is the largest organ in the body). It is located on the right side of the abdomen under the diaphragm, it works at breaking down the fats, and it filters harmful substances from the blood, whilst acting as storage for vitamins and minerals. It maintains the proper level of sugar in the blood and it produces cholesterol in the body. Some of the nutrients are stored in the liver for later use.

Upon exiting, I enter the gallbladder, which is connected to the liver and looks like a small pear shaped organ, which stores bile. The bile is a yellowish greenish liquid, continuously made by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. When the fat leaves the stomach, it enters the small intestine, where it stimulates the flow of bile from the liver and gallbladder, which in turn digests and absorbs the fat.

I have now left the gallbladder and make my way towards the spleen, which is an organ that looks like a bean and is found under a muscular structure, called the diaphragm. The spleen acts as a blood reservoir and supplies the body with blood in emergencies such as severe blood losses, providing the body in time of need, maintaining blood volume and pressure. I make my way out of the spleen and torpedo the wall of the tube leading towards a skeletal muscle which is the diaphragm, being a dome shaped muscle which lies between the chest and abdomen and is attached to the lower ribs at each side of the breastbone and backbone. It acts as a platform for the lungs when atmospheric pressure forces the air into them, expanding when the diaphragm is relaxed and flattened. When it expands, however, it pushes the lungs upward, causing my host to breathe out.

As I am cruising along I now re-enter the small intestine from the hole in the wall which I made when I exited to go through to the pancreas. I look through the periscope and notice, that thread-like projections from the membrane lining in the intestinal wall absorb the products of digested food and also, that the intestinal tube ahead is broadening, indicating to me that I have reached the end of this passage. I torpedo the wall to gain entry into a hollow space through which blood flows, my vision has now become obscured with the parts of the intestinal wall floating around me so I engage my wipers to clean my viewing screens. My indicator lights on the instrument panel shows that the submarine is weighted down with the burden of the rubbish which it has collected on the surface and this must be removed to gain my buoyancy back before I can continue my journey. On the instrument panel I press the oscillate button and this, when engaged, is like a good shake to get rid of the debris that has adhered to the submarines surface. Unfortunately this did not remove all of the rubbish, I pump out the ballast tanks to get rid of the weight, but I am unsuccessful. My only other choice is to get out and sweep it. I anchor the submarine and enter the room where I can change into a suitable diving suit. When ready, I take with me an underwater cleaner, torch, sample bottle and remote control.

I plug in my cleaner and start sweeping the deck. Surprisingly, it is easier to get off than I imagined. I switch on my powerful torch so that I can check every nook and cranny on the deck and make sure it is spotlessly clean before I leave it. As I head back towards the submarines exit hatch I take a sample of the blood for later inspection. I then disengage my plug in and open the hatch door with my remote control and enter the change room, closing the door behind me. With my diving suit removed and stored I make my way towards the control area, releasing the anchor and engaging the motors. Now that the debris has been removed and the buoyancy been restored, I check the map and can resume my journey and make my way through to the veins and towards the heart.

I note with interest, whilst traveling through the bloodstream, that I am continually showered with blobs of blood and must maneuver between and around them to avoid the collection of more rubbish, adhering to the submarines surface. In the meantime I test the sample of blood which I brought back with me after cleaning the submarines surface, finding something interesting! For instance: that blood carries nutrients from the intestines to the liver and tissues and it takes the core substance from urine, and filters off other waste products for elimination. Also there are two kinds of glands: one is ductless (which means it secretes the products called hormones, which are the body’s chemical messenger’s, being carried by the bloodstream to the target organ, irrespective of how far it has to travel from the hormone producing gland. And the other one secreting its products into ducts which carries the secretions to other parts of the body: such as sweat, oil and digestive extracts).

Another amazing feat is, when the body’s chemical messengers are alerted by a master gland called the Pituitary (which is situated at the base of my host’s brain). It directs all other glands by releasing hormones, which control the activity of all other glands in the body. One other gland is called the Thyroid, which is actively involved in the body’s metabolism and the way it uses its energy, as I have encountered next. It controls nutritional deficiencies and diet of the individual determining its general state of health.

Whilst traveling along the arterial routes, I have found that in places the tube was so narrow, that I could not go any further. I had to use my laser gun to remove a thick substance adhering to the walls, which looked like covering of fat and calcium deposits and other related substances, which the blood carries on its journey throughout the network of veins and arteries. Some of the wastes in the blood build up are caught in the narrowing of their walls, causing them to thicken and harden, making them less elastic. This causes the heart to work harder whilst pumping the blood into the narrowing passages. I will need to get out with a shovel to remove the fatty deposits on the deck to get my balance back, and work quickly before another army invasion sent by the body’s immune system blocks my way. I change into my diving suit and take the remote control, torch and shovel. And I head out of the submarine turn on my torch and start shoveling the deck as quickly as possible. When all the fat is removed, I head back into the submarine and use the remote control to open the exit hatch door and close it behind me, taking all the implements with me, changing out of the diving suit and making my way back into the control room.

In the meantime my hosts’ body has detected that something is wrong and its natural defense system has gone into full alert. An army has been dispatched by the body which detaches into units, each group attacks the body’s invader in a different way, some release tentacles to which they attach themselves so that they can swallow up and digest my submarine, others become larger to make antibodies and this provides immunity against later attacks by the same invader. However, before they can get a stranglehold on me, I press the cloning button on the remote control. This sends in a replicated image of my submarine, whilst this army are kept busy I make my escape. Phew! That was a close call!

I am cruising along the vein that leads me towards the heart. I check the map and find that I have to turn left to reach my destination. I reach the heart and see it is a muscular pump the size of a fist, which is situated towards and slightly to the left of my hosts’ chest, where it circulates the blood throughout the body. Each time the heart beats, it exerts pressure on the veins and arteries and this is called blood pressure. I note its division is in four chambers; of which the top left, with the corresponding bottom chamber circulates oxygenated blood from the lungs via the main arterial trunk, whilst the right chambers circulate the blood carrying the body’s waste products, via the lungs and out of my hosts system.

I enter the pulmonary vein which will take me into the left top chamber of the heart. I enter, I hear a deafening sound of the heart beat, caused by the abrupt closing of the hearts inlet and outlet valves. I notice that the heart muscle in which I am in, causes me to wait for the pressure of the blood which will lead me to the exit of this chamber, continuing my journey out of the heart. I enter the main arterial trunk of the body and it supplies oxygen rich blood through arteries which branch from the main arterial trunk to other parts of the body.

As I leave this area and head down from the chest, I proceed towards the body’s main artery at level with the diaphragm, which is a dome shaped skeletal muscle that’s forming the floor of the chest area. According to my map, I reach the intersecting arteries and note that I have to turn right and into a kidney artery.

I continue my journey along this artery, which leads me into the kidneys! These organs function to remove waste products from the blood and regulate the salt and liquid content of the body. At the outer covering of the kidney I come across a tube producing urine, I see a dense forest of spider like veins and filters.

My descent from the kidney region is from a narrow tube which allows the passage of urine into the bladder. And as I enter, I find that it reminds me of a deflated balloon when empty and when full, the appearance of a pear because of its squeezing some of the bladder into the abdominal cavity.

I noticed that whilst I am in the bladder that the air in the submarine has become unpleasant, so I turn the air purifying system on and find that it does not seem to make any difference, as the fumes from the concentrated urine are overpowering. I wait for the bladder to fill and position my submarine to fire my torpedoes at the bladder wall to give my host a sharp pain. The stretch receptors in the bladder send signals to my host’s brain for the internal valve to be relaxed through which urination is prevented until it is relaxed voluntarily. Normally my hosts’ bladder and the abdominal muscles should cause the excretion of urine, but not in this case, since I am the cause of my hosts’ discomfort. In the meantime I position my submarine in the narrow tube, which transports the urine to the outside.

My host has experienced discomfort in the bladder and has gone to a physician regarding this irritation, in order to find out the cause of the complaint he is supplied with a small bottle and asked to give a specimen.

At last daylight!!

Written by Julie K. Eden – Australia

skype id# planetsinmotion

PS In Melbourne-Australia we have a Fair Ground called ‘Luna Park’ and its entrance is a mouth with gleaming white teeth.

Setting up a restaurant needs a number of fads that needs to fall right into place. Since your restaurant is going to be your most prized entity for you, therefore you must give sufficient time and finance for setting up a restaurant. The first thing that you need to digest is the establishing and running a restaurant is not a cake walk. It involves quality time, labor and hard work for setting it up and then earning huge profits from it. If everything goes well for you while setting up a restaurant business then you might find yourself playing in millions. Restaurant business has high probability of success because it is something that is essential in every locality.

1. The first and the foremost step that you need to take while setting up a restaurant is looking for a perfect location. Location will determine whether your restaurant business will work or not. Look for a location where there is less competition but there is a need of one restaurant. Also give due importance to the standard of that locality and your budget. If that locality which you have finalized is of top notch quality but your budget might not be enough for providing that type of services then that location is of no use to you. A location where you can provide the best of your services not exceeding your budget and satisfying the need of the customers will prove to a perfect location.
2. After you have finalized the location for setting up a restaurant, then you need legal consent. You will have to ask from the local council whether you can set up restaurant in that location or not. If the acquiescence has been granted to you then you will have to pay a legal fee to your solicitor. If you have acquired the location on rent then you will have to pay a good amount of rent to your landlord and also a fee to your estate agent.
3. After the location is finalized and you have got the legal permission, then you will have to find a builder who can build a perfect restaurant for you if you have purchased that property. Make sure you specify your needs to the builder. Your restaurant should be well furnished and should be well equipped. Your builder must build a restaurant that is almost perfect.
4. After all these things are perfectly done then you will have to recruit your staff for the restaurant. Hire the best chefs in the town because people will come to your restaurant to have good food and only a good chef can make that. Recruiting the best chef in town is considered as one of the most important tasks to do when setting up a restaurant business.
5. Along with recruiting your staff, you should start marketing your restaurant as much as you can. Advertising about the restaurant will earn you good number of customers from the beginning.

Success of your restaurant entirely depends how well you execute the steps mentioned in this write up. The more you will invest the more you will earn. Smart execution will fruit into great accomplishments in a short span of time when setting up a restaurant.

There are still many important elements you should find out when starting a restaurant business, this short article was made to provide clear directions and ideas of what you should do. If you would like to read more related articles on starting a restaurant business and as well as how to manage a restaurant, please feel free to visit my blog at ownrestaurantbusiness.com.

To be honest, I stopped focusing on the news a long time ago, rejecting the negativity it always seems to prevail. As I had began to discover more often than not, the titles and names of headlines in our news oddly enough uncannily shared the truth of the matter through their lexigrams, astrological and numerical guidance. Whatever called upon me to focus upon the recent Virginia Tech tragedy, has shocked me to no end. In all I have up till now been able to share with you about the endless mysteries swirling around us through the Universe above, I believe this occurrence is one of the most revealing horrific events that is asking us to truly be aware…and not ignore what our star secrets can ultimately share with us to avoid outcomes such as this in the future.

My first thoughts come to one of the many messages you will find within the words of VIRGINIA TECH, and I imagine would also agree with,

I GRIEVE IN A GREAT RAIN…

Where in the world do we start? As the media has been… guess it is best to refrain from being kind and shy about what the truth of the reality actually is. As much as I wanted to ignore it, something compelled me to look into the lexigrams of the tale to be told from the anagrams within Virginia Tech. What came to me was even more than the actual occurrence. There are deep messages within this name that the collective is meant to digest in the aftermath.

VIRGINIA TECH

AN EIGHTEEN/NINE NATIVE IGNITE A TRAGIC ARCHIVE IN A VARIANT HATE

IT AIN’T IN A GRACE, IT GRAVITATE IN A GREAT VAIN

IT IN AN ANGER, A RAGE, A GREAT RAIN

IT REIGN IN AN IRATE HATE, IT CREATE A GREAT CERTAIN CHANGE

IT TEACH REIGN CAN’T EARN, CAN’T REACT IN HATE

IT TEACH THE EARTH CAN’T GAIN IN HATE

IT TEACH THE EARTH CAN’T THRIVE IN HATE

IT TEACH THE EARTH CAN’T ACHIEVE IN HATE

THE EIGHTEEN/NINE REACT IN A CRAVE IN HATE, REACHING

THE EARTH GATHER IN A GREAT GRIEVING

THE EARTH CAN REGAIN, INVITE IN AN ETHNIC GRACE

THE EARTH CAN ENRICH IN A RIGHT CARING ETHNIC CHANGE

IT CREATE AGAIN A GIANT TV GAIN

For those who may not know, the gunman, Cho Seung Hu, was born upon January 18th, 1984. This granted him a Saturn ruled Capricorn Sun with a Mars ruled 18/9 karmic path. Cho was on the lifepath of the 32/5, representing Mercury’s influence of change, movement and communication, indicating the native’s actions in the lifetime affect masses of people. The videos he sent to NBC between the shootings have since revealed to the masses that he compared himself to Jesus, and the very karmic path he was influenced by is directly referred to by the ancient Chaldeans as the “Jesus complex,” representing the concept of ‘Spiritual-Material Conflict.’ Cho certainly has affected the masses now.

The world is full of personalities that thrive under the 18’s vibration because love is their guide, yet there are great warnings within the Chaldean’s 18 message to beware of reacting in life with rage and anger to the apparent obstacles presented to them. Cho had more than his fair share of the singular 9’s energy in his birthcart to intensify this karmic path, being born to a 27/9 degree Capricorn Sun, which when cultivated properly, will only reap a rich harvest from the seeds sown in the life. When Mars energy is not nurtured, conflict, penetration and aggressive action are the natural outcomes.

With a 32/5 lifepath of ‘Communication,’ Cho’s rash actions have reached the masses on a level that many are bewildered and incredibly troubled by which will unfortunately never be forgotten. This heavy combination of Mars and Mercury does not always relate well within the soul, and the negative polarity of fiery Mars prevailed in Cho’s choice to react in conflict. As he lived out the last days of his lifepath, Mercury’s typical grounded and logical messenger energy resulted in the opposing polarity of confused, restless and scattered behavior. As many psychologists are now struggling to understand, the energies from within the identity of his Capricorn soul did not exhibit the usual wise, responsible and stable energy known to these Saturn natives.

Further revelations into Cho’s birthchart reveal his emotions were governed by a 20/2 degree Cancer Moon, which, in astrological terms, is in opposition to his native sun sign. This indicates he fought within himself to understand his moon sign’s emotions through his sun sign identity. Inasmuch as he had the potential to complete himself, the polarity to resist within his own soul was beyond apparent, as this opposition is through two leadership energies in the Zodiac. No doubt this challenging aspect indicates that within the unbelievable actions Cho took, he, in his own mind, believed he was leading a protective cause as he gravitated to the negative dictating energy of his Capricorn sun.

Cho was only at the very beginning of a brand new numerical 9 year cycle in his young life, in a blessed 19/1 personal year. The Chaldeans constantly refer to the 19 as a most fortunate number, but in the understanding of cause and effect, the opposing energy of the blessings of the 19 can result in purification on a most destructive level. Coupled with the energy of Cho’s 5 personal month in April of change and movement, there was a stir in him. As he awoke on the Universal energy of the 16th- which is the Chaldean’s understanding of ‘The Shattered Citadel’- “The Tower struck by lightening, from which all fall,” when calm and gentleness is not adhered to- he was in a 12/3 personal day of the ‘Sacrifice- The Victim.’

The numerical expression of Cho’s full name, Cho Seung Hu, again indicates the influence of the 12/3. The energy of the 12 is directly related to the 18, in the same respect of how he compared himself to Jesus. Jesus dealt with the energies of the vibrations of the 3, 6 and 9 in his short lifetime. What is even more uncanny is Cho’s first name alone also vibrates to the 6, as well as one of the names upon his tattoo. There is no doubt Cho’s struggled within his own understanding of what Jesus was truly all about, for the unfortunate outcome, unlike Jesus, is that Cho was not the “kneeling, submissive student,” that the 12’s meaning so deeply urges the native to do. Along with the 18’s energy, he forgot to learn the lesson of how to react to life’s pressure…with love.

Eerily enough, the characters in Cho’s full name reveal why he did not:

CHO SEUNG HU

CHO’S HUGE EGO CHOSE GUNS

OUCH HE USE GUNS HE SHUN CHOSEN ONES

HE HONE ON GUNS, GOSH CHOSEN ONES GUSH, GO HUSH

ONCE HE CHOSE NO HUGS, NO SONG

HE ECHOS ONE SEC HE USE GUNS ON CUE

OHH HE CONS US

HE GONE EONS ON

SO NO SON, NO ONE GOES ON

SO HE, NO ONE HE CHOSE GOES ON

SUCH CHO’S EGO CHOSE ENOUGH

Our media has also revealed Cho had a tattoo which had the following name upon it, which same as the name Virginia Tech, carries a 10/1 numerical name expression, which directly affects the outward energies a person or entity projects upon the world.

ISMAIL AX

I AIMS IN AX ILLS

I AM AN ILL AXIS

I AM M.I.A.

IN AN ILL I SLAM ALL

ALAS I MAIL ALL ILLS

I MIX AIMS

I AM LAX

I AM ILL

I AM ALL’S ALIAS

The 10/1, represents the Chaldean’s knowledge of ‘The Wheel of Fortune.’ This number also is the first numerical period cycle Cho was still experiencing numerically, from being born upon January 18th. The Chaldean’s direct translation of the 10 explains:

“10 is a number of rise and fall, according to personal desire. It will be known for good or evil, depending on the action chosen. 10 is capable of arousing the extreme responses of love or hate – respect or fear. There is no middle ground between honor or dishonor. Every event is self-determined. 10 is the symbol of LOve and LIght, which create all that can be imagined, and also contains the code: Image 10 Ordain. Image it and it shall be. Ordain it and it will materialize. The power for manifesting creative concepts into reality is inherent, but must be used with wisdom, since the power for absolute creation contains the polarity power for absolute destruction. Self-discipline and infinite compassion must accompany the gift of the former to avoid the tragedy of the latter. Discipline must proceed Dominion. Unfortunately, some 10 people fail to realize their power potential, and consequently harbor deep-seated feelings of frustration, causing them to feel unfulfilled, and to occasionally behave in a somewhat proud and arrogant manner to cover such unnecessary feelings of inferiority.”

It is more apparent that ever that there is inherent wisdom in the Chaldean’s ancient teachings that still apply to life in this modern age. Coupled with the equally intuitive knowledge astrology and lexigrams can provide for us, there is undeniable insight that can serve us all. As we continue to co-exist in a fast paced world, no doubt the collective is being asked to slow down and take the time to know thyself, and be aware of the choices we make. We always have the personal option to make positive choices, and not gravitate to negative ones. There is incredible knowledge to absorb about the power of our names as we evolve through our numerical and astrological guidance. Interestingly enough, the Universal Numerical Energy of this past Monday was none other than the 20’s understanding of ‘The Awakening.’ May the world learn a valuable lesson from the revelations at Virginia Tech upon April 16th, 2007.

Since the young age of 7, Sharita has been a student of the planets above and all of the mysteries of our Universe. She is available for all levels of astrological, numerical and lexigram analysis through readings and party services, available at: http://www.sharitas-star-secrets.com She resides in New York City and currently is working on her first book.

My war was jungle green. This one’s desert brown. Mine was not winnable. Neither is this one. Mine lasted twelve years until the parties finally went to Paris for discussions over coffee and croissants.

A Conversation With My Nephew, an Archaeology Student at Brown University

“Forty-three years ago North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked a U.S. destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin. Two days later, the U.S. Navy reported to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara that a second American ship had been attacked. The first assault happened. The second was a lie to further bolster the Johnson Administration’s demand for a Congressional resolution that gave the White House a free hand to send over half a million troops to Southeast Asia. One of many compelling parallels to today’s debacle.”

“Stop comparing them. You can’t compare them. It was a different time.”

“Not so different as you might think. In the green war thousands of our local employees were loyal to us. They worked directly for us in non-sensitive positions: for the embassy, for USAID, for the military.”

“So?”

“So? Do you know what happened to those people when we left?”

“How the hell should I know? I wasn’t even born.”

“Aren’t you curious?

“Hey. I hardly see my girlfriend. I spend my time digging into civilizations that are even older than you! Er, just joking Auntie. But you know what I mean. Um, it looks like you’re going to tell me anyway.”

“Because the same thing is about to happen again. In the green war those who weren’t slaughtered when we deserted them were sent to the boonies to be communist indoctrinated. They suffered terribly. Six Vietnamese worked for me inside the embassy. We became good friends. We were like family. Only one made it out.”

“I know it must have been hard. But there’s no point living in the past.”

“You just don’t get it. Fifteen U.S. warships have just today entered the Persian Gulf for “maneuvers.” We have thousands of Iraqi civilians working for us, many as interpreters. We can’t operate effectively without them. They’re scared to death that they are being watched and earmarked for death. Isn’t it our moral responsibility to protect them? Do you think we are making contingency plans now to get them and their families out when we leave?”

“I hadn’t thought about it. I mean like … most Americans aren’t told these things. We never see the flag draped coffins coming off the planes. It’s only recently that we’re finding out about how poorly our wounded vets are being treated in outpatient care. That’s why nobody trusts government. They’re all liars.”

“That’s exactly my point. We have a reputation for using people, then leaving them to fend for themselves, including our own vets. Does the flag mean anything to you?”

“Oh come on Auntie. You’re about to preach that patriotic crap.”

“You mean you don’t believe in the spirit of this Democracy, in the Constitution; that the Democracy is greater than the sum of all its parts; that the Founders passed on a Spirit that lives inside every American soldier who has gone to war?”

“Give me a break. I know for a fact that many GIs join up to get a better education so they can get out of the nowhere town they’re stuck in and move up the economic ladder. I know that for a fact.”

“True. But I know for a fact that, except for society’s inevitable losers, once the majority of our young people put on that uniform, and go through training, something happens besides bonding. I think it’s Spirit. You see it in their faces. You hear it from every news correspondent who has observed them in the war zone. Unfortunately when the soldier is exposed to the most horrifying aspects of war when the physical body gets broken or disfigured, often the spirit too can suffer severe psychiatric illness.”

“I’ll grant you that. Institutions like Walter Reed and VA Hospitals are supposed to be places of healing.

“Yes. But I’m getting a little off point here. I’m trying to make you see-to care about the insanity of what is happening today. That it’s no different from what I experienced when the Vietnamization team was called Combined Operations Rural Development Support (CORDS). Neil Sheehan wrote about it in his book, “A Bright Shining Lie.” In Iraq’s version of CORDS, the Bush Administration wants to double the number of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) to rebuild basic services. Today’s “surge” is not to win an unwinnable war, but to provide political cover for defeat, to lay the foundation for blaming the inevitable bloodbath on the Iraqis when we leave, while we bask in the eternal sunshine of another spotless lie.”

“That’s your traditional liberal thinking and this is not Vietnam. How can you be so sure we’ll fail? I’m having trouble seeing your point of view.”

“Because you’re not looking. Our diplomats have many fences to mend. Being an American today is very different than when I was welcomed and safe in every country I served as a diplomat. You can go and be an archaeologist or anything you want. But if your generation ignores the country’s history, it will continue to repeat its mistakes. If you remain apathetic, some day you might find yourself digging in the wrong place at the wrong time, and unlike my own experience, your American passport will not get you out of it.”

“Auntie, you’re a love, and in some ways you make sense, but I don’t agree with everything you say. You’re too yesterday. Anyway, I always hated modern history. Let’s continue this at lunch. Maybe I can make you see a different perspective. I’m starving.”

“Right. I’m buying. But off campus. Last time gave me indigestion.”

My website is under reconstruction until 2010. Meanwhile, you can find me at http://newagejournal.com/2007/spirituality/the-eternal-search-for-who-am-i

You can also read two chapters of my novel, The Sword and the Chrysanthemum, Journey of the Heart at http://www.samurai-archives.com/guestart.html

So you want an extra confidence boost in your winter (or summer) carp fishing and you want unique baits no-one else has ever used before? The following ideas for bait recipes revealed here will provide you with boilies, pellets, paste and ground baits easily as successful (or more successful) than the vast majority of better readymade baits – so read on to get this very rich information!

This method of making boosted readymade bait base mixes and homemade baits is not strictly scientific but your fish will not mind as it does include tonnes of very strongly decades-proven real catches based science in terms of the ingredients chosen!

Whole and soluble protein is a big part of this bait article, but this is just a fraction of all the reasons why all these bait ideas here work so well! What you use is partly influenced by the materials you know you need in your bait to affect fish in various significant ways in regards to sensory and brain stimulation to promote favourable behaviours that could make them easier to catch plus what you can personally source and your budgetary considerations. But please remember not to merely stick to using your personally skewed personal choices. Why not get much more creative than this; fish have very different far more acute senses compared to you! Add to this that they are sensing substances in water and not in air (which is an extremely important point to make,) so discover and use what they prefer and not merely what your taste and smell preferences prefer!

As a human, personally I would prefer the aroma and taste of fresh hot roast chicken juices as opposed to hydrolysed earthworm protein. But despite this, I know what the carp will naturally respond to more strongly to because I have actually tested both these substances! Note: Testing of individual substances is not enough – testing substances in actual baits in conjunction with other substances is the real test!

For instance, the extremely common natural amino acid proline contributes to the taste of many substances that carp and we humans instinctively are attracted to and our senses are sensitive to. But to use pure supplemental proline to stimulate carp feeding reveals they need to experience it within a very narrow band of concentration for it to be most effective so it is more complex to exploit it in sophisticated baits even though it works!

This is true of many substances including the use of betaine in boilies where just a minimum of 1 or 2 grams can improve results in conjunction with hydrolysed protein for example. In the case of many essential oils they can be used by measures of millilitres per kilogram mix and certainly not all essential oils need especial care where just a few drops too many can potentially ruin a bait. This takes first hand experimentation and experience. You can always bulk up an essential oil if you are in doubt with examples like hemp oil, sunflower or wheat germ oil and olive oil with mixed nut oil or pumpkin seed oil and garlic oil, orange oil and coconut oil etc.

Note: The use of traditional concentrated flavours (even if they are natural or nature-identical,) is not necessary at all with this particular set of bait ideas given here. This is because as you will see, each substance mentioned has its own intrinsic flavours, tastes, aromas and sensory impacts on fish. However very many anglers are still stuck in the rut of wanting to add an extra concentrated flavour just to give themselves added confidence by feeling they have given their bait a unique label.

Well designed natural baits do not need any label as such to dominate a bait and in fact such items can often make it easier for a wary carp to avoid baits containing recognisable labels! Just consider how many decades sweetcorn, hemp or luncheon meat had been used very successfully, before they were offered for sale to anglers with fashionable added flavours such as strawberry, Tutti Fruitti, banana, Scopex, pineapple and chilli etc?!

Note: All the ideas below can be used to boost or bulk out readymade base mixes and ground bait mixes of all kinds as far as you wish to experiment and refine your own new mixes and versions of them in creative ways. All these things are just examples and all can be removed and replaced in whatever ways you wish.

Using natural substances rich in feeding triggers carp naturally respond very strongly to is a guaranteed way to give yourself confidence in your bait and provide excellent nutritionally rich reasons for carp to eat your baits and be very enthusiastic about them! In this case firstly get some fermented shrimp powder or Belachan block. If you get the powder stuff get a kilogram of it to play with – the cost will be worth it believe me! If you can get the Belachan shrimp paste block instead, then you will need to break it down a bit by doing the following: simply grate it into a large pan and keep adding hot water until you have a nice runny slurry. In the case of the fermented shrimp powder, simply add hot water to produce a runny slurry.

It is easy enough to get a block of Parmesan cheese and grate it or get some pots of grated Parmesan cheese or blue cheese powder for instance, and add this to your slurry. Such strong cheeses are rich in proteins, amino acids, peptides and all kinds of other goodies, including natural form monosodium glutamate, butyric acid, mineral salts and many other things besides. If you wandered why such cheeses have very strong tastes and aromas – now you know! If you include dried tomatoes in your mix you will be improving the taste by including certain excellent bioactive compounds carp are instinctively attracted to plus raising the levels of taste enhancing glutamate in your bait.

Now get yourself a big pot of yeast extract like Vegemite or Marmite and mix this to your slurry – which is obviously getting thicker by now! Now add half a big pot of black strap molasses. Strangely the organic stuff is most often cheaper than the non-organic stuff and is usually a more concentrated gritty product packed with loads of minerals, vitamins, trace elements, plus other factors and let us not overlook its great betaine attraction! I find freshly liquidised garlic a great additive but fresh herbs and spices and fruit, vegetables among other things are absolutely packed with incredibly bioactive goodies.

If you can get CSL (corn steep liquor) why not add a generous helping of this too; the more active the better! I also like to use creamed sesame seeds too, so for example look for some Tahini. If you are American then creamed corn and corn syrup are obviously stereotypical choices just like Canadian maple syrup. You might try liquidised blueberries and ripe cranberries and mulberries for instance, or try pineapple, mangoes, papayas, strawberries and bananas etc. Maybe try Aloe Nectar or fruit syrups! A splash of Vodka is a nice touch and helps keep everyone happy! Your pan is now holding a goo of the type it has never experienced before. You can simply thrash it about with a whisk or fork or use a food blender if you want speed and efficiency.

Like I said previously, it is all down to you what you do, what you add and the amounts of all the things you might include. No it is not scientific and frankly to a great degree Mr Carp will not care as long as long as the ingredients, liquids and additives and other special stuff you choose to use have an excellent reason to be in there to stimulate carp in any of a million different ways directly or indirectly even if they has never been used in bait before! Now add on top of your special mix an equal amount of very fresh large hen eggs and whisk again.

You may have been asking when this stuff is going to resemble something other than goo. Now get yourself a big packet of wholemeal flour. Put it into a bucket and add a liberal dosing of icing sugar. Again take some yourself to help the process along. Any ordinary breakfast muesli can be added too and original Alpen is a good one although something like Jordan Country Crisp is one I like to use as it contains loads of addictive goodies and I speedily crush mine down into finer particles in a bucket using the end of a sledge hammer.

Why not add a tub of dried milk powders or a tin of condensed milk in with your liquids. If you happen to have a health store nearby or a body building friend or use EBay etc, then you can easily get the following 2 ingredients: Many bait companies stock this and other goodie; Calcium caseinate (often called Casilan) and lactalbumin or use whey protein powder. I like using linseeds like Holland and Barret product which has added lactose and I also add all kinds of seeds, from sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds, to millet and canary seed, hemp seed and crushed nuts. If you are a fish meal nut then add some fish meal. Adding LO30 will be a good idea although I know of certain hydrolysed protein ingredients that equal or even better this stuff (and some very enzyme-active and will self-digest your bait more for even better results!)

Anyway, the amounts you use really are up to you, some baits and amounts will be more successful but if you write down all your ingredients and levels and ultimately record the exact bait mix of every test batch you make you can replicate it easily enough so all your best ever baits can always be repeated – and still be secret to you alone!

All you need to do is mix up your dry ingredients extremely well so they are equally distributed in the mix. You powders and liquids will mix together to form a dough or paste which you can use straight away or store or make into pellets or boilies. Always start off with a small batch to test it. This way you can see if it binds how you like and maybe rolls how you like if you want standard boilies. By the way boilies do not have to be rolled into round balls at all! I dispensed with using bait guns or paste extruders, and binned bait rolling tables years and years ago as I simply do not see any advantage today in making perfectly round boilies and I am well against this stereotypical, completely unnecessary boring out-dated practice that can actually make it much easier for wary carp to avoid getting hooked!

Always add your bait powders to your liquids when mixing them. Making your mix slightly damper and wetter than you think you will need is a good thing because you will be well advised to let your ingredients sit and soak up your liquids for at least 12 hours in a sealed heavy duty plastic bag in the fridge. Doing this also kicks off all kinds of synergistic beneficial reactions within your bait. Always make a small batch first to ensure it is OK in terms of the practical consistency you want either for use as paste straight off or to make pellets and boilies or ground baits etc.

If you want to make ground bait using your mix then why not ensure it has loads more bits that will give it life and will easily separate and move away from the mix it being of a much courser consistency?! In the case of ground baits you can go overboard on the liquids and forget the eggs for binding. Many great ground baits can be made by simply mixing your powders at the waterside with your liquids prepared and bottled up ready to add. I find that if cost is an issue, then using a number of reduced price loaves that are easy to break into crumbs make an excellent addition to any boilie or paste base mix type of ground bait. Bait movement and vibration stimulate fish so good things to give your ground baits added life are live foods like worms and maggots although the potential list is enormous if you really do your homework and want to get far better edges!

None of this stuff I have said is new and is well known in the bait making community to differing degrees of use and significance. But the very best stuff does not come for free and I could tell you lots of much more advanced stuff but in laymans language to give you fantastic results. Carp bait making is made easy if you delve further into what is healthy and cumulatively or instantly addictive to the carp internal processes and internal and external senses!

Bait secrets really do exist and there are far more yet to be revealed than any of us can imagine I can assure you. For one thing I am certain that the electromagnetism of certain bait recipes and forms is extremely significant just as the ways that leads, hooks, swivels, plastic tubing, rubber corn etc all impact on carp senses in water.

It should be pretty obvious that it is not just bait companies that know and can exploit bait secrets. Many bait secrets can come from fields totally unrelated to baits or the food, pharmaceutical, aquaculture or pet food industries or whatever. I wonder where the idea for using glass micro-balloons in pop-up baits came from. Was it from someone working within the surf-board or boat-building industries? How about all those bait secrets used today that come from glue manufacture and design, cleaning and homecare products, or from cosmetics and skin care products and developments, (and so on?!)

Many secrets about stimulants or depressants can be found in the history and developments of the various religions all around the world. Just ponder Christians and their wine, Indigenous American Indians sacred ceremonial herb smoking, or south American Indigenous Peoples vanilla oleoresins, coca compounds, cannabinoids and other substances in hemp for instance or even tea catechins!

Indigenous American indian peoples considered maize and sweetcorn as food from the Gods; it certainly became a vital staple carbohydrate source just like barley, buckwheat rice, potatoes and other carbohydrate sources used by ancient peoples switching from hunter-gathering to farming cultures ruled by seasons and new devices to measure time that we call calendars. I often wonder what the world would be like if we in the western world had not used the year and seven day week system established today!

I was born in February so things like leap years remind me what an hilarious artificial framework and synthetic reference point of human culture and living patterns such things really are! If you think about it time is also a very artificial thing because you can never be at exactly the same time in any one place technically speaking; especially as you and everything else is moving so fast; what an illusion. It is a bit like gravity; it becomes a weaker force as you travel away from the surface of the earth – but you would never know this just by standing on the ground looking up!

Incidentally, how many carp anglers think about the possible implications of water pressure on carp and carp tackle as carp go deeper and deeper – and are such things significant?!

Another thing that you might have noticed is that reproductive cycles of so many species get influenced by electromagnetic forces including hatches of insects for example which are proven to stimulate significant carp feeding. But how much do carp change their feeding and other behaviours in response to these subtle forces that we just overlook. The tides change, the moon rises and falls and the earth revolves around the sun; but how much do we carp anglers care and should all this influence our choice of bait substances and formats?!

I stopped wearing a watch years ago because everything is about relativity and context! But if I did wear one I think the version I would use would be this: It would be a single hand watch showing Mickey Mouse in the centre facing the ten to ten position where the hand would always be fixedly pointing up from the centre!

Many UK carp anglers consider sweetcorn a gift from the carp God via Fred J. Taylor who popularised this bait in the UK and has sadly passed on. I still recall the very first carp section I read in a book by Peter Stone (which dates it somewhat!) In it Fred J. Taylor wrote that as far as terminal tackle for carp is required (after your obligatory strong 10 pound line,) all you needed was a hook – and nothing else! This was an early writing as the bait he recommended was a par-boiled potato with the hook fed into the potato using a baiting needle. This is the exact way I started out carp fishing with a 5 foot long cane rod (and free-lining still works today of course!)

I look back fondly on the real carp fishing pioneers. My early carp fishing memories are filled with romanticism and nostalgia. They are tinged with the taste of excitement of suddenly stumbling upon an overgrown and long forgotten carp pool that has been un-fished for years along with quotes from BB, Richard Walker and Mr Crabtree echoing in my ears! Did you ever notice the similarity between the old paste-balanced crust tactic and the apparently new snowman rig which we were using back in the early Eighties?! Look out for the old stuff because the principles still work and can be re-manifested using modern ideas and newly-available bait substances and new technological materials!

Similarly in music it could be said that everything has been done before considering the limited number of basic notes used (excepting the newest computer-generated ones!) Yet new popular music is made all the time using the same old notes and chord progressions dressed up in different styles and images etc – but they just keep on working!

Today the modern reality is that anyone can discover bait secrets for their own use and also find new ones too that constitute great new edges over competing baits and fish senses! In New Zealand I found it a fascinating wake-up call to be told that potatoes starch is a very popular binder used in carp baits. Corn starch is big in the States and wheat starch as found in semolina is very much a stereotypical bait ingredient in Europe! Personally I am not prejudiced about avoiding semolina and I use good old soft wholemeal wheat flour and whole wheat a lot (and it is a great cheap and effective ingredient for winter baits!)

In fact stewed corn and fermented corn has been and still is a very good carp bait; why should tiger nuts, maple peas, buckwheat or cracked corn get all the glory! Not long ago I watched an old guy catch a good twenty pound carp on a boiled tinned potato on a slow relatively unproductive day. This just proves that any alternative (or original mainstream bait) is well worth a try, and keeping an open mind will catch you more fish than a rigid conventional bait and method approach!

Protein-rich gluten as found in carbohydrates for example, is a very interesting area of study; the commercially-available version of the taste enhancer monosodium glutamate is predominantly made from the fermentation of wheat gluten. It became popular in America apparently after American soldiers realised that their rations of spam for instance did not taste as good as captured Japanese rations which were enhanced using monosodium glutamate! Apparently gluten is an important part of many fish diet formulations in aquaculture. This also relates to commercial butyric acid production and protein fermentation for example. (No-one can deny that butyric acid is not a significant food and bait enhancer!)

OK now onto suggestions on influencing carp behaviours in your favour by exploiting bait substances. Do you consider that you are the only species that releases feel-good hormones such as serotonin when you consume certain food substances?

You are releasing hormones all the time that influence your growth, feelings and behaviours all the time. Have you noticed how steroid using body-builders can actually grow permanent breasts as a side effect? What about sex change women who take the male hormone testosterone to alter their characteristics?

What about women in the menopause who take supplemental oestrogen to help prevent demineralisation of their bones. Study the seahorse (a sea fish) to find out some very strange behaviours in regards hormones and adaptations for survival! Carp seem to like the estrogenic impacts of things like evening primrose oil for instance; I think this is highly significant!

Someone in a Carpworld article said not long ago there is nothing new in carp baits -but obviously that is utterly misleading! I am interested in the truth and ongoing new developments. Hopefully that ex-railway worker will move on and get real! At least I have a scientific background in plant research and commercial horticulture, plus relatives with medical and science doctor ships and professorships from Oxford and Cambridge (to help keep my mind on real possibilities not egomaniacal judgements!)

Now why not consider this: Carp naturally release many forms of hormones all the time that massively decide their natural behaviours (and their more artificial conditioned behaviours when they are stressed by being fished for!) These releases can be either in your favour so making them much easier to catch or not – and your bait is a very big deciding factor in fishing situations!

Just for one example, you can directly manipulate and exploit the influential release of particularly helpful fish hormones by using good bait design! Therefore I advise you to become really expert in learning about carp (and catfish for example) themselves, before you rush out and get lost in the myriad world of bait ingredients, nucleotide enhancers, protein sweeteners, flavour development processes and components etc. (See all my other information which will help you understand carp and influence their behaviours big-time in your favour!)

When you know what turns carp on and why this is vitally important in revolutionising your own results, you will never again feel lost in the worlds of readymade baits or homemade baits! In fact you will be able to keep on producing endless new effective very economical carp (and catfish) baits of standard and completely new formats, incredibly quickly – for life! (For more information see my website and biography right now!)

By Tim Richardson.

Now why not seize this moment to improve your catches for life with these unique fishing bibles by Tim Richardson: “BIG CARP FLAVOURS FEEDING TRIGGERS AND CARP SENSES EXPLOITATION SECRETS!” “BIG CARP AND CATFISH BAIT SECRETS!” And “BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS!” For these and much more now visit: http://www.baitbigfish.com the home of the world-wide proven homemade bait making and readymade bait success secrets bibles!

Step 1 to Losing Weight Permanently is for you to use the Harris-Benedict Formula to determine how many calories you should be eating in a day, based on your height, weight, age, and activity level. Using a daily calorie count will help you to “see” through the emotional stress of your daily life and touch base with your body’s natural mechanisms regarding how much energy (food) your body requires to maintain itself and fulfill your daily activity requirements.

Then, once you know how many calories you should be consuming in a day you need to spread these out over smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day. Now, I do realize that many of you have very busy schedules that do not allow much time to plan many meals throughout the day. And, there are those of you who are on the road a lot throughout your day and/or entertain clients for lunch or dinner. Well, certainly smart choices should be made when you have to go out to eat (e.g. depending on the restaurant you can always order your meals without the sauce, or grilled instead of fried, etc.). But, if you don’t have to impress anyone and did not have the time to make your lunch there are now many restaurants that serve low-fat alternatives, such as grilled chicken salads and sandwiches. Just make sure and visit the company’s website to see how many calories you consumed so you can keep track of your daily caloric intake. If you don’t want to spend the money to go out and eat making a simple turkey or chicken sandwich does not take that much time. And, for mid-morning or -afternoon snacks you can always buy some high protein, low fat protein bars.

The bottom line is that if you really want to help yourself create permanent weight loss then at some point you are going to have to make the conscious decision to make health and fitness a higher priority. If you do that, any of the above solutions to your time crunch will not be too difficult to implement. Now, if you still need convincing of the importance of eating small, frequent meals throughout the day let’s review what’s really happening inside of your body when you don’t eat frequently enough. Then, we’ll review what can happen when you eat smaller, more frequent meals to really inspire you.

I think you’ll agree with me that if you went on a hunting trip carrying a gun in your hand and you kept accidentally pulling the trigger when the gun was aimed at your foot that you won’t get very far. Well, not eating frequently enough because you are too busy or under the false notion that doing so will help you lose weight is kind of like shooting yourself in the foot. Know that the human body was created many thousands of years ago; and, it was built to do one thing – survive. So, when your body does not receive food every three to four hours it believes a famine is coming on and automatically reverts to its survival mode. At this point, all your body “knows” is that it’s not getting fed and so it needs to hunker down and store away as much fat as possible; and, that if it has to find an energy source it’ll use existing muscle and keep the fat because fat has nine calories per gram (as opposed to muscle protein, which has four calories per gram) and is more valuable for means of survival. So, by not feeding your body frequently enough you: store away more body fat, make it less accessible to burn as energy, and make it easier to gain body fat (because your metabolic rate drops as a result of less muscle).

Consider also that the less frequently you eat the more calories you will probably consume at any one sitting. And remember this: eating is like filling a cup up with water – (since your body can only assimilate and use so much food at any one time) everything in excess runs off and goes to fat storage. A worst case scenario involves the person who runs out the door in the morning never feeling quite hungry enough for breakfast. This person is also usually too busy to eat a square meal during the day and so snacks on junk food to get through the day only to find she is ravishingly hungry at dinner time, the worst possible time of the day to eat too much. Just when she consumes most of her daily calories her body is preparing to slow down for sleep. Her cup has runneth over – and, this is definitely not a good thing. This large meal at the end of the day is another reason why she probably does not feel hungry at breakfast.

Now, if you currently keep a schedule of, at least, eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner then eating more frequently can be as easy as adding two snacks, one mid-morning, and one mid-afternoon. But, if you’ve forgotten what it’s like to eat breakfast please remind yourself tomorrow. The reason why it is so important to break your fast in the morning is to jump start your metabolic rate and fuel your body for the upcoming day. When you awake from sleeping your metabolic rate is at a fairly low rate. When you eat your body needs to up its metabolic rate in order to digest these foods (remember, it takes energy to digest food). Now, at a higher metabolic rate (and burning more calories) your body also has the energy from your breakfast to meet the upcoming demands of the day.

Once you get your metabolism up from breakfast you’ll want to keep it elevated throughout the day so you burn more calories. The way to do this is to eat frequently in order to get the digestion-induced increase in your metabolic rate throughout the day and to keep your energy levels up with the food you eat. More frequent meals also decreases the chance of your body reverting back to its survival mode (of storing fat and slowing down your metabolic rate), and reduces the likelihood of overeating, which helps keep “excess runoff” from going to fat storage.

With so many benefits to eating frequently and so many pitfalls to not eating frequently I hope that you can, at least, begin with making breakfast a priority. If you currently eat one large meal at the end of the day, start by eating this meal earlier in the evening. This should help you to feel hungrier in the morning for your breakfast. And, there are many high protein, high fiber cold cereals that only take 5 minutes to prepare and eat but that really help to keep you satiated and your energy levels up. For your day, pack a couple of protein bars in your bag, and if you haven’t made a chicken or turkey sandwich for lunch then find a restaurant serving low-fat alternatives. And, of course, always try and make conscious, smart choices. The little effort it takes to make the simple changes above is a small price to pay for more energy, less lethargy, a higher, fat burning metabolic rate, and less frustration in your efforts to create permanent weight loss and change to your body.

Good luck! And thanks for reading this. Develop your Power2B whatever you choose to be.

Sincerely,
Gary

Please visit http://www.Power2BFitness.com and develop your Power2B whatever you choose to be. Power2B is Orange County’s premier lifestyle management – personal training specialist that creates permanent change to your body.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy had the potential to be the best movie of the year. And yes, I sincerely mean that. Really, look at all it had going for it: itโ€™s based on a classic book that has a cult following that could rival the Lord of the Rings trilogy. A very funny and talented cast that includes Tim Freeman (BBC hit series The Office) as everyman Arthur Dent, Sam Rockwell as the two headed, split brain, charming President of the Galaxy Zaphod Beeblevrox, Alan Rickman as the voice of the paranoid android Marvin who incidentally resembles an oversized storm trooper and Mos Def as the quirky and lovable, towel wielding alien and author of the guide, Ford Perfect. Throw in the fact that Jim Hensonโ€™s Puppet Shop created all of the aliens and creatures in the film so none of them end up looking like bad CGI you should have a innovative, funny, and ingenious movie on your handsโ€ฆ.but thatโ€™s not what happened, not quite anyway.

Hitchhiker ultimately gets bogged down in its own grandness. Thereโ€™s just too much stuff. There are too many aliens, too many crazy sets, too many gadgets that have to be figured out and just too much going on to really have time to digest it all. The obvious meticulous care that was taken to bring this visually stunning world to life happened at the expense of true character and plot development.

We donโ€™t get the opportunity to know more about Ford Perfect, or why Zaphod has such a problem with Humma Kavula (John Malkovich) or even why Humma Kavula wants the gun he sends Zaphod after. We get very brief explanations as to why Zaphod has two heads and how he managed to become president of the galaxy given his questionable intelligence quotient. And the movie spends an excessive amount of time explaining the Vogons a very bureaucratic and disagreeable species of aliens that spend much of the movie chasing the heroes but not enough screen time to warrant all the details on who they are and what they are like. I would have rather more explanation of the relationship between Arthur and Ford or perhaps Arthurโ€™s love interest Tricia (Zooey Deschanel) and her relationship with Zaphod.

The movieโ€™s biggest mistake is to assume that everyone who goes to see this movie has read the book. Not only is that presumptuous but it is disastrous to the continuity of the film That sort of thinking is used as an excuse to not fill in the many holes in the filmโ€™s story. The movie assumes. โ€œTheyโ€™ll already know that,โ€ so it doesnโ€™t take the time to explain some necessary details that are unfamiliar with Hitchhiker. If you have never read the book, or like myself havenโ€™t read the book in many, many moons you can end up confused or with more questions then the movie even begins to answer. Hitchhiker should stand on its own assuming that everyone who enters the theatre is a blank slate and knows nothing of the book and unfortunately it just doesnโ€™t do that.

Also some of the actorsโ€™ performances are a bit questionable. Rockwellโ€™s performance as Zaphod is a bit campy and over the top. Marvin, while funny in his roll as a highly intelligent yet depressive and cynical android, becomes a bit repetitive and boring. And the relationship between Arthur and Tricia seems more like brother and sister then a romantic one. As a matter of fact I canโ€™t figure out why they like each other since they mix about as well as oil and water, there is absolutely no chemistry there.

Donโ€™t get me wrong there is plenty to like about Hitchhiker. The Vogons are hilarious, and there is the running bit with a towel that provides more then a few chuckles. Bill Nighy (Love Actually) as a designer planet architectural engineer is by far the best role in the film. Part sci-fi, part comedy and part love story, The Hitchhikerโ€™s Guide to the Galaxy isnโ€™t a bad way to spend your afternoon, even if it doesnโ€™t quite live up to the expectations set by Adamsโ€™ famed book.

ยฉ 2005 Tamika Johnson

Tamika Johnson is a freelance writer and editor of PrologueReviews.com. To read more reviews by Tamika or to have your own movie, music or book reviewed visit http://www.prologuereviews.com

When you are making a recruiting video for college baseball coaches, the most important thing a player can do is to show their tools. This means, how can you show a coach your ability to hit for average, hit for power, run, throw, and play defense? Some of this is difficult to convey when a coach is watching you on video in a workout format as opposed to in-person at a game. Today, we will look at how to incorporate your batspeed in a recruiting video, and why.

First of all, it is important to realize that many coaches and scouts value batspeed for a hitter in the same way they view velocity for a pitcher. It is that important. As it is with pitchers, velocity is not the only indicator of success or ability, but it shows the coach that a player has the necessary tools to develop their talent. The reason a coach wants to see a players batspeed readings is that it is a good indicator of a player’s ability to hit for power (one of your 5 tools) at the next level. Again, this would be similar to a pitcher with higher velocity being likely to have a higher strikeout rate. Players love to send coaches their stats or newspaper clippings, especially those regarding home runs, but if that player comes to a tryout and swings a bat 75mph, their likelihood of being a power hitter in college are very low. It does not mean that the player will not develop into a good hitter, but that they more likely project to a top or bottom of the lineup player as opposed to the middle of the order. Interestingly, batspeed and pitching velocity seems to correlate fairly closely. The majority of high schoolers will swing a bat in the high 70’s to low 80’s. The majority of college players will reside in the mid to high 80’s and the elite players will swing in the 90’s and sometimes over 100mph. Batspeed of over 100mph is much more common than pitching velocity in that range, which is basically exclusive to the major league level.

There are a few easy ways to illustrate your batspeed for a college coach, and you really don’t need a ton of high tech equipment. You will need a wood bat, a ball, a digital video camera, a radar gun, and maybe a tee if you choose to use one. Most high school coaches have a radar gun that a player could borrow, and worst case scenario one could be rented. In order to get the actual batspeed (as opposed to the exit velocity of the ball), you will want to kneel behind the hitter and point the radar gun at them. Assume the position of the catcher. The camera should be pointed at the player with the radar gun in the frame. If necessary, you can zoom in on the reading after each swing. The player can then hit soft toss or off of a tee. You should attempt to hit low line drives straight back through the back of the batting cage. This will also teach a hitter good mechanics, as they will quickly find that a longer swing will typically have lower batspeed. Remember, it is important to get the reading from behind the player as opposed to off to the side or from a pitchers view. Having the radar gun in those locations will measure “exit velocity”, which is different from batspeed. Exit velocity measures how fast the ball travels off of the bat, as opposed to how fast the player swings the bat. Generating great exit velocity is a huge plus, but it will be easier to demonstrate batspeed since exit velocity can sometimes be dependent on the velocity of the incoming pitch.

Please check back for our upcoming articles on demonstrating the other four tools in video format, how to properly edit the video, and how to ensure it is viewed by college baseball coaches.

Mike Liberatore is a former college baseball player, AAU baseball coach, and owner/operator of http://www.baseballrecruitsonline.com

Your dog needs a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates and fats to maintain good general health, a healthy skin and coat, and plenty of energy. Broad guidelines are: 20-25% protein, 20-35% fat and 40-60% carbohydrate. Like humans, they need vitamins and minerals, though unlike us their need for Vitamin C is satisfied by their ability to synthesize it for themselves. Essential vitamin B1, however, is not stored by dogs, and can be lost in food processing. It may need to be supplied as a supplement.

Just feeding your dog lean meat does not satisfy these guidelines. In nature, dogs will eat all of their prey, including fat and the contents of the gut, which as a whole provides close to this ideal balanced diet. In fact, dogs in the wild have been observed to prefer to eat the gut of their prey first. Studies have confirmed this preference in domestic dogs, by showing they generally prefer their food cooked, warm, wet and ground up rather than in raw meaty chunks. Dogs are not delicate eaters, however. As natural scavengers, they will eat almost anything when they are hungry, and will naturally gulp down large meals quickly when food is available. Their ancestors never knew when next they might get an opportunity to eat.

Commercially processed and balanced dog food is commonly fed to dogs to help meet their ideal requirements, incorporating the necessary vitamin and mineral supplements. Often these foods come in dry form for ease of storage, or in cans or sausages, and offer a simple and convenient solution that is popular with a high proportion of dog owners. The commercial pet food business is today a huge industry. Store bought commercial dog foods are not always cheap, however.

An alternative for dog owners is to mix their own balanced dog food diet. It’s tricky to get the right combination of the right foods. Human diet guidelines are not necessarily appropriate. You will have to read up on the subject to know what you are doing. To give one example of the unique dietary issues to consider, including too much dried skim milk powder could cause scouring because of its high lactose content that dogs find difficult to digest. Recipes that offer guidance are readily available should you choose to take this approach.

Dogs like to chew on large bones, but small bones and cooked bones that may splinter should be avoided. They are a common cause of death for dogs when ingested. Cooked chicken, lamb chop and fish bones are especially dangerous. Scraps from the table are always popular with dogs, and feeding your dog after you have eaten is one of the strategies you should adopt to assert your “alpha” position in the “pack.” But do watch out not just for small bones, but also for other dangers they may contain, like toothpicks.

An aspect of dog behavior is that they will learn to associate a particular food with a bad experience, such as a digestive upset, and, as a natural survival instinct, may never eat it again. This may explain the frustrating and mysterious aversions to some foods that dog owners occasionally observe.

Feeding your seemingly ravenous dog is a little more complicated than it appears to be at first glance, but rarely presents any difficulty once you are aware of the unique requirements of dogs.

Shelby Wright grew up working with sheep herding dogs, and later bred and showed gun dogs. For more information on easy and effective ways you can train your dog at home see how to train dogs Shelby also writes for another website on how to train a dog