Around the time of A.D 850 legend has it that a lone shepherd and his flock happened upon a strange new plant that was growing upon the slopes of lonely hillside. Before the shepherd could intervene some of his herd had started to chomp away at this newly discovered delicacy. After about a quarter of an hour the shepherd began to notice that the entire flock were acting in an extremely lively manner. They appeared to be not only very alert but even hyperactive. Now the shepherd being slightly weary and more than a little tired decided that he also should sample the berries and see what, if any effect they would have on him. He secretly hoped that the dramatic effect that he had observed the berries to have on his greedy flock of sheep would also be his experience. Just as had happened with his herd, he too started to feel the benefits and in a matter of minutes he also [pardon the pun] was “extremely full of beans”. A few hours passed and along came a wandering monk. The herder proceeded to tell him of the plants amazing qualities but he was immediately scolded for his outlandish ways and foolhardy behaviour. After he had finished telling the shepherd just what a sinner he had been the monk went on his way but not before he had hidden a little something in his bottom of his backpack.
Back at the monastery the monks decided to try this new and exciting substance. Soon the endless hours of praying were endured with the greatest of ease. Coffee, the drink had been revealed to the world. Its widespread use then took a grip in the Ethiopian lands before then migrating on to the Arabian outlands. Here it was to be held for many years as a sacred substance but was eventually to be unlawfully exported by a merchant called Baba Budan. Word of its qualities were soon to spread and within a few years coffee was to emerge as one of the most valued commodities of all time. Now would you believe that each year we drink an amazing four billion cups and there are those among us who would cry at the thought of starting their day without it.
Although coffee is mainly known as a sleep suppressant there are those who consider coffee to have many health benefits. It is thought that people who suffer from asthma and partake of the beverage have at least 25% less symptoms which may be due to a substance in coffee called theophylline. This is known as a bronchodilator and quite simply it is thought to help those who suffer with the disease to breath with a little more ease. Drinking coffee on a daily basis is also thought to help lower your chances of developing colon cancer by a figure also in the region of about 25%. This may be due to the fact that coffee helps to keep you regular. Coffee can do more than just help you get through your day!
Its curious that the vast majority of folk have no idea of the different tastes and delights that this king of all drinks has to offer us. One of the swiftest growing trends of the last few years has to be the rising popularity of buying coffee via the internet. Never before have we been able to so easily get hold of such a large and voluptuous variety of blends, tastes and tantalising aromas from all over the world. With the aid of the wonderful web, trekking around the local neighbourhood to try and find some new exciting coffee blends has became a thing of the past. Sitting at home I can now search out an almost infinite variety of coffees from all over the world and order them at the click of a mouse. I tend to place numerous orders via the web and I always make a point of recording blend, country, and from exactly whom I purchased.
Now you know the history of this magical bean I hope that if in the days to come you are thinking of visiting your local coffee shop you recall the information you have read on this website and make the most of this wonderful drink. Go on and try some new varieties. Not only will you impress your friends, your tastebuds will be thrilled as well.
Latte or Cappuccino?
The Free Secret coffee report by Carol Hansonly the author of this article can be found at : www.bjcoffee.com
I received the call at 9:00 in the morning on a Saturday. I normally try to take the weekends off. I also normally fail in this effort, because of one thing or another, that can be addressed elsewhere though.
“Dale, come quick, Molly is sick!” I had no clue who Molly was, but when you get an emergency call, sometimes little things like understanding what is going on take second seat to action.
I rushed over to Hanna’s house as quickly as the law, and a little bending of space-time would allow. When I got there I half expected to see an ambulance waiting by the front door. It would not have been the first time my healing skills had been called on in a pinch.
Instead I was met by Hanna. “Come quick, she’s in here! I don’t know what to do!”
Inside, as I looked past her, laying on a table by the window was Molly. A fine potted plant. Actually she looked a little wilted and had a tinge of brown around a few leaves. As I moved in for a closer look I could see this was one unhappy plant! Not fine at all!
No, really. I mean the plant was sad, unhappy, depressed. Wilted.
“Your cats been bothering Molly hasn’t she?” I asked. “Your plants not damaged, its …Annoyed!”
She admitted that Dolly, her cat, had been seen on the table a lot lately. A few minutes later, after talking to the cat, who agreed to stay away from the plant with only a small bribe, an extra saucer of cream every now and then, the cause of the problem was fixed.
“Now for a bit of work on Molly and we will be all set.” I centered myself more completely and went into a deep state of concentration and conceptual thought. Working with plants is one of the simplest and most rewarding of all the basic psychic skills. Once you ask a plant to grow and describe to it what you wish, the plant will take it from there and grow.
Around two weeks later I got a call from Hanna. “What did you do to my plant?”
I noticed that she seemed pleased and promised to be over later to look at it. When I arrived she took me straight to Molly.
The plant that had been, if not on deaths door, closer than she should have been, had changed a bit. In to weeks she had more than tripled her size and foliage. Where she had one flower before, she now had dozens. In fact she had more than her kind of plant normally does. By several times!
Hanna then confided in me that while she loved plants, they had an unfortunate tendency to die on her after a few weeks to a month or so. She sighed and gave me a forlorn look. “I would give anything to have a green thumb.”
I told her to grow one.
Before anyone thinks that being a jerk is a hobby of mine, let me explain! Hanna was a long time meditator and practiced at several psychic techniques and basic skill sets. It was well within her ability to do what I had done with Molly. In fact with practice and dedication she could likely be even better at it than I was.
“Where to start though? It seems so complex.” This comment from her seemed strange to me. She had more than the skills needed to do this. Plants practically crave human attention for some reason! What she needed was a quick rundown of the steps involved, then she would see that this was literally something that everyone could be good at.
“You already know how to meditate, and your remember how to think conceptually, right?” I asked her, more to prompt her thoughts into action rather than question her ability. “If you want a plant to grow, and can hold the concept clearly, it will. In fact you can even change many genetic traits of a plant if you take enough time and reinforce the field daily.”
“Right, it feels like when I am in meditation and thinking, but my mind is empty at the same time. No words cluttering things up.” She looked me dead in the eye and without blinking said “Pictures still creep in to my mind though. That means that I can’t do anything psychically right. Not psychokinetically anyway.”
That was not the case as all I assured her. A few pictures creeping in to her mind as she worked was not going to keep her from being successful. Especially with plants.
“Here lets go over the steps.” I made a big show of sitting down as if we would be there for a while.
*Relax and go into a meditative state. Let your mind clear and go as deeply as possible.
*Feel the makeup of the plant in your mind. Don’t force it or judge it yet, just let the information come.
*To direct the plant in how you want it to grow, just hold the idea, as clearly as possible, in your mind. Picture it if it helps to hold the concept for you.
“That’s all it is. Plants aren’t that complex really, and they don’t demand a lot of hard work to modify them. Just a bit of love and patients.”
She gave me a wide eyed look “Plants have feelings?”
Now I had to explain that while they are reactive to their environment they don’t have emotions like we do of course. They don’t need to. It is sometimes just simpler to say, your plant is scared, than to describe the fairly involved reactions that the plant is going through.
Then we had a conversation about making genetic changes in plants.
I indicated that this was not only easy but fun too. All she had to do to effect these changes was to hold the concept of what she wanted just like we had talked about. Even if she wanted to do things like change the color of the flowers or shape of the leaves.
Several years later and Molly the plant is still hale and hardy, even several years past her prime and by the look of Hanna’s garden each year, I would say she managed to grow that green thumb.
About the Author
Dale Power is a psychic healer, researcher and educator that has been focusing on ways to improve psychic functioning in humans for the last twenty years.
Go to: http://healing.worldispnetwork.com to find out more about the work being done.
Nokia and Siemens today announced the future top executive team for Nokia Siemens Networks, the recently announced 50-50 joint venture that combines the Networks Business Group of Nokia and the carrier-related operations of Siemens. The new company is expected to start operations by January 1, 2007, subject to customary regulatory approvals, the completion of standard closing conditions, and the agreement of a number of detailed implementation steps.
The team consists of:
- Mika Vehvilinen, who will serve as Chief Operating Officer. Vehvilinen is currently Senior Vice President & General Manager, Core Networks, Nokia. As Chief Operating Officer, Vehvilinen will have overall responsibility for the following business units: Radio Access, Operation Support Systems, Service Core and Applications, IP Networking and Transport, as well as Broadband Access. In addition, he will oversee Operations (sourcing, manufacturing and logistics) and the Technology Platforms and Quality organization.
- Karl-Christoph Caselitz, who will serve as Chief Market Operations Officer. Caselitz is currently President of Mobile Networks, Siemens Communications. As Chief Market Operations Officer, Caselitz will have responsibility for regional operations, management of global accounts, and marketing and sales management. He will also oversee the Services business unit of Nokia Siemens Networks.
- Peter Schnhofer, who as previously announced will become Chief Financial Officer. Schnhofer is currently a member of the executive board of Siemens AG Austria. Schnhofer will be responsible for all financial activities of Nokia Siemens Networks, as well as information technology and intellectual property rights.
“This is a team of strong leaders drawn from the best of the parent companies,” said Simon Beresford-Wylie, who will assume the position of Chief Executive Officer at Nokia Siemens Networks immediately upon the closing of the merger. “They will play a leadership role in the integration planning process and execution of those plans after closing. I am pleased to have this terrific team as my partners moving forward.” Beresford-Wylie is currently Executive Vice President and General Manager of Networks at Nokia.
The appointments announced today become effective immediately upon the closing of the merger. When the transaction closes, Nokia Siemens Networks will be a global communications leader with strong positions in important growth segments of fixed and mobile network infrastructure and services. It will be positioned to lead the development and implementation of revenue-generating and cost-saving products and services via its scale and global reach. The combined company will have a world-class fixed-mobile convergence capability, a complementary global base of customers, a deep presence in both developed and emerging markets, and one of the industry’s largest and most experienced service organizations.
More details on mobile phone news at www.squidoo.com/mobile-phones
The Armenian massacres in Turkey started in the 19th century and continued well after the Armenian genocide of 1915 in which some 600,000 Armenians perished. The Armenians were also raided by Kurdish tribesmen on a regular basis. An Ottoman military tribunal, convened between 1919-21, even convicted for the crimes members of the administration of the Young Turks, including cabinet ministers.
Many of the perpetrators fled the country only to return, triumphant, after the establishment of modern Turkey in 1923. The Turkish government today denies that an organized, premeditated genocide ever took place and pegs the number of Armenian fatalities at 200-300,000 at the most.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the Armenians formed guerrilla movements in eastern Van (the Armenakans, in 1885) and in Russia. Radical nationalist parties were established by Russian-Armenian emigrants in 1887 (Hunchak or Henchak, “The Bell”) and in 1890 in Georgia (Dashnak or Dashnaktsutyun, “Union”). Mass demonstrations in the Turkish capital (in 1890 and 1895) and armed uprisings followed (in 1894-5). The Dashnaks even invaded Turkey from Russia in 1896 - a demonstrative act which resulted in the slaughter of 50,000 Armenians.
The suppression of these revolts claimed 200,000 Armenian lives. In 1909, in Adana, more than 23,000 Armenians were massacred as the warships of the Great Powers stood idly by. In 1912-3 the Great Powers, led by Russia, pressured Turkey to cease its mistreatment of the Armenians. This intervention was resented by the Ottoman authorities. By 1915, Armenian calls for autonomy were deemed a danger to the disintegrating realm, now at war with Russia.
When the first world war broke, Turkey allied itself with the Germans. All Armenian men aged 20-45 were conscripted to the army as soldiers, soon to be disarmed and serve as pack animals or in menial jobs. When Russian Armenians recruited Turkish Armenians for the anti-Turkish Russian Army of the Caucasus, in April 1915, the elite of the Armenian community was arrested and executed. Between May and June 1915 the Armenian population was deported to Mesopotamia. The deportation followed mass executions.
Many more died from starvation, exposure, dehydration, abuse and outright torture. The survivors - less than 300,000 - were subjected to additional slaughter in Syria. People were beaten with blunt instruments, burnt alive or drowned forcibly. The massacres were carried out by military officers with dictatorial powers, aided by criminals especially released from jails and assigned to their gruesome duties.
Armed resistance in Van province, Mussa Dagh, Shabin Karahisar and Urfa - as well as setbacks in the war - prevented the Turks for deporting the urban Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire’s major cities. Today there are less than 60,000 Armenians in Turkey compared to at least 1.8 million in 1910.
Sam Vaknin ( samvak.tripod.com ) is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He served as a columnist for Global Politician, Central Europe Review, PopMatters, Bellaonline, and eBookWeb, a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory and Suite101.
Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.
Visit Sam’s Web site at samvak.tripod.com
We live in a world where more is expected of us every day.
First there were fax machines, now email and cell phones.
Our number of communications daily from various sources is
extreme.
How can we get to all of it in a timely fashion and still
get 8 hours of sleep?
Here are three time reducing strategies that are easy to
implement:
1. Schedule. Like it or not in today’s world if you want to
achieve greater levels of success you must learn to use a
schedule. You can use a Palm Pilot, a journal or a
Daytimer. I use the Franklin-Covey Planning software for
windows. It pops up when I turn on my computer and it is
compatible with my Palm Pilot so that I can sync at night
when I leave my office.
Now, having a schedule isn’t half as important as using a
schedule. It doesn’t work if you don’t use it… everyday.
I keep track of appointments, make a To Do list and then as
I work on projects I enter them in so that I can make a
journal of my day. Later, this will help me remember how
much time I spent on tasks for billing purposes. I schedule
in exercise time and I schedule in personal development time
for reading and writing.
Once you get started, you’ll find it easier and easier to
use. The amount of time saved by spending the time to keep
your schedule can be enormous. It helps to eliminate the
clutter we create on our desks and in our minds when trying
to remember all the things we need to do.
It can also help to eliminate unnecessary tasks. Many times
we say ‘yes’ when something is not really in alignment with
our goals. The act of making time for it and getting on the
schedule will cause you to evaluate its importance. This
can be a tremendous time saver.
2. Systems. Systems are a key component in time management.
I have a system for everything! Systems do not have to be
complicated but they help to keep you on track and save
time.
For instance, I use a ’system’ for my after-work time. When
I leave the office my evening everyday is pre-planned. I
drive home, I change, I make dinner, I watch one hour of TV,
I work two hours, and I go to bed… A system.
I follow the same system every single day. It removes
wasted time trying to decide what I’m going to do with my
time. Setting up systems for checking email or taking calls
can be a real time saver. If you have tasks that you do
regularly, think about ways to systemize them. Sometimes
setting up forms or check lists, creating schedules or flow
charts, delegating, just about anything can be turned into a
time saving system.
3. Lists. Keep lists. You can keep the lists in your
schedule but you need to get into the habit of making a list
for tasks and systems. Checklists save time because you
don’t have to think about what comes next. The amount of
time I save by using a calculator instead of figuring in my
head is enormous…. Using lists is very much the same.
By removing the “think” time you streamline processes and
save brain energy for more important things. I have a
grocery list prepared in Excel, I print it off before I head
to the store and buy only what I need. No time wasted
wandering the aisles.
I have a checklist for updating my weblog and writing my
newsletter. I have templates for the newsletter and I have
time scheduled to do both.
Many times a little time spent upfront can be a huge savings
later. When I find myself doing a task that I’ve done
before and feel like its taking too long, I sit down
systemize and make a checklist and suddenly I’ve found 15 or
20 minutes.
© Yolanda A. Facio for Strategy-3.com All Rights Reserved
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