Unconcious Mutterings- Week 243

1. Crook :: Captain Hook (Peter Pan)
   
2. Career :: Three piece suit.
   
3. Freckles :: Red head.
   
4. Scramble :: Eggs.
   
5. Mistake :: Forgiveness.
   
6. Telephone :: Mobile.
   
7. Thank you :: Nice to say and nicer to hear.
   
8. Obstruction :: Annoyed.
   
9. 24/7 :: Seven eleven (convenience store)
   
10. SciFi :: Special effects

Creative Adventure 5

1. While hiking in one of the many trails in the State Forest, you come across a round scaly object right in the middle of the pathway.
2. You bend down to study the object more carefully, when it came to life and scurried away as fast as it could beyond the thick bushes. It looked like a pangolin.
3. Just below the clearing you see this wondrous lake with beautiful trees overlooking it.
4. With much to remember on this hiking trip, you sat down here to blog about the experience.

This meme is taken from The Saturday Special

Feast 162

Appetizer
How are you today?
Feeling fine and in a meme-ing mood! Getting addicted indeed.

Soup
Name 3 television shows you watch on a regular basis.
Bollywood movies every Saturday afternoon, Teater Klasik on Sunday nights (P.Ramlee) and Gerak Khas on Friday nights.

Salad
What’s the scariest weather situation you’ve experienced?
Thunderstorm where by the rain almost splash through the windows as if from a gigantic pail.


Main Course
If you could wake up tomorrow morning in another country, where would you want to be?
Switzerland. Or some European countries.

Dessert
What do you usually wear to sleep?
T-shirt and shorts.


This meme is taken from Friday's Feast

Back In The Day

1. Were you more likely to have a crush or be the crush?
Have a crush...I am not too sure about my admirers though.

2. Were you more likely to lead or be lead?
To lead. But then again depends on what activity or project is going on. No one can be an "expert" in everything.

3. Were you more likely set trends or follow trends?
Follow trend. May be not...just like to be simple.

4. Were you more likely speak your mind or remain quiet?
Remain quiet. "Every man must be swift about hearing, slow about speaking, slow about wrath..." -James: 3:19

5. From the above four questions, what two answers have changed the most?
Question 2 and 4. It depends on the situation, my experiences at that moment and the people involved.

Meme from Tuesday Twosome

Friday Fill In

1. I think I need to rethink my life's goals.
2. I desire to be more focus in what I do with my life.
3. What if something happens to me before I do anything significant (in my own opinion)?
4. The best thing about humans are we can evaluate our own situation like reflect on our past and plan for our future.
5. When will I start doing something?
6. The best thing that happened to me so far this week participating in the bloggers unite against abuse.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to bible study , tomorrow my plans include blogging and perhaps catch a movie and Sunday, I want to do some reading!

This meme is taken from Friday Fill In

Stop Child Abuse

Malaysians had been outraged and saddened at the sexual assault and murder that befell the eight-year-old girl Nurin Jazlin Jazimin. The question why had this happened and who was to be blamed became the hot topic of discussions until now.

Really who was to be blamed? The bereaved parents for their negligence or can it even be society at general? Concerning child killing, an Australian researcher shows that it is “not a random event.” Paul Wilson states that “both the killers and the killed are caught up in a vicious cycle that society itself has created,” in his book Murder of the Innocents—Child-Killers and Their Victims.

No doubt it is not easy to single out any one factor and say that is the reason that made a person become the kidnapper and murderer of a child. It might even seem strange to think that society may be responsible for, or at least may contribute to, this tragedy, since most people find the exploitation of and the murder of children to be horrendous acts. Yet, industrialized societies, and even many less-developed ones, are saturated with films, TV productions, and reading material that glorify sex and violence.

There are more and more hard-core pornographic films featuring children and even adults dressed as children. These depict sex and violence against children. And these sadistic films are a multibillion -dollar industry! An adult’s desire for titillation escalates as he becomes addicted to pornography. As a result, some are willing to use either coercion or violence to obtain children for their perverted use, including rape and murder.

(263 word count)

Tuesday Twosome-Exhaustion

What are two ways your relieve exhaustion?
Soothing music and warm bath.

What two daily activities/chores do you find exhausting?
Cooking and cleaning up dishes.

Do you generally wake up exhausted or go to bed exhausted?
Wake up exhausted.

What is more exhausting? An unwanted telephone call or running into an acquaintance you barely remember?
Running into an acquaintance I barely remember. (We can disconnect/choose not to pickup an unwanted telephone call)

When you are the most exhausted, what two things do you wish the most?
Quiet and sleep.

This meme is taken from Tuesday Twosome.

Unconcious Mutterings- Week 242

This is my first attempt at meme but they sure sound fun and addictive. Since this is my first attempt, I will start with short answers first. Hope you enjoy reading this. This meme is generated from Unconcious Mutterings.

1. Singles :: Carefree and no questions asked
   
2. Blaze :: Hot
   
3. Sandwich :: Peanut butter
   
4. Outside :: Thinking alternately
   
5. Gooey :: Caramel sundae
   
6. Industry :: Pollution
   
7. Exclusive :: Marriage
   
8. Warranty :: Broken
   
9. Magical :: Fireflies
   
10. Heels :: Cracked

Young dating-Harmful?

Many youths feel that even when they spent a lot of time with someone of the opposite sex, they do not consider it dating. They feel that they are "just friends". But whatever you call it—dating, going together, or just seeing each other—when a boy and a girl single each other out and start spending time together socially, more than friendship is usually involved. And dating does not have to be in person. Discussions in Internet chat rooms, on the telephone, through the mail, or by E-mail can also be forms of dating.

The question is, Just how serious is it to spend time almost exclusively with someone of the opposite sex?

When we spend a lot of time with a certain member of the opposite sex, naturally our feelings and emotions would be aroused. Before you realize it, you look forward to seeing that one. When you are not together, you find yourself thinking about him or her. All too often, though, the feelings are one-sided—and someone gets a broken heart. And even when the feelings are mutual, frustration and heartbreak still result when one or the other is not mature enough or old enough to get married. Really, where can such a relationship go? ? A Bible proverb says: “Can a man rake together fire into his bosom and yet his very garments not be burned?”—Proverbs 6:27.

In today’s world, dating is often a prelude to sexual relations. It may begin innocently, just by holding hands. A quick hug and a kiss on the cheek may be next. It is one thing for two young adults who have made a serious commitment to each other to make such expressions of affection. But when two people are too young to get married, such behavior does little more than needlessly inflame sexual desire. Acts of “affection” can become increasingly inappropriate or unclean. They can even lead to some form of fornication.

The fruits of fornication are bitter. Some who engage in it contract sexually transmitted diseases. Others suffer a loss of self-esteem and damage their conscience. Some young girls find themselves pregnant. No wonder that the Bible gives this command: “Flee from fornication”! (1 Corinthians 6:13, 18; 1 Thessalonians 4:3) Avoiding premature dating will help you to heed this command.

*Photo courtesy of morguefile

(384 words count)

Education or Propagation

Are you easily influenced by propagandas? People readily acknowledged that propaganda has power. But does it overpower YOU? Or do you make up your own mind?

There is a difference between education and propagation. While education teaches you how to think, propagandists tell you what to think. True educators present all sides of an issue and encourage discussion. Propagandists hammer hard on their view and discourage discussion. Many times their true motives are hidden. They sift the facts, tell the favorable ones and conceal the others. They distort and twist facts, specialize in lies and half-truths. Your emotions, not your logical thinking abilities, are their target. Many fall easy prey because it takes no effort to feel, whereas thinking is hard labor. And the propagandist sees to it that his message is made to seem wise, the right and moral one, and gives you a sense of importance and belonging if you follow it. You are one of the smart ones, you are not alone, you are comfortable and secure—so they say.

Propagation comes in what forms? Symbols stir feelings. Words such as mother, home, justice, freedom—all pack a wallop for the heart. Slogans are catchy and seem to be packed with wisdom. Favorable facts are exaggerated; the others are distorted or concealed. Oratory often substitutes for sound argument, and it diverts attention from unpleasant truths that cannot be concealed. Burn a building in one place while robbing a grocery store somewhere else, is the technique.

Television commercials specialize in this. Products are associated with happy families, beautiful girls, romantic men, cuddly babies, playful kittens and puppies—all desirable things but which have nothing to do with the products. Television programs are often propaganda, for the new morality, for materialistic goals, for selfish satisfactions.

(296 word count)

Stereogram

A stereogram is an optical illusion of depth created from flat, two-dimensional image or images. Stereogram was discovered by Charles Wheatstone in 1838. He found an explanation of binocular vision which led him to construct a stereoscope based on a combination of prisms and mirrors to allow a person to see 3D images from two 2D pictures.

Stereograms were re-popularized by the creation of autostereogram on computers, where a 3D image is hidden in a single 2D image, until the viewer focuses the eyes correctly. Check these out. Stare at the stereogram as close as possible and move back slowly.

I would love to hear if you "see" anything?

Tanning bed

Tanning is not much of a problem for Malaysians as we have sun shine all year long. So when a friend shows me a photo of a tanning bed, it caught me by surprise. I mean I had seen it in magazines before (I think) but as these things are quite unheard of and absolutely in no demand here in Malaysia, so I guess even if I have seen one, it wouldn’t stick in my mind. I think I would associate it more as a medical treatment machine than a health or cosmetic reasons.

Still I really wonder about the safety in using the tanning bed. It is a bed-like device that emits ultraviolet radiation to produce a tan. Although it is reported to be a $2-billion-dollar per annum industry in the United States, this certainly doesn’t bode well on the health. There have been researches done and found an increase in the percentage of melanoma (skin cancer) on women that visited these indoor tanning salons than those who did not. Furthermore, the World Health Organization does not recommend the use of UV tanning devices for cosmetic reasons. For example, using a sunbed without goggles may lead to a condition known as arc eye.

Frankly speaking, even when under normal sunlight while at the beach or outdoor games, we are also advised to use sunblock, not sure about the wisdom of sitting or lying down on direct ultraviolet radiation is such a good idea.

Porcelain

Do you what is China clay? It is also know as kaolin which is derived from the Chinese words “kao” (high) and “ling” (ridge), meaning the hills of Kiangsi province where it was first found. The Chinese had been using china clay along with china stone to make their exquisite pottery. Perhaps you know it better as porcelain.

Photo courtesy of The St PetersBurger

There are many uses for the porcelain today. Porcelain is known for its hardness, whiteness, glassiness, brittleness, durability, translucence, resonance, good electrical insulator, high resistance to chemical attack, thermal shock and high elasticity. So it is suitable for making furniture, sanitary and decorative wares, kitchen ware, pottery and sculptures. Its high resistance to the passage of electricity makes porcelain an excellent insulating material and it is widely used for high-voltage insulators. It is also used in dentistry to make false teeth, caps and crowns.
Photo courtesy of LondonPotters

Yay, Snow!

What is it with snow that makes Asians go berserk? Ok, not all Asians since many Asian countries also have the four seasons. Well, Malaysians anyway. I was viewing some blogs about snow and winter sceneries and I just had to dig up some old photos of mine to post. Hahaha...it was a trip I made to Ontario, Canada about 13 years ago??!!!

Haunting Owl

When I first caught sight of a real life owl, I was really frightened. I was doing some cleaning at this rather deserted house. Suddenly I felt someone watching me from behind. I can literally felt EYES watching me, following every move I made! When I turned, my feet got rooted to the ground and I almost panicked as I gazed into these big round eyes.

At first gaze, I thought it was a statute that I had somehow missed or overlooked. But those penetrating eye wouldn't leave me. I started to move to one side and those eyes kept following me, like a robotic camera! It was spooky indeed.

When I finally realized that was a real owl, I was so amazed by it and started to admire it.

Images taken from Wikipedia

Closed Circuit Boss

According to the Technology Review, "The monitoring of employees is increasingly being done by machines. Much more is being monitored, and the monitoring has expanded from the production line to the office."

I am talking about using closed circuit cameras and videos to monitor the performance of employees. Industries that uses these closed circuit televisions or video cameras most are banks, insurance companies, hotels, casinos, telephone companies and the airline industries. There has been much debate about the public security versus privacy over the use of such monitoring.

Advocates of computer monitoring said that the practice gives a more accurate evaluation of a worker's performance than a human manager that is subjected to his or her own prejudices. It is claimed that individual's work skills are less likely to be overlooked by a computer, thus allowing an organization to more easily identify its high-achieving employees and reward them appropriately.

On the other hand, computer monitoring increases stress (employees know that they are being watched), reduces job satisfaction, and ultimately subverts management's own goal of greater productivity. Machines can't encourage and motivate workers, they cannot understand employee problems, and they cannot foster company loyalty.

In the end, I guess most folks don't really like to be watched over their shoulder while they work.

Storm

Photo by: Gunnar Staniczek

Some folks are fascinated by storms. I was surfing some nature and photography sites and came across this photo. I was just captivated by the brooding sense of the impending storm.

Wire Diet

Have you heard of a dental procedure called Jaw Wiring* for treatment of obesity? When I first read about it, my common sense outrightly said that this is so barbaric! Sounds almost like a punishment or some inhumane torture of some sort. Nevertheless, it is suppose to be a painless bonding method to fix the position jaw and teeth. So no anesthesia is needed.

Orthodontic jaw wiring is a fixed intra-oral, bio-mechanical device and method for treating and controlling compulsive overeating and obesity. The device is composed of orthodontic brackets attached to the teeth, and pliable wire wrapped either around or through the brackets. The brackets are optimally positioned with respect to the anterior‑posterior position of the lower jaw. The wiring is configured to suspend the patient’s lower jaw in a semi-closed, partially movable resting position which permits a moderate amount of physiologic jaw movement and relatively clear speech, while inhibiting the ingestion of solid foods.


* Image of a wired jaw. (I have no "heart" to post the image here though it just looks like braces for straightening teeth)


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Food as Our Enemy
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Insurance

How does one view insurance ? In certain cultures, it is viewed as a taboo. Like when you speak about paying something to someone BEFORE an accident or illness happens, that incident WILL happen as you don't wish. So folks generally don't want to mention the unwished.

However, gone are those err...superstitious(?) days. Today, insurance is viewed more like a way to share risk with others. Insurance is not necessarily an investment from which one expects to get one’s money back. Nor is it gambling. A gambler takes risks, while insurance offers protection against risks that already exist.

Insurance is based on the principle of paying money now for financial protection in the future, so it is not surprising that the insurance industry attracts more than its share of swindlers. This is true in developed as well as developing economies. Therefore, one is wise to beware of so-called low-cost insurance and to be alert to any other questionable insurance scheme. Too many hopeful buyers have ended up with nothing when such companies failed to pay on their policies—or just vanished overnight!

A first step can be to find out what others have experienced with various insurance companies and agents. Friends and neighbors may know a company’s reputation for service or an agent’s reputation for integrity and personal concern. It is also good to stay alert to news reports indicating which insurance companies may be having problems.

Additionally, a company’s record and financial standing may be checked by consulting insurance rating guides at a library or a bookstore or on the Internet. These can provide the answers to such questions as: Is the company financially secure? Has it been in business successfully for many years? Is it known for handling claims quickly and amicably?



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