Lit

"A range of views on various world religions is explored as Bill Maher travels to numerous religious destinations including Jerusalem, the Vatican, and Salt Lake City, interviewing believers from a variety of backgrounds and groups. These include a former member of Jews for Jesus, Christians, Muslims, former Mormons, and Hasidic Jews. He travels to Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park, London, where he "preaches" Scientology beliefs" - Lit

I haven't seen a lot of Bill Maher but he brought up some valid points. Additionally, I found it entertaining. - Lit

"WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — With 150 million registered users, about 50 million hits daily and endorsements from music superstars, Megaupload.com was among the world’s biggest file-sharing sites...Though the company is based in Hong Kong and Dotcom was living in New Zealand, some of the alleged pirated content was hosted on leased servers in Virginia, and that was enough for U.S. prosecutors to act. (MORE: Feds Shut Down Megaupload.com File-Sharing Website) The site was shut down Thursday, and Dotcom and three Megaupload employees were arrested in New Zealand on U.S. accusations that they facilitated millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content, costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue." - Lit

Megaupload Sues Universal Music Group over Illegal Takedown Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011... - Lit

"On Wednesday Jan. 18th thousands of sites went dark to protest SOPA & PIPA, two US bills racing through Congress that threaten prosperity, online security, and freedom of expression." - Lit

US residents, click on the link http://americancensorship.org/ and sign the petition. - Lit

done..thanks for posting... - JB

"Members of Congress are trying to do the right thing by going after pirates and counterfeiters but SOPA and PIPA are the wrong way to do it." - Lit

1. SOPA and PIPA would censor the Web "The U.S. government could order the blocking of sites using methods similar to those employed by China. Among other things, search engines could be forced to delete entire websites from their search results. That’s why 41 human rights organizations and 110 prominent law professors have expressed grave concerns about the bills." - Lit

2. SOPA and PIPA would be job-killers because they would create a new era of uncertainty for American business Law-abiding U.S. internet companies would have to monitor everything users link to or upload or face the risk of time-consuming litigation. That’s why AOL, EBay, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Twitter, Yahoo and Zynga wrote a letter to Congress saying these bills “pose a serious risk to our industry’s continued track record of innovation and job-creation.” It’s also why 55 of America’s most successful venture capitalists expressed concern that PIPA “would stifle investment in Internet services, throttle innovation, and hurt American competitiveness”. More than 204 entrepreneurs told Congress that PIPA and SOPA would “hurt economic growth and chill innovation”. - Lit

3. SOPA and PIPA wouldn’t stop piracy To make matters worse, SOPA and PIPA won’t even work. The censorship regulations written into these bills won’t shut down pirate sites. These sites will just change their addresses and continue their criminal activities, while law-abiding companies will suffer high penalties for breaches they can’t possibly control. There are effective ways to combat foreign “rogue” websites dedicated to copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting, while preserving the innovation and dynamism that have made the Internet such an important driver of American economic growth and job creation. Congress should consider alternatives like the OPEN Act, which takes targeted and focused steps to cut off the money supply from foreign pirate sites without making US companies censor the Web. - Lit

*truth* - JB

Thank you lovely ... <3 - Sepi ⌘ سپی

1. Building a 500-mile car battery - Lit

Fuel from the ocean floor? Yikes! Lets not. - RudĩϐЯaЯïan

Crouch End Festival Choir? I didn't know we had one! - Halil

Thank you. <3 - Jenny

Crouch End Festival Chorus http://www.cefc.org.uk/ - Halil

Loved it ... :-* - Sepi ⌘ سپی

"So here's what it really takes to be an Angel: Lima, 30, has been working out every day with a personal trainer since August. For the last three weeks, she's been working out twice a day. Behind the scenes at the Victoria's Secret fitting with Adriana Lima "It is really intense, it's not really the amount of time you spend working out, it's the intensity: I jump rope, I do boxing, I lift weights, but I get bored doing that. If I am not moving I get bored very easily." ...She sees a nutritionist, who has measured her body's muscle mass, fat ratio and levels of water retention. He prescribes protein shakes, vitamins and supplements to keep Lima's energy levels up during this training period. Lima drinks a gallon of water a day. For nine days before the show, she will drink only protein shakes - "no solids". The concoctions include powdered egg. Two days before the show, she will abstain from the daily gallon of water, and "just drink normally". Then, 12 hours before the show, she will stop drinking entirely. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley out, Karlie Kloss in at the Victoria's Secret show "No liquids at all so you dry out, sometimes you can lose up to eight pounds just from that," she says." - Lit

Yeah, as was the point of the post > to show the drastic extent of exercise, food as well as liquid deprivation needed to obtain a body like this. - Lit

"First...if you doubted it for a second -- that Perry's mental block was very, very bad. One reason is that the question he was asked at the time wasn't even about cutting agencies. It was about how he could work with Democrats across the aisle. But Perry wanted to add some flair, so he looked at Ron Paul in order to brag about how he would cut three different agencies (although still not as many as Paul's five) and then gave himself the self-induced wound." - Lit

aye. i sure as Hell never voted for him. - Big Joe Silenced

"SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The official federal corporate income tax rate in the U.S. is 35%, but plenty of the nation’s largest publicly traded companies are paying no taxes — even getting money back from the government in some cases — in years when they reap big profits, according to a new report." - Lit

"Personal strivings are the central projects that people think about, plan for, and allocate time and energy toward. Strivings provide information about what a person wants as well as the type of person they wish to be. Men disproportionally strive for wealth, success, and power compared to women. Women tend to have a different instruction manual for life, putting a premium on nurturing and befriending other people. This doesn't mean that the average women is unconcerned about success and status, but that this is less likely to be done without checking in on friendships to ensure they attain their highest potential." - Lit

"Using rigorous scientific techniques, we know that strivings matter for well-being. Striving for wealth and power is less likely to bring about happiness and meaning in life than working hard to care for other people and developing intimate bonds." - Lit

"Find out if and why you should be concerned about accelerated aging and learn how you can slow down the clock.      Strength Test: Try to open three jars in 10 seconds.    Why It Matters: The ability to open a jar is a simple test of overall muscle strength. If you don't have the muscle strength to do daily tasks like opening a jar, it could be an indicator you are aging too fast.   Slow the Clock: Improve your strength. Squeeze a rubberized ball for 90 seconds, three times per day. Improving muscle strength by even just a little bit can add years to your life.     Balance Test: Sit down and cross your legs. Try getting up from this seated position without using your hands.     Why It Matters: Balance, combined with lower body strength, reduces your risk of falling. Falling is the leading cause of traumatic death for women as they age.   Slow the Clock: Improve your balance. Stand on one leg for 10 seconds. As you get better, extend the time and try it blindfolded. For a step-by-step balance workout, click here.   Memory Test: Say 10 items you need to take out of your cabinet. Then, go over to your cabinet and remove the 10 items.     Why It Matters: The average person remembers 5 to 9 items with short-term memory. When it comes to the brain, it’s use it or lose it. Most age-related memory loss comes from inactivity and lack of mental exercise.     Slow the Clock: Try 25 micrograms of vitamin B12 either orally or under the tongue per day. Grocery shopping is an everyday great way to audit yourself and exercise your brain. Create shopping lists in your head and see what you remember. For more tips on improving your memory...." - Lit

A good unique tune (definitely worth listening to)...I heard it on an American car commercial (http://youtu.be/FwlzyMrmtzU), had a hard time finding out the artists, and which version was used but was successful after some work. #Lits_music - Lit

+ - Koleksiyoner Ali

from the T dot - sofarsoShawn

#Lits_music This makes me think about taking a ride with the top down on gorgeous spring or summer day (good times)! - Lit

Ryan Gosling is proving himself an excellent actor. Once you see the movie you'll appreciate the song all the more ;) - Lit

#dinle - Koleksiyoner Ali

Cool song! Totally enjoyed listening to it. Thanks a lot for sharing because I wouldn't have heard this song otherwise. - Avinash

Of course, no prob...liked it a lot, glad you did too :) #Lits_music - Lit

"Dr Oz Deepak Chopra 4 Secrets to Reverse Aging; Deepak Chopra Mind Body Medicine shares his revolutionary ideas on how meditation can reverse aging. Alternative Health All Star Deepak Chopra Body Mind And Spirit. He’s revealing his ultimate secrets to reverse aging, apparently these secrets have even stunned Dr. Oz and the effect they can have on your body may stun you. Plus Deepak Chopra’s Meditation To Loose Weight! Deepak says our mind, brain, body and our environment are an integrated process, and how our thoughts can affect our health. Our thoughts influence everything, our emotions, they influence our biology it’s very important to recognize that we have this enormous potential to rewire our brain, this is the best way to recover. After almost 60 books including his latest “The Soul Of Leadership” now at 64, Deepak Chopra wants to transform our approach to the most universal of human concern, aging. people can empower themselves to actually not only slow down aging but reverse the biological markers of aging. Genes are very fluid, there are about 500 genes that influence things like inflammation, heart disease and certain types of cancer. In 4 months you can turn on the good ones and turn of the bad ones which is a huge insight. Deepak Chopra said when I reveal my secrets of the aging process the implications are huge. Deepak Chopra says close your eyes and watch your breath for about 5 minutes, put your attention on your heart and ask yourself “Who Am I? What Do I Want? What’s My Purpose?”. You don’t need to know the answers, live the questions and life will move you to the answers. Deepak Chopra says the biggest mistake people make is that they think there is a pill or a magic bullet that will solve all their problems, healing comes from within. How we interact with the environment, how we think, how we behave, how we relate to each other actually can turn on the good genes or turn off the bad genes. The most significant are heart disease, cardiovascular disease in general inflammation which is linked to many diseases including autoimmune diseases and certain types of cancer, these genes can influence them by the way you think, the way you behave, the way you relate to other people, exercise, good sleep and stress management. Deepak Chopra’s Program To Reverse The Aging Process Deepak Chopra Manage Stress Secrets To Reverse Aging 1. Manage Stress – Stress effects everything, it leads to addictive behaviour, which then influences other things like cancer, infections, heart disease, etc. Deepak Chopra secret to manage stress is breathing, you take your thumb and your third and forth fingers – take your thumb and put it on your right nostril and you breathe in through the left nostril. The take those third and fourth fingers and put on your left nostril and breath out through your right nostril and you keep alternating and close your eyes. Do this 5-10 minutes a day. Dr Oz says it gives you head rushes, but Deepak says it balances the parasympathetic nervous system and sympathetic nervous system so they dance with each other instead of one dominating the other. Deepak Chopra 6 Tastes Of Life 2. Deepak Chopra’s Reverse Aging Through Diet – Favor fresh food, avoid dead foods such as prepackaged foods, can foods, there is no life energy in them. Life energy comes from the sun, so the closer your diet is in direct contact with the energy that creates life on our planet. Deepak Chopra says there are 6 tastes of life and 7 colors of the rainbow, this is how we ingest the information of the universe into our bodies, we metabolize the information of the universe into our biology. 1. Sweet 2. Sour 3. Salty 4. Pungent 5. Bitter 6. Astringent Sweet, sour and salt lower your metabolism and if you dominate in sweet, sour and salt which is what our society is about french fries, ketchup and hamburgers, that’s what slows down your metabolism. Yet we do need a little bit of sweet sour and salt says Deepak Chopra because otherwise we feel unsatisfied. Try to minimize these tastes from yogurts to citrus fruits to blueberries, blackberries anything that is a berry or a cherry they are very high concentrations of phytochemicals. These phytochemicals are antioxidants, they anticarcinogenic effects, they are anti-inflammatories, so they are very good for you. You need a little bit of salt because it’s what keeps our blood pressure at least in the normal range, do have some otherwise you will get cravings. Pungent tastes which include radishes and ginger, also includes other spices such as cinnamon, mustard, horseradish. These things are anti-inflammatory and they also speed up your metabolism says Deepak. Studies have shown if you want to lose weight emphasize Pungent, bitter, anything that is yellow or green like spinach and all the bitter tastes of vegetables they will speed up your metabolism and anti-inflammtory as well. Astringent is a very interesting taste it puckers the mouth, dries the mouth a little bit. Astringent foods such as mushrooms, lentils, figs and also green tea or even black tea a little bit. These too will speed up your metabolism, the combination of these 3 tastes bitter, pungent, astringent are ideal if you want to lose weight. Deepak Chopra Secret To Reverse Aging Restful Sleep Deepak Chopra says sleep is under emphasized, a lot of people are drugged sleep which doesn’t give them rest, or alcohol sleep doesn’t give them rest. If you have 6-8 hours sleep at the optimal time between 10:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. in the morning that’s when our sleep is cycles lock in with the rhythms of the universe, which is called circadian rhythm, that’s the best time to get rest. Deepak’s 3 secrets for a good sleep are; 1. Try eating a light meal before 7 – 7:30, ideally speaking before sunset 2. Take a 30 minute walk after dinner – Get to bed by 10-10:30 3. Download your thoughts The amount of time you can carve out before midnight to go to sleep will be correlated in how well you sleep, and how much that sleep helps you. Download your thoughts, whatever comes to your mind because that’s a way of actually getting rid of stress as well. Dr Oz Deepak Chopra Aspirin, Multi Vitamins, Fish Oils, Vitamin D3 To Reverse Aging Deepak and Dr. Oz now moved onto nutritional compliments. Dr Chopra says that’s a better word than supplement. Deepak Chopra takes these daily as well as Dr. Oz 1. If your over 40 take an aspirin a day, it’s anti-inflammatory 2. Take two generic multi vitamins 3. Fish Oils, especially Omega 3 Fatty Acids-about 2000 mg of fish oil concentrate 4. Vitamin D3 2000 IU with a little bit of magnesium and calcium which is available in a lot of vitamin D3 preparations" - Lit

"First off, to every father out there (biological or not), this is the time where we stand up and say thank you. We may not always show it, but we love you and appreciate everything you have done for us thus far. Today is also the day where we celebrate the uniqueness of our fathers, as no two dads are alike. In fact, there are many different types – the “cool” father, the “don’t get on the wrong side of me” pop, and of course the “don’t tell your mother” dad. It is not just in humans that fathers show such a wide degree of parenting styles, as the same is true in the animal kingdom. The thing is, the role of being a father is often overlooked in many animals – they deposit their sperm and leave, their job complete, and leave the rest of it up to the female. While it may often be the case that the biggest role an animal father has in their offspring’s life is the sperm they donate, some animal dads do go the extra mile and exceed all expectations. However, let us first look at some dads who are, quite frankly, not the greatest role models out there." - Lit

Cuties! -> I know it's not what the article is about, but whatever, they're animals, why would you even compare. Can you expect them to anthropomorphize their behavior to fit our def'n of a "good dad" - sofarsoShawn

It's just a father's day post, haha. ;) - Lit

"Windows: Everyone who's ever used a USB drive knows the horror of looking for it when you need it only to realize that you left it behind plugged into the last computer you used. With USB Alert, you'll get a warning when you shut down to unplug your USB drive before you go. USB Alert will play a warning sound and display an on-screen alert every time you issue a shutdown or lock command warning you that you have a USB storage device still connected to the system. From there you can see your connected devices or dismiss the alert – but the warning makes all the difference. You can always attach your USB drives to your keychain in hopes you won't forget those, but if you're the forgetful type, you'll just leave your keys behind with the drive. Better yet, you could just use Dropbox and forgo USB storage devices entirely. How do you make sure you don't leave your drives behind when it's time to leave the office for the day? Leave your tips in the comments." - Lit

Where are you girl??!! Hope all is well ... missed you :-) - Sepi ⌘ سپی

"If you didn't download Seek Droid the last time we mentioned it, now you have a chance to grab it free of charge. The developers behind the app, which allows you to find your lost Android phone whether it's in your home or in the back of a cab, remotely lock or wipe it, or just view it on a Google Map so you can go get it, are making the app available for free today and tomorrow in the Amazon App Store. The free download promotion only runs from Sunday June 19th to Monday June 20th. After that, the app will go back to its normal $0.99 purchase price, which is still well worth it for what you get." - Lit

"Pakistan's top military spy agency has arrested five informants who fed information to the CIA before the raid last month that killed Osama bin Laden, the New York Times has reported. One of the detainees was reported to be a Pakistani army major who officials said copied licence plates of cars visiting the al-Qaida leader's compound 30 miles north-west of Islamabad. The fate of the CIA informants arrested in Pakistan is unclear, the newspaper reported, citing American officials. Outgoing CIA director Leon Panetta raised the issue of the informants' detention during a trip to Islamabad last week, where he met with Pakistani military and intelligence officers, the Times said. Some in Washington see the arrests as another sign of the disconnect between US and Pakistani priorities in the fight against extremists, the newspaper reported." - Lit

The interesting thing is that the American response to these Pakistani provocations is always weirdly subdued -- almost non-existent. From which one must conclude that it is likely that a powerful faction within the American government continues to work intimately with that faction in the ISI that is running Muslim militants. According to Sibel Edmonds, Osama bin Laden was a CIA asset or operative right up until 9/11. - Sean McBride

"Ali Hassan showed a video he said he filmed on his cell phone. It showed a column of thousands of unarmed male protesters walking near the town of Jabal al Zawiya, roughly 30 kilometers from Jisr Al-Shughur, on Friday June 3. Suddenly, long bursts of gun-fire rang out, sending the demonstrators running and screaming for cover. "This was a peaceful protest. The security forces started shooting at the people," Ali Hassan said. "They were 50 meters away from us. They were security officers wearing military uniforms. Some of them had beards and they didn't even speak Arabic." Ali Hassan denied Syrian government accusations that the protesters were armed. "I challenge anyone who says the protesters had guns or weapons," Ali Hassan said. "Nobody even carries a knife. I'm responsible for searching people who are going to demonstrate. Even if they have a wooden stick, we don't let them carry it." The ongoing bloodshed in Syria is putting its neighbor and close trade partner Turkey in an increasingly uncomfortable position. On Thursday night, Turkey's prime minister, a close political ally of the Syrian president, warned "we cannot keep supporting Syria in the face of all these developments."" - Lit

"A subliminal scent (an odor at a concentration below the level of conscious detection) won't make you do something that you don't want to do, but if you can smell an odor, it can influence you. Scents used in the appropriate settings can sway your purchasing interest and your perception of the quality of a product. For example, an odor that is perceived as consistent with the a product concept, like a floral scent with women's sleepwear, will increase the perceived value of the sleepwear and the price that consumers are willing to pay for it. Theme-based ambient aromas in resort environments can also augment positive connotations of the resort experience and subsequently act as reminders for guests to return to the specific resort and increase their destination-brand loyalty. It may not seem surprising that thematic aromas can enhance generally perceived worth and ambience appreciation, but odors can also be used to influence your generosity, trustworthiness and political leanings. The aroma of citrus-scented Windex was recently shown to induce people to be more generous of their time and money towards noble causes like Habitat for Humanity. Cleaning aromas also encourage people to be more honest and fair in their dealings with others. For example, people who are in a "clean" scented room will share more winnings with an anonymous collaborator than people who are in an unscented room. On a Machiavellian level, if you're a politician with conservative ideologies you can use a filthy odor to manipulate your voters. In October 2010, when New York state Tea Party activist Carl Paladino was a gubernatorial hopeful he mailed campaign flyers to 200,000 registered Republicans in New York state that were impregnated with the aroma of rotting garbage. In the malodorous flyer Paladino riled against Democrats who "betray the public trust" and pledged to "end the stink of corruption in Albany." The result-Paladino trounced his conservative rival Rick Lazio by a whopping 24 percent in the primaries. The smelly flyer alone can't account for his whopping win, but the putrid mailer would have primed the recipients with thoughts of political filth and make them more eager to endorse someone who would "ferret out corruption" and "get rid of the stink." Notably, Paladino didn't beat his Democratic opponent, the now-governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, in November 2010. Perhaps voter booths had been aromatically disinfected and the "clean" feeling voters were inclined to be more generous towards social causes. The next time you're shopping or considering social-cause or political options, sniff the air. Is the aroma affecting your inclinations?" - Lit

"Saying good-bye is heartbreaking, and most of us are total jerks about it. Bad dumping behavior is booming, especially among the young. In one recent survey, 24 percent of respondents aged 13 to 17 said it was completely OK to break up with someone by texting, and 26 percent of them admitted to doing so. “It’s always been hard to break up with someone face to face,” says Stanford University sociologist Clifford Nass, author of The Man Who Lied to His Laptop, “but lack of social skills makes it harder. And we’re learning fewer and fewer social skills.”" - Lit

"The Clean Dozen: 12 Rules of Better Breakups No question, breaking up is incredibly difficult because it involves giving, or receiving, bad news that engages our deepest vulnerability—the fear that we are unlovable. Most of us are designed not only to minimize discomfort but to dislike rupturing attachments, priming us for sleights of avoidance in delivering or digesting such deeply threatening information. It takes courage to recognize we have a moral obligation to put aside personal discomfort in approaching someone we cared for and who loved us—especially when means of ducking that responsibility are so readily available. But courage pays dividends in self-respect and accelerated recovery. Not only do our biology, psychology, and morality influence how we weather breakups, but so do the circumstances of the act. There may be little anyone can do to alter biological responsiveness, but everyone can control the way breaking up is conducted. Here, say the experts, is how to do it so that both parties remain emotionally intact, capable of weathering the inevitable pain and sadness." - Lit

"1. Take full responsibility for initiating the breakup. If your feelings or needs have changed, your dreams diverged, or your lives are going in opposite directions, don’t provoke your partner into doing the breakup. Shifting responsibility is not only a weasel tactic that diminishes the doer, says Paul Falzone, CEO of the online dating service eLove, it’s confusing. Adds Russell Friedman, executive director of the California-based Grief Recovery Institute and author of Moving On, “Trying to manipulate your partner into breaking up, like suddenly giving one-word answers in an attempt to make them say, ‘The heck with it,’ creates a sense of real distortion.” The partner may not initially get the message that you want to break up, but “will start to question themselves: ‘Am I not a valuable human being? Am I unattractive?’ ” The target may also question their own instincts and intuition. “You’re setting up the sense that the other person is to blame. You have bypassed their intuition—they can’t trust what they felt, saw, heard in the relationship.” That kind of uncertainty can cripple them in future relationships; they may not be willing to trust a new partner’s devotion or suitability. 2. Do it only face to face. Humans evolved to communicate face to face, which provides some built-in consolations. We may experience many nonverbal cues that reassure us of our essential lovability—the quick touch on the arm that says you’re still valued even as the relationship ends. Anything less than face-to-face sends a distressing message: “You don’t matter.” Some dumpers might think that delivering the news by email, text, or even a Facebook statement is less cruel than directly speaking the truth. But remote modes of delivery actually inflict psychic scars on the dumpee that can impede future partnerships. “When you don’t get any explanation, you spend a huge amount of time trying to figure out what’s wrong with you,” says eLove’s Paul Falzone. “And you’ll be hesitant about entering another relationship.” Being on the receiving end of remote dumping can leave us stuck in emotional limbo, says University of Chicago neuroscientist John Cacioppo. “The pain of losing a meaningful relationship can be especially searing in the absence of direct social contact.” With no definitive closure, we’re left wondering what the heck happened, which can lead to the kind of endless rumination that often leads to depression. “Situations where you have an incomplete picture of what’s going on are perfect ground for the development of rumination,” says Yale University psychologist Susan Nolen-Hoeksema. “It can send people into a tailspin.” Many dumpees emerge from the tailspin distrustful of others, making it difficult for them to establish closeness with future partners. “When you begin to distrust others, you make less of an investment in them,” adds Bernardo Carducci, professor of psychology at Indiana University Southeast. “So the person you meet next is going to suffer for the sins of a stranger.” Dumpers themselves may come to re­gret surrogate sayonaras once they realize how badly their vanishing act hurt their former partners—and how little concern they showed. “Five years on, you don’t want to be ashamed of how you handled this,” says John Portmann, a moral philos­opher at the University of Virginia. Guilt and shame encumber future interactions. 3. Act with dignity. Since a breakup is a potentially explosive scenario, resolve in advance to bite back any insults that are poised to fly out of your mouth. Preserving your partner’s self-respect has the compound effect of salvaging your own. 4. Be honest. “I’m not in love with you anymore” is actu­ally OK. But honesty need not be a bludgeon, nor does it demand total disclosure. If you secretly think your partner is a complete snooze in bed, you’re probably better off keeping that opinion to yourself. “You have an obligation to watch out for the other person’s self-esteem,” Virginia’s Portmann says. “Do not cut them down in such a way that it’s impossible for them to have another successful relationship. Why rub salt in their wounds? That’s torture.” “The message to get across is, ‘You’re not what I’m looking for,’” adds Florida State University psychologist Roy Baumeister. “That doesn’t imply that there’s something wrong or deficient about your partner.” It’s simply straightforward. 5. Avoid big, bad clichés like “It’s not you, it’s me.” Such generic explanations ring false and communicate a lack of respect. You owe your partner a genuine explanation, how­ever brief, of why things aren’t working. One big caveat: If you suspect that your partner might react violently to your decision to end the relationship, don’t stick around to justify your reasoning; safety comes first. 6. Avoid a point-by-point dissection of where things fell apart. “It’s not a good idea because there’s never going to be agreement,” says Russell Friedman. “I’ll say, ‘This is what happened,’ and you’ll say, ‘No, no.’ ” Prolonged back-and-forth often degenerates into a fight—or worse: If your partner gains the upper hand, he or she may succeed in luring you back into a dysfunctional relationship you’ve decided you want to end. 7. Make it a clean break. Do not try to cushion the blow by suggesting future friendly meetups. “Saying ‘Let’s be friends’ might be a way for the rejecter to try to handle their own guilt, but it’s not always good for the person being rejected,” Baumeister observes. Such a misguided attempt to spare a partner pain can leave him or her hopeful there might be a chance at future reconciliation, which can hinder the efforts of both parties to move on." - Lit

"The Japan Automobile Federation is trialing just such a scheme, with a Nissan-built prototype service truck helping to top up electrified transporters that have ended up bereft of juice at an inopportune moment. The trial's gotten its start in Kanagawa Prefecture this week, which, incidentally, happens to be using a Nissan Leaf as its governor's official car. So, even if you do figure out a way to use up your Leaf's entire battery, you get the comfort of knowing you're riding like a governor and that the good men in orange jumpsuits will be there to take care of your problemo." - Lit

"The UN nuclear watchdog has decided to report Syria to the UN Security Council over its alleged covert nuclear programme, diplomats have said." - Lit

"The board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted to rebuke the country over claims it had built an undeclared nuclear reactor. The alleged structure, which Syria has maintained was a non-nuclear military site, was destroyed by Israel in 2007. The IAEA move comes as Syrian troops crack down on weeks of protests. Desert site At the IAEA meeting at its headquarters in Vienna, 17 countries voted for and six against, including Russia and China. Diplomats said that overall 11 countries of the 35-member board of governors abstained and one country was absent from the vote. The last time the IAEA referred a country to the Security Council was in the case of Iran, in February 2006. Thursday's motion was proposed by the US and its Western allies who had asked the IAEA's governing body to find Syria in "non-compliance" with its international obligations. Syria is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which gives it the right to enrich its own fuel for civil nuclear power, under inspection from the IAEA. But it has also signed a safeguards agreement with the IAEA under which it is obliged to notify the UN's nuclear watchdog of any plans to construct a new nuclear facility. Israel bombed the desert site of the alleged reactor - near Deir Alzour in the country's remote north-east - in September 2007. it had built an undeclared nuclear reactor. The alleged structure, which Syria has maintained was a non-nuclear military site, was destroyed by Israel in 2007. The IAEA move comes as Syrian troops crack down on weeks of protests. Desert site At the IAEA meeting at its headquarters in Vienna, 17 countries voted for and six against, including Russia and China. Diplomats said that overall 11 countries of the 35-member board of governors abstained and one country was absent from the vote. The last time the IAEA referred a country to the Security Council was in the case of Iran, in February 2006. Thursday's motion was proposed by the US and its Western allies who had asked the IAEA's governing body to find Syria in "non-compliance" with its international obligations. Syria is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which gives it the right to enrich its own fuel for civil nuclear power, under inspection from the IAEA. But it has also signed a safeguards agreement with the IAEA under which it is obliged to notify the UN's nuclear watchdog of any plans to construct a new nuclear facility. Israel bombed the desert site of the alleged reactor - near Deir Alzour in the country's remote north-east - in September 2007." - Lit

Ah, now I know why I saw the headline about Syrians pouring into Turkey now. - Halil

"In the brain, sudden insight is accompanied by increased activity in the brain’s anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) prior to solving each prob­lem. The region is involved in regulating attention; in problem solving, it seems to work in con­junction with other brain areas either to stay focused on a par­ticular strategy or to switch to a new one. Subramaniam found with functional MRI that people in a positive mood had more ACC activity going in to the task, which probably helped prepare the brain to find novel solutions. Participants who watched anx­iety-producing movies such as The Shining, however, showed less activity in the ACC and less creativity in solving the puzzles." - Lit

"The National Academies Press Makes All PDF Books Free to Download; More Than 4,000 Titles Now Available Free to All Readers WASHINGTON -- As of today all PDF versions of books published by the National Academies Press will be downloadable to anyone free of charge. This includes a current catalog of more than 4,000 books plus future reports produced by the Press. The mission of the National Academies Press (NAP) -- publisher for the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council -- is to disseminate the institutions' content as widely as possible while maintaining financial sustainability. To that end, NAP began offering free content online in 1994. Before today’s announcement, all PDFs were free to download in developing countries, and 65 percent of them were available for free to any user." - Lit

"The free PDFs are available exclusively from the NAP’s website, http://www.nap.edu/, and remain subject to copyright laws. PDF versions exist for the vast majority of NAP books. Exceptions include some books that were published before the advent of PDFs; books from the Joseph Henry Press imprint; and in cases where contractually prohibited, such as reference books in the Nutrient Requirements of Domestic Animals series." - Lit

"The war of words between China and Google is heating up. China's top newspaper and mouthpiece for the country's Communist Party, the People's Daily, published a story today taking aim at the search giant, Reuters is reporting. And the statements indicate that there might be some political trouble ahead for Google. "Google should not become overly embroiled in international political struggle, playing the role of a tool for political contention," the paper reads, according to Reuters. "For when the international winds shift direction, it may become sacrificed to politics and will be spurned by the marketplace." The paper's comments are the latest critical comments made by the Chinese government, following Google's claims last week that the personal Gmail accounts of top U.S. government officials and Chinese political activists, among others, were targeted with phishing attacks aimed at gaining access to their accounts. Though Google stopped short of blaming the Chinese government for the attack, it said that they seemed to originate from Jinan, China, home to a Chinese government intelligence division. Google said that it "detected and disrupted" the attack before any trouble occurred, but the U.S. government said that it was investigating the incident to ensure information was not obtained. Speaking to CNET last week, a spokesperson for the National Security Council said that the attacks were limited to Gmail and the organization had "no reason to believe that any official U.S. government e-mail accounts were accessed." Though the People's Daily offered up vague threats to Google, it stopped short of saying how the company might be serving as a "tool" in a political battle. The paper also took the opportunity to deny that the attacks were launched by members of the government, and called Google's comments on the matter "spurious." There's no love lost between China and Google. Trouble has been brewing between them for quite some time, and the relationship became especially strained in early 2010 after the search giant discovered a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack" on its corporate infrastructure that resulted in the theft of some of its intellectual property. Google, which was one of many companies targeted, said that the attacks originated from China, but once again, the Chinese government denied any involvement. Google wasn't buying it, and the company threatened to remove its search service from China. After numerous shots were fired at either side, Google last year finally moved its China search to Hong Kong. Google isn't the only company to have issues in China. Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, among many others, are blocked within the country's borders." - Lit

"One of the oddest, and in my view most harmful, aspects our treatment of children today is our penchant for segregating them into separate groups by age. We do that not only in schools, but increasingly in out-of-school settings as well. In doing so, we deprive children of a valuable component of their natural means of self-education." - Lit

"When given a choice, children spend considerable time interacting with others who are older or younger than themselves. Sudbury Valley has, at any given time, approximately 170 to 200 students, who range in age from 4 to 18 years old and sometimes older. Students can move freely at all times throughout the school buildings and campus, and they can interact with whomever they please. The school is large enough that students could, if they chose, interact just with others who are within a year or two of themselves in age. But they don't do that. In our quantitative study we found that more than 50% of students' social interactions at the school were with other students who were more than two years older or younger than themselves, and 25% of their interactions were with other students who were more than 4 years older or younger than themselves [2]. Age mixing was especially frequent during play. Active play of all sorts was more likely to be age mixed than was conversation that did not involve play." - Lit

"Age mixing allows younger children to engage in, and learn from, activities that they could not do alone or only with age-mates. In the 1930's, the Russian developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky developed a concept that he called the zone of proximal development, defined as the realm of activities that a child can accomplish in collaboration with more skilled others but cannot accomplish alone or with others who are at his or her same level [4]. Vygotsky claimed that children learn best when they are engaged with more skilled others within their zones of proximal development. Since Vygotsky's time, education professors have often used Vygotsky's concept to describe interactions between adult teachers and young learners, but the concept applies far better, I think, to naturally occurring age-mixed interactions among children." - Lit

"Sexual pleasure among young adults (ages 18-26) is linked to healthy psychological and social development, according to a new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study is the first to use a representative population sample of heterosexuals to find a relationship between key developmental assets and sexual pleasure." - Lit

Then somebody should research for people aged 26 & above! - Avinash

xD haha! - Franc, a rememberer

"I've found that assertiveness is the ability to ask for what you need while aggressiveness refers more to doing things without regard to how they affect others. In the world of leadership and workplace politics assertiveness is a highly desirable characteristic. It enables leaders to ask for what they need and make their position clear without being a jerk. Think about the following assertiveness tips and ask yourself how many you practice every day. 1. Tell people what you need and let them do the same. 2. Be specific about what you want to happen. 3. Don't get attached to only one outcome (yours). 4. Try not to crush or minimize other people's perspectives. 5. Invite people to comment on how your needs affect them. 6. Always be kind and remain calm when asking for what you need. 7. Allow other people the same amount of time to describe their needs. 8. Tell people what you need early in the conversation rather than after the fact. 9. Allow others to assert themselves. 10. Compromise on your needs and meet people halfway. Being assertive is not about behaving like a jerk. It's about letting people know where you stand and what you need in a kind, direct and flexible way and then being willing to work with them to find resolutions that work for everyone. So many problems arise in the workplace because people get into power struggles, become entrenched in a single position and step all over each other. Being assertive allows you to express your views and also encourage others to do the same." - Lit