Rajput

Ashab al-Kahf - The Companions of the Cave

2011-11-06T23:29:00.000-08:00

In the most recent Catholic-Muslim dialogue this was delivered by our

Islamic Scholar. I just want all of you to know this.

Ashab al-Kahf - The Companions of the Cave

For Discussion in Catholic-Muslim Dialogue of Western Region,

I. The Story in the Qur’an:

“Do you find the Companions of the Cave and al-Raqim[i][i]

so wondrous, among all Our other signs? When the young men sought

refuge in the cave and said, ‘Our Lord, Grant us Your mercy, and make

easy for us a good way out of our ordeal,’ We sealed their ears (with

sleep) in the cave for years. Then We woke them so that We make clear

which of the two parties best understand the reason they stayed there

such a long time.

“We tell you their true story.[ii][ii] They were young men

who believed in their Lord, and We gave them more and more guidance.

We gave strength to their hearts when they stood up and said, ‘Our

Lord is the Lord of the heavens and earth. We shall never call upon

any god other than Him, for that would be an outrageous thing to do.

These people of ours have taken gods other than Him. Why do they not

produce clear evidence about them? Who could be more unjust than

someone who makes up lies about God? Now that you have left such

people, and what they worshipped instead of God, take refuge in the

cave. God will shower His mercy on you and make for you an easy way

out of your ordeal.’

You could have seen the (light of the) sun as it rose,

moving away to the right of their cave, and when it set, moving away

to the left of them, while they lay in the wide space inside the cave.

This is one of God’s signs: those people God guides are rightly

guided, but you will find no protector to lead to the right path those

He leaves to stray. You would have thought they were awake, though

they lay asleep. We turned them over, to the right and the left, with

their dog stretching out its forelegs at the entrance. If you had seen

them, you would have turned and run away, filled with fear of them.

“In time We woke them, and they began to question one

another. One of them asked, ‘How long have been here?’ and (some of

them) answered, ‘A day or part of a day,’ but then (others) said,

‘Your Lord knows best how you have been here. One of you go to the

city with your silver coins, find out where the best food is there,

and bring some back. But be careful not to let anyone know about you:

if they found you out, they would stone you or force you to return to

their religion, and then you will never prosper.’ In this way We

brought them to the people’s attention so that they might know that

God’s promise (of resurrection) is true and that there is no doubt

about the Last Hour. But (instead of giving thought to this) they

began disputing among themselves.

“(Some) said, ‘Construct a building over them: their Lord

knows best about them.’ Those who prevailed said, ‘We shall build a

place of worship over them.’ (Some) say, ‘The sleepers were three,

and their dog made four,’ others say, ‘They were five, and their dog

made six’ – guessing in the dark – and some say, ‘They were seven, and

their dog made eight.’ Say (Prophet), ‘My Lord knows best how many

they were.’ Only a few have real knowledge about them, so do not

argue, but stick to what is clear, and do not ask any of these people

about them; do not say of anything, ‘I will do that tomorrow,’ without

adding, ‘God willing,’ and, whenever you forget, remember your Lord

and say, ‘May my Lord guide me to be closer to what is right.’ (Some

say), ‘The sleepers stayed in their cave for three hundred years,’

some added nine more. Say (Prophet), ‘God knows best how long they

stayed.’ His is the knowledge of all that is hidden in the heavens and

earth – How well He sees! How well He hears! – and they have no one to

protect them other than Him; He does not allow anyone to share His

rule.” (The Qur’an, Surah al-Kahf 18:9-26)[iii][iii]

II. The Historical Background of the Revelation of this Story:

The Surah al-Kahf was revealed to the Prophet towards the middle

period of his preaching in Makkah (between the 5th and 10 year after

beginning his mission). During this period the Quraish (leading tribe

of Makkah) escalated their opposition to the Prophet. They subject his

followers to ruthless torture and severe economic deprivation. Some

Muslims at this time migrated to Abyssinia. The Quraish then

introduced a severe economic and social boycott against the Prophet

and his followers, and forced them to confine themselves to the hilly

side of Makkah, called Shi’b Abi Talib. This boycott continued for

about three years.[iv][iv]

It is reported that this Surah was revealed around this period in

response to some questions posed by the Makkan polytheists. After

consulting with some People of the Book (Jews and Christians) they put

these questions to the Prophet:

1. Who were the Companions of the Cave?

2. What is the true nature of the story of Prophet Moses’

encounter with Khidr?

3. What is the story of Dhu al-Qarnain?

All these stories pertained to the Jewish and Christian history and

were not much known to the people in the Arabian peninsula. The People

of the Book selected these stories carefully so as to test whether or

not any extraordinary source of knowledge was available to Prophet

Muhammad – peace be upon him.

God revealed these stories to the Prophet –peace be upon him- not only

to give answers the questions raised but also to build the morale of

Muslims and help them get some lessons for their own particular

situation.

III. The Themes of the Surah al-Kahf:

The Surah begins with the following words:

“Praise be to God, who sent down the Scripture to His servant and

placed no crookedness in it. (He made it) straight, giving warning of

severe punishment from Him and giving good news to the believers who

do good deeds that theirs will be an excellent reward where they shall

abide forever.” (Al-Kahf 18:1-3)

There are several authentic Ahadith (plural of Hadith – saying of

Prophet Muhammad) that mention the power and affects of this Surah on

its faithful readers. It is mentioned that this Surah brings Sakinah

(comfort and peace of the heart); it gives to its readers the light

that will shine for them in this life and in the eternal life. It is

also mentioned that those who will remember this Surah and pay

attention to it will be saved from the Trials of Dajjal (the Deceiver

or Anti-Christ). Muslims generally recite this Surah every Friday.

When we reflect on this Surah we see that the Surah

mentions four main stories in some details and in the middle of these

stories it also refers to the story of Iblis (the Devil) who refused

to obey God’s command to honor Adam and instead became the enemy of

all human beings. The four main stories of this Surah are:

1. Story of the Companions of the Cave

2. Story of the owner of two gardens

3. Story of Prophet Moses –peace be upon him- with a mysterious

teacher (The Qur’an does not mention the name of this person, but he

is generally known as the angelic figure, Khidr – peace be upon him)

4. Story of the king Dhu al-Qarnain (meaning ‘the one of two

horns’ probably referring to his vast eastern and western kingdoms.

The Qur’an mentions only his title without identifying him with his

real name)

The theme of all these stories is one and the same. They all tell us

about the trials of life. People are tested by different trials and

Devil is there is to mislead them and make difficult their path of

success and salvation.

1. The story of the Companions of the Cave tells about the trials

of faith. It tells us how the people of faith are tested and tied in

different ways, but those who remain firm and patient are protected by

God.

2. The story of the owner of the two gardens is basically the

story of trials of wealth and riches. It tells us that wealth and

riches could be very tempting and deceiving and often take people away

from the right path.

3. Prophet Moses –peace be upon him- had to learn some lessons

from an angelic figure known as Khidr. This story tells us about the

Trials of Knowledge. We may think that we know everything; but no one,

even God’s prophets, can grasp all the mysteries of the events in this

world. Knowledge requires a lot of patience and humility and ultimate

knowledge belong to God alone.

4. The Story of Dhu al-Qarnain tells us about a great king who

had to deal with all kind of people. He moved fast from one direction

to another direction. He met good people as well as rebellious groups

in his kingdom. People of diverse backgrounds and languages used to

live in his domain. This righteous king wherever he went he did good

things. He was powerful, intelligent and resourceful. He was also

humble and devout. He did not charge his subjects excessive taxes for

any projects that he performed. The power and authority did not

corrupt him. This is the story of the trials of power and position.

The Surah ends with these words:

“Say, ‘Shall we tell you who the biggest losers are according to their

actions? It is those whose efforts are lost in this world and they

think that they are doing well.’ They disbelieve in their Lord’s

message and deny that they will meet Him. Their deeds come to nothing

on the Day of Resurrection; We shall give them no weight. Their

recompense will be Hell because they disbelieved and made fun of My

message and My messengers. But those who believe and do good deeds

shall have as a gift the Gardens of Paradise. They shall remain there

forever, never wishing to leave. Say, ‘If the ocean were ink for

(writing) the words of my Lord, it would run dry before those words

were exhausted’ – even if We were to add another ocean to it. Say

(Prophet), ‘I am only a human being, like you, to whom it has been

revealed that your God is One. Anyone who hopes to meet his Lord

should do good deeds and give no one a share in the worship due to his

Lord.” (Al-Kahf 18:103-110)

IV. Some Remarks on the Qur’anic Style of this Story:

What the Qur’an omits about this story? The Qur’an deliberately omits

almost everything that a historian of this story will be interested to

know.[v][v] The Qur’an does not tell us:

1. The dates and the time period when this happened.

2. The geographical location of the cave.

3. The names of the companions of the cave.

4. The race or religion of the companions of the cave.

5. Their exact number.

6. Exactly how long they were in the cave.

It is, however, interesting to note that while the Qur’an has not

given us some of the specifics of this story, it has remarkably told

us all its important elements, ‘who, what, where, why?’

The Qur’an has told us:

1. The Companions of the cave were young people.

2. They were together and were supporting each other.

3. They had deep faith in One God and were under threat to be

killed for their faith.

4. They were at a loss that their fellow countrymen could not see

the folly of their beliefs.

5. They took refuge in a cave.

6. They were deeply devout. The Qur’an mentions their sincere

prayers to their Lord

7. They had full trust in their Lord.

8. God helped them in a mysterious ways and gave them full protection.

a. The cave received the warmth of the sunlight, but in such a

way that they were not discovered or seen from outside.

b. God made them turn sides, like a mother keeps turning her

little baby in the crib

c. Their dog was in front of the cave

d. The scene was frightening for the outsider, so that no one

could enter the cave.

9. When they woke up they did not know how long they slept.

10. They sent one of them to buy some food for them; but they did not

want to be discovered because they were afraid that their countrymen

would kill them and force them to abandon their religion.

11. God made them wake up at a particular time so that people may

learn some lessons:

a. God’s promise is true

b. The resurrection will take place.

12. People did not learn the lesson but kept arguing what kind of

monument to build for their honor. God tells the Prophet and the

Believers that they should not argue about the unnecessary details of

this story; they should learn its basic message.

V. Some lessons to learn:

It seems that the Qur’an has abstracted this story from its

particularities and has universalized it for all people and for all

times. The story could be of people of any time or place. It could be

the story of the people of any faith; but it has a message and this

message should be learned. The message is:

1. There is only one God. Stay firm on this faith.

2. Do not give up your faith under hardship or trials

3. God has unique ways to help those who are sincere and faithful

4. Time and history are all in the power of God and God has total

control over them.

5. Material power is not permanent; it is the spiritual that will abide.

6. People of truth are found in all places and times; truth is

not the exclusive property of any one group or nation.

7. God tests people. Those who suffer are not necessarily bad

people and those who prosper are not necessarily good people.

8. The truth will ultimately succeed.

9. God’s promise of help and support is true.

10. The Resurrection will definitely take place.

WHY IS PORK FORBIDDEN IN ISLAM?

2010-08-12T02:10:00.000-07:00

Bob: Tell me why is it that a Muslim is very particular about the words Halaal and
Haraam; what do they mean?

Yunus: That which is permissible is termed Halaal and that which is not permissible is
termed Haraam and it is the Quran which draws the distinction between the two.

Bob: Can you give me an example?

Yunus: Yes, Islam has prohibited blood of any type. You will agree that a chemical analysis
of blood shows that it contains an abundance of uric acid, a chemical substance that can be
injurious to human health.

Bob: You're right about the toxic nature of uric acid, in the human fact we are told that 98% of the body's uric acid is extracted from the blood by the kidneys and removed through urination.

Yunus: Now I think that you'll appreciate the special prescribed method of animal slaughter in Islam.

Bob: What do you mean?

Yunus: You see, the wielder of the knife, whilst taking the name of the 'Almighty', makes an incision through the jugular veins, leaving all other veins and organs intact.

Bob: I see, this causes the death of the animal by a total loss of blood from the body,
rather than an injury to any vital organ.

Yunus: Yes, were the organs, example the heart, the liver, or the brain crippled or damaged, the animal could die immediately and its blood would congeal in its veins and would eventually permeate the flesh. This implies that the animal flesh would be permeated and contaminated with uric acid and therefore very poisonous; only today did our dietitians realize such a thing.

Bob: Again, while on the topic of food; Why do Muslims condemn the eating of pork or ham or any foods related to pigs or swine.

Yunus: Actually, apart from the Quran prohibiting the consumption of pork, bacon (pig flesh); in fact the Bible too in Leviticus chapter 11, Verse 8, regarding swine it says, "of their flesh (of the swine another name for pig) shall you not eat, and of their carcass you shall not touch; they are unclean to you." Further, did you know that a pig couldn't be slaughtered at the neck for it does not have a neck; that is according to its natural anatomy.

A Muslim reasons that if the pig was to be slaughtered and fit for human consumption the Creator would have provided it with a neck.
Nonetheless, all that aside, I am sure you are well informed about the harmful effects of the consumption of pork, in any form, be it pork chops, ham, bacon.

Bob: The medical science finds that there is a risk for various diseases as the pig is found to be a host for many parasites and potential diseases.

Yunus: Yes, even apart from that, as we talked about uric acid content in the blood, it is important to note that the pig's biochemistry excretes only 2% of its total uric acid content, the remaining 98% remains as an integral part of the body.

Change Your Mood, Change Your Life

2009-11-17T06:12:00.000-08:00

How To Train Yourself To Be In The Mood You Want

When you have major changes going on in your life, or you’re just frustrated about where you are, it’s easy to get trapped in a cycle of depression, bad moods and frustration. I know, I’ve been there … and when I’m not careful, I still get there more than I want to.

But lately I’ve had a particularly hard time, as I make some major (positive) changes in my life. I hit these moments where I’m in a foul mood, or I’m just feeling paralyzed, and I’m just stuck. Sometimes I just stew in that and stay there, but sometimes I actually get intelligent and pull my way out of it..

I’m going to outline the framework that I’ve been using over the last 30 days to really get myself resourceful and motivated (and in a better mood) when I’m feeling stuck. Hopefully it will help you, too, and if you do I truly hope you’ll share it with others.

First Up: Using A Framework to Escape From Paralyzing Emotions

When we feel bad, it’s hard to “feel good” again. You can’t just wish yourself better, and when you’re in a stuck place, you don’t generally have the mental energy to pull out. Willpower doesn’t help, and “positive thinking” sure as hell doesn’t help. But falling back on a framework of steps does help, because we humans function well when we have a set of steps to follow..

The reason for this is that steps take the emotion out of our situation and give us direction to simply act. Duck and Cover. Stop, Drop, and Roll. When you know with certainty what to do next, you’re in a much stronger position to take action, even when you’re panicking. (And it doesn’t have to be words, either – just think of Lamaze breathing, which expectant mothers practice well ahead of time so they can slip back into it during the stress of labor.)

You can call these verbal step-by-step tools anchors if you want, because they’re ways to anchor your emotional state to a time where you knew what to do and you felt prepared. So I’m going to lay out a framework that you can use as your own anchor when you need to reset your mood, and while it’s seven steps long, it’s hella effective at getting the job done.

The seven steps form the acronym ACT FAST, and I picked that because I felt that it was a pretty empowering term as it forces you to presuppose you have a workable course of action. So let’s dive in.

A: AGREE With Yourself That You Don’t Want To Be In This Mood Right Now.

This seems hokey, but it’s important for this reason: Once you agree with yourself that this is not the right mood for you, you’re revoking permission to stew in your own juices and keep the “pity party” going. Think about it: When we’re mad, the thing we hate the most is when someone tries to cheer us up, because on some level we want to be mad and stay mad, or be depressed and stay depressed.

And that’s not always a bad thing. Maybe we want to stay sad because on some level we know we need to hang out in this mental state and really look at what’s making us sad, to really connect with it and deal with it instead of pretending it doesn’t exist. Maybe we want to stay mad because we’re not finished processing our emotions and figuring out what our situation means and what we’re going to do about it..

So don’t take this as me saying “man up and stop crying.” What I am saying is that at some point if you want to move forward in a functional way, and not feel paralyzed, you need to agree that this stage of emotion has to be finite, it has to come to an end so you can deal with the solution that the emotion demands of you. When you’re ready to deal with it, you agree with yourself that you’re ready to shift gears.

Let’s say you’ve lost your job and you’re freaking out about what to do. You could tell yourself something like, “Okay, I’m ready to stop being scared of this situation now.” Then you move on to the second step.

C: CLARIFY The Mood or Emotion You Want To Move Towards.

Now that you’re ready to change, you need to make sure that you know where you’re headed so you have something you can focus on. It’s not enough to say “I just don’t want to feel this way anymore,” because then you’re still swimming in the Sea of What You Don’t Want.

You need to have a focus.

It could be as simple as defining the mood you want to be in with a single word or two. Resourceful. Confident. Infectiously Happy. Stable. Calm. Controlled. Helpful. Pleasant. Civil. Generous. Whatever it is, you need to give it a name.

Then you combine it with the last thought, so you can tell yourself something like “I’m ready to stop feeling scared and start feeling resourceful.”

There’s nothing magical about these words, and again, it’s not positive thinking. This is all about creating something you can say to yourself to pull the emotion out of your mental state and focus on what you can do next and what you can influence.

When you start getting scattered and lose track of where you are, and you’re stressing, you can fall back on your statement: “I’m ready to stop feeling scared and start feeling resourceful.” You’re putting yourself back in control and you’re ready for the next step.

T: TAKE Responsibility For Taking Immediate Action.

Now that you know what you want to move away from and what you want to move towards, it’s time to face reality: It ain’t gonna happen unless you make it happen. You’re going to have to consciously accept responsibility for getting yourself in a better state.

This is a big deal, because it means that you‘re going to have to revoke permission to blame other people so you can do this. Note that I’m not saying that you’re absolving other people of blame – if someone just screwed you over, then they’re still at fault, and you don’t pretend that didn’t happen.

But focusing on that is not going to help you get to your desired emotional state. You have to take full responsibility for what thoughts you’re going to focus on and what attitudes you’re going to reinforce, because no one is going to do it. No one is coming to your rescue.

You want out of this emotion? You’re going to have to do it yourself. the good news is you totally can do it yourself, and we’re going to cover that in the next four steps so you can get there.

So now our statement to ourselves gets a little longer – it’s something like, “I’m ready to stop feeling scared and start feeling resourceful, and I’m going to make that happen right now.”

We’re going to move into four questions right now, and you’ll need to memorize them so you can get yourself back on track instantly when you’re backsliding into the emotional state you don’t want to be in.

F: “What Would I Need To FOCUS On To Feel this Way?”

This question is a really empowering one, because it forces you to stop thinking about the things that are draining you and gets you to acknowledge that there are things you can focus on that will give you more mental and emotional energy.

When you ask yourself this question, you’re putting yourself on the spot – you’re saying, “Hey, if I wanted to feel resourceful (for this job loss example), what would I need to focus on?” You’re presupposing the answer is available to you rather than saying “How do I get out of this funk?”, which is an open ended question that invites an “I dunno …” response.

Think about it. If you were feeling resourceful in this job loss situation – imagine that you were for a second – what would you be focusing on in order to feel resourceful? Would you be thinking of all your contacts and references, about renewing old work relationships?

Would you be taking stock of all the online job boards, or maybe sites like LinkedIn? Or would you be revisiting your skills and experience and seeing if another career would be more fun?

Ask yourself this question, and write down the answers. You’ll need that written note to look back on when the painful emotion you’re moving away from resurfaces. Have a written library of answers to this question and you can benefit from it when you’re feeling emotionally unable to conjure up answers later.

Sometimes the answer can be external as well. The first part of my career was spent in software testing, and that’s some boring stuff. It’s frustrating to test the same thing 100 times and not feel totally unmotivated. But I’d focus on something external – like the road trip I was going to take with this week’s pay – and that would keep me going.

In one case I was testing training Army courseware for avoiding/disarming landmines, and after the 1,000th retest I was so bored out of my skull I wanted to scream. But I told myself that if I focused on testing it until it was 100% ready, then it would save people’s lives in the field. Someone’s Dad would be coming home because they didn’t trip a landmine or trigger a roadside bomb. That didn’t make the job less boring, but it gave me a sense of purpose and a better emotional state.

So think: What would you have to focus on to move towards the mood you want? There’s always an answer. Find it and write it down.

A: “What Would I Need To ACT On To Feel The Way I Want To?”

Now that you’ve established what you need to focus on, you need to address what kinds of actions you need to take to build up that feeling. If you’re depressed and you want to feel happier, maybe you ask yourself, “How can I help 3 people today?” and you do something simple like send an encouraging email, or meet them for lunch, or just send $25 to a charity of your choice in someone else’s name.

Action is important because it’s extremely difficult to feel your way into a different way of behaving. You know this, or you wouldn’t be stuck in the first place. When you’re feeling scared or mad or depressed, you can’t just manufacture emotion to get yourself going.

But if you do something – if you take action – you can behave yourself into a different way offeeling. And it doesn’t have to be directly related to your own issue if that’s causing you friction. If you hate your life situation and you can’t figure out how to make it better, then focus on helping 5 other people feel better. Be an encourager, and that will help you pull out of that sense of depression. Trust me, it works, because it breaks your pattern of feeling helpless and connects you with other people.

But that’s just the start – it’s all well and good to take external actions to get your emotions jump-started, but you also need to get a sense of the actions you need to take relative to your own problems. In the FOCUS step you will probably come up with things you need to not only focus on, but actually do, and you need to make a list of those actions and start running with them.

Sometimes that’s hard to do – the motivation wanes – and that’s when you fall back on the FOCUS step again. It will help you get in a better frame of mind to take action.

Moving on, you’ll also need to ask yourself,

S: “What Would I Need To SURROUND Myself With To Feel The Way I Want To?”

This is an overlooked concept when it comes to mood change. Your surrounding environment plays a huge factor in your mood, and if you don’t consciously take control over it, you’re leaving power “on the table.” When you arrange your environment in ways that empower you, the chances of you keeping the mood you want to be in go through the roof.

Right now I’m writing this while listening to epic soundtrack music – I personally find that isolating my ears via headphones and keeping high-adventure music going keeps me focused and motivated. It’s hard to feel complacent when listening to instrumental tracks like “A Storm Is Coming” and “Rise of the Destroyers” are drowning your ears in epic symphonic goodness.

I know that this kind of music helps me kick ass, but you’ll have your own environmental triggers. Maybe it’s classical music or R&B, or maybe it’s just the silence of an empty room (or noise-cancelling headphones). Maybe it’s a clean desk, or maybe it’s a desk littered with action figures and crazy stuff. Maybe it’s wearing your favorite hat, brewing a certain kind of coffee or lighting some incense.

It does not matter what it is - it just matters that you become aware of it, and you leverage it to help create the emotional state you want. Whether it’s keeping the counters clean, making the bed, soaking in hot bath or cranking up Aerosmith, get a feel for what makes it easier to be in the moods you want to be in. Then make it easy to build that environment when you need it.

T: “What Would I Need To TELL Myself To Feel The Way I Want To?”

This is where it all comes together – the part where the rubber hits the road and you have to fight against the emotions you want to move away from. This is where the previous steps all kind of combine and you create this little script you can say to yourself, a litany of conscious choice, as it were, to recalibrate yourself when you’re struggling.

Maybe it’s something like this for the freaking-out-about-the-job-loss example:

“I’m ready to stop feeling scared and start feeling resourceful, and I’m going to make that happen right now. I’m going to focus on the resources I have, like the 50 past co-workers who can get me leads, the job boards online and the in-demand skills I can show on my resume. I have everything I need to make this crazy time less crazy and I know what to do next.

I’m going to make a plan for getting (or creating) the job I want and set aside 3 hours a day to take serious action. I’m going to neaten up my home office so I can think straight, and make it a relaxing place to work in the meantime.”

If you read this over and over again, what do you think would happen? Would you keep freaking out about your job? Or would you start feeling a little bit better?

Yeah, This Takes Some Work, But What The Hell Else Are You Doing?

Most people, if they’ve read this far, will say, “That’s too much work, Dave.” But seriously, if you’re paralyzed and feeling terrible, you have time on your hands already. You’re just using that time to stew in the emotion instead of making it finite and taking action. I know how it feels, I fight it all the time.

But this is a way out – or at least the beginning of the way out for you. And it’s easier than you think, because once you understand this process, 9 times out of 10 you won’t have to use all of it. You’ll just be sitting there stewing and say to yourself, “What would I have to focus on right now if I wanted to get my ass up and exercising?” or “What would I need to change about my surroundings right now to feel a little bit happier?” and that will be enough to get moving.

The quality of your life revolves around the quality of the questions you ask yourself on a minute-by-minute basis.

I HAVE A DREAM Martin LutherKing

2009-08-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

(January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968) was a Nobel Laureate, Baptist minister, and African American civil rights activist. He is one of the most significant leaders in U.S. history and in the modern history of non-violence, and is considered a hero, peacemaker and martyr by many people around the world. A decade and a half after his 1968 assassination, Martin Luther King Day, a U.S.
holiday, was established in his honor.
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in fte midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is tSS languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. id a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall kir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 5 is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her titizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has
given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead
us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their
presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.
And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and
the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."1
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and
the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of
brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the
heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an
oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor
having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" — one day
right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with
little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain
shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be
made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it
together."
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, From every mountainside, let freedom ring! And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Too Beautiful Not To Share

2009-08-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

Anger is a condition in which
The tongue works faster than the mind .

You can't change the past,
But you can ruin the present
By worrying over the future!

Love...and you shall be loved.

God always gives His best to those
Who leave the choice with Him.

All people smile in the same language.

Everyone needs to be loved...
Especially when they do not deserve it.

The real measure of a man's wealth
Is what he has invested in eternity.

Laughter is God's sunshine.

Everyone has beauty
But not everyone sees it.

It's important for parents to live
The same things they teach.

Thank God for what you have,
TRUST GOD for what you need.

If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow,
You have no today to be thankful for.

Man looks at outward appearance
But the Lord looks within.

The choice you make today
Will usually affect tomorrow.

Take time to laugh, for it is
The music of the soul.

Patience is the ability to idle your motor
When you feel like stripping your gears.

Love is strengthened by working
Through conflicts together.

.
Harsh words break no bones
But they do break hearts..

To get out of a difficulty,
One usually must go through it.

We take for granted the things
That we should be giving thanks for.

Love is the only thing that can be
Divided without being diminished.

Happiness is enhanced by others
But does not depend upon others.

For every minute you are angry with someone,
You lose 60 seconds of happiness
That you can never get back.

Do what you can, for who you can,
With what you have, and where you are.

PRACTICAL HEALTH GUIDES

2009-03-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

Healthful Hints (The best health tips)

Introduction

They are effective and easy to follow.... many are based on recent research, while others were known in ancient times. But they have allbeen proven to be effective. So keep this guide close at hand and make the advice it offers a part of your daily life.

How to Fight Aging

Did you know that just walking for 30 minutes, 3 or 4 times a week is enough to combat aging?

According to researchers at the University of California, one of the principle causes of deterioration of the human organism's physical faculties is its diminished ability to metabolize glucose. And they showed that even leisurely exercise, like taking a walk, plays an important role in keeping glucose metabolism functioning smoothly.

Do you spend the whole day sitting at your desk or in front of a computer screen? Why not get up occasionally and do a few minutes of physical exercise? Don't worry about what other people think.

In some Japanese companies, it is even become a collective habit. Every twenty minutes a bell sounds, and everybody gets up to do some stretching exercises, after which they sit down againas if nothing had happened. Japanese managers are convinced that their employees are more productive when they are relaxed.

Are you anxious?

Is worrying one of your characteristics? Well, stop! It is okay to

worry, but at the right time.

Psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania tell patients who

suffer from anxiety to regularly do a daily twenty minute “worry

session,” always at the same time and in the same place. Collect your

head full of worries during the day (don’t suppress them!) and then

pour them out during your daily worry session.

Exaggerate your worries to the point of absurdity - knit your

brows, make faces, let the sweat flow, shake and cower as much as

you like. In other words, make a caricature of the part of yourself that

is always worried, and in so doing exorcise it.

Eliminating worry will help prevent numerous psychosomatic

illnesses, which result from living in a state of permanent anxiety.

Care for your heart while you sleep

In which position do you sleep?

If you sleep on your stomach or on your left side, you are putting

pressure on your heart with the extra body weight, while the heart has

to continue pumping blood as usual.

This additional burden wears the heart out more quickly. Think

about it - you spend more than one third of your life sleeping!

To reduce the strain on your heart, sleep on your right side, or on

your back. This simple technique will add years to your life.

How to avoid cancer caused by smoking

If you smoke, you can greatly reduce the risk of contracting

cancer by drinking carrot juice. This according to the German Doctor

Hans Nieper, founder of Eumatabolic Medicine, a new alternative

mode of treatment which has become very popular in Germany. The

carotene found especially in carrots prevents and can even cure

cancer.

Dr. Nieper states, “If you smoke 60 cigarettes a day but drink 4

glasses of carrot juice, you will still be less prone to contract cancer

than someone who doesn’t smoke but who doesn’t drink carrot juice.”

Of course, if you don’t smoke and do drink carrot juice all the better!

Avoid eye problems caused by T.V. and monitors

The eye was not made to be constantly focused on close objects.

If your work requires that you stare at a computer screen all day long

or if you watch a lot of television, stop from time to time to do a few

eye exercises.

For example, roll your eyes in large circles in both directions;

look over to each side as far as possible and then go from up to

down; or scan an imaginary text on the wall from left to right; or look

out the window as far as you can following the horizon then return to

a point right in front of you and begin again.

In this way, you will avoid long term eye problems, you will

enlarge your inner space, and relax both your eyes and your mind.

How to beat asthma

Asthma partially obstructs the bronchial tubes, making breathing

difficult. The cause of asthma is still not known. But if you are an

asthma sufferer, you can, through natural means, considerably reduce

the number of asthma attacks you get.

A placebo study has shown that asthmatics who consume 1 gram

of vitamin C per day had 4 times fewer attacks. When they stopped

taking vitamin C, the attacks resumed with the same frequency as

before (Trop. and Geog. Med., Vol. 32, Mo. 2, 1980).

As for magnesium, it also works wonders! Dr. Zack H. Haddad

of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southern California

conducted a study on thirty children suffering from asthma associated

with allergies.

Twenty of them drank a daily amount of mineral water rich in

magnesium, while the others received no magnesium supplement.

After three months, the first group had a higher level of magnesium in

their blood, and they were able to breathe more easily.

So taking vitamin C and magnesium is an excellent way to

prevent asthma attacks.

But what can you do to breathe more easily during an attack?

Simply drink 2 or 3 cups of strong coffee. By activating blood

circulation, it eases respiratory blockage.

Losing weight: The Pakistani method

Pakistani women have an amazing trick they use to stay slim: they

keep a string permanently tied around their forearms. According to

Dr. Drupas, a gentle but constant pressure on the nerves in the

forearm stimulates certain glands, particularly those involved in

weight control (thyroid, suprarenals).

Why don’t you try it? Find two ordinary rubber bands and place

them around your right forearm, one third of the way up between your

wrist and elbow.

The rubber bands should exert noticeable pressure without cutting

off blood circulation and should not slip or slide when you move

your arm. This is not a tourniquet!

For best results, you have to wear the rubber bands constantly,

even at night when you sleep. It is also recommended not to wear any

other jewelry on the right arm.

What to do when you get something in your eye

Got some dust in your eye? Or some other irritant like an eyelash or

cigarette ash? You can use the following technique to help others as well

as yourself.

Before doing anything, make sure you don’t do what you absolutely

shouldn’t: rub or press the eye, lift the eyelid, or remove contact lenses

without washing your hands.

How to proceed?

· Examine your eye. Is it red? Swollen? Is it tearing? What do you

feel? Does it itch? Burn? Is your vision blurred?

· Let nature do its work - it is usually effective. Tears and natural eye

movements will usually get rid of the irritation.

· Try rinsing your eye with some warm water, or with drops. You

can pull on the skin around the eyes, but don’t touch the eyelid.

· If this doesn’t work, wash your hands, and then lift both the upper

and lower eyelids to locate the irritant. Is it on the inside of one of the

eyelids, or is it stuck to the eyeball itself? Pour some sterilized, warm

water on your eye to flush the irritant out.

· If you can’t locate the irritant or if the discomfort persists after you

have removed the particle, you would better consult a doctor.

A few tricks for treating insect bites

You don’t have to sit back and just passively put up with insects,

especially those that like to bite (mosquitoes, wasps etc.). Eat

asparagus and your sweat will develop an odor that repels insects. Or

apply lemon oil to your skin.

If you are bitten, there are natural substances to soothe the

irritation. Aloe vera has extraordinary powers of soothing skin

disorders. It is available in forms for both internal and external

application in most health and beauty stores.

If you have one of these amazing plants growing at home, cut the

tip off one of the leaves (the leaf will heal itself). Apply the pulp and

juice to the itching or swollen area.

Lightly boiled cabbage or leek makes an excellent analgesic

poultice. Of course, if you are hiking in the woods, you might have a

little trouble finding cabbage! Plantain also works well. Cut it and rub

it to get to the juice then apply it to the affected area.

How to get rid of liver spots

If you have liver spots, it is up to you to get rid of them.

May be you took too much sun, without using the proper

precautions like sunscreen, gradual exposure, etc. If you continue

ignoring your skin in this way, you might end up looking like a lizard!

Liver spots can also result from a thyroid deficiency. The thyroid

gland must therefore be stimulated through a variety of means. For

example, brown seaweed tablets: take one a day every morning, for

fifteen days a month.

Or apply a cream composed of 1 teaspoon oxygenated water and

4 1/2 tablespoons lanovaseline every morning and night.

Aloe vera (see previous chapter) is very effective in treating skin

disorders. Daily application of aloe vera over a period of time can

eliminate liver spots completely.

Also take a look at your nutrition: the real problem might lie in

what you do or don’t eat, like a diet too high in fat.

Treat diarrhea without medication

If you have ever been to a tropical country, you have probably

experienced diarrhea: frequent and uncontrolled evacuation of liquid

stool caused by bacteria in local water, milk or food.

Diarrhea can also be caused at home by excesses in diet (a diet

that is too rich) or an allergic reaction to certain foods or medication

or even by stress.

To treat diarrhea, avoid all solid food on the first day. Drink

liquids like water, apple juice, meat or vegetable boullion and tea.

These will compensate for your loss of water - dehydration being one

of the main dangers of diarrhea - and will give your intestines a

period of rest.

If you have stomach cramps, rub your hands together for about a

minute. Then place both palms on your abdominal region. The heat

will soothe the pain.

On the second day, eat small quantities of solid food. Among the

least irritating are cooked cereals (especially rice), biscuits and soft

boiled eggs.

You can also try charcoal. It comes in tablet or capsule form (you

can also get it off burnt toast!)

Chinese medicine has always considered ginger one of the best

remedies for diarrhea. Dilute a tablespoon in hot water and

add honey.

Use seaweed to stimulate your immune system

Japanese seaweed possesses remarkable immunizing properties,

especially in fighting cancer. Japanese researchers at the University of

Kitasato have discovered 6 kinds of seaweed which inhibit the

growth of colon cancer cells in rats, notably two types of Laminaria.

Laminaria extract has proven 70% to 84% effective in suppressing

intestinal tumors.

Wakame, another Japanese seaweed, is now familiar to many

Westerners, thanks to the arrival in the west of Japanese macrobiotic

cooking, which uses it a lot.

Pharmacologists at the University of Hawaii injected rats with an

extract of this substance. They found that the seaweed helped prevent

and cure cancer. The researchers claim that Wakame fights cancer by

activating and strengthening the immune system. It can be found in

most health food stores.

How to prevent motion sickness - naturally

Did you know that half a teaspoon of ground ginger is more

effective than chemical medication in suppressing motion or sea

sickness? And unlike most medication, it will not make you drowsy.

Ginger has been used in the Orient for centuries to prevent sea

sickness.

Researchers asked subjects who were especially susceptible to

motion sickness to sit in a reclining chair that spun around at high

speed. All the subjects who ingested a well known medication or

who took a placebo experienced violent nausea and/or vomiting.

On the other hand, six of the twelve subjects who took ginger

twenty minutes before the test experienced no discomfort. They

consumed only 840 milligrams of ground ginger, which is the

equivalent of half a teaspoon.

The Japanese have a very curious method of treating all kinds of

motion sickness. They use an adhesive plaster to fasten an

“umeboshi” (a very salty fermented plum, available in most health

food stores in the West) to their navel. The idea may seem a little

strange, but what have you got to lose!

The anti-allergy vitamin

So much has been said in praise of Vitamin C. So it is not

surprising that it is also effective in treating allergic reactions like

hayfever.

We recommend taking Vitamin C in the form of ascorbate rather

then ascorbic acid. When taken in ascorbic acid form, it can cause

gastro-intestinal disorders.

To fight an allergic reaction, you should consume up to 8 grams.

5 grams are necessary, on average. Start with a dose of 3 grams.

Every three hours, take another 1 or 2 grams, until the symptoms

disappear completely.

How to prevent Flatulence (Aerophagy)

Aerophagy results simply from “eating” air. The condition is not

dramatically serious, but it does bloat the stomach and can prove

embarrassing (stomach gurgles, etc.)

How to prevent it? Above all chew your food properly and savor

it fully. Swallowing too much is a direct cause of aerophagy. So don’t

swallow needlessly.

Don’t drink a lot when you eat. Avoid tobacco and alcohol,

cabbage, radishes, doughy bread, strong spices and bubbly drinks.

Don’t eat food that is too hot or too cold.

And pay attention to the kinds of food you eat together: make a

note of any combination that seems to provoke an attack and avoid it

in future.

How to put an end to heartburn

Heartburn usually results from excess acidity in the stomach, or

from improper functioning of your digestive system.

At the point where the esophagus and stomach join, a special

muscle opens and closes the esophagus. When we swallow food this

muscle relaxes to let the food pass into the stomach after which it

closes again.

But it can happen that the muscle malfunctions. The contents of

the stomach then rise back up the esophagus, irritating the area. And

this results in the infamous feeling of heartburn.

How to stop it? Avoid acidic foods (lemons, etc.), alcohol, fat

or fried food, food that is overcooked, coffee, juice, tomato base

products and chocolate. But don’t deprive yourself too much. Rather,

observe which foods bring on heartburn and avoid them. Also, don’t

go to sleep right after eating (you should eat supper around 7 o’clock)

and don’t smoke, especially after meals.

A miracle remedy

If we offered you a miracle remedy that prevents cardiac disease,

certain types of cancer, diabetes, obesity, tooth decay and varicose

veins, would you buy it? Certainly you would.

There is such a product. But it is not a recent discovery and you

won’t find it in a pharmacy but at the grocery store. We are talking

about fiber.

A study conducted in Holland on 871 men, over a period of ten

years, showed that subjects who had a low fiber diet were three

times more susceptible to mortal disease - causes notwithstanding -

than those who ate a lot of fiber (Future Youth).

This said, it cannot be confirmed at present that fiber prevents

the above mentioned diseases in all cases. But there is conclusive

proof that they occur more frequently in populations with low fiber

diets which is precisely the case in the west.

According to The Lancet (the British Medical Journal) a diet

which contains at least 37 grams of fiber per day (the equivalent of

one cup of bran, one apple, one potato and a half cup of cooked

spinach) can effectively protect the organism against chronic illnesses

common to western society.

So fiber is useful in combatting many disorders

besides constipation.

Reducing your cholesterol

To reduce cholesterol:

· First cut down on saturated fats. To do this:

· Eat lean meat. Select lean cuts and ask your butcher to cut off

the fat.

· Drink skim milk instead of whole milk.

Do the same for all dairy products. Note that vegetarians have a

much lower cholesterol level (almost twice as low as average) which

is perfectly understandable, since cholesterol is only found in

products derived from animals.

· Alcohol - in moderation. Not more than two glasses a day.

However, it does appear that drinking a moderate amount of alcohol

raises the number of HDL lipids (the good ones!), which break down

cholesterol. (Moderation = two 4 oz. glasses of wine or two 12 oz.

beers.)

· Do regular exercise, for example walking.

· Take Vitamin E. It reduces the risk of coronary disease.

· Calcium brewer’s yeast, Vitamin C and Vitamin B-6 also

combat the accumulation of cholesterol. And don’t forget lecithin,

which helps fight excess cholesterol, arteriosclerosis, hypertension.

Digest better

There is a plant for each type of digestion problem.

· AIGREMOINE is useful when the stomach problem is

accompanied by enteritis, diarrhea and/or chronic liver infection. It

helps tone a lazy digestive system. And it also helps regularize acidity

and soothe ulcers by improving metabolism.

3 or 4 cups a day. 3 1/2 to 4 tablespoons per quart of water.

· ANGELICA is a digestive, an aperitif, a stimulant, a tonic. It

decongests and soothes stomach pains and swelling.

Prepare an infusion (tea) preferably using the fresh plant: 3 1/2

tablespoons of roots per quart of water. If your stomach is very

swollen, prepare and drink 3 cups per day made of 5 tablespoons of

seeds per quart of water.

· ANISE is a soothing digestive. It aids digestion and the

elimination of intestinal gas, it soothes stomach cramps, aerophagy,

dyspepsia (contractions of the digestive organs, dizziness and a heavy

feeling after eating).

2 or 3 cups per day, after meals: 2 tablespoons of seeds per quart

of water.

· CAMOMILE: a digestive, sedative, anti-inflammation agent

and tonic. It helps painful or difficult digestion, stomach cramps,

gastro-intestinal spasms, loss of appetite, and it helps expulsion of gas.

Menstrual cramps - suffer no more!

To reduce the intensity of menstrual symptoms, you can change

your diet:

· Less sugar, and slightly more protein.

· Diuretic foods such as eggplant, cucumbers and parsley can help

diminish water retention.

· Calcium supplements (1 gram per day) and magnesium (500

milligrams) can help reduce anxiety (always take both).

· Vitamin B-6 (not more than 50 milligrams per day) can alleviate

symptoms of anxiety and tension.

· Vitamins E and C also help reduce the intensity of cramps.

· Aspirin has a mildly soothing effect.

· And once again you can turn to plants to relieve your pains:

* ANGELICA in infusion: 3 1/2 tablespoons of root per quart of

water.

* MATRIX (derived from the Latin for womb): 2 teaspoons of

flowers per quart of water.

Stop catching colds

As much as possible, avoid coming into close contact with

infected persons, especially if they cough or sneeze.

A person with a cold is extremely contagious: he or she fills the

air with fine particles of saliva or mucous which transport the virus

microbe. Even if the person is careful to wipe his nose with tissue or

a handkerchief, the microbes will be transported to his hands.

And studies have shown that these viruses are transmitted through

hand contact. So if you have to shake hands with someone who has a

cold, you would better wash soon after!

What can you do if you do catch a cold?

It is useless to take antibiotics: they have no effect on viruses.

However, there are certain substances found in alcohol which help

decongest sinuses, that is why a good hot toddy can work wonders.

But take care of your liver: a toddy is just as good with a little rum as

with a lot.

You don’t have to get drunk to get better. You don’t even have to

drink it - just sniff some strong alcohol like cognac or brandy and

breathe in the fumes.

Use heat to cure

Everyone has heard about how good a sauna feels, and of the

relaxing effect of a steam bath which bathes you in hot vapor.

But there are other heat treatments which are equally beneficial.

Heat relaxes the muscles and ligaments. When applied locally, for

example, with hot towels, it can ease muscle spasms. It can also

reduce arthritic pain. Heat dilates the blood vessels, which in turn

activates circulation.

Applied to a wound, it can prevent infection by helping white

blood corpuscles and fresh oxygen surround the area more quickly.

How to combat fatigue

First make sure you are sleeping enough.

Is your nutrition sufficient? In general women need at least 1200

calories per day and men 1500.

Avoid monotony: a varied diet will be more likely to provide the

nutritive elements you need to conserve your energy.

The sensation of fatigue may be stress-related, especially when

you experience emotional stress. Do you feel tense at work or at

home?

Lastly, don’t neglect physical exercise. Tired or not, get out in the

fresh air every day. Walking is the minimum effort necessary for

staying in shape.

Protect yourself against cancer

Radical liberals are not a political group, but a kind of very

active molecule that is suspected of being one of the causes of cancer.

How can you protect yourself? Diet plays an important role here,

especially in the absorption of anti-oxidants. The strongest

anti-oxidizing agent is Vitamin E, which is found in wheat germ oil

and sunflower seeds.

Next comes Vitamin C (oranges, grapefruits, lemons, red peppers etc.).

Beta carotene also absorbs large amounts of radical liberals.

This substance seems to act as a protecting agent against most types

of cancer.

Where do you find it? In red vegetables (like tomatoes), orange

ones (carrots), yellow (squash), and dark green (broccoli). All these

are rich in beta carotene. So make them a regular part of your menu!

Prevent high blood pressure

Research has shown that people whose diet is rich in potassium

(vegetarians for example) are less likely than others to develop high

blood pressure.

Calcium is also beneficial. Fortunately, potassium and calcium

are abundantly present in a large variety of foods.

Fruits, vegetables, beans, fish, fowl and lean meats are full of

potassium.

Calcium is a little more restricted. Foods rich in calcium usually

also contain large amounts of sodium and fat, which can increase

blood pressure.

However, moderate amounts of milk are recommended, as well

as yogurt, almonds, bananas, grapes, broccoli, potatoes, beans, tofu

and sardines.

Iron strong health

Without iron, there would be no hemoglobin in the blood.

Hemoglobin gives red corpuscles their color. And it is the

hemoglobin that carries oxygen to all parts of the body.

If you lack iron, an insufficient supply of oxygen in your

hemoglobin will produce sensations of fatigue, headaches and

shortness of breath.

Men don’t have to worry too much: most men have a reserve of

iron stored in their body that could last 3 years !

But women, because of the menstrual cycle, need twice as much

iron as men.

And the amount is even higher for pregnant women. Vitamin C

doubles the amount of iron the body absorbs: so it is a good idea to

add a glass of tomato or orange or grapefruit juice to every meal.

On the other hand, tea reduces the amount of iron absorbed by

50% and coffee by about 39%.

Aging with a healthy body and mind

Did you know that sexual activity can keep you looking good as

you age? Studies conducted in Sweden have shown that elderly

people who have sexual partners have much more vitality and a better

memory than those who do not.

So don’t let your golden years deprive you of the pleasures of

sex !

Just forget about the obsession of having to “perform” - the final

result is less important than the stimulation itself.

The Flames of Love

2009-02-25T05:52:00.000-08:00

"For you i have lived all these days, with my lips sealed"

"For you i have lived all these days, with my unshed tears"

"But in my heart, the flames of love"

"Have always been burning for you, only for you"

"Life has brought me..."

"A volume of old times"

"And i am surrounded by countless memories"

"Unasked i have now found all the answers i sought"

"Look, what i yearned for..."

"And what i got....."

"But in my heart, the flames of love"

"Have always been burning for you, only for you"

"How can i describe the cruelty of this world"

"I was ordered that i have to live but without you"

"Unwise are those who say that to me you are unknown"

"So many ordeals, were heaped on me by this world"

"But in my heart, the flames of love"

"Have always been burning for you, only for you"

""For you i have lived all these days""With my lips sealed""

"Only for you Only for you"

The Caravans of our dreams

2009-02-25T05:20:00.000-08:00

"Just for tow moments, the Caravans of our dreams made a stop"

"And then you went your way and i went mine"

"Just for tow moments,existed the story of our hearts"

"And then you went your way and i went mine"

"Was that really you or was it a luminous sunbeam"

"Was that you or was it a blossoming bud"

"Was that you or was that the monsoon of my dreams"

"Was that you or was that a cloud of happiness"

"Was that you or was it a full blooming flower"

"Was that you or did i find a beautiful new world"

The Paradox of Our Time

2009-01-21T01:26:00.000-08:00

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but lower morals; we have more food, but less appeasement; we build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology has brought this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to make a difference, or to just hit "Skip Ahead"...

" Tell them i Love them,then Hug them for me! "

How were Destroyed Homosexual Peoples

2009-01-17T01:36:00.000-08:00

PROPHET LOT (LUT) (peace be upon him) (لوت علیہ سلام)

The Advent of Prophet Lut(Lot):

The Prophet Lut (peace be upon him) was contemporary of Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him). He was a nephew and

follower of the Faith of his uncle. He was the resident of Ur, an ancient town in Mesopotamia God conferred prophethood

upon him.

He was commanded to leave his native land and go to Sodom and Gomorra to warn and reform the people who were

indulged in grave sins such as homosexual intercourse and robbery. The Holy Qur'an says:

"And Lut (remember) when he said to his folk: Will you commit abomination such as no creature ever did before. Lo! you

come with lust unto men instead of women. Nay, but you are wanton folk." (7:80, 81)

In another Verse the Holy Qur'an throws a light on the character of those sinning people. It says:

"What? Do you not come to males and commit robbery on the highways and do evil deeds in your meeting?" (29: 29)

The Prophet Lut Preaches and is Opposed:

The Prophet Lut (peace be upon him) was an alien to those people. He began to preach the religion of God energetically.

He advised the people to guard themselves against the punishment from God. He exhorted them to abandon sinful ways.

He told them that God had created woman for them to satisfy their lust. They did not listen to the admonitions of their

Prophet. They ridiculed and threatened him of dire consequences. They retorted that he would be expelled from that

town in case he did not stop preaching and rebuking them. The Holy Qur'an affirms:

"And the answer of his people was only that they said (to one another): Turn them out of your township. They are folk

who seek to keep pure." (7:82)

The same idea is expressed in the following Verses:

"They said: If you desist not, 0' Lut, you will soon be of the outcast. He said: I am, in fact, of those who hate your

conduct. My Lord! save me and my household from what they do." (26: 167-169)

Gradually time passed by and the Prophet Lut (peace be upon him) did not achieve remarkable success on reforming

those sinful persons. They were shamelessly addicted to grave sins and his warnings simply exasperated them.

Angels Appear as Guests:

One day three angels in the disguise of handsome young boys came to Prophet Lut (peace be upon him) and they

conveyed to him a special message from Almighty Allah. The Prophet Lut (peace be upon him) and his followers were

directed to leave the town because something very dreadful was going to happen. When the people got wind of the visit

of charming boys they tried to invade the house of Prophet Lut(peace be upon him) and demanded of him to deliver the

guests to them. The Prophet was much upset and he said:

"O' my people! Here are my daughters! They are purer for you! Beware of Allah and degrade me not in (the presence of)

my guests. Is there not among you any upright man ?" (11: 78)

They rejected this appeal of the Prophet and said:

"Well, you know that we have no right to your daughters and well, you know what we want." (11:79)

The Prophet was much disappointed and said:

"Would that I had strength to resist you or had some strong support." (11: 80)

The Angels Convey Message:

The Prophet Lut (peace be upon him) warned the people of the inevitable punishment in case they insisted on

committing indecency. They laughed and doubted his character. When all efforts were ended in smoke, the angels who

were in the form of human beings, said:

"O' Lut, Lo! We are messengers of thy Lord; they shall not reach thee. So travel with thy people in a part of the night and

not one of you turn round all save thy wife." (11:81)

The Prophet Lut is Delivered and his Nation Destroyed:

The Prophet Lut (peace be upon him) and his adherents left the city in the fagging part of the night and took shelter in a

place of safety. Soon after an uproar took place. A sudden tremendous noise shock the earth. It was a scary and

dreadful earthquake. The houses crumbled down and lofty buildings smashed to nothing but rubble. The rocks that went

up in the air hit those who tried to escape. All arrogant sinners were completely destroyed. The Prophet Lut (peace be

upon him) and his followers were saved but his wife could not survive because she sympathised with the sinners. The

Holy Qur'an gives a brief description of this mishap in the following Verses:

"Then the (awful) cry overtook them at the sunrise: And We utterly confounded them, and We rained upon them stones

of heated clay. Lo! therein verily are portents for those who read the signs." (15:73-75) The Prophet Lut (peace be upon

him) was admitted to God's

Kill ego and safe Love

2008-12-19T04:38:00.000-08:00

Sometimes love is for a moment, sometimes love is for a lifetime. Sometimes a moment is a lifetime.
Once upon a time there was an island
where all the feelings lived
One day there was a storm in the sea
and the island was about to get drowned.
Every feeling was scared but Love
made a boat
to escape .
Every feeling boarded the boat.
Only 1 feeling was left.
Love got down to see who it was..

It was EGO
Love tried and tried but ego wasn't moving also.
the water was rising.
Every one asked love to leave him and come in the boat, but love was
made to love.
At last all the feelings escape and Love dies with ego on the island..

Love Dies because of EGO!

So, Kill Ego And Save Love.....
"Argument wins the situations but loses the person. So when argue with your loved ones, remember that situations is never more important than your loved ones"
Have a great day with your love ones....

GOOD DEFINITIONS - FUNNY

2008-10-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

School:
A place where Papa pays and Son plays.

Life Insurance:
A contract that keeps you poor all your life so that you can die Rich.

Nurse:
A person who wakes u up to give you sleeping pills.

Marriage:
It's an agreement in which a man loses his bachelor degree and a woman gains her masters.

Tears:
The hydraulic force by which masculine willpower is defeated by feminine waterpower.

Lecture:
An art of transferring information from the notes of the Lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through 'the minds of either'

Conference:
The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

Compromise:
The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece.

Dictionary:
A place where success comes before work.

Conference Room:
A place where everybody talks, nobody listens and everybody disagrees later on.

Father:
A banker provided by nature.

Boss:
Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early.

Politician:
One who shakes your hand before elections and your Confidence after.

Doctor:
A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you by bills.

Classic:
Books, which people praise, but do not read.

Smile:
A curve that can set a lot of things straight.

Office:
A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.

Yawn:
The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth.

Etc.:
A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.

Committee:
Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.

Experience:
The name men give to their mistakes.

Atom Bomb:
An invention to end all inventions.

Philosopher:
A fool who torments himself during life, to be wise after death

VALUABLE WORDS

2008-10-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

Quran in MP3 free download with english translation

2008-08-19T07:03:00.000-07:00

Free downloading

TRULY AWESOME STORY

2008-08-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

Next time you think life is hard "think again"

My name is Nick Vujicic and I was born without limbs and doctors have no medical explanation for this birth "defect". As you can imagine, I was faced with many challenges and obstacles. Their firstborn son had been born without limbs! There were no warnings or time to prepare themselves for it. The doctors we shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this had happened and Nick now has a Brother and Sister who were born just like any other baby.

I know that there is no such thing as luck, chance or coincidence that these "bad" things happen in our life. I had complete peace knowing that God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless God has a good purpose for it all I am now twenty-threeyears old and have completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting. I am also a motivational speaker and love to go out and share my story and testimony wherever opportunities become available. I have developed talks to relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today's teenagers. I am also a speaker in the corporate sector.

I have a passion for reaching out to youth and keep myself available for whatever God wants me to do, and wherever He leads, I follow. Writing several best-selling books has been one of my dreams and I hope to finish writing my first by the end of the year..

It will be called "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!"

I believe that if you have the desire and passion to do something, and if it's God's will, you will achieve it in good time. As humans, we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all! What's worse is putting limits on God who can do all things. We put God in a "box". The awesome thing about the Power of God, is that if we want to do something for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability for we know that it is God through us and we can't do anything without God. Once we make ourselves available for God's work, guess whose capabilities we rely on? God's!

The ONLY FEAR IN LIFE IS THAT I FORGET HOW GOD HAS LED ME IN THE PAST! And remember: WHEN YOU'RE BUSY JUDGING PEOPLE,

"YOU HAVE NO TIME TO LOVE THEM"

ABOUT MONEY

2008-08-17T01:31:00.000-07:00

WITH MONEY YOU CAN
BUY A HOUSE,
BUT NOT A HOME.

WITH MONEY YOU CAN
BUY A CLOCK,
BUT NOT TIME.

WITH MONEY YOU CAN
BUY A BED,
BUT NOT SLEEP.

WITH MONEY YOU CAN
BUY A BOOK,

BUT NOT KNOWLEDGE.

WITH MONEY YOU CAN
SEE A DOCTOR,
BUT NOT GOOD HEALTH.

WITH MONEY YOU CAN
BUY A POSITION,
BUT NOT RESPECT.

WITH MONEY YOU CAN
BUY BLOOD,
BUT NOT LIFE.

WITH MONEY YOU CAN
BUY SEX,
BUT NOT LOVE.

BOSS vs ME

2008-08-17T00:45:00.000-07:00

When I Take a long time to finish,
"I am slow"

When my boss takes a long time,
"He is thorough"

When I don't do it,
"I am lazy"

When my boss does not do it,
"He is busy"

When I do something without being told,
"I am trying to be smart"

When my boss does the same,
"He takes the initiative"

When I please... my Boss,
"I am apple polishing"

When my boss pleases his boss,
"He is cooperating"

When I make a mistake,
"You're an idiot"

When my boss makes a mistake,
"He's only humen"

When I am out of the office,
"I am wandering around"

When my boss is out of the office,
"He's on business"

When I am on a day off sick,
"I am always sick"

When my boss is a day off sick,
"he must be very ill"

When I apply for leave,
"I must be going for an interview"

When my boss applies for leave,
"It's because he's overworked"

When I do good,
"My boss never remembers"
When I do wrong,
"He never forgets"
thank you for reading

Quite famous crime in Malaysia

2008-08-07T01:14:00.000-07:00

Introduction

I am talk about the quite famous crime in Malaysia. These include pickpockets, snatch theft, house breaking, rape and sexual abuse kids. In our assignment, we discuss about what these crime is, how it happens, the effects or consequences and the way to prevent the crime.
Nowadays, our country is becoming more danger than before. When we go out at night, maybe we will meet a snatch theft that snatches our things or maybe someone will kidnap you too. It is really dangerous when going outside at night. But, I can tell you that while it is still day we can be in danger too. People are more horrible than ghost now. They will do anything just to get something. They will not care about the consequence. It is very horrible.
Crimes are happening around us every day. When we read the newspaper every day, they will be news is about crime, no matter what crime it is. So, we should appreciate our life and always stay alert when we are out from the house to prevent these crimes happen to our life.

House Breaking

The meaning of break in is a person goes in to a house silently and without asking the permission of the house owner and go in to the house. This person will steal anything that is expensive or valuable. Usually, they will go in where nobody is home.
This crime case is happen where the theft force opens the windows, grille gates or doors. The other way is cutting the padlocks, and grilles, or maybe gaining entry through neighboring house or shop. The most careless for the owner is gaining entry by using household tools left outside the house.
Lock all the doors and windows when you are not in the house. Do not left any valuable things in your house. The snatch theft usually is well prepared when they plan to break in someone house. So, everyone must prepare not to give a chance to let them break in our house. Tell your neighborhoods to always take alert and keep an eye on your house while you are away.
The punishment for this crime is to jail them not less than 18 months and not more than 10 years, and a fine. This punishment is only for day. While housebreaking and theft by night is to jail of not less than 2 years and not more than 14 years and a fine.

Child Abuse

Child abuse means that the child is abuse from his or her family without the children knowing. Most of the child abuse happens when they were still babies or abuse when they are in the child’s home or any other place. How does it happen?
Child abuse now is as common as it shocking. The child neglected by his or her family. Their family thinks that the birth of them is an unlucky or a bad thing. Usually child abuse happened when the child mother accidentally pregnant and they have no ability to take care of them, so they decide to leave them and abandon them. Their parents wish to give birth to them but unfortunately they can’t raise them up. The main reason is because economy problem. They do not wish to let their child suffer so they decide to abuse them, neglect them.
The most pity is the child actually. They do not have any people to accompany them and the abuse will lead them to a dark end with no hope. Their family thinks that abuse them is the best way to let them survive but they are wrong. The caring of the family is the most important to the child. They are just only a little kid which does not know anything. All they need is just the love of the family.

Pick Pockets

What is a pickpocket? Pickpocket means that it is a thief who steals from pockets without anyone knowing. Usually, this crime is not violent and it is an easy way to get some extra money without hurting the victims. Pick pockets usually happened in a place where there are crowded or a place where are full of people. Even if suspected, a pickpocket can clam ignorance and just say they bumped into the person. These pick pockets are hard to catch unless you have the evidence.
There are all sorts of pick pockets in the world. In Malaysia, pick pockets usually happened in the bus, lrt or train because these public transport is full of people when morning and evening. This is a chance where pick pockets can steal from you. When the pick pockets discover you carry some money and valuable things like a brand new style cell phone, they will steal it when you are not paying attention and the thief can disappear into crowds easily.
Pick pockets like easy targets. A skilled pick pocket can hit almost any pocket, but they prefer easy targets. Open bags, outside pockets of a backpack or shoulder bag, these will cause their attention. For example, you put your wallet in a back pocket when crowded or full of people, I am sure that you can’t find your wallet when you go back home. Other than that, please do not think that pick pockets is only for adult but sometimes a kid will do a pick pocket as well. So, be very careful when you are outside the house. Only you can protect yourselves.

RAPE

The meaning of rape means it is an unwanted sexual intercourse. The victims are forced but not volunteer to do so. Sometimes, rape also called sexual assault, it can happen to both men and woman of any age.
Rape is about power but not sex. A rapist uses actual force or violence to force the victims to have sex with them. The rapist is taking control over another human being. Some of them are using drugs to take away a person’s ability or tie them up. No matter how it happened, rape is frightening and horrible.
A people who have been raped before, they need comfort, care and a way to recover. They will feel depressed and alone. They need friends and the support of the family. The rapist is such a horrible person. They are irresponsible. After they get their so call happiness, they ran away just like a mouse. This crime is seriously affecting the woman. In Malaysia, the victims usually will be killed by the rapist. Nowadays, human being is more and more horrible. We are human but some of them acting like wild animal. Why? The world is changing. People do not care about the consequence anymore.
Surely, rape is not about passion and has nothing to do with love. Rape is only an act of aggression and violence only. There is nothing more but just this. We must take good care of ourselves and stay alert.

Snatch Theft

In Malaysia, snatch theft is a very general crime case. Snatch theft is a criminal act of forcefully stealing from a person while employing rob-and-run tactics. It is typical for two thieves to work together and ride a motorcycle to make theft escape easier. A person drives the vehicle while another does the act of theft itself. However, some of the snatch thief works alone or do not use a motorcycle to rob. They just walk closely to the victims and snatch their handbags away.
Lately, some instances of snatch theft have caused fatalities through subsequent acts of violence. They not only wish to get the money but sometimes they do hurt people by forcing them to give the theft money. Nowadays, there are so many snatch thefts around us. It is frightening. This crime happens when the snatch thefts approaching victim when they are not alert and no people around, then snatch the handbag or necklace or cell phones from the behind of the victim. Through this action, the victim maybe falls down and hurt them.
If the theft has been caught, he will be jail term which may extend to three years or a fine or both. The other one is when a person convicted of theft with assault or criminal force is liable to a jail term of not less than one year and not more than seven years and caning. This is the consequence of what the theft did.

Vehicle Theft

Vehicle theft, or sometimes we call motor vehicle theft, is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle, including a car, a bus, motorcycle or any other vehicle. These thefts sometimes maybe steal the things inside the car or steal the whole car.
The theft either by breaking and entry, followed by hotwiring or other tampering methods to start the vehicle to steal it. The theft also takes the vehicle by force or threat of force from its owner or operator of the car. In most places, this is the most serious form of theft, since assault also occurs. The operators and passengers are forced from the vehicle while the thief drives it away or maybe the passengers are forced to remain in the vehicle as hostages. This usually happen when a child is left in the vehicle or a person is having a nap and the theft decide to steal the car.
Mostly, the victims report as soon as the theft left or discovers their car has lost. Vehicles stolen are less likely to be returned to their owners, since they have been dismantled, and some of the parts have either been sold as replacement parts or built into new vehicles. The vehicles most frequently stolen are Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and some expensive cars which cost a lot. But, nowadays, except the old type pattern and broke car, the theft will steal any model of car just to get some money.

Crime rate of Kuala Lumpur

City CID chief Senior Assistant Commissioner (II) Ku Chin Wah said that the Kuala Lumpur crime rate dropped by 7.1% last year compared to 2006. The number of cases reported last year was 29,473 while there were 31,740 cases in 2006.
The solving rate for violent crimes and property crimes improved to 54.7% and 33.2% respectively. Snatch theft cases decreased by 999 cases while general property theft cases dropped by 2,308 cases. 37.5% of serious crime cases were solved.
However, violent crimes such as rape and unarmed gang robbery spiked up last year. Unarmed gang robbery saw a 95% increase, the largest jump which police attributed to a reclassification exercise conducted in October 2007. Amendments were made to Section 391 of the Penal Code, which now defines gang robbery as robbery committed by two or more people, instead of five or more people previously.
The number of rape cases increased from 147 in 2006 to 228 last year, up 55%. As rapists usually know their victims, the solving rate of such cases was 91.2%.
Motorcycle and car thefts increased by 667 cases, rising to a total of 9,995 cases. House break-ins have the biggest increase in the property crimes index with 2,489 cases last year, up 448 from 2006. (According to The Star Online, Cops, Crime Rate down 7-percent)

The causes of crimes

Poverty:

People suffer from the financial problems like lost in their investments. They borrow money from illegal financial company such as “along” to pay their debts. When they have no money to pay for “along”, so they choose to do crimes to get the fast money.
People lose jobs because of the economy unstable. Nowadays, people hard to find job in the society.
They want to get the money easily and they do not want to work to earn money because they are lazy to work. So they do crimes to get the money easily and quickly.

Unhealthy lifestyle

People will lose their rational after taking the drug and alcohol. They do the crimes in unconsciousness circumstance.
They watched X-rated movies since they are young; they are under influence of adults. They will learn from the movies and do the crimes like rape when they are sexual needed.
They watched too much aggressive and violence movies. They will get the media impact immediately and learn from the movies. They will do crimes when somebody makes them angry.
People do crimes when they felt so stressful. They do crimes to reduce their pressure because crimes can satisfy their need. They enjoy other people suffering.

Family

Some criminals come from single family. They are lack of love because no people regulate and love them.
Parents do not play the role models. Parents are the model for the kids. Kids will learn from their parents. They will cope what their parents do.
Parents are not caring and concern them. Parents only work to earn money. They always neglect their children. Parents thought they only need give their kids money can satisfy their needs. Parents do not know what their kids need. Their kids need their concern and caring.
Parents not give appropriate education to the kids since they are young. Parents do not teach their kids what is right or wrong.

Friends influence

People know some friends that have no good personalities such as smoking, always skip class, not respect to teacher and no discipline.
Friends influence them and ask them do the crimes together. They are easily get influence from friends so they will obey their friends. They will follow what their friends ask them to do.
Some people will do crimes because they scare their friends will look down on them. They do not want their friends look down on them so they do crimes when their friends ask them to do.

Effects and consequences of crime

We discuss about the crime early and found out that if these crimes still happen, the effects and consequences of crimes will be more serious and most important the people here will be in very danger that can easily lost their life.
The first effects of crime are the people will worry about their life everyday and worry everyday when they go out from the house. They dare not to go out because of crime they will maybe get hurt or die. Thieves nowadays are cruel and bad. When they get what they want, they would not let you go easily but will kill you or hurt you because they scare the victims will recognize them and report to the police.
The next effects or consequence of crime is about girls. Girls are weak and not strong. When they face crime like rape, they will have side effect. They will maybe afraid of anyone and will not talk to anyone anymore. Some girls can face the situation but most of the girls can’t. The victims will remember what happened to her before and they will not forget this incident. They will suffer forever because of this incident. Some will be insane or psychology problems.
The third effect of crime is the resident of Malaysia will not trust this country or the police anymore. They will feel that the police here can’t even protect the resident of Malaysia. The people here do not have the confident to the police. This will cause the name of Malaysia drop and no tourist will come to Malaysia anymore because here is dangerous. Then, our economy will drop and our country will slowly going down

How to Prevent the Crimes

Break In

Firstly, make sure that all your doors are securely locked. Besides that, locked yourDoor every time when you go out, even for a few minutes. Moreover, make sure your porch and all entrance or other areas are well lighted. Other than that, do not hide your keys under the doormat or in a flowerpot, because there are the most obvious places and also install an alarm system for summoning emergency help as long as you can.

Snatch Theft

Avoid carrying excess cash and displaying it in public. You can use your charge card or credit card for purchases. Besides that, sling your handbag in front of you, so that you can keep eye on it and make sure that is properly fastened or zipped. More than that checks your wallet or handbag immediately if someone bumps into you. Do not be fooled by strangers who try to distract you by creating a commotion or offering to help to clean to your soiled clothing and try not to doze off in public transport or leave you belongings unattended.

Rape

Rape is a violent crime that is something you or others should not experience. However, when a rape occurs, you should not accept it as “fate” or bad luck as most cases can be prevented when you are alert to your surroundings especially in dark and quiet places. Other than that, you may portray confidence while working and make sure other female passengers accompany you when traveling by public transport. Moreover, you should inform your family about your plans and where you are going. However, you also can learn some martial arts or self-defense for your own protection.

Vehicle Theft

Although it is increasingly difficult to prevent vehicle theft by professional thieves’ facts indicate that such crimes can be prevented as many cases or theft are carried out by amateurs and can be prevented easily when you park your car at well-lit areas. Besides that, lock your car doors as soon as you get into your car and also ensure that all the doors are locked before leaving your vehicle. Moreover, do not hand over your car key to a jockey or remove the faceplate or CD player when leaving your car.

Sexual Abuse of Children

Children are innocent and gullible. They are without doubt very precious to you. It is therefore important to prevent them from falling prey o tragedy. Thus, make sure you teach your children to know their bodies, and the proper names of their private parts. Other than that, let your children know that no one’s have the right to touch them without their permission. Except it, urge them to tell you anything out of the ordinary. After that, teach them not to open the home doors to strangers and must be attentive and listen to what they say....

Conclusion

After all of you know and understand the knowledge about crimes, we hope that all of you will be alert at anywhere, anytime and especially girls, we all must always be confident and better to do not let anyone to harm us. It is also a way to avoid those rapists and snatch theft to hurt us too.
anyway we do teach you all some methods to prevent these crimes happen to us. We hope that our methods can be useful in future time and the resident of Malaysia can remember that in your mind, so that it will not easily happen to you. I can say that if you trust yourselves better than you trust other people or the police.

Recommendation

First, police should reinforce their cruises especially the places that always happen the crimes cases. It will help to decrease the opportunity of the crimes cases happen.
Second, people should avoid bring too much money when they are go out. They also should avoid wear too many jewelers because it will attract the criminal’s attention.
Third, people should not be alone when they at outside. They should find somebody such as family, friends or partner when they want to go out. It is because go out alone is very dangerous.
Fourth, people should report to the police when they found somebody is doubted or got some strangers tail them. They should call the 999 immediately to make the report. thanks for read

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ENGLISH translation of "Quran"

2008-08-06T23:19:00.000-07:00

Complete ENGLISH translation of "Quran"

URDU translation of "Quran" (Kanzul eman)

2008-08-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

Complete URDU translation of "Quran" (Kanzul eman)

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

2008-08-04T01:54:00.000-07:00

George Carlin's Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. 'How old are you?' 'I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. 'How old are you?' 'I'm gonna be 16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21 YESSSS!!! But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed? You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would! So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I Was JUST 92.'Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!' May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop' And the devil's name is Alzheimer.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,but by the moments that take our breath away.

History of Prime Minister Pakistan

2008-08-04T00:40:00.000-07:00

{ Liaquat Ali Khan / Khawaja Nazimuddin / Muhammad Ali Bogra / Chaudhry Muhammad Ali / Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy / Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar / Feroz Khan Noon / Mohammad Ayub Khan / Nurul Amin / Zulfikar Ali Bhutto / Muhammad Khan Junejo / Benazir Bhutto / Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi / Nawaz Sharif / Balakh Sher Mazari / Nawaz Sharif / Moeenuddin Ahmad Qureshi / Benazir Bhutto / Malik Meraj Khalid / Nawaz Sharif / Pervez Musharraf / Zafarullah Khan Jamali / Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain / Shaukat Aziz / Muhammad Mian Soomro/ Yousaf Raza Gillani ........ }

From 1958 until 1973, no person held the title of Prime Minister due to martial law.
The office was again suspended from July 5, 1977 until March 24, 1985 due to martial law.
The office was again suspended from June 9, 1988 - August 17, 1988.
¹On October 12, 1999, Pervez Musharraf overthrew Nawaz Sharif, and took the title of Chief Executive. On June 20, 2001, he took title of the President of Pakistan. Pervez Musharraf was chief executive from (October 12, 1999 to November 23, 2002 (de facto till 14 Oct 1999, de jure from 14 Oct 1999).
Elections were held on October 10, 2002 leading to the return of the position of Prime Minister

Faith to do the Impossible

2008-08-01T03:08:00.000-07:00

"Every thing is possible"

Dear Friends, we are sure to face with impossibilities in our daily life, but God loves to carry us through, and making what’s impossible become possible. You see, It was impossible for Abraham and Sarah to have a child in their old age, but God made it possible. It was impossible for Moses to lead the Israelites walking across the Red Sea, but God made it possible. It was impossible for Joshua to take down the whole city of Jericho, but God made it possible. It was impossible for David, a shepherd boy to kill the giant Goliath, but God made it possible. It was impossible for human to die and rise again, but Jesus made it possible. It may be impossible for us to be the best students scoring straight A’s, but God will make it possible. It may be impossible for us to be the best employee or best business man in our field, but God will make it possible. But before you can do the impossible through God, there are two keys you must have. Turn to your neighbor and say
“two keys you must have”

Key No,1:-

To See the Invisible

Now what is invisible means what our eyes cannot see. So what do I mean by seeing the invisible? Does that mean o suddenly you have X ray vision, o you can now see the spirits in the invisible realm, you can see heaven and angels flying and singing….Not like that! Turn to your neighbor and say “not like that”. So how do we see the invisible? Although our natural eyes cannot see what is invisible, but our spiritual eyes can see what is invisible, which is the eyes of faith. The bible says that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” Notice that faith is the EVIDENCE of things NOT SEEN. So what is the evidence since you have not seen it? The evidence is the vision we have in your heart that the things not seen, the invisible, is going to happen and coming to past, because we can visualize it through your spiritual eyes, the eyes of faith. We can visualize the end results of the invisible things we hoped for, in our heart.
Let me read to you Genesis 15: 5-6 ~ Then God brought Abraham outside and said, “Look now toward heaven and, count the stars if you are able to number them.” And Abraham believed in the LORD, and the LORD accounted it to Abraham for righteousness.
Here Abraham was longing and hoping to have a son, but he was old and Sarah was barren at that time. But God wants Abraham to visualize that he will be father of many nations and his descendants will be more than the stars in the sky. So God wants Abraham to see what was invisible at that time, God wants him to visualize it through the eyes of faith. And what happened then, God gave Abraham a son, and from the son came the whole nation of Israel, and God’s promise to Abraham came to past. Hallelujah!!!
Last year, there is a time when I was desperate to have a new computer table. But I didn’t have the money to buy it. Somehow, I still went shopping for it; and when I finally found the computer table, I just lay hands on it and prayed. From that moment on, I have the confidence, the faith that I’ll have it, even though it’s still invisible, because I begin to visualize it, I can feel that it’s in my room already. Lo and behold, two weeks later, God answered my prayer. Hallelujah!!! Come on! Somebody give the LORD a big clap!

Key No,2:-

To perform the impossible

Now, if you can see the invisible, you can perform the impossible. In fact, you must perform the impossible, because faith without deeds is as good as dead. And here’s how Jesus performed the impossible.
In Matthew 14: 16-21 ~ Here Jesus asked his disciples to feed the five thousand men that followed Jesus that day. But his disciples said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” Jesus said, “Bring them here to Me.” Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave to the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
So what is impossible here are five loaves of bread and two fish to feed five thousand, and yet Jesus speak forth His Word by faith, and it all became possible. All we have to do is to see the invisible, and then perform the impossible.

Introduction to PDA

2008-07-24T02:41:00.000-07:00

PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)

PDA, known as personal digital assistant broad wide is a mobile device that provides a lot of personal organizers function such as calendar, appointment book, address book, calculator, and notepad. PDA can be used as is a handheld computer, also known as small or palmtop computers…
Modern PDAs also have both color screens and audio capabilities, allowing the user to use it as a mobile phone too. PDAs are used to save information that can be accessed at any time and anyplace. PDAs also offer other application such as Real One Player – a media software that is use to run songs and movies, not only that, PDA has a touch screen for users to enter data, a memory card slot for data storage and it have IrDA-(known as Infrared Ray), Bluetooth and/or WiFi. However, many PDAs may not have a touch screen, so the user will opt to use alphanumerical keypad, a directional pad and either the scroll keypad or a thumb keyboard for entering the input purposes. Connected PDAs also characteristically include E-mail and Web support
Most modern PDAs have the following features as a minimum:-

! Colour screen

! Stylus pen

! Standard software: calendar, address book, notepad and more

! Sound

! Large memory (no less than 16MB) and the memory can also be expanded by using external memory-memory cards as PDAs provide memory card slots.

! Wireless link (IrDA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi)

! PC link

! Enormous range of software that can be installed to the PDA.

Text input is usually done in one of four ways:-

Virtual keyboard – when the keyboard is shown on the screen, which is the touch screen. The entering of data can be done by tapping letters or numerical character on the screen.
External keyboard – this keyboard can be connected via USB port or via Bluetooth
Word or letter recognition- when letters or words are written on the screen, the system will try to identify the letters or words written and will then be activating the texts or words thru text field.
Stroke recognition-a clear set of strokes represents the various letters needed. The user will learn how to draw these strokes on the screen. The strokes are often the simplified character shapes to make them easier to remember.
Nowadays Blackberry and Treo-(both are the PDA brand) have full keyboard and scroll wheels to smooth the progress of data entry and navigation. Meanwhile, Apple i phone and i touch uses a different kind of input by including a new user’s interface and a technology called Multi Touch. These days PDA is equip with a memory card slot unlike the PDA in the good old days. The memory card slot is used to slot in either SD (Secure Digital) or a Compact flash card. The card is used to store any information or data that is saved by the user when the PDA internal memory is full. Most of the PDAs nowadays have Bluetooth wireless connectivity; Bluetooth is popular in these days for PDA and other mobile devices. It can be used to connect keyboards, headsets, GPS and many other accessories, as well as sending files between PDAs and other mobile devices that is bluetooth enabled too.Many mid-range and superior PDAs have Wi-Fi/WLAN/802.11-connectivity, used for connecting to Wi-Fi hotspots or wireless networks. Older PDAs predominantly have an IrDA (infrared) port; however the modern models of PDA seldom have the technology, as it is slowly being phased out for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. PDA has a important function which is called the synchronization. Most PDAs come with the ability to synchronize to a PC. This is done through the synchronization software provided with the handheld, such as HotSync Manager, which comes with Palm OS handhelds, Microsoft ActiveSync for older versions of Windows or Windows Mobile Device Center on Windows Vista, which comes with Windows Mobile handhelds. The synchronizing function that is done from the software also prevents the loss of information stored on the device in case it is lost, stolen, or destroyed. Another benefit gain from this function is that data input is usually a lot quicker on a PC, since text input via a touch screen is still not quite favorable. Transferring data to a PDA via the computer is therefore a lot quicker than having to manually input all data on the handheld device. PDAs are also used during educations, sports, automobile navigation and for the people with disabilities and more.
PDA is used during education as a vital tool as mobile technology has become very common; it is no astonishment that personal computing has become a very important learning tool by this time. Educational institutes have commenced a trend of integrating PDAs into their teaching practices which is also known as mobile learning. With the capabilities of PDAs, teachers are now able to provide a joint and learning experience and knowledge for their students. PDAs and handheld devices are recently allowed by certain educational institutions for digital note- taking and sometimes the notes are sent to their PDA. By allowing students to have this kind of note taking, this has increased the students’ capability by allowing individuals to have spell check, amend and modify their
notes or is best known as e notes. Educators are currently able to distribute course material through the use of the internet connectivity or thru Bluetooth file sharing function from the PDA, not only the educators are doing it, nowadays, textbook publishers have launch and begun to release e- books which can be directly uploaded to the PDA. This has lessen the burden of students that is used to carrying heavy books around and this method helps to reduce the sawing of trees, which means less trees are been sawed down as less papers are being used now to produce books. Simple programs such as dictionaries, thesaurus and word processing software are downloaded to the PDA to ease the students from bring any heavy dictionaries and reference books.
PDAs are also used in the form of sports as glider pilots-(light aircraft designed to fly without the engine) pilots As PDAs is used for pre- flight preparation and to help out on the assisting of the navigation as the PDAs are GPS-(Global Positioning System) enabled to generate map displays that shows the tracks to the turn points, airspace hazards and etc. PDAs is also used by sportsman or athletes with some music enthusiasm as they can play songs while doing their favourite workouts and activities. PDAs can be used by road rally enthusiasts for calculating distance, speed, time, and GPS direction-finding as well as solo navigation.
PDAs help and give assistance for those drivers that don’t recognize the route to a place as PDA is equipped with GPS( Global Positioning System), it can be used to view the traffic condition, the easiest and fastest way to reach a destination by showing the users the road conditions using 2D or 3D displays. PDAs offer partial degrees of accessibility for people with differing abilities, based on the particular device and service. People with vision, hearing, mobility, and speech impairments may be able to use PDAs on a limited basis, and this may be enhanced by the addition of accessibility software (e.g. speech recognition).
Many PDAs run using different type and variation of architecture, although most PDAs are usually use the symbol by the Intel Xscale trademark; it is usually surrounded by some of RISC microprocessors that are widely used by PDAs and other mobile devices.

The currently major PDA operating systems are:-

! Palm OS - owned by PalmSource

! Windows Mobile Professional and Classic for use on Pocket PCs, (based on the Windows CE kernel) - owned by Microsoft

! iPhone OS - owned by Apple Inc.

! BlackBerry OS - owned by Research In Motion

! Many operating systems based on the Linux kernel - free (not owned by any company) These include

Familiar (comes in three types: GPE, Opie and barebone)

OpenZaurus (for Zaurus PDAs)

Ångström, a descendent of OpenZaurus

Intimate (for PDAs with an exceedingly large amount of memory)

! Symbian OS (formerly EPOC) owned by Motorola, Panasonic, Nokia, Samsung, Siemens and Sony Ericsson……………

There are some popular brands for PDAs which is the Blackberry, HP iPAQ, i Pod touch, i phone,dopod, Htc and more.

The benefits and drawback of the device to the user…

Benefits of PDA to the user…

! PDAs can be used anytime and anywhere.

* Ease the burden of students as they can now bring fewer books.

* They can have their notes in the electronic form thus they can also have their spelling check, notes amended, and lots of things done including homework on their PDAs.

* They can share their e notes with their friends with just a click- meaning sending notes thru file sharing functions and / or with Bluetooth.

* They can send push e mail to their educators and friends about their notes.

* They can use the GPS function available in their PDA to search for the fastest and easiest ways to a destination

* It is used to store contacts and information for those who has lots of friends, clients and colleagues contact numbers. This will help them build a larger scale of communication with others

* They can use the PDA as their MP3 player too, but with a twist that they don’t need their MP3 player, they just need their PDA as PDA is equipped with Real One Player for the users to plays song and watch movies too.

Drawback of PDA to the user...

* Users (students) tend to rely on the dictionary and self check function to correct their grammatical mistake for their homework.

* Students use PDA to send and share answers during exam and chatting and gossiping with others while having exam.

* Users rely too much on the GPS function available on their PDA and can’t even memorize or remember the route to go from one destination to the other.

The Evolution of Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)

A personal digital assistant (PDA) is a handheld computer which is also known as small or palmtop computer. Newer PDAs nowadays have both colour screen and audio capabilities, enabling them to be used as mobile phone (smartphone), web browser or even portable media player. Most PDAs have access to the Internet, intranet or extranet via Wi-Fi or Wireless Wide-Area Networks (WWANs). Besides that, most PDAs also apply the touch screen technology.
PDA is created evolving from the innovation from mobile devices with computer technology to provide convenience to the users. Hence, it is actually a mobile phone with added computer enabled functions. Therefore, the history of PDA is actually similar with the history of the creation of mobile phone. In December 1947, Douglas H. Ring and W. Rae Young, Bell Labs engineers, proposed hexagonal cells for mobile phones. Philip T. Porter, also of Bell Labs, proposed that the cell towers be at the corners of the hexagons rather than the centers and have directional antennas that would transmit or receive in 3 directions into 3 adjacent hexagon cells. The technology did not exist then and the frequencies had not yet been allocated. Cellular technology was undeveloped until the 1960s, when Richard H. Frenkiel and Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs developed the electronics. One of the first truly successful public commercial mobile phone networks was the ARP network in Finland, launched in 1971. However, ARP is sometimes viewed as a zero generation (0G) cellular network which is being slightly above previous proprietary and limited coverage networks.
The first generation (1G): The first commercial launch of cellular telecoms was launched by NTT in Tokyo, Japan in 1979. In 1981, the NMT system was launched in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. This was the first mobile phone technology that allowed international use of the mobile phone which also known as “roaming”. The first handheld mobile phone in the US market was the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, which received approval in 1983. Mobile phones began to proliferate through the 1980s with the introduction of “cellular” phones based on cellular networks with multiple base stations located relatively close to each other. At this time analog, transmission was in use in all systems. Soon, Motorola introduced the first truly portable, handheld phone. These systems (NMT, AMPS, TACS, RTMI, C-Netz and Radiocom 2000) later became known as first generation (1G) mobile phones.
Second generation (2G): In the 1990s, second generation (2G) mobile phone systems such as GSM, IS-136 (TDMA), iDEN and IS-95 (CDMA) began to be introduced. The first pre-commercial digital cellular phone call was made in the United States in 1990. In 1991, the first GSM network (Radiolinja) opened in Finland. 2G phone systems were characterized by digital circuit switched transmission and the introduction of advanced and fast phone to network signaling. Generally, the frequencies used by 2G systems in Europe were higher though with some overlap, for example the 900 MHz frequency range was used for both 1G and 2G systems in Europe and so such 1G systems were rapidly closed down to make space for 2G systems. In America, the IS-54 standard was deployed in the same band as AMPS and displaced some of the existing analog channels. Coinciding with the introduction of 2G systems was a trend away from the
larger “brick” phones toward tiny 100-200g hand-held devices, which soon became the norm. This change was possible through technological improvements such as more
advanced batteries and more energy-efficient electronics, but also was largely related to the higher density of cellular sites caused by increasing usage levels which decreased the demand for high transmit power to reach distant towers for customers to be satisfied. The second generation introduced a new variant to communication, as SMS text messaging became possible, initially on GSM networks and eventually on all digital networks. The first machine-generated SMS message was sent in the UK in 1991. The first person-to-person SMS text message was sent in Finland in 1993. Soon SMS became the communication method of preference for the youth. Today in many advanced markets the general public prefers sending text messages to placing voice calls. 2G also introduced the ability to consume media content on mobile phones, when Radiolinja (now Elisa) in Finland introduced the downloadable ringing tone as paid content. Finland was also the first country where advertising appeared on the mobile phone when a free daily news headline service on SMS text messaging was launched in 2000, sponsored by advertising.
Third generation (3G): Not long after the introduction of 2G networks, projects began to develop third generation (3G) systems. Inevitably there were many different standards with different contenders pushing their own technologies. Quite differently from 2G systems, however, the meaning of 3G has been standardized in the IMT-2000 standardization processing. This process did not standardize on a technology, but rather on a set of requirements (2 Mbit/s maximum data rate indoors, 384 kbit/s outdoors, for example). At that point, the vision of a single unified worldwide standard broke down and several different standards have been introduced. The first pre-commercial trial network with 3G was launched by NTT DoCoMo in Japan in the Tokyo region in May 2001. NTT DoCoMo launched the first commercial 3G network on October 1, 2001, using the WCDMA technology. In 2002 the first 3G networks on the rival CDMA2000 1xEV-DO technology were launched by SK Telecom and KTF in South Korea, and Monet in the USA. Monet has since gone bankrupt. By the end of 2002, the second WCDMA network was launched in Japan by Vodafone KK (now Softbank). In March the first European launches of 3G were in Italy and the UK by the Three/Hutchison group, on WCDMA. 2003 saw a further 8 commercial launches of 3G, six more on WCDMA and two more on the EV-DO standard. During the development of 3G systems, 2.5G systems such as CDMA 2000 1x and GPRS were developed as extensions to existing 2G networks. These provide some of the features of 3G without fulfilling the promised high data rates or full range of multimedia services. CDMA2000-1X delivers theoretical maximum data speeds of up to 307 kbit/s. Just beyond these is the EDGE system which in theory covers the requirements for 3G system, but is so narrowly above these that any practical system would be sure to fall short. By the end of 2007 there were 295 Million subscribers on 3G networks worldwide, which reflected 9% of the total worldwide subscriber base. About two thirds of these are on the WCDMA standard and one third on the EV-DO standard. The 3G telecoms services generated over 120 Billion dollars of revenues during 2007 and at many markets the majority of new phones activated were 3G phones. In Japan and South Korea the market no longer supplies phones of the second generation. Earlier in the decade there were doubts about whether 3G might happen, and
also whether 3G might become a commercial success. By the end of 2007 it had become clear that 3G was a reality and was clearly on the path to become a profitable venture.
The first PDA is considered to be the CASIO PF-3000 released in May 1983. GO Corp. was also pioneering in the field. The term was first used on January 7, 1992 by Apple Computer CEO John Sculley at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, referring to the Apple Newton. PDAs are sometimes referred as Palms, Palm Pilot or Palm Tops.
Today, most PDAs are well-equipped with newer technology and with more added advantages. A typical PDA has a touch screen for entering data, a memory card slot for data storage and at least one of the following for connectivity: IrDA, Bluetooth or WiFi. However, many PDAs (typically those used primarily as telephones) may not have a touch screen, using softkeys, a directional pad and some sort of note program. Connected PDAs also typically include e-mail and Web support. Many original PDAs, such as the Apple Newton and the Palm Pilot, featured touch screens for user interaction, having only a few buttons usually reserved for shortcuts to often used programs. Touch screen PDAs, including Windows Pocket PC devices, usually have a detachable stylus that can be used on the touch screen. Interaction is then done by tapping the screen to activate buttons or menu choices, and dragging the stylus to, for example, highlight.

Text input is usually done in one of four ways:-

* Using a virtual keyboard, where a keyboard is shown on the touch screen. Input is done by tapping letters on the screen.

* Using external keyboard or chorded keyboard connected by USB or Bluetooth.

* Using letter or word recognition, where letters or words are written on the touch screen and then translated to letters in the currently activated text field.

* Stroke recognition (termed Graffiti by Palm). In this system a predefined set of strokes represent the various character shapes to make them easier to remember.

PDAs for business use, including the BlackBerry and Treo, have full keyboards and scroll wheels or thumb wheels to facilitate data entry and navigation, in addition to supporting touch-screen input. There are also full-size foldable keyboards available that plug directly, or use wireless technology to interface with the PDA and allow for normal typing. BlackBerry has additional functionality, such as push-based email and applications. Newer PDAs, such as the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch include new user interfaces using other means of input. The iPhone and iPod touch uses a technology called Multi-touch.
The evolution of PDAs today is far different from the day it was first invented. PDAs nowadays are being used in many aspects to make our life easier. In automobile navigation, many PDAs are used in car kits and are fitted with differential Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to provide realtime automobile navigation.PDAs are
increasingly being fitted as standard on new cars. Many systems can also display traffic conditions, dynamic routing and roadside mobile radar guns. Popular software in Europe and in America for this functionality are TomTom, Garmin, iGO and others showing road conditions and 2D or 3D environments. Meanwhile, businesses and government organizations have relied upon rugged PDAs for many years known as enterprise digital assistants (EDAs) for mobile data applications. Typical applications include supply chain management in warehouses, package delivery, route accounting, medical treatment and record keeping in hospitals, facilities maintenance and management, parking enforcement, access control and security, capital asset maintenance, meter reading by utilities, and "wireless waitress" applications in restaurants and hospitality venues. A common feature of EDAs are the integration of Data Capture devices like Bar Code, RFID and Smart Card Readers. In medicine, PDAs have been shown to aid diagnosis and drug selection and some studies have concluded that their use by patients to record symptoms improves the effectiveness of communication with hospitals during follow-up. The first landmark study in testing the effectiveness of PDAs in a medical setting was conducted at the Brigham & Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospitals in affiliation with Harvard Medical School. Led by the team of Steven Labkoff, MD and Sandeep Shah, the Constellation project used Apple's Newton (first PDA in the market) to cater to the demands of the medical professionals. Constellation's objective was to test how clinicians in various medical environments (wired vs un wired) would use medical reference books on a hand-held device. The study validated the hypothesis that PDAs with medical content would be used to a greater degree (>40% more often) in unwired environments. Today, the company evolved from the effort Skyscape offers a wide range of resources including drug information, treatment options, guidelines, evidence based information and journal summaries including the drug & safety alerts. Other entrants include Epocrates and ABX guide, which supply drug databases, treatment information and relevant news in formats specific to mobile devices and services such as AvantGo translate medical journals into readable formats and provide updates from journals. WardWatch organizes medical records to remind doctors making ward rounds of information such as the treatment regimens of patients and programs. Finally, Pendragon and Syware provide tools for conducting research with mobile devices, and connecting to a central server allowing the user to enter data into a centralized database using their PDA. Additionally, Microsoft Visual Studio and Sun Java provide programming tools for developing survey instruments on the handheld. These development tools allow for integration with SQL databases that are stored on the handheld and can be synchronized with a desktop/server based database. On the other hand, PDAs offer varying degrees of accessibility for people with differing abilities, based on the particular device and service. People with vision, hearing, mobility, and speech impairments may be able to use PDAs on a limited basis, and this may be enhanced by the addition of accessibility software (e.g. speech recognition for verbal input instead of manual input). Universal design is relevant to PDAs as well as other technology, and a viable solution for many user-access issues, though it has yet to be consistently integrated into the design of popular consumer PDA devices.

Additional features / functions that may appear in the device in the next 5 years.

The additional features or functions that may appear in the in the next five years will be a fingerprint and iris sensor for the user before they can access to the important information on their PDA. Not only that, a “invisible keyboard”- the keyboard panel will be projected thru laser beams and users can have the keyboard size that the normal desktop computer does without having to bring a bulky external keyboard and it will make the user much more comfortable as the characters available on the keyboard will not be as small and cramped like the external keyboard that is used now. PDA size and diameter of the PDA will be like paper thin and it will be much lighter than the weight of the PDA nowadays. There will also be a mini torchlight, panic alarm and pepper spray detached with the PDA for the safety of the user. The charging for the PDA in the next five years will be partially solar as it helps when the user forget to bring their charger when they are abroad or going out. The PDA will also be installed with a device that will locate the PDA if the PDA is lost by the user, and the user can find it back easily- this can only be used when the user make a police report for the lost of their PDA and the company will then help the user find it back.In the next five years,PDA can also emit the fragrance that the user wants by keying in the product code and the receipt number of the goods.- meaning that the PDA will be the portable fragrance bottle emitter to the user.

Personal reflection:-

I, as one of the group members find that the knowledge gained from this assignment is more than I can imagine as I cant believe that a tiny little PDA will have so many function that I cant imagine. Not only that, from this assignment I learned that PDA can do many things in one time just like the mighty huge computer or laptops that we have at home. Not only that, this assignment also strengthen and providing more information to me towards the technologies that is used by the human now as I used to be an idiot in terms of the latest technology. With the progress of the technology every second, I believe that the knowledge for this device will be much greater than the old days and I hope that the PDA that we will use in the future will be much greater than what we have now because I believe that man will improve, so do the technology.

Personal Reflection:-

After completing this assignment which is on Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), I get to understand more about PDA and its history from the day I was first invented until today. PDA is an innovative creation from the combination of smart phone with computer technology. With this combination, it is more powerful to the user as it provides convenience in one handheld device. From this assignment, I have also learnt on how PDA is evolving from time to time to adapt to human demand and added more advanced technology. Generally, PDA is sort of “small computer” as it has computer software installed in it. It can perform office works, media player, Web browsing with its Internet-enabled function and more. PDA differ from the normal mobile phones as it has more added function where it is a sort of personal organizer that help to perform a lot of different tasks. Today, most of the current computer’s famous companies like Acer, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Ben-Q and others are producing different kind of PDAs besides desktop computers and laptops. However, I have learnt that the most important function of PDA is synchronizing data with a PC. This allows up-to-date contact information stored on software such as Microsoft Outlook or ACT! to update the database on the PDA. The data synchronization ensures that the PDA has an accurate list of contacts, appointments and e-mail, allowing users to access the same information on the PDA as the host computer. The synchronizing also prevents the loss of information stored on the device in case it is lost, stolen, or destroyed. Another advantage is that data input is usually a lot quicker on a PC, since text input via a touch screen is still not quite optimal. Transferring data to a PDA via the computer is therefore a lot quicker than having to manually input all data on the handheld device. Most PDAs come with the ability to synchronize to a PC. This is done through synchronization software provided with the handheld, such as HotSync Manager, which comes with Palm OS handhelds, Microsoft ActiveSync for older versions of Windows or Windows Mobile Device Center on Windows Vista, which comes with Windows Mobile handhelds. These programs allow the PDA to be synchronized with a Personal Information Manager. This personal information manager may be an outside program or a proprietary program. For example, the BlackBerry PDA comes with the Desktop Manager program which can synchronize to both Microsoft Outlook and ACT!. Other PDAs come only with their own proprietary software. For example, some early Palm OS PDAs came only with Palm Desktop while later Palms such as the Treo 650 has the built-in ability to synchronize to Palm Desktop and/or Microsoft Outlook, while Microsoft's ActiveSync and Windows Mobile Device Center only synchronize with Microsoft Outlook or a Microsoft Exchange server.
I, In as one of the group member for this assignment admit that during the beginning of the assignment, I don’t understand what are the functions, usage and the characteristics of the mobile device that we have choose for our assignment which is the PDA, and this make our assignment harder to do, but thru this assignment I learn a lot of information about the PDA, the technology of the PDA, the great invention of these technology that enable us to do a assignment about it.

Private Airplane

2008-07-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

Sultan of Brunei 's Private Airplane This Airbus 340 aircraft was "remodeled" in Waco .. Yes, the sinks are solid gold and one of them is Lalique crystal. The Sultan bought the aircraft for roughly $100M; had it flown to Waco , brand-new, had the interior completely removed; and had the folks at E-Systems (now Raytheon) install $120M worth of improvements inside and outside. kalyanum panena inte sultan matheri orethene panenum...............toilet kodhe gold pa ayyyyyyyooooda...///..,.../////

Define and explain the concept of marketing

2008-07-18T04:04:00.000-07:00

Define and explain the concept of marketing. Discuss the benefits and problems that an organization of your choice would encounter when practicing marketing. Provide recommendations on how your organization can improve its marketing activities

The concept of marketing

According to Philip Kotler, marketing is a social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and values with others. In boarder term, marketing is the analysis, planning, implementation, and control of carefully formulated programs designed to bring about voluntary exchanges of values with target markets for the purpose of achieving organizational objectives. It relies heavily on designing the organization’s offering in terms of the target markets’ needs and desires, and on using effective pricing, communication, and distribution to inform, motivate, and service the markets. (Philip Kotler)
The main key points of marketing are as follows:
Managerial Process involving analysis, planning and control.
Carefully formulated programs and not just random actions.
Voluntary exchange of values; no use of force or coercion. Offer benefits.
Selection of Target Markets rather than a quixotic attempt to win every market and be all things to all men.
Purpose of marketing is to achieve Organizational Objectives. For commercial sector it is profit. For non-commercial sector, the objective is different and must be specified clearly.
Marketing relies on designing the organization’s offering in terms of the target market’s needs and desires rather than in terms of seller’s personal tastes or internal dynamics. User-oriented and not seller-oriented.
Marketing utilizes and blends a set of tools called the marketing mix – product design, pricing, distribution and communication. Too often marketing is equated either with just advertising or with just personal selling.
In marketing, it is always assume that it needs some selling. But the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself. Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy. All that should be needed then is to make the product or service available. (Peter Drucker). Examples: Sony’s Walkman, Nintendo’s superior video game
Marketing includes selling but should be preceded by needs assessment, marketing research, product development, pricing and distribution. Selling focuses on products, aggressive selling and sales promotion with emphasis on price variations to close the sale. Maximize profits through sales volume. Marketing focus on customer needs. Integrated marketing plan encompassing product, price, promotion and distribution, backed up by adequate environmental scanning, consumer research, and opportunity analysis with emphasis on service. Maximize profits through increased customer satisfaction and hence raise market share. The marketing concept is a consumers’ needs orientation backed by integrated marketing aimed at generating consumer satisfaction as the key to satisfying organizational goals. A human need is a state of felt deprivation of some basic satisfaction. (Food, clothing, shelter, safety, belonging, esteem etc.) Abraham Maslow noticed that some needs take precedence over others. They are physiological needs, safety and security needs, love and belonging needs and esteem needs. Human wants are desires for specific satisfiers of these deeper needs. Demands are wants for specific products that are backed by an ability and willingness to buy them. Value and satisfaction can be as follows:

The benefits and problems that an organization would encounter when practicing marketing

The organization can practicing marketing by new product development and development of marketing planning are the most important tools. The study describes the benefits and problems of new product development in the organization when practicing marketing. In second phase it describes development of marketing plan when practice marketing in a organization. There seems to be widespread belief that marketing plays or should play a significant role in the early development of products and that it is combined with other areas of expertise (e.g., industrial design) to address critical user product interaction issues. It is well established that marketing has a critical role in the product development process, particularly in the early. Even so, there is disagreement with respect to the roles of marketing and customer research as well as the importance of various inputs into the new product development process. Listening carefully to customers is among the primary reasons companies are led astray in their decision-making concerning pursuit of new product development opportunities.
Although marketing plays an important role in the development of most products, its role with respect to the design of discontinuous or radical new products still is not understood fully. Further, while there is evidence that innovation in general may involve significant inputs from marketing, evidence of the applicability of such findings to the domain of radical innovation has been mixed. Discontinuous products, which involve unprecedented performance features and creating new lines of business, often are developed in a context of extremely high market uncertainty. As a result, for these types of products it can be difficult for marketing to provide input and direction before a general product application has been established. Beyond this, questions remain concerning the role of customer input and market research in discontinuous new product development as well as the relationships between market researchers and other key disciplines (e.g., ID, R&D) involved in the development of these types of products. The development of discontinuous new products involves a process that is different from more conventional new product development particularly as it concerns the roles of marketing. For these types of products, attention to marketing and customer/user-interface issues tended to occur later in the process. Here, key aspects of discontinuous innovation, grouped according to conceptual relatedness, are shown in terms of how they relate to marketing.
There are several guidelines concerning managerial action in the development of discontinuous new products. First, in this development context marketing and industrial design importance and involvement is determined in large part by the degree of discontinuity of the product. Issues such as the uncertainty of suitable applications for the technology and the greater distance from the market in terms of time and customer familiarity with the product seem to affect the nature of the development process. The result is a shift in the timing and nature of the roles of marketing. Customer research plays in this context offers an opportunity to provide more meaningful and valid inputs into the development process for these radical new products. Activities (e.g., marketing activities) associated with the development of less radical new products are rarely possible and often are not constructive during the very early development of discontinuous new products. In this development context it is not so much that marketing and customer research techniques are inappropriate but rather that the techniques are not applied with sufficient sensitivity to the context surrounding discontinuous innovation. The challenge is to create a valid context for collecting information so as to avoid unduly discouraging innovation. One of the ways to accomplish this is to move toward adaptive co-development in which the process moves iteratively back and forth between product developers and beta test customers. Although this work suggests marketing’s role in discontinuous innovation often is focused more on testing and validation than on idea generation, this should not be taken as meaning that the marketing challenge is reduced in this context. If anything, the challenge for marketing managers may be even greater for discontinuous products since, at some point, key design assumptions must be examined and since conducting useful and valid research to do this can be quite difficult. Additionally, managers need to build links throughout the project team to ensure that the research that is carried out is conducted properly. Optimally, this would entail at least some marketing involvement with research conducted by or for a development team regardless of who conducts the study. This can help a development team to avoid unfortunate, if not disastrous, consequences. For example, in one case a project team spent a considerable amount of time and resources addressing aspects of a product that they thought based on a cursory customer study conducted by R&D team members would be of vital concern to customers.
The relevance, and indeed usefulness, of marketing theory in today’s business environment is increasingly open to question. This general skepticism has led to a progressive emphasis on how to translate marketing theory into effective marketing practice which has taken many forms, ranging from traditional management education in business and universities, to action learning programmes and to government led and sponsored local enterprise initiatives. This paper concentrate specifically on the difficulties surrounding the implementation of one of marketing’s core tools, the marketing plan as outlined by McDonald (1989). How the development of marketing planning competencies through a work-based learning programme can help a practicing manager to overcome many of the problems of its application in practice. This approach incorporates the building of marketing planning competencies in conjunction with the actual workload of the participant to construct a work based programme in which the learning is a continuous two way flow between academia and the workplace.
The recent and well-documented crisis of confidence in the marketing discipline has to a large extent centred on the lack of applicability of marketing theory to marketing practice. Marketing myths perpetuated by academics for encouraging “death-wish” marketing amongst practitioners. Basic tools and tenets of marketing management theory are being doubted and their relevance for the modern business questioned. Consumer behaviour as a theoretical black hole, calling for a new paradigm which seeks less to control consumers and more to understand them; and many believe that the marketing concept itself is essentially flawed. Moreover, this general disillusionment with the inability of marketing theory to match corporate realities has also been evidenced from within the business community. Many nonacademic voices, for example, senior business people, consultants and journalists, are listened to in preference to marketing academics. Free ling (1994) has drawn our attention to chief executives who are claiming that marketing is no longer capable of driving profitable growth and who accuse marketers of not understanding the economics of the business or of different channels of distribution. There is a large gap between the classical role of profitable marketing and how marketing is practiced by marketing departments within 100 blue chip organizations. They go as far as to describe the marketing department as “critically ill” and in need of urgent treatment, warning that the winning companies will not have “ivory tower marketers”. In seeking to redress this balance between marketing theory and marketing practice it is the marketing concept itself which has tended to receive the most attention from academics. This has been in terms of its development, extension and refinement as, for example, witnessed by the recent proliferation of relationship marketing literature. The marketing plan, which ideally should be the bridge between theory (the marketing concept) and practice (the functions of marketing), has received much less attention in terms of its basic operability in the hands of the practitioner. Yet, arguably, this is where a firm will have the most difficulty inputting theory into practice
The idea that company performance improves as a consequence of engaging in a planning process and applying well known marketing decision making techniques has not proved easy to confirm conclusively. In the United States and the United Kingdom, practitioners perceived marketing decision-making techniques to be of little value to them in helping to make key marketing planning decisions. In a review of the marketing planning literature states that the claimed benefits of better co-ordination of interrelated activities, improved environmental awareness, better communication among management and better use of resources, and so on, appear to be there for the taking and there is a strong relationship between marketing planning and commercial success.
The problems that can encounter when practicing marketing are given below:
(1) Confusion between marketing strategy and tactics.
(2) Isolation of marketing function from business operations.
(3) Confusion between marketing function and marketing concept.
(4) Prevailing organizational structures along functional lines.
(5) Lack of skills in in-depth analysis.
(6) Confusion between process and output.
(7) Lack of core marketing management knowledge and skills.
(8) Lack of a disciplined, systematic approach to marketing planning.
(9) Need to prioritize objectives.
(10) Need for a more appropriate marketing culture.
The challenge to practitioner, therefore, is to find ways to begin to close the practice gap in respect of these marketing planning barriers. It is suggested here that a competency based approach might provide a solution, although caution that any solution must go beyond the development of competencies which merely address the application of marketing techniques. Therefore, what is required is a specifically tailored approach that develops a range of core skills that enable the development of a total marketing planning competency. We outline how a work-based learning programme can effectively address this challenge.

The recommendations to improve marketing activities

The organization can improve its marketing activities by develop the key marketing planning competencies of knowledge, experience, analytical skills, leadership, vision, judgement, organizational ability, commitment and communication.
(1) Knowledge: The transfer of marketing knowledge is communicating in a jargon-free way. Emerging themes of success were used to illustrate how areas of weakness might be overcome. At the same time, introduced core marketing concepts.
(2) Experience: Experiment with the new knowledge as it accumulated in order to see what worked in improving day-to-day marketing practice.
(3) Analytical skills: Core analytical tools such as the SWOT analysis, product/market matrix
(4) Leadership: Problems of employee motivation and the team building required to bring about a company-wide integration of the marketing concept were frequently raised through regular group discussions.
(5) Vision: The maintenance of an opportunity focus is crucial for the development of marketing and is inherent in the very nature of planning. Vision is required to determine how aims and objectives will be realized through action plans and the marshalling of scarce resources.
(6) Judgement: The focus of this was to develop an ability in gathering together disparate pieces of often incomplete information and making effective choices. Judgement as a competency is acquired through there cognition of the value of experience. The review process as an integral part of marketing planning forced to assess the effect of marketing actions to date.
(7) Organizational ability: The challenge here was to develop the ability to marshal and manage resources to fully maximize the value of opportunities in the marketplace. Such resources included human, physical and financial assets. Typical examples of these are the development of action plans and time schedules, the allocation of inter-functional responsibilities, the planning and scheduling of resources and the establishment of effective control mechanisms. The emphasis throughout was to maintain the holistic perspective so essential to the workplace.
(8) Commitment: increasingly committed to the value and importance of the planning process to their individual companies.
(9) Communication: The ability to communicate effectively was integral to every aspect.
In addition, the internal and external focus of planned marketing activities served to refine communication skills, in particular through the development of their company’s promotional mix. The company should encourage formalising the communications management of industry contacts such as suppliers, customers, support agencies, distributors and so forth. There is no doubting the value of marketing planning to the effective development of any business. In spite of this, practicing managers encounter all sorts of difficulties with the marketing planning process.

Information Technology

2008-07-18T01:28:00.000-07:00

Introduction

With the rapid growth of technologies, our economic society and life are changing significantly in the 21st century. The way to capture their competitive advantage has become the most important issue for enterprises in the rapidly changing and uncertain business environments. Many researches have pointed out that the adoption of technology is the most important tool for enterprises to keep their competitive advantage. The survival of an enterprise in the age of knowledge-based economy depends on how to improve their technological capability.
In this sense, firms should develop adequate methodologies, in order to adopt, in a successful way, new technologies in the logistics field, and also to integrate logistics into the corporate strategy for becoming even more competitive. Growing number of firms are under pressure from their partners to change their traditional management style, both operationally and organizationally, replacing them with integrated systems that help increase the speed and fluidity of physical and information flows. In order to reach this kind of integration they are investing on new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
Nowadays, as regards the data acquisition technologies, the firms usually deal with a large amount of goods and data which means that data collection and exchange are critical for logistics information management and control. Good quality in data acquisition can help firms deliver customers' goods more accurately and efficiently. To attain this goal firms could appeal to some data acquisition technologies in logistics field, such as the optical scanning, the electronic pen notepads, (Lin, 2006), the voice recognition and the robotics (Dawe, 1994).

Information Technology plays an important role

When a firm sustains profit that exceeds the average for its industry, it is called a competitive advantage over its rivals. The goal of much of business strategy is to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Competitive exist when the firm is able to deliver the same benefits to its customer at a lower cost which is considered to be the cost advantage. Not all companies will rely on internet for the establishment for the organization. Michael Porter has state that a competitive advantage enables the firm to create a superior value for its customer and superior profits for itself.
A continuing stream of information technology innovations, from the Internet to wireless networks to digital phone and cable systems, is continuing to transform the business world. Much debate has been taken place on the importance of technology and its benefits of using it. How far this is true and how successful is it in the establishment of the organizations. The continuing stream of innovations is enabling entrepreneurs and innovative traditional firms to create new business models, destroy old business models, disrupt entire industries, build new business process and transform the day-to-day conduct of business.
Briefly, the growth of the Internet, the globalization of trade, and the rise of information economics have raised the importance of information technologies and systems in business and management. It is essential that business students understand how information technologies are changing business firms and markets today and how they will likely change in the near-term future as digital technologies continue to evolve.
Nowadays companies should rely on the Internet and the networking technology to conduct more of their work electronically, seamlessly linking factories, offices and sales forces around the globe. Leading-edged firms, such as Cisco Systems, Dell Computer and Procter & Gamble, are extending these networks to suppliers, customers and other groups outside the organization so they can react instantly to customer demands and market shifts. The managers can use the systems to virtually close their books at any time, generating consolidated financial statements based on up-to-the minute figures on orders, discounts, revenue, product margins and staffing expenses. Executives can constantly analyze performance at all levels of the organization. This digital integration both within the firm and without, from the warehouse to the executive suite, from suppliers to customers, is changing how we organize and manage a business firm.
Ultimately, these changes are leading to fully digital firms where all internal business processes and relationships with customers and suppliers are digitally enabled. In digital firms, information to support business decisions is available anytime and anywhere in the organization.

Why should we choose Information Technology now and be safe

A combination of information technology innovations and a changing domestic and global business environment makes the role of IT in business even more important for managers than just a few years ago. The Internet revolution is not something that happened and then burst, but instead has turned out to be an ongoing, powerful source of new technologies with significant business implications for much of this century.
There are five factors to consider when assessing the growing impact of IT in business firms both today and over the next ten years.
Internet growth and technology convergence
Transformation of the business enterprise
Growth of a globally connected economy
Growth of the knowledge and information-based economics
Emergence of the digital firm
These changes in the business environment pose a number of new challenges and opportunities for business firms and their managements.

The importance of internet and technology convergence

One of the most frequently asked questions by Walls Street investors, journalists and business entrepreneurs is “What’s the next big thing?” As it turns out, the next big things are in front of us. We are in the midst of a networking and communications revolution driven by the growth of the Internet, Internet-based technologies, and new business models and processes that leverage the new technologies.
Although “digital convergence” was predicted a decade ago, it is now and undeniable reality. Although each industry has its favored platform, the outlines of the future are clear: a world of near universal, online, on demand, and personalized information services from text messaging on cell phones, to games, education and entertainment.
The Internet is bringing about a convergence of technologies, roiling markets, entire industries, and firms in the process. Traditional boundaries and business relationships are breaking down, even as new ones spring up. Telephone networks are merging into the Internet, and cellular phones are becoming Internet access devices. Handles storage devices such as IPods are emerging as potential portable game and entertainment centers. The Internet-connected personal computer is moving toward a role as home entertainment control centre.
Traditional markets and distribution channels are weakening and new markets are being created. For instance, the markets for music CDs and video DVDs and the music and video store industries are undergoing rapid change. New markets for online streaming media and for music and video downloads have materialized.
Today, networking and the Internet are nearly synonymous with doing business. Firm’s relationships with customers, employees, suppliers and logistics partners are becoming digital relationships. As a supplier, you cannot do business with Wal-Mart, or Sears, or most national retailers unless you adopt their well-defined digital technologies. As a consumer, you will increasingly interact with sellers in a digital environment. As an employer, you’ll be interacting more electronically with your employees and giving them new digital tools to accomplish their work.
So much business is now enabled by or based upon digital networks that we use the terms electronic business and electronic commerce frequently. Electronic business or E-business, designates the use of Internet and digital technology to execute all of the activates in the enterprise. E-business includes activities for the internal management of the firm and for coordination with suppliers and other business partners.
The technologies associated with e-commerce and e-business has also brought about similar changes in the public sector. E-business really helps the departments to store or keep the information for future reference.

Information Technologies and E-Business Models

Several classifications have been proposed in the literature to categorize E-Business models. According to Torbay et al. (2001) most authors suggest two dimensions in order to rate the business models: functional integrations and degree of innovation; type of relationships and degree of externality; power of sellers and buyers. This authors identified in literature, as 4 principal dimensions for classifying the business models the follow:
i) The user role
ii) The interaction pattern
iii) The nature of the offerings
iv) The pricing system
v) The level of customization

Torbay et al. (2001) suggest a model to classify and compare the business models. They exemplify the way how to translate the core processes of the business models into a set of
relevant measures for each component of the adopted framework. The model is divided into four main components:
(i) The set of products and services that is offered by firm and that represents a substantial value to a target customer (value proposition):
This element refers to the value the firm offers to a specific target customer segment. IT has their most important impact on new ways of creating and delivering value. Customization is another common value proposition proposed by the authors enabled by the rapid development of IT.
(ii) The relationship capital the firm creates and maintains with the customer, in order to satisfy him and to generate sustainable revenues (Customer relationship management)
IT offer a whole new range of opportunities to exploit existing customer relationships, and to identify the customers needs in order to establish and develop a long relationship with him;
(iii) The infrastructure and the network of partners that is necessary in order to create value and to maintain an adequate partner relationship management
The infrastructure component describes the value system configuration that is necessary to deliver the value proposition; that is, the relationship between in-house and/or partners’ resources, assets and activities and a network;
(iv)The financial aspects that can be found throughout the three former components, such as cost and revenue structures
Financial aspects embrace the costs required to make the productive get the infrastructure add value, and also the revenues that are generated through sales. The difference between revenues and costs determine the profitability of a firm.

Marketing strategy for customers

Through technology, the firm is able to create customer relationship management where the customers will be interacting with the purchasers via internet or online. Having detailed customer information from an eCRM system allows a company to predict the E-relationship marketing kind of products that a customer is likely to buy as well as the timing of the purchases.
Knowingly, customers are the main income in any organization which indirectly links to the best of the competitive advantage obtain in any companies. Therefore, from eCRM, customer information collected is useful for developing an effective marketing strategy. A strategy includes an integrated view of the customer, customer decision analytic, optimized customer interactions (Walker, 2002).
In addition to influencing the purchasing involvement, eCRM can also help create customized products. Traditionally customer profiles were either demographic or behavior-based. A demographic profile may have included marital status, if customer had children, where the customer lived and what magazines he likes.
A behavior based profile may describe the number of times a customer clicked a particular Website because it is more focused around the action of the customer. eCRM adds intelligence to the customer profiles and can help deploy customized products.

Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

Quality function deployment (QFD) offers a rigorous analysis methodology for understanding customer outcomes and developing comprehensive product specifications.
QFD tools and principles are traditionally used for product development but they are just as appropriate for the development of business strategy, (Walker, 2002).
QFD strategic planning involves two key steps and they are known as:
The development of customer strategies.
The development of enabling strategies.

The development of customer strategies

QFD principles insist that business strategy must be firmly based on effective customer strategy. Corporate strategy is sometimes simplistically viewed as a top-down process where visioning leads directly to decisions on products, processes and operations. In QFD, the outcome is definitely the stakeholder in where it leads to a strategy for each business and then to the corporate strategy to manage the business portfolio.
The development of corporate strategy is a vital step and all these steps can be seen from the diagram below, Figure 1.
A major problem in planning, whether it is for products, organizations or any firms that relies on the Information Technology, is not establishing a customer strategy that properly resolves the “fuzzy front end” before latching on to the strategic direction, (Killen and Hunt, 2000 )
Failure is inevitable if plans re developed before the key deliverables are understood. Often, organizations that are striving for innovation and improved performance realize that they should be customer-driven, as customers play an essential role. The QFD approach to solving the fuzzy front end in strategy projects involves answering essentially the same questions as in product and service development projects.

What makes a resource truly strategic

In the 20th Century, IT was the main subject in business. Without IT, a company won’t survive. Which is true in those days, but in the 21st century, IT has become a commodity and no longer a competitive advantage in business.
“Their very power and presence have begun to transform them from potentially strategic resources into commodity factors of production”, Nicholas G. Carr (2003)
IT has lost its strategic advantage in business because of the time factors. In the case study, we have learned that like railways and electric power, these used to be a strategic business advantage too. With electricity, a company can be more productive comparing to a company with electricity. This goes same with railways. As time passes, the availability and cost of purchasing such utility has become cheap and affordable, they became ubiquitous. This is the same with IT. As buildings are being built, IT will also be built into the infrastructure of the building together with all the wires and pipes. This shows that IT has become a need, a commodity and no longer a competitive advantage in business.
There is only one way to use IT as a strategic business advantage as this is Innovation.
“The window for gaining advantage from an infrastructural technology is open only briefly”, Nicholas G. Carr (2003)
“Superior insight into the use of new technology”, Nicholas G. Carr (2003)
Without innovation, IT will only become a commodity. When the company is able to utilize the technology to the fullest, new or old, the company will be able to make that a business advantage.
An example is AirAsia. Online booking is very common in the world even in Malaysia. Before AirAsia came along, Malaysian were able to booked many things online such as hotels, bus tickets, even other airline company provide online service, but why is it that AirAsia is able to use online booking a competitive advantage? The answer is AirAsia utilize the technology and use innovation in the business strategy. By just forcing consumer to purchase tickets online, AirAsia were able to reduce cost in the operation. Now look at Malaysia Airlines (MAS). MAS tried to use the same business strategy but they were not as successful as AirAsia. Why?
“If an industry lags in harnessing the power of the technology, it will be vulnerable to displacement”, Nicholas G. Carr (2003)
Another good example of using Innovation as a business strategy is Apple Computers. “The designer central to Apple's recovery in the '90s has quite a list of hit products to his credit, including the iMac and iPod.”
“Rather than just draw pretty pictures, they're leading innovators in the use of new materials and pioneering production processes say, the ability to put a layer of clear plastic over the white or black core of your iPod, giving it a depth of quality that most consumers don't even realize they appreciate.”
Apple Computers was one of the biggest names in the computer world back in the 80s when computers were first being introduced to the mass market. As Apple history tells us, having innovation itself will not help make a company successful; a company must also have a good business model and strategy.
The revival of Apple in the 20th century was with the help of Innovation. First we saw the impressive new iMac (1998), PowerMac Cube (2000), iPod (2001), Mac Mini (2005), Ipod Nano (2005) and the list goes on.

The development of enabling strategies

The second major step in strategic planning is developing enabling strategies that will match the organizational capabilities with the target opportunity areas. QFD relationship matrix analysis is often dispensed with in strategic QFD because the customer positioning results in a focus on a small number of opportunity areas. The concept selection technique (Pugh, 1981), which is commonly used with QFD, has been adapted for generating and evaluating alternative strategic concepts.
Strategy concepts are sets of enabling strategies and strategic initiatives that are coherent and mutually supportive. In most organizations there are numerous solutions, ideas and suggestions to be considered – ranging from improvements in the utilization of existing resources to innovative new technologies. Strategic concepts are built up by considering each outcome opportunity and identifying the possible solutions that address the key opportunities.
Each idea is scored on its effectiveness in meeting customer outcomes using the market research data. Sometimes other criteria are also evaluated, such as cost, effort required, risk of failure and vulnerability to competitive replication. The concept selection technique allows the alternative solutions to be modified and improved during the process. In contrast, conjoint analysis requires the alternatives to be defined up front before the research is conducted, which largely precludes innovation. The technique starts with base strategic concepts that are automatically generated from all the proposed solutions for each high opportunity outcome.
Evaluating strategic concepts using clearly identified and prioritized criteria removes subjectivity and clarifies the interactions between opportunities and strategic initiatives. It also ensures strategic decisions are not technology-driven. New strategy sets are usually created by mixing and matching features from the different concepts, and this often leads to new insights and breakthrough ideas. The technique is iterative, and in each cycle the best strategic concept is examined to find new ideas. The focus on key opportunity areas means that usually only a few iterations are needed before the final set of strategies is determined.

Conclusion

The literature review suggests that information is a valuable resource. The flow of information has been recognized alongside the importance of materials flows in the logistics channel. In recent times several changes occurred that have highlighted the importance of technology either as a source of competitive advantage, or as a crucial strategy.
Through the intensive use of Information Technology in the business currently, namely, acquisition, communication, and identification technologies, the information flows are, efficiently, used by firms, in order to reinforce the existent competitive advantages, or alternatively, to create new competitive advantages. I’m totally agreed that IT delivers competitive advantage from various sides because by using information technology we can do our job smoothly and properly. As simple example for hypermarket, everyday lot of customer comes to take their necessitates items, as the moment of payment they have to stand on a queue, If that shopping mall doesn’t have any technology to make bill then it would be very difficult to disburse one customer bill because it will take long time. At the same time it also takes long time to see the daily or monthly report if they do it manually. But with the help of information technology they can handle everything properly and faster. In the computer industry, DELL also doing their business totally depends on the online systems but got success by using information technology and still now getting more competitive advantage rather than others. IT is also like a commodity as like Electricity, Gas, and Phone etc. Without it also we can run our business but we all are using all this utilities to take advantage. Definitely IT can give competitive advantage but we have to use IT in that way that it would be sustainable for long time. If we totally depend on technology then it would become a commodity as like others utility but if we select right person to use that technology then we can gain more competitive advantage and besides that with keep changing of technology, we also have to update the system accordingly to get competitive advantage then it would not become a strategic necessity after few years.
In this sense, taking into consideration the conceptual model now proposed, future studies may be developed in order to identify the dominant factors that determine the competitive advantages obtained through the Information Technology in the usage for increasing sales adoption, according to each stage of firms’ life cycle.

morales stories

2008-07-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

The Shepherd and the Wolf

A Shepherd once found the whelp of a Wolf and brought it up, and after a while taught it to steal lambs from the neighboring flocks. The Wolf, having shown himself an apt pupil, said to the Shepherd, "Since you have taught me to steal, you must keep a sharp lookout, or you will lose some of your own flock."

The Father and His Two Daughters

A Man had two daughters, the one married to a gardener, and the other to a tile-maker. After a time he went to the daughter who had married the gardener, and inquired how she was and how all things went with her. She said, "All things are prospering with me, and I have only one wish, that there may be a heavy fall of rain, in order that the plants may be well watered." Not long after, he went to the daughter who had married the tile maker, and likewise inquired of her how she fared; she replied, "I want for nothing, and have only one wish, that the dry weather may continue, and the sun shine hot and bright, so that the bricks might be dried." He said to her, "If your sister wishes for rain, and you for dry weather, with which of the two am I to join my wishes?'

The Farmer and His Sons

A father, being on the point of death, wished to be sure that his sons would give the same attention to his farm as he himself had given it. He called them to his bedside and said, "My sons, there is a great treasure hid in one of my vineyards." The sons, after his death, took their spades and mattocks and carefully dug over every portion of their land. They found no treasure, but the vines repaid their labor by an extraordinary and superabundant crop.

The Crab and Its Mother

A Crab said to her son, "Why do you walk so one-sided, my child? It is far more becoming to go straight forward." The young Crab replied: "Quite true, dear Mother; and if you will show me the straight way, I will promise to walk in it." The Mother tried in vain, and submitted without remonstrance to the reproof of her child. Example is more powerful than precept.

The Heifer and the Ox

A Heifer saw an Ox hard at work harnessed to a plow, and tormented him with reflections on his unhappy fate in being compelled to labor. Shortly afterwards, at the harvest festival, the owner released the Ox from his yoke, but bound the Heifer with cords and led him away to the altar to be slain in honor of the occasion. The Ox saw what was being done, and said with a smile to the Heifer: "For this you were allowed to live in idleness, because you were presently to be sacrificed."

The Swallow, the Serpent, and the Court of Justice

A Swallow, returning from abroad and especially fond of dwelling with men, built herself a nest in the wall of a Court of Justice and there hatched seven young birds. A Serpent gliding past the nest from its hole in the wall ate up the young unfledged nestling's. The Swallow, finding her nest empty, lamented greatly and exclaimed: "Woe to me a stranger! that in this place where all others' rights are protected, I alone should suffer wrong."

The Thief and His Mother

A Boy stole a lesson-book from one of his schoolfellows and took it home to his Mother. She not only abstained from beating him, but encouraged him. He next time stole a cloak and brought it to her, and she again commended him. The Youth, advanced to adulthood, proceeded to steal things of still greater value. At last he was caught in the very act, and having his hands bound behind him, was led away to the place of public execution. His Mother followed in the crowd and violently beat her breast in sorrow, whereupon the young man said, "I wish to say something to my Mother in her ear." She came close to him, and he quickly seized her ear with his teeth and bit it off. The Mother upbraided him as an unnatural child, whereon he replied, "Ah! if you had beaten me when I first stole and brought to you that lesson-book, I should not have come to this, nor have been thus led to a disgraceful death."

The Old Man and Death

An Old Man was employed in cutting wood in the forest, and, in carrying the faggots to the city for sale one day, became very wearied with his long journey. He sat down by the wayside, and throwing down his load, besought "Death" to come. "Death" immediately appeared in answer to his summons and asked for what reason he had called him. The Old Man hurriedly replied, "That, lifting up the load, you may place it again upon my shoulders."

The Fir-Tree and the Bramble

A Fir-Tree said boastingly to the Bramble, "You are useful for nothing at all; while I am everywhere used for roofs and houses." The Bramble answered: 'You poor creature, if you would only call to mind the axes and saws which are about to hew you down, you would have reason to wish that you had grown up a Bramble, not a Fir-Tree.
Better poverty without care, than riches with.

The Mouse, the Frog, and the Hawk

A Mouse who always lived on the land, by an unlucky chance formed an intimate acquaintance with a Frog, who lived for the most part in the water. The Frog, one day intent on mischief, bound the foot of the Mouse tightly to his own. Thus joined together, the Frog first of all led his friend the Mouse to the meadow where they were accustomed to find their food. After this, he gradually led him towards the pool in which he lived, until reaching the very brink, he suddenly jumped in, dragging the Mouse with him. The Frog enjoyed the water amazingly, and swam croaking about, as if he had done a good deed. The unhappy Mouse was soon suffocated by the water, and his dead body floated about on the surface, tied to the foot of the Frog. A Hawk observed it, and, pouncing upon it with his talons, carried it aloft. The Frog, being still fastened to the leg of the Mouse, was also carried off a prisoner, and was eaten by the Hawk. Harm hatch, harm catch.

The Man Bitten By a Dog

A Man who had been bitten by a Dog went about in quest of someone who might heal him. A friend, meeting him and learning what he wanted, said, "If you would be cured, take a piece of bread, and dip it in the blood from your wound, and go and give it to the Dog that bit you." The Man who had been bitten laughed at this advice and said, "Why? If I should do so, it would be as if I should beg every Dog in the town to bite me." Benefits bestowed upon the evil-disposed increase their means of injuring you.

The Two Pots

A river carried down in its stream two Pots, one made of earthenware and the other of brass. The Earthen Pot said to the Brass Pot, "Pray keep at a distance and do not come near me, for if you touch me ever so slightly, I shall be broken in pieces, and besides, I by no means wish to come near you." Equals make the best friends.

The Wolf and the Sheep

A Wolf, sorely wounded and bitten by dogs, lay sick and maimed in his lair. Being in want of food, he called to a Sheep who was passing, and asked him to fetch some water from a stream flowing close beside him. "For," he said, "if you will bring me drink, I will find means to provide myself with meat." "Yes," said the Sheep, "if I should bring you the draught, you would doubtless make me provide the meat also." Hypocritical speeches are easily seen through.

The Aethiop

The purchaser of a black servant was persuaded that the color of his skin arose from dirt contracted through the neglect of his former masters. On bringing him home he resorted to every means of cleaning, and subjected the man to incessant scrubbings. The servant caught a severe cold, but he never changed his color or complexion. What's bred in the bone will stick to the flesh.

The Fisherman and His Nets

A Fisherman, engaged in his calling, made a very successful cast and captured a great haul of fish. He managed by a skillful handling of his net to retain all the large fish and to draw them to the shore; but he could not prevent the smaller fish from falling back through the meshes of the net into the sea.

The Huntsman and the Fisherman

A Huntsman, returning with his dogs from the field, fell in by chance with a Fisherman who was bringing home a basket well laden with fish. The Huntsman wished to have the fish, and their owner experienced an equal longing for the contents of the game-bag. They quickly agreed to exchange the produce of their day's sport. Each was so well pleased with his bargain that they made for some time the same exchange day after day. Finally a neighbor said to them, "If you go on in this way, you will soon destroy by frequent use the pleasure of your exchange, and each will again wish to retain the fruits of his own sport." Abstain and enjoy.

The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar

An Old Woman found an empty jar which had lately been full of prime old wine and which still retained the fragrant smell of its former contents. She greedily placed it several times to her nose, and drawing it backwards and forwards said, "O most delicious! How nice must the Wine itself have been, when it leaves behind in the very vessel which contained it so sweet a perfume!" The memory of a good deed lives.

The Fox and the Crow

A Crow having stolen a bit of meat, perched in a tree and held it in her beak. A Fox, seeing this, longed to possess the meat himself, and by a wily stratagem succeeded. "How handsome is the Crow," he exclaimed, in the beauty of her shape and in the fairness of her complexion! Oh, if her voice were only equal to her beauty, she would deservedly be considered the Queen of Birds!" This he said deceitfully; but the Crow, anxious to refute the reflection cast upon her voice, set up a loud caw and dropped the flesh. The Fox quickly picked it up, and thus addressed the Crow: "My good Crow, your voice is right enough, but your wit is wanting."

The Two Dogs

A Man had two dogs: a Hound, trained to assist him in his sports, and a Housedog, taught to watch the house. When he returned home after a good day's sport, he always gave the House dog a large share of his spoil. The Hound, feeling much aggrieved at this, reproached his companion, saying, "It is very hard to have all this labor, while you, who do not assist in the chase, luxuriate on the fruits of my exertions." The House dog replied, "Do not blame me, my friend, but find fault with the master, who has not taught me to labor, but to depend for subsistence on the labor of others." Children are not to be blamed for the faults of their parents.

The Stag in the Ox-Stall

A Stag, roundly chased by the hounds and blinded by fear to the danger he was running into, took shelter in a farmyard and hid himself in a shed among the oxen. An Ox gave him this kindly warning: "O unhappy creature! why should you thus, of your own accord, incur destruction and trust yourself in the house of your enemy?' The Stag replied: "Only allow me, friend, to stay where I am, and I will undertake to find some favorable opportunity of effecting my escape." At the approach of the evening the herdsman came to feed his cattle, but did not see the Stag; and even the farm-bailiff with several laborers passed through the shed and failed to notice him. The Stag, congratulating himself on his safety, began to express his sincere thanks to the Oxen who had kindly helped him in the hour of need. One of them again answered him: "We indeed wish you well, but the danger is not over. There is one other yet to pass through the shed, who has as it were a hundred eyes, and until he has come and gone, your life is still in peril." At that moment the master himself entered, and having had to complain that his oxen had not been properly fed, he went up to their racks and cried out: "Why is there such a scarcity of fodder? There is not half enough straw for them to lie on. Those lazy fellows have not even swept the cobwebs away." While he thus examined everything in turn, he spied the tips of the antlers of the Stag peeping out of the straw. Then summoning his laborers, he ordered that the Stag should be seized and killed.

The Hawk, the Kite, and the Pigeons

The Pigeons, terrified by the appearance of a Kite, called upon the Hawk to defend them. He at once consented. When they had admitted him into the cote, they found that he made more havoc and slew a larger number of them in one day than the Kite could pounce upon in a whole year. Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease.

The Widow and the Sheep

A certain poor widow had one solitary Sheep. At shearing time, wishing to take his fleece and to avoid expense, she sheared him herself, but used the shears so unskillfully that with the fleece she sheared the flesh. The Sheep, writhing with pain, said, "Why do you hurt me so, Mistress? What weight can my blood add to the wool? If you want my flesh, there is the butcher, who will kill me in an instant; but if you want my fleece and wool, there is the shearer, who will shear and not hurt me." The least outlay is not always the greatest gain.

The Wild Ass and the Lion

A Wild Ass and a Lion entered into an alliance so that they might capture the beasts of the forest with greater ease. The Lion agreed to assist the Wild Ass with his strength, while the Wild Ass gave the Lion the benefit of his greater speed. When they had taken as many beasts as their necessities required, the Lion undertook to distribute the prey, and for this purpose divided it into three shares. "I will take the first share," he said, "because I am King: and the second share, as a partner with you in the chase: and the third share (believe me) will be a source of great evil to you, unless you willingly resign it to me, and set off as fast as you can." Might makes right.

The Eagle and the Arrow

An Eagle sat on a lofty rock, watching the movements of a Hare whom he sought to make his prey. An archer, who saw the Eagle from a place of concealment, took an accurate aim and wounded him mortally. The Eagle gave one look at the arrow that had entered his heart and saw in that single glance that its feathers had been furnished by himself. "It is a double grief to me," he exclaimed, "that I should perish by an arrow feathered from my own wings."

The Sick Kite

A Kite, sick unto death, said to his mother: "O Mother! do not mourn, but at once invoke the gods that my life may be prolonged." She replied, "Alas! my son, which of the gods do you think will pity you? Is there one whom you have not outraged by filching from their very altars a part of the sacrifice offered up to them?' We must make friends in prosperity if we would have their help in adversity.

The Lion and the Dolphin

A Lion roaming by the seashore saw a Dolphin lift up its head out of the waves, and suggested that they contract an alliance, saying that of all the animals they ought to be the best friends, since the one was the king of beasts on the earth, and the other was the sovereign ruler of all the inhabitants of the ocean. The Dolphin gladly consented to this request. Not long afterwards the Lion had a combat with a wild bull, and called on the Dolphin to help him. The Dolphin, though quite willing to give him assistance, was unable to do so, as he could not by any means reach the land. The Lion abused him as a traitor. The Dolphin replied, "Nay, my friend, blame not me, but Nature, which, while giving me the sovereignty of the sea, has quite denied me the power of living upon the land."

The Lion and the Boar

On a summer day, when the great heat induced a general thirst among the beasts, a Lion and a Boar came at the same moment to a small well to drink. They fiercely disputed which of them should drink first, and were soon engaged in the agonies of a mortal combat. When they stopped suddenly to catch their breath for a fiercer renewal of the fight, they saw some Vultures waiting in the distance to feast on the one that should fall first. They at once made up their quarrel, saying, "It is better for us to make friends, than to become the food of Crows or Vultures."

The One-Eyed Doe

A Doe blind in one eye was accustomed to graze as near to the edge of the cliff as she possibly could, in the hope of securing her greater safety. She turned her sound eye towards the land that she might get the earliest tidings of the approach of hunter or hound, and her injured eye towards the sea, from whence she entertained no anticipation of danger. Some boatmen sailing by saw her, and taking a successful aim, mortally wounded her. Yielding up her last breath, she gasped forth this lament: "O wretched creature that I am! to take such precaution against the land, and after all to find this seashore, to which I had come for safety, so much more perilous."

The Shepherd and the Sea

A Shepherd, keeping watch over his sheep near the shore, saw the Sea very calm and smooth, and longed to make a voyage with a view to commerce. He sold all his flock, invested it in a cargo of dates, and set sail. But a very great tempest came on, and the ship being in danger of sinking, he threw all his merchandise overboard, and barely escaped with his life in the empty ship. Not long afterwards when someone passed by and observed the unruffled calm of the Sea, he interrupted him and said, "It is again in want of dates, and therefore looks quiet."

The Ass, the Cock, and the Lion

An Ass and a Cock were in a straw-yard together when a Lion, desperate from hunger, approached the spot. He was about to spring upon the Ass, when the Cock (to the sound of whose voice the Lion, it is said, has a singular aversion) crowed loudly, and the Lion fled away as fast as he could. The Ass, observing his trepidation at the mere crowing of a Cock summoned courage to attack him, and galloped after him for that purpose. He had run no long distance, when the Lion, turning about, seized him and tore him to pieces. False confidence often leads into danger.

The Mice and the Weasels

The Weasels and the Mice waged a perpetual war with each other, in which much blood was shed. The Weasels were always the victors. The Mice thought that the cause of their frequent defeats was that they had no leaders set apart from the general army to command them, and that they were exposed to dangers from lack of discipline. They therefore chose as leaders Mice that were most renowned for their family descent, strength, and counsel, as well as those most noted for their courage in the fight, so that they might be better marshaled in battle array and formed into troops, regiments, and battalions. When all this was done, and the army disciplined, and the herald Mouse had duly proclaimed war by challenging the Weasels, the newly chosen generals bound their heads with straws, that they might be more conspicuous to all their troops. Scarcely had the battle begun, when a great rout overwhelmed the Mice, who scampered off as fast as they could to their holes. The generals, not being able to get in on account of the ornaments on their heads, were all captured and eaten by the Weasels. The more honor the more danger.

The Mice in Council

The Mice summoned a council to decide how they might best devise means of warning themselves of the approach of their great enemy the Cat. Among the many plans suggested, the one that found most favor was the proposal to tie a bell to the neck of the Cat, so that the Mice, being warned by the sound of the tinkling, might run away and hide themselves in their holes at his approach. But when the Mice further debated who among them should thus "bell the Cat," there was no one found to do it.

The Wolf and the Housedog

A Wolf, meeting a big well-fed Mastiff with a wooden collar about his neck asked him who it was that fed him so well and yet compelled him to drag that heavy log about wherever he went. "The master," he replied. Then said the Wolf: "May no friend of mine ever be in such a plight; for the weight of this chain is enough to spoil the appetite."

The Rivers and the Sea

The Rivers joined together to complain to the Sea, saying, "Why is it that when we flow into your tides so potable and sweet, you work in us such a change, and make us salty and unfit to drink?" The Sea, perceiving that they intended to throw the blame on him, said, "Pray cease to flow into me, and then you will not be made briny."

The Playful Ass

An Ass climbed up to the roof of a building, and frisking about there, broke in the tiling. The owner went up after him and quickly drove him down, beating him severely with a thick wooden cudgel. The Ass said, "Why, I saw the Monkey do this very thing yesterday, and you all laughed heartily, as if it afforded you very great amusement."

The Three Tradesmen

A great city was besieged, and its inhabitants were called together to consider the best means of protecting it from the enemy. A Bricklayer earnestly recommended bricks as affording the best material for an effective resistance. A Carpenter, with equal enthusiasm, proposed timber as a preferable method of defense. Upon which a Currier stood up and said, "Sirs, I differ from you altogether: there is no material for resistance equal to a covering of hides; and nothing so good as leather." Every man for himself.

The Master and His Dogs

A certain man, detained by a storm in his country house, first of all killed his sheep, and then his goats, for the maintenance of his household. The storm still continuing, he was obliged to slaughter his yoke oxen for food. On seeing this, his Dogs took counsel together, and said, "It is time for us to be off, for if the master spare not his oxen, who work for his gain, how can we expect him to spare us?' He is not to be trusted as a friend who mistreats his own family.

The Wolf and the Shepherds

A Wolf, passing by, saw some Shepherds in a hut eating a haunch of mutton for their dinner. Approaching them, he said, "What a clamor you would raise if I were to do as you are doing!"

The Dolphins, the Whales, and the Sprat

The Dolphins and Whales waged a fierce war with each other. When the battle was at its height, a Sprat lifted its head out of the waves and said that he would reconcile their differences if they would accept him as an umpire. One of the Dolphins replied, "We would far rather be destroyed in our battle with each other than admit any interference from you in our affairs."

The Ass Carrying the Image

An Ass once carried through the streets of a city a famous wooden Image, to be placed in one of its Temples. As he passed along, the crowd made lowly prostration before the Image. The Ass, thinking that they bowed their heads in token of respect for himself, bristled up with pride, gave himself airs, and refused to move another step. The driver, seeing him thus stop, laid his whip lustily about his shoulders and said, "O you perverse dull-head! it is not yet come to this, that men pay worship to an Ass." They are not wise who give to themselves the credit due to others.

The Two Travelers and the Axe

Two men were journeying together. One of them picked up an axe that lay upon the path, and said, "I have found an axe." "Nay, my friend," replied the other, "do not say 'I,' but 'We' have found an axe." They had not gone far before they saw the owner of the axe pursuing them, and he who had picked up the axe said, "We are undone." "Nay," replied the other, "keep to your first mode of speech, my friend; what you thought right then, think right now. Say 'I,' not 'We' are undone." He who shares the danger ought to share the prize.

English Stories

2008-07-05T02:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/balleyjan

The Horse and Groom
A Groom used to spend whole days in currycombing and rubbing down his Horse, but at the same time stole his oats and sold them for his own profit. "Alas!" said the Horse, "if you really wish me to be in good condition, you should groom me less, and feed me more."
The Ass and the Lapdog
A Man had an Ass, and a Maltese Lapdog, a very great beauty. The Ass was left in a stable and had plenty of oats and hay to eat, just as any other Ass would. The Lapdog knew many tricks and was a great favorite with his master, who often fondled him and seldom went out to dine without bringing him home some tidbit to eat. The Ass, on the contrary, had much work to do in grinding the corn-mill and in carrying wood from the forest or burdens from the farm. He often lamented his own hard fate and contrasted it with the luxury and idleness of the Lapdog, till at last one day he broke his cords and halter, and galloped into his master's house, kicking up his heels without measure, and frisking and fawning as well as he could. He next tried to jump about his master as he had seen the Lapdog do, but he broke the table and smashed all the dishes upon it to atoms. He then attempted to lick his master, and jumped upon his back. The servants, hearing the strange hubbub and perceiving the danger of their master, quickly relieved him, and drove out the Ass to his stable with kicks and clubs and cuffs. The Ass, as he returned to his stall beaten nearly to death, thus lamented: "I have brought it all on myself! Why could I not have been contented to labor with my companions, and not wish to be idle all the day like that useless little Lapdog!"
The Lioness
A controversy prevailed among the beasts of the field as to which of the animals deserved the most credit for producing the greatest number of whelps at a birth. They rushed clamorously into the presence of the Lioness and demanded of her the settlement of the dispute. "And you," they said, "how many sons have you at a birth?' The Lioness laughed at them, and said: "Why! I have only one; but that one is altogether a thoroughbred Lion." The value is in the worth, not in the number.
The Boasting Traveler
A Man who had traveled in foreign lands boasted very much, on returning to his own country, of the many wonderful and heroic feats he had performed in the different places he had visited. Among other things, he said that when he was at Rhodes he had leaped to such a distance that no man of his day could leap anywhere near him as to that, there were in Rhodes many persons who saw him do it and whom he could call as witnesses. One of the bystanders interrupted him, saying: "Now, my good man, if this be all true there is no need of witnesses. Suppose this to be Rhodes, and leap for us."
The Cat and the Cock
A Cat caught a Cock, and pondered how he might find a reasonable excuse for eating him. He accused him of being a nuisance to men by crowing in the nighttime and not permitting them to sleep. The Cock defended himself by saying that he did this for the benefit of men, that they might rise in time for their labors. The Cat replied, "Although you abound in specious apologies, I shall not remain supperless"; and he made a meal of him.
The Piglet, the Sheep, and the Goat
A young Pig was shut up in a fold-yard with a Goat and a Sheep. On one occasion when the shepherd laid hold of him, he grunted and squeaked and resisted violently. The Sheep and the Goat complained of his distressing cries, saying, "He often handles us, and we do not cry out." To this the Pig replied, "Your handling and mine are very different things. He catches you only for your wool, or your milk, but he lays hold on me for my very life."
The Boy and the Filberts
A Boy put his hand into a pitcher full of filberts. He grasped as many as he could possibly hold, but when he tried to pull out his hand, he was prevented from doing so by the neck of the pitcher. Unwilling to lose his filberts, and yet unable to withdraw his hand, he burst into tears and bitterly lamented his disappointment. A bystander said to him, "Be satisfied with half the quantity, and you will readily draw out your hand." Do not attempt too much at once.
The Lion in Love
A Lion demanded the daughter of a woodcutter in marriage. The Father, unwilling to grant, and yet afraid to refuse his request, hit upon this expedient to rid himself of his importunities. He expressed his willingness to accept the Lion as the suitor of his daughter on one condition: that he should allow him to extract his teeth, and cut off his claws, as his daughter was fearfully afraid of both. The Lion cheerfully assented to the proposal. But when the toothless, clawless Lion returned to repeat his request, the Woodman, no longer afraid, set upon him with his club, and drove him away into the forest.
The Laborer and the Snake
A Snake, having made his hole close to the porch of a cottage, inflicted a mortal bite on the Cottager's infant son. Grieving over his loss, the Father resolved to kill the Snake. The next day, when it came out of its hole for food, he took up his axe, but by swinging too hastily, missed its head and cut off only the end of its tail. After some time the Cottager, afraid that the Snake would bite him also, endeavored to make peace, and placed some bread and salt in the hole. The Snake, slightly hissing, said: "There can henceforth be no peace between us; for whenever I see you I shall remember the loss of my tail, and whenever you see me you will be thinking of the death of your son." No one truly forgets injuries in the presence of him who caused the injury.
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Once upon a time a Wolf resolved to disguise his appearance in order to secure food more easily. Encased in the skin of a sheep, he pastured with the flock deceiving the shepherd by his costume. In the evening he was shut up by the shepherd in the fold; the gate was closed, and the entrance made thoroughly secure. But the shepherd, returning to the fold during the night to obtain meat for the next day, mistakenly caught up the Wolf instead of a sheep, and killed him instantly. Harm seek. Harm find.
The Ass and the Mule
A Muleteer set forth on a journey, driving before him an Ass and a Mule, both well laden. The Ass, as long as he traveled along the plain, carried his load with ease, but when he began to ascend the steep path of the mountain, felt his load to be more than he could bear. He entreated his companion to relieve him of a small portion, that he might carry home the rest; but the Mule paid no attention to the request. The Ass shortly afterwards fell down dead under his burden. Not knowing what else to do in so wild a region, the Muleteer placed upon the Mule the load carried by the Ass in addition to his own, and at the top of all placed the hide of the Ass, after he had skinned him. The Mule, groaning beneath his heavy burden, said to himself: "I am treated according to my deserts. If I had only been willing to assist the Ass a little in his need, I should not now be bearing, together with his burden, himself as well."
The Frogs Asking for a King
The Frogs, grieved at having no established Ruler, sent ambassadors to Jupiter entreating for a King. Perceiving their simplicity, he cast down a huge log into the lake. The Frogs were terrified at the splash occasioned by its fall and hid themselves in the depths of the pool. But as soon as they realized that the huge log was motionless, they swam again to the top of the water, dismissed their fears, climbed up, and began squatting on it in contempt. After some time they began to think themselves ill-treated in the appointment of so inert a Ruler, and sent a second deputation to Jupiter to pray that he would set over them another sovereign. He then gave them an Eel to govern them. When the Frogs discovered his easy good nature, they sent yet a third time to Jupiter to beg him to choose for them still another King. Jupiter, displeased with all their complaints, sent a Heron, who preyed upon the Frogs day by day till there were none left to croak upon the lake.
The Boys and the Frogs
Some boys, playing near a pond, saw a number of Frogs in the water and began to pelt them with stones. They killed several of them, when one of the Frogs, lifting his head out of the water, cried out: "Pray stop, my boys: what is sport to you, is death to us."
The Sick Stag
A sick stag lay down in a quiet corner of its pasture-ground. His companions came in great numbers to inquire after his health, and each one helped himself to a share of the food which had been placed for his use; so that he died, not from his sickness, but from the failure of the means of living. Evil companions bring more hurt than profit.
The Salt Merchant and His Ass
A Peddler drove his Ass to the seashore to buy salt. His road home lay across a stream into which his Ass, making a false step, fell by accident and rose up again with his load considerably lighter, as the water melted the sack. The Peddler retraced his steps and refilled his panniers with a larger quantity of salt than before. When he came again to the stream, the Ass fell down on purpose in the same spot, and, regaining his feet with the weight of his load much diminished, brayed triumphantly as if he had obtained what he desired. The Peddler saw through his trick and drove him for the third time to the coast, where he bought a cargo of sponges instead of salt. The Ass, again playing the fool, fell down on purpose when he reached the stream, but the sponges became swollen with water, greatly increasing his load. And thus his trick recoiled on him, for he now carried on his back a double burden.
The Oxen and the Butchers
The Oxen once upon a time sought to destroy the Butchers, who practiced a trade destructive to their race. They assembled on a certain day to carry out their purpose, and sharpened their horns for the contest. But one of them who was exceedingly old (for many a field had he plowed) thus spoke: "These Butchers, it is true, slaughter us, but they do so with skillful hands, and with no unnecessary pain. If we get rid of them, we shall fall into the hands of unskillful operators, and thus suffer a double death: for you may be assured, that though all the Butchers should perish, yet will men never want beef." Do not be in a hurry to change one evil for another.
The Lion, the Mouse, and the Fox
A Lion, fatigued by the heat of a summer's day, fell fast asleep in his den. A Mouse ran over his mane and ears and woke him from his slumbers. He rose up and shook himself in great wrath, and searched every corner of his den to find the Mouse. A Fox seeing him said: "A fine Lion you are, to be frightened of a Mouse." "'Tis not the Mouse I fear," said the Lion; "I resent his familiarity and ill-breeding." Little liberties are great offenses.
The Vain Jackdaw
Jupiter determined, it is said, to create a sovereign over the birds, and made proclamation that on a certain day they should all present themselves before him, when he would himself choose the most beautiful among them to be king. The Jackdaw, knowing his own ugliness, searched through the woods and fields, and collected the feathers which had fallen from the wings of his companions, and stuck them in all parts of his body, hoping thereby to make himself the most beautiful of all. When the appointed day arrived, and the birds had assembled before Jupiter, the Jackdaw also made his appearance in his many feathered finery. But when Jupiter proposed to make him king because of the beauty of his plumage, the birds indignantly protested, and each plucked from him his own feathers, leaving the Jackdaw nothing but a Jackdaw.
The Goatherd and the Wild Goats
A Goatherd, driving his flock from their pasture at eventide, found some Wild Goats mingled among them, and shut them up together with his own for the night. The next day it snowed very hard, so that he could not take the herd to their usual feeding places, but was obliged to keep them in the fold. He gave his own goats just sufficient food to keep them alive, but fed the strangers more abundantly in the hope of enticing them to stay with him and of making them his own. When the thaw set in, he led them all out to feed, and the Wild Goats scampered away as fast as they could to the mountains. The Goatherd scolded them for their ingratitude in leaving him, when during the storm he had taken more care of them than of his own herd. One of them, turning about, said to him: "That is the very reason why we are so cautious; for if you yesterday treated us better than the Goats you have had so long, it is plain also that if others came after us, you would in the same manner prefer them to ourselves." Old friends cannot with impunity be sacrificed for new ones.
The Mischievous Dog
A Dog used to run up quietly to the heels of everyone he met, and to bite them without notice. His master suspended a bell about his neck so that the Dog might give notice of his presence wherever he went. Thinking it a mark of distinction, the Dog grew proud of his bell and went tinkling it all over the marketplace. One day an old hound said to him: Why do you make such an exhibition of yourself? That bell that you carry is not, believe me, any order of merit, but on the contrary a mark of disgrace, a public notice to all men to avoid you as an ill mannered dog." Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.
The Fox Who Had Lost His Tail
A Fox caught in a trap escaped, but in so doing lost his tail. Thereafter, feeling his life a burden from the shame and ridicule to which he was exposed, he schemed to convince all the other Foxes that being tailless was much more attractive, thus making up for his own deprivation. He assembled a good many Foxes and publicly advised them to cut off their tails, saying that they would not only look much better without them, but that they would get rid of the weight of the brush, which was a very great inconvenience. One of them interrupting him said, "If you had not yourself lost your tail, my friend, you would not thus counsel us."
The Boy and the Nettles
A Boy was stung by a Nettle. He ran home and told his Mother, saying, "Although it hurts me very much, I only touched it gently." "That was just why it stung you," said his Mother. "The next time you touch a Nettle, grasp it boldly, and it will be soft as silk to your hand, and not in the least hurt you." Whatever you do, do with all your might.
The Man and His Two Sweethearts
A middle-aged man, whose hair had begun to turn gray, courted two women at the same time. One of them was young, and the other well advanced in years. The elder woman, ashamed to be courted by a man younger than herself, made a point, whenever her admirer visited her, to pull out some portion of his black hairs. The younger, on the contrary, not wishing to become the wife of an old man, was equally zealous in removing every gray hair she could find. Thus it came to pass that between them both he very soon found that he had not a hair left on his head. Those who seek to please everybody please nobody.
The Astronomer
An astronomer used to go out at night to observe the stars. One evening, as he wandered through the suburbs with his whole attention fixed on the sky, he fell accidentally into a deep well. While he lamented and bewailed his sores and bruises, and cried loudly for help, a neighbor ran to the well, and learning what had happened said: "Hark ye, old fellow, why, in striving to pry into what is in heaven, do you not manage to see what is on earth?'
The Wolves and the Sheep
"Why should there always be this fear and slaughter between us?" said the Wolves to the Sheep. "Those evil-disposed Dogs have much to answer for. They always bark whenever we approach you and attack us before we have done any harm. If you would only dismiss them from your heels, there might soon be treaties of peace and reconciliation between us." The Sheep, poor silly creatures, were easily beguiled and dismissed the Dogs, whereupon the Wolves destroyed the unguarded flock at their own pleasure.
The Old Woman and the Physician
An Old Woman having lost the use of her eyes, called in a Physician to heal them, and made this bargain with him in the presence of witnesses: that if he should cure her blindness, he should receive from her a sum of money; but if her infirmity remained, she should give him nothing. This agreement being made, the Physician, time after time, applied his salve to her eyes, and on every visit took something away, stealing all her property little by little. And when he had got all she had, he healed her and demanded the promised payment. The Old Woman, when she recovered her sight and saw none of her goods in her house, would give him nothing. The Physician insisted on his claim, and. as she still refused, summoned her before the Judge. The Old Woman, standing up in the Court, argued: "This man here speaks the truth in what he says; for I did promise to give him a sum of money if I should recover my sight: but if I continued blind, I was to give him nothing. Now he declares that I am healed. I on the contrary affirm that I am still blind; for when I lost the use of my eyes, I saw in my house various chattels and valuable goods: but now, though he swears I am cured of my blindness, I am not able to see a single thing in it."
The Fighting Cocks and the Eagle
Two game Cocks were fiercely fighting for the mastery of the farmyard. One at last put the other to flight. The vanquished Cock skulked away and hid himself in a quiet corner, while the conqueror, flying up to a high wall, flapped his wings and crowed exultingly with all his might. An Eagle sailing through the air pounced upon him and carried him off in his talons. The vanquished Cock immediately came out of his corner, and ruled henceforth with undisputed mastery. Pride goes before destruction.
The Charger and the Miller
A Charger, feeling the infirmities of age, was sent to work in a mill instead of going out to battle. But when he was compelled to grind instead of serving in the wars, he bewailed his change of fortune and called to mind his former state, saying, "Ah! Miller, I had indeed to go campaigning before, but I was barbed from counter to tail, and a man went along to groom me; and now I cannot understand what ailed me to prefer the mill before the battle." "Forbear," said the Miller to him, "harping on what was of yore, for it is the common lot of mortals to sustain the ups and downs of fortune."
The Fox and the Monkey
A Monkey once danced in an assembly of the Beasts, and so pleased them all by his performance that they elected him their King. A Fox, envying him the honor, discovered a piece of meat lying in a trap, and leading the Monkey to the place where it was, said that she had found a store, but had not used it, she had kept it for him as treasure trove of his kingdom, and counseled him to lay hold of it. The Monkey approached carelessly and was caught in the trap; and on his accusing the Fox of purposely leading him into the snare, she replied, "O Monkey, and are you, with such a mind as yours, going to be King over the Beasts?"
The Horse and His Rider
A horse Soldier took the utmost pains with his charger. As long as the war lasted, he looked upon him as his fellow-helper in all emergencies and fed him carefully with hay and corn. But when the war was over, he only allowed him chaff to eat and made him carry heavy loads of wood, subjecting him to much slavish drudgery and ill-treatment. War was again proclaimed, however, and when the trumpet summoned him to his standard, the Soldier put on his charger its military trappings, and mounted, being clad in his heavy coat of mail. The Horse fell down straightway under the weight, no longer equal to the burden, and said to his master, "You must now go to the war on foot, for you have transformed me from a Horse into an Ass; and how can you expect that I can again turn in a moment from an Ass to a Horse?'
The Belly and the Members
The Members of the Body rebelled against the Belly, and said, "Why should we be perpetually engaged in administering to your wants, while you do nothing but take your rest, and enjoy yourself in luxury and self-indulgence?' The Members carried out their resolve and refused their assistance to the Belly. The whole Body quickly became debilitated, and the hands, feet, mouth, and eyes, when too late, repented of their folly.
The Vine and the Goat
A Vine was luxuriant in the time of vintage with leaves and grapes. A Goat, passing by, nibbled its young tendrils and its leaves. The Vine addressed him and said: "Why do you thus injure me without a cause, and crop my leaves? Is there no young grass left? But I shall not have to wait long for my just revenge; for if you now should crop my leaves, and cut me down to my root, I shall provide the wine to pour over you when you are led as a victim to the sacrifice."
Jupiter and the Monkey
Jupiter issued a proclamation to all the beasts of the forest and promised a royal reward to the one whose offspring should be deemed the handsomest. The Monkey came with the rest and presented, with all a mother's tenderness, a flat-nosed, hairless, ill-featured young Monkey as a candidate for the promised reward. A general laugh saluted her on the presentation of her son. She resolutely said, "I know not whether Jupiter will allot the prize to my son, but this I do know, that he is at least in the eyes of me his mother, the dearest, handsomest, and most beautiful of all."
The Widow and Her Little Maidens
A Widow who was fond of cleaning had two little maidens to wait on her. She was in the habit of waking them early in the morning, at cockcrow. The maidens, aggravated by such excessive labor, resolved to kill the cock who roused their mistress so early. When they had done this, they found that they had only prepared for themselves greater troubles, for their mistress, no longer hearing the hour from the cock, woke them up to their work in the middle of the night.
The Shepherd's Boy and the Wolf
A Shepherd-boy, who watched a flock of sheep near a village, brought out the villagers three or four times by crying out, "Wolf! Wolf!" and when his neighbors came to help him, laughed at them for their pains. The Wolf, however, did truly come at last. The Shepherd-boy, now really alarmed, shouted in an agony of terror: "Pray, do come and help me; the Wolf is killing the sheep"; but no one paid any heed to his cries, nor rendered any assistance. The Wolf, having no cause of fear, at his leisure lacerated or destroyed the whole flock. There is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth.
The Cat and the Birds
A Cat, hearing that the Birds in a certain aviary were ailing dressed himself up as a physician, and, taking his cane and a bag of instruments becoming his profession, went to call on them. He knocked at the door and inquired of the inmates how they all did, saying that if they were ill, he would be happy to prescribe for them and cure them. They replied, "We are all very well, and shall continue so, if you will only be good enough to go away, and leave us as we are."
The Kid and the Wolf
A Kid standing on the roof of a house, out of harm's way, saw a Wolf passing by and immediately began to taunt and revile him. The Wolf, looking up, said, "Sirrah! I hear thee: yet it is not thou who mockest me, but the roof on which thou art standing." Time and place often give the advantage to the weak over the strong.
The Ox and the Frog
An Ox drinking at a pool trod on a brood of young frogs and crushed one of them to death. The Mother coming up, and missing one of her sons, inquired of his brothers what had become of him. "He is dead, dear Mother; for just now a very huge beast with four great feet came to the pool and crushed him to death with his cloven heel." The Frog, puffing herself out, inquired, "if the beast was as big as that in size." "Cease, Mother, to puff yourself out," said her son, "and do not be angry; for you would, I assure you, sooner burst than successfully imitate the hugeness of that monster."

what,s the meaning of balleyjan

2008-06-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

what's meaning of ''balleyjan''
B :bashful
A :acceptation
L :loveable
L :loyal
E :empathy
Y :yesty
J :jolly
A :ambitious
N :nifty

Rajput

2008-05-31T23:23:00.000-07:00

History of Rajputs

During the 7th and 8th century emerged a new clan of people who came to be known as Rajputs. They basically belonged to the warrior class of people and were located in Rajasthan and some central parts of India. However there is conflict regarding the rise of the Rajputs and there are many theories that put forward different incidents that led to the rise of the Rajput empire. The royal Rajputs of Rajasthan ruled successfully over Rajasthan and Gujarat for a period of 500 years. Read further about the history of Rajasthan Rajputs. Being essentially in the warrior class, the Rajputs had huge armies of soldiers. There were bodyguards and watchmen who were very loyal to their masters. In fact, the Rajputs were known for their loyalty and trustworthy nature. The Rajputs were skillful warriors and followed a strict code of conduct when it came to waging a battle and driving away an enemy. There are many tales and folklores about the bravery of the Rajputs. The Rajputs were God fearing people and were devoted to Vishnu, Rama and Sun God. A very famous Rajput ruler was Prithviraj Chauhan who waged a fierce battle against Muhammad Ghauri around the 12th century. When the Mughals invaded some Rajput rulers converted to Islam, which then laid the foundation of one of the biggest pre-colonial empire in South East Asia. The Rajputs were known for their unique architectural wonders and built many palaces and forts in and around Rajasthan and Gujarat. The forts and temples they built then still stand strong and provide a glimpse of the royal heritage of the Rajputs. With time the power of the Rajputs began to decline mainly due to the fact that they were unable to move with time. The Mughals invaded and captured huge parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. After the efforts of Babur, emperor Humayun and Akbar virtually conquered almost all parts of the Rajput Empire. This happened by not just wars but also through matrimonial alliances of the Mughals and the Rajputs. With the arrival of the British, all Rajput states became colonies of the British thus ending the regal reign of the Rajputs.

My memories

2008-02-22T08:24:00.000-08:00

My heart’s like an open book,
it depends on how u read me.
Don”t judge me by my cover..
Look in and discover..
i will be your True Lover
for ever…

^_^............................^_^

PC's birthday

2007-10-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

20.10.07 is pc 21st birthday!!!Happy birthday leng lui!!!This day is also a 'gathering' for 5 akik of pess school...Long time didn't meet them all ady,really so many different dy,I think the only not change is me!!! Haih... *.*'' ...Only I m not mature enough...Sad...

Today is my new look day also,went to times square to change my 'look' - strange look...This waste me 200 plus leh...no money ady...pk dy...Hope wont laugh by people...Thank you for accompany me and make your leg get into 'trouble'...coz of the new road that I showing you...sorry...hah...

Went to pc's new house to celebrate her birthday,BBQ...but oni we 4 ppl enjoy the bbq,I think...We keep on 'burning' all the food...Eventhough I had enough and full,I still BBQing,because enjoy ma...PC's also enjoying to eat them all...Got people willing to BBQ,then got another people willing to eat it,matching concept ma...so good...hah...since I am waiting to eat my potato also,the potato has 'cook' for 2 hours plus,but still haven't done...Finally I have 'cook' it with my 'love' in it,then is ok lor...Hey,hw praise that it taste good leh,of course la,I 'cook' de ma,I make the taste de ma...but some of them said it is too salty,must be la,since i din kacau the salt n the butter and put evenly ma...That 1 u have to 'sapu' yourself lor...Eh,this is my 1st time leh,actually the 1st time has to leave it to boyfriend de,see,I am so good to 'cook' potato and bbq for you all...Not everyone got chance to eat my 'cook' de...(hah,I think nobody want to eat it,maybe..).Thank god and feel good that we,5 people, can sit together and chit-chatting,I long time din join them dy...sorry,gals...

At last,Wish all of you who are going to have exam at the end of the month and the beginning of next month,GOOD LUCK IN YOUR EXAM!!! I will always beside you all to support you...Gambatte!!!

Feeling now

2007-10-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

Don't know what is my feeling now...Listening to Jay's song which will always turn my mood to a bad mood,but I still like to listen to his song...Yesterday night I cried after listen to 'secret',why??? Actually I also don't know why...Just feeling want to cry,so cry lor...Me is like that kind of person,can suddenly feel want to cry,suddenly change my mood or minds,because this is female's 'zhuan li' ma....hah...

I don't know how to face my result,my friends and my family on this saturday...Want to 'tao bi'...Off my handphone!!!Shut myself up in my room!!!I don't have preparation to look at my result...Can't accept the truth...How????How should I faced them??How???How???How????

Don't know....is my answer.......................

What is going on

2007-10-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

How's my life going on this week?My mood is consider stay in a bad and unhappy mood in this week!!!I hate this week...I don't know how to open mouth...

FL..Thank you for sharing my problems during this week and i get the answer ady,I really get the answer...Don't know whether the answer is what i want or not...if you want to know the answer,tell me o...haha...

Mood turn a bit happy on Wednesday,because thom know this,haha...),thankey all accompany me to go to eat Kimgary(dun let my ms friends...sorry also,because wasting yours money...SORRY...and the same sentence,sorry to ur leg because of the traffic jam on the way going to klcc...But,one thing not so happy is I didn't meet yy on that day,she went back to see her friend in hospital after school...so yy,how's your friend???Ok ady???

Sorry to Alice also because didn't accompany you to go pasar malam on friday night...I ate 2 tauhu busuk that night,very delicious...yummy!!!too bad that when you reach there the stall has closed...sorry...

Congrate to my friend that she get number 3 in that competition...

Lastly,hope that all my mom's directors please 'wake up' to go for their goal,please don't sleep...wake up and put all your effort to get the work done!!!

Congrate to all my coursemate who pass all their 1st semester exam...Good job!!!!While others who fail 1 or 2 subject,please don't give up easily,put more effort and time on those subject...We all GAMBATTE together ya...Wish we all good luck...

University friends!!!I won't forget you all de...Wish you all get good result in your examination...put more effort,take good care of your health,don't skip your meal just because want to keep fit or study,must eat then baru got ENERGY...don't like me,only know wasting time...I will pray for you all...GAMBATTE!!!

who is she.....

2007-10-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

She is.... A daughter. A sister. A niece. A grand-daughter. A lover. A friend. An aunt. An intellectual. A chef. A seamstress. A comedian. A Canuck. A student. A disciple of Christ. A heartbreaker. A bombshell. A perfectionist. A clean-freak. A sweet fragrance. A smile. A King's Daughter (LORD ON HIGH). An old soul. An individual. A Princess. A woman.

i am here

2007-10-19T03:27:00.000-07:00

dearest behold'
the distances have gone i am here here here and here
beyond all borders encumbrance's i am here here here and here
i am the secret you can never hide' i am the gesture you can never forget' why are surprised at these vibrations because i am the sound of your heart' Listen if you can to the rhythms of your heart' i am here here here and here
beyond all borders and encumbrance's i am here here here and here
i and only i am now in your thoughts i am in all your questions and your answers' i occupy all your dreams' i am in radiance of your sight' you can see me wherever your vision goes' i am here here here and here
Dearest behold i am ...............................................and here

Love ....

2007-10-17T23:55:00.000-07:00

Bengali - Aami Tumaake Bhaalo Baashi

Polish - Ja Kocham Ciebie

French - Je T'aime

Hindi - Hum Tumhe Pyar Karte Hai

Czech - Miluji Te

Slovakian - Lu'Bim Ta

Italian - Ti Amo

Ukrainian - Ya Tebe Kahayu

German - Ish Libe Dish

Chinese - Wo Ai Ni

Greek - S'agapo

Hawaian - Aloha Wau Ia Oi

Lithuianian - Tav Myliu

Korean - Sa Rang Hae Yo

Japanese - Ai Shi Te Ru

Romanian - Te Ubsec

Bosnian - Volim Te

Albanian - Te Dua

Filipino - Mahal Kita

Spanish - Te Amo

Malaysian-Saya Cintakan Awak

I Can Say I Love You In 22 Different Languages!
Now send this to 10 People That You Love Most,
which can include ME And Are Your True Friends!
If You Get This Back 5 Times, That Means You Are Truly Loved

You know about it

2007-10-17T23:52:00.000-07:00

A - P - P - L - E

YOU ARE TAKEN

C - H - E - R - R - Y

YOU LIKE SOMEONE BUT NOT SURE HOW THEY

FEEL ABOUT YOU

B - A - N - A - N - A

YOUR IN A RELATIONSHIP AND YOU LOVE

THE GUY/GIRL SO MUCH THAT YOU NEVER

EVER EVERRRRR WANT TO LOSE THEM NO

MATTER WHAT IT TAKES.. YOU WILL DO

ANYTHING FOR THEM.. YOU LOVE THEM SO

MUCH!!!!!

G - R - A - P - E

YOUR SINGLE AND LOVIN IT

C-O-C-O-N-U-T

YOUR SINGLE, AND DON'T REALLY CARE. ALL

YOU WANT TO DO IS JUST FLIRT AND HAVE

FUNN!!

L - E - M - O - N

YOU ARE ABOUT TO GIVE UP

P - E - A - C - H

YOUR TAKEN BUT YOU ARE CONFUSED

P - I - N- E - A - P - P - L - E

YOU ARE JUST TAKING LIFE AS IT COMES

W- A - T - E - R - M - E - L - O - N

YOU LIKE SOMEONE BUT THERE BULLSHITING

S - T - R - A - W - B - E - R - R- Y

YOU LIKE/LOVE SOMEONE AND THEY

LIKE/LOVE YOU BUT YOUR NOT TOGETHER

RIGHT NOW

L - I - M - E

YOUR CLOSE TO JUST NOT CARING ANYMORE