This Blog's is here to explore, examine, reexamine, evoke, provoke, stimulate and highlight various subject matter. We are not here to change minds, just to free them.
Please remember that the truth does not cease to exist simply because you want to ignore, hide, or forget it! Do feel free to comment.
Don't rely on someone else for your happiness & self worth. Only u can be responsible 4 that. If u can't love & respect yourself no one else will be able 2 make that happen. Accept who u are-completely; the good & the bad & make changes as YOU see fit-not because u think someone else wants u 2 be different. If u want to live a happy life, tie it 2 a goal, not 2 people or things!
Too often people tend to concern them selves with impressing other before finding their true self. We put on fronts to gain the attention of others. We will alter our personae in order to win over others. We will even lie to get in good with people all while we ignore the maintenance of our own souls & characteristics. We should always get to know who we are first & then work on our friendships & relationships by simply being ourselves. If you change and refine you because you see room for self improvement then you will not go through so many failed relationships. It will become easier to find a mate that's compatible with the real you! If you know yourself then you will know what kind of mate that you really want. When you come across someone who is not your type you will leave them alone thereby not wasting your time nor theirs.
Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them.
"The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be" ~Marcel Pagnol
LONDON (Jan. 8) – Ask any Christian, Jew or Muslim to draw you a picture of Noah's ark and you'll probably get a sketch of a regular wooden boat being boarded by a procession of animals – two by two, of course. But that's all wrong. According to new evidence, the ark wasn't a pointy-prowed vessel, but a giant round raft.
This ship shape discovery was made by Irving Finkel, an expert in ancient Mesopotamia (now Iraq) at London's British Museum. While translating a 3,700-year-old clay tablet inscribed with Babylonian cuneiform script – passed to the museum by the son of a British Air Force man, who picked it up while serving in the Middle East during World War II – he spotted an "extremely exciting" reference to the ark's "circular design." This was a revelation, says Finkel, not only because he'd never thought of the ark as round, but because this was the first-ever ancient description of the ark's shape. Neither the Bible nor other Babylonian documents featuring the great flood offered any guidance of that sort.
Getty Images
The usual depictions of Noah's ark, like this one from the 13th century, are all wrong, according to a newly translated Babylonian tablet.
"When you see paintings of Noah's ark, it always has a prow and a stern, and it's an ocean-going vessel that could get you from A to B," says Finkel. "But the poet who wrote this version conceived the ark as a giant coracle, which have steep sides and a rounded bottom." These highly stable boats, he notes, were used to float goods and animals from one side of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers to the other, and are still sometimes used in Iraq today.
"I think when the rains came and the waters covered the earth, the idea was that this boat would keep everybody safe," he says. "They'd bob around on top of the water and then when the waters went down, everyone could get out safely. It didn't have to go anywhere. It just had to be unsinkable."
The hero of the newly translated tablet – which is slightly bigger than a cell phone, and is inscribed with 60 lines of cuneiform text – isn't Noah, but a possible historical predecessor named Atram-Hasi. It begins with a mischievous Babylonian god named Enki telling the wise, kind and holy Atram-Hasi how to escape a great deluge planned by his rival deities. (They were apparently fed up with noisy humans, who interfered with their sleep.)
"Wall, wall! Reed wall, reed wall!" says Enki. "Atram-Hasis, pay heed to my advice, that you may live forever! Destroy your house, build a boat; despise possessions and save life! Draw out the boat that you will built with a circular design; Let its length and breadth be the same."
Like an ancient DIY guru, Enki gives his chosen man precise instructions: He's told to use plaited palm fiber, waterproofed with bitumen, for the hull, and advised on how he should build cabins for the people and wild animals. The episode ends with Atram-Hasis commanding an unfortunate boat builder, who will be left to die on land, to seal the door once everyone is safely inside: "When I shall have gone into the boat, caulk the frame of the door."
The story may only be a work of fiction, built upon folk memories of great river floods long past, but it demonstrates the exceptional storytelling skills of the Babylonians. Finkel believes the tale deliberately ends on a cliffhanger – "You can almost imagine the theme music coming in as the door is closed," he says – to leave the audience craving the next episode, which would have continued Atram-Hasis' incredible odyssey.
And he believes that ancient Jews living in exile in Babylon at this time would also have been wowed by the tale. So much, in fact, that they may have transformed it into their own epic story: Noah and the ark.
CAIRO (Reuters) – New tombs found in Giza support the view that the Great Pyramids were built by free workers and not slaves, as widely believed, Egypt's chief archaeologist said on Sunday.
Films and media have long depicted slaves toiling away in the desert to build the mammoth pyramids only to meet a miserable death at the end of their efforts.
"These tombs were built beside the king's pyramid, which indicates that these people were not by any means slaves," Zahi Hawass, the chief archaeologist heading the Egyptian excavation team, said in a statement.
"If they were slaves, they would not have been able to build their tombs beside their king's."
He said the collection of workers' tombs, some of which were found in the 1990s, were among the most significant finds in the 20th and 21st centuries. They belonged to workers who built the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre.
Hawass had earlier found graffiti on the walls from workers calling themselves "friends of Khufu" -- another sign that they were not slaves.
The tombs, on the Giza plateau on the western edge of Cairo, are 4,510 years old and lie at the entrance of a one-km (half mile)-long necropolis.
Hawass said evidence had been found showing that farmers in the Delta and Upper Egypt had sent 21 buffalo and 23 sheep to the plateau every day to feed the builders, believed to number around 10,000 -- or about a tenth of Greek historian Herodotus's estimate of 100,000.
These farmers were exempted from paying taxes to the government of ancient Egypt -- evidence that he said underscored the fact they were participating in a national project.
The first discovery of workers' tombs in 1990 came about accidentally when a horse stumbled on a brick structure 10 meters (yards) away from the burial area.
(Writing by Marwa Awad; Editing by Alison Williams and Michael Roddy)
12 Movie Clips from THE BOOK OF ELI Starring Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis and Gary Oldman in a Hughes Brothers Film
With the Hughes Brothers The Book of Eli opening this Friday, Warner Bros. has finally released some movie clips. While some studios are content to release four or perhaps six clips from a film, WB has sent over twelve! So if you’re trying to stay spoiler free, you will not want to watch these. Saying that, a few of the clips showcase some of the cool action scenes so perhaps you want to see them now. The Book of Eli stars Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, Gary Oldman, Jennifer Beals, Ray Stevenson, Frances de la Tour and Michael Gambon.
Hit the jump for the synopsis and clips:
Here’s the short synopsis and the clips. Further down is the full version:
The Book of Eli is an action adventure about a man who has a goal and will not be stopped. It stars Denzel Washington as Eli, who walks alone across the dangerous wasteland that once was America, driven by his commitment to this goal and the faith to see it through, whether that faith is in himself or in something greater. In a world set 30-40 years in the future, decimated by some unspecified global disaster, Eli is on a mission to bring what remains of humanity the knowledge that could be its redemption. The film is directed by Allen and Albert Hughes, who made a brilliant Hollywood debut at age 20 with Menace II Society and went on to direct Dead Presidents and From Hell.
As always, are the clips are in the player below. Once you push play you might have to watch a pre-roll ad and then all the clips will play in order. Sorry about the pre-roll, it pays for the bandwidth.
In the not-too-distant future, some 30 years after the final war, a solitary man walks across the wasteland that was once America. Empty cities, broken highways, seared earth–all around him, the marks of catastrophic destruction. There is no civilization here, no law. The roads belong to gangs that would murder a man for his shoes, an ounce of water…or for nothing at all.
But they’re no match for this traveler.
A warrior not by choice but necessity, Eli (Denzel Washington) seeks only peace but, if challenged, will cut his attackers down before they realize their fatal mistake. It’s not his life he guards so fiercely but his hope for the future; a hope he has carried and protected for 30 years and is determined to realize. Driven by this commitment and guided by his belief in something greater than himself, Eli does what he must to survive–and continue.
Only one other man in this ruined world understands the power Eli holds, and is determined to make it his own: Carnegie (Gary Oldman), the self-appointed despot of a makeshift town of thieves and gunmen. Meanwhile, Carnegie’s adopted daughter Solara (Mila Kunis) is fascinated by Eli for another reason: the glimpse he offers of what may exist beyond her stepfather’s domain.
But neither will find it easy to deter him. Nothing–and no one–can stand in his way. Eli must keep moving to fulfill his destiny and bring help to a ravaged humanity.
Alcon Entertainment presents a Silver Pictures production, a Hughes Brothers Film: “The Book of Eli.” The film stars two-time Academy Award winner® Denzel Washington (”Training Day,” “Glory”), Gary Oldman (”The Dark Knight,” the “Harry Potter” films), Mila Kunis (”Forgetting Sarah Marshall”), Ray Stevenson (”Punisher: War Zone”), Jennifer Beals (Showtime’s “The L Word”), Frances de la Tour and Michael Gambon (both of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”).
“The Book of Eli” is directed by the Hughes Brothers (”Menace II Society,” “Dead Presidents”) from a screenplay by Gary Whitta. It is produced by Joel Silver, Denzel Washington, Broderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosove and David Valdes. Steve Richards, Susan Downey and Erik Olsen serve as executive producers, with co-producers Steven P. Wegner, Yolanda T. Cochran and John David Washington.
The creative team includes director of photography Don Burgess, production designer Gae Buckley, editor Cindy Mollo and costume designer Sharen Davis. Jon Farhat is the visual effects supervisor. Music is composed by Atticus Ross, and the music supervisor is Deva Anderson.
“The Book of Eli” will be distributed domestically by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. Summit Entertainment is the international sales representative.
President says intelligence officials ‘failed to connect the dots’
Pete Souza / The White House via AP
In this image released by the White House, President Barack Obama meets with his national security team in the Situation Room of the White House Tuesday.
Obama: Security system ‘has failed’ Jan. 6: During a meeting with his national security team about the failures leading to the attempted Christmas Day terror attack, President Obama said security officials “failed to connect the dots.”
Source: Tape exists of CIA bomb attack Jan. 6: Joe Scarborough, Andrea Mitchell and Michael Crowley of the New Republic discuss the suicide bomb attack that claimed the lives of seven CIA employees in Afghanistan.
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama asserted on Tuesday that the U.S. government had enough information to foil the attempted bombing on a Christmas Day airline flight but intelligence agencies "failed to connect the dots."
Obama called that unacceptable and said, "I will not tolerate it."
The accused attacker, 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has claimed ties to al-Qaida. Witnesses said he ignited an explosive mixture but it failed to do serious damage to the Northwest jetliner or its passengers, and he was subdued by other passengers and airline crew members on the Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight.
The president, speaking after meeting with his Cabinet and national security team, declared, "We have to do better and we will do better. And we will do it quickly."
But while he expressed clear displeasure with the U.S. failure to prevent the suspect from boarding a U.S.-bound flight, Obama did not announce any firings or job reassignments.
Obama also said he was suspending the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to Yemen. The Christmas attack has raised concerns about Yemen, because the Nigerian man has claimed to have been acting on instructions from al-Qaida operatives in that country.
Nearly half of the 198 terror suspect detainees held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are from Yemen. But Obama reiterated his vow to eventually close the camp.
"Make no mistake, we will close Guantanamo prison," Obama said. The camp, he said, "was an explicit rationale for the formation of al-Qaida" operating in Yemen.
As for the Christmas attack, Obama said it exposed "a potentially disastrous" security failure.
'Red flags' He spoke after a White House meeting with the officials charged with carrying out two reviews he has ordered. Obama spelled out recent changes in security protocols for airline flights and changes to the government's watchlist of suspected terrorists.
At the meeting in the Situation Room, the president told participants, according to the White House: "This was a screw-up that could have been disastrous. We dodged a bullet but just barely."
There was no finger-pointing at the meeting and the leaders of each agency and department took responsibility for failures at their respective organizations, officials said.
Obama told reporters the security lapse didn't have to do with the collection of information but with the failure to integrate and analyze what was there. The bottom line, he said was that the government had "sufficient information to uncover this plot and potentially disrupt the Christmas Day attack."
"Our intelligence community failed to connect those dots which would have placed the suspect on the no-fly list," he said. "This was not a failure to collect intelligence, it was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already have."
Obama said that it was clear the government knew that the suspect, Abdulmutallab, had traveled to Yemen and joined with extremists there.
"It now turns out that our intelligence community knew of other red flags that al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula sought to strike not only American targets in Yemen, but the United States itself. And we had information that this group was working with an individual ... who we now know was in fact the individual involved in the Christmas attack," he said.
New security procedures
Some of the tougher procedures Obama demanded have already been put in place.
The Transportation Security Administration directed airlines, beginning Monday, to give full-body, pat-down searches to U.S.-bound travelers from Yemen, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and 11 other countries.
Before Obama's comments, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president still has full confidence in his three top national security officials: Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, CIA Director Leon Panetta and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
They were among the 20 high-level officials who sat down with Obama in the White House for a meeting that lasted over 90 minutes.
Since the attempted attack, the government has added dozens of names to its lists of suspected terrorists and those barred from flights bound for the United States.
Video
Will security reforms thwart terrorists? Jan. 6: Former White House communications director Anita Dunn and former White House press secretary Dana Perino talk to TODAY’s Matt Lauer about whether President Obama’s planned reforms will improve security.
Today show
The additions came after U.S. officials scrutinized a larger database of suspected terrorists, an intelligence official said Monday.
People on the watch list are subject to additional scrutiny before they are allowed to enter this country, while anyone on the no-fly list is barred from boarding aircraft in or headed for the United States.
Abdulmutallab remained in federal custody, charged with trying to destroy the Northwest Airlines flight as it approached Detroit. He is alleged to have smuggled an explosive device onboard and set if off. The device sparked only a fire and not the intended explosion.
Terror attempt: Unanswered questions
After initially answering questions from the FBI, alleged 'underwear bomber' Umar Abdulmutallab stopped talking. Here are some of the questions investigators are still working to answer.
Investigators have not come up with an answer, but some theorize that when Abdulmutallab bought his ticket, on December 16, it was one of the few Christmas holiday flights to the U.S. with aisle seats available over the wing. He apparently wanted to sit in those seats, presumably because he believed that an explosion there would produce greater damage. Federal officials say he chose his seat, 19A, rather than having it assigned to him by the reservation computers.
It’s not just women who struggle to keep their bellies flat. Men and women gain weight in different places, and men are actually more prone to packing on the pounds around the waist. In “Flat Belly Diet! For Men,” Prevention editor-in-chief Liz Vaccariello and D. Milton Stokes, MPH, RD, offer a diet and fitness plan specifically for men who want to shed weight around the midsection. Here is an excerpt from chapter one.
‘Flat Belly Diet! For Men:’ Chapter 1 It all starts with a few extra pounds around the waist. Next thing you know, you’re trading up for a larger pair of pants, then suddenly your paunch is hanging over your new, bigger pants.
While this scenario might ring true for both men and women, the bad news for you guys is that it’s more likely to happen to you. Yes, it’s true. Men and women tend to put on excess weight differently, with guys being more prone to packing on the pounds around the waist.
Around 70 percent of American men are overweight or obese, and a lot of this excess flab is found on or around the belly. Some scientists describe people with these love handles and belly fat as “apple shaped.” Women, on the other hand, are often more “pear shaped,” with a tendency to gain weight around their hips, thighs, and buttocks.
Having a spare tire can not only be bad for self-esteem — even if many men deny that they care — it also comes with serious health risks. Before we delve into how to flatten those abs, though, we need to take a closer look at this thing we’re calling belly fat. All belly fat is not created equal; there are different kinds that can have different effects on your health.
Belly fat: The real deal There are actually two types of “belly fat” that can accumulate around your waist: subcutaneous and visceral. Subcutaneous fat, most simply and unscientifically put, is the fat you can see, the stuff you can actually grab. Subcutaneous means “beneath” (sub) “the skin” (cutaneous), so this easy-to-see fat is found all over the body — from your belly to the tips of your fingers.
Your body does need a moderate amount of subcutaneous fat to provide things such as energy and insulation during colder months. But having too much of it can be a visible sign that a person is overweight or obese, both of which are known to raise the risk for many diseases including heart disease, stroke, metabolic syndrome, certain types of cancer, type 2 diabetes, and sleep apnea.
The second type of fat is the more harmful kind. Visceral fat is found deep within the torso, and although some visceral fat is needed to protect the organs around the abdomen, too much can lead to big trouble. In fact, because of its proximity to your kidneys, heart, liver, and other organs, excess visceral fat can raise your risk of all sorts of diseases, from heart disease and diabetes to cancer and Alzheimer’s. It’s sometimes referred to as “hidden” belly fat because you can’t see it from the outside, but I prefer the term “deadly” fat.
Here’s the catch though: Cutting calories and upping your gym workouts doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you’ll lose a lot of visceral fat. And it’s also possible to be “skinny fat” — to be relatively thin and still have too much visceral fat to be considered “healthy.” It’s enough to drive any guy nuts. The reality is that there’s only one way to eat to minimize both visceral and subcutaneous fat simultaneously. To combat these fats you need to regularly eat, yes, fat ... the right kind of fat, that is.
MUFAs: The powerful nutrient Chances are you’ve heard of this fat-busting nutrient, or at the very least, you’ve eaten it. Monounsaturated fatty acids are found in oils, olives, nuts, and avocados, and we’ve known for decades that they have myriad health benefits. In fact, they are so popular they even have a nickname — MUFAs (pronounced MOO-fahs).
But it wasn’t until the spring of 2007 that we realized just how amazing these fats are. That was when Spanish researchers published a study in the journal Diabetes Care that showed that eating a diet rich in MUFAs can actually help stop weight gain around the gut.
The researchers looked at the effects of three diets — one high in saturated fat, another high in carbohydrates, and a third rich in MUFAs — on a group of patients with abdominal fat distribution, or, more simply, those with belly fat. All three diets had the same number of calories, but only the high-MUFA one was found to reduce the accumulation of belly fat, and, more specifically, visceral belly fat. This research showed that MUFAs are one of a kind, because no other nutrient has been found to aid ab flattening!
We used this science as the basis of the Flat Belly Diet, and that eating plan has helped — and continues to help — millions shed their belly fat. Now we’ve applied the same sound research to the Flat Belly Diet for Men. This is the only eating plan that helps you lose fat specifically in the belly, thanks to these powerful MUFAs.
According to a new Yale University Prevention Research Center Study, the Flat Belly Diet reduces dangerous visceral belly fat by an astonishing 33 percent. David L. Katz, MD, adjunct professor of public health and director of the Yale Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine explains, “This diet study is exceptional because it shows the plan not only significantly reduces weight overall, but abdominal fat in particular, including dangerous visceral fat. We also saw impressive reductions in cholesterol, blood pressure, inflammation, and insulin resistance.” The study participants, who followed the original Flat Belly Diet plan for 4 weeks, lost an average of 8.5 pounds, lowered their total cholesterol levels by more than 20 points, and reduced both systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings (by 8 points and 5 points, respectively). While the exact impact of these changes varies according to the individual, on average the Flat Belly Diet helped slash the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and arthritis by more than 50 percent!
You’ll see that ab-flattening MUFAs are an essential part of the meals and snacks in this diet. Chapter 3 expands on the incredible power of MUFAs, but first let’s take a closer look at how this unique plan works.
The Flat Belly Diet for Men plan The Flat Belly Diet for Men is made up of two parts — the Four-Day Flat Abs Kickstart, followed by the Four-Week MUFA Meal Plan. The whole thing takes just 32 days, which studies show is enough time to make any dietary change a part of your everyday lifestyle. And don’t worry about the spare tire returning after the 32 days. Once you’ve mastered this program and watched your potbelly start to disappear, I will share the tools needed to keep your belly flat for life.
The four-day flat abs kickstart isn’t just about getting your body ready for flatter abs, it’s also about getting your mind in the game. This part of the plan will get you into the habit of following the program and mentally prepare you for the next phase. The Four-Day Kickstart includes a prescribed list of foods and drinks that will help flush out fluid and relieve digestive issues like wind and constipation. You’ll drink our signature Fire Water, which will help boost your metabolism, and eat healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Our initial test results were astonishing: One panelist — Neil — lost a whopping 7 pounds and a total of 8 inches from his body in just 4 days! He never dreamed it would be so easy. On average, the panelists lost 3.75 pounds and 2.91 inches during the Kickstart.
The four-week MUFA meal plan, the real focus of this book, begins the morning after you finish the Flat Abs Kickstart. Every day for 28 days you’ll enjoy three filling 400-calorie meals and two 400-calorie Power Snacks. Each meal and snack has just the right amount of MUFAs to help you flatten your abs and is chock-full of fiber and protein so you won’t feel hungry, grouchy, or tired throughout the program. It really doesn’t get any easier than this. There is no calorie counting, elimination of your favorite foods, or complicated rules. We picked 2,000 calories per day because that’s how much an adult man of average height, frame, size, and activity level needs to get down to his ideal body weight while maintaining strong muscles and high energy levels. Upon completion of the 4-week segment, our panelists lost an average of 13.35 pounds and 8.86 inches total — 2.81 inches from the abdominal area.
Customize your plan For guys who don’t have time to cook or just don’t like cooking all that much, you’ll find 90 MUFA-packed quick-fix meals, organized by breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, in Chapter 7. Just choose three meals and two snacks a day and you’re done. That’s it! Chapter 8 is for days when you’re feeling more ambitious with your meals. It includes more than 50 recipes for fast and delicious meals, each of which has the right number of calories and MUFAs per serving. There’s even a grilling section in the chapter, which comes in handy for barbecue days, as well as easy-to-follow MUFA-related shopping and cooking tips. Don’t like one of the meals? No problem. All of the meals are interchangeable so you never have to eat anything you don’t like. Regardless of what meals you choose, you’ll have flatter abs in a month, guaranteed.
To make life even easier, you’ll see boxes called Fast Facts throughout the book. These boxes provide useful tidbits on fat, bulking up, weight loss, and general health, as well as quick tips and strategies. You’ll also see some boxes labeled Message from Milton. Milton wrote these to share his advice and insight about how to achieve success on this incredible plan. To give you a little motivation if you’re feeling discouraged, you’ll even find amazing success stories from men who participated in our Flat Belly Diet for Men test panel and have a smaller paunch and tighter abs to prove it!
But what makes the Flat Belly Diet for Men truly special is that you don’t need to exercise to reap the benefits. If you do exercise, you will certainly see results faster, and you will gain secondary benefits like improved cardiovascular health and stronger, more toned muscles. But you can still expect to shrink your belly — and lose both subcutaneous and visceral fat — by simply following the eating plan. I have always been a big believer in the phrase “small changes, big results.” To me, it’s more important that you do something to reduce your belly fat than it is to do everything, only to find that too many changes are difficult to maintain. If you do not already have a workout routine, incorporating a new way of eating into your lifestyle may be change enough for the first 32 days.
By the time you’re done with this program, you’ll not only feel fit and cut, but you’ll have better health, more energy, and (of course!) those six-pack abs!
What about exercise? If you want to lose your belly fat and sculpt six-pack abs, exercise is going to get you there faster. I asked fitness expert Myatt Murphy, the author of “The Body You Want in the Time You Have,” “The Men’s Health Gym Bible,” and “Men’s Health Ultimate Dumbbell Guide,” to develop the exercise program in Chapter 9. This plan is doable, functional, and customizable to any fitness level, so even if it’s been a while (or forever) since you’ve pumped iron or broken a sweat, Myatt’s plan will get you in shape quickly and safely.
Excerpted with permission from “Flat Belly Diet for Men,” written by Liz Vaccariello with D. Milton Stokes, MPH, RD, and published by Rodale Inc.
Here’s the short synopsis and the clips. Further down is the full version:
Alcon Entertainment presents a Silver Pictures production, a Hughes Brothers Film: “
