Mean Parents
Author Unknown

All parents are mean for a reason. As we grow into adults we know why our moms and dads were mean. Someday when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent, I will tell them:

I loved you enough... to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.
I loved you enough... to insist that you save your money and buy a bike for yourself even though we could afford to buy one for you.
I loved you enough... to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep.
I loved you enough... to make you go pay for the bubble gum you had taken and tell the clerk, "I stole this yesterday and want to pay for it."
I loved you enough... to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes.

I loved you enough... to let you see anger, disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Children must learn that their parents aren't perfect.
I loved you enough... to let you assume the responsibility for your actions even when the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.

But most of all, I loved you enough... to say NO when I knew you would hate me for it.

Those were the most difficult battles of all. I'm glad I won them because in the end you won, too. And someday when your children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them....

Was your Mom or Dad mean? I know mine were.
We had the meanest mother in the whole world!
While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast.
When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches.

And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.

Dad insisted on knowing where we were at all times.
You'd think we were convicts in a prison.

He had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them. He insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less

We were ashamed to admit it, but Mom had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.

They always insisted on us telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
By the time we were teenagers, they could read our minds. Then, life was really tough!

My mother and father wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so they could meet them.

While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.

Because of our parents we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced.

None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing others' property or ever arrested for any crime.

It was all their fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like ours were.

I think that is what's wrong with the world today.
It just doesn't have enough mean moms and dads.

Life

Desidancer and Diana both pointed me to this story about a mixed race couple who gave birth to daughters of very different phenotypes. The explanation in the story is about right, the loci which give you a gestalt impression of racial identity are a tiny sample of your overall genome. In the story it is reported that 7 genes control skin color and F1 (first generation) hybrids should carry half of the variants of each race (since their parents contribute exactly 50% of the genes to each). But the F2 generation can come out as a range of combinations, so it stands to reason that mixed-race couples will have children who vary a great deal in phenotype as the alleles resegregate themselves into alternative combinations. I lay out the details in By the Punnett Square. South Asians, who often exhibit a wide range of color variation from near white to near black, should not be surprised at this sort of dynamic, as the variance within a family can be rather large in complexion.

gnxp.com/blog/2006/02/black-and-white-twins.php

News

This is the face of the mystery suspect in the Madeleine McCann case.

UK tabloid News of the World says the sketch is a composite of three sightings made around the time the four-year-old girl disappeared from her family's room in a villa on Praia da Luz beach in Portugal.

Gail Cooper was staying nearby with her husband when she first noticed the scruffy middle-aged man walking alone on the beach in the pouring rain.

And the 50-year-old grandmother from the English Midlands was shocked to find the same man knocking at her door a few hours later.

Rest of story here news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx [news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx]

Joke

Grandmother

Little Tony was staying with his grandmother for a few days.. He'd been playing outside with the other kids for a while when he came into the house and asked her, "Grandma, what's that called when 2 people sleep in the same room and one is on top of the other?"

She was a little taken, but she decided to just tell him the truth. "It's called sexual intercourse, darling".

Little Tony just said, "Oh, OK," and went back outside to play with the other kids.

A few minutes later he came back in and said angrily, "Grandma, it isn't called sexual intercourse. It's called "Bunk Beds". And Jimmy's mom wants to talk to you."

The corset is back, writes Janice Breen Burns.

MELINDA Hanley remembers the hard, grippy hug of her first corset and the rising thrill as she watched its effect in a full-length mirror. Her torso kinked dramatically into her waistline, her spine straightened and stretched, she lifted her chin in an automatic counter-reflex. She metamorphosed from gangly 17-year-old girl to tall, shapely woman. "It made me feel like I'd transformed into a supermodel."

Four years on, the memory still sends a shiver. The corset was black, cost $400, and Hanley was halfway through her VCE. No money, no job. She put it on lay-by anyway. "I was in love."

While she waited to own it, paying it off, Hanley, now a second-year fashion student at RMIT and as near to a professional corsetier as you can get, experimented, making her own corsets from scratch.

"They were OK, not so great when I look at them now, but I didn't want to wait. I'd fallen in love with that shape. All these parts of you that you might not really like, suddenly moulded into this lovely, this gorgeous, shape."

http://www.theage.com.au/news/fashion/waist-management/2008/01/17/1200620189262.html

Life

There's one sad truth in life I've found
While journeying east and west -
The only folks we really wound
Are those we love the best.
We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those who love us best.

~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Poem

Finish Every Day


Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities
no doubt have crept in;
forget them as soon as you can.

Tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely
and with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with
your old nonsense.

This day is all that is
good and fair.
It is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on yesterdays.


by Ralph Waldo Emerson

News

Bin Laden son aims to be ‘ambassador of peace’

CAIRO, Egypt - Omar Osama bin Laden bears a striking resemblance to his notorious father — except for the dreadlocks that dangle halfway down his back. Then there's the black leather biker jacket.

The 26-year-old does not renounce his father, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, but in an interview with The Associated Press, he said there is a better way to defend Islam than al-Qaida's militancy: Omar wants to be an "ambassador for peace" between Muslims and the West.

Omar raised a tabloid storm in Britain last year when he married a 52-year-old British woman, Jane Felix-Browne, who took on the name Zaina Alsabah. Now the couple say they want to be advocates, planning a 3,000-mile horse race across North Africa to draw attention to the cause of peace.

get the rest of story below

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22711392/

Keep Your Lust Alive in a Long-Term Relationship

We all know those couples who start out hot and heavy, barely able to keep their hands off each other long enough to watch a movie. But what about after a few years or even a few decades of being together?

The road to lifelong passion is rarely a smooth one. While some couples never seem to tire of each other, other duos seem to lose their sexual momentum over the years. Children, long days and nights at the office, and competing schedules can wreak havoc on a couple's sex life.

There is, in fact, a biological basis for the waning libido, says Ian Kerner, Ph.D., a sex therapist in New York City and author of She Comes First (HarperCollins, 2004) and He Comes Next (HarperCollins, 2006).

"It's actually very natural for people to lose a bit of the spark," he says. "When you first meet, you excrete a lot of dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that generates a feeling of arousal, excitement and exhilaration. As you move into a long-term relationship, dopamine levels lower and a lot of couples get stuck in the 'desire gap,' which means they now have to work at it, whereas before they didn't."

So how do you keep the passion flowing in a long-term relationship? Take these five tips.

Read all the article click below

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/healthy-living/womens-health/relationships/sexual-health/long-term-lust?ipc=B00168&section=section_00

Nice imags

Two Stunning Scenery Images

News

Human embryos cloned from scientists skin

A US company has announced that it has created cloned human embryos from adult skin cells, a breakthrough which could ultimately lead to the development of cures for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, and other untreatable ailments.

Stemagen Corp. of La Jolla, California, said its scientists used cloning technology to make five early-stage embryos, called blastocysts, from donated human eggs and skin cells from two men.

Samuel Wood, one of the key scientists, plucked cells from his skin and injected them into donated eggs that had been treated to remove their own genetic material.

While they did not make stem cells from their embryos — they were destroyed in the process of proving they were clones — company founder Dr. Wood says stem cells are his business plan.

"We believe that this is the future — to create patient-specific stem cells," Wood said in a telephone interview.

Stem cells are found throughout the body, renewing tissue and blood cells. Cells taken from very early human embryos — smaller than the head of a pin — can give rise to all the cells and tissues found in the human body.

Scientists hope to harness their power to transform medicine, to repair devastating injuries, replace the brain cells lost in Parkinson's disease, or to cure juvenile diabetes.

The best would be tailor-made, using a patient's own DNA.

But an influential minority of people and groups oppose their use in the United States because they believe it is wrong to destroy any human embryo.

They include President George W. Bush, who has vetoed legislation from Congress that would expand federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research. That limits the work to a few academic labs that can juggle the complex requirements of the federal limits, and private companies.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=368508

A Fantasy

Her voice is like clear water
That drips upon a stone
In forests far and silent
Where Quiet plays alone.

Her thoughts are like the lotus
Abloom by sacred streams
Beneath the temple arches
Where Quiet sits and dreams.

Her kisses are the roses
That glow while dusk is deep
In Persian garden closes
Where Quiet falls asleep.

Sara Teasdale

Loneliness

Loneliness

Growth and change during college years produces a variety of feelings in students. In addition to feelings of excitement and anticipation, there may also be feelings of loneliness. Loneliness is not necessarily being alone. We may be alone for long periods without feeling at all lonely. On the other hand we may feel lonely in a familiar setting without really understanding why. The best way to begin to understand loneliness is to examine some of the ways people experience it. You may feel lonely when:

• you're alone and you don't feel you have a choice not to be;


• you feel that you're lacking attachments you had in the past;


• you are facing changes in your life--a new school, town, job, or other changes;


• you feel there's no one in your life with whom you can share your feelings and experiences;


• your self-perceptions are that you're unacceptable, unlovable, not worthwhile even if others don't share those perceptions.

Misconceptions About Loneliness

Loneliness can be made more intense by what you tell yourself it means. College students are particularly susceptible to the following misconceptions regarding loneliness:

• "Loneliness is a sign of weakness, or immaturity."


• "There's something wrong with me if I'm lonely. These should be the best years of my life."


• "I'm the only one who feels this way."

If you believe these misconceptions you may believe that loneliness results from a defect in your personality. Research suggests that college students who think of loneliness as a defect tend to have the following difficulties:

• greater difficulty in taking social risks, in asserting themselves, in making phone calls to initiate social contact, in introducing themselves to others, in participating in groups, and in enjoying themselves at parties.


• less skill in self-disclosure, less responsiveness to others, and a greater tendency to approach social encounters with cynicism and mistrust.


• more likelihood of evaluating themselves and others in negative terms and more tendency to expect others to reject them.

Lonely students often report feeling depressed, angry, afraid, and misunderstood. They may become highly critical of themselves, overly sensitive or self-pitying, or they may become critical of others, blaming others for their situations.

When these things happen, lonely students often begin doing things which perpetuate their loneliness. Some students, for example, become discouraged, lose their sense of desire and motivation to get involved in new situations, and isolate themselves from people and activities. Other students deal with loneliness by becoming too quickly and deeply involved with people and activities without evaluating the consequences of their involvement. They may later find themselves in unsatisfying relationships or over-committed to academic or extracurricular activities.

Read more from below link.

http://www.couns.uiuc.edu/brochures/loneline.htm

 

Joke

A Saint's Spelling Bee...

A woman who died found herself standing outside the Pearly Gates, being greeted by St. Peter.

She asked him, "Oh, is this place what I really think it is? It's so beautiful. Did I really make it to heaven?"

To which St. Peter replied, "Yes, my dear, these are the Gates to Heaven. But you must do one more thing before you can enter."

The woman was very excited, and asked of St. Peter what she must do to pass through the gates.

"Spell a word," St. Peter replied.

"What word?" she asked.

"Any word," answered St. Peter. "It's your choice." The woman promptly replied, "Then the word I will spell is love. L-O-V-E."

St. Peter congratulated her on her good fortune to have made it to Heaven, and asked her if she would mind taking his place at the gates for a few minutes while he went to the bathroom.

"I'd be honored," she said, "but what should I do if someone comes while you are gone?"

St. Peter reassured her, and instructed the woman to simply have any newcomers to the Pearly Gates to spell a word as she had done.

So the woman is left sitting in St. Peter's chair and watching the beautiful angels soaring around her when a man approaches the gates. She realizes it is her husband.

"What happened?" she cried, "Why are you here?"

Her husband stared at her for a moment, then said, "I was so drunk when I left your funeral, I was in an accident. And now I am here? Did I really make it to Heaven?"

To which the woman replied, "Not yet. You must spell a word first."

"What word?" he asked.

The woman responded, "Czechoslovakia."

This could very well happen heck!!!!!!!!!!!

Poem

Dreams

All people dream, but not equally.
Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind,
Wake in the morning to find that it was vanity.

But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people,
For they dream their dreams with open eyes,
And make them come true.

by D.H.Lawrence

Health

So far so good with my walking and circuit only problem I have a new pair of joggers and last night I got blisters on both heels and the sole’s of my feet Tonight I have skipped my walk I will make up for it with the circuit
That way me feet will have a nice rest

A Little Kiss

Four strangers travelled together in the same compartment of a European train. Two men and two women faced each other. One woman was a very wealthy and sophisticated 75 year old lady who was decked out in the finest of furs and jewelry. Next to her sat a beautiful young woman, nineteen yrs. old--who looked like something right off the cover of a fashion magazine. Across from the older lady was a man in his late-forties who was a highly decorated Sergeant Major in the Army. And next to the Sergeant Major sat a young private fresh out of boot camp. As these four strangers travelled, they talked and chatted about trivial things until they entered an unlighted tunnel, and there they sat in complete darkness and total silence, until the sound of a distinct kiss broke the silence; following the kiss a loud slap could be heard throughout the cabin. In the ensuing period of silence the four strangers sat quietly with their own thoughts. ---------------------------- The older lady was thinking, ---------------------------- "Isn't it wonderful that even in this permissive day and age there are still young women who have a little self-respect and dignity?" -------------------------------------------------------- The young woman, shaking her head and greatly puzzled, -------------------------------------------------------- asked herself, "Why in the world would any man in his right mind want to kiss an old fossil like that when I'm sitting here?" ------------------------------------------ The Sergeant Major, rubbing his sore face, ------------------------------------------ was outraged that any woman could ever think that a man in his position would try to sneak a kiss in the dark. ------------------------------------------ And the private, grinning from ear to ear, ------------------------------------------ was thinking, "What a crazy and mixed up world this is when a private can kiss the back of his hand and then smack a Sergeant Major in the face and get away with it!"

Hi well I have started to try and keep to what I wish for the new year (getting healthy) I have started walking

Every second evening I walk 3 kilometers and the other nights I do circuit

I know 3 kilometers isn’t much but for me so over weight I am happy with it and once I m happy and up to par I will increase the distance

Whats New

Grow Your Second Home
Designers plant the seeds for a high-tech version of the Swiss Family Treehouse

If solar power and recycled building materials just aren’t green enough for you, the brains behind the Fab Tree Hab might have the perfect pad. Architects Mitchell Joachim and Javier Arbona, along with environmental engineer Lara Greden, have designed a house that will grow from a few seedlings into a two-story, water-recycling, energy-efficient abode. The Fab Tree Hab, a mix of ancient and ultramodern technology, isn’t merely environmentally friendly. It is the environment.

Instead of building a home out of green materials, the trio figured, why not construct a living, breathing house? “Something that’s alive and thriving,” Joachim says. They hope to plant the first house within five years, but for now, they’re working with Israeli arboriculture firm Plantware, testing techniques for growing the lattice-like weave of vines and roots that will form the walls.

Joke

Little Johnny is at it again

A new teacher was trying to make use of her psychology courses.
She started her class by saying,
"Everyone who thinks they're stupid, stand up!"
After a few seconds, Little Johnny stood up.
The teacher said, "Do you think you're stupid, Little Johnny?"
"No, ma'am,
but I hate to see you standing there all by yourself!"

Interesting

Geographical Facts of the Sexes GEOGRAPHY OF A WOMAN

Between 18 and 22, a woman is like Africa; half discovered, half wild, naturally beautiful with fertile soil.

Between 23 and 30, a woman is like America; well developed and open to trade, especially for someone with cash.

Between 31 and 35, a woman is like India; very hot, relaxed and convinced of her own beauty

. Between 36 and 40, a woman is like France; gently aging but still warm, and a desirable
place to visit.

Between 41 and 50, a woman is like Great Britain; with a glorious and all conquering past.

Between 51 and 60, a woman is like Yugoslavia; lost the war and haunted by past mistakes.

Between 61 and 70, a woman is like Russia; very wide, and borders are now un-patrolled. After 70, she becomes Tibet. Wildly beautiful, with a mysterious past and the wisdom of the ages.... only those with an adventurous spirit and a thirst for spiritual knowledge visit there.

Boy kills crying baby with baseball bat

A 12-year-old boy beat a toddler to death with a baseball bat because she was crying while he was trying to watch TV, US police said.

The boy, who was not identified, was arrested on first-degree murder charges, Lauderhill police spokesman Lt Mike Cochran said.

He was arraigned in juvenile court and remained in custody, but it was not clear if he had an attorney or if anyone else would be charged in the girl's death.

Cochran said the boy confessed to authorities that he was home alone on Friday baby-sitting a 10-year-old girl and the 17-month-old girl and became angry when the toddler began to cry. The relationship between the three was not clear.

all the story @ http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=173965

A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well
than a fool can from a mountain top.

~Author Unknown

I believe that all wisdom consists in caring immensely
for a few right things, and not caring a straw about the rest.

~John Buchan

Before anything else people I have no idea what I done but somehow I managed to clear my blog so I am starting it all over again so please bear with me

lyrics
Brian Adams
Everything I Do (I Do It For You)

Look into my eyes - you will see
What you mean to me.
Search your heart - search your soul
And when you find me there
You'll search no more

Don't tell me it's not worth trying for
You can't tell me it's not worth dying for
You know it's true
Everything I do
I do it for you

Look into my heart you will find
There's nothing there to hide
Take me as I am take my life
I would give it all I would sacrifice

Don't tell me it's not worth fighting for
I can't help it there's nothing I want more
You know it's true
Everything I do -
I do it for you

Some Useful Condescending Phrases

1. Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.
2. The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.
3. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce.
4. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
5. I have plenty of talent and vision. I just don't care.
6. I like you. You remind me of when I was young and stupid.
7. What am I? Flypaper for freaks!?
8. I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant.
9. I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth.
10. I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.
11. It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off.
12. Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
13. No, my powers can only be used for good.
14. How about never? Is never good for you?
15. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to worship me.
16. You sound reasonable...Time to up my medication.
17. I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter.
18. I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...
19. I don't work here. I'm a consultant.
20. Who me? I just wander from room to room.
21. My toys! My toys! I can't do this job without my toys!
22. It might look like I'm doing nothing, but at the cellular level I'm really quite busy.
23. At least I have a positive attitude about my destructive habits.
24. You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.
25. I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public.

26. Someday, we'll look back on this, laugh nervously and change the subject.

From the page: "Swearing "recruits our expressive faculties to the fullest", writes Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker in his new book, The Stuff of Thought.

Yet despite being a showcase for creativity, swear words are taboo in virtually all societies, even though their subject matter - usually sex or excretion - describes activities fundamental to human existence. So why are we such potty-mouths, and what gives certain words the power to shock?

One theory is that cussing is the form of language that comes closest to a physical act of aggression. When you swear at someone, you are forcing an unpleasant thought on them and, lacking earlids, they are helpless to repel this assault. "It's a substitute for physical violence," says Timothy Jay, a psychologist at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams. "From an evolutionary point of view, it's an advantage for us to be able to say 'fuck you' from across the street," while not having to worry about getting instantly punched or kicked by the disgruntled recipient."

10 Interesting facts

1. If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.

2. If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. For when a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.

3. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

4. Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.

5. The Mercedes-Benz motto is “Das Beste oder Nichts” meaning “the best or nothing”.

6. The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.

7. The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.

8. The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night.

9. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.

10. The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.

Something to Ponder

I asked God to take away my pain.
God said, "No. Its not for me to take away but for you to give it up.:
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, "No. Her spirit was whole, her body was only temporary."
I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, "No. Patience is a by-product of tribulations;
it isn't granted, it is earned."
I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, "No I give you blessings. Happiness is up to you"
I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares
And brings you closer to Me."
I asked God to make my spirit grow.
Gods said, "No. you must grow on your own, but I will prune
you to make you fruitful."
I asked God for all the things that I might enjoy life.
God said, "no. I will give you life so that you may enjoy all
things."
I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as he loves
me.
God said, "Ahhhh, finally you have the idea."

Author unknown