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of course, there's always something to fall in love with: asexual perspectives on pop culture and much more.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Women Who Want To Want
This article was very hard to read, and not just because it was long and written in the typical flowery style of the NYT Magazine. While the emotional pain of the women in question is clearly conveyed, it's not clear that there is any way to help them. These women without sexual desire are portrayed as a diverse group, having all sorts of histories. They're described as sexual women who are too much in their heads to enjoy sex ("oblivious to their bodies' excitement, their bodies' messages"), or who are lost in a male-centric model of desire that too often, doesn't take their lived experiences into account. However, constantly pressured by social mores, asexuals also "want to want". One woman in the article "who had no period of lust to look back on" claimed that "I want to have sex where I feel like I'm craving it". Maybe this woman would not identify herself as asexual. However, it seems hard to deny that her experience is virtually the same as many asexual experiences.
It made me cringe to read that women in Brotto's support group were told to repeat, "'My body is alive and sexual,' no matter if they believe it." Maybe some of those people could really identify as asexual, and could be helped by knowing there is a community of people who are very much alive, and yet aren't sexual. Even the women with low/no desire who would never call themselves asexual, or obviously are not ace, would probably have a lot in common with us anyway. What is Brotto thinking? That if these women were told that perhaps they might not all be sexual, that suddenly the inmates would be running the asylum and chaos would reign?
For all I know, Brotto had loads to say about asexuality and it wasn't included-- apparently, descriptions of her clothes and hair were more important. As someone who has been an interview subject, I know that your entire message is not always conveyed. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she, of all researchers, should know how damaging asexual repression can be. I guess we'll never know whether the omission of asexuality was due to an oversight (intended or not) of the writer, silence on Brotto's part, or both.
That said, I'm glad the article mentioned, albeit briefly, that "distress" doesn't exist in a vacuum. It says:
Many on the [DSM] panel, which probably won't, in the end, do much in the way of deleting conditions, maintain that the chapter on sexuality and gender identity doesn't brand people too readily with disease. They note that, aside from exceptions like patients with pedophilia, only those who are distressed meet the threshold for diagnosis. In turn, the critics respond that such distress stems not from within the individual but from the infliction of societal standards, from the culture's disapproval and aversion and therefore, in part, from the D.S.M. itself. This, they emphasize, was why the A.P.A. finally removed a last remnant of the homosexuality diagnosis — what was known as "ego-dystonic" homosexuality — in 1987. (emphasis mine)
There was also a voice that I was surprised to find sounded a lot like my own. This was another researcher, Leonore Tiefer, whose ideas on the topic you can read here at Asexual Explorations. I'm planning on reading her book some time this month. Here is the article's other passage that is critical of the DSM process:
Brotto, like all the specialists in all areas working on the new D.S.M., is allowed to receive no more than $10,000 per year from any source connected to the pharmaceutical industry. This is an A.P.A. rule. But Tiefer's is hardly the only voice warning that, despite A.P.A. protections, drug-company influence can shape, indirectly as well as directly, the decisions of D.S.M. panelists.
Why $10,000? That's not exactly a small amount of money. And what the money is used for (more research? Exotic vacations?) is not explained. The APA may be many things, but it has never been a shining light of ethics. Understandably, some psychologists are getting sick of it.
But before I go off on a tangent about the seedy underbelly of professional organizations (RIAA, anyone?), I'll say that I'm not sure what we're supposed to take away from the article, besides the fact that sexuality can be confusing. I'm left with the frustration that in our culture, self-acceptance is squashed at every turn. It seems as though the pharmaceutical industry is becoming similar to the diet or beauty industries in that respect. I feel like at some point, people will have to start realizing that if the vast majority of us are wrong in some way, then "normal" is a fallacy. If the women profiled in the article could stop worrying about their lack of sexual desire for a bit, wouldn't that be liberating? And wouldn't that give them the space, time, and freedom to rediscover whatever desire they might have lost? How is anyone supposed to experience sexual desire while simultaneously beating themselves up for not having it?
When I discovered asexuality, it was the first time that I could have a sexuality that was on my own terms, not someone else's terms. And the "women who want to want" deserve the same, regardless of their orientation. They deserve to be told that there are others out there who share their experiences. But asexuals can't remain hidden forever. The information is out there now, and sooner or later, people will find it. Whether it's kept from them or not.
15 comments:
This article didn't make me rage out too hard, at least definitely not compared to other articles I have read about female sexual dysfunction, including low desire. In relation to some of the articles I saw on Alternet in the last few weeks about sexual dysfunction, this was less painful to me.
Unfortunately even in my own, I guess you could still call it some kind of, privilege, make too many oversights when I write about sexuality, because I do not always do a good job of acknowledging asexuality. But I'm writing mostly about sexual dysfunction & so on the other hand it's not my place to say that asexuality is the same as sexual dysfunction so I don't want to project dysfunction onto someone who is comfortable with their sexuality.
So like I can see how someone with low desire would benefit from learning about asexuality, but at the same time I don't think it's fair to project asexuality onto women who are not comfortable with that identity either. I don't have low or no- sexual desire myself, but some women who do have it, don't like the idea of not having desire ever again. If that desire does come back later on can you still identify as asexual? Does that exist on a continuum?
But then I'm not as familiar with asexuality as I am with pain problems. So it is something of a revelation to me, to hear that even asexuals want to want to have sex.
I'm not as familiar with Brotto as you, & I'm more familiar with Tiefer since she writes about FSD so much. A lot of what Tiefer says & does scares me. You let me know if you can handle her books because I think I'd probably crumble if I tried to read them - her work & the work she contributes to (like the harder for me to read articles about FSD she lends her name to,) that work distresses me more than medicine. I know I'm *supposed* to read her work, but I really truly do not want to. She's so adamant about the social aspect of sex that to me it looks like she is completely unwilling to acknowledge physical aspects.
Yeah hi I read here sometimes.
- December 1, 2009 at 4:37 PM
- Espikai said...
This article bothers me a bit. I definitely agree that asexuality would have been relevant to the things discussed in it, and I'd love to hear someone talk about having "low sexual desire" and wanting it with regards to asexuality. Not to mention the issues aces have with HSDD.
The other thing that really bugged me was the "My body is alive and sexual." What does that mean, my body is not as alive just because I don't feel sexual? I dunno, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
- December 1, 2009 at 4:40 PM
- pretzelboy said...
All the people on the various workgroups for DSM-V had to do finincial disclosures. For the SGID workgroup, they can be accessed here. According to Zucker's introduction to the workgroup's reports, the $10,000 limit made it very difficult to find suitable people for the Sexual Dsyfunctions subworkgroup.
The mantra that people were supposed to say to themselves--I felt kind of ambivalent about it. There probably are some people that it does help--there are some cases where thinking oneself to be something does help to actualize it. On the other hand, there are other cases where it simply doesn't work and desperate attempts to convince yourself that you're something that you're not can be harmful. (The article doesn't give enough info to indicate how such situations are actually dealt with in practice.)
- December 1, 2009 at 4:58 PM
- Ily said...
Thanks for the comments! Responding to FeministsWithFSD first, it definitely wasn't my intention to project asexuality onto people who wouldn't call themselves asexual, so I'm sorry if it came across that way. All I'm saying is that people should simply know about the existence of asexuality. In a perfect world, everyone would know what asexuality was, just like any other orientation, however, we're far from that.
Checking out your blog, it seems like women with FSD really do have some similar experiences to asexual women. Of course, that doesn't mean we're the same. For example, on both our blogs, we seem to share the same concern about how we're going to be portrayed: Will people reporting on us totally miss the point? Will it be offensive? Will our existence be ignored? People from two different groups going, "Hey, we share some common experiences" is, in my opinion, something that doesn't happen nearly often enough. It might sound dramatic, but I think it's true: Hegemony depends on the isolation of various marginalized groups from one another.
The asexual community, in general, seems to be very against pushing labels on people, probably because people have done it to us for most of our lives. Asexuality isn't really about desire per se, but sexual attraction-- the lack of it. Asexuals are people who are not sexually attracted to any gender, which I'm assuming (correct me if I'm wrong) could probably not be said for most people with FSD.
Yeah, this article was the first time I'd heard of Tiefer. I agreed with the one statement that was attributed to her there, but I can't say if I'd agree with other statements she's made. If I do read her book, I'll write about it here for sure.
Espikai, yeah, I think all asexuals have heard sex conflated with life! vigor! animation! a few times too many.
Pretzel- that's interesting. Now I'm wondering, was the threshold higher for other groups?
- December 1, 2009 at 7:04 PM
It's different for everyone, so I'm sure there are some women with sexual dysfunction that don't feel sexual attraction to anyone (and I'm sure that once in awhile there comes a woman who is both asexual AND has a dysfunction, like with pain. Or would that be a chronic pain condition exclusive of sexual dysfunction then?) But there's a lot of people with sexual problems who are actually very warm & sexual & find other people sexually attractive. Most of the women I have spoken to are attracted to one gender or another. Which can make dating hard if you're single... "How do I break the news to this person that I'd very much like to be with sexually."
But like one problem I run into is, I've been seeing some comments on FSD articles. Commenters are saying things like "Well maybe if her partner was more attractive she'd be into sex with him!" (There's a lot of heteronormativity in these kinds of comments and often in the articles themselves. It's also partner-blaming.) So these commenters mix up a lack of sexual desire in and of itself, with a lack of attraction to a partner. You can love your partner very much, find them beautiful beyond compare, and but still be low or sans the urge to jump your partner's bones. Or even sans the urge to so much as touch your partner or be touched.
Or like other times. I've seen this happen too where someone is talking about having low desire, and they'll either say themselves, "Maybe I should just be asexual," when that's probably not what they really want or would be most comfortable with, consciously changing their sexual orientation. Or someone else will say that to them, "Maybe you're just asexual." Which is possibly right once in awhile! But most of the time whoever says that, and the listener, doesn't actually know what asexuality even means in real life.
- December 1, 2009 at 7:54 PM
- DELLA REESE said...
This bothers me a bit. Why cant they be told about asexuality and everything else thats out there and choose from profiles of each one which one they think they are the closest in relation to? Ugh and do we always have to compare ourselves to what the rest of society does? that puts unnecessary pressure on them.
- December 1, 2009 at 8:20 PM
- Ily said...
Ah yes, comments on internet articles...asexuals tend to hate those, too ;-) They seem to always be inane, no matter what the subject.
On AVEN, I've seen a few posts from women who are asexual (they're not sexually attracted to anyone), but they've had sex anyway, and found that they had vulvodynia or a similar problem. So I think it makes sense that you could have both of those things going on and have them both be valid. I've also seen a few posts on AVEN from people saying that they wanted to become asexual. The replies mostly seem to be attempts to let the person down gently. Because you can't "become" asexual any more than you can become gay or straight by force of will (or pharmacology).
- December 1, 2009 at 8:28 PM
- Ily said...
Also-- if by "warm" you mean loving, or liking to touch others, then yeah, a lot of asexuals are like that, as well. (It's just all nonsexual for us.)
- December 1, 2009 at 8:30 PM
You have some good material here for a Letter to the Editor. The NY Times and its readers could benefit by hearing your point of view.
- December 4, 2009 at 12:06 AM
Hi! Long time reader, first time commenter haha...
I'm really glad you wrote a post about this article! I read it recently and had many similar thoughts concerning it.
My dad originally showed it to me, saying, "Here, an article about asexuality." Well...no. Like you said, asexuality was conspicuously absent. And though I also lack sexual desire, after reading this article I only felt more alienated from society in general. I'm not a woman who wants to want...so what does that make me? I don't have a "space" in the article as a woman who is content to be as she is.
- December 5, 2009 at 2:35 PM
- alexandra said...
Sex is everywhere. And just because it is, people treat a person there's something wrong with her if she doesn't accept it in the way that they do- like somehow she's less, or a completely different species or something.
A woman's body doesn't exist just to please someone else-we're all here to serve some purpose- and why should sex be the main purpose that this world really considers for a woman? If someone happens too look appealing to you, that's nice, but that's not necessarily why they're here.
Also, when I think that often (when people do studies like this) they forget the "human" factor- and often make a lot of generalizations. (and I hope that I didn't make too any generalizations just now)
- December 5, 2009 at 7:43 PM
- gatto said...
I already posted an opinion on this article; it is here: http://www.asexuality.org/en/index.php?showtopic=46337&st=30&gopid=1441012&#entry1441012
If you want to paste any of it, feel free.
- December 9, 2009 at 12:52 AM
- Ily said...
Gatto, well said as usual. I agree that the writing took on a sexist tone. I guess it's sort of a bio piece on Brotto, and the author wants you to visualize her, but the same sorts of detailed physical descriptions are rarely given of men in similar professions. The same thing happens in political reporting all the time. It doesn't matter how politicians dress, unless you're a female politician and then it's a huge deal.
- December 9, 2009 at 4:22 PM
- Ily said...
Thanks Carson...I usually tend to be a writer of letter to the editor, but this time, I'm trying to encourage some other AVENites with more relevant personal experiences to the article to send letters in...hopefully, people will.
Yay for first comments! It's cool you can talk to your dad about asexuality...
True Alexandra, same with childbearing.
- December 9, 2009 at 4:31 PM
While reading I suddenly realized the extreme irony of having "Somebody to Love" by Jefferson Airplane playing in the background.
"Don't you want somebody to love, don't you need somebody to love? Wouldn't you love somebody to love? You better find somebody to love."
- January 17, 2010 at 5:46 AM


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An Uphill Struggle – An introduction to the Club Des Cent Cols
After the recent appeal for content, I thought I'd drop a line about the Club des Cent Cols in the hope it might be of interest to one or two of you that have a liking for pointing the bike up hill.
Firstly, a quick intro because most of you will not know me. My name is Paul Frost and I'm originally from Leicester but for the last 24 years I've lived in Market Deeping. I work for Scania in Milton Keynes and so get little opportunity to return to the city except to visit Mum and /or the King Power. I do, however, maintain my LFCC membership and ride around Rutland and eastern Leicestershire in my club kit with pride.
Ten years ago, I read an article about a French cycling club that interested me. The Club des Cent Cols isn't particularly well known in the UK but has over 7000 members from 22 different countries around the world. Although the basis for membership revolves around "collecting" rides over categorised Cols, it seemed to me to be a good incentive to get out and explore places that otherwise I would have no real reason to visit. So, as I approached the age of 40, I set myself the goal of achieving the required qualifying climbs before 45.
The requirements to join the Club are simple; ride across at least 100 different "Cols" of which 5 or more must be over 2000 metres altitude. Duplicates do not count and each one must be officially recognised by the Club.
The Club produces lists of the officially recognised Cols and sells them for only a few Euro each. The lists are available either through the post as paper catalogues or downloaded immediately as Excel spreadsheets from the website. Either way, they contain names, altitude, coordinates and details of how accessible the Col is. In this way it is easy to see those Cols that are on good quality roads and those that would need either a mountain bike or miracle to reach. Some of the electronic versions come with a kml file attached so that each Col can be easily seen in Google Earth and a route plotted to take in as many as possible in a particular area. Personally I really like this option because when you're going to visit somewhere you can quickly see if there are any new Cols to pick off in the area. I recently rode in the Eroica Dolomiti near Cortina in Italy and managed to pull in three new ones to add to my annual submission that goes in alongside the membership renewal form.
A Col has to be formally recognised and approved for inclusion by a Club committee and is defined as (translated from French) "a topographical feature with a point of passage imposed by relief below a summit". In other words, generally it will be a depression in the landscape where a path or road passes over a ridge between two higher points. To be recognised it must feature on a map produced by some official body so my efforts to get the Col d'Overton recognised have so far failed!!
There are catalogues for many different countries so there are plenty to go at. The catalogue of French Cols contains over 10,000 and Spain over 15,000, Belgium has less; 8, Luxembourg 2 and Holland 1! There has been a very detailed job done on the UK catalogue which has 460 listed of which 72 are on-road. So, it is possible to amass a decent collection of Cols without even leaving the UK but unfortunately not the required 5 above 2000 meters, for this you need to start planning a holiday.
Although there are many well-known monster passes and Cols such as the Croix de Fer, Galibier, Stelvio and so on, there are thousands of lesser known ones that may have been crossed without even knowing it. The majority of Cols do not have those wonderful signs that always seem to be a magnet for German motorcyclists and their Club stickers but those that do are always nice to stop at for a souvenir photo.
Progressing towards your 100 does not always involve hours of grinding up hill. On a camping trip to southern France I found one recognised col at only 28 metres above sea level and in the hills of the national park behind Sainte-Maxime, it's possible to ride a route taking in a dozen Cols over a fairly easy 100km ride.
And so, as the years passed to my 45th birthday, I picked off Hardknott, Wrynose, Honister, Kirkston, Whinlatter, Winnats and Snake passes amongst other one and twos in the UK and then on annual family holidays camping in France managed to pull in a day or two of riding each year and some great routes around the hills of Provence and the Côte d'Azur that usually resulted in a decent sized bag of new Cols. Add to that one or two excursions to the higher mountains of the Alps and I was making decent progress towards my goal.
As my 44th birthday passed it became clear I was on target but needed two more 2000+ names and 11 others to reach my 100. An enjoyable January evening spent on Google Earth showed that the 11 could be picked off during the annual family holiday that would follow in August that year but I wanted to finish the 100 in style. And so, the final ride of my build up to joining the Club took me over the Col des Fourches (2261m), Col du Raspaillon (2513m), Col de Restefond (2692m, number 99) and finally the Col de la Bonnette, for me number 100 and at 2715 metres one of the highest paved passes in Europe.
On returning home, I filled in the membership form and attached the required list of my achievements and some Euro to cover the joining fee and to buy the jersey that I had coveted for the past five years. And sure enough only a few weeks later a large envelope arrived from France.
Since then, any holiday or trip away always involves a quick look on Google Earth and excited scribbling of route plans to collect a few new names. I've been in the Club for six years now, our son has married and moved out and the family camping holidays to France have stopped after I exhausted the dozens of cols in the 83 region. In recent times my wife and I have spent a week in May each year in Puerto Pollensa and we're gradually picking off some of the 350 Cols that Mallorca has to offer. There are 8 on the snapshot below. If you've been to Mallorca you've probably done most of them without knowing it.
My real cycling passion has for many years been my beloved GIOS Torino, but the stories of L'Eroica and other vintage events are probably something for another article one day. The Club des Cent Cols, however, has given me a fabulous reason to explore some warm and weedy back roads in beautiful places that leave a long lasting memory. Like the time I met a family of wild boar head-on after riding for three hours without seeing a soul. I have now amassed 185 different Cols and add about 10 to 15 new ones each year, something I am content with. In the overall scheme of things, my return in comparison with the other 7400 members of the Club is ordinary to say the least and piffling when compared with 71 year-old Michel "Le Top" Verhaeghe with his overall tally of 10,000 (yes, ten thousand) Cols including 2,000 over 2,000 metres! Oh well, onwards and upwards!
Enjoy your riding and best wishes for the coming year
Paul Frost
In looking back through some of my club magazines to verify the numbers above, I counted up how many Brits are in the Club and the total is only 20. I also noticed another LFCC member listed, meaning we account for 10% of the overall GB membership of the Club.
Check out the Club at www.centcols.org and feel free to contact me via the Club Facebook Group if you want to chat.

subset: commoncrawl


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Words that end in amario
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Jörg Heiser
|Politische Landschaft/Political LandscapeKunst, Widerstand, Salzkammergut
Edited by Dirck Möllmann, Elisabeth Fiedler
Texts by Kirsty Bell, Elisabeth Fiedler, Martin Herbert, Dirck Möllmann
The Ausseerland and the partly inaccessible landscape in the Austrian Totes Gebirge look back on a checkered political history. A great number of activities both supporting and opposing Hitler's fascism were focused there in the mid-1940s. The year 2015 sees the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of Europe from Nazi totalitarianism. Only few witnesses of these past events are still alive at this time. Many events are known, many interpretations contested, but an encounter with contemporary art that focuses on historic sites in the landscape, and decides to interpret these sites differently, is unprecedented.
Six art projects in the landscape work with this individual and collective memory—from Clegg & Guttmann, Eva Grubinger, Florian Hüttner, Angelika Loderer, Susan Philipsz, and Bojan Šarčević. Published on the occasion of the eponymous group project and exhibition, this book is intended to serve as a walking guide and to give the reader insights concerning the historical background of the projects. It contains words and images about the various works, the artists, and the sites, as well as how to find them, along with details and anecdotes connected with places, events, and topics.
Copublished with the Institut für Kunst im Öffentlichen Raum Steiermark
Design by Johannes Schwark


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rue(redirected from ruer)
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rue,common name for various members of the family Rutaceae, a large group of plants distributed throughout temperate and tropical regions and most abundant in S Africa and Australia. Most species are woody shrubs or small trees; many are evergreen and bear spines. The family is characterized by the presence of glands producing an essential oil, and the foliage, fruits, and flowers are noticeably aromatic and fragrant. The aromatic principle is widely utilized for flavorings, perfume oils, and medicines. Chief in importance are the citrus fruitscitrus fruits,
widely used edible fruits of plants belonging to Citrus and related genera of the family Rutaceae (orange family). Included are the tangerine, citrange, tangelo, orange, pomelo, grapefruit, lemon, lime, citron, and kumquat.
..... Click the link for more information. , source of numerous extracted oils but best known as a major tropical-fruit industry, rivaled only by the banana and, to a lesser extent, the pineapple. Also of value medicinally are angostura bark and the rues (both now more commonly used for flavoring) and the poisonous jaborandi. Leaves of the latter (Pilocarpus spp. Brazil) are the source of pilocarpine, used to treat glaucoma. Several species of the Rutaceae yield lumber used for cabinetwork, e.g., the orange and the species called satinwoodsatinwood,
name for a hard and durable wood with a satinlike sheen, much used in cabinetmaking, especially in marquetry. It comes from two tropical trees of the family Rutaceae (rue family).
..... Click the link for more information. . The prickly ashprickly ash,
name for two deciduous shrubs or small trees (Zanthoxylum americanum and Z. clava-herculis) of the family Rutaceae (rue family). They are native to E North America and have prickly twigs and foliage similar to that of the unrelated ash tree.
..... Click the link for more information. , native to North America, is used in domestic brews and is often planted as a fragrant garden ornamental, as are the citrus trees and the varieties of dittany or fraxinella (Dictamnus alba), Old World woody perennials with a strong, lemonlike aroma. The name rue is properly restricted to the shrubby herbs of the genus Ruta, ranging from the Mediterranean to E Siberia. The common rue of history and literature is R. graveolans, which has greenish-yellow flowers and blue-green leaves sometimes variegated, with a very strong odor and a bitter taste. The leaves are now sometimes used in flavorings, beverages, and herb vinegars and in the preparation of cosmetics and perfumes. In medieval times rue was much used as a drug; its use as a condiment was thought to prevent poisons from affecting the system. Rue was strewn about law courts in parts of Great Britain as a preventive against diseases carried by criminals. It was sometimes associated with witches but also symbolized grace, repentance, and memory. Shakespeare in Richard II refers to it as the "sour herb of grace." The family Rutaceae is classified in the division MagnoliophytaMagnoliophyta
, division of the plant kingdom consisting of those organisms commonly called the flowering plants, or angiosperms. The angiosperms have leaves, stems, and roots, and vascular, or conducting, tissue (xylem and phloem).
..... Click the link for more information. , class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales.
Has very strong compounds that can badly blister skin if touched, and is poisonous except in small doses and should only be handled by professionals. Used to help expel poisons from poisonous bites like scorpion, snake, spider ad jellyfish. Silvery bluish grey leaves, yellow-green flowers. Extremely bitter and can cause gastric upset. Leaves, seeds, branches used in Greek and Ethiopian cuisine. Seeds used to make porridge. Be careful! Know what you are doing with this plant !
traditional symbol of arrogance. [Flower Symbolism: Flora Symbolica, 177]
See: Arrogance
any rutaceous plant of the genus Ruta, esp R. graveolens, an aromatic Eurasian shrub with small yellow flowers and evergreen leaves which yield an acrid volatile oil, formerly used medicinally as a narcotic and stimulant


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The Tribe's vision
Being fully inspired by "Thunder Dan's" unparalleled leadership abilities both on and of the court. Tomahawk tapped into the schools existing culture and created a A "Thunder Zone Reactor" that is supercharged by the powerful support of GCU's fans! As the tension builds the lightning cuts through the thick atmosphere and charges up an intro like no other.
Grand Canyon University Athletics Intro
A few of the key visual reference that focused the design into a GCU themed athletics showcase.
The animatic is a key element to our production process, nail down visual story to time and the rest is gravy. Even in this early stage the energy is still conveyed through the wireframe render.
Grand Canyon University "Thunder Zone" show open
Thunder Zone Animatic
Grand Canyon University Broadcast elements
Along with the "Hero" intros several bumpers, transitions, and backgrounds were created to tie the production and mood of the show together.


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We find them on hamburger buns and bread sticks, and most people think they're merely decorative. Sesame seeds are more than a food decoration. They add a subtle crunch, they impart a distinct flavor and, especially when toasted, an indescribably unique aroma. As Speedy remarked after wolfing down his bowl of Chinese chicken salad, sesame seeds make everything taste better. It's something that Americans might say about bacon and what Europeans might say about cheese. But this is Asia and we love sesame seeds.
Varieties of sesame seeds
Reputedly the oldest spice known to man, its earliest record dates back to "an Assyrian myth which claims that the gods drank sesame wine the night before they created the earth." First cultivated in India, there are several varieties of sesame seeds. They come in black, red, brown, gold, gray and cream. The darker ones are said to be more flavorful, but most people are only familiar with the cream-colored variety.
Personally, I have only used black, brown and cream-colored sesame seeds. I have not encountered other colors in my years of food shopping. Among the three, brown sesame seeds have the nuttiest flavor and aroma. I use black mainly to create color contrasts in cooked food. Cream-colored sesame seed, although the most common and most widely available, is the least aromatic and is the least flavorful.
How to buy and store sesame seeds
First, let's deal with the most obvious question: where can one buy sesame seeds? In Asia, cream-colored sesame seeds are sold in almost every market, supermarket and grocery. For our household consumption, we buy black sesame seeds from The Little Big Store on Gilmore Avenue in New Manila and from The Little Big Store on the Hill along J. Abad Santos Street in San Juan. I don't know if they are owned by the same person or persons but both stores have a constant supply of black sesame seeds. Brown sesame seeds, I am fortunate to find in abundance at the local public market here in Antipolo.
Outside of Asia, you'll have to check Asian stores or the Asian aisle of your local grocery.
When buying sesame seeds, choose small packets, store in an airtight container, and keep away from sunlight and heat. Refrigeration extends their shelf life. Refrigerated, they last for six months and twice as long if kept in the freezer.
How to toast sesame seeds
In cooking, sesame seeds are found in dishes from the Middle East to all the way to the Far East.
To really bring out the flavor and aroma of sesame seeds, it is best to toast them.
Measure the amount of sesame seeds needed and place in an oil-free pan. Over medium heat, toast the sesame seeds, shaking the pan often for even browning. When the sesame seeds turn golden, turn off the heat and continue toasting them in the hot pan, shaking often, until the color deepens to a light brown.
When toasting brown or black sesame seeds, it is difficult to see the change in color. How can we tell if they have been sufficiently toasted? I use two tests.
One, the aroma. If the nutty aroma starts to float over the pan, they're probably sufficiently toasted.
But, to be sure, apply a second test. Look at the seeds closely and see if they are glistening with oil. That is what you want, really. To bring out the oil and allow the seeds to toast in its own oil. That's why you toast sesame seeds in an oil-free pan. You don't need to add any oil at all because the sesame seeds are rich in oil.
Types of sesame seed oil
There are two types of sesame seed oil. The light colored variety, made from unroasted sesame seeds, is used for frying (note that it has a high smoking point). The dark colored kind, made from roasted sesame seeds, is used—sparingly because of the strong flavor—in sauces and as garnish, often added to the dish just before serving. In other words, dark sesame seed oil is a finishing oil rather than a cooking oil. However, dark sesame seed oil may also be used for frying if diluted with a bland oil.
Sesame seed paste
If you've tried making the dip called hummus, then you'd be familiar with tahini, the sesame seed paste that is an essential ingredient of the dip. Made with unroasted (raw, in other words) sesame seeds, tahini is, by far, the most common name for sesame seed paste.
There is, however, a sesame seed paste made with roasted sesame seeds. It is commonly referred to as Chinese sesame paste. Just like tahini, you can make a homemade version of Chinese sesame paste using a food processor.
Sesame seeds and health
Sesame seeds are rich in minerals so they undoubtedly have health benefits. According to a study, sesame seeds can be an effective pain reliever too?
The study took fifty patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, and divided them into two 25-patient groups: a sesame group, receiving 40 grams/day of powdered sesame seeds, and a standard drug therapy group, receiving two 500 mg doses of Tylenol twice a day along with 500 mg of glucosamine once daily…
…sesame was the clear winner. Not only was this food therapy superior in reducing the intensity of pain, but it was at least equal in effectiveness to Tylenol and glucosamine…
To be an effective pain reliever, a "clinical dosage" consists of four tablespoonfuls of raw and non-gamma irradiated sesame seeds (or its equivalent).


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Most people overeat at some stage during their lifetime, and some may feel guilty for doing so, but this is entirely normal. However, for some, binge eating is a real problem and something they have absolutely no control over this eating disorder. After a period of binge eating, they may feel deep shame and some feel so much remorse that they will try to purge themselves of the food they have eaten. They may do this by making themselves sick or by taking laxatives. This can often lead to a devastating cycle of binge eating and purging that can cause terrible physical and mental health problems. This is known as bulimia nervosa and is a very common eating disorder.
The Process of Binge Eating
It is important to note that a true binge is defined as a period in which an excessive amount of food is consumed in one sitting accompanied by an intense feeling of no control. Bulimia sufferers tend to eat in secret and, because they are regularly purging themselves, their weight tends to stay steady. This means that they can keep their secret for many years without their loved ones ever noticing.
Those who suffer from binge eating disorder will eat excessive amounts of food but will not purge themselves. They often gain a lot of weight, putting themselves at risk of health problems such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.
Many people describe binges as frantic and desperate with them stuffing food into their mouths without thinking about what they are doing. Some say they do not even chew their food and will only stop eating when they feel physically sick. It is often described as an overwhelming need to eat.
Those with bulimia will feel a desperate desire to rid themselves of the food they have consumed, and may force themselves to be sick until they feel empty.
Binge Eating Triggers
In many instances, the food eaten during binges will be food considered fattening, filling or high in calories. Many binge eaters go for food that they would normally describe as 'forbidden', such as cakes, biscuits, sweets, and chocolate.
Obsessing About Food
There are a number of things that can trigger a binge, with many sufferers describing a binge as following a period where they have been thinking about a particular food. Those who feel hunger may eat anything that they can find instead of finding something small or healthy that will keep the hunger pangs at bay.
Worrying About Weight
Others will eat if they see that their weight has gone up. They may feel as though there is no point in watching what they eat because they are just gaining weight anyway. This can lead to a binge followed by a period of regret and feelings of guilt.
Negative Feelings
Those who feel sad, depressed, miserable, isolated, anxious, lonely, angry, or fearful may reach for food to make them feel better, which can lead to binge eating. Many individuals comfort-eat, but those who suffer from binge eating disorders or bulimia will eat excessive amounts of food before feeling ashamed and guilty.
Compensating for Binge Eating
Bulimics tend to compensate for their binge eating episodes by fasting, dieting, taking laxatives or making themselves sick. Some will take diet pills that are meant to suppress their appetite. Those with eating disorders often feel an intense desire to reverse the effects of their overeating and most will do whatever they feel is necessary to make up for having eaten more than they wanted to. They may go periods without eating, or will exercise intensely for hours at a time.
Getting Help
Eating disorders such as bulimia and binge eating disorder are problems that need to be treated with counselling or therapy. Here at Addiction Helper, we can provide the information and advice required to access the most suitable treatments for your requirements. Contact us today for information on how we can help.


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I have to confess… this review is biased. Those who know me, know very well how much I love food in general, and how much I especially love Mexican food. With that in mind, I would like to introduce you to my new favorite Mexican restaurant: Las Hermanas Mexcian Cafe – located at 5001 S. Parker Rd, Suite 115, Aurora, CO 80015 – Phone: 720-500-2577.
We started our lunch with unbelievably generous portions of both homemade salsa and guacamole, accompanied by freshly made tortilla chips. I'm a huge fan of the humble avocado, but now I completely understand why there's a worldwide shortage. Las Hermanas cuts no corners when it comes to flavor or portion size! Please, ma'am, I'd like some more!
You have an abundance of choices when it comes to main dishes. I selected the crispy Fried Tacos! Feel free to choose between chicken, steak or do as I did, and pick the ground beef. White corn tortillas, cheese and just the right crunch made these an instant hit with me! Plated with fluffy Spanish rice and refried beans, and I'll bet you come back for more!
Speaking of more, here comes round two! It's time for the Stuffed Sopapilla, and you would do well to come hungry! This is a huge platter of nothing but cheese-covered goodness! This flaky pastry comes loaded with chicken and refried beans, but really – it's just a place holder for the most amazing green chili (and even more cheese!) I've ever tasted! Run – do not walk – to Las Hermanas for this dish! You'll thank me later!
Next up, we feasted on the generous portion of Chili Rellenos! We're talkin' half a pound of fresh anaheim chilis, stuffed with cheese and flash fried to perfection! On the side, more of that incredible green chili sauce, and a small salad to cool the palate! Friends, let me just tell you – I've never been a huge fan of the relleno until I tried these… and mark my words: I will come back for another!!
While we were tasting all these authentic and amazing recipes, we couldn't help but notice the ladies sitting next to us ordering up an amazing combination plate. So… we jumped over and took a picture of that, too! Looks like a Tostada and Chili Relleno for one young lady, and the other had a smothered burrito! And that's what we love about Las Hermanas… you may mix it up however you want – and the answer is always, Si!
If you're looking for a fantastic Mexican breakfast, lunch or dinner – prepared just the way your Abuela (Grandmother) used to make it, look no further than Las Hermanas Mexican Cafe! Be sure to tell owner Ceci Uranga that Eric from Experience Pros sent you!
Oh… and about that. The first one to leave a positive comment on this post will receive a free gift card for dinner for 2, courtesy of Experience Pros and Las Hermanas. (It pays to read all the way to the end!) Annnnndddd…. GO!


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Eric's "Crystal Radio Initiative" Challenge
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Marmora, Ontario Canada
Posts: 18
Originally Posted by
Jeff Pearson
Looking into what to purchase to wind the secondary with and am really getting confused. I am looking for a 6 AWG size conductor. 1/8th inch copper tubing and 6 AWG welding wire cost about the same. The welding wire is made of many small conductors so should be good for skin effect. I saw some 6 AWG Litz wire on Ebay made of magnet wire but that guy didnt have a long enough length. Might look into a spool of that. A cheap solution is 1/8th inch wide copper tape. Lots of surface area low mass???. And the there is the suggested teflon insulated coax. What would i be looking for in coax that has an outer conductor the right size??? Any suggestions and or pros and cons of each choice would be much appreciated. Today I got an antenna 29 feet into the air and am messing with a standard crystal radio.
oh and I am 15.87 miles away from my thousand watt station with the rift a little closer to me as per attachment on post #38..........and yes have done the PVC pipe trick for trees out here in the desert I will do that for my ground rods when I get them.
Hey Jeff
Sounds like u have some good ideas for conductors, Only thing I would suggest is to stay away from buying anything for now. The trick I used was to scrounge at the dump and local guys with junk in their yard will sometimes sell u bits and pieces for pennies, also an option that I almost took was to use many strands of magnet wire scrounged out of a few old CRT tv's, U can get about two layers of full length turns from one tv depending on the size,I calculated that I was going to need 8 turns of magnet wire to make up the conductor diameter, so I would have needed about 4 tv's about 27" or bigger ... Now that said u may not be able to find the exact conductor diameter for your project. I found that it was easiest for me to do all the math for my frequency following Aaron and Eric's video presentation and the e-book. Then once I knew my conductor length i was able to find something of that length that I had laying around luckly, which was actually quite a bit larger then I wanted diameter wise but its what I had. So I took my conductor diameter and started to work the math backwards till I came up with a form size built for the conductor diameter. That is why my coil is so large. I looked up buying conductors of around the same diameter and it is very pricey for experimentation purposes. I found it much cheaper to buy material to build the form a different diameter. As for skin effect, I am no expert thats for sure. I have read a few papers on it but it was about three years ago now and my knowledge retention is dwindling with the more kids I have lol. I will have to look up those papers again and get back to u. Pretty sure I just googled conductor skin effect at high frequencies. And as for the coax cable. I looked into it as well but I wasn't sure about stray capacitance between the outer conductor lining and the inner wire. It may have an effect on tuning. Hope this helps
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The center, which collaborates with the Reproduction Unit Vistahermosa, presented this study at the I Interdisciplinary Congress of Human Genetics held in Madrid
Ectrodactyly or split-split hand syndrome (SHFM) is a heterogeneous congenital disorder, characterized by the absence of the central rays of the hands and feet, which randomly affects one to four limbs. The most common features are sindactylide with oligodactyly, the medial clefts of the hands and feet and the opposing fingers, which gives rise to the appearance known as "lobster claw."
It is a syndrome with an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance, incomplete penetrance (less than 50%) and variable expressiveness, which may affect one or more extremities. Long-bone deficiency SHFM syndrome (SHFLD3, MIM # 612576) associated with duplications of the 17p13.3 cytobanda is described in OMIM. In this region is the candidate gene responsible for the syndrome, called BHLHA9, which codes for a transcription factor related to the development of the extremities.
Dr. Isabel Ochando, head of the Cytogenetic Area and the Quality Program of the Vistahermosa Genetics Unit, recently presented a clinical case related to the disease at the First Interdisciplinary Congress on Human Genetics held in Madrid from 25 to 28 April . It is a 6-month-old boy with ectrodactyly in both hands, two fingers in the left hand and three fingers in the right hand.
The Genetics Unit team conducted a CGH array study on the patient that allowed the identification of a duplication of the 17p13.3 cytobanda, which includes the BHLHA9, TUSC5 and YWHAE genes. Therefore, the results of this study allow us to conclude that in cases of long bone aplasia or ectrodactyly not including all four limbs, the study of duplications in the BHLHA9 gene should be considered.


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Delectably soft modal and fine Chantilly lace mean the Isolde Camisole is the ideal luxury for Sunday mornings. Embrace lounging and pair with the one of the matching pants.
- Adjustable straps
- Available in Almond Nude and Navy Blue
- Composition: 60% Modal; 20% Cotton; 15% Polyamide; 5% Elastane
- Care: Machine wash - 30°C, gentle. Use a delicates laundry bag. Do not bleach. Do not tumble dry. Iron, low. Gentle dry clean, except trichloroethylene.
- Product Code: L8138


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An Antarctic Morning
The light comes from everywhere and from nowhere. The ocean, glittering then vanishing in gauzy vapors, handles us more gently than anyone could have hoped. Snow flurries in and hurries out. Mists veil coasts so raw, so newly released from the lock of ice, they seem barely to have brushed a breeze. When the mists lift, sunlight strikes rock and ice and sea, radiating the bright brilliance of fleeting moments. Now we see that those rock slabs rising from shore spire up into jagged pinnacles crowning massive mountains stretching across the horizon and leaning back into eternity.
How old is today?
"Cairo: Blast in Christian-minority Coptic church kills dozens, mostly women."
The shoulders of each peak lie draped in snowy capes. In the valleys the snows deepen and compress into fields of ice flowing — imperceptibly, but inexorably flowing — under an enormity of weight and time, frozen rivers of fate in confrontation with the sea. Unnamed glaciers between unnamed peaks, unnamed beaches no human foot has trod; and under an unashamed sky on every ledge the painted seabirds flit and sort and court and warm tomorrow's youth. This is the original world, the world of eternal beginnings and endings, endless birthing and endless comings of age, all conspiring into the long procession of the ages.
"Stocks set records again as energy companies continued climbing with benchmark U.S. crude adding 15 cents and tech companies like Apple and IBM traded higher…"
The glaciers terminate as great gleaming brows of ice. Their heavy worry-lines of cracks and crevasses, the only evidence of their motion, foretell their crumbling fate. Within those cracks, broken hearts of ice 30,000 years old glow blue, glow turquoise — . Born in snowflakes before the last ice age, now old and wrinkled but still radiating youth from inside, they brood and hesitate over their inevitabilities. And isn't it astonishing that even in time we can sense, in the moment of a human morning, they groan and roar and burst; sloughing great blocks of ancient identity into the heaving sea.
"New York. President-elect Donald Trump has picked Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary — "
How old is today? There is no night, only light. So there are no days, only daylight. These shores who host our view, who cradle our glaciers, who separate land from waters as on the first day; they are today, too; they make today today, as they have been doing for one hundred million years.
As mountains go, they are young. Today is as old as cold coffee, acute as our deepest regret; vivid as the best day we'll ever have. Today is new as the clouds that level the peaks for an hour, as old as the peaks that shave snows from those drifting clouds.
Today is as old as the words "should have." As new as the realization that "should have" is an idea with no future. Today is as young as the word "enough" that frees us to attend to what matters, to meanings as deep as blue hearts of ice in the flicker of fleeting time and the brevity of our long and seemingly momentous lives.
"Hawaii: on the mid-Pacific atoll of Midway, the oldest known wild bird, an albatross known as Wisdom, has laid an egg at age 66."
How young is today? Somewhere near the edge of our galaxy, on this sparkling dot of diamond-dust, for an instant our ship achieves the illusion of cruising slowly. The high peaks click past. The glacial faces smile anonymous smiles. Their broken bits crowd the sea like lost teeth.
"Washington, D.C.: Hydraulic fracturing to release natural gas and oil can harm the quality and availability of drinking water in the United States, according to a new governmental report."
And beyond the toothy floating tiles of ice gather checker-board petrels, bathing, washing from their breasts the stains of parenthood. In the cliffs they trill and carry on their passions, forging this year's link in the great chain of being. As do the penguins, braying on their hillsides, porpoising through their waters.
As, too, do the great whales on the wide and silver sea, spouting their great steamy fountains, breathing deep their recent reprieve from human savagery. Lucky for them that they hold few intergenerational memories. It frees them to comport with us as though forgiving all, as though this day is young, as though today and their children are all that matter to them.
"Rap Superstar Kanye West has emerged from the hospital to meet the president-elect, marking the artist's first appearance since a reported mental breakdown."
And so the whales and glaciers show us, but cannot teach us, that cherishing intergenerational pain is one way we curse ourselves, that it's possible to remember too much to fully face the day.
"Beirut: the pullout of Syrian Rebels and civilians from their last holdout in the besieged city of Aleppo has been delayed."
How old is today?
This ragged, rugged coast, crenelated and spired and frosted to white oblivion, having no eyes for night or light, sensing neither cold nor kiss of sun, has simply stood, has known only one day here for these most recent hundred million years.
Today is older than we are, and younger than we will ever again be. As old as we make it. We have today. And that is true every day, but won't always be.
This continent of eternity and change, formerly so ravaged of life but now the best-protected of all worlds on Earth, offers us a chance, a glimpse of how to get it right.


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Life is as sweet as ever for many people, but a growing body of medical opinion suggests that too much sugar is as bad for health as alcohol and tobacco
SUGAR, oh honey, honey. You are my candy girl and you got me wanting you. From The Archies to Flo Rida, from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to Echo and the Bunnymen, the sweet, white stuff – once a status symbol, now the opium of the masses – is synonymous with love, desire and scrumptiousness. And no wonder. Not only are our palates programmed to prefer sweet to sour from the moment we are born, but eating sugar releases pleasure-inducing endorphins and dopamine to our brains, the same chemical reaction produced by falling in love or having sex.
Now, however, we are being told to adjust our dietary and cultural preconceptions. For decades we have been warned saturated fat, which raises cholesterol, and salt, which hardens the arteries, are our enemies and sugar a mostly benign, if somewhat short-lived, mood enhancer. But, in the last few months, a succession of reports has suggested science has got it all wrong: it is sugar, which we consume in excessive quantities, not fat which is to blame for the obesity epidemic that threatens western countries. Linked to migraines, heart and liver disease, skin conditions such as psoriasis, Alzheimer's and, of course, diabetes, it is the nutritional nemesis holding our wellbeing to ransom.
Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said cutting the recommended daily allowance of sugar from 12 to six level teaspoons a day (less than the quantity contained in a 50g Mars bar) would help tackle obesity, which affects more than one in four adults and costs the UK more than £5 billion a year (although it retained its formal recommendation that adults should eat no more than ten teaspoonfuls a day). Halving the recommended intake would mean adults deriving 5 per cent, as opposed to 10 per cent, of their daily calories from sugar. In reality, however, most people are now way over the upper limit, consuming more than 22 teaspoons a day, either consciously in sweets and fizzy drinks or unwittingly in so-called healthy foods.
The WHO advice came on the back of warnings from a coalition of experts that sugar is as dangerous as alcohol and tobacco. Action on Sugar, modelled on the successful Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH), has called on the food industry to cut the amount of sugar in processed foods by 40 per cent and asked the government to impose a tax on carbonated drinks and fines on those who fail to meet the targets.
Meanwhile, leading heart scientist Dr James DiNicolantonio is claiming saturated fat has been falsely maligned. Cutting down on butter, cheese and chocolate does not, he says, lower cholesterol or the incidence of heart disease.
"What many people don't realise is that added sugar has no nutritional value and, contrary to what the food industry wants you to believe, you do not require any energy from it," says London cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, Action on Sugar's science director. "On top of that we now have growing scientific evidence that if you consume too much sugar you are increasing your risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, even if you are not obese."
Malhotra points to a study carried out at Stanford University which looked at sugar availability and consumption in 175 countries. It found that for every extra 150 calories of sugar available per person per day (equivalent to, say, a can of coke), the prevalence of diabetes rose by 1 per cent, compared to a rise of just 0.1 per cent for every additional 150 calories from another source.
Some experts have accused Action on Sugar of scaremongering: they say that while there's strong epidemiological evidence linking smoking to cancer and there is evidence linking obesity to cancer and heart disease, it is difficult to prove a causal link between sugar and obesity. And they dispute the notion that sugar is dangerous so long as the calories it contains are being burned off. For its part, the campaign group talks of vested interests stacked against it and compares taking on the food industry to taking on the tobacco companies in the 80s.
There is also debate over whether or not sugar is addictive. One study found adults who binged on dense carbohydrates, had the same dopamine gene marker found in those who suffer from alcoholism, but again this is strongly disputed by the food industry.
It's confusing for consumers who have to pick their way through often conflicting reports to make the best dietary choices. As more and more studies link sugar to a startling range of diseases, however, it seems increasingly likely the majority of us are consuming sugar in excessive quantities and that doing so is exposing us to increased health risks.
The question is: how did we arrive here? How did sugar go from being a delicacy so rare that VIPs at Tudor banquets were ushered into an special room to sample it to a palliative for poverty?
Britain's love affair with sugar began in the 12th century when Crusaders returned full of tales of the "sweet salt" they had tasted in the Holy Land where Muslim caliphs flaunted their wealth by producing elaborate marzipan sculptures. But it remained a rarity until around 1650 when Britain took over Barbados and other parts of the West Indies from Spain and planted sugar cane, shipping in slaves to do the hard labour.
"At that point, we gained control of our own stocks," says food historian Dr Annie Gray, a regular panellist on Radio 4's The Kitchen Cabinet. "The amount of sugar coming in increased and the price started to drop. As you'd imagine, that was the growth period for cakes and biscuits and ice cream.
"Then in the 19th century, the taxes on sugar, which were reasonably high, also dropped and sugar substitutes such as treacle and molasses became much more popular.
"That's when it started to be the scourge of the working classes because that's when people started to get a lot of calories from sugar and it started to be damaging to their health."
In 1700, the average Briton consumed 4lbs of sugar a year. By 1800, he ate 18lbs and by 1900 he was up to 100lbs. Sugar and cheap bread fed factory workers during the Industrial Revolution. Though rationed during both world wars, consumption kept on increasing either side of them as manufacturers started adding it to processed foods: soups, sauces and eventually ready meals.
During the early 1970s, as rates of heart disease were rising, however, one British doctor, John Yudkin, began to suspect sugar was responsible for more than just tooth decay. In his book Pure, White And Deadly he claimed animals fed sugar and carbohydrates showed raised blood levels of triglyceride (a type of fat), which was then, as now, considered a risk factor for heart disease. Sugar also raised insulin levels, linking it directly to type 2 diabetes.
Elsewhere, however, an alternative view was emerging; led by American Ancel Keys, a rival group of scientists decided saturated fat was the main culprit for the rise in heart disease. From this broad consensus, a potentially lucrative new market was established for "healthy" foods, in which saturated fat was often replaced with sugar.
"Back then, the big problem was heart disease. One of the big risk factors was cholesterol and one of the drivers of cholesterol is saturated fat, so the focus was on saturated fat and smoking," says Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at Glasgow University.
"Only 4-8 per cent of people were obese, diabetes rates were at 1 per cent, so sugar slipped into lots of food which were marketed as low-fat. The result is that nowadays an individual may think they're doing well – they'll have given up crisps, say – and they'll think 'I'll just have a low-fat yogurt or two', and suddenly they're getting 20-30g more sugar without any fibre. They would be better getting those extra calories from an apple or a banana because they'd get fibre and other nutrients and the process of chewing sends signals to the brain saying they are going to be full."
Yudkin was marginalised as organisations such as the British Sugar Bureau undermined his work. But a few years ago, Robert Lustig, paediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, who was already thinking along the same lines, stumbled across the book and gave a talk which is credited with kicking off the anti-sugar movement. According to Lustig and the scientists involved in Action on Sugar, excess sugar is the principal driver behind the obesity crisis which is in turn linked to many life-threatening diseases.
A key development has been the realisation that whereas glucose – one of two main carbohydrates in refined sugar – is metabolised by all the cells in the body, fructose is chiefly metabolised by the liver. As a result fructose places added pressure on the liver, which turns it into fat. This causes a condition known as insulin resistance, or metabolic syndrome, now recognised as a major risk factor for diabetes, obesity and many cancers. Fructose also raises uric acid which is a trigger for heart disease and strokes.
While the idea that excessive consumption of sugar contributes to obesity is pretty widely accepted, the idea that sugar is in itself toxic has proved contentious, though Malhotra says it is now entering mainstream.
"There was an American study recently which demonstrated that those people who consume more than 25 per cent as opposed to just 10 per cent of their calories from added sugar have a threefold increased risk of developing heart disease, irrespective of their weight." Malhotra says 40 per cent of normal weight people will eventually develop diseases of the metabolic syndrome: type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, fatty liver disease.
The difficulty is trying to persuade people something they've viewed for so long as a source of pleasure must now be excised from their diet. Sattar believes that, with time, the desire for sugar can be reduced. Once possessed of a sweet tooth, he changed his ways when his mother was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. "I used to have two sugars in my tea and loved it. If there was no sugar in it, I didn't like it," he says. "But recognising my family's history, I have switched. The point is you can retrain your palate but it takes a bit of time and effort."
But Action for Sugar believes it is unrealistic to get consumers to reduce their sugar intake unless they can translate the WHO's recommendations into something meaningful – and that means better labelling. So far the food industry has shown little enthusiasm for better labelling or for slashing the amount of added sugar in processed food and it wields enormous power. "We know that, back in 2003, when there were representations to the WHO that they should reduce the recommended intake of sugar, the industry leaned on the US and George Bush threatened to withdraw all money unless they agreed not to," Malhotra says.
In Scotland, as elsewhere in Europe, obesity levels have soared – from 17.2 per cent in 1995 to 26.1 per cent in 2012 – and, although they appear to be plateauing, something has to be done. Malhotra is digging in for the long haul. Yet, given CASH has made progress achieving a 15 per cent reduction in the UK's salt intake, he believes the battle can be won.
"It is difficult but I think there's much greater awareness now. People are asking questions and at the very least it will encourage consumers to be more wary of sugar and to choose products that are lower in sugar," he says. "Ultimately what will happen is that the industry, which is interested only in making profits, will respond to consumers if they start choosing products which are lower in sugar. Hopefully that will shift the balance to create more healthy foods in the supermarkets."
Twitter: @DaniGaravelli1


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Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend :) I received a couple of canvases that my clients have ordered this weekend and thought I'd do a quick post on how to choose and care for a canvas print.Canvas is a pretty popular way to display photos these days. In addition to a clean, modern look, it's an economical way to put big art on your walls since it requires no additional framing or glass. Additionally, professional canvas labs use archival inks and canvas in the printing process, then treat the canvas with a UV- and water-protective spray that gives a well cared-for canvas a 200-300 year lifespan. Some things to consider when purchasing a canvas:
- Depth - canvas can be wrapped around a thick or thin frame, which will, in turn, determine how far the canvas stands out from the wall. My personal preference is for a mid-range 1.5-1.75in depth, which I think has a great presence on the wall without taking up too much room.
- Framing - canvas can be wrapped around thin wooden frames or solid wood blocks. The benefit to the frames is that they're lightweight and easy to hang and move; the blocks are heavier, but provide better protection against warping, especially if the image will be hung in an environment with high or variable humidity.
- Materials - as with everything, not all canvases are created equal. Look for canvases that have been printed using acid-free inks onto museum-quality canvas and treated with UV and water protection to avoid premature color fading, splitting, and sagging.
- Gallery Wrap vs. Solid Edge - Gallery wrapped canvases are printed edge to edge and the wrapped around the frame, so the picture itself continues around the edges (like the vertical image below). Solid edge is when the image is printed on the front of the canvas and the wrapped edges are a solid color (usually white or black - like the top left image below). This can be an aesthetic choice, or made based on the size and cropping of the image.
(I put that bottom left image in there just to show off this new - new to me, at least - beehive-style hanger. They're genius and foolproof and making hanging things level a total breeze :D)
Finally: how to care for that gorgeous canvas once you have it hanging on your wall:
- Even though it's been UV and moisture protected, I would try to hang your canvas out of direct sunlight and high humidity.
- Don't place your canvas right near a high heat source like a radiator - the wooden frame can split if it gets too dry.
- Dry-dust your canvas every 1-2 weeks to keep it clean. If required, use a damp (not wet) cloth to gently spot clean. NEVER use sprays or chemicals to clean your canvas as they can destroy the ink and finish of the canvas.
- If your canvas starts to loosen, it can be taken to a frame shop for tightening.
- When moving or storing your canvas, wrap in bubble wrap and keep it upright to avoid crushing and scratching.
That's about it! Canvas is an easy and attractive way to show off those gorgeous images. If you're interested in scheduling a session or ordering a canvas from your past session so we can hang one of these pretty babies in your home, drop me a line (just use the contact form in the menu above)!


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Pricing Test
Reception Menu Ideas
Sample Menu #1
Light Hor D'Oeuvres
Mini Ham Biscuits
Savannah Cheese Spread w/ French Bread Rounds
Choice of Wings- Hot/BBQ/Teriyaki/ Fried
Petite Tomato Finger Sandwiches
Petite Cucumber Finger Sandwiches
Spicy Raspberry Cream Cheese Spread
Lemon Tea Cakes
Punch or Tea
$12.99 per person
Sample Menu #2
Light Hor D'Oeuvres
Mini Roast Beef Biscuits w/ Horseradish Sauce
Mexican Roll-Ups w/ Salsa
Fried Drummettes
Spinach Dip w/ Hawaiian Bread
Freshly Prepared Pimento Finger Sandwiches
Strawberry Trees w/ Chocolate Fondue & Whipped Topping
Key Lime Bites
Punch Or Tea
$13.99 per person
Sample Menu #3
Light- to- Medium Hor D'Oeuvres
Warm Pizza Dip w/ Pita Points
White Chocolate Cheese ball w/ Graham Crackers
Swedish Meatballs
Ravioli w/ Marinara Sauce
Assorted Finger Sandwiches
Chocolate Cream Cheese Bites
Assorted Fruits
Punch or Tea
$14.99 per person
Sample Menu # 4
Medium Hor D'Oeuvres
Baked Vidalia Onion Dip w/ Toast Cups
Caramel Glazed Brie w/ Crackers
Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus or Melon
Chicken Fingers w/ Ranch & Honey Mustard
Country Ham Mini Biscuits w/ Black Pepper Honey
Mini Shish Kabobs
Assorted Vegetables w/ Ranch & Roasted Red Pepper Dip
Mini Chocolate Shells w/ Assorted Tart Fillings
Punch or Tea
$19.99 per person
Sample Menu #5
Medium Hor D'Oeuvres
Chicken Fingers w/ Ranch & Honey Mustard
Hot Seafood Dip w/ Tortilla Chips
Pineapple Almond Cheese Spread w/ Crackers
Baked Pimento Cheese w/ Toast Cups
Spud Skins
Assorted Fruit/Cheese/Vegetable Display w/ Assorted Dips
Strawberry Cream Puffs
Punch or Tea
$18.99 per person
Sample Menu #6
Medium to Heavy Hor D'Oeuvres
Catfish Nuggets w/ Tartar & Cocktail Sauce
Smokies in Sauce
Parmesan Crusted Chicken Bites
Warm Crab Dip w/ Toast Cups
Raspberry Cream Cheese Spread w/ Crackers
Bacon Wrapped Mushrooms
Mini Ham Biscuits
Assorted Fruit/Cheese/Vegetable Display w/ Assorted Dips
Mini Cheesecakes w/ Assorted Toppings
Kahlua Cream Puffs
Punch of Tea
$19.99 per person
Sample Menu #7
"Southerners Delight"
Roast Beef Carving Station
Mashed Potato Bar
Fried Drummettes
Mini Ham Biscuits
Fried Catfish Nuggets
Savannah Cheese Spread w/ French Bread Rounds
Baked Vidalia Onion Dip w/ Crackers or Toast Cups
Hot Seafood Dip w/ Tortilla Chips
Tomato & Cucumber Finger Sandwiches
Mini Pecan Tarts
Assorted Fruit w/ Chocolate Fondue
$22.00 per person
Add a Southern Fry Station for $4.95
Or a Crab Cake Station for $5.95
Or a Southern Comfort Dessert Station for $5.95
Or a BBQ Slider Station for $4.00
Sample Menu #8
"On The Coast"
Baked Ham or Roast Beef Carving Station
Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
Warm Crab dip w/ Toast Cups
Smoked Salmon w/ Herbed Cream Cheese / Scallions / Chives / Capers on Mini Bagels
Assorted Salads w/ Pastry Cups & Crackers
Mini Quiches
Cheese Straws
Southwestern Appetizer Cheesecake w/ Crackers
Mini Chicken Shish Kabobs
Chocolate Dipped Macaroons
Assorted Fruits w/ Chocolate Fondue
$27.50 per person
Add a Crab Cake Station for $5.95
Or a Shrimp and Grits Station for $5.95
Or a Chocoholics Station for $4.95
Sample Menu #9
"Dancing In The Moonlight"
Prime Rib Carving Station & Baked Ham Carving Station
Mashed Potato Bar
Southern Fry Station
Mini Crab Cakes
Parmesan Crusted Chicken Bites
Baked Vidalia Onion Dip
Assorted Vegetable Display w/ Dip
Mini Shish Kabobs
Tomato & Cucumber Finger Sandwiches
Mexican Roll-Ups w/ Salsa
Layered Bean Dip w/ Tostados
Creamy Three Cheese Dip
Mini Dessert Station
$37.95 per person
Add an Ice Cream Sundae Station for: $4.50
Sample Menu #10
Prime Rib Station
Mashed Potato Bar
Boiled Shrimp w/ Cocktail Sauce
Choice of Slider Station
Pasta Station
Caramel Glazed Brie w/ Butterfly Crackers
Warm Spinach Artichoke Dip w/ Toast Crackers
Salmon Pate
Bacon Wrapped Sausage
Assorted Finger Sandwiches
Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
Assorted Fruits, Cheeses, and Vegetable Display w/ Chocoholics Station
Cream Puff Trees
Assorted Mini Tarts
$44.95 per person
Sample Menu Prices include a nicely dressed buffet with all necessary linens, serving pieces and utensils, condiments, along with disposable 6 inch plates, cups, and napkins.
Prices are based on 100 guests or more with two hours of full service.
7% Sales Tax and 18% Service Fee are added to all prices.


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Meet your customers where they research their next vacation – in digital space
You will reach internet-savvy readers and travel addicts with Reise-Inspirationen, Germany's most inspiring digital travel magazine!
Reise-Inspirationen is a PDF travel magazine. It is published quarterly, the layout (in DINA 4 format) has been optimized for screen readability. The website complements the magazine with further information for travel planning, travel news, additional travel- and hotel features and an online shop for travel literature. With the combined concept, you will reach a lifestyle oriented target group with high spending power.
Please download the ratecard here:
- Main feature (a long-haul destination from a European travel perspective)
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Good reason, to place your advertising in Reise-Inspirationen:
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On the webseite: Banner and text/text link ads. Please contact us for your customized offer.
Would like to find out more? Then please download our rate card here:
Or contact us, for your customized offer.


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I received many mails lately regarding seeking help to call back a runaway wife, husband, business partner etc. So I guessed instead of replying to individual mail, I will publish some seemingly simple rituals for your reference. As to how effective is these rituals, my answer will still be the same: it really depends on your personal spiritual achievement. As the saying goes: "Do not hug the Buddha's feet at the last minute". So be consistent in your daily ritual practise.
Taoist Magic
- Asking help from a spirit:
- Go to a new grave in the evening with some food offerings, incense sticks and paper money.
- State your intention clearly and only one thing at a time please.
- After that, make a promise to the spirit if the person returns home; then you will come and offer the deceased with more offering, or perform a deliverance ritual for the spirit.
- If you have done the ritual properly, then the spirit will appear in your dream and inform you of the outcome.
- Put a piece of magnet and wrap it with the clothing of the runaway.
- Hang the runaway's clothing in the middle of a well or a big urn.
- Repeatedly call his or name for 49x. You must perform the ritual for 7 days, 14 days, 21 days or 49 days.
- If after 49 days, the person still fail to return; then his or her soul must be released because it is deemed that the person is physically tied up by someone. Further ritual will harm the runaway's well being.
- Soul call ritual:
- Prepare some offerings and invoke the blessings of your lineage gurus, guardians etc.
- Recite the Thai soul retrieval chant in this blog.
- Perform the ritual for 49 days max.
- Get a piece of the runaway's hair.
- Find a tree branch and tie the hair onto the branch.
- Call his or her name while blowing at the hair.
- If you have done the ritual correctly, then the runaway will feel very uneasy and hurriedly home.
- This is for Phra Ngan practitioner only. Of course there are other flying needle methods.
- Prepare some offerings to Phra Ngan
- Prepare a manikin of the runaway and 7 needles.
- Call upon Phra Ngan and poke a needle to the manikin.
- Repeat the ritual until you have completed all 7 needles. Whatever you do, never poke the heart of the manikin; unless you want this person to die of course.
- If the person fail to return after 49 days, then you must remove the needle curse because if you do not, this person will fall sick and may die.
Honestly ask yourself, do you really want the person to come back?


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Vlad Liashkevich
Freelance SQL Developer at Toptal since February 18, 2016
Vlad is a software engineer with more than twenty years of experience. He has a degree in math so he really likes working on challenging, algorithmic problems. His main area of interest is designing and developing highly scalable, concurrent, distributed request hand... Click to continue


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The Reform Party has opened its discussion group on Facebook to foster discussion about issues, Reform Party operations, and how to build a stronger, better party. This group has existed for several years, but was closed by a previous and couldn't be opened until today. It is possible to find this group here.
To maintain the benefits of having a closed discussion group, we have refurbished an existing group that can be found here.


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DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2015
We always pick Soarin as our Tier 1 and then we must do Spaceship Earth. It is my DS's favorite. Then we will do LWTL for our third or MS for our girls instead. We never ride Figment any more since most don't like it. They will do TT single rider while do something else. Nemo doesn't really need a FP.


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It's hard to believe I've been blogging since 2004. Reading back over my old blog, it's even harder to believe the direction that blogging has taken me. Blogging has affected my life in ways that I would find hard to describe. I can hardly picture myself without having a blog somewhere out there. Lately, I've thought it might be time to close this one down. Life doesn't leave me much time to spend on it anyway. As I sit here, trying to foresee a direction in which to take it, I see nothing definitive. Still, I can't seem to make myself walk away from it.
Anyway, knowing me, the day will never come when I say, "I'm done." I'll just walk away without saying anything. So still here and sending thanks again to all those who've stuck with me over the years. Thank you for all the support and encouragement.
Sending warm wishes for the holidays and the coming new year!


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GoT top fan theories and stories on internet
It's time for some of the GoT top fan theories! Yes, you read it right. Fans of Game of Thrones can never seem to get enough of the story as if it were not complicated enough already! Every start of the new season leads to endless discussions and assumptions of how the story should move forward.
Every start of the new season leads to endless discussions and assumptions of how the story should move forward. Of course, it is an entirely different scenario for those who read the books before hand. But those who religiously follow the TV series are not running out of imagination as they present predictions, backstories/ secrets of characters and discuss how the epic show will come to an end.
GoT top fan theories –
Jon Snow doesn't die
In the fifth season, Snow is attacked at Night's watch and killed but some say that there might be a chance that he could be seen on the show again. Either of the few things could happen- He doesn't die in the first place, or he is resurrected by Melisandre or he's reborn in the fire when the Night's Watch tries to burn his body or he lives on as an ice zombie- White Walker.
Read : Why Jon Snow is the most loved character on GoT
Jon Snow, a Targaryen?
Speaking of Jon Snow, many speculate the possibility that his real parents are actually Lyanna Stark, sister of Ned and Rhaegar Targaryen. This claim is based on the story that Ned found Lyanna at the Tower of Joy in a pool of blood, maybe she bled to death from childbirth, and she asked Ned to promise her something before she died. There is a good chance that she wanted Ned to take the baby, Jon, and keep him safe.
Lyanna was abducted by Rhaegar and if the father of the child she gave birth to was Rhaegar's then it means Jon Snow, their son is half Targaryen. If this information was known to Robert Baratheon, he would have killed Jon, (Robert wanted every Targaryen person dead) so she probably asked Ned to keep her son(Jon) alive. This explains many things. Ned could have lied that Jon was his illegitimate son to protect his true identity. In the books, Jon and Lyanna are symbolized using blue winter roses. Many a time, Jon is said to look very similar to Arya and it is mentioned that Arya resembles her aunt Lyanna.
If this is true, this makes Jon the nephew of Queen Daenerys Targaryen . If he really is a Targaryen, it makes him the heir to the throne.
Tyrion Lannister is a Targaryen
There is a three-headed dragon theory which states that three descendants of the Targaryen will rule dragons. If Jon is the second one, then is Tyrion the third? There are many reasons to believe this. Tyrion looks less like a Lannister anyway- apart from the dwarfism he has hair and eyes which are not typical to Lannisters. He is said to have hair so blonde as to be white which is more like Targaryen than Lannister
Even though there is no proof, some believe that Tyrion could be the son of Mad King and Tywin's wife, Joanna Lannister. Tywin also denies him as a son on more than one occasion- like before Tyrion kills Tywin, he says 'You are no son of mine'.
The legend of Azor Ahai
This legend revolves around a hero who was also called 'The Prince that was Promised'. He is the hero who defeated 'Others' once upon a time and when needed he will fight these evil 'Others' once again. According to the red priestess Melisandre, this hero is Stannis. But some readers doubt this, some think the priestess doesn't have clear enough visions to predict this and this hero could well be Jon Snow also. The Azor Ahai does not have to be one individual- it could also be the three dragon heads- of which one is surely Daenerys. And the other two are proposed to be Jon Snow and Tyrion as we mentioned above.
Who are the Others ?
It is speculated that the Others may not be the evil people that is commonly believed. It is thought that they probably made a pact to stay in North and not allow men to enter from the south beyond the Wall. Or it could be that they feel threatened by the return of dragons , just like the people of Westeros feel fear from the cold and how the Walkers fear fire.
Lastly, one of the most loved GoT top fan theories is-
Jon Snow and Meera Reed are twins
Among all GoT top fan theories, as we saw the story of Lyanna dying after childbirth previously, this theory states she gave birth to two children. So it would mean that Ned had the responsibility to care for these two children. He probably had them split for their own safety, keeping Jon with himself in Winterfell and entrusting the other child with someone reliable. After the battle, out of Ned's companions, only Howland Reed survived- his two children Jojen and Meera have been introduced in the series when they assisted Bran Stark in finding a three-eyed raven.
Many things seem to line up- Jon and Meera are the same age, born the same year Lyanna died, they have exceptionally similar looks- both having wavy dark hair and slim built
If this theory is true, this means Meera is actually Lyanna's daughter and Jon's twin sister who was taken away to Greywater Watch to be raised by Howland Reed.
GoT is one of the most discussed shows on internet
The halo effect of GoT fan frenzy is high to the extent that the internet just cannot get enough of it. There are much more GoT top fan theories which can be explored in this exclusive Reddit.
Do you know any GoT top fan theories, which have captured your attention?
Don't forget to comment and let us know!
Read here : Meet the families from GoT