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Ugh - I was in the middle of a long post and this stupid computer backed out of the page.
Anyways, take two. I am looking at Enki and Christopherus. Please help me with this tough decision making process if you have the experience, time, and inclination to do so. I'm feeling a bit flummoxed.
I've spent the last two years doing Kindergarten with my son who will be seven this summer. My inital plan wasn't to do Kindy for two years, but after moving him to first grade last fall I quickly realized that developmentally he was still very much a kindergartener. We started with WTM/CM approaches and I added in Sonlight the second year. I also dropped quite a bit of the WTM stuff the second year. While he was at the point of decoded CVC words, his love of reading was not there. He would cry when I'd pull out the book we were using to work on reading. So we shelved that. We also shelved SOTW, which I thought he would love. But he's just not there yet and I've realized that I want more magic for him in childhood. He has so many years to learn academic material. I'd prefer for him to spend his time now wondering, exploring, imagining, creating, and moving.
So that has led me to looking into Enki and Christopherus. I've also looked at several others, such as Earthschooling and ALGF, but it seems that Enki and Christopherus have the richness and fullness that I want. Of course I haven't actually seen these programs, but after reading through many posts and perusing many websites, these are the two programs that I keep coming back to time and again.
Here's a little about my home. We have a very busy home. I've been running a full-time home daycare supporting my hubby through nursing school. He will be graduating this spring and I will be closing my daycare. This fall I will begin grad studies and a graduate assistantship. I have no idea of my schedule yet and will not find out until sometime this summer. My husband and I will share homeschooling responsibilities next year so that I can concentrate on my grad studies as needed. I am wondering if these programs will be difficult to tag team with. It's made me consider whether or not I should pick something more open and go, such as Oak Meadow. But I'm really not sure that's what I'm looking for.
Here's a bit about my son. He's a bright, curious, bouncy seven year old. His bounce level might be a tad above his peers. We suspect ADHD - his dad has ADHD and we see some signs. Most notably his impulse control is not at the level that most of his peers are at. Also, he seems to struggle with sensory processing at times. He is easily overstimulated. He is very drawn to tactile sensory play. However, he is avoidant of loud noises. He was four before he stopped crying at fireworks and five before he really could enjoy them. We took a Kindermusic class when he was a toddler and there was a song where the instructor handed out key rings with metal keys for kiddos to shake during a song. He would put his hands over his ears and cry. :( He will still occasionally put his hands over his ears when noises are too loud. As far as motor skills, he definitely struggles. He was four before he learned to jump with both feet leaving the ground. His fine motor skills struggle but are coming along. After observing him for so many years, I am certain there is nothing physically wrong with him. I believe that neurologically he has trouble with coordinating motor movements. So I am drawn to Beth's sensory integration component to Enki as I am to Donna's movement component to her waldorf program. I believe either one could possibly help. Anyone have thoughts one way or the other on what could be a better fit for him?
As far as scheduling with Enki goes, I've heard that the material can be overwhelming at first. If we go with Enki I'd like to get the materials asap and start reading through the guides and then immediately launch into reading through and selecting material once I'm done with those. I have the summer and perhaps beyond because there are still many books from the Sonlight program that I wouldn't mind finishing with him. We like that part of what we're doing right now. ;) So my plan would be to select all materials and create a schedule over the summer once I know what my husband and my schedule is going to be. Now with Christopherus, it doesn't seem that I would have to do as much other than reading through the materials and gaining a grasp of how to go about implementing the program that is set forth - is that correct?
Also, cost wise, I'm not sure there's much of a difference. Enki does seem more expensive at the outset, but when I look at Christopherus and then think of adding other resources that would help me to understand aspects of the program, we don't get all the way to $700, but it comes close. Also, realistically with both Enki and Christopherus there will be art/craft/materials cost. What is a realistic amount to consider for Enki? For Christopherus? It's possible that this decision could come down to finances as we don't have much with hubby being a student for the past four years and my getting ready to close my business and become a student.
Also, as far as Christopherus or Enki, did your spouses buy into the philosophy at all. My husband is in love with the tv. He likes the background noise - drives me crazy. He has to watch movies all the time. This is not something he's going to give up. I am not as into it as he is, but I do have a few shows that I watch. I honestly don't see this changing. I think trying to change this in our house would just create a ton of conflict. So do you think that will ruin the environment that we would be trying to create with Christopherus or Enki?
I am a bit unsure on math. We did Essential Math from Singapore Math and Miquon Orange book - still working through them now - but he does really well with those resources. I had already ordered Singapore 1A in anticipation of going through that with him next year. So at this point I'm thinking I will keep it on hand and supplement if he seems bored with the math as presented in Christopherus or Enki. I'm not opposed to slowing down though as Singapore makes a leap from manipulatives to mental process within the 1A and 1B books at some point and I'd rather make sure he's fully ready for that than push him forward only for him to hit a wall and feel defeated with something that he is currently confident with. Has anyone ever supplemented math in Christopherus or Enki? Was it a big problem to fit that in?
With Christopherus it's hard to tell what topics within the subjects are covered in the elementary grades. Is there a good way to find that information? With Enki, I'm not entirely sure on what I'd be getting. There are samples, but it's really hard to get a good feel for what I'm going to get. Can anyone describe in detail what actually comes in the box?
My son loves painting, building with blocks and legos, singing and dancing (especially if it's his own song), poetry, fairytales, stories, digging in the dirt, riding his bike, playing sports, rearranging the furniture in the family room, cooking, playing superheroes (especially ones that are jumping off of the furniture), open ended art projects, routine (both daily and weekly - loves to know when things are going to happen), loading the breadmaker. When I asked him what he wanted in school he said to play the guitar, piano, and drums. We started recorder last year and plan to pick it up again hopefully soon. I plan to start teaching him piano this year. We did an art lab book last year - only got through a bit of it before it fell by the wayside, but I've really liked it. It's obviously a very different approach from Waldorf or Enki, but I LOVE seeing him get into creating art. He has said that he'd like to be an artist when he's older - along with Captain America. :) Things he hates right now are learning to read, listening to history lessons, narrating stories (only had a few attempts last year before we gave up SOTW and he hated it). He loves math and his phonics workbook, but his attention span is very very short for those things. He also loves to work on handwriting.
Overall I want more. I want more building. More creating. More artistic endeavors. I want him to try handiwork. More cooking/baking projects. More movement oriented ideas. More games that teach. Less desk sitting for him - it's just not the right approach for him. It's not what I want for my precious little boy.
So HELP!! Can anyone shed light on this for me? The level to which I'm going back and forth has not caused my brain to explode, but it might at some point if I keep this up. So for my neurological health, please lend me your knowledge and experience!!
Crystal (34) married to LPN DH (38) , mama to (7/07), (1/09), and (7/11) and (12/28)
Haha - well, I'm replying to my own post. I'm hoping there's some mamas out there that can give me some good information soon! One concern that I really have with Enki is the return policy. According to the policy I read in the Google group, you're not even allowed to return it if you remove the items from the shrink wrap. I just don't understand. Any other currriculum I could order, I'd get to look through the materials and make sure they vibed with me and return if they didn't. So there is just no opportunity for me to look at and handle the materials? I'm a very visual person and handling the materials will help me get a feel for whether or not it's the right curriculum. I really really think Enki could be it, but that's a lot of money to be out if it isn't. I know that it costs Enki money for materials to be returned and such, but considering their policy is so far out in left field from what other homeschooling curriculums are doing, it makes me wonder about the stability of Enki. Is Enki that hard up for money that paying to re shrink wrap returned materials would break them?? I'm not saying that to be rude. I'm really really honestly wondering here. I don't want to purchase materials and have the whole curriculum go under and then have no access to the curriculum that follows. Although if the curriculum went under, then I guess people would be able to sell their used stuff. Anyways, that's a tangent. It really just does have me scratching my head. I wish there was an Enki person close by so that I could physically see and handle the materials, but I don't think there is one that I know of anyways. For those that purchased Enki, were you concerned about this when you bought your stuff? Did you just decide to go for it anyways and kind of hold your breath that the curriculum was right for you? Has anyone bought it and wished they could return it?
I really wonder if Enki might be the better fit because I like that it's not all teacher led. Eventually I do want our children to take on more direction and responsibility for their education - in the middle school years would be when I'd probably want to start transitioning. I don't know if Christopherus would still continue to be teacher led in those years? I've thought that maybe we'd switch to Oak Meadow or Sonlight once we're ready to head that direction. But I really want the richness and magic to be there in the early years via Enki or Christopherus.
Anyways, I'm continuing to ramble here. So hopefully someone will have some direction or suggestions for me!
Crystal (34) married to LPN DH (38) , mama to (7/07), (1/09), and (7/11) and (12/28)
swimming-duck - I've got few moments here!
First, I've appreciated reading your posts on the threads and think the depth and breadth of your vulnerability and questions reflect such passion for giving the very best to your sweet boy. You remind me of parts of me when I felt a bit "all over the place", yet intuitively clear on many levels. I kept searching for the best nuggets in as many approaches and curriculums I could get my hands on, trying to create my own.
I've been at this "home schooling exploration thing" for 10 yrs since being pregnant with my 9yr old son. I have settled into Enki and have had the ability to compare it to others due to being exposed for a long time - I've used Christopherous primarily, along with Earthschooling and Live Ed. And I've closely looked at other popular ones and have a library of Waldorf books a mile high it seems. I'm also familiar with Sonlight, Charlottle Mason, etc.
My intro to the Waldorf approach, after reading for a number of years, was being able to sit in classrooms and observe all the grades in a Waldorf school for about a year. Being a Family Therapist, specializing in trauma and child development, I watched closely for how the children were being met developmentally. Then I had the privilege of spending time with a Waldorf master-teacher-mentor, Else Gottgens (she wrote Waldorf Education in Practice: Exploring How Children Learn in the Lower Grades) who was in her late 80s at the time. She accepted her first class in 1941 in the Netherlands. Boy, does she have a legacy in Waldorf education.
She was the first to make it clear to me the difference between looking for content versus what is "essential" (or the real goal behind whatever I'm doing in a lesson). I was frustrated for a time with all my knowledge/experience getting in the way to what she was describing as far more simple in pin-pointing what a child needs in academic development and in each lesson. She spoke more of a process of observing to determine what the child needs, not only to my knowledge of subject content or even to childhood development.
I applied this growing understanding to each of the home school curriculums and it was helpful, shedding more light. I now lovingly look at my Christopherous materials and have such gratitude for Donna. She really was the one that gently moved me into the Waldorf home schooling world. Then I took the plunge into Enki for many reasons (I have it detailed in my post on the "Enki Familes- Check in here" thread in which I responded to another question) 9mths ago and have worked with Grades 1-3 materials.
I now see that my experience with Christopherous was sticking my toe into the ocean. It got me wet. I feel like I'm now exploring the floor of the ocean 500 feet deep, seeing new landscapes and turning every corner to find ah-ha experiences that illuminate what is "essential" and that allows me to find the center of what I'm trying to do with my son. One that reflects a larger legacy I want to leave him regarding what kind of a person he is to become and what will build qualities that will carry him through his life with grace in a challenging world.
Yes, you're accurately noticing that Christopherous is lighter in structure. It is about 1/10 the physical materials. It is 1/10th the materials because it is not designed to give a lot of options to customize a plan for different needs and Enki adds reflex/brain/body movement, culture, music and dance materials that Christopherous does not. Enki has a rich library to pick from for every "essential" need for a subject. The DVDs and CDs show everything (something I needed).
You could do Christopherous and have a positive experience I believe. It sounds like though you're more aware of the in-depth needs of your son that I can say Christopherous does not address and it is not intended to. It is a bare-bones framework and it's strength is that it is nicely organized and is there for folks who want a Waldorf curriculum without some of the anthroposophical rigidity and time consuming effort to customize with a library of options. In my opinion, Enki carries the best of the Waldorf world and mixes it with other approaches that are supportive of what is "essential" to the unique needs of every child and family for the deeper long term goals of a child's life.
Another strength of Enki you may find is that it can help you maneuver through a time of limited time and energy, addressing how to meet the needs of all family members and create a pathway through tough times. I'm thinking of your upcoming graduate school desires. You will likely need the time this summer to get oriented to prevent overwhelm if you attempt both. I'm finding quality home schooling follows the adage "you get what you put into it", much like there are no short-cuts in attachment parenting. I find myself evaluating every day whether my long term goals are being supported by my daily decisions. There are seasons for different needs. This is a constant challenge for me.
If you haven't taken a look at the Tea videos or joined the Enki Experience group (both accessed through the enkieducation.org) I recommend it. The "Enki home schooling Teas" thread gives you all the links.
I agree with your comment on the other thread that simone's comment (on the "Enki Home schooling" thread) describing the details of the curriculum, is out of this world!!
Hope this helps in some way!
Thank you so much for your thoughtful response Elizabeth!
I think we might have a bit in common. The M.S. program that I'll be starting is Clinical and Community Mental Health. All of my work has been with children and I am also very concerned about how things relate back to a child's developmental stage and needs. That's where I've really had to come to grips with the fact that I like Well-Trained Mind, but that's not reason enough to use it as a curriculum for my son. Sonlight I thought would move us in a healthier direction and when compared with the WTM approach it certainly has, but there is so much seriousness to the books on a level that I don't think is right for my son's needs. So I guess exploring Waldorf and Enki is a part of my journey to find that approach that has what I'm looking for in terms of truly supporting me in meeting the needs of my son to the best of my abilities.
I really think that the sensory integration component that Enki offers is what will really make a difference with my son.
At this point I feel like I've gleaned all I can from forums, reviews, etc...and have moved into a pre-purchase consultation. I don't know that I can afford the program and I'm still worried about making this work with graduate school, but at this point I feel compelled to at least do the consultation. If it turns out to be the right fit for us, I will look into their scholarship options and hope that is an option for us. My consultation is next week, so I'll use the time to gather questions as well as jot a list of things I really would like to discuss in order to gauge whether or not Enki is right for us.
Anyways, thank you so much for all of your insight.
Crystal (34) married to LPN DH (38) , mama to (7/07), (1/09), and (7/11) and (12/28)
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As of Friday, March 22, 2013
© Copyright 2015 Gwinnett Daily Post
Andrew Smith had 14 points and a career-best 16 rebounds to help the Bulldogs sidestep the Bison in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Lexington, Ky.
Rotnei Clarke scored 17 points and Roosevelt Jones added 14 for sixth-seeded Butler (27-8), which will face Marquette in Saturday's third round.
Joe Willman scored 20 points for 11th-seeded Bucknell (28-6), but star player Mike Muscala was 4-of-17 shooting while contributing nine points and 10 rebounds in the East Regional contest.
The Bulldogs trailed by six before controlling the final 10 minutes and outscoring the Bison 22-5 over a stretch of more than seven minutes. Smith and Clarke hit back-to-back 3-pointers - Butler's first two of the game - to kick the spurt into high gear and Alex Barlow finished the run with two free throws to make it 53-42 with 2:38 remaining.
Butler led 21-14 at halftime and boosted the lead to 29-18 on a basket by Khyle Marshall with 16:35 to play. The Bison ripped off the next eight as part of a 19-2 burst that led to them holding a 37-31 midway through the half.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Butler has won its first game in six of its last seven NCAA Tournament appearances. ... The Bison drop to 2-6 in NCAA Tournament play with the wins coming against Kansas (2005) and Arkansas (2006). ... Bucknell was 7-for-27 from the field in the first half and Butler was slightly better at 9-for-28.
More like this story
- Preview: Butler vs. Marquette ( March 22, 2013 )
- Preview: Bucknell at Butler ( March 17, 2013 )
- Marquette hangs on to beat Butler 74-72 ( March 23, 2013 )
- Marquette dodges Davidson upset ( March 21, 2013 )
- Preview: Marquette vs. Davidson ( March 17, 2013 )

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Weekly Update for December 9, 2013
…Instagram and Pinterest with photos and articles about healthy living and healthy eating updated daily. For those especially interested in digestive health and healthy diet please visit my Tumblr minisite! This week's issue covers: * Fight the Flu with Vitamin D * Beating Metabolic Syndrome * Avoiding…Read More


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NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets worked overtime to pull out the opener of their new-look rivalry with the New York Knicks, winning 96-89 on Monday night to tie their city rivals for first place.
Jerry Stackhouse, wearing the No. 42 Jackie Robinson made famous in Brooklyn, hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3:31 left in overtime as the Nets controlled the extra period of a playoff-like game that neither team led by more than seven.
Brook Lopez had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Deron Williams added 16 points and 14 assists as the Nets improved to 7-1 in their new home and tied the Knicks atop the Atlantic Division at 9-4.
Carmelo Anthony had 35 points and 13 rebounds, but was only 10 of 16 at the free throw line. Tyson Chandler finished with 28 points and 10 boards, but no other Knicks player was in double figures.
Raymond Felton was just 3 of 19 from the field, but the Knicks had to stick with him with fellow point guard and former Nets star Jason Kidd out with back spasms.
The first matchup of Brooklyn and New York pro franchises since the Dodgers played the New York Giants on Sept. 8 1957, at the Polo Grounds was loud, energetic, and close throughout. Both teams played as if this meant more than the usual regular-season game.
The game was originally scheduled as the Nov. 1 season opener for both teams but was postponed after Superstorm Sandy, when much of the mass transit around the city was knocked out. Barclays Center sits above a major transportation hub, and without subways running many fans wouldn't have been able to get here.
The Knicks have always been the clear No. 1 franchise in the area, even when the Nets had Kidd and were better, and the Nets have long believed the move to Brooklyn and the $1 billion Barclays Center would help them even things. Nationally televised and with more than 100 media members, this was easily their most anticipated game in years, but coach Avery Johnson denied that it meant more to the Nets than the Knicks.
CHICAGO — Ersan Ilyasova scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half and the Milwaukee Bucks overcame a 27-point deficit in a stunning 93-92 win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.
Richard Hamilton scored a season-high 30 points for the Bulls but missed a shot at the buzzer that could have won it.
Ilyasova led a 31-4 second half-run as the Bucks snapped a nine-game losing streak to Chicago and prevented the Bulls from moving past Milwaukee into first place in the Central Division.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol scored 19 points each and the Memphis Grizzlies overcame a lethargic performance to escape with an 84-78 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.
Rudy Gay scored 15 points, and Quincy Pondexter had 10 points, including 2 of 3 from outside the arc as Memphis won its second straight and maintained its position with the best record in the NBA.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant scored 18 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder opened a 40-point halftime lead in one of the most lopsided first halves in NBA history on their way to a 114-69 blowout of the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night.
Russell Westbrook had 12 points and 11 assists before he and the rest of Oklahoma City's starters were pulled less than 5 minutes into the second half with the Thunder leading 79-25.
Westbrook powered home a right-handed slam to put an exclamation point on the first half and put Oklahoma City up 64-24. It was the fifth-biggest halftime lead in NBA's shot clock era and the largest since Golden State set the record with an 88-41 edge on Sacramento on Nov. 2, 1991, according to STATS.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Brandon Knight scored 16 of his 26 points in the first half, outplaying Damian Lillard in a matchup of young guards and leading the Detroit Pistons to a 108-101 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
Lillard entered the day as the NBA's top rookie scorer, averaging 19.6 points per game. He missed his first 12 shots from the field against the Pistons.
Detroit is 4-3 since dropping its first eight games. The Pistons won for the first time when allowing more than 90 points.
WASHINGTON — Boris Diaw scored 16 points, Tiago Splitter had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Tony Parker added 15 to help the San Antonio Spurs won their fourth straight over the still-winless Washington Wizards 118-92 on Monday night.


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Michigan is entering the fourth year of slow improvements in the economy even though job growth slowed down in 2012. That's the word from economists who spoke at a conference Friday at the state Capitol.
Michigan's government may close last budget year with $1.2 billion on hand, but it will be needed to balance the current budget.
Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero calls it his "most serious and important endeavor." He's referring to last week's appointment of 15 prominent business and civic leaders to tackle the city's chronic budget deficits.
State funding for Medicaid could take a big hit this year.


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except paintball.
Fifa 09 will be some what strange playing it with mouse.
Pes 09 ... well... their graphics and dynamics are odd...
bah i'll go with Fifa -_-
[Edited by LoopDaLoop, 9/30/2008 4:32:45 PM]
oh and look. its Rami.
seal of failure you say? sounds groovy.
may i know why i'm not invited?
Game: Company of Heroes and CoH: Opposing Fronts.


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Assembly line workers, especially in the automotive field, often work at a quick pace in a warehouse or factory. As someone on a line, workers are responsible for one component or step of a product. Workers will perform the same action repeatedly during the course of a shift. Because each worker is dedicated to a specific task, they gain specialized knowledge about their role. Sometimes the assembly line ultimately results in a finished car part like an engine, and other times it results in a complete automobile or truck.Read More...
The labor requirements for assembly line workers varies depending on their role. Frequently workers need to be on their feet for the entirety of their shift. Workers may also need to lift heavy items, depending on their station. They must have a general understanding of mechanics and power tools. They are often required to think quickly to help with problems when they occur on the line, so solid communication skills are necessary. Some assembly line workers may also be in control of robots or machines that are actually performing the assembly work, ensuring that the operation stays proactive.
Generally a high school diploma or equivalent is the only education required to work on an assembly line. Those on an assembly line are typically hourly workers. Shifts are scheduled and may fall during regular business hours or on secondary shifts. Because of their role in the line process, breaks for workers are often scheduled. These workers typically work indoors, but factory conditions can vary, including exposure to varied temperatures.
Median of all compensation (including tips, bonus, and overtime) by years of experience.
Experience and income seem to be closely related; in general, the survey respondents who had worked for more years reported higher incomes. Relatively untried employees who have fewer than five years of experience earn around $33K on average. People who have worked for five to 10 years can expect a higher median salary of $36K. People with 10 to 20 years of experience make an average of about $47K in this role. Individuals who have achieved more than 20 years of experience don't seem to earn much more than people who have 10 to 20 years under their belts; the more senior group reports an average income of $50K.
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Charlie Hebdo massacre raises age-old questions: Are any religions good or necessary?
January 18, 2015 1 Comment
Winning by walkover: Christianity claims moral victory over Islam in wake of Hebdo massacre
But the questions remain: Is religion at fault? What good can religion do? Are any religions truly good? Is religion necessary?
By Benjamin J. Gohs
Victory by default is a pitiful accomplishment.
That has not stopped many Christians worldwide from proverbially patting themselves on the back in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre.
Ironically, it is often these same Christians whom reject the notion that the actions of religious individuals is in any way reflective of the religion itself. To a certain degree, they are correct: The religion is not dangerous as it remains ink on paper. No book is inherently dangerous.
So long as no person takes religious doctrine seriously, nor follows its tenets, nor puts religious orders into practice; as long as no part of religion is legislated, nor used to plan or execute foreign policy, nor to brainwash and terrify children, then it is for the most part harmless.
Religion is not dangerous in the same way The Amazing Spider-Man comic book is innocuous, so long as nobody emulates its super-villains or tries to jump off a building in the style of Peter Parker.
Unfortunately, there are a great many people who do take religion seriously, who do legislate it, who take it literally, who believe it is infallible, who do use its inherent "mind-control* powers" to convince otherwise good people to do bad things.[*1. Brainwash from birth, 2. Terrify/shame into submission, 3. Rebuild with false confidence in, and unquestioning compliance with, religious leaders/of dogma]
After all, when you raise a human up from a child, terrifying and threatening it with seemingly credible information concerning an all-knowing, all-powerful, vengeful monster … the clergy, elder family members and even fellow occultists have a large degree of control over that individual's ability to think critically, discern right from wrong, or fact from fiction, and they often wield that influence with disastrous fruition.
In the last week or so since the Muslim Jihadists shot and killed more than a dozen people over the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo's depiction of Allah and Muhammad, I have had numerous conversations—mostly with religious people—about free speech, religion, and other aspects of human behavior and the power of ideology.
The recurring theme I heard was that "religion is not to blame" and "Christianity is superior to Islam because we don't do that any more." ("That" being the act of harming people in the name of religion.)
The third most talked about issue in my circles was the comment by Bill Maher that, "There are no great religions. They're all stupid and dangerous."
These Christian acquaintances, family members and strangers have seemed confident-bordering-on-braggadocios about the notion that Christians are better because they don't do this kind of thing … any more … or not as much.
Forgetting that Christian Anders Brevik murdered 77 people in the name of Jesus Christ and his hope to spark a religious war between the Christs and the Muhammads, or that right now there are Christian Militias murdering and threatening the lives of many thousands of Muslims in Central African Republic, or that America's war on Iraq was started by a Christian religious fanatic who believed God wanted him to be president—and you better believe he prayed long and hard before deciding that his God wanted him to invade Iraq and wage war on that Islamic nation.
Let's pretend for a moment that neither the Christian nor Islamic religious texts included passages that clearly state that unbelievers should and will be tortured and murdered for their lack of compliance.
Let's assume that all history's holy wars have been waged by men who merely misread otherwise harmless allegory.
Let us also lie to ourselves and claim that religious dogma is not prone to violence, or that it isn't backward, bizarre, self-contradictory, ignorant, banal or childish.
Even then, one bad actor is no better or worse than another bad actor when they both share so many similarities.
When the detrimental proclamations and commandments in these featured books of mythology are adhered to, people put themselves and others at great risk of physical and mental harm.
Forgetting all the really big things religion has gotten wrong with its adherents self-justifying holocausts all over the world, from the Jews to the American Indians and on and on, religion negatively affects people in ways many people never consider.
- Vivisection – the cutting on living creatures is disgusting. It is even more appalling when performed on people too young to make such decisions for themselves. The practice of cutting off the foreskin among many Christians and Jews, and the cutting of female genitalia by many Muslims, is at best immoral and at worst criminal. It is a throwback to the most puerile stage of human development, when smoke and lightning and thunder and moonlight were considered to be derived from magic; when the act of burning an animal was believed to appease a mythological monster; when disease was thought to be cured by reciting incantations.
- Child molestation – While Christian priests have used their power and position to molest untold thousands of children over the centuries, many Muslims use their apparent divine right to take child brides, a practice which is alive and unwell in numerous Middle-Eastern regions. The ubiquity of religion, and the power it holds over those who were raised from birth to believe it, makes such atrocity all the easier because, when everybody's doing it, it seems normal. If God is infallible, and this clergyman is God's right-hand man, then how can one even consider questioning the behavior of an imam, priest, pastor, etc.?
- Team-sport mentality – Religion, above all other ideologies, reinforces people's natural urges to congregate with those who look, act and sound like themselves. It exacerbates xenophobia and serves to heighten a group's distrust in those it deems inferior or threatening by virtue only of being different.
- Misogyny – Nearly all religions are anti-woman. Islam and Christianity are among the worst. Passage after passage of religious text portrays women as stupid, weak, conniving, and inferior. Religion teaches men to treat women as children, property and slaves.
- Segregation – In addition to the tribalism that religion instills in people, it gives its adherents justification for segregation of different religious sects, those of different skin color, sexual orientation and gender, be it the conservative Open Orthodox Jews, Islamic religious discrimination in places like Iran, or America, where new laws are being passed that allow refusal of services to homosexuals in businesses and organizations.
- Intellectual regression – The world is 6,000 years old. Climate change doesn't exist. Gay sex is causing American soldiers to die as God's punishment. Wet hair causes pneumonia. Women refusing to wear bras caused an earthquake. The school shooting was God's punishment for taking the 10 Commandments out of the classroom. Man lived with the dinosaurs. Cancer is caused by the Polio vaccine. Karma is what causes health ailments. The list of erroneous claims (all of the preceding are real claims made by religious fanatics) made by the devoutly religious churchgoer and clergyman could go on and on. More and more people are using their religious beliefs to legislate mythology and nonsense into classrooms where outright lies are taught as fact, and for no other reason than religion enjoys a worldwide majority, which allows its minions to rule as they see fit—regardless of how damaging.
- Financial burden – Religious organizations enjoy the benefit of tax exemption, once again due to the ubiquity of religion. This forces the religious and secular, regardless of whether they support such measures, to make up for the shortfall caused by the church's refusal to pay its fair share. All those services—from firefighting to street repair—that the rest of us pay for, are enjoyed, at no cost, by the houses of occultism. Just as bad is the obscene amount of money—many millions—in U.S. tax dollars which goes to faith-based initiatives. Those initiatives range from teaching abstinence to children who should be learning scientifically approved lessons regarding reproduction and sexually transmitted diseases, to converting prisoners and leveraging the homeless to endure church services before receiving meals. How many votes do politicians buy with the funds they dole to churches? Hard to say. But, be damned certain that building their religious brand is at the top of the list of priorities when they get their hands on our money.
- Self-delusion – One of the more popular sayings among the religious when confronted with a skeptic is, "A fool has said in his heart there is no God." The idea that only the stupid, immoral, or ignorant refute the notion of magical beings is as common as the belief in gods itself. Though, ironically, many religionists simply ignore proven science and fact in favor of clichéd axioms. The result is, instead of getting their children vaccinated, they tell themselves "It's God's will" whether the child survives otherwise preventable diseases. Or, instead of explaining the reality of why a loved one died, they tell their children that "God works in mysterious ways." And, no matter how terrible a plane crash or natural disaster or massacre, "It's all part of God's plan." The damage done to children may be the most egregious result of self-delusion. How can a child grow up to become a competent scientist if they believe the world is 6,000 years old, or that man and dinosaur lived side-by-side, or that two of every living thing on the Earth were put on a boat the size of a few house trailers. How does a religious person look at life with any real value when they're told that they'll exist forever once they die? What harm comes from deluding oneself? "And yet, insofar as self-deception represents an obstacle to self-knowledge, which has potentially serious moral implications, self-deception is more than an interesting philosophical puzzle," stated Stanford's online Encyclopedia of Philosophy. "It is a problem of particular concern for moral development, since self-deception can make us strangers to ourselves and blind to our own moral failings." [ http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/self-deception/ ]
- Inaction – How many times have you seen Facebook posts concerning, or heard people talking about, some tragedy? The vast majority of those responding generally say "I'm praying for you" or "Sending prayers your way." The same goes for instances when people see news reports of natural disasters. Sure, some of those folks send money to help the needy—but the idea that they are only doing so because they are religious flies in the face of all human nature. People, by virtue of being human, are prone to giving mutual aid. There is evidence, from as far back as the first humanoids (you know, our numerous and not-so-distant relatives the world's various bibles don't mention) that early hominids, Neanderthals, Australopithecus, etc. helped one another, even the sick and elderly, well before organized religion had even been considered. Nonetheless, many humans find great satisfaction in the mere act of belonging to a church and/or saying prayers for those who suffer. Unfortunately, the act of prayer is as empty and pointless as the act of throwing salt over one's shoulder for luck. How many people pray instead of pitching in when someone needs help? How many people give generously to the church, when most of that money goes to pay the pastor's salary and build a bigger church? Why would you bother getting involved with a problematic situation if it's all part of God's plan? Heck, if you've prayed and tithed like a good parishioner, then you've done your part. Pat yourself on the back and go eat a hamburger, because your work here is done.
The list of detriments could go on and on, but these nine examples should be sufficient for this piece.
The legitimate arguments in favor of religion are as few and threadbare from overuse as they are invalid.
- Charity – Invariably, one of the first claims made by dogma's apologists is that, without religion, there would be no charitable works. As if the act of claiming to believe in an imaginary magical monster somehow made one more apt to feed the homeless or heal the sick. This vapid notion is second only to the next, and most popular, specious argument offered.
- Morality – Just ask any Sunday school student and they'll tell you that nobody can be good without a god, in particular, their god. Of course, those of us unencumbered by the malady of mythology understand this to be an incorrect assertion. A person's urge and ability to do good and behave in a pro-social manner are as innate as his drive to protect his children. Even lab rats have exhibited empathy and morality when it came to the treatment of their fellow rats. Even worse than the claim that non-theists can't be good without God is understanding that what the religious are saying is they are only behaving themselves because they fear punishment or desire praise from God. Apparently, absent that, they'd all be ax murderers and rapists. Complying under duress is not morality, it is extortion.
- Solace – "Religion soothes people in times of fear or suffering." So does heroin. If all religion accomplished was to assure people that a great magical daddy was waiting to take away all their pain and suffering and give them treats and hugs forever and ever—if that's all the holy books said—then they might win this point. However, no amount of imagined love, non-existent attentiveness, nor one-sided relationships excuses the centuries and centuries of blood spilled, minds and bodies shackled, starved and tortured, nor progress dashed.
Christopher Hitchens was oft quoted (I'm paraphrasing now) as saying, "Name me a positive action done by religion that cannot be done by secularism."
I posed that very challenge to a right-wing radio host once and he said, "You can't glorify God." I laughed then as now. He was right. Glorifying an imagined god character was out of the reach of one who understands that magic and magical beings are childish nonsense.
In a 2010 piece by Fr. Jeffrey Kirby entitled "Good Religion, and the Good It Can Do" [ https://philosophynow.org/issues/78/Good_Religion_and_the_Good_It_Can_Do ] he states that discussions about religion should not begin by attacking its teachings and its history of offenses.
"Not only are such conversations heavy and presumptuous, but they can also become very boring in a short span of time," Kirby stated. "They lack something."
Well, my apologies for boring this clergyman, but the fact remains that those religious people who abstain from the wickedness prescribed to them in their holy books are less likely to endanger their fellow man than those who see dogma as infallible, instructive and inimitable. Certainly, not all religious people do harm to others via their occultism, but far too many help support (by voting, monetary assistance, etc.) those who make it their mission to punish non-believers and those which the religion deems to be of lesser value. i.e. women, children, homosexuals, the poor, various ethnic persuasions, etc.
He goes on to say that those very debates must occur, but that they are not a good starting point for discussing the "(G)oodness of religion."
I must agree. Talking about a subject's negative aspects are generally a hindrance to proving how great it is—that's one of the major problems with honesty!
Kirby claims religion gives meaning to human life in a way secularism cannot.
"(W)e each know that there is something more than what we can simply sense," he stated, as if that were somehow a fact. Certainly there are many among us who hope there is something more. There are many among us who claim to know there is something more. There are too many among us who want to believe there is something more. However, not all of us engage in deluding ourselves into thinking there is something more.
Mere consensus does not enhance a claim's veracity.
Kirby then quotes a writer who says life is too hard and too weird for there not to be something more when we die. Now, I understand that many occultists cannot comprehend the concept of critical thought or the scientific method, but even the lowest among them should be able to grasp that, just because something is difficult or odd does not mean it has its roots in magic.
The writer goes on to say that the Abrahamic mythological character Jacob physically wrestled with God, and the story of which is proof enough that something more exists. Because, after all, why would a fictional character created thousands of years ago by an anonymous author lie about such a thing?
This is where the hypocrisy shows itself in bright glaring light. Or, as RJ Evans oft says, "The hypocrisy reveals the lie."
The same people who won't take exhaustive scientific study of a subject as evidence of something have no problem taking the word of a compilation of fairy tales from the Bronze Age.
"The 'something else' that we all sense is the human person's spiritual soul," Kirby stated.
Again, he's invoking his idea that magic is existent. His thesis is that religion can do good, but so far all he's talked about is the fallacious idea that mystery equals magic equals God.
Wishing to be loved and lauded, Kirby explains, is due to the human urge of transcendence. The word "transcendence," of course, being as much of a nonsense word as the word "spiritual." Both words are used to describe the fantastical and the imagined.
Understandably, especially for those who were raised from children with the idea that religion deals with real history and phenomena, Kirby truly believes in things like spirituality and transcendence. And, that's fine. Those beliefs alone may be relatively harmless when uncoupled from the poisonous portions of occultism. It is difficult to say without exhaustive study.
Still, though, there is no explanation of what good religion does. If spirituality and transcendence were real, then everyone would eventually experience them upon death. And, since the average human lifespan pales in comparison to an eternity in the supposed afterlife, it really shouldn't matter whether people are aware of them.
Continuing with Kirby's ethereal stroll down the path of obfuscation, he states that the desire for transcendence leads people to their metaphorical heart, where they love and are loved by God. I say "metaphorical" heart because science has found no evidence that I know of of synapses firing in the human heart. The only knowing or thinking or reasoning which occurs does so in the human brain … but not always.
More and more it sounds as though Kirby agrees with the radio talk show host who feels that the most moral act a person can perform is, not feeding the hungry nor clothing the naked nor protecting the weak but, to glorify God. To lavish this celestial slave-master with praise is the highest calling.
Kirby goes to explain that people who believe in a god naturally congregate with like-minded people. We know this to be true. However, the way Kirby tells it, an echo chamber that retains firmly held beliefs of dubious nature while shunning information to the contrary isn't such a bad thing.
The purposeful confusion through the use of unintelligible concepts continues with the following: "Ultimately, the entire task of binding oneself, of good religion, is an attempt to order and deepen the person and the community's understanding and encounter with God."
Kirby earlier said that people have an unidentifiable yearning in their heart for God, which then leads them to consider the concept of God, which leads them to bind themselves with "good" religion (always reminding us that Catholicism is sane and good but other forms of magic worship are crazy and bad) and that that leads them to congregate with others of the same mindset and that that somehow helps them better understand their god.
However, he does err ever-so-slightly when he claims that individuals voluntarily follow the religion of those around them. The fact is that most religious people had their religion forced upon them from birth. The idea that they are free to decide what they believe was taken from them long before their ability to think critically emerged.
And, as we now know through initiatives such as The Clergy Project—which helps support and educate religious workers and officials who no longer believe in their god or the tenets of their religion—that many of the people involved in the religious community, even its leaders, secretly harbor skepticism, disagreement with church rules and even outright atheism.
Many of those who are forced into religion, at all ages, endure such a congregation of religious individuals in such an echo chamber often with long-lasting negative mental health effects.
The anxiety alone of knowing your beliefs could get you shunned by friends, family, coworkers and the community at large is enough to seriously damage a person's mental health, let alone when such shunning and financial retribution (boycotting business, loss of employment, etc.) actually occurs.
If these "bindings" of people with religion were truly voluntary, then they might be innocuous, but since they are not, it is difficult to tell how many are harmed by such a system of forced philosophy.
It would be a mistake to consider the compulsory compliance of occultism to be a good thing for mankind.
However, compulsory compliance is necessary to maintaining attendance. The church, like any robust organization, needs to take on more members than it loses. Kirby quickly curtails the idea that it is good enough to be spiritual without attending church, going so far as to call it an "absurdity."
"(W)hen we experience transcendence and its radical capacity to change us, we desire to reveal these moments and to perpetuate them," Kirby stated… "Our spiritual selves drive us to be religious, in order to share and give expression to our transcendence and our encounters with God."
He adds that, while people seek such conspicuous recognition of their alleged otherworldly experiences, what they really want is to share those magical moments with the downtrodden.
The next time a homeless person asks for a dollar, just tell them you're paying them in transcendence. (I'm interested to know how that works out for you, and them.)
Kirby closes by admitting that religion has been used to do terrible things but asks if it should be removed from society.
The question posed smacks of the popular claim that Christians are somehow victims of persecution because some question its dubious authority and point to its many faults.
None of the atheists I know have ever said they wished religion would be removed from society completely. To do so would be a violation of the individual's right to speak and write and believe as they wish.
Secularists merely want to see religion taken out of the lawmaking process.
They want to make sure mythology is not used to determine science curriculum.
They expect that their money will not be used to support houses of magic worship.
"(I)f we deny a place for religion in our own hearts or in society, then we deny a portion of our own selves and an influence for goodness in our world," Kirby stated. "It is the person who assents to good religion that seeks to dialogue, understand, and serve those around him."
Kirby's last line invokes the claim earlier discussed regarding the fallacious concept that religion is somehow best suited for doling aid to the needy. The reality is that the most dogmatic societies are also the most brutal, repressive and backward, while more secular societies tend to have higher quality of living for all citizens.
Arguments over which nations are truly secular immediately arise due to lack of knowledge on the subject. Obvious but specious examples include North Korea, which is highly religious, China, whose status is more complicated than seems apparent.
According to the Immanent Frame Blog located on the Social Science Research Council's website, the misconception that China is a secular state conflates two different conceptions of what a secular state is.
"The first is the Communist Party's programmatic ideal of removing religion's influence in society. The second is the principle of the separation of religion and state. On neither of these counts, however, is China a secular state. First, the Communist Party has not eradicated the influence of religion in Chinese society: if anything … that influence has grown over the past few decades. Not only has the number of adherents to the five state-approved religions increased, but the practices of both communal religions and new religious movements have also become increasingly visible." Full article at http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2013/10/04/the-communist-party-and-the-future-of-religion-in-china/
The same misconceptions apply to Stalin-era Russia which, despite the ruler's attempt to rid his governance of religiosity, does not account for the fact that the highly religious population of Christians and Jews did not forfeit their religious beliefs simply because of a few temporary legislative acts.
As far as the statistical rates of donors by philosophical bent, there have been numerous studies which show little difference between secular givers and religious givers, with some studies showing the religious to give more prominently. However, there is the matter of what types of donations are considered. Tithing to help pay church costs is not the same as giving money to earthquake survivors.
Of course, the fact that 90 percent or so of the world's population identify as religious believers—whether they are or are not—handicaps the statistical data. Of course on paper it looks like religious people give more, there are more of them by leaps and bounds, and they are compelled to give moneys which are used for many expenses that do not include aid to the needy. They may win by sheer numbers and the fact that many are compelled by guilt or fear.
Another victory by default.
The truth is that secular folks are just as giving as religious folks.
We just happen to give money and time solely to decrease pain and suffering because it's the right thing to do … not to appease the inane caprice of a mythological creature.
Ultimately, we are left with these pressing questions:
What good can religions do?
Which religion is best?
Are any religions truly good?
Time and time again I find myself ultimately with one question and one answer:
Is religion necessary?


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The Atlanta Fair has been in town since last month and is soon to end its season of fun at Turner Field. That's why our family had to jump fast at a nearly last chance visit to the city's oldest running carnival before it's last day on April 6, 2014.
With an eighteen year-old and an eight year-old in my entourage, I normally get stumped on trying to get both my daughters to agree on a "family night" activity or event. Hence, we were excited to be invited to the fair and took that opportunity to have a fun-filled family night that's appropriate for both their age groups! Not to mention, my scary butt may even muster up the courage to ride a few mediocre thrills and enjoy myself, as well. So, I knew we would all have a blast.
We arrived at dusk and before we could park the car my two were already fighting over which rides would be their first to their last. My immediate thought was, for a Friday, how wonderful of a sight it was to see no long lines as we entered the amusement fair. My teen's first reaction was, "there's actually some thrilling rides here for adults, Mom please tell me you're going to get on at least one with me." My little one screamed with enthusiasm at the first sight of her first pick, this giant multi-colored slide, named the "Fun Slide".
As the little munchkin was grabbing her sackcloth, walked up about 1,000 steps and flew down this colossal slide with full velocity, lest we not forget this is a child's ride - I could only imagine the death-defying feeling I will get just trying one of the big people ones. That's when I decided Um - HECKLER No!
But of course, my teen wasn't hearing that and she made us try the most height appropriate thriller for all of us. So the next stop, the "Starship"! Child, please! That's all I can say. This enclosed, no gravity, spin machine with nothing to hold onto was exactly why I should have stuck with my initial decision. This thing went at such a speed that it didn't need anything but a lack of gravity to allow my stomach to feel like it was floating outside of my body. To think some riders were actually flipping around in there! And, trust me that was the least rattling of all the adults rides. You need to see what "The Claw" can do, which my eldest still dared me to ride! I mean even, the Himalaya Disco ride made me feel like I was too old for all this; in a good way!
So, myself and the little munchkin stuck to the easy scares. I did my mommy-thing and got me some Fried Oreos, a Funnel cake, and a Lemonade Shake, while "Mini-Me" spent all my money on games for little gold ones (goldfish, that is)! Until I stopped that by one simple question: "How much would it be if I just buy a fish?" That saved me a small fortune!
Time sure did fly on our family fun night, but, it couldn't have been more beauty in seeing the Atlanta community come together to simply have fun. With those illuminated rides with vibrant colors surrounding "Date-Night" couples, dozens of families, and the city's finest alike; who all seemingly enjoyed being there as much as my family did, it was nice to get back to good old-fashioned Atlanta fun! I included a slew of pics for readers to get a glimpse before you're missing or you can catch the last two weeks of the fun-filled fair!


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San Francisco, California
My Rating
Our visit to the California Academy of Sciences was a great experience. I brought with me a 12-year-old girl and she was fascinated by the displays. We particularly appreciated the interactive features of almost all displays. We found staff helpful and willing to address our inquiries.
I strongly recommend this tour, particularly for children (of all ages)!
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One of the first things we change when we begin to remodel our home is the bathroom. We all get tired of the same old design and there is always new accessories and shower ideas that will always catch our eyes. No matter if it is new construction or a remodeling job we all have ideas of the way we want things to look and the items we want included from rain shower heads to standard shower heads. One of the most popular things that people will look at as a form of bathroom upgrade or addition is a walk in showers. Walk in showers have become very popular for many different reasons. One of the main reasons is how a walk in shower can be constructed in just about any size and place you want it. We will take a look at some of the steps required in installing a walk in shower.
If you are remodeling you are probably removing your old tub enclosure or shower combination tub. After you remove your tub you will determine where your plumbing is located for the drain. It is a good idea to use this same drain so you will not have to bust up any concrete to move the drain. If you are doing new construction you have probably already located the drain in the area that you need it. After you have made the determination about your drain it is time to consider the type of shower floor you will be using.
Just like any other construction project you will have to work from the bottom up. You may purchase a shower pan that is already made of stainless or copper that will last for a long time. When use a pre-constructed pan you will place the pan and fill it with a type of gout that will be hand finished and troweled smooth from the out sides of the pan down to the drain. After this grout in place you may then place your tile on the shower floor. If you are not using a pre-constructed pan you will need to make a form in the place where your shower will be located making sure the drain is included. You will then fill your form with the grouting material you are using. If you use this method be sure to use a sealer to give your shower floor a watertight seal. Once you have finished the shower floor it is time to move onto the walls.
You may have located your shower in a location that may have your walls already constructed. If you did all you will need to do is to run the plumbing for your water lines and showerheads and close the walls in with a water proof sheetrock known as green board or Use backer board around your shower which is a type of cement board that I would recommend over green rock. This backer board is a great choice for placing your shower tiles over. Regardless of which type of materials you use to close your shower in be sure to silicone all of the joints around your shower to make them water proof. If your walls are not already located around your shower there are several different ideas that you can consider for your shower construction.
As if you have not made enough shower decisions already it is time to determine the shower heads, faucets, doors and other accessories to make your shower a unique design that you will enjoy for years to come. Be sure to check with your local contractor to see all the options that are available to you when you decide to design your own shower.


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Shavano: Recent Snow Conditions?
Colorado 14er peak questions and conditions should be posted here. 14er Trip Reports
- pyraxans
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2006 3:31 pm
- Location: Fort Collins, Co
Re: Shavano: Recent Snow Conditions?
Climbed Shavano and Tab yesterday (5/20) via the standard route, Blank Cabin TH. The Angel of Shav still holds some snow but its disappearing fast, get there quick before there's to little snow to make it worthwhile. We went all the way to Tab without need of any snow gear. The only place where snow was an issue was on the ridge leading up to Tab. The whole ridgetop is still covered and fairly scary due to a cornice or two so we kept south/below the ridge and summitted without any problems.
Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air ~ Emerson
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Setting Up An E-Commerce Website Properly
Setting Up an E-Commerce Shopping Cart Properly
Selling products or services online is a simple process and there are many options. However when thinking of adding a shopping cart to your site it is important that you get the basics right.
There are a number of free shopping carts available that can easily be installed via fantastico or softalicious which can be found in your cpanel. OS commerce, cubecart, roman cart and magento cart are the most common.
With os commerce the basic install is free and there are a load of add-ons free and paid as well as templates to change the shape and look of the site available to really make your e-commerce website stand out.
Most of them can be setup relatviely easily and look pretty good out of the box.
The thing to remember though, is if you want to sell online then your site has to look professional. You are trying to get people to part with their money and if your site is poorly designed, with spelling mistakes and poor content then you will not look credible and you will not make sales.
When I first started out I tried all of the free options to see which suited me best and I ended up using oscommerce. The website, www.glasstablesandchairs.com has, of course evolved over the years and still sits high on the first page of the search engines for a lot of highly competitive keywords. The back end of this site still uses oscommerce although the front page has been totally re-designed.
After setting up a number of e-commerce sites I now use interspire shopping cart. You can either pay for a hosted version or download and install onto your own servers.
I use the self hosted version personally but the hosted version is so easy and very fast to setup and get going.
The one thing about the interspire shopping cart is that it looks great right out of the box. It is easy to edit just drag and drop. Here is one of the latest ones that I helped to setup. www.loveyourwater.co.uk. This website was set up and running in a week-end.
The basic version is $395 and the ultimate is $1795. Not cheap but well worth every penny if you are serious about running an online business selling products or a variety of services.
The cost of interspire works out to be a lot less than it has cost to update and customise the glass tables website.
They have a free trial so you can test it out for yourself and I really recommend that you do. Check out the link below.
This is an affiliate link, so if you buy via this link I will receive a commission. You can go right to the site directly if your choose. You will pay the same amount but they will keep it all
If you DO buy through my link, I will be happy to help you set it up and answer any questions or queries you have via skype, phone or email. See, I am happy to work for my money :-)))))
Direct Holiday Investments The Secret Sauce To Ranking A Phrase
Direct Holiday Investments Beating the System
If you do a search for Direct Holiday Investments in google you will see that there are around 4,500,000 results for that particular keyword phrase.
However if you type in the term "Direct Holiday Investments" using inverted commas that is looking for a phrase match there are no results in the SERPS at all.
This means ranking for the term Direct holiday investments is going to be easy.
Why is this important?
Well, when setting up a new company and you need a name or are looking for a new domain that you want to rank fast, then there are a few things that you need to think of now that never mattered before.
Traditionally, when searching for a company it was always in alphabetical order so you just went to the yellow pages and then looked down the pages in alphabetical order and bobs your uncle.
However, not only do more people now search for you on the internet they tend to use a search engine rather than a directory like yell or localpages. The search engines do not use alphabetical listings they use relevancy amongst other things.
This means that you have to do what you can to get the advantage. If you are going to advertise and promote the company name using traditional offline marketing methods then you really need to think of a name that you can rank for fast.
This means that once your name is out there and people start typing it into the major search engines you will be at the top of the SERPS in a flash which is always good when looking to generate more business from your website and build credibility and trust.
When people these days will do a search on your company name they want to find you and the higher up the SERPS you are the more people will trust you. This is because people trust the search engines. Google spend a lot of time promoting themselves as the credible search engine. IF they therefore rank your website highly then you in turn will benefit as this trust will rub off on you.
If you have a name that has millions of results then you will get lost in the crowd and if people have trouble finding you then you will lose a bit of credibility and trust.
Once you have come up with the name of the company in this case Direct Holiday Investments then you need to make sure that the domain is available.
In this case www.directholidayinvestments.com is available which means that we shoul dbe up the SERPS in no time.
I am about to go and buy this domain name and see how fast we can get it ranked in the top of the major search engines.
It is now 11.29 on the 20th September when I posted this article and it was indexed on the first page of google by 11.48. Not bad for a phrase with 4.5 million results.
I have just bought the domain name www.DirectHolidayInvestments.com so lets see how well we can rank for that and in what time period.
In the meantime search for Direct Holiday Investments and see for your self where we are in the rankings.
The Desktop PC is Dead Long Live Mobile Technology
Mobile Search Marketing Is The Future
Ok, Ok, so I am being a little theatrical here, but there is no doubt that the massive growth of the smart phone and tablets has seen a growing differential between the number of searches done on the desktop computer and mobile devices. With this in mind it is important that if you have any type of business online or offline, then you must have a mobile marketing strategy.
Ensuring that your website can be viewed easily on a mobile phone as well as a desktop computer makes sure that you are ahead of your competitors, giving you the edge.
Text message marketing has been around for a long time and the drop in the price of setting up and running mobile messaging campaigns has made it more popular allowing small and medium businesses to take advantage of this very successful marketing method.
As mobile internet speeds have increased, so has the amount of time that people spend online, searching and even buying products and services.
Smart phones are now outselling standard phones by 5 to 1 and anyone ignoring these numbers will lose out in the near future, to those that take advantage of these numbers now.
Just think of how you, your friends and other members of your family use your mobile phones these days. We carry them with us 24/7 rarely do we switch them off.
Here are some of the most recent figures.
Mobile Phone search Figures
- 66% use mobile search while watching TV, something which should get advertisers thinking.
- 61% said they use it at work.
- 75% said mobile search makes their lives easier.
- 63% said access to mobile search has changed the way they gather information.
- 32% said they use Mobile search more than search engines on their computers.
- 84% use mobile search to look for information on local retailers, such as opening hours, address and contact details.
- 82% look for online retailers.
- 73% find a specific product or manufacturer website.
- 71% learn more about a product or service having seen an advert
- 68% use it to find the best price for a product.
Facebook is Top of the Mobile website
Don't Be Scared of Keyword Competition
Don't Be Scared of Keyword Competition
It does not matter how many competing websites there are for a particular keyword phrase, what matters is the strength of that competition.
To give you an example, lets consider you going into a motor race and there are 1000 cars in that race. That is a lot of competition and winning is going to be hard if all things are equal. Now, lets look at another perspective. The car you are driving is a formula one car and the others are all standard road saloon cars. Now, it does not matter how many other cars are in that race, you are going to win it.
The same goes for your niche and the keywords that you want to rank for.
If you are looking for a niche do not be scared of the competing pages, you need to look at the strength of the competition. Try and stay away from the niches that have tough and strong competitors. These include life insurance, credit repair, gambling or accident lawyers.
These markets are very lucrative and therefore have a lot of people and companies involved spending a lot if time and money. They also are up to date with all the latest techniques on how to rank well. You are racing against formula one cars with more experience and money than you.
If you are already in one of these tough niches then you have two choices, dump it and go for something else or dig deep and be prepared for a long drawn out and tough fight.
If you have any questions just ask them via my contact us page. I will do my best to help you.
How To Get Clickable Links on YouTube Videos
How To Get Clickable Links on YouTube Videos
If you use video marketing then you need to know how to get clickable links on youtub videos.
Getting clickable links on youtube videos is really simple and free to do.
The one downside is that this method does not allow you to get links on you tube. However, you can embed your youtube videos into your blog or website and to other blogs and forums.
Clickable Links On YouTube Videos
Go to youtube and find the video that you want clickable links on and copy the end of the url see below.
Go to http://www.linkedtube.com/
Paste the code into the box and then button text which is what your viewers will see on the top right hand side of the video, then the url of the page you want to link to. I leave button mode as show always. Add your hover title and hover text.
You can view it at anytime by clicking preview. Once you have finished click on save and get code. You will then have a number of choices.
I use embed code. Copy this code and add it to your website or blog. Your video will appear with the links.
Getting clickable links on youtube videos is really easy to do. Try it and see for yourself.
It will help you get fast google rankings
There is a way to get clickable links on youtube videos on the youtube website. This is a bit more involved and will cost a couple of dollars but I will do a video of this process soon.
Clickable links on youtube videos
Choosing Effective Keywords That Will Get Traffic To Your Blog Or Website
Keyword Research Choosing Effective Keywords – Get Traffic To Your Website
When it comes to keyword research, many of us when we first set out to build a website do not understand the importance of doing right from the start.
Setting up a website without doing keyword research or planning the structure around these keywords is like building a house without foundations or a set of plans.
Most of us know that it is important to write a business plan if we are going to setup a business and to have goals to aim for. Not everyone does it and I think that most who do not tend to fail. Not having a business plan is like setting sail on the ocean with no charts or navigational equipment, you will soon be lost at sea and lucky ever to see land again.
There is a saying "fail to plan and you plan to fail"
I believe that keyword research is as important as your business plan.
So how do you go about doing effective keyword research that will drive traffic to your blog or website?
Well, it is not as difficult as all that. It just takes time and a bit of a thought process.
If you are using wordpress to build a site, which I highly recommend, then building the structure is relatively easy, even for a beginner. The beauty of word press is that it already has the structure in place all you have to do is add the page names and all is done for you.
There are two type of keyword research that you need to do. The first is the theme keywords. These are the keywords that you would use for your website pages. The second ones are your money keywords.
Theme words are what people will use when they are looking for information on your topic or subject. I have seen many articles advising people not to bother with these but just to go for the buying or money keywords but I do not agree. Ranking for the information seeking keywords is as important in the long term future of a website. Becoming an authority on a subject will have a sustainable effect on your long term rankings.
Once you have the reputaion as an authority website then it becomes much easier to rank for the more valuable money keywords.
Lets say you were setting up a website about The Isle of Man. A small Island off of the West coast of England.
You could well have the following as your themed keywords.
- The Isle of Man
- Main Towns
- IOM Villages
- History of the Isle of Man
- The manx (search it for yourself 😉 )
- Isle of Man books
- Travel guide to the Isle of Man
- Things to Do on The Isle of Man
- Fishing on the Isle of Man
- Sea Fishing on IOM
- Fresh water fishing on the IOM
- Scuba Diving on the Isle of Man
- Places to dive on the Isle of Man
- Dive centres on the IOM
- Cycling Holidays on the Isle of Man
- Hiring a bike on the Isle of Man (link to relevant page on the Getting about section)
- The Isle of Man TT Race (a very famous annual motorbike race they have on the island)
- Getting to the Isle of Man
- Plane
- Ferry
- Fast boat
- Swimming (only joking)
- Shopping on the Isle of Man
- Walking Holidays on the Isle of Man
- Night Life in the Isle of Man
- Clubs
- Restaurants
- Bars
- Pubs
- Places to Stay on the Isle of Man
- Isle of Man Hotels
- Guest Houses on the Isle of Man
- Campsites on the IOM
- Getting about on the Isle of Man
- Public Transport
- Taxis
- Private hire
- Cycling
- Hiring a Car
- Working on the IOM
- Type of jobs
- How to find a job on IOM
- Living on the Isle of Man
- Buying a house
- Legal requirements
- Cost of buying a house
- Estate agents details
- Renting a house
The above list covers a lot of the main themes that people will be looking for when they search for information on the Isle of Man. There are probably more that you can think of to add but this should give you the basic idea of what you need to do for your website. The bolded keywords are headings and the others are sub headings.
Once you create these pages then you need to add content. Some of the headings will only require a small amount of content.
The second type of keywords are the buying ones and these are far more important but without the first ones you will have difficulty getting found for these money keywords.
Some of them are also in the main page headings as you will see.
Keyword Research For Content
when you begin to add content then you will use keywords like.
- flights to the isle of man
- plane tickets for the isle of man
- booking a ferry to the isle of man
- scuba diving clubs on the isle of man
- cycling holidays
- bike rentals
- car hire companies
- booking a hotel
- where to stay in the IOM
These keywords are what people will use when they are closer to making a buying decision. Not only will you get traffic from google for these keywords but visitors to your site that see links to other parts of your website will also click through and go from information seekers to buyers.
This is quite a lengthy post and I hope it gets the main point across that you really MUST take the time to research your keywords before building your website.
As always if you have any questions or do not understand then just let me know on the contact us form and I will do my best to help.
Keyword research – An important part of SEO.
It Is Good To Question Everything
Recently our daughter Katie, has been really quite poorly. She has been in a lot of pain that has made her virtually housebound She was in hospital for two weeks where they did a number of tests and even removed her appendix which did not solve the problem. They diagnosed several possible causes even though it was clear from her symptoms that this was highly unlikely.
The hospital ruled out several possible causes based on unfounded facts. We were told that it could not be caused by one condition as she is only 14 and too young. It turns out after we did our own research that children as young as 11 can suffer from this particular problem. Unfortunately, this was not the cause of all her pain and so the Doctor was right, albeit more luck than an accurate diagnosis to rule it out.
The first thing that we realised was that they were carrying out tests in a linear fashion rather than in parallel. They would do a blood test and then wait for 2 days the results, then when that showed nothing they tested her urine and when that came back with E-coli they stopped all other tests and exploration while they treated her even though they were all in agreement that it was not and could not be the cause for the type of pain and in the area that it was.
There was no reason why she could not have carried out the scans and other tests during the 5 days she was in hospital being treated for this mild form of e-coli, which by the way had no symptoms or was causing her any problems. Apparently, we all carry the bacteria.
Whilst the surgical team were dealing with her pre and post op, the paediatric doctors did not get involved. Then when she was passed over to them they then repeated tests that they had already done which was another total waste of time.
On our last hospital visit they told us that it could be psychological and that she would just have to learn to live with the pain. As you can imagine we were fairly robust in our response.
I cannot imagine how they would even suggest that just because they had not found anything after numerous blood tests, scans and x-rays that there was nothing wrong and that it was all in her head!
My response was to ask how on earth they could consider stopping now. They had not explored every possible avenue and therefore surmising. Their opinion was ill informed and without the benefit of all the facts.
Katie has been poorly and in pain for around 9 weeks now and living on pain killers which is not good for a young girl.
We no longer put all of our trust in the doctors and consultants at the hospital. Now don't get me wrong, the National Health in the United Kingdom is a fantastic thing and I am sure most of the staff try to do their best in what is an overcrowded, understaffed hospital which does not allow them to give the time needed to each patient. This leads to an inefficient system, they are fire fighting trying to do as many things as they can in the time they have. I would be very surprised if there were no serious incidents on occasions. We are lucky that although Katie is in a lot of pain sometimes, they are confident it is not serious or life threatening which is of course a blessing.
Obviously, we love and care for our daughter a great deal and after our experience with the medical teams, it is clear to us that there are major procedural problems at the hospital and this has lead to us carrying out as much research as we can on every possible cause based on her actual symptoms and made sure we questioned everything with the doctors in detail.
This has made a big difference and whilst we were told we would have to wait for another 4 or 5 weeks for an MRI scan we managed to get this moved forward and was done in 2 days!
We are now waiting for the results to see what if anything this has found. The next step is a CT scan which they do not like to do, especially on young children as it has high levels of radiation.
So, after this rather long winded post (rather therapeutic though ) It made me realise that if the Doctors, the ones we trust with our lives can be made to rethink with a bit of in depth questioning then surely we really should question everything when it comes to all aspects of your personal and business life too.
When, you read about these latest guru techniques and magic strategies don't just take their word for it question their tactics in detail, don't just blindly follow them.
So many of these courses are rehashed crap that is either flat out dangerous to implement, will never produce the income that justifies the time required to implement or just don't work period.
If you are interested in a product and have been seduced by the sales letter as I often am ;-( drop them an email and ask as many in depth and pertinent questions as you can think of that are not answered in the sales letter.
Check to see if the stats and figures add up.
If they know their onions, it is a great product and they are really interested in helping you succeed then they will have no problems replying with the details that you are looking for.
Good luck and I will try to make the next post shorter, without the whinging and not so self indulgent…… No promises though…
What Not To Do When Using Onlywire – How To Use Onlywire
How to Use Onlywire Properly
You need to know how to use onlywire properly if you are going to succeed.
If you are not careful you can spend all your time setting up the 42 accounts only to get them banned or cancelled very quickly.
What Does OnlyWire Do?
Onlywire will bookmark your web pages to a number of social bookmarking websites. You setup accounts on each of them and then add the url of the webpage you want to promote. Alternatively you can use a plugin that will help do this for you on autopilot.
On the face of it to use onlywire looks like a simple process and, in principal it is. However, you need to understand what it does and think the process through!
If you use one onlywire account and only bookmark the same urls's the social bookmarking sites will cancel you account very quickly and maybe ban you too.
This means that all of your hard work will have gone to waste.
As with all your SEO efforts you need to make it all look as natural as possible.
How natural do you think it looks to have your website the only one that is bookmarked? The social bookmarking websites have plenty of checks in place to weed out those that are not using their service properly.
There are a number of ways to help ensure that you keep your accounts open and working for you.
To use onlywire properly and get the best results you need do the following.
Setup at least 2 different sets of accounts.
Setup two different onlywire accounts and then go to each bookmarking website and register with all of the bookmarking websites.
The more the merrier. Then, alternate the onlywire accounts when bookmarking.
Work With Other Friends Or Colleagues
An alternative to using multiple accounts is to work with a number of other trusted people that will ALL use the same onlywire account.
If there are 5 or 10 different people in different niches and markets using one account this will look far more natural.
As like anything that you do when you are doing SEO think it all through first and understand the full implications of what you are about to do.
Onlywire is a great tool but abuse it and you will find your efforts have been wasted.
If you have any questions or do not understand this fully then as always just send me a message from my contact form and I will do my best to help answer your query.
Google Social Search Is It A Game Changer?
Google social search Is It A Game Changer
Google social search has been around since 2009 but it recently has had some recent changes. There is a good reason for this. Read on and you will see why.
The thing is, as internet marketers, we carry on with what we do and some of us spend a lot of time on SEO forums and blogs to try and understand the nuances of the latest search engine optimisation techniques and tricks.
Not all of the participants on these sites know anything at all about SEO, they just spout stuff that they have read on other sites or even worse, make it up as they go along. I always find it best to do my own tests and make up my own mind based on the results of my testing. I often find that different strategies can have varying effects depending on the types of websites and niches.
For example an technique that works really well for an e-commerce site will not work as well for a niche blog site.
A static site that is not updated on a regular basis can rank very well if you do certain things. Carrying out these same tasks on a blog will not have much impact. that is why testing is so important.
I read in an email from a supposed seo expert the other day that read "it if we could figure out the google algorithm then we could rank on the first page of google as easy as pie."!!
Actually, google DO NOT hide the secret to first page results. It is simple but time consuming and takes a lot of effort. You have to produce and provide value for your visitor. Relevant information related to what the searcher is looking for.
Google even provide a whole section of their website dedicated to helping webmasters learn the basic of SEO the google way. here is the link google webmaster help
Few of us pay enough attention to the facts that are out there. This is because a lot of this information is hidden amongst lengthy technical data which can be difficult to dissect and gleem the golden nuggets.
For those that do spend time reading these long winded white papaers and the SEO news releases you will have seen the recent announcement by bing and facebook. They are going to fully integrate the social data from facebook into the bing search results.
Why is this link between facebook and bing so important?
Well after the announcement, Google made an almost instant repsonse and you can bet your bottom dollar that this will not be the last change.
This intergration will change the way that google brings back results. Especially if you use gmail and are usually logged into your google account when you use the google search.
Why is Google Social Search A Game Changer?
The changes to the google social search will change the way the search engines deliver results. This may not have an immediate effect on your rankings or traffic. However, over time it will do and so it is important that you take the time to understand what it is google social search does.
If you want to stay ahead or even get ahead of your competition then learn all you can about social searching and then take some action to ensure your website is the one that is served up to those searching for your product or service.
As always use the contact me page if you have any questions, I will be happy to helo if I can.
Here is the video
Mark my words the next thing that will be hot all over the forums will be google social search.
Get It Up Then Get IT Right Perfection is Overrated
Search engine optimisation is about so many things. You will read many different theories on the rights and wrongs of ranking your website, design factors, on page optimisation, W3C compliance and the like.
The thing is this can all be done over time and I would always recommend that you first get it up (if you pardon the pun) and then work on getting it right.
When trying to rank your website in the search engines, produce a new product or even to design a new website, the first thing is to get it up and out there.
Whilst of course it is important to get it right waiting for perfection is a problem we should try and live without.
Every time I look at my website I find of something that I think I can improve. I also get comments from visitors either praise or criticism which is great. Any form of feedback is very much appreciated as they have taken the time to put finger to keyboard and type me a message.
I have tried many different ways to make the site better. Most of the improvements these days revolve around faster speeding times as this makes a difference to my google rankings and, of course, the visitor experience.
Over time, I believe that my website has improved in the way it looks and the overall onpage search engine optimisation.IT is still far from perfect but, I think that it is doing ok. It ranks well for a number of highly competitive terms with very few backlinks.
However much you are tempted to wait until everything is just right, I suggest you get your site online or your product launched as soon as possible and you will reap the benefits.
As always if you have any questions or comments then do not hesitate to email me via my contact us form.


text:
Hello ladies,
I am new to the group. We just recently got our pathology report on our son & found out he had a cord constriction at this belly button.
If anyone wants to read our story :
Hello ladies,
I am new to the group. We just recently got our pathology report on our son & found out he had a cord constriction at this belly button.
If anyone wants to read our story :
It's definitely quiet around this group...I'm hoping it's because there's so few of us that understand what it's like to lose a baby to a cord accident.
I'm so sorry you're here, C.M.H [87], but I'm glad you found us. I tried to check your blog, but I got a strange page that was last updated in 2005? Anyway, I've found that blogging about my loss has been very therapeutic and important to my healing. We lost our first and only child Luke on September 10, 2012 to an apparent cord accident. They're not even very sure how the cord stopped his heartbeat, but it was wrapped very tightly around his chest and then arm...
It's going to be a rough journey, I won't lie. I'm a year out now. So much has changed, and yet not. Luke will always be gone, and to lose him like we did will always be a dagger in my heart. I'm pregnant again right now, and it's the hardest thing I've ever done.
Be nice to yourself--like the poster above said. There is no right and wrong way to grieve this. Big hugs.
My blog link is in my signature if you'd like to check it out...
Missing my sweet baby boy, Luke...stillborn at 39 weeks on September 10, 2012
My blog: Dear Luke...
Welcomed our rainbow baby, Lena on 12/12/13
I also lost my only child, my daughter, to a cord accident...Such a horrible thing for any family to go through...If live around DC or would like info on DC area pregnancy and infant loss events, I have a facebook page for that. If interested, message me and I'll send you the link...it's the best way to keep in touch with me. I also only have this digest to my email about once a week...
Much love -Heather