Forgiveness

One of the most debated subjects around the world is forgiveness. Somebody does something wrong, either against an individual, or against the society. To forgive means to pardon the accused with no resentment left. If forgiveness is complete, the act of offense is totally forgotten, as if it never took place.

To talk about forgiveness is easy, and to forgive is difficult. Many a times it becomes impossible for some of us. For example if I am a mother. A criminal kidnaps my child and then slowly kills my child in my presence to derive sadistic pleasure, how will I feel? What about the cries of pain of my dying child? Will my mind forget them? What of the helplessness that I felt? What about the expectation with which my child looked at me and felt sure that mother would do something to save him/her? What of the helplessness I felt? What about the memories of bringing up my child? What about the dreams that I had? What about the pain and torture my child underwent while dying?

My nightmares will haunt me forever. Anything that belonged to my child will bring the memories of death back like a wave. My sadness will overwhelm me forever and my silent fury against my own weakness will kill me. Can I ever forgive that man? Can I ever forget that act after pardoning him? Will you?

This is the most difficult part of forgiveness. It becomes impossible to forgive. The scars go so deep that even after the man is sentenced for the crime, the mother will never feel complete. No amount of punishment given to that man will ever bring the child back. No clock will ever turn back. The pain that the child underwent cannot be taken away at all.

I am doomed to live in misery forever unless I forgive. But I cannot forgive. I know that many people will come and ask me to forgive. What if they underwent something similar? Will they forgive?

Snakes on a plane the ultimate headline

When it comes to article marketing, we’re all searching for that perfect headline. It has to be something catchy. You want it to be unique. You want it to leave people wanting to read your article. After all, what good does your article do if people don’t pass it on with that almighty link attached at the bottom?

I’m constantly trying to come up with new and exciting takes on my areas of expertise, as well as, new headlines to get my articles passed along. I’m always observing. I watch the headlines on the news, in the paper, and on the homepages of MSN and Yahoo. Then, I examine the ones that really catch my interest.

Personally, I also feel the need to watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and such informative programs as “Best Week Ever” on VH1. I watch these solely for creative business ideas, really!

Well, maybe not solely for business! I have to admit I do have a bit of pop culture addiction. But, in my defense, you can learn a lot from pop culture.

Enter…”Snakes on a Plane.”

Have you ever heard something that draws you in more? It’s absolutely brilliant. They’ve done next to no marketing for this film. All we really have is “Snakes on a Plane” and Sam Jackson. Yet, here we have this huge cult hit even before it’s been released. Seriously, if you haven’t heard of this movie, trust me, you will soon!

I first saw a brief bit about this movie on “Best Week Ever” a few weeks ago, and now, it’s everywhere I turn on the internet.

So, what does this really have anything to do with article marketing or am I simply trying to get something with “Snakes on a Plane” attached to my links? Simply, the answer is both!

You have to realize that finding pop culture analogies to business principles you write about can boost your links enormously! People want to re-print and link to stories that catch their attention because those are the same stories that will get more traffic to their sites in return.

Now, I’m not advocating writing articles that have absolutely no content value or that are not helpful in some way to readers. Again, trust me, I run an article directory, and I can’t tell you how sick of the same keyword-saturated articles on acne, affiliate programs and whatever other keywords or money-making schemes are hot today.

The key is that you’ve got to actually take the time to find the analogies. Find how you can relate TomKat’s baby to your site…well, maybe that’s not an easy example, but you get my drift! You can churn out articles by the hundred that will get published across the net, but you won’t get the respect of the article directories, the higher page-ranked sites and most importantly potential clients/link-clickers if you aren’t putting out quality material.

Whether it’s “Snakes on a Plane” or TomKitten, whatever you want to use, be creative and take the time to write quality articles. In the long run, if you have to choose between having 1,000 blah articles out there with your name and links attached or 100 awesome, catchy articles out there that people are passing on and referring to others, you’ll want to have the 100 best on the net.

So, here’s your assignment, turn off CNN for a moment and put away your Wall Street Journal. You might just find that a few moments of Comedy Central or People magazine might be increasing your bottom line! If you still don't believe me, look what you've spent the last few moments doing. You've just read this entire article. Thanks "Snakes on a Plane!"

The rise and rise of poker an article by the sportsman

The immense diversion of the gambling and betting industry over the last ten years has without question changed forever. The likes of football betting, online casinos and, of course, poker hardly existed on the betting landscape as horse racing was in a market of one. The internet coupled with the Lottery have transformed the industry permanently and it’s all the better for it.

The National Lottery place a crucial role in all this despite being hailed by bookmakers at the time as being the deathnel of the ff-course betting shop. The reality, and to be fair nobody, saw it coming, was that The Lottery sanitized the whole notion of betting – it was now seen as OK to have a small flutter for a bit of fun. The internet arrived simply as the rocket fuel to pour on the naked flame.

Nevertheless, the real product winner is without question poker. The exchanges have a case but they are still, at present, seen as only for the sophisticated gambler. No doubt as the rest of the world catches up with the UK the likes of Betfair will flourish more globally but perversely they almost need the traditional bookmaker to be established before them.

Poker however seems to have swept all before it and unlike Betfair it’s a multitude of companies that are seeing the benefit from online bookmakers to bespoke poker sites. But why has a game that has been around for hundreds of years suddenly exploded so much?

The reality is because it is, in fact, very easy to play, if you want to see exactly how easy then check out the rules of poker. True it does take longer to master as much of the marketing will tell you but, especially online, where your face doesn’t give you away those with the basics can still beat the best and the David and Goliath factor is what drives most people, especially when gambling. Whether it’s you versus the bookie, other poker players or other exchange users, the drive is the winning. Not necessarily the amount – watch a new gambler winning a long odds-on bet with Ј5 wagered – still delighted despite only collecting a matter of pence.

Now that so many people play can there ever be a true World Number 1? It is surely very unlikely from now that any single player will win the WSOP twice – ever! This is because te sport is now completely swamped with new players many of whom are very good at their craft but elements of luck will always play a part. Some will argue this is true of any sport but in most traditional sports the best players are there or thereabouts.

Nevertheless, the figures show the game to be in rude health and seemingly not showing sings of reaching a plateau which it must at some point but the figures coming out of Party Poker and 888.com show nothing but the rise and rise of poker. Nobody should be talking of flushing or folding just yet, just wait for the Chinese to get online and the sky will be small fry as far as limits are concerned.

The above article was brought to you by the The Sportsman.

Small business success

Small business is again in transition. Many employees, now working from home, are no longer tied to a geographic office and the woes of commuting. This is a relatively new phenomenon with hints of explosive sector growth in the days ahead. As this turbulent economy has forced downsizing, offshore restructuring and closures in large companies, many new entrepreneurs have been born. These are people, who instead of tirelessly attempting to find new employment and possibly enduring the same fate as previously experienced, are now starting small businesses and enjoying the benefits and perils of self-employment.

There’s an old story telling of an Admiral’s decision to fight a battle against overwhelming odds. It seems that he was approaching the coast of an enemy land, with a larger naval force closing in from behind and a great army approaching from the land ahead. He prayed and then addressed his men. He announced that their battle weary forces would land on the beach ahead, dig in and prepare for the upcoming battle. There was no turning back and no other alternative. He ordered their ships burned after they landed. Their only choice was to fight to win or perish. They defeated their enemy because he eliminated any other escape route. They were fixed on the goal of survival and none other.

That is the same attitude we as entrepreneurs must take. We can not afford to be denied. We must grow and prosper or our business will surely perish. We must constantly be looking for ways to cost-effectively market our business and increase sales. We must control costs and have sufficient cash flow for daily operations. Each of us must be persistent, relentless and vigilant. As CEO, we are the manufacturer, the sales team, the marketing department, legal office, accounting office, human resources manager, IT manager, the webmaster and so on. We can’t afford to be all these positions. Our job is to sell! We must locate cost effective resources to help us grow and protect our investment in our business.

The growth of the internet has changed our marketplace as well. Years ago, a small business owner decided upon a geographic chunk of the market and set up shop. Today, that shop is typically located in an office at the entrepreneur’s home. The marketplace is now the world. The costs of marketing products and communicating worldwide are so low that almost anyone can take part in this revolution. Sophisticated voice mail, cell phones, email and effective ecommerce web sites now provide the illusion of size and grandeur for even the smallest home-based business. The end customer typically has no idea whether their supplier is local or across the world. He may be dressed in a shirt and tie or in his pajamas! All that typically matters is that the exchange of product and services is successfully made for a profit.

It is critically important for the small, home-based entrepreneur to be aware of resources available to her as she makes this great leap. Too many people leap prematurely into business only to fail because of poor planning and insufficient financial resources. Do not get caught in this trap. Don’t quit your day job until you have enough cash on hand to pay the bills for at least a year into your new venture. Become aware of and develop the resources available to you. You want everything possible going for you as you make this leap of faith into the entrepreneurial world.

There are incredible resources, partially funded by the State and private resources, available at little to no cost to entrepreneurs, with the purpose of aiding the successful growth of small business. Some additional national resources are:

national business. org

nase. org

gosmallbiz. com

empoweringbiz. com

nfib. org

qualitybusinessdirectory. com

There are also numerous magazines devoted to small business, home-based business, marketing, sales, accounting, etc… Get tuned in to these and other resources available to you. Read your industry publications to stay abreast of competition and other facets of your business interests.

A single legal issue, FACTA problem, accounting error or marketing miscue can put you out of business. In the case of FACTA, insufficient security or poor record-keeping these days could find you legally responsible for a single employee’s identity fraud issue, which may end up being very costly. A single lawsuit or vendor dispute can shut you down. Many entrepreneurs are ignorant, ill-prepared and under-schooled with regard to these and other issues. Do not get caught in the deadly ignorance trap.

There is more opportunity available today than ever before for the wise entrepreneur. Get all you ducks in a row before you make the fateful leap into the new world marketplace. Be smart, learn all you can as quickly as possible and take action on your ideas. Like the Admiral, be determined to win in the face of what may appear to be overwhelming adversity.

Article writing and seo search engine optimization

This article will guide you through the main reasons you should be using article writing as part of your SEO efforts to gain backlinks and link popularity, or in other words, turning content into link s and traffic. Getting targeted traffic is a direct result of this process. This will apply to both new and existing sites, and I am covering here what to do when writing articles.

Write only about what you know well.

You should focus on known topics that pertain to your target market. As your articles are informative, you can submit them to article directories and websites accepting new content and articles that publish similar ones to what yours is about. You can get strong referrals from articles that were submitted using article databases. Keep writing 2-3 articles weekly, making sure they are getting submitted at similar rates.

Article partitioning and printable versions.

Splitting articles into parts is a great way to make a subject easier to digest by topics and having your visitors follow them by series. It does also help when you take an article for review and you add your comments in different color or bold them. Printable versions are an important addition to the original format of your articles, highly appreciated by users, and does not fall into duplicate content penalties at all.

The power of links and your article.

Use linking within your article to expand information sources or further detail topics. Reference pages, news sources, forums, bog posts, are example of resources you can offer and the user can choose to follow if needed. Now, it is equally important that your links are well defined and easy to spot by using standards when possible.

Apply SEO principles to your article.

It is important to create titles and headings that relate to what the article is about. Also, try to keep the article length to no more than 500 words, written with simple language, and providing clear and useful information. Always impart concrete knowledge to your readers. You should focus on the most important points in the topic, outlining the key areas of it. To do this, you can use headings, bold type and lists, like in the case of this particular article.

There is a lot more to article writing, but every situation is different, and for every website, the application of concepts discussed in these areas are different as well.

By Dedicated SEO Consultant Jose Nunez

How spammers obtain your email address and why they send spam

You probably know that Spam is unsolicited and undesired e-mail message. Spammers are the people who send Spam. Spam is a serious problem. It is important today as never before because almost every other email message we receive is Spam. So, the question arises how spammers get your email address and why they send you Spam. Spammers can obtain your email address in three ways.

One way is to guess a mailbox name for a publicly listed domain name. Many organizations have the email addresses where the first part of the email address is a general word such as “info”, “sales”, “accounts”, “support”, etc. People often use the email addresses beginning with their first name, for example, John, Sandra, Julia. Spammers simply put the first names before the @ symbol followed by a domain name, and get possible email addresses.

Secondly, spammers can gather email addresses from the Internet. They use programs that search web pages looking for email addresses. If there is your contact email address in your web site, or if the email address is embedded into your profile, your email address will be obtained by spammers.

The third way to get your email address is to buy email lists. Some dishonest companies can make money by selling the customer’s information to spammers. Spammers can also bribe unscrupulous employees of companies to get a copy of the email list.

Once spammers got a list of the victims’ email addresses, they start spamming. They do it to make money. In general, there are two kinds of spam messages:

1.Offering trashy and fraudulent goods or services (e. g. Viagra, Cialis, medications, fake Rolexes, software programs, etc.)

2.Stock scams working on “Pump and dump” schemes. Spammers encourage you to invest in a particular company's stock, in order to quickly inflate its value and enable the spammers to make a fast profit.

By sending their undesired messages spammers have for an object to contact thousands or even millions people in the hope to hit one or a few dolts who actually will buy their crappy products. No dolts, no spam. But out of a million people, you will always find one or two.

Most of the Internet protocols that computers use to talk to each other are anonymous. Your email server thinks that any email server connecting to it over the Internet is giving its name properly and that the email it sends is legitimate. Spammers abuse this trust relationship to send you their garbage. The Internet protocols cannot be changed in a moment so we need another solution to the problem of spam.

Legislative attempts produced no effect. It’s not easy to track a spammer located in USA sending spam using a mail server from Russia to mailboxes in Australia. Spammers are also known to use Trojans to hijack one’s computer and make that person send spam on behalf of the spammer. The “victim” doesn’t even guess about it. These people would be caught up in any comprehensive Spam legislation.

However that may be you can take some measures to protect your inbox against spam flow by yourself. There is a wide choice of anti-spam products available on the Internet. You only have to choose the right one to block Spam before it reaches your inbox. There is no guarantee that you will get absolutely no Spam but at least you will reduce its amount.

Prenatal nutrition the effects of caffeine and green tea

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Pregnant women would be wise to limit the amount of green tea they drink during pregnancy, and should be careful about taking any green tea supplements. Green tea is rich in antioxidants, and has a host of health benefits relating to dental health, blood sugar levels, cholesterol, and weight loss. But researchers have found, whilst examining the active constituent of green tea, the epigallocatechins, or EGCG for short, that it may affect the way the body uses folate. Folate is important for pregnant women as it prevents neural tube birth defects in babies.

The problem of green tea during pregnancy is that the EGCG molecules are structurally similar to a compound called methotrexate. Methotrexate is able to kill cancer cells by chemically bonding with an enzyme in the body called enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). Healthy people have this enzyme also - it is part of what is called the folate pathway, which is the pathway, or steps, the body takes to transform nutrients like folate into something that can be used to support its normal functions.

But this chemical similarity means that the EGCG in green tea also binds with the enzyme DHFR, and when it does this, it inactivates this enzyme. When this enzyme is inactivated, the ability of the body to use folate is going to be affected. How much green tea is able to be consumed, or precisely how much folate absorption is affected, is unclear. Though the research article did say that drinking 2 cups of green tea a day can stop cancer cells (which is what methotrexate is targeting) from growing.

The good news on caffeine drank during pregnancy, from coffee and tea, is that a moderate amount is fine. Two studies, one by Danish scientists who interviewed more than 88,000 pregnant women, and the other by the Yale University School of Medicine, had similar findings on caffeine during pregnancy.

The concerns over caffeine were that it would lead to low birth weight or miscarriage. And this is still true of a very high daily intake of coffee. The Yale team found that drinking about 600mg of caffeine a day, which is about 6 cups of coffee, would reduce birth weight to levels that were clinically significant. The rate at which birth weight was reduced was established at being 28 grams per 100 mg, or 1 cup, of coffee per day. But they emphasized that this would not be significant for moderate caffeine consumption.

The Danish study found that drinking 8 cups or more of coffee per day (this would be about 16 cups or more of tea), would increase the chances of miscarriage, or stillbirth, by 60% compared to women who did not drink caffeine. They also found that moderate coffee or tea drinking did not pose significant risks. For those drinking half a cup to 3 cups of coffee a day, the risk of fetal death was 3% higher compared to non-caffeine drinkers. And for those drinking 4 to 7 cups of coffee a day, the risk increases to 33%. One cup of coffee equals about 2 cups of tea when comparing caffeine levels. The recommended amount of coffee drunk is up to 3 cups daily, or 6 cups of tea, by the UK food agency.

References:
nutraingredients-usa. com/news/ng. asp? id=58807

nutraingredients-usa. com/news/ng. asp? id=24747

foodnavigator. com/news/ng. asp? id=63174

Save with internet coupons

Internet coupons are excellent ways to purchase any item at discount prices. Items from groceries to home appliances can be found inexpensive. There are many different websites that serve Internet coupons. When you find the coupon you want you can print them out for the store use. Some even allow you to send them online, for purchases from specific websites. Internet coupons are for anyone who needs to or would like to save some extra money.

When searching for Internet coupons, be sure to note the expiration dates. This will save time and energy through the research. Some of the Internet coupons available are for retail stores, many different products. For example: clothes, beauty supplies, shoes and even gas for your automobiles. These products are very cost efficient. They can save a lot of money each month. Most of the Internet coupons have a wide range of expiration dates. There are several dates that last for years.

When searching for Internet coupons make sure to read the fine print. Be careful for hidden prices or if it is a rebate only deal. These promotions are set up for the consumer to be interested in the store they are looking into. Each week millions of people are saving money shopping with Internet coupons. This process is not time consuming either. In the matter of minutes you could be saving anywhere from 10 dollars to 100 dollars on different products. The grocery fund is running tight for the month or your son needs a new, unexpected pair of shoes, Internet coupons can save an expensive venture. Many types of store have reoccurring certificates for more than one time use. However, some have a limit on how many you can buy with one Internet coupon.

The different types of Internet coupons vary. They could offer free shipping, or a discount on one or more items at a reduced price. The savings each year can be a massive amount. Search for what you need or want through Internet coupons. You may be pleasantly surprised on what is being offered. With the gas prices alone rising quickly, a discount amount would help wonders for the pocket book. Sometimes food is very expensive, especially on different types of diets. Searching for the correct food for what you require can be accomplished with this method.

Internet coupons are for everyone who wants to save a little bit of money. The cash you can stockpile you can use for a night out on the town, a nice dinner in a fancy restaurant, or maybe saving up for your first home. No matter why you need to save money be at ease knowing that you can quickly and efficiently. Look for Internet coupons today, to save your money tomorrow.

Eternal life series 1 lesson 3

These lessons are designed to be easily used for personal Bible Study or as a guide for group Bible Studies. Each of the lessons will include a set of discussion questions at the end of the lesson, which can be used either privately for introspection or in a group setting as provocative discussion builders.

In the same way as God gave us life, gave us food to eat, and gives us the daily needs to maintain our life, he has also given us eternal life. The state of that eternal life will be a reflection of our response to His given, while we are here on earth. You see, for those of us who recognize His Creatorship, His Godship, and worship Him as such, we will spend that eternal life with Him, in His presence. O, what a beautiful time that will be! Forever, with the Creator of the Universe!

For those who reject His Creatorship and Godship, He has ordained a place for them in eternal isolation from Him. This eternal isolation is so intense that it is referred to in the Bible as a Hell, as a place of eternal torment. It will still be eternal life, but it will be eternal life in seclusion from our Lord and Maker.

Have you ever been alone? Really alone? You think no one cares? No one wants to talk? Imagine a place on this earth of isolation. Imagine the prisoner of war who is put into an earthen cell, and fed once a day. But even that prisoner, as alone as he may feel, is not truly alone. Perhaps he can see the soldiers when they come to bring his daily food. Perhaps the rats and cockroaches visit him in his cell. Perhaps he hears the tortured screams of other prisoners. Perhaps he converses with his God. He is not truly alone.

But nevertheless, he is experiencing a type of living hell. Now imagine what that same cell would be like with no food, no rats, no soldiers or fellow prisoners, and worst yet, no God. That is Hell.

You see, when God created us, He created us for Heaven, not Hell. He created us to always have communion, fellowship, and communication with Him. Starting with the first man and the first woman, Adam and Eve, man as a race has chosen to ‘eat of the forbidden fruit’, to sin, or turn away from God. Everyone who has ever lived to the age of understanding has done it, turned away from God, and failed to recognize Him as God and Provider. Not only failed, but purposely tested Him to show that they are in control of their own lives. The Book of Romans tells us: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3: 23).

Once we have sinned and rejected the promises of God, His life-giving power, once we eat of the forbidden fruit, so to speak, once we firmly establish that we own our lives and our futures, we effectively tell God that we no longer need Him, that we can do it on our own. And the natural and fair end of that decision is that God gives us exactly what we ask for and desire: eternal separation from Him. Because He is Holy, he cannot tolerate the presence of the unholy, of sin. The natural and normal result of the choice to sin, to refuse to accept His Creatorship and Lordship, is eternal separation from Him, which is effectively death (Rom 6: 23).

Fortunately, God in His infinite mercy has crafted a plan, one which He set into motion before He even created the earth, knowing what His creation would do. He ordained that His own Son would die to bridge the gap between God Himself, from whom every man chooses to separate, and man, the creation. By being God Himself and taking on the nature of man, when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was put to death, his death was able to pay the penalty, not of His own sins, because He had none, but our own sins, because He was pure in His death.

You see, the acceptance of His death for our sins is the same difference as not eating of the forbidden fruit (which we have all done, in one form or another). It is the same difference as paying a tithe of our property and our yearly increase. It is the ultimate form of recognizing that God created everything, including us, and that He gave us everything we have. It is simply saying that I cannot, as man, do it on my own; I need a mediator, someone to stand in the gap for my rebellion, and prevent eternal isolation from the Creator of the universe.

Questions for discussion:

Describe your view of the nature of God and His redemption plan.

Have you struggled with what you perceived as God’s wrathful and vindictive nature?

Does this lesson help you see that eternal separation is a direct result of our sin, not His vindictive nature?

Have you sinned (rebelled against the Creator of the universe)?

Can God, in His holiness, permit sin in His presence?

Have you accepted His loving plan to keep you from eternal separation?