This is from close to 30 years ago, but I think it illustrative of what could still easily happen in the US (and perhaps does, I'm not too knowledgeable about refugee issues):
In the 80s around a million fled violence (from repressive governments, civil wars and paramilitary groups) in central America seeking asylum in the US. They were largely turned away due to political considerations (i.e. the administration wanted to maintain ties with the governments of those countries). You can read about it in this wiki entry about the sanctuary movement that developed to help some of those people in spite of the US government.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_movement
That's funny. I haven't watched many dvds in awhile because I mostly watching streaming on Netflix. The other day I watched a brand new dvd on my roommate's dvd player. It skipped/stuttered several times during playback and I realized how nice my experience with streaming has been. My memory of watching dvds over the years is littered with such problems or worse (though there were also plenty of movies that displayed without a hitch). I have an occasional problem with Netflix, but they have been pretty far between.
I started having a similar experience this year and also started feeling better while on vacation. When I returned home and it immediately got worse again I realized my mattress was part of the problem (the symptoms were often the worst in the morning, though they persisted all day). It was not a terrible mattress, but over the years had gotten a little saggy in the middle. I bought a new mattress and while, the problem hasn't completely gone away, it has gotten a lot better.
My experience with going soap free at various times in my life is that it works a lot better for me if I'm not showering in hard water. In soft water (I've mostly lived places with naturally soft water), I can scrub my armpits a bit and they are scent free pretty quick. In hard water the stink doesn't seem to come off quite as easily.
Wherever I've had soft water, I've felt a lot cleaner even with soap. The difference between soaps is nothing compared to the difference between hard and soft water.
Where other realistic options do people have to invest their money but to put it in the hands of a financier? Put it in a bank/retirement account it goes to/through the financiers.
Along with the advice about diet and a physical, you might consider taking a multi-vitamin and talk to your doctor about your energy/motivation when you get your physical.
I used to be puzzled as to why people would take vitamins in general, thinking that if you need vitamins, you should adjust your diet. I still think that more or less, but started taking vitamin B when I had some nerve issues and noticed my energy, mood and motivation was for sustained periods of time better than it had been probably since I hit puberty. I later went to the naturopath for other health issues and blood work showed I was borderline hypothyroid and had very low vitamin D levels. I have been taking supplements for both of those (stopped taking vitamin B awhile back because it started affecting my sleep for some reason) and they have also helped with my mood and motivation.
I've been thin my whole life, but am working to get fit now after a year or two of largely sedentary existence and it is making a big difference for me.
I suppose that the first step to "getting fit", or in other words living a wellness oriented lifestyle, is to actually define what this means to you in your world. My belief is that "change" starts from within, which means that you can eat all of the right food and exercise on a consistent basis, and still not be "well." The change that I was referring to is the space between your eyes, controlling how you think, also known as tangebalizing (I made this word up) your thoughts. Can you imagine having the literally controlling how you think and how you perceive a situation? Because you can and the first step to eliciting change is realizing that you were born with all of the tools to evoke this type of result...
I am not sure why you are being down voted, unless people are equating this with being able to 'think' your reality into existence.
We can't magically effect the world around us with our thoughts, but it is the thoughts that control the actions we take, so in a very real sense it does need to start from the mind.
I agree that thoughts cannot control the world with our thoughts, however keep in mind that Since the early 1930's, psychologists have known that the brain emits electromagnetic waves . There is no scientific evidence that it has any impact on materialistic outcome but there is no evidence that it does not either. I know it is totally unscientific and I would say more philosophical thinking but there is a possibility that someday we will discover that our thought might have some impact on the outer world. This is one of the main concept that new age philosophy manipulates. Also our thoughts not only control our action as far as our body goes but also effect biochemistry of our brain that might affect how our body reacts to it. For example depressing thought might lead to certain physiological disorders.
Many discovered facts that are known today did not have any evidence years ago what does not indicate its absence today. Absence of results of searching industries is not an indicator thus it takes many years and many intermediate discoveries before some hypothesize are proven. Keeping mind open to possibilities is the engine of progress and discovery.
You might be interested in reading the old Stoics, who advocated precisely the type of mental control over your own perceptions that you seem to have happened upon.
Marcus Aurelius' Meditations is a good place to start. After that pick up Epictetus and Seneca.
That is a great recommendation...I have actually read pieces from Meditations which is extremely congruent with my statement...I am happy that you enjoyed my neologism!
Well, not being fat doesn't mean you are fit, but being fat is certainly incompatible with being fit. I speak as a fat guy who's probably less unfit than 95% of people at my weight (over 320 lbs): I'm still not "fit".
I guess it depends on how fitness is defined. I would say a person can definitely have good cardiovascular fitness while being fat. They could also have strong muscles, low blood pressure, low cholesterol, normal glucose levels and generally be healthy. I would describe that as being fit.
Seems like weight should be considered one indicator of fitness but not the most important one.
Heh. People used to spontaneously call me that when I was a kid (due to my name "Randall Randall" rather than my size, I expect), and it's way easier to google for. :)
Curious if you've read Catch-22. One of my favorite characters in the book was called "Major Major" (and of course his rank was Major). At some point they managed to get a 4th one on the end too.
I'd like to hear your arguments for it being substantially more valuable for the rich man to have the dollar than the poor. At least in this economy it seems like I am constantly hearing about how it is better to put money in the hands of the less well off because they will spend it and it will help drive the economy.
Putting the money to work in a manner that builds companies and creates jobs has a different long-run effect than giving it to someone who will go buy a burger with it.
In the short-run, consuming helps that same dollar get spent over and over. In the long-run, creating wealth and jobs is more valuable, IMO.
When raising taxes drives capital to locales which are more capital-friendly (chiefly via lower taxes), then it inevitably takes job creation with it.
The answer could be "both". The economy needs both the consumption and the top-down execution. Keeping it all in balance is the real trick. This argument would be better positioned as "What is the right balance of taxation for the short term to provide a healthy economy?"
