From carved clay tablets to papyrus scrolls and movable type to film typesetting, the history of the printing industry has been a history of constancy marked by sudden and drastic changes. However, the speed and scale of these many changes have been overshadowed by the advent of word processing on desktop computers and the rise of the Internet, ushering in an information age unprecedented in our history. . In the 1960s, there were many naysayers in the printing industry who claimed that with increased television viewing, very few books would be printed in the near future. In fact, they were only partially right. Today, printing is the third largest industry in the US, as well as being a major industry worldwide, with more titles produced year after year than ever before. And while television viewing and channel choice have also grown dramatically, there is only one part of the modern television that directly impacts the print industry: the screen. Because it is here through the keyboard and the mouse, that people mainly interact with the Internet.

Is this young and still emerging technology going to deal the deathblow to the printing industry, as was predicted by television several decades earlier? Best guessing the future is a very risky business and the evidence so far means the jury must be out. For starters, desktop publishing via computers has dramatically reduced production costs in the printing industry. In the not-so-distant days of hot metal printing, there were hundreds and even thousands of well-paid production workers on the average daily, all of whom have been replaced by desktop publishing systems that don’t take vacations or meal breaks. The Internet itself has also been both a threat and an opportunity for the printing industry. E-mails or direct inbound copy sent over the Internet have largely replaced journalists’ late-night phone calls or telegraphed messages, and late news can more easily make it to the front page shortly before it goes to press.

On the other hand, many newspapers, such as the Seattle Post intelligence agent very recently, they are faced with falling sales and reduced advertising, which has led them to close. The Internet has been blamed, mostly for competing for advertising, but even here it has created new opportunities. The most obvious has been to provide most of the major newspapers with a web presence, although it remains questionable whether these digital versions complement or kill the print newspaper. Another cause of the decline in advertising is the current economic downturn, which may have negatively affected the newsprint industry much more than the Internet. Then there is the mass-produced printed book, an old companion that has been with us since Gutenberg first published a Bible from his press in the mid-15th century. Has the Internet threatened the extinction of the book and printing industry? So far, apparently not, as the sheer volume of printed material continues to increase. Word processing and sophisticated digital publishing systems have reduced the cost of print production.

For example, color printing now costs about twice as much as black-and-white printing, whereas a decade ago it would have been about ten times as much. Also, the additional cost of adding illustrations today is mostly the better quality paper, while the internet allows publishers to use freelance publishers from all over the world instead of having to travel far and provide an office etc.

However, the positive impact of the Internet on the printing industry is not limited to mere production technologies such as word processing and digital data transmission. While many traditional bookstore browsers may lament the fact, websites like Amazon are becoming the primary marketplace for print book sales today. Not even the allure of freshly ground coffee and American-style muffins in trendy high street bookstores is enough to stop the inexorable rise of Internet book sales.

Perhaps the only puzzle is why today’s readers still stick to the printed word on paper. Certainly, many trees would be saved from the pulp mill and equally precious fuel would be saved in book distribution. The likely answer is once again the good old TV screen. To date, digital material viewed on screen is simply not as clear to read as paper print for large chunks of text, and despite small-screen handheld devices for reading books, this format is also generally not so portable.

75% of Americans disapprove of the job our representatives are doing. It’s things like this that explain why:

While only about 13% of US employees nationwide enjoy a retirement fund that ensures stable income for life, all 535 members of Congress do… courtesy of Uncle Sam.

Members of Congress participate in the Federal Employees Retirement System, which provides pension benefits most working Americans can only dream of.

Private retirement savers often pay management fees that can exceed 1% per year for poor investment choices. Members of Congress pay a maximum of 0.039% for guaranteed funds to match the market.

A proposal floating around Republican circles in Washington would add insult to injury: They want to end the tax deduction of your pension contributions so they can give a $1.5 billion tax break to corporate America.

Oops.

Give and take

Congress is reportedly considering reducing the benefits of contributing to a 401(k) and similar retirement plans.

That’s because he wants to reform corporate taxes, cutting the rate from 35% to 15%. That punches a meteor-sized hole in the federal budget.

Cue the pension police.

According to the latest report from the Joint Committee on Taxation, the exclusion of contributions and earnings from defined contribution plans will cost the federal government more than $584 billion over the next five years.

The new proposal would treat all traditional IRA and 401(k) contributions as if they were Roth IRA contributions. You would lose the tax exclusion of those contributions, but your future 401(k)/IRA earnings and appreciation would be tax-free. Some think this could raise $1.5 trillion in additional tax revenue over the next decade, making corporate tax relief feasible.

Unless they decide to tax retirement earnings and appreciation as well.

End of the Roth?

At this time, any income and earnings generated by your 401(k) and/or traditional IRA are not taxed until you make withdrawals.

But a new proposal would impose a 15% tax on those annual earnings, raising another $1.5 trillion over the next decade. However, that would be even worse than taxable ordinary investment accounts, where one can defer capital gains tax simply by not selling shares.

“It’s really not a question of whether retirement plans will be cut, but by how much,” said Bradford Campbell, a former assistant secretary of labor for employee benefits under President George W. Bush. Replacing lost income from tax cuts, he said, is “a game of winners and losers, and the retirement system is bound to be one of the losers.”

My sources in Washington tell me that the Trump team is definitely planning to push through tax reform like President Ronald Reagan’s in 1986, closing loopholes and lowering rates. It will not be just a tax cut, as had been rumored.

Like the exclusion of retirement contributions, the proposals also eliminate state and local income tax deductions. If you live in a place like New York or California, that’s a big deal.

Who cares?

There is no more controversial issue in American politics than federal tax reform. So who is likely to win and lose if tax reform follows President Donald Trump’s proposals?

First, his administration cannot count on the unconditional support of the voter base that put Trump in the White House.

Although low-income voters would likely be neutral, since they tend not to have 401(k)s or IRAs, households earning $50,000 or more, most of whom voted for president, would be hit hard if contributions for retirement were taxable. in the front.

High-income families probably don’t care one way or the other, as they tend to hit their retirement contribution limits pretty quickly anyway.

Second, the corporate side of the proposals is tense. Although Trump’s plan cuts the corporate rate from 35% to 15%, many US corporations Already pay less than 15% thanks to the loopholes, especially in energy, utilities and heavy industry.

They will likely oppose the plan as it closes those loopholes. That makes the step uncertain.

How to prepare

The uncertainty surrounding something we’ve come to take for granted—tax-advantaged retirement plans—means you urgently need to look for alternatives.

One is to explore the benefits of investing directly in the stock market. Long-term buy-and-hold strategies may become more attractive than retirement funds, depending on how capital gains are treated in any tax reform plan.

Another alternative is to consider the advantages of life insurance.

Certain types of whole life policies are much better than traditional retirement vehicles. That’s because the IRS currently treats “distributions” from such policies as nontaxable loans against the policy, which are withdrawn when paid upon your death.

Life insurance trusts, on the other hand, could become much more attractive vehicles for transferring money to your heirs if returns on estate IRS accounts plummet.

Whatever happens, I will closely follow developments… and offer you solutions.

For years I have enjoyed listening to speakers of all kinds, trying to identify what makes them successful. Many preachers have developed their skills to the level of the fine arts, such as Charles Swindoll or Joyce Meyers. With rare exceptions, such as President Barack Obama or, depending on the event, Sarah Palin, civic and political leaders often lag far behind religious leaders in polish and presentation. Whoever they are, leaders would do well to always work to improve their communication skills.

Here are some handy nuts and bolts:

Speak. The first law of communication is to communicate, so if you want people to get the message, share the message. And you must speak in as simple a vocabulary as possible, and in a way that others can understand. Don’t do what some teachers try to do, impress the audience with multi-syllable words. doesn’t work. When the crowd goes home, the only thing they remember is your arrogance. Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6), there is nothing simpler than that.

Don’t apologize for talking. It’s one thing to hear an infrequent speaker offer a flustered apology on the church platform; it’s quite another to hear this from a leader. If talking makes you nervous, get over it or find another job. Your apology for being uncomfortable makes everyone else feel uncomfortable. The more comfortable you feel “in your own skin”, the more comfortable your audience will be with your presentation.

Convey confidence. Take ownership of the opportunity to speak and treat listeners with respect. Say “Thank you,” but don’t say it enthusiastically. Do whatever it takes to build your confidence: prepare properly, practice, use notes, etc. Stand physically relaxed and avoid signaling nerves with awkward gestures or awkward movements.

Connect with the audience. Smile. Look directly at people individually and collectively. Scan the entire audience in a natural, measured way so everyone feels like you’re talking to them. On the road or at the event, keep an eye out for a development unique to the occasion, then mention it at the start of your talk. Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer is a master at this. Each time, in the dingy old high school auditorium or the Waldorf Astoria, he finds something to say that is distinctive and complementary to his listeners and his place. Get to know your audience and engage directly with them, their city or your event today. Make them feel special, which is why comedians walk offstage saying, “You’ve been a great audience.”

Come up with some appropriate one-liners that will work anywhere. The old witty phrases, with which you feel comfortable, are always there for you like a good friend. They reduce your anxiety, help you convey confidence and connect with the audience, and help engage the audience and help them relax. One of my favorites goes something like this: “I always wanted to speak at XYZ. (brief pause) I guess now I can die happy.” He never stops laughing.

Never read your speech. It may be appropriate to read a short formal announcement or a reference to someone else’s statement. But reading your content is the fastest way to lose your audience’s attention, put them to sleep, or literally lose them while voting with their feet going out the back door. I once sat in the gallery of the Michigan Legislature to listen to Governor John Engler deliver his State of the State address. While I appreciated him and most of his ideas, I struggled to stay focused as he plodded through line after line. You can guess what the opposition party was doing. To the governor’s credit, he improved over time, according to some of those close to him, with professional help and practice. Good for him. Good for his constitution.

Be brief. FDR “Be sincere; be brief; sit down” is a good rule of thumb for any speaker. In November 1863, Edward Everett delivered the keynote address at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new military cemetery at Gettysburg, followed by President Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.” Everett later wrote to Lincoln: “I should be glad if I could take pride in having come as near to the thrust of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.”

Tell stories. Jesus usually spoke to crowds of followers in parables, which are short stories from everyday life that contain an application of deeper spiritual truths. While over thirty parables are recorded in the Gospels, the book of Mark says that Jesus used many other parables in his public speaking ministry. In fact, he “did not tell them anything without using a parable” (Mk 4, 33-34). People are interested in people and that’s what the best stories of a leader should be about.

List core values ​​and/or set goals clearly. Put your values ​​and goals into every important presentation. Why? Because an important way to motivate people is to make sure they know where they’re going. Values ​​and goals are an integral part of a vision statement. Share them, or better yet, embody them as a leader. Lead by example.

Be positive. “Negative campaigning” has long become a commonplace in American life. But a leader is better off taking the right path. Ronald Reagan gave us a version of this, his 11th Commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” Describe who you and your organization are, not who others or your competitor organizations are not. Being quoted in the media with a sound attack on others has more to do with ego or revenge than with advancing your organization’s vision. No one follows a flamethrower for very long. The heat is too intense.

Use props to reinforce, not replace your speech. PowerPoints, short videos, images, audio, and other technologies can be hugely effective tools for engaging your audience. But you’re still the speaker, and for my money, you need to talk. No medium has yet been developed that is as convincing as a passionate person who truly believes what they say. Use accessories wisely, but don’t forget the natural power to “unplug.”

Use your same (best) vision speech repeatedly. Leadership expert Barry Z. Posner’s formula for good visual communication: “Repetition, repetition, repetition!” Richard Nixon put the point more colorfully: “The moment you’re writing a line that you’ve written so often you want to throw up, that’s the moment the American people will hear it.” Communicate the vision persuasively and persistently on every possible occasion. And don’t worry if you share the vision too often. Management consultants Thomas Werner and Robert Lynch recommend that leaders communicate their vision 7 times in 7 different ways. I’d say a lot more often than that.

These articles are suggestions born from experience, not rules. Some will apply all the time. Some will apply sometimes. It’s your idea to call.

You are the leader. Lead with his words.

You have a brain in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can head in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who will decide where to go… Dr. Seuss.

I love this book and I love this quote that I have given to many high school and college graduates. I read it endlessly to my children and abide by the principles it contains. I have learned how to fearlessly go where I want to go in my life, and I firmly believe that we ALL have the power to do the same.

you got brain in your head. Getting out of our own way is the biggest challenge for most people. We think too much, or we think too little, and many times the thinking is completely skewed in the wrong direction. Using our brains is what changing our thinking is all about. Move from negativity to positive and learn to embrace your fearless self, removing the doubts and anxieties that are currently keeping you from being your best self now.

feet in your shoes. How many of us are standing in our own shoes? It took me years to realize that I was walking in someone else’s. It was a proud day when I could say they were mine. Don’t go the way of someone else and don’t try to wear shoes that don’t fit you. Pinched feet are painful. Leave them at home.

Head in any direction you choose. Choosing an address is the hardest part. What do you really want for yourself? Where do you really want to go? Once you decide that, take all possible steps to get where you want to go.

You’re on your own. That’s clear. We are fully responsible for EVERYTHING that happens in our life, whether knowingly or unknowingly we have made a choice or decision that brought us to the circumstance or event in our life. Being responsible for each and every aspect of your life means that you are alone, but you are not alone. Everyone is right next to you.

you know what you know. Everything is within you. The questions and the answers. Trust yourself more. Fear is essentially our lack of confidence that we have all the answers, that we can control our lives. We are stronger than we think, and we KNOW a lot. Trust yourself more often.

Yyou are the BOY who will decide where gY. It’s your life. Learn to accept it and allow it to unfold the way you want it to be. Be brave: see where it takes you! You will be surprised what you find.

No one is born with courage and self-confidence. You develop it. And that happens through practice. Every time you expose yourself to a situation that scares you and make a conscious effort to overcome that fear and function normally, you will improve. Sooner than later, you’ll wonder why it was ever a problem for you. My purpose here is to provide an introductory perspective on how learning to speak in public can equip ANYONE with the requisite interest, who is willing to take the necessary action, with the ability to confidently address any individual or group audience in a way that influence them to agree with his/her train of thought or do what you want.

“There is no other achievement, that any man can have, that makes for such a quick career and assures him of recognition as the ability to speak acceptably.” -Chauncey M. Depew

The true story of a business owner who lacks the courage and self-confidence to approach high-profile clients

In early September 2011, a young man called me on my mobile line and introduced himself as a Catfish Farm startup owner, adding that he got my phone number from an article I wrote on my Cost-Saving Farm Biz website. Support titled “Producing good catfish is important, but finding good buyers is imperative!”

In it, I recommended that if they want to ensure they get the best prices for their table-size fish, farm owners should only approach hotel, restaurant, and bar owners (who often buy in bulk) and make an offer. attractive that requires insurance. of buying your catfish in bulk which will soon be ready.

This young man would end by confessing that it was difficult for him to imagine walking into a hotel without knowing anyone, and making such an offer, adding “How can I just walk into the place and ask for the owner, just like that?“

It was then that I realized that he lacked the courage and self-confidence to do what I had suggested! The truth is that many business owners NEED to learn public speaking in order to prepare themselves to do the necessary sales and marketing for their businesses effectively.

Learn public speaking and gain self-confidence PLUS the ability to get people to do what you want

When I say public speaking, I mean situations where you speak to individuals and/or groups of people. Developing the ability to express yourself in a way that commands your listeners’ attention, interest, and agreement is an invaluable skill.

Which of these groups do you belong to?

has). Business owners:Selling and marketing is about getting people to do what you want, which is to BUY. Nine times out of ten, that process will involve TALKING to them. If you learn how to speak in public, your chances of gaining more clients will increase dramatically.

Why? Because you will be MORE convincing when you speak. If yours is a large company, you may also need to target employees, their unions, or even your shareholders. Learning to speak in public will make you more effective in doing so. And your company’s performance would reflect that.

b). Career people:Getting ahead in the workplace is about getting results in your work. Very often, especially in lower and middle management, your technical competence will help or speak for you.

But even at that level, if you manage teams or large workforces, your public speaking skills can help you avoid union problems, even if you’re not an HR person. A good speaker can get people to listen and convince them to see reason.

To rise in top management, your SOFT SKILLS come into play. Your ability to communicate effectively can determine how well you perform, because at this level, you’ll need to address other senior executives on various issues, sometimes in order to influence them to see things your way. If you lack effective public speaking skills, you can change yourself!

against). Aspiring Speakers:Maybe you’re an expert in your field and would like to get paid to talk about what you know. Therefore, learning to speak in public would be the logical thing to do.

So how do you go about learning public speaking?

I offer some suggestions:

1. Get and read Dale Carnegie’s book titled “How to Build Confidence and Influence People When Speaking in Public.” It is a small book, but full of very practical ideas and wisdom based on experience.

Read Daniel M. Wood’s true story on his blog about how Dale Carnegie’s book helped him when he was learning to speak in front of crowds, and why he still keeps it in his back pocket just in case… Visit his blog

2. Explore the Internet: Many websites offer a variety of useful articles, reports, DVDs, books, and other learning resources for speakers. Invest some time in targeted online searches and you’re sure to find lots of useful stuff, many FREE that offer helpful ideas to get you started.

3. Get a competent mentor: In almost every area of ​​life endeavor, spending quality time with a more experienced and competent person can dramatically boost your learning and equip you for success faster than simply taking formal classes. Find a tried and tested public speaking expert and ask them for help.

Medical science and the deciphering of the human genome have given us, and give us, great insights into how our bodies work and how we are susceptible to disease and the aging process.

Our new insights now allow us to significantly increase our healthy longevity. And when we take advantage of these new findings, we make ourselves available to take advantage of even newer technologies that are being developed.

There are seven basic causes that combine to make us vulnerable to disease and aging. One of the main causes is that our endocrine system fails to secrete sufficient amounts of certain enzymes and hormones to keep up with the cells’ battles against the buildup of pollutants.

Our hormones decline with age, but we can do something about it.

Our hormones regulate and control most of the functions of our body. Testosterone and estrogen, the main sex hormones in men and women respectively, give us the need and ability to reproduce and continue the survival of our species.

But once we’re not at our reproductive prime, our hormone levels drop. This results in a lack of sexual desire, insomnia, impotence, weight gain, and countless other potential health problems that significantly diminish our quality of life.

So we see that our hormonal system was designed primarily for reproduction for the survival of the species. Our bodies produce large amounts of certain hormones and enzymes during our youth. These give us our youthful vitality, strength, and stamina. They aid in the battles against free radicals and help provide nutrients for cell repair. They keep our cells clean from the ashes of metabolism and environmental toxins.

As long as our bodies produce sufficient amounts of these enzymes and hormones, we will stay young. But we, and all plants and animals, were designed to stay healthy until we have reproduced and raised our young. Mother Nature has little interest in us once we have passed on our genes to the next generation.

As we age beyond our prime reproductive years, we are no longer able to produce sufficient amounts of the enzymes and hormones needed to keep our cells “young and fit.” With too little of these substances, our cells begin to lose their battles against free radicals and other destructive elements.

The cells begin to age and die. The organs from which they are separated become ineffective. We become brittle, we die.

But now we can do something about our hormonal decline.

To make sure you’re around when new health discoveries are tested and available, you need to understand your hormones and what they do for you and what you can do to keep them working.

One of the most important hormones is the human growth hormone (HGH). I will limit the discussion in this article to just that.

The effectiveness of HGH in improving health and slowing aging was originated by Dr. Rudman in 1989.

During a six-month trial of 12 men aged 61 to 81 (against a control group of 9 men), the men lost 14.4% of their body fat and gained 8.8% lean body mass. Their skin thickened, their bone density increased, and their livers and spleens swelled to youthful sizes.

Dr. Rudman showed that HGH could change the frail and frail elderly from 61 to 81 years old to their previous biological ages of 41 to 61 years. In effect, he reversed their ages by 20 years, over a period of 6 months. He concluded: “The general deterioration of the body that comes with aging is not inevitable.”

In their six-month follow-up study with the same men, their muscle mass increased an additional 6% (up from the original 8.8%) and they lost an additional 15% fat (after the original 14.4% loss) .

Others have repeated Dr. Rudman’s tests and obtained similar results. There was a cry for the FDA to approve it as an anti-aging therapy. But, the FDA has been reticent.

However, it hit the black market and began to be widely used by bodybuilders.

Then, in 1991, Texas businessman Howard Turney opened the El Dorado Rejuvenation Clinic in Mexico, outside of FDA control.

And in 1994, Dr. Edmund Chein found a loophole (he was also a lawyer) in the FDA restriction. He went to court and argued that since the FDA had approved HGH for stunted growth disorder, then a licensed physician should be able to prescribe it for whatever purpose he sees fit. He won his argument and opened his Palm Springs Life Extension Institute in California.

Since then, he has treated thousands of people between the ages of 31 and 92 to slow, stop or reverse their aging. It has reversed the aging of most. And he reports that he has had no significant adverse side effects during any of his operations.

Chein’s results for increased muscle mass were a 10.0% and 8.0% increase over two six-month periods, which are similar to Dr. Rudman’s results.

The UK researchers duplicated Rudman and Chein’s results. And, Dr. Bengtsson from Sweden showed greatly improved energy levels and improved mood.

Frenchman Dr. Thierry Hertogh showed that his patients experienced a 23% to 30% reduction in the size of their “rims.”

HGH makes fat more available for fuel. Fat cells have hormone receptors that trigger a host of enzymatic reactions when HGH is present.

HGH has also been shown to improve the effectiveness of the immune system. One of the main ways it does this is by increasing the thymus gland’s production of T cells (which destroy invading “germs”). This is especially important for people over 40 years of age. The thymus normally shrinks to the size of a raisin by the age of 40.

Evidence also indicates that HGH can reverse heart disease by thickening the walls of weakened ventricles.

Dr. Ronald Klatz, president of the American Academy of Antiaging, sums up the benefits of HGH replacement therapy:

“HGH is the best anti-aging therapy. It affects every cell in the body, rejuvenates the skin and bones, regenerates the heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys, and returns organ and tissue function to youthful levels. It is the most effective anti-obesity agent ever discovered, accelerating metabolism to youthful levels, reshaping the body by selectively reducing fat in the waist, abdomen, hips, thighs while increasing muscle mass May be the most powerful aphrodisiac ever discovered, revives weakened sexuality and potency in men and women It’s a facelift in a bottle, smoothes facial wrinkles, restores elasticity, thickness and contours to youthful skin, reverses extracellular water loss that causes older people look like old dried plums Has healing powers that close ulcerated wounds and regrows burned skin Reverses insomnia in later life, restores do the “slow wave” or deepest level of sleep. And, it’s an uplifting mood, lifting the spirit along with the body, bringing back a zest for life that many people thought was long gone.”

Dr. Edmund Chein is more succinct: “It’s a doddle! This (HGH) is 100% effective!”

The Internet is full of advertisements for HGH replacement therapies. The vast majority are sponsored by unqualified individuals and organizations.

HGH has been shown to be very effective, but it has not been shown to be safe.

You should talk to your doctor to see if he suggests HGH. In any case, you should observe the progress of the safety programs in order to participate when it is proven to be safe.

It’s a huge statement that poetry can save the planet. However, as a poet and a former teacher, I believe it to be true. Just get out of the “can’t do” box for a moment and pay attention to four reasons why poetry can save the planet.

1. Poetry is the golden honey of all genres of writing and communication. “The crown of literature is poetry. It is its end and goal,” said British writer Somerset Maugham. He added: “Poetry is the highest activity of the human mind. It is the achievement of beauty and delicacy. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes.” It is poetry that tugs at our heartstrings and makes us feel fully alive. Why not approach the teaching of poetry appreciation in schools across America without dissecting its meaning like a frog in biology class? Poetry opens the door to creativity and new ways of thinking about ourselves and our planet.

2. Teaching poetry makes us better readers and writers. If you appreciate poetry, it’s hard not to appreciate good literature. Knowing the tools of a poet from alliteration to symbolism creates in us a deeper understanding of writing that appeals to our senses and sensitivities. When we read online or classic articles on our Kindle, we will know the difference between mediocre writing and great writing. (And, if we’re using a Kindle to purchase books, we’re killing fewer trees.)

3. “Drop Everything and Read Poetry” sessions in schools will increase literacy and reduce the dropout rate. As a classroom teacher in grades 2-6, I introduced my students to the poetry of Shel Silverstein. They loved his poetry and charming and somewhat irreverent drawings. Her words were magical to the ears and eyes; the children laughed and laughed with their teacher instead of at their teacher. A bond of shared trust and appreciation for poetry was formed, leading to the writing of powerful “short” things: class poems and anthologies. The students discovered who they were and what it was like to be a poet. They were found in poems, chapter books, and Judy Blume books. WB Yeats, Irish poet and playwright, wrote: “Out of fighting with others we make rhetoric; out of fighting with ourselves we make poetry.” Poetry helps us make sense of ourselves and the planet.

4. Poetry helps us understand what it means to feel human. By its very nature, it encourages us to be in touch with our feelings. By writing poetry, children sometimes reveal important issues in their lives that would go completely unnoticed unless they were written about. It takes a sensitive teacher to see what is invisible to many others. Children need to write about what hurts them and what they like. Through poetry, students can write about what they are grateful for in life. Here is a poem written by a very grateful 8th grader who happens to be my grandson, Matthew Joseph Feyh:

“I’m thankful.”

I am grateful for everything he has given me.

I am grateful for all my family.

I am grateful for a place to stay.

I am thankful for the warmth every night.

I am grateful for friends who care.

I am thankful for the food to spare.

I am thankful for grandparents who love.

Poetry encourages us to be the best person we can be on this planet, and it can help us save the planet. Dive into some poetry today!

Fashion changes every day. It’s hard to keep up with fashion. There is a craze in the youth to follow fashion trends. Fashion reflects change and variety.
Fashion is something that people either love or hate. Through the ages, different styles of fashion have come and gone, and many of them return to our clothing stores after a few years. Some people just can’t be bothered to keep up with the latest trends, while others just can’t get enough of the latest styles. Whether you love it or hate it, you’ll enjoy these interesting fashion facts.
Cotton is the most widely used clothing material, but it only became common in the mid-19th century, when Eli Whitney’s cotton gin made it easy to separate the cotton fibers from the seeds. Evidence of the earliest garments dates to between 100,000 and 500,000 years ago. Simple needles made from animal bones first appeared about 30,000 years ago. The bikini is named after the Bikini Atoll island, where the US military was testing its bombs in World War II. It was so named because its creator, Louis Réard, believed that the revealing suit would create an impact like that of the atomic bomb. Women’s nominal clothing sizes have increased in physical size over the years in a phenomenon known as “vanity sizes.” A size 8 dress with a 32-inch bust in 1967 is now considered a size 0 today. 10-25% of Western women do not wear a bra, and 75-85% of women wear the wrong size. Men’s shirt button on the right and women’s on the left.

Human beings yearn for change. Change adds spice and flavor to life. It is a major cause of the fashion craze. Nobody likes conventional, old-fashioned things. Following the latest fashion trends, young people try to show that they are novel and charming. Fashions have been one of the main causes of the progress of civilization. In fact, trends and prosperity are closely related. Fashions are contagious. When people meet, their contact with each other sets fashions and styles in vogue. Young men and women attending offices, educational institutions, etc. Imitate fashions easily.
Clothing has always been an important part of society, with evidence from the earliest human civilizations. In history, climate, religion, and political factors played a role in the making, style, and even color of the clothes people wore. Today the fashion industry is multi-faceted, and while climate and religion are still some factors in how we dress, there are many more influences on what we choose to wear. Time and time again, designers reference historical styles and bring them into modern trends.

One of the most common complaints you hear in the Phoenix area is the “cookie-cut” nature of the developments and homes in the Valley of the Sun. While this may be the case, there are certainly some unique properties available as well. For those of you looking for something a little off the beaten path, with Victorian flair and access to all the adventures that downtown Phoenix has to offer, Chateaux of Central may be the perfect choice.

These charming and distinctive red brick townhomes on Central Avenue boast a unique appearance. Chateaux on Central is a nod to the turn-of-the-century charm found in cities like New York, Boston, and Chicago. Topped by patina copper turrets, the development is immediately noticeable. The beautiful red brick masonry of Chateaux on Central is a unique feature of the property, a rare find in the Phoenix area. The overall result is a beautiful vintage aesthetic.

Chateaux on Central is a gated community featuring twenty-one luxury units ranging in size from 5,100 to 8,200 square feet. Potential residents can choose from six floor plans. The four-story units are the epitome of elegance, each with a dock, a private elevator, separate dining and rooftop terraces, a pool and spa, and a barbecue. In addition to these amenities, each unit at Chateaux on Central also includes two underground parking spaces, a must for summers in Arizona!

Located in the center of the city, the brownstones at Chateaux on Central sit right on Central Avenue at Palm Lane, making it easy to access downtown and all it has to offer. The brownstones are just a short walk from the light rail, perfect for those who love to work or play downtown. While it has long been the center of business in the valley, downtown Phoenix has seen a major renaissance in the last decade or so. With the opening of the light rail, the downtown scene is on the move. Some local favorites include: Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamond backs, First Friday’s, an art walk that takes place the first Friday of every month), Durant’s, a steakhouse in historic downtown , and Hanny’s, a converted former department store converted into a bar and restaurant. And the growth continues, with plans to open Le Crepe Nanou, BrewPublic Craft House, Huey’s 24/7 and Rasputin Vodka Bar in CityScape. Residents of Chateaux on Central will be in a prime position to enjoy both these newcomers and old favourites.

A victim of recession, Chateaux on Central sadly remained incomplete and vacant for a period of four years due to financial difficulties on the part of the original developer. However, these Phoenix brownstones were recently sold to MSI West Investors LLC. The company has hired a local homebuilder to complete the interiors of Chateaux on Central and finalize the project. This is an exciting development because the units will finally be available for purchase! Units at Chateaux on Central originally started at $2,150,000. However, in light of current economic conditions and changes, values ​​will be available.

The music industry has always been notoriously unpredictable, and the old A&R maxim that the cream always comes out on top is far from a fact. For any band that makes a living from their music, there are at least a thousand that never will, and the proportion of musicians who actually get rich through their work is even smaller. However, there is a general feeling (if not a real consensus) that the musicians who make it are there because, in some way, they are inherently better than the swathes of artists left in their wake.

This calls to mind Robert M. Pirsig’s question about quality: what makes something good? Is there really any objective standard by which that quality can be measured? Most people would say yes, as they can easily tell if a band is awesome or a bunch of untalented hackers, but when it comes down to it, this is just personal taste and opinion. Although certain technical qualities such as musicianship, structural complexity and production values ​​can be pointed to, the music is more than the sum of its parts: the Sex Pistols cannot be dismissed as not having the technical genius of Mozart, as neither can Stockhausen’s music be effectively ranked above or below that of Willie Nelson. It seems that when it comes to music, you have to instill in it a Philosophik Mercury that is as intangible as it is unpredictable. The only barometer by which we can judge is whether we like it or not. Or is there something else?

Recent history is littered with examples of works and artists that are now considered classics (or at least have become wildly popular) that were at first outright rejected by talent scouts, agents, or industry executives. Harry Potter, Star Wars, the Beatles – they all fall into this category, as does Pirsig’s classic work. Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, which was rejected 121 times. If phenomena of this magnitude could be overlooked, then what chance do artists of moderate talent ever have of being noticed? On the other hand, the entertainment sphere is teeming with performers who could never hope to be anything close to moderate talent. So does the entertainment industry really know what it’s doing, when so many of its predicted hits fail miserably and rejected unknowns keep popping up with hits on the charts? Recent research seems to suggest not.

Now that Web 2.0 is in full swing, social media is changing the way we access and perceive content. The age of digital music is upon us, and the ease with which new music can be obtained from unsigned bands has created a new economic model for distribution and promotion. Buzz itself is the latest buzz, and word-of-blog/IM/email has become a very powerful tool for aspiring artists. Combined with the fact that individual downloads now count towards a position in the official song chart, the cycle of promotion and distribution of new music can be carried out entirely online. But does such baffled convenience make it easier to predict what will become a hit?

The standard approach of major labels is to emulate what is already successful. At first glance, it seems like a perfectly valid strategy: If you pick a woman who looks a bit like Shania Twain, give her an album of songs that sound the same, an album cover with a similar design, and spend the same amount of money to promote it, then surely this new album will also be a success. Often, however, this is not the case; instead, another woman who possesses all these characteristics (with music of a similar quality) appears out of nowhere and continues to bask in a spell of pop stardom.

This approach is clearly flawed, but what’s the problem? It is this: the assumption that the millions of people who buy a particular album do so independently of one another. This is not how people (in the collective sense) consume music. Music is a social entity, as are the people who listen to it: it helps define social groups, creates a sense of belonging, identity and shared experience. Treating a group of such magnitude as if it were just a compilation of discrete units completely eliminates the social factors involved. While a single person, away from social influences, may choose to listen to Artist A, the same person in real life will meet the artists through their friends, either locally or online, and will end up listening to Artist A instead. Artists C and K, which may be of similar (or even lower) quality, but that’s not the real point. Music can have as much to do with image as with sound.

This raises more questions about quality: Is a song’s popularity based on some kind of chaos theory, all things being equal? Certainly, there is a cumulative advantage effect at work when promoting music: a song that is already popular has a better chance of becoming more popular than a song that has never been heard before. This is clearly seen on social networking sites like Digg and Reddit, where an article’s popularity can grow steadily until it reaches a certain critical mass of votes, at which point its readership suddenly explodes and it goes viral. Such snowballing effects have been known to bring fairly robust servers to their knees with incoming traffic.

Duncan J. Watts and colleagues recently conducted a fascinating study on the effects of social influence on an individual’s perception and consumption of music. The process was described in an article in the NY Times. Using their own Music Lab website, they studied the behavior of more than 14,000 participants to determine what factors influenced their selections.

Participants were asked to listen, rate and, if they wanted, download songs from bands they had never heard of. Some of the participants only saw the names of the songs and bands, while others also saw how many times the songs had been downloaded by previous participants. This second group, in what we call the social influence condition, was divided into eight parallel worlds so that participants could see previous downloads from people only in their own world. We didn’t manipulate any of these rankings: all artists in all worlds started out identically, with no downloads, but because the different worlds were kept separate, they subsequently evolved independently of one another.

Although the article does not provide information on the demographic details of the sample audience, given the nature of the medium (an online music site that assesses user behavior on online music sites) and the size of the sample, It is probably fair to assume that the results are reasonably indicative. It turns out that the study produced some very interesting revelations:

In all social influence worlds, the most popular songs were much more popular (and the less popular songs were less popular) than in the independent condition. At the same time, however, the particular songs that became hits were different in different worlds, just as cumulative advantage theory would predict. Introducing social influence into human decision-making, in other words, didn’t just make the hits bigger; it also made them more unpredictable.

Consistent with these results, an individual’s independent evaluation of a song is a much less significant factor in its success than social influence factors. The intrinsic quality of a song, if it can be measured at all, is outweighed by cumulative advantage, meaning that a few key votes at an early stage can radically alter the course of the overall selection process. This has some significant implications for musicians, producers, and promoters. Essentially, it means that no amount of market research can allow you to accurately predict which songs will be successful. The behavior of a few randomly chosen individuals early in the process, whose behavior is itself arbitrary in nature, is eventually amplified by cumulative advantage in determining whether a song advances to the next level. The randomness of such a process means that unpredictability is actually inherent in the