How to Make Money in the Global Economic Crisis

We have been told that the economy is in very bad shape and everyone will suffer. The sky is suppose to fall and we all should run for cover and prepare for the worst. Everyone can lose their job or already has lost a job and so on. But the ones that still continue to make profits, no matter how deep the recession, are internet marketers.

People who are determined always come to the surfice and prevail during tough times. Internet marketers are not talking about how to cut costs, the growth of their business is on their minds. And not just single or double digit growth, but triple digit growth.

The big problem why most people suffer, when the economy suffers, is that they are not in control of their lives. Everyone has to go to work and make money for someone else. If a business makes double or triple digit growth then your salary may only increase by a few dollars, if you are lucky. But the owners of the business get all the money.

But if you are an internet marketer, you are the business owner

Your future is in your hands and you can triple the revenue. Isn't this great?

No matter how bad the economic state is, more and more people will make their purchases online. It is cheaper, more comfortable, they get more information and so on. You just have to find the right people and help them out and if you help people, then you will get money for it.

People always have problems and they buy stuff to make the problem go away. If you have skin problems then you buy skin cream, if you are overweight you buy weight loss related products, if your dog is chewing your sofa then you look for dog training products, if your ex dumped you and you want to get back together then you look for help and advice.

Millions and millions of people have BIG problems and they want to get them solved NOW. And they are willing to spend money for it. You can make a lot of profits if you search for problems that people have and help them out. You can help people out and make money.

The opportunities to make money online as an internet marketer, even in the global economic crisis is huge and you can get started today. Of course you will not make huge profits right away but if you work hard then you can make over $8000 a month in just after 6 months of working. This is exactly the amount that a high school student made with Wealthy Affiliates - the number one training program for internet marketers online.

There is NO program, service, e-book, or product anywhere online that is similar to Wealthy Affiliate. Regardless of your experience level, we will teach you how to improve your current financial situation. Whether you are looking to earn an extra $500 a month or an extra $15,000 per month, our system provides you with a blueprint of how to succeed in making money online. If you join Wealthy Affiliates you will get Beating Adwords, a $67 BONUS for free!

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Looking For a Job - Become the 1 Out of 100,000

I could not believe my ears when I heard that Delta had an opening for 1000 new flight attendants. 1000 new employees! That in itself is pretty incredible... but as the story continued, I learned that 100,000 people actually applied. 100,000!!! If you don't think our nation is on the brink of a turning point, think again. The fact that 100,000 people applied for a job that could only take 1000 is mind boggling. As a country, we have absolutely gotten away from the one thing that we were founded on to begin with, small businesses. We have been trained to "work for the man" instead of trained on how to create something from nothing. Can you imagine what our world would look like if we stopped being copy cats and started actually pushing ourselves enough to see what we were actually made of?! Can you imagine what we as individuals would look like if we were able to get up each morning and do what we loved instead of doing what we had to do?! That's why I am so stinking passionate about entrepreneurship!!! It is one of the most amazing ways to prove to yourself that, YES, I CAN! Sure, it's not always easy. Sure, some days are longer than others, more stressful than others, and require more responsibility than others but in my opinion, it's better then the alternative.

One lady who had applied for a position with Delta was quoted, "I realized that I didn't want to work a 9 to 5 job". Here, Here! I agree. I don't want that either. I want to experience freedom. I want to see what I am really made of. I want to create something from nothing. I want to be a part of something bigger. What do you want?! Don't be one of the 100,000 that is applying for 1 of the 1000 positions at Delta. Be one of the few who decides to take him or herself on and decides to do something about their own future. YOU have everything you need on the inside of you to be successful, when are you going to realize that?! YOU are the only you in this entire world who can do what you do, when are you going to see that? YOU can actually make the "impossible" possible in your life, when are you going to believe that?!

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The French Revolution, the Russian Revolution And the Present Third World

Talks of revolution are in the air in the third world. The South Asia is being considered the centre for it. The strength of the hypothesis will be revealed in the future only. But the frustration of the masses in the poverty ridden third world is mounting along with the price hike. The people are fed up with the slogans and theories. However, the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution are more than the slogans and the theories. They are the result-oriented happenings. The world has been given a lot of heroes and villains by these two important historical events. Today's world is the global village where the tenants are the stake holders of one an other while the feudal lords are the stake holders among themselves. The tenants and the working class are more than the lords and the capitalists. The French Revolution and the Russian Revolution have proved that the groups, greater in number, won. The Russian Revolution in general and the French Revolution in particular are being used as a metaphor for the modern revolution. In the present third world, only the poor are not against the elite. The educated middle class is in forefront against the aristocrats. S.A. Smith gives a very fine analysis of this factor involved in the Russian Revolution. He writes," As early as the 1830s a social group had emerged that stood outside the system of social estates. This was the characteristically, Russian group, known as the intelligentsia, defined less by its socio-economic position than its critical stance towards the autocracy."(The Russian Revolution, a Very Short Introduction Chapter 1)

Present world is the world of electronic communication. So a peaceful revolution is expected as the ruling class is having wide opportunity to read the writing on the wall. However, today's violence is more dangerous. If the revolution comes, it will be different from the previous revolutions as the world has changed. There are a lot of similarities between the two revolutions which suggests that the present conditions in the third world will not stay for a long time. They match with the pre-revolution conditions prevailing in France and Russia. The French Revolution and the Russian Revolution occurred as a result of efforts and sacrifices of the common person of those two ages. Political leadership emerged with the passage of time. The intellectual played their role on another front. The Russian Revolution is not being idealized today because it is directly attached with the economic theory which is considered impractical. However, the both revolutions gave confidence to the lower classes which were deprived economically and politically.

The revolutions also proved that the privileged class never surrenders easily. They proved that the common person is stronger than the elite and the economic factor is the most important and the first motivating factor in the world. The political systems introduced by the dictators were inefficient as well as ineffective. The public representatives were expected to be the blind followers of the king. In the seventeenth and the eighteenth century, the king was absolute in France. Similar conditions were prevailing in the twentieth century Russia where Lenin had to flee to Finland. Lois XIV of France and Nicholas II of Russia did not learn from their mistakes. The General Estates of France had not met since 1614. Similarly, the Dumas of 1906 had no control over the state affairs. In fact, both the king wanted to eat their cake and had it. They did not surrender the power.

The poor made them do so. The conditions in the present third world are the same. One of the few differences is that the people having control over state affairs are greater in number and constitute a system much similar to Fascism. The rulers are totally insensitive to the problems of the masses.

Before the two revolutions, the peasants and the working class were highly dissatisfied. They were suppressed, not only politically, but also economically. They had no control over state affairs whereas they were enforced to pay heavy taxes. In France only the working class paid the taxes while in Russia, the conditions were almost the same. On account of it, the acts of terrorism became common. During the French Revolution, the hidden wrath of the deprived classes erupted and they beheaded three thousand people from the elite class.

In Russia, the anger was expressed before the revolution. The same scenario is expected in the third world. I am sure about it as the Russian Revolution was the replica of the French Revolution, the next revolution will be the replica of the Russian revolution. The working class, before the revolutions, moved to the cities and the situation became deteriorated.

Today, same thing is happening in the third world countries. If the population goes on moving towards the urban areas, their will be shortage of food and administrative crises. The big population will be used to in flare the anti-state activities. This will make the situation similar to those which brought the two revolutions.

Today, almost every country in the third world is engaged in a war against a group or a country. War and destruction are synonym in the economic context. War is fought with the blood of the lower class as their tax is used to kill their neighbors. In 1788, France was paying the debt of the wars which were fought one hundred years ago. In 1917, Russia was fighting wars on many fronts. During this year, the number of the casualities was one million. War was doing heavy losses. It was the economic depression, created by the wars that led the prices soaring to the sky. In Russia, in 1917, the prices of the food rose 500 to 700 percent. And in France the bread became scarce due the state's pro-war policies. The soldiers lost the spirit in the result less war. So they were ready to welcome any set of reforms that could stop the war. In this way, the ground for the revolutions was prepared.

This provided the politicians with an ample opportunity to get the support of the armed forces. Civil War (1918-1922) between the Red Russian and the White Russian was the result of the opposition of war from the Bolsheviks. Similarly, in France, the groups who were in the favor of war were killed by the revolutionaries.

Intellectuals have always opposed the war. Marx and Voltaire, along with the others intellectuals highlighted the exploitation that was being done by the rich under the umbrella of so called national prestige. Abbes Sieyes in 1787 said,"What is third state? Everything." The third state is one of the general Estates of France

that comprised of the poor.

In Russia, the religion was indirectly involved in the exploitation of the masses. S.A. Smith says about the Russian Revolution:

"The collapse of autocracy was rooted in a crisis of modernization." (The Russian Revolution, a Very Short Introduction, Chapter 1). Modern world is a Sphinx that puts a riddle before the main stake-holders of the world. If they are unable to solve it, she kills them. It is going to happen with the rulers of the third world. It is an established fact that today the civil rights cannot be suppressed in the name of religion. In France, the clergy was directly involved in looting the public. They were small in number but owned ten to fifteen percent of the land. They were exempted from every kind of tax. This was the thing that pinched the poor. In the present third world, the conditions are not different.

Only the common people pay the tax. The clergy has got the right to mix the politics with the religion. Soil of the third world is so fertile that million tons of grain is produced but 80 percent of the population is living either in poverty or below the poverty line. As the upper hierarchy and the clergy are corrupt, the common person has no respect for law and no regard for the religious values. Most of the third world countries are being ruled by military-clergy-feudal alliance. But now, the free media is highlighting the situation and motivating the common person to struggle for their rights.

The poor have been deprived of the basic facilities of life. They were deprived in the 18th century in France and in the 20th century in Russia. Thomas Carlyle writes about the plight of the masses before French Revolution in the following words:

"............their hand and toil is in every possession of man; but for themselves, they have little or no possession. Untaught, uncomforted, unfed; to pine dully in thick obscuration, in squalid destitution and obscuration, this is the lot of the millions..." (The French Revolution, a History, Book 1).

Today, the militaries of the third world countries are armed with the modern weapons but the children and the women are no more than worms creeping and prone to death at any time. And the shameless elite class and the hypocrite clergy are proud of them. The situation is so deteriorated that the things are no more going to improve. The revolution is imminent which will wipe out the exploiters and the present depressed class will be the rulers.

Today, the feudal are unable to defeat the positive minded scientists. They are hurdle in the propagation of education. But the doors of informal education through media are for everyone. Franois Fret says about the similarities of the situations in the following words:

"The passing of time may weaken.......sense of identification or on the contrary preserve and even strengthen its depending on whether the subject treated by the historian does or does not express the issue of his own time, his values and his choice." (Interpreting the French Revolution, Book 1, Part 1)

One should not expect the hundred percent same conditions in two given situations. Similarities should be kept in consideration. Only then the Aristotle's theory of identification will be applicable. The situation in the present third world supports the phenomenon.

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True Cost Economics

What's the price of your lifestyle? Is your living room furnished in blood, or your wardrobe woven of pain and suffering? How about your body - are you fed with diminishment and despair? Every piece of merchandise we buy costs a set amount of work, energy and resources. What we pay for it in cash may - or may not - reflect what went into its making. If we buy cheaply, at a discount store where prices are kept artificially low, then the price is paid by others who have to suffer to make up for the portion of the price we refused to pay. If we allow others to negotiate for costs that leave too small of a margin for fair wages or adequate health concerns, then the price is paid by the destablization of the land and the people and the societies that produce it. But our bargain hunting gets us nowhere. In the end, we pay the full price, with interest - in wars brought about by people pushed too far, by terrorism and riots sparked by those who feel (often rightly) that their people and their land are being drained of life so that the rest of us can buy or drive cheap toys that we don't even appreciate, by environmental degradation that affects us all perpetrated by those simply too powerful to be stopped or too poor to care as long as they can eat and live. We must all face the inevitable fact that human suffering doesn't stop at the suffering human in question, but ripples out to all of us. No matter what the actual price tag says we pay in full measure for what we buy and use, either in cash or in kind. By choosing to buy less and choose more wisely, we allow ourselves the financial breathing space to afford the better, fairer-priced option, and we step away from supplying the negative cycles of economic hardship. Our actions heal rather than harm, support rather than undermine. And in the end, by working together we can give birth to positive, more equitable cycles where everybody benefits fairly and justly and where everyone gets a chance to demand as well as supply. Yes, this does mean that we can't load our carts, our houses and our bodies to overflowing every time we step outside our door. But by choosing quality over quantity, we create better health and a better world for those around us and for ourselves. And that's priceless.

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Psychology Explores Human Interaction And Motivations

By definition, psychology is the science of explaining mental processes and behavior. Our world is constantly changing; people are interacting more than ever with each other due to the world wide web, which is providing a new source of communication. More colleges and universities are now making it mandatory for students to take courses in human behavior in order to promote a better perception of the different cultures being brought closer together by the advancement in technology.

An introduction into the area of psychology covers many different aspects of this field, allowing students to explore that which they are most interested in and or might want to specialize in. Many times students who are required to take this class think they will be bored, then discover they are fascinated with the content and decide to take an advanced course to learn more. It is also possible to study this area through online courses, which can be very useful for people who are planning to work in (or are already in) a job that involves interacting with people.

Basic knowledge of why we do the things we do can be applied to all aspects of our lives and can prove to be invaluable when dealing with difficult situations - no matter in what area they occur. Students who wish to work in the area of human resources need to understand a wide variety of issues such as hiring, job loss, and resolving conflicts, which can be found in this diverse field. How we think, communicate, and behave - including human sexuality - is part of this entry level course study.

Mental health problems such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and eating disorders are explored. The signs and symptoms, ways in which to diagnose the illness, the related course of treatment, and the prognosis are also covered in the curriculum. That science is used in all aspects of psychology can come as a surprise to many students. This is seen in neuroscience, which studies the physical makeup of the brain in conjunction with the various processes that occur with decision making and other behavioral patterns of life.

In today's psychology, there are two main areas of concentration. The first is the study of the diverse subtopics - such as personality and social development - which is referred to as Academic Psychology. The second is known as Applied Psychology, which puts varies principles into practice to resolve real world problems.

There are also sub-fields and specialty areas that exist within the field of psychology; an example of this is Cognitive Psychology, which is the study of human thought process or Industrial-Organizational Psychology that uses research to increase work performance, and various ways to select a possible future employee. One of the more recent popular areas is Forensic Psychology, which is used in the legal and criminal justice system. Also becoming more in demand is Social psychology, which includes the behavior of groups and nonverbal forms of communication.

Of course, the typical role of psychologist and patient still exists. With advanced and new research into old theories, the importance of the clinical setting remains high. Also with these progresses, many more job opportunities are possible for psychologist such as in the area of sports, the media, and human aging.

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A Review of "Metallica and Philosophy"

The book that is the subject of this review is Metallica and Philosophy: A Crash Course in Brain Surgery, edited by William Irwin and published 2007. It is part of a growing genre of books that examine such pop culture icons as The Matrix movies, the Lord of the Rings series, The Simpsons television show, and others through the lens of philosophy. The book is made up of a series of twenty short essays examining the band Metallica, the interpersonal relationships between the members, and the lyrics in the context of some of the main ideas of Western Philosophy.

The main purpose of the book, and the series as a whole, is to introduce the average reader to the "great ideas" of philosophy while providing a more entertaining venue. Philosophy is very often studied only in places of higher learning and only grudgingly by its students, who must force themselves to delve deeply into the reading material and gain what insight they can. Knowledge of this sort does not come easily, and attempting to answer the most profound questions of existence and being human requires difficult thinking. Thus, the editors of the series seek to show that studying philosophy can be more entertaining, though, and "thinking deeply about TV, movies, and music doesn't make you a 'complete idiot.' In fact it might make you a philosopher, someone who believes the unexamined life is not worth living and the unexamined cartoon is not worth watching." Metallica, as one of the most successful bands in history, gets the philosophical treatment in this installment in the series.

As a student who took numerous philosophy courses in college and who has read another installment in this series (The Simpsons and Philosophy), these kinds of books have always been intriguing. The question begs to be asked: is the book written for philosophers interested in Metallica, or Metallica fans interested in philosophy, or is there a difference? It is unlikely that many Metallica fans will find themselves in the Philosophy section of their local Borders unless they are interested in philosophy. But it is equally difficult to imagine the stereotypical college professor picking up a book titled Metallica and Philosophy. However, the fact that over twenty authors contributed to this series of essays shows that there are a number of professors, authors, and students of philosophy who also share an appreciation for the biggest heavy metal band of all time. The themes that are found in the book also show that the authors knew the lyrics and history of Metallica well enough to offer valuable insights as to the philosophical context of Metallica's work.

With twenty essays contained in the book, it is impossible to review every theme presented. The essays serve as introductions to the great questions of philosophy, and use James Hetfield's lyrics as the greatest source material. Issues such as insanity and capital punishment are examined through various songs, as well as the band's relationship with religion and the answer to the meaning of life. Quite heavy topics, no doubt. However, each essay is written with the ultimate goal or readability in mind. While the themes often examine the abstract, the authors use frequent examples, such as quoting lyrics, or use anecdotal examples from the history of the band. This makes the ideas much easier to understand and the essays do not get caught up in long period of exposition on esoteric matters. Many of the essays could have been slightly longer for a fuller discussion of the issues, but the length of each was sufficient to raise a theme, examine it in the context of philosophical thought, and lay out some conclusions or areas for further research.

Besides analyzing lyrics, though, a number of the essays also examine the overall context and history of Metallica, and attempt to answer some of the more contentious points raised over the years. These include the issue of the band "selling out," their image of nonconformity with traditional rock roles, and Lars' battle with internet file-sharing website Napster. Did Metallica sell out when they released an alternative hard rock album (LOAD)? What role did nonconformity play in shaping Metallica and why can they not return to it ever again? Was Napster about money or something more, and was Lars' argument fundamentally correct? The answers are examined in detail in the book, and they may not be what the reader expects. As one of the authors writes, "Hey, philosophers are supposed to be objective -- I don't like it anymore than you do!" But these events and themes are the ones most often discussed when speaking of Metallica, who have been accused of selling out since their second album in 1984. The old arguments of either side are given new teeth when examined through the context of philosophy.

The book is a a welcome introduction or reintroduction for Metallica fans to philosophical ideas and thinking. For the serious philosopher who has spent time reading the original works cited in the essays, it may be just a casual summary of the themes in a heavy metal context. But for Metallica fans who desire to know more about the motivations of the band and get inside their heads, as well as understand the reasons that they find themselves drawn to Metallica and heavy metal in general, Metallica and Philosophy provides an ideal overview of these most important concepts.

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Tips for Creating a Yearbook for Home Schooled Kids

One of the sad parts about being home schooled is that you get to miss out on the usual high school experiences that take place in an actual school. If you have been home schooled all your life, there are a lot of social experiences that you may have skipped such as a prom, hanging out with your friends and even a real high school graduation. There are now several ways you can have your own experience with these events. All you need is to organize your own.

You have to know that just because you have been home schooled, there is no reason why you should prohibit yourself from these experiences. One of the easy high school experiences that you can have for yourself is having your own graduation yearbook. This is easy to make, especially if you are familiar with other people who are also being home schooled in your area. Otherwise, you can gather your siblings and invite them to make your own yearbook. Here are the things you need in order to create your own yearbook:

• Have a committee. Gather other home schooled kids who are going to graduate with you. Invite them to gather information about the whole homeschooling experience as well as take lots of pictures.

• Document everything and anything. No matter what experience you have in home school, you should take pictures so that you will be able to post them on your yearbook.

• Include messages and the speeches. If there are any important events, messages, and lectures that you go through, document them. These are the things that will make your homeschooling experience most memorable. And by safekeeping them in your yearbook, you will be able to reminisce about them whenever you want.

• Have the pages printed. As soon as the pages are ready, have them printed by a professional and have the pages bound together. If you don't have the budget for it, you can collect the pages and have them printed on good quality paper. You can then just make a scrapbook on your own.

Your homeschooling should not mean you are different from the other kids. By having your own share of high school experiences, you will be able to enjoy your education as much as the other kids!

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Ohms Will Not Kill You

Amps Will Kill You

A few weeks ago my son and I got off on a digression that led to a nearly two hour debate about which was the killing factor in getting electrocuted. I honestly got so engrossed in the debate I really cannot even recall how the subject came up; but somehow I ended up making the comment, "... it's not the voltage that will kill you, it's the amps," to wit my teenage son was all too eager to correct, stating "... it's not the amps, it is the ohms that is the cause of death in electrocution." Okay, game afoot, please clarify.

Tyler decided that he had been convinced by a former teacher and science textbook that it was in fact the very fact that the human body had a natural resistance (ohms) that made would cause its death should electricity be introduced. Really?

So most assuredly, we "debated" the issue back and forth for some time, swapping analogies, examples and factoids to better make our respective cases... all to no avail; we simply could not agree. Ironically, we really seemed to be talking about the very same thing, but we were looking at it from different perspectives and understanding it from different points of view. But honestly, I really felt we were talking about the same thing and merely using and understanding the definitions on different levels. My position was that the "introduction" of electricity into the body was an unnatural offense to it and the fact that the body has a natural ohm was not the culprit, but the electricity that contained enough amps (0.5 amps by the way is all it takes to kill a human) to kill the individual, while Tyler maintained that the body's ohm resistance being present stopped the electricity from passing through the body and hence rendered it "dead". Hmm... let's think on that a moment; nope, back to arguing!

Communication Failure
After unsuccessful attempts and an hour later trying to prove my case, I did not give up, but I did offer a challenge and reward. I would allow Tyler access to my computer, books and any reference material he could find within an hour and if he could prove me wrong, by an authoritative source, I would give $10 for helping me see the light... sorry, the pun just slipped. However, as a former non-commissioned officer in the Army, I was taught to make use of available resources which I have tried with little success to impart to my children. As such, I felt it only fair to also offer up my phone for the research... "Call your grandfather who spent over 40 years of his life as an electrician, meaning that every single day of his career and the majority of his life, he's had to live or die by the very knowledge which you are seeking." With that, I handed him my phone and walked away to allow him optimal concentration and use of faculties for proving me wrong. Good luck.

Now, I knew the answer, not because of my own education, but from my father who survived life as an (electrical) lineman with the knowledge that a little amp goes a long way. After a few minutes, I re-entered the room to find my son busily typing at the computer researching the Internet looking for any source that would prove him right, and me wrong... and apparently grandpa too!

"What did Grandpa Gordon say?" I asked upon entry to the back of Tyler's slumped over body steadily pecking at the keyboard.

"Amps will kill ya!" and then he hung up, Tyler informed me.

Yep, sounds like grandpa - short, succinct and sure; case closed. Not so fast...

Communication Errors Kill
What started out as an intended correction of the old man to put me in my place, migrated over to a debate, and evolved into an exercise in communication. Again, in essence, we were really talking about the same thing: the amps are the "killing agent" in electrical shock and because of the body's natural resistance, it is almost always a deadly introduction when the two meet. However, we were so headstrong in our positions and being proven right, that we failed to see the common ground that we were standing in - we were talking about the same thing but failing to hear the commonality enabling us to reach an agreement and move forward...

You know, maybe ohms do kill you... if you're too resistant to communication?

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Population Distribution or Structure

 Sex, Occupational and Geographical Distributions

Sex distribution
The sex distribution refers to the classification of a given population according to sex or gender (male or female). Sex distribution can easily be obtained from a population census of a given country which shows the total number of males and the total number of females.

A knowledge of the total number of makes and females in a country will assist the government to make the necessary plans to cater for the population. If, for example, the population of the female is higher than that of the males, it means government will have to plan to provide goods and services for more people because such a country will give rise to high population. Nature has, however tried to balance the number of males with that of the female in such a way that the differences in number between the two is usually very small.

Occupational distributions
Occupational distribution of a population refers to the classification of the working population into different types of work they engage in. The occupational distribution in any population is influenced by a number of factors. These include:

1. The level of education
2. Availability of natural resources
3. The level of technology
4. The types of productive activities.

The major types of productive activities are primary (extractive), manufacturing, construction, commercial, direct and indirect services. In west Africa for instance, majority of the occupationally distributed population are found in farming, mining fishing and lumbering.

Geographical distribution
Geographical distribution of a given population refers to the spread of people into separate geographical areas within a country. The distribution may be due to occupational, presence of mineral resources, historical factors, seat of government, availability of social amenities etc. Reasons for high population density due to geographical distribution are: favorable climate, fertile soil, natural attachment/historical factors, administrative headquarters, employment opportunities, presence of minerals, presence of industries, presence of social amenities and infrastructure, commercial activities and migration.

Economic Implications or Effects of Increase in the Population of Dependants
The Dependants are the population that are between 0-17 years, which include the infants, pupils in nursery, primary, secondary and those in tertiary institutions, and the old age (over 60 years that are not working) but depend on the working population (18-60 years) to cater for all their needs or requirement. If the population of the dependents is higher than that of the working class it has the following economic implications: high taxation, increase in prices, increase in government expenditures, low savings, low investment, fall in standard of living, increase in demand for goods and services, increase in imports, decrease in exports and low supply of labor.

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Leadership Qualities - Creating and Leading a Culture of Change

Let's just fantasize for a moment and try to visualise an organisational environment where people don't fear change but actually welcome it. This feels a bit like John Lennon's "Imagine"!

What would it take to make this possible? Is this possible?

A "readiness for change" culture is essentially a culture that is not only ready for change, but is also a culture that accepts change and even thrives on it.

So what does a "readiness for change" culture look like?

(1) An informed workforce

An informed workforce can be defined as a workforce that understands both the organisational vision, strategy and objectives and yet at the same time understands how what they do individually and as teams in their everyday work moves the organisation towards (or away from) these objectives.

When an informed workforce sees the organisational "big picture," they are far better equipped to make good decisions and to come up with innovative and problem solving ideas.

(2) An empowered workforce

An empowered workforce is allowed and encouraged to initiate day-to-day improvements on their own authority.

Because they are informed, they can exercise their empowerment, as they know what impact it will have; plus, they are more likely to act quickly and responsively.

An empowered workforce is re-inforced with the knowledge of their boundaries and has the freedom to exercise their decision rights (without interference) within the security of these well-defined and universally recognised boundaries.

(3) An outspoken workforce

An outspoken workforce is one that is encouraged to identify and discuss important issues they would in any other circumstances be either unaware of or unwilling to address - you could call this a preparedness to "speak the unspeakable".

An outspoken workforce that is informed and empowered recognises that these difficult issues are often the key to unblocking serious log-jams and will speak out, whereas the typical un-informed and un-empowered workforce will often feel that these issues are just "too sensitive", or too "politically difficult" or just plain fraught to openly expressed.

What are the leadership qualities that make all this possible?

First and foremost the leadership qualities that build and create a "change readiness" culture are totally focused on understanding and "reverse-engineering" the critical disconnects between organisational leadership and management, and the rest of the non-management employees. These disconnects can be summarized as an organisational management and leadership that is detached from direct feedback from the frontline and the human consequences of their decisions.

This is all about moving away from the prevalent transactional leadership style with its reward and punishment mechanisms to gain compliance, and moving towards facilitative leadership that engages directly with the informal networks and aspects of the organisation.

This isn't so hard for organisational leadership to take on board and enact once they realise that in so doing they are dealing directly with the crustacean rock bottom root causes of resistance to change whilst simultaneously unleashing a flood of new innovations and solutions.

Trouble is that are still way too many organisational leaders who act like "monkeys with their fists stuck in the jar" and who clench their fists as they hang onto to the "sweeties" of command and control.

And we all know what happened to the monkeys....

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What Did Albert Einstein Invent?

Albert Einstein without question remains a significant part of history. Throughout the course of his lifetime, he contributed to several breakthroughs and inventions. Although many are documented, surely there are a few missed at some point. In any case, here is a review of some of the inventions notable to Albert Einstein's life.

A Brief History

Albert Einstein continues to exist as one of the greatest physicists ever known. The man of supreme scientific intelligence arrived into this world on March 14, 1879 in Germany. Ultimately, he advanced the world's way of thinking in regards to the physical world.

Six weeks following his birth, his family left Württemberg for Munich. This became the location where he started his early academics. His father, Hermann Einstein worked as an engineer and salesperson. When he was five, his father gave him a compass. Many attribute this time in his life as the starting point for his success as an adult. His father's gift led to an early fascination with trying to discover why the compass always pointed north.

Albert Einstein attended the University of Zurich, receiving his doctorate in 1905. This followed a presentation on his theoretical dissertation, which introduced a novel type of calculation for determining the size of molecules. The same year also became his most successful year with making discoveries.

Albert Einstein's Inventions

Most of Einstein's inventions were rather discoveries and theories. Regardless, his accomplishments throughout history are many. In general, most of his contributions were to the four major areas of science. These areas are known as energy, gravity, light, and time.

Brownian Motion

The Brownian motion is among the first of Albert Einstein's contributions. Originally, in 1827 the botanist Robert Brown discovered floating plant spores in motion under a microscope. From this, he postulated that the random movement related to molecules hitting the spores. However, Einstein became the first to offer statistical predictions in support of the random distribution and the motion of particles in fluid. Later experiments confirmed his theory.

Special Theory of Relativity

Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity provided one of the first dependable explanations on the interaction of radiation and matter when observed concurrently by bystanders moving at a consistent speed and the bystanders at standstill. He based this theory according to the principle of relativity. From this, he derived the correct description of physical events within various inertial frames of reference. This lead to his creating the famous formula E=MC².

Einstein's inventions after 1905

1911 - Why Is the Sky Blue?

Einstein determined this in 1911 by determining the detailed formulas calculations for light dispersion from molecules. Later this was confirmed by the experiment "Why Is the Sky Blue?"

1916 - General Theory of Relativity

In 1916, Einstein expanded on his special theory of relativity. In turn, this resulted in the general theory of relativity. By doing this, it allowed for the theories application across uniform and non-uniform systems of motion. Ultimately, the general theory is concerned with the large-scale affects of gravitation.

Essentially, the theory determines the equivalence of inertial and gravitational mass. It further allows for a deeper understanding on a gravitational field forms by curvatures produced in space-time time material bodies, which is further determined by its curvature. Ultimately, it gives a deeper understanding into the meaning of gravity.

1921 - Law of Photoelectric effect

He discovered this law through his general theory of relativity.

1924 - Bose-Einstein Condensate

The Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) has to do with the phase of matter relating to solid gas, liquid, and plasma. This resulted when the 1924 Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose sent a paper to Einstein on the Pank Law from which Einstein generalized the theory to an ideal gas of identical atoms or molecules in which the numbers of particles are conserved. Within the same year, he predicted that at extremely low temperatures the particles would lock together or overlap in the lowest quantum state of the system, resulting in the Bose Einstein statistics.

1926 - Einstein Refrigerator

The refrigerator he invented in 1926 worked as an absorption refrigerator and required no moving parts or electricity to operate. All it required was heat to work. Therefore, it only needed something such as a small gas burner. His former student jointly helped with his invention of the refrigerator.

Overall, Albert Einstein lived as one of the most acclaimed physicists of our time. Ultimately, he lived as a great thinker, discoverer, and inventor. The above are just a handful of how many theories and inventions he created.

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What Does Gold Symbolize In Literature?

Gold has accompanied the history of human kind from its very beginnings. The story of gold and its symbolism starts with the first person who ever dug out a gold nugget. In different ages in the evolution of man, gold gathered many legends around it, stimulating the imagination with its beauty.

In contemporary popular tales, gold is present very often. There is always a main character who is supposed to go on a quest for a gold bird, a tree with gold apples, a gold fish, a gold castle. These tales are a collection of beliefs widely spread especially among the people living in rural areas, and enriched with details by each generation. Gold is considered the ultimate value and the journey made for finding it always turns out to be rewarding. In the end the hero either marries a beautiful princess, manages to save someone dear from a danger or receives half of the kingdom. The voyage towards the gold target usually represents the evolution of a person from adolescence to adulthood. Reaching gold signifies gaining knowledge and experience on the world.

In cultures different from ours, like the Egyptian one, gold used to be associated with religion very much. This was the result of their considering the god of the sun Ra their supreme god. Gold is directly associated with the color and the brightness of the sun. In Ancient Egypt it didn't represent a commercial value, being used only by the pharaohs and by the priests in religious rituals. The respect of the Egyptian people for gold is documented in Eloise Jarvis McGraw' s children novel "The Golden Goblet".

Another aspect tightly connected with gold is the gold rush. This phenomenon happened in waves as new mines were discovered throughout the world. The very famous American writer Mark Twain, in his attempt to find gold, came home with several stories behind the gold dream, stuck to him because of his artistic sensibility. He captured in short stories like "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" on a cheerful narrative tone which characterizes his works, episodes of the life of gold miners.

Nowadays no one is searching for lost treasures chests anymore. People have become more realistic and very connected with the economic reality. Nevertheless gold has remained an asset and buying gold represents a guarantee against the fluctuations in the financial world.

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A Brief History of OPEC

OPEC, an abbreviation for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, was created in Baghdad in September, 1960. The original participating countries were Kuwait, Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Throughout the '60s and '70s, nine other counties joined, some of which have suspended their memberships. The objective of this intergovernmental organization is to unify petroleum policies among countries that are members of OPEC. This ensures that prices for petroleum will remain fair and that those investing in the industry will have a fair return on their investments.

Starting in the '70s and into the '80s, OPEC gained international distinction. In 1973 and 1979, oil prices spiked because of the volatility of the market. A new era of cooperation was established, which enabled a more stable petroleum economy to form. In the '80s, prices weakened and then crashed altogether in 1986, due to the public's turn away from petroleum as a fuel source. Many of OPEC's members had a tough economic time as revenue dipped below 33% of earlier revenue amounts. Toward the end of the 1980s, fuel prices began to recover, but only accounted for about half of the revenue OPEC members were used to. At about this time, environmental issues sprang into light as an important international consideration.

In the '90s, prices were less dramatic than in the two previous decades. However, generally weak prices dominated in the decade, especially with the South-East Asia economic slump. By 1998, petroleum prices were equivalent to 1986 costs. Still, recovery in the market followed as OPEC sought fairness in how the oil supply should be treated following the Earth Summit in 1992. One country deserted OPEC altogether, as another suspended its affiliation with the organization.

From 2000 to 2010, skyrocketing oil prices have been seen. Because of several forces in the market and speculation, 2004 experienced high prices, despite the well-supplied market of crude oil. In 2005, a long-term strategy was formulated in regards to environmental efforts. Prices continued to climb to record heights in 2008, until the economic recession. OPEC became highly involved in addressing the global economic recession during this time, as one country joined the efforts of OPEC while another reactivated its membership and one suspended its membership.

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Vision to Succeed

HOW TO GET THE VISION YOU NEED TO SUCCEED.

We all want to succeed; at least most of us!

This is a test that can determine how you go after the vision you need to succeed in life. It is very important to know where you are on the life wheel, which includes things like material needs, spiritual needs, psychological needs, physical needs, mental needs, and so much more. If we are not "balanced" in our life wheel, something will seem amiss.

The wheel helps you consider each area of your life in turn and assess what's off balance. And so, it helps you identify areas that need more attention.

Circle: Career, Money, Physical, Personal Growth, Health, Friends/Family, Romance, Fun and Recreational.

What is missing? 3 things we do:

1) Deny things we want
2) Tolerate things that don't work
3) Not giving time for things in life that need attn.

We have learned that success is measured by money. We succeed by growing.

We must stop living in fear. Decide what we want out of our life. We must get rid of our "inner critic" (could have a whole committee) Also called Monkey Mind. This is the way they think!

Rate yourself: 10 very satisfied being 10. Now, figure out where you need to work on! Good Luck!

• Only one or two choices or no choice at all.
• Black and white or either/or thinking
• Decision making based on fear
• I should or I have to versus I want to
• Acceptance that this is the way the world is
• Breathing is constricted, chest tight.

Ask someone who truly loves you to see if you "are a fit" for Monkey Mind!!!!

Exercise: Stand up: "I should....." Then I want." You will be neutralizing your inner critic. Begin by noticing, observing - Choose a perspective, make a choice, notice our story, have fun, use intuition, honor your values. Get facts - consult a trusted friend

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Ecosystem Economics

It is not easy to miss the signs of destruction of nature where ever one goes. Tall skyscrapers and the large cranes building them are a constant feature of every city in the world. Mountains of granite and rocks are being flattened, trees cut and rivers diverted to provide the raw materials for the construction industry. It is estimated that about 90% of all non-fuel mineral use and a large proportion of timber use goes into the construction industry. It is easy to fuel economic growth, especially in the short term with no regard to the damage that it is causing on longer term environmental and social sustainability. What we need to find are imaginative and constructive solutions, that not only fuel growth and economic development, but also restore to the earth some of her natural bounties.

There have been some experiments for restoration of forests and mangroves that have yielded multi-million dollar returns. These are the projects that need to be highlighted, as a recent report by the UN Environment Programme titled Dead Planet, Living Planet: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration for Sustainable Development has done. Of course, what we need to do first is preserve the ecosystems that we already have, but given the fact that over 60% of them are already badly degraded, we need to give restoration activities a priority.

Poverty, unemployment and land degradation is a vicious circle that has been in evidence in the last few decades. The fact is that this circle can be reversed by restoring, repairing and rehabilitating ecosystems which can lead to creation of millions of jobs and lifting families out of the poverty trap.

An example of this reversal is shown in the example of the restoration of degraded grasslands in and around the rivers that flow in South Africa's Drakensberg Mountains. This region is home to 299 recorded bird species which makes for about 40% of all non-marine avian species in southern Africa. A study estimates that the project will bring river flows back during the crucial winter months to a tune of up to 4 million cubic metres of water (MCM), apart from the added advantage of storing carbon. The project is estimated to cost Euro 3.6 million over seven years with an annual cost of Euro 800,000 for its management. The returns are expected to be Euro 6 million a year while generating over 300 permanent jobs and 2.5 million person-days of work during the restoration phase. While I am no economist, it looks like a pretty good rate of return to me!

In fact, we if begin to factor in ecological costs and benefits to all projects, be they large infrastructure projects like roads and dams or smaller projects of building a farmhouse, the economics of it can begin to look a lot different. It is estimated that ecological infrastructure of the planet generates services of between $21 trillion to$72 trillion a year. Just for comparison, the Gross World Income last year was $58 trillion. Therefore, if this cost is taken into account when determining accounts, the balance sheet and projected profits of many projects would look fundamentally different than they do today.

The UNEP report mentioned above lists out a number of areas in which ecological services provide direct benefits, which are measurable in dollar terms. These include $23 trillion for storm protection in the United States, an average of $33-$153 per household in Indian villages located near mangroves that serve as storm barriers, at least $153 billion for pollination costs to agricultural plants by bees and insects, and large savings in pesticides due to natural pest control.

Of course, most of the services provided by ecosystems are not measurable. How does one put a value to the views of the valleys, the worth of water or the peace of the peaks? We need to make sure that we protect what we have and restore what is still repairable to ensure that the world we live in still has things that do not have price tags attached to them.

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Using Psychology to Get Your Ex Girlfriend Back

When you're talking about using psychology to get your ex girlfriend back, the kind of psychology you'll want to use is "reverse psychology." Reverse psychology works like this: 

Because of things you've said or done since you broke up, your ex girlfriend already has a clue that you want to get her back. She knows you're going to say and do additional things, to try and make it happen. With these expectations, she doesn't really take what you say and do at face value. Instead, she's thinking anything you do is all part of your plan to win her back.

Her defenses are up. Her mistrust is her shield. So you need to do the opposite of what she's expecting. By doing the opposite -- or reverse -- you defeat her resistance and take her shield away. For instance: When you run into her, be friendly and open at the start, and then become casual and vague as your conversation continues. Don't be a jerk, or act uncaring -- just refrain from talking about how you still want her, or how you wish you could get back together.

Behave as if you're doing well without her. Even if it's not true, pretend you're having a really great day. Stay relaxed, and portray yourself as a guy who's got his act together -- as somebody who's happy with the way his life is going. Can you see what's important here? 

You have to convey your sense of satisfaction and happiness with your current situation. If you don't, using psychology to get your ex girlfriend back will not work.

She's got to buy your self-assured act, and decide you're not desperate to win her back after all. You should stay calm while you talk to her, without seeming too anxious or eager. Just be cool, collected and polite. If you can make the act work, it will have a confusing effect on her. Your girlfriend won't know what to think of this tactic, and will let her guard down right away, since she is not expecting you to display such an attitude of indifference.

Think about it: How can she justify conflict with you? You aren't acting like an adversary, so there's no point in struggling. You're not her opponent, so there's no reason to raise a shield. You're not making any attempt to convince her that you guys should get back together; you're just serene, unstressed, and clearly able to do just fine without her.

So much for her equilibrium! Becoming off-balance, she'll become more and more alert and tuned into you, because now she'll be obsessed with figuring out what you're thinking. She will pay a whole lot more attention to you than if you had tried some more obvious strategy for getting her back. She'll try to make sense of it all. Before too long, she'll put pieces together and conclude that your desire to get back together with her is far stronger than you're letting on. You won't have to do the convincing, because she'll start selling herself on the possibility. Your ex will let her imagination start rolling along, and that imagination of hers is the best ally you can find.

This reverse psychology -- it all has to do with the female ego. Her sense of self-esteem makes her not want to lose a chance at finding Mr. Right. It would be disastrous if you were her one true love, and she failed to give you a chance. So you, standing there acting like it's no big deal if you can't get back together with her -- you're just provoking her greater attention. She becomes aggressively interested in you.

Using psychology to get your ex girlfriend back works, but you can't forget the hard part.

What is that? The hard part is that you, yourself, might not be ready to play the role you need to play. If you're still emotional about your breakup -- still tearful and unable to concentrate or think about anything except what you have lost -- then you aren't steady enough to act like the cool, self-assured ex who can take her or leave her.

You need to prepare yourself. There are steps you can take to get yourself back in condition, ready to approach your ex girlfriend and use the necessary psychological tricks.

Get yourself together first, and make your plan.

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Using Color Psychology to Sell Your Home

When painting your home for resale, choosing the right colors can make a huge difference in your paycheck at closing. For instance, did you know that the exterior color of houses selling most quickly is a certain shade of yellow, but that choosing the wrong shade of yellow can kill a sale?

You'll find many brochures in paint stores, showing various combinations of exterior paint colors. But most people don't realize that most of those combinations actually include three colors, and not just two. Limiting your exterior paint scheme to just two colors also limits your income potential.

For a fast sale, think fun colors and go for a third, or even a fourth, exterior color. Think "Disneyland Main Street," where every shop is painted in glorious multi-colors. Adding more colors will also add definition to the various architectural details of your home. Use gloss or semi-gloss paint on wood trim.

The Psychology of Exterior Colors

When choosing exterior colors, take the sales price of your home into account. Certain colors, especially muted, complex shades, attract wealthy or highly-educated buyers, whereas buyers with less income or less education generally prefer simpler colors. A complex color contains tints of gray or brown, and usually requires more than one word to describe, such as "sage green," as opposed to "green."

On the other hand, simple colors are straightforward and pure. Generally, houses in the lower price range sell faster and for higher prices when painted in simple colors like yellow or tan, accented by white, blue, or green trim.

The Psychology of Interior Colors

Using colored, rather than bland, white walls will increase your profit potential. Lynette Jennings tested the perception of room size and color, and discovered that a room painted white appeared only appeared larger to a few people when compared to an identical room painted in color - and the perceived difference was only about six inches! Most people also look better when surrounded by color, and feel happier, and since buyers pick houses that make them feel happy, that knowledge can put dollars in your pocket at closing!

Entryways should bring the exterior colors into the house. Repeating shades of the exterior throughout your home will make the entire home seem to be in harmony. Living and family rooms painted in a slightly lighter shade of the exterior color will ensure that you've picked a color your buyers like, because if they didn't like your exterior colors, they wouldn't have bothered to look inside. If they loved the exterior colors, they'll love the interior, too.

When choosing interior colors, consider the use of each room. For instance, kitchen and dining areas that are painted in "food colors," such as coffee browns, celery greens, and scrambled egg yellows, feel natural.

Since, deeper shades of color imply intimacy and serenity, I like to paint master bedrooms a medium shade of green or blue for warm selling seasons, and rouge red for cooler weather. Other bedrooms can be painted in creamy tones of green, blue, or a pale shell pink. (See the chapter on the Psychology of Color in my book "Joy to the Home: Secrets of Interior Design Psychology" for further information.)

Selling Season

Always consider your selling season (the time of year you'll be marketing your home) and climate when choosing colors. Estimate the amount of time you'll need to get your home ready for sale, and then add on extra days for unexpected delays. Use cool colors, such as blues, greens, and grays, to sell during spring and summer, and warm colors, such as yellows, reds, and maroons, when selling in the fall and winter.

Color Intensity

My husband and I usually use lighter colors when painting the exteriors of our investment dollhouses, because it makes them appear larger. On the other hand, our cabin in the woods looks richer when painted a darker color. When we decided to have it painted, I considered the usual cabin colors of dark brown and barn red, but fell in love with Olympic's gorgeous "Gooseberry" plum color.

When getting ready to paint your house, look at the colors of neighboring houses and choose colors that harmonize, yet stand out from the crowd. Colors that clash badly with other houses will detract from the overall neighborhood.

At the beginning of the article, I told you that homes with yellow exteriors sell the quickest. But which shade of yellow sells best? First, the yellows to avoid: yellows with green undertones look sickly to most buyers, and yellows with orange undertones give buyers an impression of cheapness.

The best-selling yellow exterior color is actually a pale, sunny yellow, especially when complimented with one or more carefully-chosen accent colors. For instance, a semi-gloss white trim will give your home a clean and fresh look, and adding a third color, such as green, can make your home even more attractive to prospective buyers.

Colors affect human beings in many ways, and by using the principles of Color Psychology, you can make your home stand out from the competition, sell more quickly, and at a higher price.

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Mythos - What It Means

Mythology has long been a favorite study for me. My doctoral dissertation was about the Greek myth, Prometheus. Everyone enjoys a good story. Humans are, by their very nature, story tellers. Yet, one has to wonder if that is all there is to mythology--stories of creation, of great deeds, and of the heroes who performed them?

Many believe there is much more to myth than mere phantasmagoria. I am one among those who hold the notion that myth is much more than mere story. Gods, goddesses and heroes have peopled the myths of all ethnic and cultural groups around the world from Africa to Asia, to Europe, to India, and to the North and South Americas.

The late Joseph Campbell did much to popularize and focus attention on myth and its implications for humankind and he looms large over other lights in mythology; the exception being Claude Levi- Straus.

But what is mythology? There are nearly as many definitions of mythology as there are of their meanings, and disagreements over their implications. Any overview of these definitions indicates a range from the simplistic to the complex. The etymology of the word "mythology" will be helpful.

The word comes from the Greek nouns mythos and logos, each originally having the same meaning. In its broadest sense, mythos meant anything uttered by mouth. Gradually it meant an account of something; a story that was understood.

In Attic Greek, mythos meant a prehistoric story of only the Greeks. Today, it applies to any civilization at any time, including our own. Logos meant the controlling principle of the universe and was manifested by speech.

Myth relates to a sequence of events whose importance lies not only in the events themselves, but in the implied meanings of those events. Mark Schorer author of "The Necessity of Myth" insists the term must also include such things as delusions and neurosis. Both of these psychological manifestations are easily found in the world's myths. I strongly suggest, and believe, there is much more than an exploration of delusion and neurosis.

Fifty years ago, Henry A. Murray in his Myth and Mythmaking claimed even a very loose definition of mythology would not include the current notion of a sense of falsehood or any other such pejoratives. The Murray statement holds true in this 21st Century.

Myth is much more than mere story, a world of make-believe. It is alive and well upon the land. Look around you. In your daily life, how many things are connected to mythology? What truths do the myths hold for contemporary mankind? What do they hold for you?

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Life In The Solar System

Introduction to Life in the Solar System: Humans and our associated kin on the third rock out from the Sun are lords of life forms in the solar system. Other abodes in the solar system, most probably Mars, Jupiter, Europa, and Saturn are anywhere from possible to probable habitable abodes to simple microbial life forms; perhaps something slightly above and beyond that. Bacteria survived on the surface of the Moon - on Surveyor Three. Astronauts from the Apollo 12 mission brought back to Earth parts of the unmanned Surveyor Three Lunar Lander. Terrestrial bacteria on those parts survived the lunar vacuum, solar radiations (UV, etc.), the massive temperature extremes, and lack of water and nutrients. Microbes are easy to transport. Translated, I firmly expect that the universe (including our solar system) is teaming with microbial life in all sorts of places. On Earth, microbes rule, OK? If fact, there are millions of microbes living inside you - most beneficial. Microbes have another decided advantage over more complex life forms, like plants. Solar energy (photosynthesis) isn't the only kind of energy available to organisms. No sun; no life. All life ultimately depended on photosynthetic plants which in turn couldn't exist without sunlight. From terrestrial environments to those of outer space and our solar system is but perhaps a small step for microbes. Mercury: The planet Mercury, closest planet to our Sun, unfortunately lacks any atmosphere to speak of, and broils on the side facing the Sun and freezes on the side facing away - much like our Moon, and is in fact is similarly heavily cratered. Venus: The planet Venus had long been thought of as Earth's twin sister. It also has an atmosphere. No life here!

In the upper atmosphere, the temperature and pressure of Venus drops to more terrestrial surface conditions. There can't be surface life-as-we-know-it on that planet, but what about simple, say microbial life existing in the upper atmosphere?

Earth (Terra): Home! The Moon (Luna): Like Mercury, our Moon is airless and subject to extremes in temperature depending on whether the Moon is facing towards or away from the Sun. While hardly indigenous Lunar life forms, they give credibility (as if any were needed) that microbes are composed of the right stuff to survive the rigours of outer space.

Mars (The Red Planet): Microbial life on the red planet Mars is just about a sure fire a thing as death and taxes, albeit it's probably spread very thinly.

The concept of there being not only life but intelligent life on the red planet Mars has been a part of the imagination of astronomers and the general public for the better part of a century. Even the two tiny Martian moons were seriously suspected of being artificial.

Several independent discoveries have all but proved that life, albeit simple life, probably exists, currently exists, on Mars.

There are those scientists involved with those Viking experiments who still maintain that microbial life was detected on Mars in 1976. Recall there was four separate and independent reasons for coming to the conclusion that the meteorite contained fossil microbial life forms from Mars. Thirdly, spacecraft orbiting Mars have detected methane in the Martian atmosphere. A major source of methane on Earth is from micro-organisms. Fourthly, there's no longer any question about Mars once having had extensive water. Where's there water, there's the probability of life.

Since microbial life exists on Earth, some of it would have been transported throughout geological history to Mars. It's quite possible that Mars seeded Earth as well, maybe even initially. The atmosphere is so thin that liquid water can't exist on the surface because the atmospheric pressure is so low. Jupiter (The Giant Planet): Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, but composed mainly of gas. In fact, Jupiter has been insulted by being compared to our Sun, but a failed Sun. Important point number one: Jupiter has its own internal energy source.

Important point's number two, three and four: Secondly, Jupiter's atmosphere is composed of the right sorts of chemicals that one identifies with origin of life events - hydrogen, methane, ammonia, water vapour, etc. Fourthly, the atmospheric bands of Jupiter are highly coloured, an indication that there's lots of complex chemistry, including organic chemistry going on within.

The upshot of all of this is that it is not implausible that within the upper reaches of Jupiter's atmosphere, as per the case of Venus, simple life forms couldn't exist, survive and thrive. Europa (A Satellite of Jupiter): Europa is, apart from Mars, the current darling of the exobiology (astrobiology) set. There is evidence that Europa has a liquid water ocean underneath a thick ice cap that is kept from freezing solid by the flexing action imposed on the moon by its parent planet, Jupiter. If you have liquid water, an energy source, you therefore have possible life, or so goes the thinking. The ice cap is thick enough so that any energy source available for life won't be solar. That is however not a death blow as not all critters on Earth rely on solar energy. All chemicals that would sustain such life would have to be efficiently recycled. Saturn (The Ringed Planet): Saturn is a quasi twin of Jupiter. Although slightly smaller and farther away from the Sun than Jupiter, the same general arguments that apply to Jupiter apply to Saturn. Titan (A Satellite of Saturn): The satellite of Saturn, Titan, is one of the largest moons in the solar system, and in fact, if it existed all by its lonesome, could be considered a planet in its own right. Titan has, fairly unique among satellites, a dense atmosphere. Were Titan the same distance from the Sun that Earth is, well, you could have a real twin of Earth, unlike our false twin, Venus.

Unfortunately, Titan is way, way, way - far away - from the solar energy source that makes Earth such a relative paradise. Thus, Titan is Earth, but an Earth in slow motion because Titan is so cold compared to Earth. If you think of Earth as liquid water at the equator, Titan is molasses at the poles!

Uranus: Uranus is a poor cousin compared to the likes of Jupiter and Saturn. Although farther out, Neptune, like Jupiter and Saturn, radiates out excess energy. It's solar independent, at least as far as any life forms might describe their environment and energy supply.

It's cold. Again, Pluto is too cold to allow for the high temperature chemistry we associate with life-as-we-know-it. If you're looking for life in our solar system, Pluto wouldn't be your first port of call.

Comets, Asteroids/Planetoids, Meteors: These relative tiny bodies can't really qualify as habitable abodes to life, except, there's evidence that not only can some of the above be rich in the sorts of chemicals associated with life (water, carbon compounds and organic chemistry), they could indeed be environments that could house dormant life forms or fossil life forms of a unicellular kind. Too hot, complex organic molecules rapidly break down. My favourite solar system locations for (probably) tough-as-nails microbial life, Mars apart, are the upper atmospheres of the Jovian (gas giant) planets (Jupiter and Saturn; maybe Uranus and Neptune). Their atmospheres are rich in organics and no doubt water vapour. The gas giants, Uranus excepted, radiate more heat energy than they receive from the Sun. There will be regions in their upper atmospheres that have Earth-like temperatures; there will be a lot of atmospheric mixing (useful for bringing different chemicals together); and of course these planets will also have been seeded with organics and water from space via comets, meteors, cosmic dust, etc., if not in fact seeded directly with microbial life forms via panspermia.

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Local Color in Literature

The setting plays major role in prose fiction. The dialect spoken, the customs observed, the dress code prevalent, and the way of living all can be peculiar to a particular region. This sort of setting is called a local color of the area or region. You must have come across such peculiarity of an area while reading a prose or a novel.

Such beautiful local color called "Wessex" (present-day Dorset) is painted by Thomas Hardy in his novels. If you read a wide range of his novels, the Wessex will emerge in front of your mind's eye - so beautiful, so vivid! Rudyard Kipling's India also shares the same local color. R. K. Narayan beautifully portrays the imaginary village of "Malgudi" - set somewhere in South India - in his novels.

The representation of the local shade or color continues emerging in the writings of several writers. After the Civil War, many American writers used the local color of America. For instance, the various parts of America just as the Mississippi region was used by Mark Twain, the south by George Washington Cable, the Midwest by E. W. Howe, the West by Bret Harte, and New England by Mary Wilkins Freeman and the Sarah Orne Jewett.

The writing concerned with the local colour focuses mainly on the particularity of the area. It is basically about the comic or sentimental representation of the surface distinctiveness of a region. It does not represent the deep, complex and the generalized characteristics and problems of the region.

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