There will always be questions surrounding the effectiveness of marches, peaceful demonstrations and commemorative gatherings in the name of social justice. Those who find the…
Sketchers is being sued for putting it’s foot in its mouth for some sketchy advertising Skechers USA Inc. has reached a settlement of $40 million for charges filed by the Federal Trade Commission for false claims about weight loss. Skechers claims its Shape-Ups shoes help people lose weight, along with its Resistance Runners, Toners and Tone-Ups shoes: The settlement also bans Skechers from falsely representing studies on the shoes in the future, including the following: *claims about strengthening; *claims about weight loss; and *claims about any other health or fitness-related benefits from toning shoes, including claims regarding caloric expenditure, calorie burn, blood circulation, aerobic conditioning, muscle tone, and muscle activation. Part of the settlement also includes allowing any consumer that purchased these shoes to be eligible for a refund. Skechers is disputing the charges and currently seeking additional studies to validate their representation of the effectiveness of their shoe line. SMH!! What happened to good ole’ fashioned diet and exercise? You don’t see people suing the Jordan brand because they can’t dunk? Plus, no matter horribly shaped you are, even if you’re shaped like a stadium, you should never, ever, feel bad enough to wear shoes that look like this. They’re way more uglier than rolls or stretch marks could ever be. Source Continue reading →
Film narration carries the dubious reputation of being a fallback trick for lesser directors, a device to trot out when other more classically visual narrative devices fail. In the same way that long, unbroken takes supposedly signify expertise, the use of narration often serves lazy critics with an easy indication that the director has lost the plot. Still, even the most anti-narration snob would have to concede that the larger film canon contains some pretty notable exceptions to this rule. The Naked City, A Clockwork Orange, Sunset Boulevard, GoodFellas, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Big Lebowski, The Shawshank Redemption — all use narration, and far from stalling story or characterization, with them it pushes everything forward. Rather than quibbling over the merits of the device itself, acknowledging those notable examples of its effective use would at least seem to necessitate deeper analysis. If some filmmakers have successfully used it, serious students of film should probably take a closer look, if only to better understand the exceptions that prove the rule. To that end, we could loosely categorize film narration into four different groups according to two distinctions: the distance of the narrator’s involvement with the film’s conflict and themes, and the directness with which the narrator addresses the viewer. The first distinction is represented on one end of the spectrum by films like Taxi Driver , where the narration directly clues the viewer in to the motivations of a certain character or elaborates on the conflict that drives the film forward. Taxi Driver is an especially good example of the so-called involved voiceover, because it gives a first-hand view to the inner workings of the main character Travis Bickle’s demented psychology, fleshing out his odd behavior with an equally discomfiting internal monologue. Watching Bickle talk to his own reflection while parading an arsenal of homemade weapons is certainly harrowing, but to hear him detail the skewed reasoning behind his plotting with talk about “a real rain that will wash the scum off the streets” only adds another level to his menace. On the other end of this “involvement spectrum,” we see films like The Royal Tenenbaums , which feature a totally detached third person narrator who nonetheless comments meaningfully on the film’s action from afar. Played with a perfect mixture of somber knowingness and monotone disinterest by a heard-and-not-seen Alec Baldwin, the voiceover for Tenenbaums still adds layers of thematic meaning to much of what goes on. Whether by adding back-story, as when the narrator informs the audience of the divorce of Royal and Ethel Tenenbaum in the first scene, or character insight, as when he explains in one scene that Royal “didn’t realize what he had said was true until after he had said it,” the voiceover’s apartness actually serves as a useful perspective from which to view the action along with the audience and insert helpful cues along the way. The second distinction, having to do with the directness of address, or the level of audience engagement of the narration, involves how forcefully the narration is meant to appeal to the viewer. With films like High Fidelity or Annie Hall , for instance, the narrator grabs the viewer by the lapels and demands attention, speaking directly into the camera with vocal inflections suggesting conversation rather than monologue. This is probably the trickiest sort of voiceover to pull off, and the one that grates the worst when done wrong. The other end is represented by narrators who speak with an authoritative, almost historical tone, rattling off characters’ back-stories with seemingly little consideration of who may be watching or why. I found the tone of the initial voiceover by Cate Blanchett as Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring especially removed in this sense. Galadriel is involved in the goings on of the film’s story, interceding at several key moments throughout the saga, and yet she could not be more tonally remote from the audience. In fact, that is half the pleasure of Galadriel’s narration: She sounds like she’s speaking to the viewer from another world. The importance of this relative level of audience engagement reveals itself most in unreliable narration. For instance, the main character from Memento narrates intimately, always invoking the viewer’s sympathies, and yet because of Leonard’s particular character quirks, this closeness proves false by film’s end. If a diversity of type speaks anything to the value of a particular storytelling device, then film narrators definitely don’t deserve their bad reputation. Then again, if the domination of last weekend’s Oscar ceremony by The Artist shows anything, those purely visual filmmaking elements still very much strike the critical fancy, as they should. The simplest and best criterion for judging the effectiveness of narration will always be its facility to complement the moving pictures themselves. Nathan Pensky is an associate editor at PopMatters and a contributor at Forbes , among various other outlets. He can be found on Tumblr and Twitter as well.
(NaturalNews) Did you know that you can actually stop a heart attack in its tracts with the simple but amazing and awesome power of cayenne pepper? It's true. Cayenne pepper can actually stop a heart attack in about 60 seconds flat! How To Use Cayenne Pepper To Stop A Heart Attack Fast! Famed healers such as Dr. John Christopher, N.D., and Dr. Richard Schulze, N.D., sang the praises of Cayenne pepper. For instance Dr. John Christopher declared: “In 35 years of practice, and working with the people and teaching, I have never on house calls lost one heart attack patient and the reason is, whenever I go in–if they are still breathing–I pour down them a cup of cayenne tea (a teaspoon of cayenne in a cup of hot water, and within minutes they are up and around).” It should be noted that these men, and many other healers like them, were speaking from personal experience and not speculation when referring to this powerful plant. So what are the best practices in using Cayenne pepper based upon the voice and experiences of those that have actually used it? First the Cayenne pepper must be at least 90,000 heat units or 90,000(H.U.) to be able to stop a heart attack. If the cayenne is at least 90,000 H.U. and the person is still conscious, the recommendation is to mix 1 teaspoon of cayenne powder in a glass of warm water (this is essentially a “cayenne tea”), and give it to the person to drink. If the person is unconscious then the recommendation is to use a cayenne tincture or extract, again of at least 90,000 H.U., and put a couple of full droppers underneath their tongue full strength. As noted above by Dr. Christopher, in 35 years of practice he never lost even 1 heart attack case if the person was still breathing when he arrived, and he attributed this to the prudent use of the cayenne pepper. Other Uses Of Cayenne One of the most profitable uses of cayenne pepper is as a catalyst in other herbal combinations. As a general rule it should be added to almost all herbal combinations with the exception of those classified as nervines (combinations made specifically for nerve issues). Because it has a stimulating effect upon the body, it speeds the circulation thereby causing it to enhance digestion as well as absorption. Therefore it can enhance or increase the effectiveness of practically any herbal formula. In fact it is often used this way in formulas for arthritis, various female complaints, infections, heart or circulatory issues, laxatives, diuretics, ulcers, thyroid issues etc. Cayenne's Nutritional Profile Cayenne has at least 26 different nutrients! It contains minerals such as Zinc, Selenium, Calcium, and Magnesium. It also contains vitamins such as Vitamin A and Vitamin C. Additionally it boasts both “crude fiber” and “dietary fiber”, as well as Carbohydrates. Cayenne certainly appears to be God's “Nitro-Glycerin” when it comes to heart attacks and one would be unwise to leave home without it. Sources: Nutritional Herbology, Mark Pedersen; Revised and Expanded Edition;1998 http://www.naturalnews.com/026869_c.. . The Complete Writings Of Dr. John Christopher, N.D., M.H. C.D. Rom About the author Keith Henry, N.D. is trained as a traditional naturopath and runs a naturopathic practice based out of Orlando, FL. He is the staff naturopath for Phase 3 Ministries Inc., a Christian Ministry with emphasis on Natural Health based in Orlando Fl. He has also recently launched BlueZone Wellness.org designed to be the catalyst to teach, businesses workplace wellness, churches church place wellness, and other organizations wellness for their members. Keith Henry, N.D. is also the owner of Smallbusiness Web Advertising.com, a website that provides local internet marketing for small businesses. Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/030566_cayenne_pepper_heart_attack.html#ixzz16qJYTHd5 added by: treewolf39
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I first spoke to Rick Steiner more than three months ago — about two weeks into the Deepwater Horizon disaster — after a source recommended I talk to him for a story I was writing about the spill as a teachable moment. Steiner is a marine conservationist and activist in Alaska who started studying oil spills when the Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1989, and never stopped. What Steiner said to me during that first interview was blunt, depressing — and struck me as having the ring of truth. Little did I know how true. “Government and industry will habitually understate the volume of the spill and the impact, and they will overstate the effectiveness of the cleanup and their response,” he told me at the time. “There's no such thing as an effective response. There's never been an effective response — ever — where more than 10 or 20 percent of the oil is ever recovered from the water. “Most of the oil that goes into the water in a major spill stays there,” he said. “And once the oil is in the water, the damage is done.” Steiner was also one of the first scientists to warn that much if not most of BP's oil was remaining underwater, forming giant and potentially deadly toxic plumes. I thought of Steiner last week, as I sat in a congressional hearing room listening to Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Ed Markey question Bill Lehr, a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Lehr was one of the authors of an increasingly controversial federal report about the fate of BP's spilled oil that Obama administration officials misleadingly cited as evidence that the “vast majority” of the oil was essentially gone. Markey's persistent questioning eventually got Lehr to acknowledge that, contrary to the administration spin, most of the spill — including the oil that has been dispersed or dissolved into the water, or evaporated into the atmosphere — is still in the Gulf ecosystem. Then Markey got Lehr to recalculate what percentage of the spill BP had actually recovered, through skimming and burning. That amount: About 10 percent. In other words, Steiner was right. The other part of Steiner's prediction — that the government and BP would low-ball the volume of the spill — had already played out very publicly. BP and NOAA both opened with a 5,000 barrel a day estimate. NOAA officials stuck to that estimate for weeks, despite the fact that they had access to video feeds from the wellhead clearly showing how far off they were. More than two weeks after some of that video was made public, the government finally, grudgingly, upped its estimates to 12,000 to 19,000 barrels daily; then 20,000 to 40,000 barrels, then 35,000 to 60,000 barrels, before finalizing its estimate in early August at 62,000 barrels a day at the beginning of the spill, declining to 53,000 barrels a day toward the end. So it wasn't until early August, two weeks after the well was capped, that the public was officially clued in that BP's blowout had — by the end of June — become the largest accidental offshore oil spill in history; totaling almost 16 times the Exxon Valdez. I talked to Steiner again this week about where things stand now, what he expects will happen next, and what he hopes will come of it all. The first thing we talked about was that NOAA report. Steiner said it was obviously full of guesswork — and bad guesswork at that. “They shouldn't have even tried to issue these numbers right now,” he said. “I smell politics all over it. The only plausible explanation is they were in a rush to hang the 'Mission Accomplished' banner.” And Steiner suspects the 10 percent recovery rate for BP is actually overstated. The report based its conclusions on operational reports showing that 11.1 million gallons of oil were burned and 34.7 million gallons of oily water were recovered through skimming. But Steiner said the actual amount of oil recovered could be about half what the report claims. The oil-water mix, which officials evidently assumed was 20 percent oil, could well have been closer to 10 percent, he said. As for the burned oil figures, “they are simply coming from the BP contractors out there and then put into the Incident Command reports as gospel. As far as I know, there was no independent observation or estimation of those numbers.” And there's something else the government seems to have forgotten about when it comes to burning crude oil: “That's not technically removing it from the environment.” Steiner said. “It either went into the air as atmospheric emissions, and some of that is pretty toxic stuff, or there's a residue from burning crude that sinks to the ocean floor, sometimes in big thick mats.” Steiner had even more critiques of the report — and the response — but his central point was one of the same he made when I first spoke with him, back in May: Once the oil is in the water, the damage is done. “You just can't fix most of the damage caused in marine oil spills. You just can't do it.” (con't in comments) added by: samantha420
Outer space, at least as we encounter it in science fiction, is basically a drug free-for-all. If character's aren’t piloting starships on Melange or Somec, then they're playing with dolls on Can-D or pumping their brains full of Merge Nine, Semuta and whatever passes for rave music 20,000 years from now
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