Loralee Reach

Which books were your favorites this year.. FREEDOM By Jonathan Franzen. The author of ?The Corrections? is back, not quite a decade later, with an even richer and deeper work ? a vividly realized narrative set during the Bush years, when the creedal legacy of ?personal liberties? assumed new and sometimes ominous proportions. Franzen captures this through the tribulations of a Midwestern family, the ­Berglunds, whose successes, failures and appetite for self-invention reflect the larger story of millennial America. THE NEW YORKER STORIES By Ann Beattie. As these 48 stories published in The New Yorker from 1974 through 2006 demonstrate, Beattie, even as she chronicled and satirized her post-1960s generation, also became its defining voice. She punctures her characters? pretensions and jadedness with an economy and effortless dialogue that writers have been trying to emulate for three decades, though few, if any, have matched her seamless combination of biting wit and mordant humor, precise irony and consummate cool. ROOM By Emma Donoghue. Donoghue has created one of the pure triumphs of recent fiction: an ebullient child narrator, held captive with his mother in an 11-by-11-foot room, through whom we encounter the blurry, often complicated space between closeness and autonomy. In a narrative at once delicate and vigorous ? rich in psychological, sociological and political meaning ? Donoghue reveals how joy and terror often dwell side by side. SELECTED STORIES By William Trevor. Gathering work from Trevor?s previous four collections, this volume shows why his deceptively spare fiction has haunted and moved readers for generations. Set mainly in Ireland and England, Trevor?s tales are eloquent even in their silences, documenting the way the present is consumed by the past, the way ancient patterns shape the future. Neither modernist nor antique, his stories are timeless. A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD By Jennifer Egan. Time is the ?goon squad? in this virtuosic rock ?n? roll novel about a cynical record producer and the people who intersect his world. Ranging across some 40 years and inhabiting 13 different characters, each with his own story and perspective, Egan makes these disparate parts cohere into an artful whole, irradiated by a Proustian feel for loss, regret and the ravages of love. Nonfiction APOLLO?S ANGELS: A History of Ballet By Jennifer Homans. Here is the only truly definitive history of classical ballet. Spanning more than four centuries, from the French Renaissance to American and Soviet stages during the cold war, Homans shows how the art has been central to the social and cultural identity of nations. She meticulously reconstructs entire eras, describing the evolution of ballet technique while coaxing long-lost dances back to life. And she raises a crucial question: In the 21st century, can ballet survive.. CLEOPATRA: A Life By Stacy Schiff. With her signature blend of wit, intelligence and superb prose, Schiff strips away 2,000 years of prejudices and propaganda in her elegant reimagining of the Egyptian queen who, even in her own day, was mythologized and misrepresented. THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES: A Biography of Cancer By Siddhartha Mukherjee. Mukherjee?s magisterial ?biography? of the most dreaded of modern afflictions. He excavates the deep history of the ?war? on cancer, weaving haunting tales of his own clinical experience with sharp sketches of the sometimes heroic, sometimes misguided scientists who have preceded him in the fight. FINISHING THE HAT: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) With Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, ­Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes By Stephen Sondheim. The theater?s pre-eminent living songwriter offers a master class in how to write a musical, covering some of the greatest shows, from ?West Side Story?? to ?Sweeney Todd.? Sondheim?s analysis of his and others? lyrics is insightful and candid, and his anecdotes are telling and often very funny. THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS: The Epic Story of America?s Great Migration By Isabel Wilkerson. Wilkerson, a former national correspondent for The Times, has written a masterly and engrossing account of the Great Migration, in which six million African-Americans abandoned the South between 1915 and 1970. The book centers on the journeys of three black migrants, each representing a different decade and a different destination. :rolleyes:

YES, YES, YES!!!!! Madrid....I am not there, just "from there".,.. happy New year and thanks for playing! Loralee

[/url] ;-)? New Year's Day Food Traditions and Superstitions What's Good Luck and What's Not? by Jan Peterson Every culture and many families have traditions and superstitions about foods that will ensure a prosperous New Year. With the state of the economy and financial woes most people experienced this year , it might not hurt for us to lean toward the superstitious side when planning our New Year's celebration. So, if you don't have any of the follwing foods in your kitchen right now, you might want to make a "good luck" run to the store! Vegetables Associated with Good Luck for the New Year Good Housekeeping's Delish.com has an article by Meghan Ahearn, "Eat Yourself Lucky: Good Luck Foods for New Year's Day" that speaks of the tradition of eating black-eyed peas on January 1st, explaining, "A common good luck food in the southern United States, black-eyed peas are thought to bring prosperity, their shape and abundance representing coins." Other vegetables that are considered lucky are: Lentils - They resemble coins and are thought to bring good fortune and represent growing wealth. Greens (kale, collards) - Being the color of money, they are thought to bring wealth and prosperity. Cabbage - Their leaves are representative of paper money! Pig-out during New Year's Day Dinner! While fish is considered lucky In North America, Asia, and Europe (it's believed it represents moving forward), the overwhelming international choice for "good luck" meat is pork. Good Luck Creations website has a list of New Year's traditions in their "Good Luck Traditions from around the World at New Year's" article. They explain that a pig or hog and its meat "is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity". Good Luck Fruits to Eat on New Year's Day Many traditions include certain fruits that are believed to symbolize prosperity or good luck, such as: Pomegranate - Associated with abundance and fertility (This could be good or bad, depending!) Citrus - According to Ahern's article, this started "because "tangerine" and "orange" sound much like "luck" and "wealth," respectively, in the Chinese language". Grapes - Eat 12 grapes (raisins in Madrid) at midnight for a prosperous, sweet year! (Peruvians believe a 13th one is extra assurance!) Good Luck Carbs Forget the low-carb diet for one day. Make some rice pudding and hide an almond in the center. Eat noodles, but be sure to eat them whole, not broken! Many countries have traditions that include eating cakes and pastries that are baked in a ring or round shape. Eat like the French do, and eat a stack of pancakes for good luck. Indulge in a donut, since the Dutch believe that this sugary treat's circular shape is lucky! Bad Luck Food Warnings for New Year Using the information from both these websites and their readers' comments, we are cautioned regarding certain foods NOT to eat as well, so read up! *Some people believe that we should not eat anything white, because white represents death. However in Sicily eating lasanga is lucky (but not macaroni). In further opposition to this warning, as mentioned, many cultures swear that eating rice creates good luck in the new year. Your call. *One reader warns us not to eat chicken or anything with wings as this might make our good luck fly away. In agreement with this reader, another one expands this superstition to include fish and focuses on timing. He suggests that we eat fish for good luck before midnight, but not on New Year's day which might make our good luck SWIM away! *We are advised NOT to clean our plates. Leaving that last bite is believed to assure that you will have food on your plate for the rest of the year. How to Put it all Together for a Lucky New Year Okay, to summarize it all up, what would the luckiest New Year food plan be? (Don't forget to leave a bite on your plate!) 1. At midnight, have everyone toast with champagne, open all the windows (so bad luck will fly out and good luck will fly in), and then pop 12 grapes plus one more, just to be sure. 2. For New Year's day breakfast, bring out the donuts or serve up a stack of pancakes, and blend up a pomegranate and berry smoothie. 3. For lunch or dinner on New Year's Day, create a dinner or buffet that includes: *Pork Roast or ham for the main course. *Vegetable soup made with ham hock, black eyed peas, lentils, greens and cabbage *Noodle dish *Cabbage cooked in bacon or pork drippings *A citrus salad such as this Grapefruit and Avocado Salad 4. For desert, make rice pudding (don't forget that almond) or orange upside down cake You never know, with all this good luck food in everyone's tummy, this New Year's celebration may kick off a great year! Happy New Year's wishes to all my readers! Be safe and fill up with lucky food! Then hit the gym on January 2nd!

Ford MyKey now allows parents to block Howard Stern, Playboy Radio [w/video] by Jeremy Korzeniewski, Autoblog (RSS feed) on Dec 29th 2010 at 3:31PM [/url] Ford's upgraded MyKey for 2011 Modern technology means that parental controls are now spreading to cars as factory equipment, and the automaker leading the charge is Ford. Using the latest version of the company's MyKey system, parents can now block their children from listening to certain radio stations ? say, for instance, Howard Stern or Playboy Radio on satellite. In fact, there are a dozen stations listed as explicit by Sirius, and all of them can be blocked using MyKey starting in 2011. Also seeing an upgrade for 2011 is MyKey's speed-limiting technology. Previously, the top speed of a properly equipped Ford vehicle could be capped at 80 miles per hour (128 kph) (with chimes sounding at 45 (72), 55 (88) and 65 (104)). Now, users can preset a desired speed limit at any of four different settings ? 65, 70, 75 or 80 mph. While an obvious safety feature, the technology can also dramatically improve fuel efficiency. Already, Ford's MyKey allows parents to limit audio volume, encourage seatbelt usage by muting the radio until front occupants buckle up and provide earlier low-fuel warnings. All of these could be considered important safety features, considering that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that teens are more likely to speed (a contributing factor in 30 percent of fatal accidents) and are less likely to use their safety-belts. Ford contracted the firm Penn, Schoen & Berland to conduct a survey regarding its new MyKey features, and the results aren't terribly surprising: 85 percent of parents believe the speed limiting controls are important and 60 percent say the same regarding the radio content controls. Even 45 percent of teen drivers themselves say they approve of the technology... just as long as it means they get extended driving privileges from their parents. Of course, said teens can also simply circumvent the MyKey safety leash by listening to CDs or their MP3 players, but we digress.

Thanks Jman! It was a lovely thread to read. Wishing you and all a Happy 2011 also!!! xoxox Loralee:smile:

Happy new beginnings to you and all the Cerbites! loralee

I want to go to a vernissage every week Waterrat!!!!! and I can not understand how a pub or a mall can be accepted, even with the zoning issue, and not an Art spot for experienced and amateur artists to be seen....Even in Dallas the steel and glass city has Art Galleries in between the malls and offices....I can not understand it!:-(

I used to work in a very competitive market and I saw many many ladies walking in a way to stop the traffic....the way they move is not premeditated, it is as natural as my cats walk, sexy slow and impossible to imitate....yes, Rihanna is the best I have seen and NO, I am not a lesbian, but I can appreciate and "voice' when I see a sexy lady!!! and she is one Loralee

;)Thanks for all the research you carried on to enlight me with regards to this issue. I hope when you are in Ottawa we can go together and see the Preston area, and we can celebrate the success of a new artistic endeavour! Happy New Year my fellow Cerbite! and thanks once again for being here!! LoraLee

:-(:confused: Community association fears artists in their backyard By Teghan Beaudette Not-in-my-backyard-ism has an entirely new ? and disappointing ? meaning in Centretown these days. The unusual target for Ottawa?s embarrassing brand of NIMBY-ism? An art gallery. The Dalhousie Community Association recently attacked a proposal that will see a residential home at 73 Aberdeen St. converted to an art gallery, studio space and rental unit. The association has no doubt run out of legitimate things to complain about and has been quite vocal in its opposition to the plan. Most residents would see an art gallery as a positive addition to their community, but the community association president, Eric Darwin, says that ?the character of the neighbourhood goes downhill.? It?s very difficult to believe that an art gallery could diminish the character of the neighbourhood. Art galleries do not historically bring down property values or attract unseemly characters. It?s not as if there was a proposal to rezone the residential home to make room for a noise all-hours night club or a safe needle-exchange. It?s an art gallery. The art crowd in Ottawa isn?t known for its loose morals and extreme partying. It?s hard to see how the art gallery could lower the neighbourhood?s character. On the contary, an art gallery attracts an engaging, lively and community-oriented group of local artists and art appreciators. It creates a dialogue and exchange between community members and opens up the lines of communication between citizens in a meaningful way. Far from providing a challenge to the community?s character, an art gallery should only add to it. It also seems that the community association has forgotten that it represents the entire community, not just the residential home owners on Aberdeen Street. Its opposition to the project shows an under-appreciation of the needs of our community?s artists, many of whom languish for months or even years on waitlists for studio space. Had the association consulted local artists, it would have found that they are struggling to find studio space. Wait times for studio space in in downtown Ottawa is more than a year. In fact, some artists wait several years to get their projects off their living room floors and into a proper space. Supporting a project which would help local artists find studio space and also gives them an opportunity to showcase their work is a no brainer. It?s difficult to understand the motivation for the criticisms association has levelled against the project. While maintaining the status quo is always more comfortable, and change can be difficult, the gallery has the potential to bring vibrancy to and strengthen the community. If nothing else, there are many more legitimate causes in need of attention and a voice. The Dalhousie Community Association would do well to lend its voice and target its efforts to a cause which poses a real threat to the community. An art gallery does not fit that bill.

Ancient teeth may be oldest evidence of human remains: Israeli researchers By Daniel Estrin, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press ? Mon, 27 Dec 2:58 PM EST JERUSALEM - Israeli archaeologists said Monday they may have found the earliest evidence yet for the existence of modern man, and if so, it could upset theories of the origin of humans. A Tel Aviv University team excavating a cave in central Israel said teeth found in the cave are about 400,000 years old and resemble those of other remains of modern man, known scientifically as Homo sapiens, found in Israel. The earliest Homo sapiens remains found until now are half as old. "It's very exciting to come to this conclusion," said archaeologist Avi Gopher, whose team examined the teeth with X-rays and CT scans and dated them according to the layers of earth where they were found. He stressed that further research is needed to solidify the claim. If it does, he says, "this changes the whole picture of evolution." The accepted scientific theory is that Homo sapiens originated in Africa and migrated out of the continent. Gopher said if the remains are definitively linked to modern human's ancestors, it could mean that modern man in fact originated in what is now Israel. Sir Paul Mellars, a prehistory expert at Cambridge University, said the study is reputable, and the find is "important" because remains from that critical time period are scarce, but it is premature to say the remains are human. "Based on the evidence they've sited, it's a very tenuous and frankly rather remote possibility," Mellars said. He said the remains are more likely related to modern man's ancient relatives, the Neanderthals. According to today's accepted scientific theories, modern humans and Neanderthals stemmed from a common ancestor who lived in Africa about 700,000 years ago. One group of descendants migrated to Europe and developed into Neanderthals, later becoming extinct. Another group stayed in Africa and evolved into Homo sapiens ? modern humans. Teeth are often unreliable indicators of origin, and analyses of skull remains would more definitively identify the species found in the Israeli cave, Mellars said. Gopher, the Israeli archaeologist, said he is confident his team will find skulls and bones as they continue their dig. The prehistoric Qesem cave was discovered in 2000, and excavations began in 2004. Researchers Gopher, Ran Barkai and Israel Hershkowitz published their study in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

Well our dear Roaming......I would say if I had a Jacuzzi, or any other water jet immersion system, i would call it FANTASTIK, but oh my!!! look at the ideas you get.....I can't wait to let the reins free!!!! I think the invaluable experience, class and charisma of Cat, could answer this better than me....as long as she is not savouring a Martini in her Jacuzzi, you will hear from her..... Hugs handsome! LL

Hugh Hefner Engaged To Be Married. By Mark Lorenz on December 27th, 2010 When young love succeeds, being beholden to celebrate is oftentimes a burden. Not so when octogenarians can manage to pull themselves decent looking women, and get them in a marriage headlock. And that?s what Hugh Hefner has done. Against all odds, he?s managed to land himself a hot blonde who?s willing to put up with being penetrated by something that?s over 80 years old repeatedly. Usually the only time people get penetrated by things that are over 80 years old, they?re catching splinters from trees. Angry trees. But Crystal Harris will be catching no angry trees, just the tail end of a disintegrating, once dominant softcore porn company. She?s 24 years old, but has the appearance of someone in her mid-30?s. Why is it that most of the people Playboy go for have the dichotomy of looking like they?re in their 40?s while only being their 20?s while having the mentality of 15-year-olds? It?s a lot to take in. The announcement was made, like all romantic entanglements, on Twitter. Apparently Crystal started crying once she provided him with a ring. She should?ve started crying once he showed her how the Playboy brand has slipped to the point where they feature Marge Simpson on the cover. Money can?t buy happiness. But it can buy you a wife.

70% Sexual 30% Social However, the breakage of the 70% has a 60-40 of conversation, teasing, laughing, etc. Nice question BB LoraLee

I agree with Angela Aurora, there is many of us willing and I have another advice for you, get the movie "Bliss", it is about one of us, a Courtesan, helping a couple to "reconnect and giving them an amazing time". All the best to you both! Loralee * the movie can be bought at Amazon.com , at least I got it there. hugs:rolleyes:

Snow Costs TOO much to Canadian Taxpayers Waheeda Harris If it's December and you live in Canada, you've already seen snow covering the driveway, coating the trees and causing havoc for commuters. As of this week, every major city across the country has welcomed a significant snowfall. Some areas, such as London, ON, have had to endure the quick dump of 65-80 cm of the white stuff thanks to Mother Nature this week. Although the sight of snow can be a joyful one (where's the toboggan?), it's a source of frustration for municipalities. Snow removal from streets and sidewalks becomes an obsession of residents and with plenty of snow coming fast and furious, can be a city budget buster. According to last year's numbers, Canadian municipalities are paying $50,000-$60,000 for every centimetre that hits the ground and sticks around. With any budget planning, dollars earmarked for snow removal is based on precedent - the amount of snow from previous winters, employees, machinery, and supplies (salt/sand), as well as population. Even though Toronto and Edmonton receive similar amounts of snow, Edmonton has a smaller population, resulting in a smaller budget for snow removal. According to a Metro News story, the snow removal budgets compared with annual sfor Canadian cities in 2009 was: Snow-removal budgets compared with annual average snowfall for the winter season: Vancouver $400,000, 8 cm Calgary $21 million, 106.5 cm Edmonton $49 million, 123.5 cm Regina $5 million, 116 cm Ottawa $66 million, 202.5 cm Toronto $67 million, 133 cm Montreal $128 million, 214 cm Halifax $10 million, 100 cm But what residents really want to know is - why isn't my street cleared? Cities prioritize city streets based on traffic patterns - and work in conjunction with the provincial government with freeways and highways that are under their jurisdiction for snow removal. For larger cities, residents are responsible for clearing their sidewalks, with the exception being Montreal, with the largest snow removal budget in the country and a virtual army of city staff that clears all streets and sidewalks of snow. According to the Canadian Taxpayer Federation, cutting snow removal would be one of 10 ways to reduce the burgeoning municipality budgets, saving taxpayers money, but would it be a cost-effective way to survive a Canadian winter?

by Sarah Treleaven Dec 25th 2010 7:00AM Over the holidays, many people cherish the time spent with friends and family. For some families, however, the seasonal spirited get-togethers can be a stressful reminder about a rift if there's a noticeably absent family member at the festivities. But it doesn't have to be that way, says Dr. Cara Barker. The holidays can be a great time to reconnect with estranged relatives -- and to make amends. Here's how. Q: What are some of the most common reasons family members become estranged? A: On the surface level, whenever two people decide it's more important to be "right" than happy, expect heated conflict. Beneath this, however, lives fear. While it might not be verbalized, or even identified, as human beings we have learned to link love with fear and disappointment. Underneath all pain is this: Whenever we turn away from our heart, our most authentic self, we disconnect from all that unifies. Estrangement comes when we abandon the very truth of our spirit and our capacity to love without conditions or expectations. Q: Are the holidays a particularly good time to reconnect with estranged family members? A: It all depends on intention. When it becomes more important to build a bridge than burn one, it's time to reconnect. If it's more important to dwell on who's right and who's wrong, not so much. If both parties can agree to lay down the burden of estrangement, at least for the holidays, reconnection is possible. If the estranged are willing to be content with baby steps, it can work. But, if each party wishes to keep the war going, why would you want this in the middle of your holiday? Why? The holidays are a time of gratitude, summing up, celebration and of expressing love. If this cannot be done by a softening of the heart, reconnecting with the estranged can become too toxic. Q: What are the signs that a reconciliation is possible (versus a relationship that should be left in the past)? A: Signs of a possible reconciliation are subtle. Basically, has there been any form of outreach? Has there been a recent death in the family or a change in health condition, which brings home the message that "we haven't got forever" to patch up the mess? Has there been a recent birth or wedding, any sign of a new beginning that can signal time for a stepping stone to come back home? Have the estranged become brave enough to seek professional help and begun taking responsibility for the hurt they have caused and experienced? Is there agreement that it's time to wake up, get over ourselves and grow forward through the conflict? Has anyone decided to wave the white flag and surrender the past in order to move forward? Without an intention for reconciliation, I'm afraid the immediate future looks bleak. Q: What's your advice for anyone who wants to reconnect with someone? A: If you want reconciliation, begin with forgiving yourself for your part in the estrangement. Own your part, but stop beating yourself up for lost time. Likewise for the person from whom you are estranged. Know that forgiveness does not mean forgetting. Forgiveness is all about finding freedom to express your love, your truth, your spirit in ways that liberate you to be all that you can be. Q: Can you offer some tips on how to go about reconnecting? A: 1. Ask yourself what's really important to your heart. At the end of the day, how do you wish to be known? Are you big enough to go first? 2. Write out, for your eyes only, the price you've paid for holding onto this unfinished business. Then, describe the price tag on your relationship. Note what you each have missed out on in the estrangement. 3. Describe the kind of future you'd like to create -- beginning now. Include the details. 4. Lower the gold bar. Begin slowly, with baby steps. Let go of your own need to be right and see the bigger picture. The other might not be ready. Let them know (I would suggest in a handwritten note, not via email or social network) that you'd love to build a bridge, know the past has been difficult and painful and wish to begin anew. Let them know that you understand and accept they may be in another place and, if so, you honour this. Ask them to forgive any hurt you have caused. Describe the sort of peace and joy you'd like to create with them. Let them know the door is open. Let them know your intention is not to push, but to invite. There's no clock on the offer. 5. Breathe in and out. Give yourself a high-five. 6. Know that reconciliation has nothing to do with anyone other than yourself. What paves the way is turning your heart over to something bigger than yourself, beginning with being kind to yourself. 7. Regardless of the outcome, know that family is much bigger than any one person. Expand your circle of chosen family. You will be glad you did.

You are so very much appreaciated by all of us..... Thanks CK for another year full of your help and advice! Merry Christmas!!! LoraLee

Office holiday party: Not the place to say, ?I love you? By Jenna Charlton Are you among the 40% of recent survey respondents attending a company party this season? Workopolis? recent poll indicates that only 40% of respondents say their companies are hosting their usual party, while 43% are not having a party at all. Another 17% of respondents say their company is having a party but scaling back. In light of our country?s economic state, is this response a sign of things to come? Will our employers continue to scale back over the holidays? Do employees need to unite, and fight for our right to party? A company holiday party is a ritual, is it not? It?s our time, as employees, to rub elbows with upper management, mingle with other departments, even the playing field. Not to mention get a free drink(s) and enjoy an open bar. It?s employee appreciation time! Alright, perhaps feeling entitled to some holiday cheer on the company?s bill isn?t the correct approach to holiday parties. In fact a sense of entitlement or over indulgence may be the real reason behind some of the scaling back. I?m sure you?ve all heard stories of drunken employees passing out at the table, or telling their bosses exactly what?s on their mind. There are certainly some good tales floating around. I once knew someone who became so intoxicated at a holiday party that he passed out in the cloakroom. Upon exiting the party, his colleagues had to try to nudge their coats out from underneath him. It was clear no one was going to move him until he woke up and stumbled out on his own. I?ve also heard from friends who?ve had colleagues make inappropriate comments to them and their boss. FYI: slurring the words ?I love you?, doesn?t help you get a promotion. Here are some quick tips to party by: 1.Sip instead of chug. Moderation of alcoholic beverages is a good thing. Being able to recount all holiday office party events should be the goal. 2. Have fun. The flip side of being too drunk is being too stiff. It?s ok to let your guard down and enjoy everyone?s company. Mingle with people you don?t talk to every day. Again, office parties even the playing field. 3. Leave before it gets ugly. If there?s a group that?s deciding to keep the party going, get out of there before the cameras come out. You don?t want your bad career move to end up on Facebook. Regardless of whether there?s a party or not, as employees, it is always nice to feel appreciated ? especially over the holidays. If companies are scaling back, it may in fact just be a sign of the times. A holiday work event, big or small, is a chance for an employer to show you that your contributions are valued. Take advantage, but not too much! Happy Holidays everyone!

On that he was wrong - she cared for officers. He caught her with a second lieutenant. She flaunted herself in a low-cut dress at a ball. She was punishing him by stoking up his jealousy. He punished her in return with a cat-o'-nine-tails. She wrote to her father: "I cannot live with a man who is so despicable. I eat and live apart and I prefer to die before he touches me again. My children caught a disease from him." MacLeod left the army and the family returned to Holland. There they separated. But MacLeod had one more weapon to use against her. He put an advertisement in the local papers warning shops not to give her credit because he had resigned all responsibility for her. It left her penniless. She had to earn money - and there was only one way she knew how. Sexual favours were her only useful assets, but she did not see Holland as the best place to exploit them. In 1903, with little money and no contacts, she took herself off to Paris. There, she would recreate herself as a model, an actress, perhaps, or a chic cosmopolitan in that chicest of cities. But, as Shipman tells us, "the only dependable source of income available to her was pleasing men for money" - prostitution. But then a circus gave her a job, and the owner advised her where her talents lay - dancing. From the depths of her experiences in the East Indies she invented what she called "sacred dances". They were exotic and seemed to have some mysterious eastern mythology about them but, most of all, they involved her ending up all but naked. Dancers at the Moulin Rouge were flashing their knickers and breasts but Zelle's great departure was to push the bounds of discretion even further and wrap sex up with religion and art. She began by performing in private homes, but soon the stories of her "artistry" and, above all, her nudity were passing round the salons of Parisian high society. She wore a beaded metallic bra, which never came off - she was self-conscious about her tiny breasts - but the veils covering the rest of her floated free as she danced in "slow, undulating, tigerlike movements". The critics enthused, "feline, trembling in a thousand rhythms, exotic yet deeply austere, slender and supple like a sacred serpent". She added spice to the performance with lies. First, Mata Hari, meaning "sunrise" or, more literally, "the eye of the day", in the language of the Dutch East Indies. Then there were the stories to the press, that she was the daughter of an Indian temple dancer who had died giving birth to her, that she grew up in a jungle in Java. Her life became an unending performance, both on stage and off. Her success seemed unstoppable and the money came rolling in. But she still managed to spend more than she earned as she travelled Europe, picking up lovers, dropping some, keeping others. "Tonight I dine with Count A and tomorrow with Duke B. If I don't have to dance, I make a trip with Marquis C. I avoid serious liaisons. I satisfy all my caprices," she said. By 1908 anyone who was anyone in Europe had seen her dance at least once, while the lesser theatres were overrun with imitators doing Oriental dances. The dance work was now more irregular and increasingly she would have to rely on her men friends for her livelihood. One, a stockbroker, provided her with a chateau in the Loire and another house on the Seine - until he went bankrupt. Still she refused to cut her prodigious spending or alter her outrageous lifestyle. When she was frantic for money, some said, she would ply her trade at Paris's maisons de rendez-vous, one step up from ordinary brothels. Her financial problems seemed eased when in May 1914 she signed a contract to dance for six months at the Metropol in Berlin, starting in September. But the political situation overtook her. When war broke out in August that year, though Holland was neutral, she was stuck in a now belligerent and increasingly jingoistic German capital with no money and no job. Her fur coats and money had been seized. She charmed a Dutch businessman to pay her train fare to Amsterdam. Back in Holland, she took up again with a former lover. Aristocratic and wealthy, he was just her type. There she was visited by Karl Kroemer, the German consul, who told her he was recruiting spies. He gave her 20,000 francs and a code name, H21. She took his money but she didn't take him seriously. She told herself the cash was compensation for the furs taken from her in Berlin and threw away the invisible ink he gave her. "As she never had the slightest intention of spying for Germany, she felt no guilt or obligation to do anything for the money she had accepted. She had always taken money from men because she needed it and they had it; she always felt she deserved it," says Shipman. Others, ominously, would not agree. Naively, she failed to realise the Europe she had travelled through so freely and so promiscuously had disappeared for ever. British counter-intelligence certainly had her number. They stopped her at Folkestone, while she was travelling from Holland to France via Britain to avoid the front-line, and recorded that "although she was thoroughly searched and nothing incriminating was found, she is regarded by police and military to be not above suspicion". A copy of the report was sent to intelligence officials in France, Britain's ally against Germany. But on what was this suspicion based? The report noted that she "speaks French, English, Italian, Dutch and probably German. Handsome, bold type of woman". "The problem was not what Mata Hari said but who she was. She was a woman travelling alone, obviously wealthy and an excellent linguist - too educated, too foreign. Worse yet, she admitted to having a lover. Women like that were immoral and not to be trusted." A British intelligence officer in Holland now added to Mata Hari's dossier with rumours about payments to her from the German embassy. He added, with no evidence whatsoever: "One suspects her of having gone to France on an important mission that will profit the Germans." In Paris, Mata resumed her glamorous life, living at the Grand Hotel and with plenty of men in uniform to keep her occupied. She did not know that two secret policemen were tailing her. They steamed open her letters, questioned porters, waitresses and hairdressers and collected abundant evidence of her love life - but not of espionage. She spent a day and a night with the Marquis de Beaufort, had a flirtatious dinner with a purveyor of fine liquors and then met another lover, who embarrassingly for the secret policemen was a senior colleague from their own bureau. But her main intention at this time was to get a permit to go to the town of Vittel, which was in the eastern war zone, because she was desperate to see the man with whom she had fallen deeply in love, a Russian captain 18 years her junior named Vadime. For that, she had to apply to the head of French Intelligence, Captain Georges Ladoux, an ambitious man who had staked his reputation on France being riddled with foreign spies and his being able to destroy their network. He was in need of an attention-grabbing case to prove the worth of his bureau. He regarded Mata as little better than a prostitute; she thought him small-minded and coarse. They fenced words with each other. She wanted her pass to Vittel. He agreed, if she promised to enlist as a spy for France. The entire encounter was bizarre, Shipman argues. If Mata Hari was already a German spy, as Ladoux believed, then he was foolhardy to try to recruit her to be a French one. Mata Hari was known by sight throughout Europe. Wherever she went, she was the centre of attention. It is difficult to imagine a woman less able to engage in clandestine activities. But she accepted his offer - as long as she was given enough money to pay off her massive debts and settle down with Vadime. The great seductress wanted out of the game. But it was too late. Ladoux was convinced she was a German spy, however ridiculous that was. So, too, were the British. For Mata Hari, everything in her tangled life was unravelling dangerously. She went to Vittel and had a blissful interlude in the spa town with her Russian. On her return to Paris, Ladoux sent her on her first mission - to German-occupied Belgium where she said an ex-lover could steer her into the arms of the German military governor. But Belgium proved impossible to reach and she ended up in Spain. There, she turned her charms on a German captain, an intelligence officer named Kalle, and stretched out on a chaise longue as he told her secrets about German manoeuvres in North Africa. This information she triumphantly passed on to Ladoux, believing she was doing his bidding, earning the million francs he had promised her. Instead, she had fallen into his trap. Her meetings with Kalle would be turned against her, twisted to claim that she was handing over French secrets to the enemy rather than teasing out German ones. On February 10, 1917, a warrant for her arrest was signed by the French war minister. Three days later, police officers knocked on the door of her hotel room and found her eating breakfast in a lace-trimmed dressing gown. She was not, as wild rumours around Paris soon claimed, naked. At the Palais de Justice she faced the investigating magistrate, Pierre Bouchardon. "From the very first interview, I had the intuition that she was a person in the pay of our enemies," he wrote later. "I had but one thought - to unmask her." The process was under way that would lead her unfairly but inexorably to her execution. It did not seem to matter that no one had the least bit of evidence against her. Nor could anyone point to a single document, plan or secret that she passed to the Germans. Suspicion, envy and the prejudices of small-minded men would triumph. Only 30 years after her death would one of her prosecutors concede the truth - "there wasn't enough evidence to flog a cat".

Mata Hari was only interested in one thing - and it wasn't espionage by TONY RENNELL She stood alone in the sodden field on the outskirts of Paris, her fashionable ankle boots firmly planted in the mud churned up by the cavalry who drilled there. No, she would not be tied to the stake, she told her executioners politely. And nor would she allow them to blindfold her. She faced the barrels of the firing squad without flinching. Earlier, at 5am, they had woken her in her filthy cell in the Prison de Saint-Lazare to tell her this was the day she would die. She dressed in her best - stockings, a low-cut blouse under a dove-grey, two-piece suit. On her head she perched a three-cornered hat at a jaunty angle, hiding her greying hair, unkempt and unwashed through nine months of incarceration. Over her shoulders she slung a vivid blue coat like a cloak to keep out the cold October air. In a black car with its window blinds down, Margaretha Zelle, convicted of espionage, was then driven at speed through the still streets of the capital - a place she loved with a passion, though she was Dutch not French - to this damp and drear spot. The 12 soldiers in their khaki uniforms and red fezzes raised their rifles. She waved to the two weeping nuns who had been her comfort in prison and on her last journey. She blew a kiss to the priest and another to her lawyer, an ex-lover. Zelle slumped to the ground. The officer in charge marched forward and fired a single bullet into her brain, the coup de grace. An extraordinary life was over. The woman who was executed that day in 1917 was better known as Mata Hari, the name Zelle had chosen for herself when she became Europe's queen of unbridled eroticism, an exotic dancer, courtesan, harlot, great lover, spendthrift, liar, deceiver and thief. And German spy? That is what - in the fevered atmosphere of France in World War I, with the Kaiser's troops encamped within its borders - she had been shot for. She caused the deaths of tens of thousands of French soldiers, it was said, a crime that would ever after make her synonymous with seduction and treachery, the ultimate femme fatale. Except that she may not have been guilty at all. In a new and fascinating biography, American academic Pat Shipman makes the case that, far from being the betrayer, she was the one betrayed, and by that breed she loved all her life - men. It was men who, like witchhunters, built the case against her, driven by prejudice not fact. And with France gripped by anti-German spy mania, few would stick their heads above the parapet to defend her. Britain's fledgling intelligence service, MO5 (soon to change its name to MI5) also helped dig her grave with, as we will see, the dodgiest of dossiers. But in the story of Mata Hari, there was one thing that needed no sexing-up Sex was the driving force of her life. In the little Dutch town where she grew up, her shopkeeper father lavished extremes of affection on his "little princess". It made her vain, self-centred and spoilt, and with an insatiable longing for male attention. At school, the 16-year-old bedded the headmaster. Was he the seducer or her? No one knows, but this was 1893 and it was the girl who was sent home in shame. The restless teenager now set about finding a man to take her away from the stuffiness of Dutch society. When, through a Lonely Hearts ad, she met Captain Rudof MacLeod, a hard-living, hard-drinking officer home on leave from Holland's vicious colonial wars in the East Indies, she didn't care that he was 22 years older than her. He was handsome, with a splendid moustache. She was tall (5ft 10in) and elegant, with flirty dark eyes and a dark olive complexion. The attraction was immediate, sexual and very strong. She told him she longed to do "crazy things" and they were engaged within six days. They married three months later, she in a bright yellow gown rather than the traditional white. She couldn't keep her eyes off the other officers and, as she was the first to admit, did not have it within her to be "a good housewife". "I was not content at home," she later confessed. "I wanted to live like a colourful butterfly in the sun." He was jealous, though saw no reason why he should forego the womanising, drinking and coarseness of his bachelor days. He was constantly in debt; she was extravagant, always spending. As for his syphilis, caught overseas, he neglected to tell her. Nonetheless, she bore him two children, and they returned as a family to his new posting in the colonies. There, in the exotic surroundings of Indonesia, their marital problems multiplied. She did not fit the mould of the officer's wife, not least because her dark skin made the snobbier women suggest she had native blood in her. To the men, however, that look was seductive, and she made the most of it. "Her languid, graceful style of moving, her dark eyes and luxurious hair, telegraphed her sexuality to any male in her presence," writes Shipman. "She drew every man's lustful admiration and every woman's envy. She was seen as morally dangerous, selfish and frivolous." The marriage deteriorated into sharp quarrels, too much drinking, rows about money and accusations of infidelity. But what destroyed the union was tragedy. Their son, Norman, was struck by serious illness and died at the age of two. His sister, one-year-old Nonnie, nearly died, too, but pulled through. The relationship sank into hatred. His wife was "scum of the lowest kind" MacLeod told his family back in Holland, "a woman without heart, who cares nothing for anything".

Prejudice.... Here is an article about "retiring ages" for Apex. I know his fristration, I have family members in their 20's and being well qualified does not gurantee them a job....on the other hand the government can not dictate if a private company wants to keep his employees well over their retirement ages if they are doing a great job...I also know several very well off persons who remain in their jobs and are outstanding at what they do....difficult point Apex..... Loralee Mandatory retirement fades in Canada Last Updated: Monday, October 18, 2010 | 9:02 AM ET CBC News Between 2001 and 2006, the number of Canadians aged 55 to 64 jumped 28 per cent. (Jessica Hill/Associated Press)A year after much of Canada gave mandatory retirement the pink slip, the end of enforced termination is still not much of a factor in small business planning. That is because, with all the worries that Canadian entrepreneurs have in 2010, figuring out whether that older-than-65 employee remains a top-notch worker is far down the 'to-do' list, experts say. More than a year ago, Canadian provinces ? except New Brunswick ? put the boots to laws that allowed employers to sack workers once they turned 65. Before mandatory retirement rules were changed in Canada, an employer "could go in and say 'you're over 65. Clean out your desk," said Paul Timmins, a senior consultant with the Toronto office of pension experts Towers Watson. Today small businesses need to find a specific reason to terminate older workers, in contrast with past decades when citing mandatory retirement was sufficient, Timmins said. "People choose whether to retire or not for many reasons, based on their own lifestyle, circumstances and priorities. Today, people are living longer and have more active lives," said Graham Steele, who was the acting minister responsible for the Human Rights Act in Nova Scotia in July 2009. That month was when that Maritime government essentially scrapped mandatory retirement. "Many want to continue working, as they still have a lot to contribute," he said in a release on June 30. That was certainly the thinking in other provinces ? such as British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan and Ontario ? when they moved in the past few years to eliminate mandatory retirement. Limits on age But there are some limits elsewhere. Many provinces have provisions to allow mandatory retirement for jobs where physical ability is a must, such as firefighting and police work. In New Brunswick, the Human Rights Act prohibits mandatory retirement, but includes a provision allowing companies to enforce mandatory retirement under "the terms or conditions of any ? retirement or pension plan." On the other hand, if you want to retire at 65, nothing in the legislation will stop you from doing so. Regional breakdown of retirement rules Province or territory Retirement rules NunavutNo mandatory retirement age.Northwest TerritoriesNo mandatory retirement age.YukonNo mandatory retirement age.British ColumbiaLaw to eliminate mandatory retirement took effect Jan. 1, 2008.AlbertaNo mandatory retirement age.SaskatchewanLaw to eliminate mandatory retirement took effect November 2007.ManitobaNo mandatory retirement age.OntarioLaw to eliminate mandatory retirement took effect Dec. 12, 2006.QuebecNo mandatory retirement age.New BrunswickNo mandatory retirement, but companies allowed to enforce it under "the terms or conditions of any ? retirement or pension plan."Nova ScotiaLaw to eliminate mandatory retirement took effect July 1, 2009.Prince Edward IslandNo mandatory retirement age.Newfoundland and LabradorLaw to eliminate mandatory retirement took effect May 26, 2007. And Timmins figures that those workers could be more likely to stay on past retirement age in smaller companies simply because those firms usually often do not have pension plans. Thus, a longer work-life becomes a financial necessity, he said. In reality, however, most workers exit the workforce at a younger age, not staying on longer, Timmins said. "It is so rare that someone wants to stay on until 65," he said, noting that the average quitting age for public servants is slightly more than 60 and about 62 years for private employees. Freedom 65? Not for all Bankers love the concept of retirement, especially around the run-up to the February RRSP season. Sure, many people don't like their jobs and want to retire if they can afford it. Just six per cent of workers continue to work full-time after age 65 and the average retirement age in Canada is 62. Why should that six per cent, opponents of mandatory retirement ask, be forced out of their jobs merely because they have turned 65? It has been shown that those with the most education tend to enjoy their work and are reluctant to be turfed out. And many people want to keep working for a variety of other reasons, including because they enjoy the office camaraderie, sense of purpose or routine. Sometimes it's a case of economic survival. Geography comes into play. If public pensions total, say, $15,000 ? the amount can vary widely, depending on extra benefits ? it makes considerable difference whether these pensioners live in Vancouver or Portage la Prairie, Man. Compulsory retirement can also be especially hard on single women, who were (and often still are) paid significantly less than men and may have spent years out of the workforce to raise children. So many haven't been able to put away as much money as men. And it gets worse down the line, as female life expectancy outpaces that of men by about five years. Retiring earlier, living longer In recent years, there has been a sea change in attitudes to public pensions and the very concept of retirement. When the age of 70 was selected in the early 20th century as the age of eligibility for a government pension, life expectancy was about 60. Now, the population is aging ? fast ? but Canadians are allowed by government pensions to retire earlier, at 65. Data taken from the last census shows that the number of Canadians aged 55 to 64 ? those most likely to be thinking about retirement ? jumped by 28 per cent to 3.7 million between 2001 and 2006 Statistics Canada says the numbers of retirement-aged Canadians in the workforce will continue to increase ? in less than 10 years, one in five people in the workforce will be aged 55 to 64. And the number of workers in Canada for every retired person is expected to fall to two in 2031, from five in the 1980s, as a wave of baby boomers retires from the workforce. An aging population is putting increased pressure on public pensions. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press) Because people live so much longer, and retire so much earlier, there will be increased pressure on public pensions. Demands to raise CPP contributions are expected in coming years. This demographic shift is already making an impact in the United States, where the retirement age has been raised to 67 for those born after 1960 and may be raised again. Some companies are coping with this workforce shortage by instituting plans such as "retirees on call," which allows retirees to come back on a part-time or casual basis, and "phased retirement," which gradually reduces the number of hours they work. The meaning of happiness These plans address the arguments of employers who favour compulsory retirement because it unloads workers who are at the peak of their earnings, allowing the companies in some cases to hire two young workers for the price of one older worker. Yet it allows them to continue to tap into the vital experience, smarts and connections of the older workers. For years, Larry Folliott worked for IBM Canada Ltd. as a mergers and acquisitions expert. He retired at 57 to become an "IBM retiree on call," which means, he says, that he can "goof off" to Maui for weeks at a time with his wife or play golf with his buddies in South Carolina, but be ready to head back to the office any time IBM needs an extra hand with mergers and acquisitions. Other companies have encouraged retired CEOs and other senior employees to return with less pay and less authority to coach others. One man who took advantage of this arrangement said it finally answered for him the question "What is happiness?" "Happiness," he said, "is working at a job you enjoy for which you are vastly overqualified." Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/08/20/mandatory-retirement-explainer523.html#ixzz18r3gMbBk

The Future of Pickpocketing and How to Protect Yourself Aaron Broverman Dec 20th 2010 at 4:30PM [/url] More You find yourself at the mall. Maybe you're one of the many last-minute holiday shoppers this season and just as you walk out with the last of your items, someone jostles past you. "Excuse me, sorry," they say. "Oh no, totally my fault," you reply with a smile. You continue on, but then it dawns on you -- you watch those consumer alerts on the six o'clock news -- and you get that sinking feeling... A quick reach into your pocket and the wallet's still there. Wow, that was a close one -- or was it? The news story below outlines a much scarier threat -- one that takes thievery and misdirection to a whole other level without even touching your wallet or handbag. Ironically, the chip and pin technology used by EMV (Europay, MasterCard and VISA) that RFID (Radio-frequency identification) was installed by the banks to make it hard for thieves to copy credit and debit cards and tamper with their magnetic strips. But obviously there is a way around that. Though the Canadian government has yet to approve RFID tags in passports, credit and debit cards are still vulnerable. "It's not surprising with RFID technology," says Robin Dua, president of EnStream, the company behind Zoompass a mobile phone app that allows you to transfer money worldwide. It's a Canadian companion product to the prepaid MasterCard Paypass, the contactless payment system demonstrated in the above video. "The way it works is you have a tag and you have a reader and if the tag comes in contact with a reader, it interrogates the tag for information and then the tag will respond back with whatever information is on the card." Dua warns that this new security risk is a real and growing concern, but also points out that your cards and identity aren't completely doomed. "You have to be really really close to that contactless card, the requirement would probably be at least half an inch between the card and the reader for a proper read." This makes the risk perhaps less likely for women, as their handbag or purse would probably provide an extra layer of defense between the reader and the card. Those wallet shields seen in the video would be a sound investment, but people can also get the same level of protection by placing their RFID-enabled card in the centre of their wallet behind currency, receipts or other cards that don't have RFID chips. "A wallet maker could also put an extra layer of material inside the wallet to cancel out the potential of the card being read," adds Dua. Security risks such as this one also serve to highlight how much safer mobile payments will be when the first RFID tagged cellphones hit the market in 2011. Your credit and debit cards will not only be stored on a secure element of the phone, but access to the mobile wallet application will also depend on user authentication, such as a user name and password. "This means if your phone is ever scanned, nothing will be transferred or read," says Dua. "The criminal's screen will remain blank." He also adds that many technology developers in the mobile payment field are experimenting with biometrics as a method for authentication when a user requests access to the cards on the phone. "It'll either be biometrics or a wallet button on the phone," says Dua. "The bottom-line is no one would be able to read the cards on the phone without some action by the user and mobile payments have the ability to mitigate the kind of fraud seen in the video." Of course, if you are a victim of fraud on your RFID-enabled credit card, there will be zero liability on your end as soon as you report it. So, even though this kind of electronic pickpocketing will inevitably show up in Canada, it should be relatively easy to protect yourself from an enterprising criminal.

By Jo Bryant, REUTERS Don't end up soused in front of co-workers. (Shutterstock) LONDON - The Mad Men-esque days of over-the-top office parties where co-workers got roaring drunk, and ended up wearing lampshades are out of style. Fortunately for everyone, the office party has matured, by and large, into a more relaxed event where workers can actually socialize and enjoy the holidays without thinking about deadlines, or getting hit on by Bob from marketing. Plan early. If you?re in charge of scheduling the office party, start planning as soon as possible. Send invitations or let employees know the date, time and location at least one month in advance so they can plan accordingly. Also be sure to let co-workers know if the invitation includes spouses and significant others or even children. Spouses. Make sure they feel included and comfortable. Let them know what to wear, and give them a heads up on the names of bosses and colleagues who are likely to be there. At the party, don?t ditch them. Make sure you introduce them to your important workplace family. If there is a seated dinner, this is one event when couples are seated together. Gift exchanges. Avoid purchasing a gift for your boss, unless you go in on it as part of a large group; otherwise, you look like you?re currying favor. If your office is holding any type of gift exchange, come prepared. Keep your choice office-appropriate (hand lotion, yes; perfume, no), and stay within any rules, especially regarding price. Be a good sport and participate in the exchange; it shows you are a team player. You?re going to have to talk to someone. If the thought of party small-talk makes you sweat, don?t panic. People who blather on are usually the ones who embarrass themselves, not the quiet type. Simply think before you speak. Provide a frame of reference when you introduce yourself, ?Hi, I?m Sarah; I just joined accounting this summer.? Have a list of potential topics in mind that will help you get a conversation going: current news, pop culture, and sports are all good places to start. Try to avoid yes or no questions. ?What are your plans for the holidays?? will generate a more detailed response than ?Are you traveling for the holidays?? And remember, the wallflower near the buffet is probably looking for a conversation just as much as you are. Be present Though this is an office party, leave your work at your desk. Switch off mobile devices or set to silent. If you must take a call or check an e-mail, step away from the party. Give your attention to those you are chatting with ? don?t look over their shoulder while you look for someone more important to speak to. Was photocopying your backside ever a good idea?

"Sex is getting to be known publicly"....right? wow, after all is almost a grown child....it will be able to support itself soon....no way, it is a spoiled child kept out of conversaions in the family, kept out of outings and kept out of information..... However CL is closed in USA and after in Canada (we allways follow our Big Bro). why? because sex work is always being "mistreated, justified, mistified, criticized, analized, penalized, and most horribly "assumed to be offered and taken by Low class individuals with depraved minds and working against the "family") It is lovely to express ideas and is most encouraging to take the veil of the eyes of those who do not see clearly, however, reading all the time about the feminist side to it is not compelling. There is a masculine side a feminine side a family side a financial side and a rewarding side to it. If we take the hypocrisy from our daily lifes we could talk more openly and everywhere about sex...about the prostitute who offers a great sensual experience, about the time our friend xx and his wife got when visiting xx and learned how to be themseves mor intimate. If we contribute to the fact of discrimination we will get more discrimination. Patriarchal societies came after matriarchal societies and I read something about how children nowadays are in charge of the society we live in..... In other words I have my UTMOST RESPECT FOR MEGAN and my response was not towards her opening thread, rather to the way it developed, as many others in a way that makes people feel we are a bunch of feminists prostitutes hating man and making a living off them. I apologize to Cowboy kenny because he is in my list of wonderful, but I hope is understood that my point is not not to discuss the sex controversies, rather to discuss it POSITIVELY and discourage the growing of mold in the brain....sex is a natural thing condemned to in the graveyards and dark alleys if we do not start to talk openly about it. One of my clients deals with divorce issues all the time and he has told me something I wont forget: "men call it cheating when they involve the heart in a relationship...when seeing an SP they call it "release"; Women call it cheating when their significant others get an affair and...believe it or not they get ferociously offended, appalled, vicious if the guy went with SPs.." NOW MY APOLOGIES TO THOSE I DID OFFEND....no intention was in me to do so! loralee Additional Comments: Rick...I have studied that pyramid while in University with a very detailed professor..... it does not say SEX FOR SALE Merry Christmas loralee