You Know You're Old If...

At some point in your life, you will be reminded of your age. Getting older doesn’t always have to be a drag, but being reminded that you’re old can sometimes come as a shock to you and make you start dreading the future.

Instead of worrying about your age, embrace it. And if you’re not entirely sure if you’re actually old, you will know you’re old if…

Book Tour: 'The Unholy' By Paul DeBlassie III

"A young curandera, a medicine woman, intent on uncovering the secrets of her past is forced into a life-and-death battle against an evil Archbishop. Set in the mystic land of Aztlan, the Unholy is a novel of destiny as healer and slayer. native lore of dreams and visions, shape changing, and natural magic work to spin a neo-gothic web in which sadness and mystery lure the unsuspecting into a twilight realm of discovery and decision."

The Book Tour stop we're hosting today is about 'The Unholy', a Psychological / Paranormal Thriller by Paul DeBlassie III... And we have two excerpts from the book for you to read.

Enjoy!

Loup Dargent

A Slave to the Almighty Dollar [Infographic]

Slavery reflects one of the most traumatic times in the history of this nation. Beginning in 1619 with the introduction of the first “indentured servants” to the United States from Africa, this era marked the first time that people were viewed as commodities that could abused and manipulated in the name of profits. By 1660, the practice had become officially institutionalized and recognized around the nation. The first records of slaves on plantations in Barbados and Jamaica appeared by the 1750's. In America, the 1840's saw the publication of pre-made accounting books designed specifically for plantation owners. These ledgers were designed so that owners could maximize the profits they could gain from “human capital” by tracking individual productivity closely. By the time 1860 rolled around, 12.5 million African slaves had been shipped to America using 35,000 separate voyages.

We may think that these days are now a mere dark shadow of the past. However, slavery is still alive and well around the world in many different ways. Sex trafficking, bonded labor, child slavery, and arranged marriages are major problems all across the globe. There is little that is being done to discourage these practices, and over 20 million men, women, and children fall into slavery each and every year. People are still being viewed as commodities. Citizens of the United States may feel that the home of the free exists without such practices being widely used. However, slavery still exists on our shores in much subtler ways.

The corporate environment and modern business practices have many similarities to the techniques exercised by slave owners of the past. People working in the corporate landscape still view their workers as resources that are tracked just as closely as slaves once were. It is still a common saying that everyone has their price, and anyone can be bought and sold for the right amount. Business managers also push their employees to the absolute breaking point in the name of profit for little or no extra rewards. People are mere numbers in this world and viewed as gears in the larger machine. This view is astoundingly close to the philosophies that once guided plantation owners who used slavery as their means for production.

How Google is Actually Changing Education [Infographic]

“Education lies at the very core of our company’s mission, to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” — Page and Brin

To be honest, before I published this post, when someone mentioned Google, I always thought of the company's presence on the internet but very rarely of its impact on education... A mistake that is now duly rectified (and that I'll definitely never make again), thanks to this neat infographic from TopMastersinEducation.com.

Enjoy!

Loup Dargent

5 Recommended Songs For Anger Management

Uncontrolled anger can cause many problems such as a mild situation becoming aggravated and getting worse, relationships with others deteriorating, possible job losses and a cold and repulsive attitude from people around you most especially those who know that you can flare up at any given opportunity. 

Overlooking your anger will not make things better so it is absolutely essential that you learn how to control your anger to be able to make improvements where necessary and be able to keep yourself from exploding emotionally. Controlling your anger with proven techniques will enable you to handle problems much more calmly and effectively. This article lets you know what to do in some cases when you are provoked to ensure that you don't lose control. 

Book Tour: 'Sémya Slotin Mystery Series' By Danielle-Claude Ngontang Mba

The Book Tour stop we're hosting today is a mega packed one as it contains info about three books (the first three books of the 'Sémya Slotin Mystery' to be precise) as well as two book excerpts.

Years ago, Toyah used to sing: "It's a mystery, it's a mystery..." 
Well, today, we can all sing "It's a mystery, it's a mystery... series!" 
(Ah, come on now! It was not that bad!)

Enjoy!

Loup Dargent

Freak Out The Neighbors - Hilarious Garage Door Skins

If an ordinary garage door just isn’t for you, consider making it extraordinary with a garage door skin. Just as art or photos can bring character to any room, a garage door skin is an easy way to add character to an otherwise plain garage door.

While this may not appeal to everyone, the realistic designs are certainly eye-catching and offer an economical way of hiding minor cosmetic damage- breathing new life in to your garage door.

From design to installation and material, the possibilities...

5 Of The Most Anticipated Movies Of 2014

Wondering what the next biggest thing in film is set to be further down the track this year? Much like 2013 before it, 2014 promises to be a big year in film, with a slew of big blockbuster releases scheduled throughout the year, along with some exciting smaller projects due to be revealed to the world. Here, we list five of the most anticipated movies coming out this year.

Grab your popcorn and prepare to be entertained with our round-up of the five most anticipated films of 2014.

The Six Categories Of Anti-Muslim Hate Deniers [Infographic]

Today, we're very happy to share with you guys this fun infographic/comic strip, where the anti-Muslims deniers have been categorised in a humoristic way, compliments of our friends at TellMaMa.UK.

"Meet the (i) aggressive denier (ii) the mosque building denier (iii) the passive aggressive denier (iv) the ‘laissez-faire’ denier (v) the peaceful co-existence denier and (vi) the ‘head in the sand’ deniers." 

I couldn't but notice that some of the Far Right peeps that I usually "meet" on Twitter seem to belong to more than one category... Perhaps I should ask them which category they believe they are in? Hmm... on second thought, better not. Last time I made fun of them, I got mass reported by the humorless morons and got my account suspended for almost an hour. (They're a touchy lot those Islamophobes, aren't they?)

Anyway, enjoy!

Loup Dargent

Dead Space 3: The Best Title In The Series

Let me give you a quick glance at the gameplay before we get on with the review, imagine that you are low on ammunition and your health indicator is dangerously red. There are more number of enemies than you expected and they have forced you to track your way in to a corner. What would you do, would you go all out with guns blazing, hoping that somehow you will hit all enemies with perfect lethal shots and emerge victorious? No, instead you and your partner improvise. Yes, you are not alone and that’s one of the strengths of this game. You and your partner work in collaboration and use your kinesis abilities to impale the enemies with their own limbs. You romp their corpses and then salvage to reload for the next battle.

Its moments like these that help the dead space 3 emerge as the clear winner amongst the most exciting games for PC in the year 2014.

UK: Hope From The Floods

Dear friends,

David Cameron is reacting with short term fixes as our country suffers the worst floods in 200 years. But together we can get him to face down the climate deniers, and agree a way to stop disastrous deluges happening more and more often. 
Energy Secretary Ed Davey just warned that fringes of the Tory Party and UKIP are trying everything to trash the scientific and political consensus on climate change. These guys have their heads in a sandbag: leading scientists agree these floods are climate-related. Their nutty attacks are dangerously timed -- right now, Europe is setting joint long-term goals to cut carbon pollution. And only if the EU sets the right benchmark can we get the rest of the world to aim high.

At this time of national crisis, David Cameron is looking for ways to show voters he’s a strong leader, but he’s refusing to step up on long-term targets. Let’s build a massive national outcry to remind him of his promise to lead the “greenest government ever”. Sign the petition to get the strong climate targets we need to make our country safe and forward this widely -- for every 10,000 signers we’ll send a sandbag filled with names to No.10:

www.avaaz.org/en/hope_from_the_floods/?bOksxab&v=35971

Vatican Under Global Scrutiny After UN Sex Abuse Report

Vatican under global scrutiny after UN sex abuse report (via AFP)

The UN's damning report on the Vatican's handling of child sex abuse cases has turned up the pressure on the Church to convince a sceptical international community it has adopted a zero-tolerance approach. "The Vatican has taken some steps forward,…

---