The Nature of Paleolithic Egalitarian Groups

In Part II of my essay, “Evolution of Democracy,” I discussed Dr. Doron Shultziner’s evolutionary thesis regarding the development of modern-day “liberal democracy.”  In this part, I shall look at Shultziner’s conceptualization of the way in which Paleolithic, egalitarian hunter-gatherer groups emerged and maintained their structure and functioning over thousands of years and how the mechanisms that developed were bequeathed to the democracies of the 20th and 21st centuries. 

Human societies in the Paleolithic era were quite small.  According to Shultziner…

The number of people in a foraging band did not usually exceed a few dozen. In these small nomad bands the acquaintance with other people was very close due to group size. Christopher Boehm [citation in original] says that these were “societies of equals, with minimal political centralization and no social classes. Everyone participated in group decisions, and outside the family there were no dominators.” Even after several thousand years of sedentary influence, only very few nonegalitarian foraging societies exist [citation in original].  In fact, social mechanisms that maintain the egalitarian structures are so intricate and culturally sophisticated that Boehm argues that these groups created “reversed hierarchies”, meaning, leaders are actually dominated by the rank and file and not vice versa.  The egalitarian structure was, and still is, accomplished by sophisticated social mechanisms that are known as leveling-down mechanisms.

Such “leveling-down mechanisms” are in Shultziner’s words…

…social practices which are aimed at controlling over-assertive individuals from boasting their success and traits (e.g. in hunting) and at containing leaders from exploiting their position….

Leadership is necessary for…internal conflict resolution, for religious and healing roles, and for decision making in times of war and peace. Leveling-down mechanisms, thus, do not reverse the hierarchy between a leader and his group; the mechanisms simply keep the social structure as close to flattened as possible. Leaders are restricted and checked as not to extend their powers beyond what is necessary by the circumstances [citation in original]….

If a leader or a would-be-chief tries to dominate other group members or misuse his leadership role, group members may tell him that he makes them laugh (ridicule tactic), they may walk away, disobey or simply ignore him. Other tactics are to remove, ostracize or expel an over-assertive individual from the group, and, in extreme cases, execution is also an option (different groups exercise different techniques, see [citations in original])….

…Sometimes, leaders might succeed in exploiting their roles and gain more power. In most cases, though, initial intentions of leaders to overstep their authority are quickly identified and prevented by group members, even before an explicit exclamation needs to be made. Boehm [citation in original] posits that many anthropologists probably were unable to observe the tacit conflict between leaders and group members because hunter-gatherers are very skillful in identifying over-ambitious leaders and keeping them checked and restricted.  Identifying these implicit yet meaningful social subtleties are aided by living in a small group whose members can more easily communicate and contain their leaders.

The benefits of individuals who resist and restrain a dominant leader are clear. Individuals are better off sharing some power than not having any power at all. This ancient type of behavior is already manifested in “chimpanzees’ politics” where lower-ranking males form coalitions in order to dethrone a single alpha male, and then share power together [citation in original].  This ability has probably evolved gradually and become more sophisticated. Each group member benefits from good leadership but not from a despotic one. Not each individual, however, is capable of facing a powerful over-assertive leader alone. Hence, the shared interests of group members, to improve their own positions while upholding their autonomy, are completely consistent with the egalitarian outcome: each individual behaves in a way that maximizes one’s position and the outcome is egalitarian nevertheless.

Changes in Egalitarian Forager Groups in the Neolithic Era

Shultziner painstakingly describes how changes resulting from the invention of agriculture correspondingly changed small, forager societies to larger, tribal communities and subsequently to civilizations and empires.

Before the invention of agriculture and the beginning of the Neolithic era, groups were of a limited size. Groups could not have grown too big mainly because resources were usually scarce or insufficient to maintain a big group of foragers, who seasonally consume the resources in their proximity and move on to a new area, and because bigger groups required harder work to sustain (e.g. for food supply) and entailed more conflicts [citations in original].

After the Neolithic era has begun, small egalitarian forager groups settled down and started cultivating plants and animals for subsistence. Boehm defines these societies as tribesmen and says that “they have continued the political approach of hunter-gatherers under radically different ecological circumstances” [citation in original]. Tribesmen persisted with their denial of strong authoritative leadership and prevented it from developing. As a consequence they were “prone to raiding, feuding, and territorial warfare” and they were pushed into forming intertribal coalitions [citation in original]. The transition from a confederation of tribes to chiefdoms and kingdoms was accelerated by the competition between tribes and confederation of tribes, and this eventually gave rise to a strong and powerful central authority. Indeed, some of these chiefdoms and kingdoms eventually became the kernels of the first civilizations [citation in original].

The transition to sedentary life had a tremendous impact on other factors, such as the growing number of group members, and the ability to have an intimate knowledge of, and communicate with, all group members. The transition from the Paleolithic era to the Neolithic era entailed far reaching changes in environmental conditions: social, institutional, technological and cultural. These changes resulted in a reduced capacity to effectively control and contain leaders and over-assertive individuals. The new environmental conditions impaired the effective and subtle communication of small groups, the usefulness of leveling-down mechanisms, and eventually enabled group leaders to enhance their powers over the group [Emphasis added].

Thus, it is clear that environmental changes that brought about the transition from the Paleolithic Era to the Neolithic Era imposed strong pressures on the social organization of hunter-gatherer groups.  However, the important question is:  Did these changes produce evolutionary changes in the human psyche and its longstanding preference for egalitarian social organization?

Persisting Preference for Egalitarian Social Structure

Shultiziner suggests that the ten millenia that have elapsed since the Neolithic era have not transformed “the innate physiological and psychological sets of human beings, which were shaped when human beings lived in small egalitarian societies.”  He argues that this period is “far too short in evolutionary terms to create any substantial changes.”  He cites the work of  Leda Cosmides and John Tooby [citation in original], two pioneers of evolutionary psychology, in support of his argument.

The environment that humans–and, therefore, human minds–evolved in was very different from our modern environment. Our ancestors spent well over 99% of our species’ evolutionary history living in hunter-gatherer societies. That means that our forebearers lived in small, nomadic bands of a few dozen individuals who got all of their food each day by gathering plants or by hunting animals. Each of our ancestors was, in effect, on a camping trip that lasted an entire lifetime, and this way of life endured for most of the last 10 million years.

Generation after generation, for 10 million years, natural selection slowly sculpted the human brain, favoring circuitry that was good at solving the day-to-day problems of our hunter-gatherer ancestors — problems like finding mates, hunting animals, gathering plant foods, negotiating with friends, defending ourselves against aggression, raising children, choosing a good habitat, and so on. Those whose circuits were better designed for solving these problems left more children, and we are descended from them.

Shultziner goes on to say:

It is necessary to understand these historical conditions in order to appreciate transitions to democracy in the 20th century or earlier. Saying that small egalitarian societies were the optimal and natural form of social structure under which human beings evolved does not suggest that it is the only type of social structure human beings can live under. On the other hand, saying that human beings can live under an array of structural environments does not imply that all institutional arrangements are just as good or apt for human beings to live under. The fact that in some circumstances human beings can adapt to living under totalitarian regimes, does not in any way mean that despotic social structures are as good as egalitarian social structures. Human evolution does not abruptly end with the beginning of the Neolithic era. Indeed, we know that in many cases human beings succeeded in maintaining their egalitarian structures into and far beyond the Neolithic period, and leveling-down mechanisms have not disappeared in tribal societies either.

Most probably, egalitarian structures remain more suitable to humans today just as they predominantly have been until 10,000 years ago. The overall historical pattern towards more egalitarian political institutions and practices is consistent with our evolutionary history. The existence of small egalitarian forager societies in many continents is a further reminder of the aptness and persistence of this social structure to human life despite the pressures of modern environments. States and nations were not part of the Paleolithic era; nevertheless, democratic states are far more compatible with ancient egalitarian societies than with despotic or nondemocratic regimes [Emphasis added].

In Part IV of this essay, I shall discuss Shultziner’s creative synthesis of historical, anthropological, and evolutionary evidence/theory with recent research and theory in social and political psychology regarding the “need for recognition” and its relationship to the social psychological literature on self esteem.  This contribution, I believe, will enable us to move toward a more synergistic democracy (Synocracy), which ultimately must recognize two very strong forces in human behavior and the need for their balancing, not only within the individual, but within the social order.  These two forces were called: (1) the Self-Assertive Tendency and (2) the Integrative (Self-Transcending) Tendency by Arthur Koestler, a journalist, who posssessed a monumental, synthesizing intellect, having been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford from 1964-1965.  Each of these tendencies is actually a collection of tendencies.  Koestler used these constructs in formulating his theory of the holon.

No man is an island–he is a holon.  A Janus-faced entity who, looking inward, sees himself as a self-contained unique whole, looking outward as a dependent part. His self-assertive tendency is the dynamic manifestation of his unique wholeness, his autonomy and independence as a holon. Its equally universal antagonist, the integrative tendency, expresses his dependence on the larger whole to which he belongs: his “part-ness.”

In a subsequent part of this essay, I shall consider the nature of the holon in political discourse, particularly as it relates to the new “synergistic democracy” or synocracy, which is the theme of this blog. 

Nos supermercados as gondolas estão repletas de produtos com rótulos cada vez mais coloridos, com imagens de dar água na boca, vendendo saúde e benefícios para seduzir o consumidor, que ainda se confunde com tantos nomes e opções. As informações contidas no verso dos produtos deve ser lida,mas não basta só ler, é preciso entender o que está ali impresso no rótulo para assim fazer a melhor escolha.

Os rótulos dos alimentos são destinados a informar sobre tudo que foi utilizado na fabricação do produto e trazem também as quantidades de cada matéria prima.

O rótulo nutricional dos produtos alimentícios deve apresentar informações como: nome do produto, lista de ingredientes em ordem decrescente de quantidade, conteúdo líquido (em gramas ou mililitros), medida caseira equivalente a porção, lote e prazo de validade, identificação da origem do produto, valor calórico, carboidratos, proteínas, gorduras totais, gorduras saturadas, gordura trans, colesterol, fibra alimentar, cálcio, ferro e sódio.

- Light

São aqueles com redução de, no mínimo, 30% de caloria ou de algum outro nutriente, como o sódio por exemplo, encontrado em menor quantidade no sal light e shoyo light.

- Diet

São aqueles nos quais há a eliminação de um ou mais ingredientes da fórmula original, que pode ser açúcar, gordura, sódio, proteínas ou algum outro ingrediente. Não significa necessariamente que tenha menos calorias. Por isso que muitos doces dietéticos são ricos em gordura.

Caso o seu objetivo seja perder peso, leia com atenção os rótulos dos alimentos e compare a quantidade de calorias dos produtos lights e diets com os convencionais. Não pense que pode comer o dobro do habitual por ser um alimento diet ou light!!!

- Baixo teor de açucares

Só pode ser feita quando o produto não contiver mais de 5g de açúcares por 100g para os sólidos ou de 2,5g de açúcares por 100ml para os líquidos.

- Sem adição de açúcar

Diabéticos devem ter cuidado pois isso não significa que o produto não tenha açúcar algum!

Essa designação refere-se à sacarose, o nosso conhecido açúcar branco. Além deste, temos a frutose (açúcar encontrado nas frutas e no mel) e a lactose (encontrado no leite e iogurtes) que podem estar na lista de ingredientes do alimento, porém, nem sempre são citados no rótulo como “açucar”. Caso os açúcares estejam naturalmente presentes no alimento, o rótulo deve também indicar: “contém açúcares naturalmente presentes”.

- Baixo teor de sódio

Significa que o produto teve uma redução de 120g de sódio em 100g ou 100ml do alimento. Ideal para quem precisa reduzir a ingestão desse mineral como acontece nos hipertensos, nefropatas, idosos e pessoas que sofrem de retenção hídrica.

- Fonte de fibra

Esta alegação só pode ser feita quando o produto não contiver, no mínimo, 3g de fibra por 100g ou, pelo menos, 1,5g de fibra por 100kcal.

- Alto teor de fibra

Só pode ser feita quando o produto contiver, no mínimo, 6g de fibra por 100g ou, pelo menos, 3g de fibra por 100kcal.

- Baixo teor de gordura

Feita quando o produto não contiver mais de 3g de gordura por 100g para os sólidos ou de 1,5g de gordura por 100ml para os líquidos (1,8g de gordura por 100ml para o leite meio gordo).

- Sem gordura trans

A Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (ANVISA) obriga que os rótulos de alimentos indiquem a quantidade de gordura trans presente, pois quando consumida em grandes quantidades, faz mal à saúde. Como ainda não existe um valor estabelecido de gordura trans para a dieta (%VD), seu consumo não deve ser estimulado e sugiro a ingestão de, no máximo, 2 gramas por dia. Quando no rótulo do alimento vier “zero”, “sem” ou “isento de” trans, isso significa que ele contém menos de 0,2g dessa gordura por porção.

- Baixa caloria: Significa 40 ou menos calorias por porção.

- Baixo colesterol: Indica que uma dada porção contém 20 miligramas (ou menos) de colesterol e 2 gramas (ou menos) de gordura saturada.

- Sem colesterol: Significa que o alimento deve conter menos de 2 miligramas de colesterol e 2 gramas (ou menos) de gordura saturada por porção.

Denominações que podem ser utilizadas nos rótulos dos alimentos
Baixo light, lite, leve. low, baixo, pobre
Muito Baixo very low. muito baixo
Alto Teor high, rico. alto teor, alto conteúdo
Fonte source ou fonte
Não tem free, livre , zero, não contém ou isento
Sem adição sem adição

What is sovereignty and does anyone still have any?

HOLA  A TODOS!

So, it has been one month since I started transitioning to Natural Hair.  I have been doing a weekly Homemade Avocado Deep Conditioner (1 hour) followed by a co-wash using a Cholesterol Conditioner and  another type of Conditioner .  Also, I have been making sure to keep my 1/2 -3/4 inches of new-growth moisturized before venturing out and about in the hot climate of  the Dominican Republic.

At first I was a little weary of no longer shampooing my hair,  so I decided I would Shampoo  once a month – in the middle of the month – and work towards eventually eliminating Shampooing from my hair regime. Thankfully, I was able to find a great Shampoo – Finger’s German de Trigo.  The first four ingredients in Finger’s  German de Trigo Shampoo include:  Amino Acids, Vitamin B, Vitamin E, and Aloe Vera.

Well, as month one comes to and end and the start of month two begins, I am looking forward to see where my journey to a head full of healthy, natural, kinky hair takes me …this is only the beginning.

The most authoritative tally of history’s most murderous regimes is in a book by University of Hawaii’s Professor Rudolph J. Rummel, “Death by Government.” Statistics are provided at his website: (http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/welcome.html). The Nazis murdered 20 million of their own people and those in nations they captured. Between 1917 and 1987, Stalin and his successors murdered, or were otherwise responsible for the deaths of, 62 million of their own people. Between 1949 and 1987, Mao Tsetung and his successors were responsible for the deaths of 76 million Chinese.
Today’s leftists, socialists and progressives would bristle at the suggestion that their agenda differs little from Nazism. However, there’s little or no distinction between Nazism and socialism. Even the word Nazi is short for National Socialist German Workers Party. The origins of the unspeakable horrors of Nazism, Stalinism and Maoism did not begin in the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s. Those horrors were simply the end result of long evolution of ideas leading to consolidation of power in central government in the quest for “social justice.” It was decent but misguided earlier generations of Germans, like many of today’s Americans, who would have cringed at the thought of genocide, who built the Trojan horse for Hitler to take over.

(CFD.net.au – Contract for Difference, Share, Forex, ETFs, Commodities Traders) – When faced with a sudden shock to its economy, a country can opt to implement a dual or multiple foreign-exchange rate system.With this type of system, a country has more than one rate at which its currencies are exchanged. So, unlike a fixed or floating system (to learn more about these, see Floating And Fixed Exchange Rates), the dual and multiple systems consist of different rates, fixed and floating, that are used for the same currency during the same period of time.

 In a dual exchange rate system, there are both fixed and floating exchange rates in the market. The fixed rate is only applied to certain segments of the market, such as “essential” imports and exports and/or current account transactions. In the meantime, the price of capital account transactions is determined by a market driven exchange rate (so as not to hinder transactions in this market, which are crucial to providing Foreign reserves For a country). 

In a multiple exchange rate system, the concept is the same, except the market is divided into many different segments, each with its own Foreign exchange rate, whether fixed or floating. Thus, importers of certain goods “essential” to an economy may have a preferential exchange rate while importers of “non-essential” or luxury goods may have a discouraging exchange rate. Capital account transactions could, again, be left to the floating exchange rate.

Why More Than One?

A multiple system is usually transitional in nature and is used as a means to alleviate excess pressure on Foreign reserves when a shock hits an economy and causes investors to panic and pull out. It is also a way to subdue local inflation and importers‘ demand on Foreign currency. Most of all, in times of economic turmoil, it is a mechanism by which governments can quickly implement control over Foreign currency transactions. Such a system can buy some extra time for the governments in their attempts to fix the inherent problem in their balance of payments. This extra time is Particularly important for fixed currency regimes, which may be forced to completely devalue their currency and turn to foreign institutions for help.

How Does It Work?
Instead of depleting precious foreign reserves, the government diverts the heavy demand for foreign currency to the free-floating exchange rate market. Changes in the free floating rate will reflect demand and supply.

The use of multiple exchange rates has been seen as an implicit means of imposing tariffs or taxes. For example, a low exchange rate applied to food imports functions like a subsidy, while the high exchange rate on luxury imports works to “tax” people importing goods which, in a time of crisis, are perceived as non-essential. On a similar note, a higher exchange rate in a specific export industry can function as a tax on profits.

Is It the Best Solution?
While multiple exchange rates are easier to implement, most economists agree that the actual implementation of tariffs and taxes would be a more effective and transparent solution: the underlying problem in the balance of payments could thus be addressed directly.

While the system of multiple exchange rates may sound like a viable quick-fix solution, it does have negative consequences. More often than not, because the market segments are not functioning under the same conditions, a multiple exchange rate results in a distortion of the economy and a misallocation of resources. For example, if a certain industry in the export market is given a favorable foreign exchange rate, it will develop under artificial conditions. Resources allocated to the industry will not necessarily reflect its actual need because its performance has been unnaturally inflated. Profits are thus not accurately reflective of performance, quality, or supply and demand. Participants of this favored sector are (unduly) rewarded better than other export market Participants. An optimal allocation of resources within the economy can thus not be achieved.

A multiple exchange rate system can also lead to economic rents for factors of production benefiting from implicit protection. This effect can also open up doors for increased corruption because people gaining may lobby to try and keep the rates in place. This, in turn, prolongs an already inefficient system.

Finally, multiple exchange rates result in problems with the central bank and the federal budget. The different exchange rates likely result in losses in foreign currency transactions, in which case the central bank must print more money to make up for the loss. This, in turn, can lead to inflation.

Conclusion
An initially more painful, but eventually more efficient mechanism for dealing with economic shock and inflation is to float a currency if it is pegged. If the currency is already floating, another alternative is allowing a full depreciation (as opposed to introducing a fixed rate alongside the floating rate). This can eventually bring equilibrium to the foreign exchange market. On the other hand, while floating a currency or allowing depreciation may both seem like logical steps, many developing nations are faced with political constraints that do not allow them to devalue or float a currency across the board: the “strategic” industries of a nation’s livelihood, such as food imports, must remain protected. This is why multiple exchange rates are introduced – despite their unfortunate capacity to skew an industry, the foreign exchange market, and the economy as a whole.

Source: Dual And Multiple Exchange Rates

Dimanche dernier, je prenais une dernière photo des paquets de gâteaux qui me narguaient dans le placard. A chaque ouverture de portes, ils chantonnaient, narquois : Mange moi, mange moi.
Comme je suis gentille dans le fond et que je ne voulais pas les décevoir, je les dévorais. Mauvais, mauvais ricannaît ensuite, Achille le tendon. Lui, le surpoids, il n’aime pas. Cela le vexe et craignant qu’il ne se casse et rompe avec moi, je décidais de freiner sur les sucreries.
Toute une semaine au bureau, sans dévorer le plus petit gâteau. Pas même ceux que je préparais. Non aucun, rien.
Par précaution, j’ai tout donné à mes collègues, qui les ont liquidés en deux jours. Pas de pitié, pour les sablés, les palmiers et les petits beurres.
Premier bilan, c’est tout à fait réalisable.
Toujours est il que j’ai préparé un spounge cake au citron pour les gourmets demain. Un tout petit morceau pour goûter et je ne suis pas convaincue. Est ce à dire que je n’aime plus les douceurs ?
On verra bien.
Sinon, pas de réponse sur mon énigme d’hier.

Download Syllabus

Controlling the spread of weapons continues to be one of the most critical issues in international politics. This course explores the variety of challenges associated with the issues of arms control and nonproliferation. Our specific topics will include small arms trafficking, missile control and defense, nuclear weapons proliferation and policy, chemical and biological weapons, and “future weapons” based on emerging technologies. As we consider each, specific case studies will be used to illuminate the challenges facing various countries, particularly as they are forced to steer between domestic and international politics.

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Why is international cooperation so difficult? There are an increasing number of issues that need to be solved globally. Countries seem to recognize this. They also seem to recognize that they will be better off if they can successfully deal with these issues. So, if countries have similar sets of interests around these issues, why is cooperation between nations such a tough slog?

This seminar is about wrestling with this question in a variety of analytical, theoretical, and systematic ways. We’ll take a theoretical look at the challenges associated with “collective action,” and we’ll use these theoretical insights to try to better understand the specific challenges of collective action associated with particular global issues: the environment, global public health, terrorism, nuclear nonproliferation, and global disaster preparedness.

While the focus of the class will be on international collective action, you will likely discover that many of our collective action challenges are found in interaction at a variety of levels of interaction, right down to the interpersonal. Indeed, as often as possible, we will attempt to bring the lessons of collective action right into the classroom in order to hammer this home.

A piramide alimentar

Para se ter uma boa saúde é muito importante um cuidado especial com a alimentação, evitar o sedentarismo, praticar atividades físicas, evitar o stress. Tudo isso pode ajudar-nos  a envelhecer de uma maneira mais saudável, melhor.

A Pirâmide alimentar exerce um papel muito importante, quando tratamos de nossa alimentação, evitando excessos poderemos combater de maneira mais eficiente doenças como: Diabetes, obesidade, pressão alta e a desnutrição.

É muito importante ressaltar que a alimentação é diferienciada de pessoa para pessoa, conforme seu estilo de vida, estado físico e mental. Uma pessoa que esta acamada, não deve se alimentar como um operário que trabalha em construção ou na agricultura.

Pessoas que fazem pouco esforço físico nescessitam de mais proteínas, estudantes ou pessoas que trabalham em serviços burocráticos, adminstrativos, nescessitam de alimentos para repor energias mentais. Uma coisa é certa, a princípio, tudo parte da pirâmide alimentar.

Veja como se apresenta:

1 – Alimentos energéticos – Na base de nossa alimentação, estão os alimentos que devem ser consumidos em maior quantidades, ou seja, aqueles que nosso organismo mais nescessita.

Arroz, massas, todos os tipos de cereais, pães, milho, batata, mandioca, inhame.

Estes são os alimentos energéticos, usados em nosso dia a dia os alimentos energéticos são fundamentais  em nosso dia a dia, deve se usado em todas as refeições.

Os alimentos energéticos são muito ricos em carboidratos.

2 – Alimentos reguladores – Em segundo lugar em nossa pirâmide alimentar, As verdura, legumes e frutas, apesar de não terem toda a importância dos primeiros, para o nosso corpo, são os que apresentam menos efeitos colaterais, são os mais indicados pelos médicos em regimes, dietas.

Esses alimentos são ricos em sais minerais, vitaminas e fibras, Aumentam a resistência a infecções e melhoram o funcionamento do intestino.

Apesar de ser indicado no almoço e jantar, pelo Ministério da Saúde, em outras culturas podem ser consumidos em outras refeições também. È indicado o consumo de pelo menos duas frutas ao dia.

3 – Alimentos construtores – Peixes, carnes, aves, queijo, ovos, leite e leguminosas secas ( feijão, lentilha, soja, grão de bico, etc,)

São fontes de proteínas, constroem, mantêm e renovam as células do corpo. Ajudam a formar e conservar os cabelos – cabelos, músculos, órgãos, sangue, pele. Alimentos ricos em ferroe cálcio são essenciais para prevenir anemia e osteoporose.

4 – Alimentos energéticos extras – Gorduras e óleos (margarina, manteiga, óleo vegetal, azeite de oliva), açúcares adicionais (doces e açúcar de mesa).

Gorduras e óleos citados acima, bem como o açúcar, usado para adoçar nossos alimentos e bebidas, devem ser usados com moderação. Gordura e óleos apresentam entre suas propriedades as vitaminas A, D, E  e K.

Uma boa alimentação, na quantidade e medida certa, acompanhada de atividades físicas e lazer são a melhor forma de se prevenir contra os males da doença e outros malefícios, como o envelhecimento precoce.

This sort of reminds of people leaving the RNC for their strange ideology and repressive dogmatic views.  Accept people seem to be taking longer to leave, over the past 20 years since adopting those ideological views.  The old RNC was just fine, but these neo-conservatives have gone dogmatic with social conservative views that target our families and our private lives.

All these regimes around the world are going to collapse because they persecute their own people for ridiculous things whether communist ideology or religious ideology.  Leave people alone and let them do their own thing and everything will be great!  Sure there will be problems, but free choice without doing harm is a better way of life.

This world doesn’t need dictators or regimes that repress the people or their paths in life.

Supporting 56 Million Chinese Leaving the CCP

The “Quit the CCP Center” in Tokyo hosted a parade to support 56 million Chinese withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on June 21. People from Tokyo and surrounding cities as far away as Kansai, have shown their support by joining the event despite the rain.

Led by the Celestial Marching Band, participants marched around downtown Tokyo with banners stating “Support 56 million Chinese’ withdrawal from CCP”, “Disintegrate the CCP, Stop the persecution”, “Stop persecuting Falun Gong” and so forth. Along the path, participants also announced through loudspeakers that the historical violence and lies of CCP are destined to collapse. [Read 56million Chinese Leave CCP]

Man, everything is really happening in Iran. Massive, courageous protests yesterday, with the regime cracking down, and opening fire (with live ammunition) on the protestors.

Good link roundups by Jules Crittendon and Michael Totten, who is also adding his own commentary.

Obama, meanwhile is caught absolutely flatfooted. Is he still trying to implement foreign policy based on his ideals as a college student? Or can the American left really not tell the difference between their imagined thuggery of Bush and real oppression when they see it? All he can manage to say is that it’s a situation to watch carefully. Yeah, no duh. Weak response, Obama – or should I say Carter 2. Heck, Obama’s still hoping to negotiate with the Iranian regime over the “peaceful” nuclear power they can have but we shouldn’t. How is this such a difficult choice: rather than supporting a freedom seeking populace over their oppressive government (lauded for its fair election by Venezuela, North Korea, Carter, Syria, and Palestine), or sit on the sidelines and wait through the crackdown so you can cut a deal with the power hungry regime of a rogue state? Way to vote present on this one, Barack. You can’t even have the state department condemn the crackdown? But I guess at least it’s not a crisis issue like health care, right?

Now consider this: Bush and the pro-Iraq-War conservatives and neo-cons were claiming that Iraq as a bastion of Democracy and freedom would encourage similar traits in its neighbors, while liberals denounced the entire operation. Once again we see who history bears out – has Obama ever uttered a single word about Iraq that ended up being truthful? And if anyone who voted for Obama isn’t embarrased, why?

Généralement, je survole d’un regard méprisant tous ces articles qui ne manquent pas d’arriver à périodes fixes dans nos magazines féminins préférés.

Non mais parce que ça fait quelques années déjà que ça me gonfle toutes ces conneries convenues et saisonnières de mettre la pression à toutes les femmes même les plus minces pour qu’elles perdent les cinq kilos qu’elles auraient en trop pour affronter l’”épreuve du maillot”.

Franchement, je déteste cette expression : l’épreuve du maillot. Houla c’est le gros drame, je vais devoir mettre un maillot sur la plage pendant l’été et comme c’est bien connu qu’il n’y a que des tops models parfaites à ces endroits-là faut vite que je perde mon petit bourrelet aux entournures de femme normalement constituée.

Give me a break, merde !

Il n’empêche que même en survolant le ELLE la semaine dernière, j’ai réussi à tomber sur (et à retenir) un conseil assez heu….comment dire…..bon à toi de juger et de me dire ce que t’en penses !

Le truc super innovant et inédit pour avoir les fesses comme ça !

Remodelez vos fessiers en vous brossant les dents

“Contractez vos fessiers pendant 3 minutes chaque matin, vous verrez des résultats dès la troisième semaine”, assure Valérie Orsoni. Aucune excuse pour ne pas le faire tous les jours.

Pour sûr, ma puce, j’ajouterais même qu’il n’y a aucune excuse pour ne pas le faire deux fois par jour ma bonne dame.

Ben ouai, attends, tu te brosses bien les dents au moins deux fois par jour non ?

Donc à raison de 2×3mn = 6mn (houla, TP de mathématiques aujourd’hui sur ce blog !) par jour, je te mets au défi de voir des résultats en 3 semaines/2 = 1,5 semaine (hou ça se corse là, à la limite du niveau Math Spé) seulement.

Non mais, no deconing.

Ce week-end, en me brossant les dents tout en me regardant d’un air bovin dans le miroir entre les gouttelettes de dentifrice qui giclaient dessus comme d’hab’ (miam, miam) j’ai subitement eu un flash et ce truc m’est revenu en tête.

Le regard bovin laissant tout de suite la place à un sourire niais, j’ai donc contracté mes fessiers.

Mais mon rythme de brossage s’est ralenti tout net.

Donc j’ai relâché légèrement les fessiers pour reprendre la cadence dentaire.

Mais merde, tout le flan fessal s’est relâché d’un coup.

Et rebelote que je te recontracte tout ça.

Et rebelote que ma main n’arrive plus à faire bouger ma brosse à dents comme il faut.

Ces cons, ils essayent leurs trucs et astuces de polichinelle avant de les écrire au moins ?

C’est impossible de faire les deux en même temps !

Ou alors, aurais-je de légers problèmes moteurs que je viens tout juste de découvrir en direct et à la face du monde ?

Sois gentil, essaye chez toi et dis-moi si t’arrives à contracter tes fessiers TOUT en te brossant les dents normalement (et non comme un mollusque).

L’avantage de tout ça, c’est que ce jour-là, j’ai certainement réussi à me brosser les dents pendant trois minutes pour de vrai ! (non mais sérieux, qui se brosse les dents pendant tout ce temps, en vrai ? Que celui qui le fait, me dévoile si oui ou non il met un chrono pour être sûr du temps passé).

Bientôt dans vos magazines féminins du mois prochain :

Faites des squats et musclez vos fessiers en faisant les courses

Comme c’est la crise et que t’achètes plus que les produits “premier prix”, et que ceux-ci sont toujours placés tout en bas des rayonnages. Attrape-les en descendant les jambes bien écartées et fléchies pour joindre l’utile (faire des squats donc) au désagréable (acheter du jambon premier prix à 100% de matière grasse).

Ah ben je lance des idées moi !

J’ai remarqué que plusieurs sites web et forums de discussion traitent du régime sans résidus. Plusieurs médecins et nutritionnistes recommandent ce régime en période de crise ou de rémission. Il vise à diminuer la consommation de fibres et d’aliments difficiles à digérer, dans le but de faire cesser la diarrhée et de remettre le malade dans la bonne voie.

C’est un régime qui peut s’avérer utile en période de crise. Pour plusieurs personnes, il pourra stopper la diarrhée et leur permettra de reprendre des forces. Par contre, je déconseillerais de demeurer sous ce régime à moyen et long terme. La consommation de pomme de terre, de pâtes alimentaire et de riz, et l’interdiction des fruits et légumes contredit complètement le principe de base du régime en glucides spécifiques. Des rechutes seront probablement à prévoir si on persiste dans ce régime, je peux en témoigner.

Effectuer progressivement un transfert vers le régime en glucides spécifiques serait une excellente idée, et diminuerait du même coup les carences alimentaires induites par le régime sans résidus.

Le régime sans résidus est un régime de traitement des symptômes, et non pas des causes de la maladie. Pour sentir des effets positifs à long terme, sans avoir à absorber des Ensure, des Boost ou des multivitamines, le régime en glucides spécifiques est un meilleur choix.

La Terraillon, ce matin, est cinglante : 102 kg. Françoise Duplon n’y croit pas. Furieuse, elle descend du plateau, fait une courte pause, remonte : 102,5, accuse alors le cadran, intraitable. Bienvenue dans les nombres à trois chiffres ! Non. C’est pas possible. Elle déconne complet cette balance. Quelle saloperie. Quatre kilos en dix jours. C’est pas possible. Bon, c’est vrai on s’est lâchées avec Odette, sacrément, ils cuisinent bien ces saletés de Tunisiens. Mais gras, gras. Et sucré, beaucoup trop. Leur buffet à volonté. Saloperie. A volonté. C’est la dernière fois qu’on part là-bas. La toute dernière. Chier de chier de merde. J’aime pas la salade de toute façon, c’est ça le problème. La verdure a pas de goût. Même avec de la feta j’aime pas ça. Mais quand même. Quatre kilos. C’est dégueulasse. Jamais passer la barre des cent, je m’étais pourtant jurée. Tu parles. Je me déteste. De la tête aux pieds. Regarde-moi cette panse d’hippopotame. C’est affreux. Il va falloir que je “passe à l’action” comme ils disent sur auféminin. Dès midi, c’est régime sec.

Kurt Luftenberg est designer. C’est un phénomène : en treize mois, il a perdu 47 kilos. Objectif “très largement atteint”, selon les dires de son nutritionniste, d’autant que depuis cinq ans son poids est “stabilisé”. Inutile de préciser que son séant ne déborde plus des chaises anorexiques qu’il dessine depuis maintenant trois décennies. Dans ses bureaux de Londres, New York, Dubaï et Tokyo, le monte-charge n’est qu’un vieux souvenir :  Kurt Luftenberg goûte désormais au vif plaisir de prendre les escaliers quatre à quatre lors de ses aériennes visites. Léger, “redessiné”, libre. Une magnifique victoire, applaudie par tous.
Kurt Luftenberg, Comte de Weltz, arrière-petit-fils du Roi Petzi de Walkyrie, est un homme de poigne, d’aucuns disent de rudesse. Ce qui n’ôte rien à la sûreté de son goût, rien non plus à sa germanique noblesse. Son entourage l’admire, le vénère même, mais craint fort son courroux. Rien ni personne ne lui résiste. C’est un vainqueur. Aussi décide-t-il, un mémorable lundi de printemps, en séducteur avisé, de mettre un terme à “l’encombrement pondéral” qui l’essouffle trop vite en période de rut — il pèse alors plus du double quintal et ça le gêne. Nous sommes en 2003. Il réunit ses collaborateurs au QG de Düsseldorf pour un conseil de guerre. Où il sera question, bien entendu, d’image. Il s’agit non pas de faire un régime — surtout pas, quelle disgrâce ! — mais de mettre au point la “Méthode”. Méthode Luftenberg d’ “inhibition fonctionnelle” qui fera le tour du monde, comme chacun sait.

Françoise Duplon, quant à elle, est pour ainsi dire une vétéran des régimes “yoyo”. A quarante-deux ans elle a tout essayé. Tous les régimes. Le régime “hyperprotéiné”, par exemple. Viande, poisson, oeuf, du matin au soir. Cyclique, mais on peut inverser : poisson, oeuf, viande. Pas le moindre petit bout de pain. Pas la plus petite croûte du plus arriéré des fonds de boulangerie. Exit les éclairs au café, les pâtes carbo, le truffé au chocolat, la Häagen Dazs caramel. Viande, poisson, oeuf. Un enfer. Ah si quand même, juste un peu de crème pour faire passer. Au bout de trois jours vous commettez un meurtre. Le régime “Hollywood”, elle a essayé aussi : oranges, ananas, kiwi, pastèque, bananes (ouf), papaye, etc., 24h / 24. A proximité des toilettes si possible. Intenable sans sphincters musclés. Oublie. Le régime “mayo”, tiens. Eh non les filles : mayonnaise interdite ! : que des oeufs ! 10 par jour ma poule ! Artères obstruées en quinze jours. Arrêt cardiaque si poursuite effrénée du supplice. Stoppé au bout d’une semaine épouvantable. Il y a eu l’époque du Weight Watchers, aussi. “Watcher”, en anglais, ça veut dire “regardeur”. Regarde comme t’es moche ! Comme t’as pas maigri ! Vilaine ! On est en groupe. La honte si t’as pas perdu au moins cinq cents grammes la semaine. Le régime au fouet psychologique c’est. Terrifiant. Et les participants ont l’oeil, attention ; la langue fourchue lors des tordantes “réunions de contrôle”. Faut aimer. Et Françoise Duplon, qui y a laissé deux mois de salaire, a fini par abandonner. Même si diététiquement c’était “pas si mal”. Bref, elle a repris les six kilos perdus. Et de beaucoup. Ensuite ? Régime “fourchette”, régime “couleurs”, régime “bulles”, régime “flex”, régime “cubes”… Tous. Même le Demis Roussos. Et le Montignac. Tout essayé. Rien à faire. Ça yoyote. Moins cinq, plus six. Moins trois, plus quatre. Il y a eu malgré tout un moins treize… plus onze ! mais en général ça finit toujours par grignoter dans le mauvais sens. Saleté de yoyo.

Quel régime pour Françoise Duplon, qui vit avec trois enfants, divorcée d’un maçon, en emploi précaire ? Quel régime, tu veux me dire ?

Kurt Luftenberg a la grâce féline des créateurs à qui tout réussit. Une classe folle, une élégance, qui participent pleinement de sa réputation. Outre ses quatre lieutenants qui l’assistent en permanence, c’est très entouré qu’il a choisi de mener tambour battant son “extraordinaire amaigrissement” : nutritionniste, diététicien, cardiologue, cuisinier étoilé, designer culinaire, psychologue, coach sportif, maître yogi, podologue, astrologue, géologue, sans compter l’incontournable Ruedi Holzer, acheteur “bio” pour le Grand Marché. Une fine équipe de spécialistes en somme. De renommée internationale pour la plupart. Et puis c’est une question de volonté de toute façon. Eh oui, de volonté. Ça tombe pas du ciel : Kurt Luftenberg est précisément un homme de grande volonté. C’est d’ailleurs grâce à lui, grâce à son légendaire jusqu’au-boutisme, que toutes les “bonne librairies” du monde (et même, avouons-le, quelques “grandes surfaces”) proposent depuis quatre ans la “Méthode Luftenberg” dans leur assortiment “minceur”. Succès planétaire — quoique la “méthode” ne soit pas simple à gérer, à moins d’y consacrer tout son temps en courses, préparations fastidieuses, pesages rébarbatifs, mesures et autre  “règle de trois”. Aucune importance : Witold Horstbach, patron de Crispa Presse, ami intime de Kurt, est là pour assurer une diffusion massive de l’ouvrage miracle. Kein problem Herr Luftenberg. Un redoutable génie, ce Kurt. Dans tous les domaines.

C’est dans un long soupir d’espoir que Françoise Duplon glisse “La Méthode Luftenberg” dans son caddie, entre le jambon d’Aoste et le cake aux raisins. La belle couverture chic avec “vu à la télé”, ainsi que le commentaire avisé du Dr.Cohen (le Monsieur Plus de la béatitude acalorique), ont eu raison des réticences émises par Odette, son amie de toujours. “Non tu te trompes là, Odette, 47 kilos c’est quand même super. Regarde comme il est beau ce Kurt, avec son costume. Si moi j’en perds la moitié, ça sera déjà pas mal.”

Ainsi vont les bateaux, sur les eaux noires du monde crédule.