RSS is an abbreviation that has evolved into the following, depending on their versions:·    RDF Site Summary (also known as RSS 0. 9; the first version of RSS)·    Rich Site Summary (also known as RSS 0. 91; a prototype)·    Really Simple Syndication (also known as RSS 2. 0)Today, RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’, and it has the following 7 existing formats or versions:·    0. 90·    0. 91·    0. 92·    0. 93·    0. 94·    1. 0·    2. 0RSS tools refer to a group of file formats that are designed to share headlines and other web content (this may be a summary or simply 1 to 2 lines of the article), links to the full versions of the content (the full article or post), and even file attachments such as multimedia files. All of these data is delivered in the form of an XML file (XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language), which has the following common names:·    RSS feed·    Webfeed·    RSS stream·    RSS channelThey are typically shown on web pages as an orange rectangle that usually has the letters XML or RSS in it. RSS feeds can be used to deliver any kind of information. Some of these ‘feeds’ include:·    Blogs feed – each blog entry is summarized as a feed item. This makes blog posts easier to scan, enabling ‘visitors’ to zoom in on their items of interest. ·    Article feed – this alerts readers whenever there are new articles and web contents available. ·    Forum feed – this allows users to receive forum posts and latest discussion topics. ·    Schedule feed – this allows users (such as schools, clubs, and other organizations) to broadcast events and announce schedule changes or meeting agendas. ·    Discounts or Special feed – this is used to enable users (such as retail and online stores) to ‘deliver’ latest specials and discounted offers. ·    Ego or News Monitoring – this enables users to receive ‘filtered’ headlines or news that are based on a specific phrase or keyword. ·    Industry-specific feed – used by technical professionals in order to market, promote, or communicate with current (and prospective) customers and clients within their specific industries. RSS feeds enable people to track numerous blogs and news sources at the same time. To produce an RSS feed, all you need is the content or the article that you want to publicize and a validated RSS text file. Once your text file is registered at various aggregators (or ‘news readers’), any external site can then capture and display your RSS feed, automatically updating them whenever you update your RSS file. RSS tools are useful for sites that add or modify their contents on a regular basis. They are especially used for ‘web syndication’ or activities that involve regular updates and/or publications, such as the following:·    News websites – as used by major news organizations such as Reuters, CNN, and the BBC. ·    Marketing·    Bug reports·    Personal weblogsThere are many benefits to using RSS feeds. Aside from being a great supplemental communication method that streamlines the communication needs of various sectors, RSS tools and feeds can also have tremendous benefits in your business, particularly in the field of internet marketing. RSS tools and feeds provide Internet users with a free (or cheap) and easy advertising or online marketing opportunity for their businesses. Below are some of the RSS features that can help make your internet marketing strategies more effective. 1. Ease in content distribution services. With RSS, your business can be captured and displayed by virtually any external site, giving you an easy way to ’spread out’ and advertise them. 2. Ease in regular content updates. With RSS, web contents concerning your business can now be automatically updated on a daily (and even hourly) basis. Internet users will be able to experience ‘real time’ updates as information in your own file (such as new products and other business-related releases) is changed and modified simultaneously with that of the RSS feeds that people are subscribed to. 3. Custom-made content services. With RSS, visitors can have personalized content services, allowing them total control of the flow and type of information that they receive. Depending on their interests and needs, visitors can subscribe to only those contents that they are looking for (such as real estate or job listings). 4. Increase in (and targeted) traffic. With RSS, traffic will be directed to your site as readers of your content summary (or 1 to 2 lines of your article) who find them interesting are ‘forced’ to click on a link back to your site. These are just several of the many things that you can do with RSS. The possibilities are endless, and they are all aimed at providing you with an effective internet marketing strategy for your business.

Good party costumes can make you the center of attraction at any event. A little careful planning can help you wear the showstopper at the party. Innovate You’ve heard it a thousand times – think out of the box. Most party costumes are so repetitive. For instance, you’d see near to a dozen superheroes at any party, not to mention characters from popular shows. So, why don’t you try something new? Something quirky or funny? May be a time period costume or a scary get up. Go a little crazy and have some fun. Think about your options. Consider putting your costume together, piece by piece. Remember, when it comes to attractive party costumes, something out of the ordinary is bound to win you more eyeballs. There are no limits to your creativity. Actually, the crazier you get, the better your chances of attracting attention. Get into the details For many people, slipping into a dress is about all there is to wearing a costume. If they only knew! The dress is only the starting point of your costume. To make it click, you have to add various elements to your garb. For instance, if you’re a pirate, you could probably do with a few tattoos or maybe an ugly looking beard or wig. A werewolf can add oodles of zing to their costume by purchasing lens that glow in the dark. The killer element in any dramatic party costume is the amount of detailing that goes into it. It may be a little hard but you must strive to achieve authenticity. Make sure that everything, starting from shoes to makeup and jewelry, is just perfect for the character. This is the easiest and foolproof way to stand out from the crowd. Actually, a little attention to the details will see you beating more than half your competition because for most people, party costumes are all about slipping into a ‘copy costume’. Become creative Some people make their costume at home. Of course, that’s a luxury that many of us cannot have, even if we have the inclination and the flair. But, when it comes to a trinket or shoes, you can easily get authentic stuff from home itself. Ask around. You might easily get the very thing you are looking for. If there is an element in your costume that is not readily available, make it yourself. Party costumes are the heart of a party. So, it’s alright to go a little wild. You can look for inspiration anywhere. History, old works of art, politics – ideas are everywhere. You only need to pick an interesting character and work out the details. The right hairstyle, wigs, shoes, jewelry and other details can make you a hit at the party. Your aim is to create an illusion and work on the details to transform this illusion into a reality.

Bu resim şu 2007-05-20 14:30:49 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’de futureatlas.com tarafından alınmıştır.

As I jetted the streets of Chicago in a perverse attempt to find a liquor store that still carried Mad Dog 20/20, I reflected on how odd timing could be.   Not thirty minutes ago I was a doctoral student sitting in lecture at a prestigious, private university and now I was actively seeking a substance whose sole purpose was the destruction of the brain I was just developing.   Truthfully, this was the first time I was ever looking to buy some Mad Dog; though I do remember it floating around throughout my college years.   So, when I jumped in my car I never thought that this search would be so difficult; I just assumed I could get it anywhere.   But, as I continued to swerve my little Saturn from liquor store to liquor store, I kept receiving the same twisted dirty look from the staff when I asked where they kept their Mad Dog.  
After about an hour of scouring the city streets I hit pay dirt.   The clerk had to go all the way to the back of the store, move some boxes out of the way and dig out my prize.   When I went to the register the second clerk asked to see my I. D.   As I reached for my wallet the first interjected quickly and said, “Now, we don’t need to see his I. D.   I trust him. “  With that he shot me a sly wink and bagged up my three bottles.   He must have thought he was doing some underage kid a favor.   I wanted to scream that I was really over 21 (by quite a many years) and decree the real reason I was purchasing this vile liquor.   But I hesitated and thought, maybe it just makes more sense to him that a youngin’ was buying such an inexpensive, atrocious alcohol.   After all, what respectable doctoral student would?
At this point you may think this article to be about the trappings of a young alcoholic.   Now, while working toward a Ph. D. may drive me into the bottle, I’m not quite there just yet.   In all actuality, I was preparing for a party I hosted on November 2, 2004.   The invitation read as follows:
All people and political parties are welcome to Election Night 2004!!! But, there is an agenda for the evening.   If: 1. John Kerry wins, I will have champagne for all. 2. If Dubya wins, everyone will be required to drink 1 glass of Mad Dog 20/20. 3. If Nader wins, I will personally buy an all-inclusive round-trip package to Hawaii for everyone who comes to the party. 4. If, somehow, the Democrats win the election but the Republicans steal it AGAIN then we all will pile into our cars and make a break for Canada!Hope you can make it!!!
As I’m sure you can assume, the champagne was decidedly easier and much more expensive to obtain for the festivities.   Also, I didn’t exactly have American Airlines on hold with 20 round trip tickets to Hawaii in anticipation of the greatest political upset in the last 100 years.  
As a reluctant Democrat, I spent the weeks preceding the election debating with my academic colleagues about who was going to win.   With all the higher education Republicans being called into an undisclosed F. B. I. conservative protection program, these discussions were largely one-sided.   The tenor is best characterized as having a measured optimism.   Kerry was obviously intelligent; the fact that he “flip-flopped” on issues only proved he could in fact change his mind if given new evidence.   And, of course, how could the character of a decorated Vietnam veteran ever be tarnished? 
These discussions also provided ample opportunity for Bush-Bashing; I admit that I participated in these sessions with zeal!  Now, our President Bush has never been seen as a flip-flopper.   You either clearly knew his stance on an issue or you clearly knew he had no intention of taking any stance at all.   I think Chris Rock summed it up best:
Reporter:          Mr. President, What about the economy?  When’s it going to pick up?
Bush:                Well, you never know.   We’re talking to people. And economic indicators are indicating that indications are coming to the indicators. You know what I’m saying?  Alright.
Reporter:          Mr. President, what about gay marriage?
Bush:                F— them faggots!
November 2, 2004 finally rolled around.   I was incredibly thankful that my near round the clock vigil of all the major media outlets would soon end; I hadn’t watched this much news coverage since the days following 9/11.   At any rate, I ducked out of work, drove to my polling station and cast my ballot.   Even up until the second I punched out my chad I was conflicted, but ultimately chose to follow my mind rather than my heart.    I make this distinction because if I had voted for who my heart wanted, Nader would have been a single vote greater in Illinois.   But, I bought into the hype that this election was just too important.   As I said before, I am a reluctant Democrat.
The party that evening went well on its way and we watched the events unfold.   Of course nothing surprising initially happened; states were falling where we all new they would.   The northeast lit up blue, the south burned red.   Like clockwork, within 5 seconds of the polls closing in Illinois it was awarded to the Democrats.   I always take it as a matter of pride that my home state is the first blue beacon out to the west.  
My partygoers continued to munch through all the hors d’oeuvres and make small talk since it would be at least a couple hours wait until we started receiving a few of the “toss-up” state election results.   And then it came – Kerry was projected to win Pennsylvania.   Not wanting to fall prey to another Florida fiasco, we quickly checked out all the news outlets for confirmation.   All except Fox News (surprise, surprise) had the same wonderful blue color enveloping Pennsylvania; at that point a Kerry win felt much more tangible.   The South cards all fell for Bush, as expected.   Our numbers looked horrible, but we knew we could add on California’s 55 electoral votes to put us at ease.   Until this point in the evening I was guarded in my optimism, but now I started to allow myself to believe.   Maybe we wouldn’t have four more years of Bush.  
The night rolled on and Florida fell as I expected but along came Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota in the win column for us.   My eyes began to bore holes into Ohio on the TV map.   I don’t think I moved from my position for sometime as I sat hoping for an answer.
I have never claimed to be a mathematician at any point in my life.   Truth be told, in my first-year of college I was required to take a no-credit, remedial Algebra course.   Nonetheless, on election night I found myself doing incredible calculations effortlessly in my head as I watched the returns come in from Ohio.   It was still too close to call but Kerry was trailing.   None of that mattered, each time I calculated the number of votes we needed I rationalized ways we were going to get them.   After all, Democrats are lazy aren’t they?  I had bet they were lounging around their houses all day, continually putting off going to the polls.   I just knew they were watching T. V. like I was and suddenly realized “Oh damn!  Look at those poll numbers.   We had better go vote!” 
Plus, we were heavily relying on the college vote.   Having worked in colleges for many years now I’ve seen first hand just how adept students are at procrastinating.   They probably were piling out of their residence halls right now and slowly trampsing over to the polls.   Yeah, that must be it.   I pinned my hopes of the election on the fact that lazy Democrats and procrastinating college students from Ohio were going to save the day.  
With fear starting to creep in, some of my companions began speculating about what four more years of Bush really meant.   The realization that we were going to lose continued to seep its way more and more into our psyche.   Needless to say, neither the champagne nor Mad Dog was drunk that evening.   And, my smart-aleck friend who brought with him a packed bag in hopes of a free Hawaiian vacation somberly went home.   The night ended on the familiar note of a build up minus a pay off reminiscent of 2000.   I struggled to stay awake into the night, but eventually fell asleep in my living room with the TV on.
Let me pause for one quick side bar.   If elections are going to keep ending like a Hollywood cliffhanger, can we all decide to move them to Friday?  On the Wednesdays following these sleepless nights I get absolutely nothing done between the frequent dosing off and even more frequent refreshing of every media outlet I have opened up on my desktop.   Days like this I am addicted to these websites even though I can get a better idea about what will be on next week’s “24″ than I can about an election that already happened!
The early morning hours came without any news.   I turned on the coffee pot, no news.   I toasted my bagel, no news.   I showered while occasionally craning my neck out of the bathroom to see the TV, no news.   I was starting to get irritated.
Then came the Kerry concession speech; I knew it was coming, but just didn’t want to believe it.   I wish I could say that he left me with some solace or hope in the future.   I wish I felt united behind President Bush as the justified winner.   But honestly, I cannot remember one word the man said during this speech.   All I remember is thinking that maybe it was a good thing he didn’t get elected.   I mean, for God’s sake, no President of the United States should ever be seen wearing a tie resembling something donated by the makers of Pepto-Bismol!  Come on, you have to agree with me there! 
Of course, this was just my humor consoling the incredible loss I felt in this moment.   How could my calculations have been so off?  Did the unreliable college students of Ohio sell our collective souls down the river because of a good drink special on campus?  The parade of Bush parties all over the nation began to spring up and glow on my television screen.   Bush was then able to give the triumphant reelection speech his father never could.   As Bush supporters throughout the country were chanting enthusiastically “Four More Years” I sat down, put my head in my hands and muttered in a barely recognizable, guttural, pained effort of speech, “four. . . more. . . years. “
This article is not about what happened to the Democrats in losing this election.   I merely tell my story of the election to one, set the stage for what we see in liberal America today and two, as a method of cathartic release for the emotions I still have bottled up.   Looking back a year later, I can’t bring myself to hold Kerry solely responsible for this loss even though it seemed like a proverbial slam-dunk.   What concerns me more is the attitude and rhetoric my fellow liberals have employed in the months since November.   A year later I stand aghast at the senseless ramblings of individuals I thought to be patriots of this country.   I believe in many of their virtues and ideals and thought I was standing shoulder to shoulder with them in a fight for what we believed in.  
Unfortunately, many of my liberal co-patriots have gone off the bitter deep end.   It is sad to witness the disgust, bordering on hate, many have expressed for those who dared cast their ballots for Bush.   I even heard remarks after the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe that “those people down South” should blame themselves for President Bush’s slow response in their time of need.   After all, they are the ones who voted for him.   I find such a sentiment revolting.   These are the people we hope to serve and yet we have shown so little respect for them in the wake of this election.   If they do not “get” that we can serve them better than the Republican right, who’s fault is that?
In my junior year in high school, my entire class was unexpectedly called down to our large auditorium.    Not knowing why we were being beckoned, we hastened downstairs knowing the reason could not be good news.   A month or so prior we had all taken the Pre-ACT and evidentially our results had just been received.  
My high school was supposed to be a rigorous college prep program and our combined Math scores were far below the national average.   This is of course a foreshadowing to the future problems I would have in college requiring remedial coursework.   In any case, the school administration had called us down to one, inform us of this fact and two, berate us for so horribly embarrassing the school by our poor performance.   The principal spoke at us.   The dean of students spoke at us.   After about 10-15 more minutes of our own teachers criticizing our work ethic and performance to date I shot my hand into the air.   I just couldn’t take it anymore.  
When I was finally called on I could actually hear the hundreds of heads sweep back in my direction to see what I dared to say.   While what I said next was most definitely rooted in a rebellious, adolescent, smart-aleck rebuke to the administration, it was nonetheless a moment of truth and relatable to our current political situation.   I said, “Now, if I do poorly on a test, then that is my fault.   But, if ALL 400 of us do poorly on a nationally administered test, isn’t that YOUR fault?” as I pointed my finger in the direction of the faculty.  
As I am sure you can imagine, I got into an incredible amount of trouble for my outburst; but that does not mean that I was wrong!  If Red-Staters who have lost their jobs, are having their daughters and sons die in the Middle East and are suffering through a horrendous federal response to a natural disaster are still voting for the man and political party responsible for their plight, how can we place blame for the election at their doorstep?  We evidentially did an outright horrible job at teaching and explaining how we want to work on behalf of these honest, hard-working people occupying the land between Los Angeles and New York City.   We did not show them how we have their true interest at heart and not just interests of the richest 1%.   It isn’t their fault and there is nothing fundamentally wrong with them.   The problem lies within our nation of real-life, working liberals.
I absolutely refuse to align myself with rhetoric of dejection, mistrust, and constant bemoaning of how we have been cheated.   I have some news for all my fellow liberals out there. . . WE WEREN’T CHEATED!  But, even if we were cheated, we cheated ourselves.   I can’t believe that some of the most highly educated and respectable people in our nation are such incredibly sore losers.   We aren’t on the playground anymore folks and there will be another day for another election.   I have no confidence in President Bush either, but I do have confidence in us as a people.   Besides, if Kerry was elected, we have to be honest, we were only hoping for a slightly less screwed up world than we already have.   A messiah sent to heal the wounds in our country he was not.
We liberals here on the ground floor, living real lives, will not have success just happen to us.   We have to create our own fortune.   The Democrats may be the best we have and, unfortunately for us, the only thing they have successfully created is an ocean of failure.   Just take a quick look at the results for the past 10 elections:
                        1968 – Richard M. Nixon (R)
                        1972 – Richard M. Nixon/Gerald R. Ford (R)
                        1976 – James E. Carter (D)
                        1980 – Ronald W. Reagan (R)
                        1984 – Ronald W. Reagan (R)
                        1988 – George H. W. Bush (R)
                        1992 – William J. Clinton (D)
                        1996 – William J. Clinton (D)
                        2000 – George W. Bush (R)
                        2004 – George W. Bush (R)
Are you able to see the problem?  We have elected 2 Democrats to our nations highest office in the past 36 years and one of those was JIMMY CARTER!  There are problems that pre-date the “Dubya” era of our history.   We have to take a critical look into how this history and the Democratic Party has affected the nation of liberals of which I am proud to be a part.   Proud yes, but not satisfied.   We can be better than we have shown ourselves to be this past year.
One, we are not going to win allies by calling people stupid.   It is just that simple.   Liberals are quick to chastise President Bush for pushing around the world like he is Clint Eastwood in some Western.   He is not well liked around the world because he is a bully and thinks he knows what is right; let’s not make the same mistake.   Let’s not assume we naturally know what a family living in Stillwater, Oklahoma wants or needs.   We may share in a collective American culture, but our individual experiences are far removed from one another.
Two, we are not going to win allies by looking down our noses at people.   Do you remember the stuck up professors you had in college who thought they were God’s gift to the world?  Did you like them?  Of course not!  Pretentious academics end their life in the solitude believing that they were always better than everyone else.   Notice closely that I said their story ends in solitude.   An important point here is that solitude doesn’t carry much voting power.
Three, we are not going to win allies by telling people how easy it would be to improve their situation.   First off, I have rarely met a person whose situation was easy to begin with.   Everyone has a story about the hardest thing they have ever had to deal with in their lives.   To them it was difficult and, even if another’s experience was different, no one has the right to pass a value judgment.   Everyone’s story deserves respect.
Many Red-Staters like their “situation” and don’t need people filling their head with the idea that there is something wrong with them.   We have fought and are still fighting hard battles for equal opportunity.   This means all people have the equal opportunity to lead any kind of life they want.   I too get annoyed when NASCAR clogs up my nightly ESPN time, but being a fan of NASCAR does not infer that you also possess a lower I. Q.   Again, I say we have constantly fought for the choice.   Why would we begrudge anyone that? 
We should learn from and show respect to the Republican Party and Red-Staters.   They are ardent Americans and a large section of the population we hope to serve.   Furthermore, when the Republicans took a presidential back seat in the 1990s, never once did I hear that they wanted to flee to Canada as I heard loudly exclaimed from many liberals this past year.   I point the finger right back myself in this instance in reference to my Election Night invitation.   How more un-American and juvenile can a person sound by saying that since I didn’t get my way I’m taking my ball and going home.   If the Left is going to flee the country because the current King of the Right is still in office, I have to respect Republicans even more for deciding to continue the fight and not just BLOW town when Clinton held the same JOB.   Remember, the Right was exactly too ecstatic when we had our president in the 90s.  
Special Note: For those of you who want to move to Canada over election results my first instinctual response is to help you pack.   We don’t need you here; you’re nothing but a pessimistic weight holding us down.   But, if you really are willing to move over this, then could you at least take one for the team and move to Ohio?  We need some more blue voters there.
The point is that I have not seen my peers leading with respect this past year and I call upon them to do so.   I don’t care about the politicians; they are going to do what they are going to do.   I say again that I am talking to the real world, working liberals where the true charge for change falls.   We are better than this and only by being better are we going to reclaim positions of power in politics.   It is 3 more years until the next election and I am guessing it is at least 8-12 more years before Barrack Obama can run.   We need answers and leaders today.   Get your game face on liberals!

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by Philip Yaffe
 
 
We live in a cynical age where the values of truth, honesty and integrity seem to be in short supply. We are therefore always looking for examples of such values in action, especially with regard to politicians.
 
 
I would like to offer you such an example from Africa. You have probably never heard of this man, but for me he stands as a true model of integrity. It’s not Nelson Mandela, but Mr. Mandela would certainly be proud to have his name mentioned in the same breath with him. His name is Julius Nyerere.
 
 
Julius Nyerere was the man who led then Tanganyika, today called Tanzania, to independence from Britain in 1961. Unlike many other independence movements, this one succeeded without a single drop of blood being shed.
 
 
I had the privilege of living two years in Tanzania shortly after independence. Being a city boy (I grew up in Los Angeles), for me Tanzania was quite a revelation. I virtually lived in a mud hut, suffered through a drought, saw leprosy, and contracted both malaria and dysentery. All of these things affected me. But getting to know Julius Nyerere as a political leader was truly a life-changing experience.
 
 
When Nyerere became head of state in 1961, he was so popular that he could easily have taken on the trappings of a king or potentate. But he did exactly the opposite. He chose to live very modestly, because that was his nature.
 
 
More importantly, he inspired confidence in everyone, and never betrayed that confidence, because that also was his nature. He of course had political enemies. They were often critical of his ideas and policies – but never the man. The worst I ever heard anyone say about him was, “President Nyerere is doing all the wrong things for all the right reasons. ”
 
 
Julius Nyerere was a realist riding a wave of idealism.
 
 
For example, shortly after taking office, he cut the salaries of all government ministers by 20-50 percent, including his own. Although by world standards these ministers very poorly paid, by Tanzanian standards they were very rich. Nyerere argued that such a poor country simply could not afford to maintain its government in such a lavish style. Any minister who refused the cut was invited to leave the government, and a number of them did.
 
 
In the 1960s, the first thing a newly independent country wanted to do was set up a national airline and rush to industrialise. Nyerere was different. He concluded that Tanzania could not become truly industrialised for at least a century. So instead of devoting all its energies and limited resources to trying to build an industrial base, it made more sense to strengthen its agricultural base.
 
 
This meant reforming the schools. Instead of turning out potential clerks, shop assistants and middle managers for the cities, the goal should be to turn out scientific farmers. These would then go back to their villages to teach their compatriots, who were mainly subsistence farmers.
 
 
Advocating this was close to heresy. Most people felt that the purpose of going to school was precisely to escape from the backward rural villages. There was considerably opposition to Nyerere’s idea, but ultimately it was implemented.
 
 
As a Peace Corps teacher in a boarding school, I could immediately see the difference. Suddenly, we were required to start a school farm and to grow much of the food the students would be eating. The students didn’t take kindly to having to do manual labour, but eventually the protests subsided and farming became part of the daily routine.
 
 
At roughly the same time, Nyerere looked at Tanzania’s university students, who were the elite of the elite. It is important to understand that there were only about a thousand university students in the country out of a population of nearly 10 million because Tanzania had virtually no educational base. At the age of 6, less than half the children were in school. There was a severe examination to go from primary to secondary school, which nearly 85 percent failed because there just wasn’t any place for them. So those who reached university were by definition the elite of the elite.
 
 
Nyerere noted that it took the total annual income of 78 Tanzanians to keep one university student in school for one year. To help cover the costs, he proposed that on graduation each student give two years to public service.
 
 
Once again, rebellion; the students went on strike. Once again, Nyerere stood his ground, declaring that as much as the country needed university graduates, it needed true Tanzanians more. He therefore closed the university for a year and sent the students back to their rural villages to rediscover their roots. Those who received good reports from their village headman were allowed to return the following year.
 
 
A neutralist during the Cold War, Nyerere was basically a man of peace. However, he could take military action when the situation called for it. For example, in 1978 he sent Tanzania troops into neighboring Uganda to oust the notorious dictator Idi Amin, who fled into exile.
 
 
When he retired as head of state in 1985, Nyerere took on the role of roving diplomat and peacemaker. Because he was so trusted, he was invited to mediate disputes all across the African continent. For instance, he was instrumental in bringing an end to the slaughter in Burundi in 1996. He also worked tirelessly to put an end to apartheid (racial segregation) in South Africa.
 
 
Nyerere didn’t look like the consummate leader he was. He was rather small and had a bushy little moustache that made him look like a chocolate Charlie Chaplain. But when he spoke and when he wrote, you knew that you were in the presence of someone special. He was affectionately known as “Mwalimu”, Swahili for teacher, which is what he was before going into politics. This was a sign of respect, not reverence.
 
 
I am not a very emotional person. But when Julius Nyerere died on October 14, 1999, I felt a sudden emptiness in me. It was as if something good had left the world. And it had.
 
 
Nyerere was a devout Catholic and in 2005 he was proposed for beatification. He is currently under consideration for canonization, which is one step away from sainthood. I don’t think I would put him on such a high pedestal. I didn’t necessarily agree with everything he did. But I never doubted that it was always for the best of reasons.
 
 
Every time I hear his name, I still feel the same emptiness I felt on the day he died. So if you are ever tempted to say that politics and integrity don’t mix, please remember Julius Nyerere. You will never find a better model of integrity, either in politics or in daily life.
 
 
Philip Yaffe is a former reporter/feature writer with The Wall Street Journal and a marketing communication consultant. He currently teaches a course in good writing and good speaking in Brussels, Belgium. His recently published book In the “I” of the Storm: the Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (Almost) like a Professional is available from Story Publishers in Ghent, Belgium (storypublishers. be) and Amazon (amazon. com).
For further information, contact: Philip Yaffe Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 (0)2 660 0405 phil. yaffe@yahoo. com, phil. yaffe@gmail. com

“Most people prefer to believe that their leaders are just and fair, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which he lives is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of corrupt government entails risks of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one’s self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all. ” – Michael Rivero

Frozen Moments at the Altar of Truth

It all started for me in 1959 when I was born, I mean the way I’ve been lied to through mainstream media. One of my earliest memories was sitting in front of the TV with my family after JFK was assassinated. My mother and grandmother weeping uncontrollably, my father and grandfather – avowing that this was a “good man” and it’s “always the best who get taken so young”. I had no idea what was going on, being just four and a half years old – but that moment solidified like crystal in my mind – my first big “frozen moment”.

A few short years later we were all sitting there again in front of the TV at 3am watching Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, uttering those prophetic words. I’ll never forget the neighbour beside us, this old Italian guy who was saying that the entire lunar mission had to be a hoax, we were a bunch of suckers for believing it, it couldn’t be true. Everybody I knew thought he was nuts, myself included. I was busy having my head filled with such grand thoughts about the nobility and goodness of mankind, and like my family and almost all my neighbours, I was once again willing to believe in my heart that whatever these icons of the public trust on TV told us was the absolute truth – after all, these were the same folks who gave us the news every night, every single evening around the dinner hour, so we could find out what’s happening in the world, what to think about, how to judge those people over there, over here, anywhere. I’ll never forget how proud I was watching man walk on the moon, my 10 year old heart bursting out of my chest, feeling so lucky to be alive at that time and watching it on TV. This was a huge “frozen moment”.

There are other mental snapshots which of course remain quite vivid in my mind. Robert Kennedy & Martin Luther King assassinations, the war in Vietnam that spanned my entire childhood, the Nixon Watergate hearings, Iran Contra. It could not enter our mind that anything we saw on television could be any less than the gospel truth, because we live in the Western hemisphere, the best, most noble hemisphere on this planet. Just ask Walter Cronkite, or Dan Rather, or Ronald McDonald, or Barney the Friggin’ Dinosaur – any talking head that props up in a medium shot while occupying the standard 4 by 3 aspect ratio, mind-inhibiting confines of this ribald human invention. They must be telling the truth – gotta be real, after all, “I saw it on TV”.

Jump to Sept. 11th 2001.

I’m sitting in my office when a news bulletin flashes on my computer screen and I’m alerted to the 9/11 attack in NYC. As if by some secret homing mechanism, my workmates also wander outside of their respective cells and converge in the communal coffee area – and so it starts, we immediately begin parroting the official myth fed to us by the news media about this event. Talk is about Osama and the crazed 19 Muslim hijackers. Ooh boy, those rag-heads are goona get theirs, those bastards are sure to pay – I hope Uncle Sam really nukes them back to the stone age for what they’ve done, and on and on we chattered for days and weeks, all the while being spun and manipulated as always. The biggest “frozen moment” of my life so far.

I’ll never forget that day and the horror of watching those planes hit the towers, or the people falling to their tragic deaths, and like the other “shock and awe” moments, I can literally close my eyes and transport myself to that situation, just like I was there at that very moment. And when I remember, the images and ideas as portrayed to me by my lifelong companion the television are there in my mind, with the pictures, movies, sounds – Nay, it isn’t really there with me – it IS me. I’m nothing more, at those times in my life, than a biological download mechanism that will barf up all the crud it’s been fed by the societal teat from which I’d been trained to suckle on for all my ideas and opinions since birth.

And so another 5 years will elapse, almost every single day – let’s catch some news and see what’s happening, let’s tune in before bed and follow that story, let’s wrap our life around this version of reality, which is hardly any reality at all. But I still didn’t know that, not until 5 full years after 9/11.

“Doubt is the vestibule which we all must pass through before we can enter the temple of truth” – osho

Awakening

Thank you 9/11.

Once I saw the truth about this event my life changed forever, and ultimately for the better. It didn’t happen all at once, nor was it easy or very pleasant at all, this process demands so much of you, and unless you are the kind of person capable of a paradigm shift you won’t get there. Doesn’t matter how smart, how much money, how high you can jump – not everyone is able to look objectively at their social conditioning, step outside of themselves and honestly analyze their programming, fiddle with the knobs and make an adjustment. I remember this “moment” as the biggest, most life changing of all – that exact instant when I “got it”, and it wasn’t just the getting of 9/11 that was realized at that pivotal moment. It was so much more, for I knew in that nanosecond that I had apprehended a truth – I could now define a mechanism of which media was only but an important part. This gigantic contrivance that could so easily promulgate these lies was now revealed to me, and deserved my faith in their impartiality and honesty for the last time. I had depended on them for more than 40 years of my life, and it turns out they are quite willing to not only lie to everyone, but even more important – I realized that there are so many things they are willing to not tell us at all.

“We won’t get fooled again” – the Who

That moment of illumination occurred while I was listening to a lecture by Dr. David Ray Griffin, he was explaining why the official account of 9/11 could not be true – the logic irrefutable, the proofs incontrovertible, the evidence overwhelming, but what struck me most was the grace and dignity of this man, able to manifest such a positive aspect in the revealing of truth, all the while dealing face to face with such an ugly, disgusting reality. Probably the last “frozen moment” I will ever experience.

“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself. ” Galileo Galilei

And so I sat atop this long slope looking straight back down at my life which ascended upward like one side of a pyramid, the slant provided to me by my once trusted patriarchal friend the media, it was time to say goodbye. My existence was different from that moment on, and so was my relationship with the world, like when you find out that your best friend has been sleeping with your girlfriend for the last 2 years and everybody’s been lying about it to your face. I vowed to myself at that very moment that I would refuse to accept any more lies in my life, and I would take responsibility for my own opinions. I made a promise to no longer listen to BS without calling to account those responsible for the lies and hypocrisy. At the very least we should stand for something worthwhile in our lives, like truth.

It was too convenient to settle on the official explanations for 9-11 at the time, and I forgive myself, and you too if you still believe them. It would simply be unreasonable for me to be at odds with anyone just because they occupied a temporal reality where I once stood.

I have yet to meet an ignorant man whose roots are not embedded in my soul. – Kahlil Gibran

If somebody came to me a year before I was open to the truth, I would have probably got angry and turned them aside. The best we can hope for is to present people with anomalies regarding the official narrative, and let each person face the myriad incongruities and come to their own conclusions. You see, some people figured it out right away, but finding out the truth is not any indication of how intelligent you are – that judgement comes later. It took me 5 years, not because I couldn’t understand it, but rather because I was unaware of it, and didn’t even consider that what I was told was false.

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. ” Galileo Galilei

It’s the classic difference between ignorance and stupidity – I was ignorant, I became aware of the facts, no more ignorance. A stupid person, however, continues to believe something even after receiving lots of information to the contrary. If you don’t know the truth about 9/11 you must educate yourself, if you do know the truth then you are compelled to educate others. Looking back is not easy, neither is facing the real truth about the situation now. I disagree with those who say, never mind 9-11, let’s deal with the war, or the environment – there are all these other problems now – that was 6 years ago. WRONG – BIG X on that one. It is my firm belief that if we are unable to approach the biggest examples of deceit and injustice so prevalent at this very moment, it behooves us to examine that which is really important in our lives, not to mention any concerns of social conscience or morality. I’m so sick of hearing about the “war on terror”, about “al Qaeda”, etc. So much suffering and injustice has resulted from the continued insistence on this mythology – predicated on the lie of 9/11.

“You cannot win a War on Terrorism. It’s like having a war on jealousy” – David Cross

“The World is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything. ” – Albert Einstein

This issue calls everyone to account, you have to make a decision, and its not a happy conclusion to arrive at, so many prefer to remain comfortable within the lie – the problem being, there are many fellow human beings on this planet who are getting killed every day, right now as a matter of fact. Each day this continues we must ask ourselves how and if our actions, or non actions, are contributing to this injustice. It sickens me, I hate this situation – I didn’t create it yet I must face this moral dilemma – if I don’t speak out against it and do everything within my power to change it, then I must admit I’m part of the problem that allows it to continue. I don’t want my great great grandchildren to look back and say, “Why did the people of WWII Germany and 21st century America allow Hitler and Bush to gain so much power and commit such atrocities?” “Gee, I don’t know, Fleeble-Bop Four of Seven, I guess those people were just spineless sheep”.

“He who allows oppression, shares the crime. ” – Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin

“Noncooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good. ” – Gandhi

When I was young I used to enjoy watching those old WWII movies, and I’m sure that like most people, along with pretending I was one of the valiant heroes being portrayed, I wondered how folks in Germany could allow Hitler and his Nazis to gain such power in that country. Now I understand, many of the German people were as much victims as all of us at this moment, unable to voice their opinions without being ridiculed and attacked, rights and freedoms taken away by a fascist state, having to bear the ignominy of witnessing your government commit acts of genocide, terror and torture, all the while pretending to be noble and good. And let’s not forget our old friend the television – gone are the days of my youth when we could witness some actual journalistic integrity on the news, along with some innocently entertaining shows like “Gilligan’s Island”. Now we must listen to the corporate propaganda machine spew forth so much sewage they call news, all the while trying to amuse and divert us with salacious filth and mindless stupidity dressed as entertainment.

“Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues. ” Napoleon Bonaparte

I used to think that knowledge of humanity was cumulative, that we could learn from the examples throughout history and say, no, Nazi Germany could never happen now, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were just a one-off, we’ll never make those mistakes again. True freedom must be defended continually, and against all enemies. People have asked me, aren’t you afraid of speaking out about 9-11, aren’t you worried? Now whom should I be worried about, the awful Muslim radical type Al Qaeda terrorists that have been so well defined by the US government, or the US government itself?

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. ” – Abraham Lincoln

Come on folks, is anybody really falling for the oldest trick in the book? First, you must make the people afraid that they will be attacked, so we attack ourselves and frighten the bejeezes out of everybody, then we smear and vilify anybody who doesn’t defend our position as being unpatriotic, and sympathetic to the terrorists. It’s the old “bait and switch” routine, and if you buy it so readily then go downtown and play a few games of 3 Card Monty – I hear there’s pretty good odds there too. My being gets filled with revulsion when I watch that “commander in filth” stand there and utter ridiculous statements like, “If you’re not with us, you’re with the terrorists”. Now what kind of specious, dumb-ass logic is that? Especially when you consider that he himself is the terrorist in question. Reminds me of that original Star Trek episode “The Changeling” when they slap the anti-gravs onto Nomad the robot. “If you are the creator then you are perfect, but if you made a mistake then you cannot be the creator”. Now let’s try it today, “If I am not with you, then I am with the terrorists, but, if you are the terrorist, then how can I be with you and not with the terrorists. . . . Kaboom!” Me and Nomad both have smoke billowing out our ass – where’s the miniskirt blond from Rigel 6 when you need her?

“It takes a whole village to raise an idiot, and a controlled media to make him president” – Peter Zaza

Realize that everything you experience from the limited lamestream media perspective is a form of low-level reality – riddled with half-truths, partial-truths, and a lot of no-truths at all. Designed to confuse and program you, the enemy – yes, that’s right – it isn’t some Iraqi, or Iranian, or Korean, or Chinese – they are all targets as well, nobody is exempt from this vast scourge creeping over the earth – and lest you think this is mere paranoia, the proof is now being publicly exposed everywhere, all you have to do is open your eyes, or more directly – open your mind. The proof is in the utter secrecy surrounding plans for unification, the proof is in the writings of the United Nations and Agenda 21, the CFR, the Bilderberg Group. The proof is in the way they have been systematically spraying the skies of this planet for 4 decades now, and denying it. Just go outside and look up, or if you don’t get out much – look up “Chemtrails” on your Google. Lots of theories about this one; are they dumping chemicals that cause or inhibit global warming? Are they forcing some mind altering drug on everyone? Is it connected to the HAARP technology? Is it killing off the bees? Weather creation? Population control? Let’s get some answers, after all – we’re being sprayed like cockroaches, and our tax dollars and health are paying for it.

More proof

The proof is in the way I have yet to hear one cogent, logical explanation from the US government about key issues concerning the 9/11 tragedy, like WTC 7 and its mystery collapse, like molten metal found under all 3 sites, like stand-down of the military, like put options, like war-games, like gag orders, like evidence destruction, like the first time the NTSB doesn’t do an investigation on a plane crash, like many warnings not to fly, like melting of steel by jet fuel, like no black box recordings released, like wire transfers of money to supposed terrorists, etc. One of my biggest proofs is the fact that the upholders of the official story continue to shout smears and ad hominem attack on anyone who questions any of these anomalies – but absolutely refuses to address the issues raised and offer resolution of the incongruities put forth. The proof is in the way I’ve sent many letters to politicians, newspapers and magazines concerning 9/11 truth – and not one single person has ever had the decency to write me back, or even acknowledge receipt of my communication – yet, every time I have written to people like Dr. David Ray Griffin, Dr. Bob Bowman, Barry Zwicker, Kevin Barrett, Paul Craig Roberts, and many others, I get a reply – usually within a few days.

One important proof worth considering is the fact that those planes had not even brought down those towers yet and we had news reports about the al Qaeda terrorists and Osama being fed to us. Did anybody think to ask within those first few hours what evidence there was, and how did they get this evidence? Those forensics boys work pretty quick, but that’s ridiculous. I’d like to know how anybody can piece together a case like that and have it announced while we’re still watching a gaping, smoking hole in the WTC towers.

I suppose it was important to begin inculcating everyone with the myth at this critical time – the wound is wide open, time to implant the insidious virus which will begin it’s work – you always remember the first story you hear as being the most logical, especially when your reasoning faculties are suppressed and more easily manipulated. Subjects are in a state of shock – training over decades has bred complacent, child like collective mentality that looks toward authority figure of government for help and direction. People will easily be imprinted with the first story that fits their world and offers any explanation or possible resolution. The psychological warfare and it’s manipulations of the public consciousness is capped off with the date itself, 911, my goodness, when there is a huge emergency what do you do? Better call 911. There’s fear, panic, dogs refuse to bark all over the neighborhood, help me daddy, I’m calling, can’t you hear me, 911, 911. . .

The proof is in the way I haven’t seen one piece of evidence that those 19 Arab guys were even on any of those airplanes, no passenger manifests, no pictures or video tapes from the airport showing them boarding planes, no record of ticket purchases. Don’t you see how obviously ridiculous it is? Come on – you’ve got the airport videos showing passengers, so just show us the video of the hijackers with the other passengers, we will all believe you in 2 seconds if you show the proof, what? you don’t want to release the information to back up your case? Why the hell should I believe your story when you have evidence but won’t show it to me, that just tells me what you say is a lie. No video of the “plane” hitting the Pentagon either, or the seized tapes from a gas station and hotel nearby. Why on earth would you want to withhold such vital evidence unless you were guilty? There is simply no logical explanation for them hiding and destroying the evidence, unless the evidence points directly at them.

Perhaps the best theory I’ve heard about this event is the one put forth by Webster Griffin Tarpley. He explains how there were around 20 or more war game exercises taking place the day of 9/11, with more than a few of them enacting scenarios wherein hijacked planes would be flown into buildings. At the last couple of seconds, the drill is “flipped live” and the attack being simulated is committed for real. Tarpley explains how the secret network responsible have moles infiltrating the highest levels of government in order to pull off this complex operation, using CIA groomed Muslim patsies to take the fall. He also explains how the shadow government threatens Bush, and gets him to capitulate to their demands or else “angel is next”. In effect, there was a coup that took place that day – code words fly about the globe, secret agencies from other countries have parts to play, the military is running around all confused playing war games, other nations are on high alert – it’s like a well-crafted espionage novel except we are still living it – the way I figure, right now in the story is about the time you and I jump in and do something. Would you be surprised to discover that the London 7/7 bombings also had drills involving terrorist bombers being played out at the exact same time the actual events occurred? Incredible coincidence, eh Watson?

Meet the Press

“There is no such thing, at this date of the world’s history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. “I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. “The business of the Journalist is to destroy truth; To lie outright; To pervert; To vilify; . . . . . We are intellectual prostitutes” – John Swinton, the former chief of staff of the New York Times 1880

“The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media. ” – William Colby, former CIA director

“We know in the not too distant future, a half dozen corporations are going to control the media.

We took this step (merger) to ensure we were one of them”–Time Warner spokesperson.

That’s the nub of it for ya – currently there are 5 corporations that own all of the mainstream media, and those same people have vested interests in the military industrial complex. They make all kinds of wonderful products that enrich our lives, as well as bombs that kill and mutilate – pass the sugar. We have been trained our entire life to believe that what we see on that TV is somehow representative of reality. And now? Now I believe that you can take whatever message they give you – search for the diametrical opposite in your mind, and be sure that the negative value of what they say is instead the truth. Show me the United Nations with their slogans about peace and harmony, I’ll tell you about misery and bloodshed. Sing me the lyrical song about Harmonization and Prosperity – I will tell you about corporate fascism, segregation and cultural divisiveness. Talk about bringing Freedom and Democracy to Iraq – just look at the tyranny and genocide. Watch the fecal matter fly out of their mouths about the “War on Drugs” – I’ll show you a CIA complicit in the Central American and Afghanistan drug trade. Then we can look at the big business of the prison industrial complex, a commercialized system of slave labour. Corrections facilities are filled with many people who have never aggressed upon another individual, or another person’s property – locked up for years of their life, in some cases working for 20 cents an hour for big American Companies who don’t have to worry about employee benefits – and they get to use labels that say “made in the USA”.

War on Drugs? War on Poverty? War on Terror? It’s always war on somebody with these people – marginalization and exclusion of a targeted group, aggression, deceit, injustice. Create that differential through disturbance, because when there’s a steady state there is no movement, fluctuation provides great opportunity for profit and control. If you have prescient knowledge of the variables, you can create the crisis, induce reaction, offer resolution, and clean up profit-wise on the differential inherent in the controlled dynamic. Slap on a few no-bid contracts for your buddies, adjust a few widgets here, shove these assets over there, kill those ones there, no wait, sorry, I meant kill those ones AND those ones over there. Set up the false left-right struggle and watch the boneheads duke it out – all the while we control both sides, so guess who always has to win. Look in the mirror everybody – what a putz!

How far should we go? Maybe we could explore the malfeasance inherent within the entire Federal Reserve System, a misnomer of course – they are not Federal, and they don’t have any reserves. What about the IRS, absolutely ruining peoples lives for how many decades now without the legal authority to actually do anything. The CIA? Tell me how its ok to use tax dollars to plan military takeovers of democratically elected governments, or carry out assassinations, import drugs, and contravene any pretense of international law. Oh, and as a complete non sequitur – I could never figure out why the big reconstruction contracts for Iraq were not handed to the Iraqis themselves, give them a wage, let them build their country back up while building up their bank accounts, the bootstrap thing, the American way – You know, all that horse-shit! Enough examples, there are literally hundreds of things we could talk about at great length – and it just makes you sick, assuming you have a pulse.

I’ve stopped paying attention whatsoever to mainstream media, like many others I utilize alternative news sources that provide me with more honest accounts of reality than the TV’s lead story and the never ending web of lies. I’ve lost so much anger and frustration with my life through this awakening, and it’s all because I’ve figured out how and why I’ve been manipulated for so long. I used to sit there and swear at the TV, feeling as if my intelligence was being insulted, but not understanding why. About 20 years ago I started putting on the mute button during all the commercials, so then I would just swear at the news. I used to play video games, now I don’t – perhaps such activities provide a release mechanism for all that pent up frustration. I stopped wondering why every single network would carry the same stories, the same way – stopped wondering why that cheese-dick kid in Asia was wearing the same stupid shorts half way down his ass with a ball-cap turned sideways, or backwards on purpose, as all those other cheese-dick kids in the States, Italy, you name it. I had to wonder what force could make the same styles and trends popular everywhere, at the same time. Don’t you ever wonder about such things? like when a movie or book comes out dealing with the wild west, or aliens, or whatever – a bunch of others come out at the same time, and not just copycats mimicking to cash in on a popular idea, I mean they all get released concurrently, it’s as if the popular culture is dictated to and operating via mandate, and indeed it is. Network television is thus relegated to the same level of truth and integrity as any late night infomercial we are beleaguered with when yon Morpheus denies us respite from the daily moil.

After somebody lies to me 10,000 times over my entire life, I’m a bit reticent to believe their stories “absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event” like hearing some actual truth for once. They must be telling a lie – after all, “I saw it on TV”.

“The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers” – Thomas Jefferson

Just as with any other event, planning a holiday party at your home, or at a restaurant or banquet hall is an exercise of creativity and organization.
Like all events, your holiday party can be as simple or as lavish as you wish. Holding a party at your home can be a little easier on the wallet than a restaurant or banquet hall party.
When to hold the party depends largely on your guests’ schedules and need to be taken into consideration when planning the time and day of your holiday party. Events welcoming spouses and significant others are best held on evenings and weekends. Events on a Saturday night tend to be more formal and lavish.
Planning a Home Holiday Party
A Holiday party at your house can be a lot of fun. It can also be pretty stressful.
At-home holidays parties have a “warm and cozy” feel to them, and can make socializing more comfortable and enjoyable.
Whether you serve brunch, lunch, dinner or cocktails, be sure the quality and taste of the food and drink is superior; this will add considerably to the party experience.
When deciding who to invite, take into account the size of your place and the fact that some guests will probably bring a friend or two without asking you. Do all your inviting at once so no one feels like they were an afterthought.
Try to make provisions for parking in advance. If you will be allowing guests to park on the lawn or in the back yard, let them know in your invitation.
Choose your finger snacks carefully. Choose foods that complement each other. Try setting a theme for the food in each room or on each table. Allow 4 to 6 hot hors d’oeurves per person. Don’t serve gooey, drippy sauces near expensive rugs or furniture.
Create items you can prepare in advance. Select what you can make from scratch, but don’t be afraid to use takeout. Also, a restaurant may be willing to fill your casserole dish with your favorite choice from their place.
Use shortcuts, like bagged lettuces for salads and bottled dressings. People feel that they have to be the ones to make everything; it’s not important who does, just that it’s done.
Create a festive party atmosphere with decorations, scents and music. Use scented candles or fill the house with a delightful aroma. However, don’t use scented candles at the dinner table. No matter how pretty they are, you do not want to mix the smell of one thing with what you’re eating; it can throw off the whole taste.
Choose your favorite music and have it playing softly in the background when guests arrive. Consider unplugging or removing your television if it’s located in the party area. Nothing spoils the interaction of guests quicker than a group of people huddled around a television set.
A scented candle in the bathroom is a nice touch. Leave an extra roll of toilet tissue in easy view.
Consider removing all the chairs from the party area. This will create more room for people to mingle.
Be sure to have plenty of hot coffee and snacks on hand for late in the evening. A coffee bar is a simple but elegant touch. Along with hot coffee, offer a bowl of whipped cream and an assortment of liqueurs (Kahlua, brandy, rum) so guests can create their own coffee drinks.
If you choose to have alcohol served at your home holiday party, don’t offer a full bar. Serve one specialty cocktail, and then offer wine and water. Make food available when the alcohol is served. Hire a professional bartender to serve drinks. Consider putting the alcohol away an hour or two before the conclusion of your party. Have a back up plan for people unable to drive home safely.
Note: The social host law, passed by the New Jersey legislature in 1987, says that if one of your guests consumes too much alcohol and injures someone in a car accident after the party, the injured person can recover damages from you. In some ways, the social host law runs counter to our natural impulse to please our guests. As hosts, we want to be generous; we want to have more than enough food and drink on hand, so that our friends will want for nothing. But it is through this natural generosity of spirit–and of spirits–that we might expose ourselves to lawsuits.
Whichever way you choose to go, — keep in mind that if you do serve alcoholic beverages, this could lead to some unpleasant, unsafe or litigious consequences: embarrassing or inappropriate behavior, unsafe driving, accidents or claims of sexual harassment. Avoid liability and keep workers safe by keeping a watchful eye for any over-indulgers and having designated drivers on hand if needed. Be sure to serve non-alcoholic drinks as well
Be sure to give yourself enough time to get ready. You want to be able to shower, do your hair and put on a nice dress. If you’re working right up until when your guests come, you’re going to look as frazzled as you feel
Restaurant and banquet hall parties
A benefit with the holiday season is that Christmas and holiday decorations are available almost everywhere you look, and if your event is being held at a restaurant, the facility may already be decorated for the holidays.
Another benefit in hosting a holiday party at a restaurant or banquet hall licensed to serve alcohol is the availability of professional bartenders and waiters that can monitor alcohol intake and politely cut off anyone they perceive has had enough to drink.
Luncheons are typically less expensive than dinners. Many restaurants offer a number of party menus to choose from; i. e. , lower priced menus featuring less expensive foods such as chicken and pastas, or higher priced menus featuring entrees such as steak and shrimp.
Those plans including unlimited wine and beer are also considerably more expensive.
Because holiday parties are so popular, December is one of the busiest months of the year for the special events industry. That means hotels, restaurants, caterers, D. J. ’s, entertainers, are running at peak capacity. They book up quickly. So if you are planning your holiday party during this time of year, extend your time-line.
Hint: Consider moving your Holiday party to January or February. Facilities are in less demand and providers are able to be more flexible. Plus, during the middle of winter, people will welcome a chance to celebrate.
The holidays should be a festive and fun time, a time of good will and as much generosity as one can muster.

Bu resim şu 2007-08-22 17:50:43 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’de émiliep tarafından alınmıştır.

One of France’s top news anchors, Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, will bid farewell to viewers this summer and be replaced by the darling of the French media, Laurence Ferrari. PPDA as he is more affectionately known has been a familiar face on prime time news for more than three decades. For Ferrari it marks a return to TF1 – the country’s biggest private television channel – which she left in December 2006 to host a weekly political programme on rival station Canal +. The change signals something of a revolution in French television journalism. After all PPDA has been more or less the face and the voice of television news for the past 30 years. In February 1976 he was chosen to present the prime time news on the country’s public channel Antenne 2, which later became France 2. He jumped ship nine years later to join TF1, where he has been ever since. His tenure has been remarkable in the often fickle world of television in which ratings rule. But a recent drop in viewing figures has been compounded by stories of his autocratic style with newsroom colleagues and the desire by the powers-that-be for a change at the top. Not surprisingly Ferrari didn’t require that much persuading to return to TF1. Despite a recent drop in ratings, the 8 o’clock evening news still regularly attracts more than 10 million viewers and is quite simply the most prestigious job in television journalism. The 41-year-old first joined TF1 in 2000 and for the next six years formed one half of the golden couple of TV news along with her former husband, Thomas Hugues. The pair presented a weekly fast-paced news magazine and were regular holiday stand-ins for the channel’s main news presenters – Ferrari for Claire Chazal at the weekends and Hugues ironically enough for PPDA on weekdays. Ferrari’s move in 2006 to Canal + came as a surprise to many, after all it gave her less exposure to the public at large. But it couldn’t have been better timed professionally speaking, coming as it did at the beginning of the campaign for last year’s presidential elections. Her weekly political programme, “Dimanche”, gave Ferrari the chance to go one-on-one with some of France’s leading figures. And she won accolades for her pugnacity especially with the two main presidential candidates at the time, Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségoléne Royal. Indeed the chemistry between Ferrari and Sarkozy certainly clicked – if only on a professional level rather than, as falsely rumoured later, the personal one. Much is being made of Ferrari’s glamour and there’s no denying her looks but she’s also an accomplished journalist with years of experience. Her arrival should provide a boost to TF1, not least from those curious to see a fresh face at the helm. But for some media watchers there are perhaps more sinister powers at work. The merry-go-round in front of the cameras is also being accompanied by a shake up behind the scenes at TF1 with appointments in both news production and direction seeming to be made at the behest of the channel’s major shareholder – Bouygues – whose CEO, Martin Bouygues, just happens to be a close friend of Sarkozy. At the same time public television is getting ready to scrap advertising, as ordered by Sarkozy earlier this year, with rumours a-plenty that the aim is in fact to pave the way to eventual privatisation of the main channel, France 2. Not surprisingly perhaps there’s speculation in some quarters that Sarkozy is setting himself up as France’s answer to Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi, with a hands-on approach to setting the media agenda. Be that as it may, the immediate question is what next for the 60-year-old PPDA? With his experience he’ll certainly be courted by competitive channels and is unlikely to disappear completely from the small screen.   And of course there’s also doubt as to how long Chazal will be able to hang on to her weekend slot before being replaced.