10 Interesting Things About Antarctica

Antarctica is perhaps the most mystical of all the continents and also the most misunderstood. Here are 10 things about Antarctica you should know.

Antarctica and the Arctic often are confused by many people. Antarctica is the land mass at the South Pole - the one with the cute penguins you see in the movies. There are tons of interesting things to know about Antarctica, but here are 10 you may not.

1. Antarctica is the coldest and windiest of all the continents.

10 Interesting Things About Antarctica

2. To the surprise of many, Antarctica is also the driest of all the continents receiving a mere sprinkling of rain and snow once or twice a year.

3. Antarctica gets its name from the Greek language. In a bit of deviousness, the term because it means opposite the Arctic.

4. The continent was discovered in 1820 by a Russian expedition, but was not further explored to any serious extent for another 100 years.

5. No permanent human residents are known to have ever lived on the continent and even today only temporary scientific communities exist.

6. Antarctica, not the Sahara Desert, is technically the biggest desert in the world, but the desert is ice instead of snow.

7. The ice sheet covering the continent is approximately 1.6 miles thick on average and holds 90 percent of the fresh water on the planet in the form of ice.

8. The ice sheet was melting dramatically. In 2002, over 1,000 square miles broke off the continent. In recent years, unusual amounts of snow fall have resulted in a thickening of the ice contrary to global warming concerns.

9. The continent is the only natural habitat of the Emperor Penguin, immortalized in the movie March of the Penguins. The penguin, however, also is found on the shoreline of some southern continents from time to time.

10. The continent has no government and is not owned by any country. Many countries have claimed the continent at one time or another. Currently, a treaty exists that grants the continent its independence from any such claims.

All and all, Antarctica is an amazing place. Contrary to popular assumptions, it is one of the driest places on Earth, yet holds 90 percent of the fresh water on the planet. This contradiction is just one of many that arise when considering this amazing continent.

10 Interesting Things About Antarctica
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Richard Monk is with FactsMonk.com - a site with facts about everything including Antarctica.

History of the Celtic Druids

The Druids were an ancient order of Celtic priests in the societies of Western Europe, Britain and Ireland. The Celtic Druids served their communities by combining the duties of seer, priest, poet, philosopher, historian, scholar, teacher, doctor, astronomer and astrologer. The Celts had developed a highly sophisticated religious system, with three divisions of men who were held in exceptional honor; the lowest division were called the Ovates, the second division were called the Bards and then the Druids. The ovates were the healers and seers; the bards memorised the songs, poems, and stories of the tribe (historians); while the druids taught moral philosophy and were experts in the workings of natural science.

The Celtic Druids were advisers to the rulers of that time, acted as judges in the event of disputes, supervised executions and even controlled the legal system. They were held in such respect that if they intervened between two armies they could stop the battle. The Druid priests and priestesses acted as mediums through which the spirits could be summoned and heard, with rituals throughout the history of the Celtic Druids being enacted in sacred groves of oak trees and circles of standing stones

The first surviving and fullest account of the druids and their religion is that given by Julius Caesar in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico, book VI, written in Gaul in 59-51 BC. Overall, not much can be said of the druids with assurance as the sources of information about them is limited. However they continued to feature prominently in later sources of Irish myth and literature. Thus, the history of the Celtic Druids presents many obscurities and our main literary sources date back to the 2nd century BC with Pliny and The Commentaries of Caeser.

History of the Celtic Druids

"The principal point of their doctrine", Caesar wrote, "is that the soul does not die and that after death it passes from one body into another."

Caesar continued:

"With regard to their actual course of studies, the main object of all education is, in their opinion, to imbue their scholars with a firm belief in the indestructibility of the human soul, which, according to their belief, merely passes at death from one tenement to another; for by such doctrine alone, they say, which robs death of all its terrors, can the highest form of human courage be developed. Subsidiary to the teachings of this main principle, they hold various lectures and discussions on astronomy, on the extent and geographical distribution of the globe, on the different branches of natural philosophy, and on many problems connected with religion".
-Julius Cesar, "De Bello Gallico", VI, 13

After the first century BC the continental druids disappeared entirely and were referred to only on very rare occasions. However, there is some evidence that the druids of Ireland survived into the mid- to late-seventh century. In the De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae of Augustinus Hibernicus, there is mention of local magi who teach a doctrine of reincarnation in the form of birds.

During the first millennium, Celtic and Druid spirituality was preserved by the Christian clerics who performed the valuable service of recording many of the stories and myths by which the oral teachings of the Druids were conveyed. People who think that Druidry was destroyed with the coming of Christianity fail to understand the resilience of spiritual teachings when they are encoded in myths and stories: and it is thanks to the clerics' recording of these tales that we can be inspired by them today. St Patrick also recorded all of the old Druid laws in Ireland - providing us with invaluable information on the ethics and social structure of Celtic Druid culture.

DRUID'S CIRCLES
A Druid's Circle is a popular name for circles of standing stones such as Stonehenge, which is the most famous example. These are also known as the "Temples of the Druids". Great mounds of earth were also built where the practice of seeking rebirth within the Earth was performed (in which initiates would sit in darkness awaiting the time of their rebirth). The best example of this is found at New Grange in Ireland, where a shaft is oriented to the Winter Solstice sunrise, so that the dawn rays can bathe the initiate in sunlight after his or her vigil through the night.

History of the Celtic Druids
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Irish Astrology is about bringing awareness of the Celtic Symbols used in the Druid belief system. They were used as early as the Vedic, Greek, or Roman systems. Click here for more info on Celtic Symbols and here for lovely Free Screensavers

Retirement Communities: All-Inclusive Vs A La Carte

With an ever-increasing number of American retirees, which is poised for drastic growth acceleration over the next decade, what with the impending retirement of the bulk of baby boomers, new retirement communities-active adult and independent living, among other types-are cropping up left and right, especially in popular retirement destinations like North Carolina. This increase in North Carolina retirement communities can complicate an already challenging decision process. There are a few guidelines and user-friendly Internet resources that can make ease of identifying communities that meet certain criteria.

In choosing the right community for you or a loved one, one of the foremost decisions should be whether the prospective resident wants to continue supplying and preparing his or her own food or be served each meal in a dining room. Conventional all-inclusive independent living communities generally feature kitchenettes in their apartments, for snacks and small meal preparation, while serving breakfast, lunch (dinner) and supper in their dining room each day. These meals are included with resident rent each month, as are a variety of other features, typically including weekly housekeeping and scheduled transportation.

Contrarily, a new breed of independent living retirement communities is popularizing across North and South Carolina and all of the United States, one that offers its services and amenities, including meals, on an a la carte basis. In such a system, residents pay only for the services, amenities and meals they use, allowing them to choose what and when they want. With seniors paying closer attention to each expenditure due to the lagging economy, this concept has become immensely appealing.

Retirement Communities: All-Inclusive Vs A La Carte

Many North Carolina retirement communities have identified the appeal of this system, including a number of retirement communities in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Retirement Communities: All-Inclusive Vs A La Carte
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At The Manor in Charlotte, residents pay a much lower monthly fee than they would if they lived at a competing community-for a much brighter, more spacious apartment which features a full kitchen. They eat in the dining room when they prefer but have the choice to cook in the comfort of their own apartment when they would rather do so. This doesn't only help seniors preserve their nest egg; it helps them preserve their independence by allowing them to make their own choices without binding them to a particular system.

Choosing between an all-inclusive retirement community and an a la carte retirement community can cut your choices in half, getting you well on your way to narrowing your options down to the select few that best match your criteria.

Impact of Social Media on Society

"Do you have Facebook?"
"Yes, of course. But I don't think you can find me, as there are too many people who have the same name as me. Try searching with my surname as well."
"Hey, you celebrated your birthday in K-Box, right? I saw the photos in your Facebook."
"Bro, I saw your comments about the YouTube video that I've posted in my blog. I'm happy that you are also deeply moved by the 'Dancing Peacock Man' as well."

Social media or "social networking" has almost become part of our daily lives and being tossed around over the past few years. It is like any other media such as newspaper, radio and television but it is far more than just about sharing information and ideas. Social networking tools like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and Blogs have facilitated creation and exchange of ideas so quickly and widely than the conventional media. The power of define and control a brand is shifting from corporations and institutions to individuals and communities. It is no longer on the 5Cs (e.g. condominium, credit cards and car) that Singaporeans once talked about. Today, it is about the brand new Cs: creativity, communication, connection, creation (of new ideas and products), community (of shared interests), collaboration and (changing the game of) competition.

In January 2010, InSites Consulting has conducted an online survey with 2,884 consumers from over 14 countries between the ages of 18 to 55 years old on social networking. More than 90% of participants know at least 1 social networking site and 72% of participants are members of at least 1 social networking site. On the average, people have about 195 friends and they log in twice a day to social networking sites. However, 55% of the users cannot access their social network websites at work. In the past, not many adults were able to make more than 500 friends, but with social media, even a child or teenager can get to know more than 500 people in a few days by just clicking the mouse. Social media has devalued the traditional definition of "friend" where it means trust, support, compatible values, etc. Although we get to know more people, we are not able to build strong bond with all the people whom we met as our available time is limited. Hence, there is an upcoming social trend of people with wider social circles, but weaker ties (people we don't know very well but who provide us with useful information and ideas).

Impact of Social Media on Society

Social media also influences people's buying behaviours. Digital Influence Group reported that 91% of the people say consumer reviews are the #1 aid to buying decisions and 87% trust a friend's recommendation over critic's review. It is thrice more likely to trust peer opinions over advertising for purchasing decisions. 1 word-of-mouth conversation has an impact of 200 TV ads. With the prevalence use of social media, there is numerous news related to it from the most viewed YouTube video on "Armless pianist wins 'China's Got Talent'" to Web-assisted suicide cases (e.g. New Jersey college student who killed himself after video of him in a sexual encounter with another man was posted online). Thus, does social networking make us better or worse off as a society?

Positive Effects of Social Media

Besides having opportunity to know a lot of people in a fast and easy way, social media also helped teenagers who have social or physical mobility restrictions to build and maintain relationships with their friends and families. Children who go overseas to study can still stay in meaningful contact with their parents. To a greater extend, there is anecdotal evidence of positive outcomes from these technologies.

In 2008, President-elected Obama won the election through the effective use of social media to reach millions of audience or voters. The Obama campaign had generated and distributed huge amount of contents and messages across email, SMS, social media platforms and their websites. Obama and his campaign team fully understood the fundamental social need that everyone shares - the need of being "who we are". Therefore, the campaign sent the message as "Because It's about YOU" and chose the right form of media to connect with individuals, call for actions and create community for a social movement. They encouraged citizens to share their voices, hold discussion parties in houses and run their own campaign meetings. It truly changed the delivery of political message.

Obama campaign had made 5 million "friends" on more than 15 social networking sites (3 million friends on Facebook itself) and posted nearly 2,000 YouTube videos which were watched over 80 million times. At its peak, their website, MyBarackObama.com, had 8.5 million monthly visitors and produced 400,000 blog posts. In order to ensure that their contents were found by people, the Obama campaign spent .5 million on Google search in October alone, 0,000 on Advertising.com, 7,000 on Facebook in 2008, etc. Currently, Obama's Twitter account has close to 6 million followers.

In 2010, after the earthquake happened in Haiti, many of the official communication lines were down. The rest of the world was not able to grasp the full picture of the situation there. To facilitate the sharing of information and make up for the lack of information, social media came in very handy to report the news about the affected area on what happened and what help was needed. Tweets from many people provided an impressive overview of the ongoing events from the earthquake. BBC covered the event by combining tweets from the work of its reporter Matthew Price in Port-au-Prince at the ground. Guardian's live blog also used social media together with the information from other news organisations to report about the rescue mission.

It has been two years since CNN officially launched iReport as a section of its website where people can upload video material, with contact information. During the Haiti crisis, CNN had published a range of social media material but not all the materials were verified. The editorial staff would vet the reports from the citizen journalists and labeled them differently compared to unverified contents. On Facebook, a group, named "Earthquake Haiti", was formed to show support and share updates and news. It had more than 14,000 members and some users even pleaded for assistance to the injured Haitians in the group. Using email, Twitter and social networking sites like Facebook, thousands of volunteers as part of Project Ushahidi were able to map reports sent by people from Haiti.

The most impressive part of the social media's impact on Haiti is the charity text-message donations that soared to over million for the victims in Haiti. People interested in helping the victims are encouraged to text, tweet and publicize their support using various social networking sites. The Global Philanthropy Group had also started a campaign to ask wealthy people and celebrities, like Ben Stiller and John Legend to use Twitter and Facebook to encourage others to give to UNICEF. An aid worker, Saundra Schimmelpfennig, allowed the advice from other aid workers and donors to post on her blog regarding to choosing which charitable organisations to support. In the meantime, donors were asking questions in Twitter, Facebook and blogs about their donations and endorsements of their favourite charities. After every crisis, the social media for social cause becomes a more effective medium to spread the word.

Negative Effects of Social Media

There are always two sides of every coin. Social media is just a tool or mean for people to use. It is still up to the users on how to use this tool (just like a knife, can help you to cut food or hurt others). Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and Elon University's Imagining the Internet Center conducted a study on "The Future of Online Socializing" from the highly engaged, diverse set of respondents to an online, opt-in survey consisted of 895 technology stakeholders and critics. The negative effects presented by the respondents included time spent online robs time from important face-to-face relationships; the internet fosters mostly shallow relationships; the act of leveraging the internet to engage in social connection exposes private information; the internet allows people to silo themselves, limiting their exposure to new ideas; and the internet is being used to engender intolerance.

Some respondents also highlighted that there will be development of some new psychological and medical syndromes that will be "variations of depression caused by the lack of meaningful quality relationships", and a "new world society". The term, "Social Networking", has begun to deceive the users to believe they are social creatures. For instance, spending a couple of hours using Farmville and chatting with friends concurrently does not convert into social skills. People become dependent on the technology and forget how to socialise in face-to-face context. The online personality of a person might be totally different from his/her offline character, causing chaos when the two personalities meet. It is apparent in online dating when the couple gets together in face-to-face for the first time. Their written profiles do not clearly represent their real-life characters. It is more enticing for people to type something that others want to hear than saying the truth.

Besides the "friendship", creators of social networking sites and users redefine the term, "privacy" in the Internet as well. The challenge in data privacy is to share data while protecting personally identifiable information. Almost any information posted on social networking sites is permanent. Whenever someone posts pictures or videos on the web, it becomes viral. When the user deletes a video from his/her social network, someone might have kept it and then posted it onto other sites like YouTube already. People post photographs and video files on social networking sites without thinking and the files can reappear at the worst possible time. In 2008, a video of a group of ACJC students hazing a female student in school on her birthday was circulated and another video of a SCDF recruit being "welcomed" (was hosed with water and tarred with shoe polish) to a local fire station made its way online.

Much news has been reported about online privacy breach in Facebook and Facebook is constantly revising their privacy policy and changing their privacy controls for the users. Interestingly, even when users delete their personal information and deactivate their Facebook account, Facebook will still keep that information and will continue to use it for data mining. A reporter asked whether the data will at least be anonymized. The Facebook representative declined to comment.

In the corporate world, human resource managers can access Facebook or MySpace to get to know about a candidate's true colours, especially when job seekers do not set their profiles to private. Research has found that almost half of employers have rejected a potential worker after finding incriminating material on their Facebook pages. Some employers have also checked the candidates' online details in Facebook pages to see if they are lying about their qualifications. Nowadays, younger generations have a complete disregard for their own privacy, opening doors to unwelcome predators or stalkers.

Impact of Social Media on Society
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Raymond Tay
Founder & Trainer of Leader's Wheel LLP

Having strong interest in personal development and helping others.

My Company Site: http://www.leaderswheel.com
My Learning Blog: http://www.leaderswheel.com/raymondtay

The Best Places to Live For Families in Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio has the reputation for being a nice smaller sized Midwestern city with friendly people who have strong values for raising their families a certain way. Like most metropolitan areas, Cincinnati has some communities that have been around as long as the city was founded and others that have become part of the suburban sprawl of the last two decades. This article will talk about some of the best towns to live in if you have children, whether it is a huge horse estate in Indian Hill or Cincinnati rental apartments or apartments in funky Hyde Park. These towns are considered the best to raise a family for the good school districts, the lower crime rates and other family friendly factors.

For those people that have unlimited funds and want to live in the wealthiest town in southern Ohio, that would be Indian Hill. It is a beautiful community with large estates placed on even larger properties. Most of the homes in Indian Hill have at least a tennis court or a pool but usually both. Many well known people that are from Cincinnati like astronaut John Glenn and singer peter Frampton call Indian Hill home. So, if you have millions to spend on a home, this is the right place to do it.

Two other great towns for families are located near one another and they are Mariemont and Madeira. They both have outstanding school systems with some of the highest academic achievements in the state. Mariemont has a charming town square and was the first planned community in the state of Ohio. The architecture there is Swiss and German style and generations return to raise their families there. Madeira has a nice downtown as well with some nice shops and restaurant options and is located closest to the nicest shopping mall in southern Ohio. The cost of living in these two towns is higher than most in Cincinnati but comparable to one another.

The Best Places to Live For Families in Cincinnati

A great neighborhood and town that is located closest to downtown Cincinnati is called Hyde Park. The people that reside in Hyde Park are more diverse with a lot of recent college grads living here in large rental homes as well as retired professors from university of Cincinnati and a lot of families too. This feeds into the Cincinnati Public school system which is not great so another option like Clark Montessori or a private school is usually what parents in Hyde Park do. Some of the best boutiques and restaurants are in Hyde Park.

Mason, Ohio is farther out from downtown Cincinnati and is considered a newer suburb that has exploded in size over the last decade. The thing that a lot of people like is that the homes are newer as well as the schools and other facilities and they cost less than an older home closer to downtown. Mason High School is the one of the biggest in the state of Ohio with close to 3500 students but has a very good reputation.

The Best Places to Live For Families in Cincinnati
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Connor R. Sullivan recently contacted a real estate agent who specializes in finding Cincinnati rental apartments. His son searched the internet for a new home by using the term apartments Cincinnati.

Trunk or Treat Ideas for 2012

Many churches have found trunk or treat an effective way to connect with their community as parents look for alternatives to trick or treating. Here are some ideas for a more effective trunk or treat.

Plan ahead and get people involved. Many trunk or treats were started by the youth or children's ministries but in order to make it as successful as possible recruit help from other members of the church.

Include live music. If the church has a praise band or other music group include them in the activities. This will bring in young adults and people who don't have children.

Trunk or Treat Ideas for 2012

Serve food. Hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza and something healthy for the adults is a sure way to increase attendance and encourage people to stay longer.

Include games. Kids love games. They don't have to be tied to Halloween. Anything that kids will enjoy playing will work.

Set up a craft area. Many kids enjoy creating something and crafts make a nice addition.

Have members present and visible. Consider having T-shirts printed so members are easily identified. Children and adults may have a number of questions and clearly identifying members will make it easier for people to get answers.

Have a welcome table. Use it to let people know what is going on and any costs involved. Create a flyer that lets people know what is available and other events going on at the church. If the church is having another special event consider printing up an invite ticket with free admission printed on it.

Collect email addresses. At the welcome table have a prominent signup where parents can put their email address to find out more about other things going on at the church. List categories that they can check off such as worship, children's activities, Boy and Girl Scouts, daycare, etc.

Share the Gospel. Hand out a Christian trunk or treat tract that ties the candy into the great gift that God gives.

Promote, Promote, Promote. Create flyers and posters and put up around the community. Send an announcement to local radio and TV stations and newspapers. Post on Facebook and online communities.

Start Early. Planning should be underway in August or September. First step is to decide what you want to include and who is going to be in charge. As soon as the structure is set up, start recruiting people who can help and work on the promotion right after that.

Trunk or Treat Ideas for 2012
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Mike Vitamvas is a partner in Memory Cross which creates origami tracts and coloring cards that are used to share the Gospel, teach children Bible stories and help them memorize Scripture. Tracts and coloring cards are available specifically designed for trunk or treats or to hand out for Halloween. The website is: http://www.memorycross.com

Married Ladies Looking For Affair - Free Local Lists

Some wives are faithful, others want illicit sexual encounters. If you're looking for advice about finding women who fall into the married ladies looking for affair category, this article is written for you.

Affair dating is all the rage.

Why, you may ask?

Married Ladies Looking For Affair - Free Local Lists

Some men - perhaps like yourself - want sexual companionship and nothing more. Wives who seek affairs are a perfect match. They don't want romance or relationship. They want sexual intimacy without further commitment.

So how do you find wives on the lookout for affairs in your area? You can find free lists of them in only a few minutes.

Ladies looking for marital affairs will advertise this in a crafty manner. You won't find them on classifieds or dating communities related to their town or city. You will commonly find them on any one of the major dating labels that you will have seen in movies or television. These dating sites are so big - they have millions of members - that a wife can find a man while remaining relatively anonymous amidst the masses of other members.

The beauty of these sites is most offer a free community so you can find your list of married women without reaching for your credit card.

Once you have chosen your dating community and created an account - in the same way you would on a social community like Facebook - you just need to put in a search for women in your zip code area who are married. This brings up a list of the married ladies looking for affair category that you came here to find.

This is the list I told you about: local married ladies who want an affair.

You'll notice that many of them are online. What you should do - for almost immediate results - is send an instant message to every wife who is online. Within no time you will be getting replies. You may even know many of the ladies.

Married Ladies Looking For Affair - Free Local Lists
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An easy way to find wives in the married ladies looking for affair category is by getting a free account on one of the internet's most visited dating communities: Find Local Wives.