You are probably aware of that feeling of being really sluggish and tired after eating a big meal, this used to cost me hours every day. After eating my lunch and tea ('dinner' for those of you who can't speak proper english) I used to always just feel lazy for a couple of hours. Actually getting any work done during that period took huge will power.

Any nutritionist will tell you that the secret to healthy eating is to have small portions regularly throughout the day rather than large meals so this is what I have been aiming to do. Not only does it hopefully reduce the amount of recovery time after meals but it also gives me a natural structure to the day so I can take regular breaks. I like that half way through the afternoon I can take a break from writing to go get some more grub without feeling guilty that I'm taking a break I shouldn't.

Aha! But my hardcore dedication to screenwriting doesn't just end with the way I eat my meals. Nope. There is more.

I've never been someone who drank tea or coffee (I don't really drink alcohol either but that's another story). I've tended to drink either water, orange juice or fizzy pop. To me drinking was something you did when you were thirsty and I've never understood this thing my parents do where they've gotta have a cup of tea or coffee before they can start anything and then after they finish anything. I just don't get it. It used to bug me no end as a child that going out with parents meant going to some tea shop or cafe every few hours to feed their addiction. Being the son of tea junkies sucks.

I saw a guy on Dragon's Den last year who was pitching a range of water bottles for kids and he gave the statistic that being dehydrated reduces your concentration levels by up to 80%. I thought "holy moley! If I'm only drinking when I am thirsty enough that I can be arsed to get a drink then what is that doing for my concentration levels!? Perhaps my love of procrastination could be cured by drinking water?"

Since then I've basically always had a supply of water on my desk at all times. I dunno if it's helped my concentration but it makes me feel like I'm being organised and professional so that has gotta help keep the mind focused.

The downside is I tend to drink everytime I stop typing to think, which as a writer is fairly often you would hope. The result of this is constant toilet stops, which have become a new form of distraction. I wonder if the increased productivity this water gives me is negated by the number of times I've gotta stop everything and run to the toilet.

This actually reminds me of one of the reasons why I was the world's worst Runner.

One of the jobs I seemed to always find myself doing as a runner was being in charge of the water bottles and having to give them out to the far more important crew members. Putting me in charge of a huge supply of water bottles is a bad idea. I would just drink water non stop all day long. And all day long on a film set is a very long time, 16 hour days maybe.

If needing to pee all the time wasn't bad enough at home it's made worse by shooting in the middle of no which means there isnt always a toilet near by. Actually no, the middle of nowhere would be OK, it's more when you are shooting in a street and you know it's gunna be an hour or more before the crew moves on from shooting and you can relieve yourself.

Anyways, that's enough talk of toilet stops. The point of this blog was just to say that I find it interesting that me wanting to be a more professional writer extends as far as changing the way I eat my food. I guess writing consumes every aspect of my life to a degree. It flows though my blood.

Woooahhh, I just had a crazy image pop in my head. What if someone had a blood transfusion from Syd Field in order to make themselves a better writer. That would be hardcore :P *Ahem* anyways...

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Executive Summary

SWOT Analysis

Venezuela Political SWOT

Venezuela Security SWOT

Venezuela Defence Industry SWOT

Venezuela Economic SWOT

Venezuela Business Environment SWOT

Chapter 2 - Political Overview

Domestic Politics

Still On Track

Opposition To Unify?

Oil Sector In Chávez' Sights

Agribusiness And Mining Also Suffer

External Political Outlook

Rocky Road Ahead

Chapter 3 - Security Risk Analysis

It’s Security Ratings

Risk Ratings

Table: Regional Risk Ratings

Table: State Terrorism Vulnerability Index

Regional Security: Latin America

US-Latin America Relations

Regional Arms Race

Narcotics And Security

Venezuela Security Risk Rating

Venezuela Conflict Risk

Venezuela Terrorism Risk

Venezuela Physical Safety Risk

Chapter 4 - Security Overview

Internal Security Situation

Political Unrest

External Security Situation

Table: Venezuela Regional Insurgent Groups

Regional Relations

Venezuela-US Relations

Chávez And Regional Solidarity

Venezuela-Colombia Relations

Venezuela-Vatican Relations

Chapter 5 - Market Structure & Defence Industry

Armed Forces

Table: Regional Armed Forces (including conscripted) 2006

Weapons of Mass Destruction

International Deployment

Market Overview

Arms Trade Overview

Imports

Exports

Industry Trends and Developments

Procurement Trends & Developments

Table: Comparison Of Military Equipment And Proposed Procurements

Overview Of The 2005 Procurement Plan

Russia A Key Player

Chapter 6 - Industry Forecast Scenario

Table: Venezuela Defence Sector - Historical Data & Forecasts

Army Enlargements

Government Expenditure

Key Risks To It’s Forecast Scenario

Chapter 7 - Macroeconomic Forecast

Booming Stagnation?

Table: Economic Activity Indicators

Chapter 8 - It Forecast Modelling

How we generate our industry forecasts

Defence Industry

Sources

Chapter 9 - Appendix A: Risk Ratings Methodology

Conflict Risk Methodology

Terrorism Risk Methodology

Physical Safety Risk Methodology

Overall Risk Rating

State Vulnerability Index Methodology

For more information, kindly visit:
http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=18187

Scrumptious Sunday Twelfth Edition

This is a weekly meme for Sundays. A theme is given each week. You can include a list of the foods, original pictures, pictures you find, stories, how-to’s, recipes…Participants can also add what kind of scrumptious dinner they had on that Sunday or a previous Sunday. Please add your post link to Mr. Linky and leave a comment about your post here.

Theme for Scrumptious Sunday

Twelfth Edition

Sunday, May 18, 2008

~Mexican~

Please read: About Memes to learn more about how to participate, frequently asked questions, more hints, and about Mr. Linky.

The theme for Next Sunday, May 25, 2008 will be:

~Fruity Drinks~

PLEASE:

1. ADD YOUR POST LINK TO MR. LINKY
2. LEAVE A COMMENT HERE ABOUT YOUR POST

AlJazeeraEnglish

Chinese authorities have sent out more than 130,000 soldiers and police, to help search for survivors, after Monday's devastating quake. But as each hour passes, rescue efforts are turning into a grim search for bodies. China is now warning the death toll could top 50,000. There's also a new threat that a nearby dam could burst, engulfing the entire town. Al Jazeera's correspondent Melissa Chan reports.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1208075&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] from www.youtube.com posted with vodpod

.

Quake survivors struggle to rebuild - May 16 2008

Many villagers who survived the deadly earthquake in China's Sichuan province say have no idea how they can afford to rebuild their lives and are being overlooked by relief efforts.

Al Jazeera's Melissa Chan reports from near thee town of Dujianyang, near to the epicentre of the quake.

see

China

I  don’t eat breakfast, ever. I did when I was little and forced to, but the amount of times where I had a piece of bread, or a rice cracker with Vegemite (hey – I’m Aussie okay?) were far too many to count. If I do eat – it’ll be the smallest of small things around 10.30 – 11. And more often than not I get to 11.40 or so, realise I haven’t eaten and go “Oh well, I’ll just wait for lunch.”

Lunch. Now there’s the one word of the day that fills me with hope and fear. Our office has a chef that comes in and prepares us lunch. And the smell fills the place from about 11 onwards. And man is there some delicious and unhealthy things. My one saving grace is that I usually stuff myself with enough food that I don’t eat any of the dessert or afternoon tea that he also makes (although if its apple crumble… and if he makes scones for morning tea I’ll eat that for breakfast). And when its chicken schnitzel and wedges for lunch? Ah I just can’t get enough! And in the last few weeks I have tried to add more of the salads (which are usually oily eg Greek or creamy eg Waldorf or potato) so that’s not much better.

Oh and we have a soft drink fridge. Which the company pays for. I switched around the time I started here to coke zero rather than normal coke (and now I couldn’t probably switch back! - as amazing as that is for someone who used to go through normal coke like a hot knife through butter.) Although because it’s fizzy and well, coke. Not to mentioned stuffed with sweeteners and who knows whatever other preservatives etc.

And I’ve stopped buying as many snacks for home – and those that I do buy I attempt to get healthier versions than I used to. Like I’ll buy pre-packaged popcorn or rice snacks and nuts.

And it wouldn’t help that most dinners/recipes etc are for 4 people – and our house will cook for 2 -3 depending on the night. Which generally means everyone gets a little bit more and when these tend to be things like curries or pastas, and we eat late, the food probably doesn’t get enough time to digest.

I find food hard to calculate, portion etc.  but if that’s hard –  my worse crime is measuring standard drinks. I cannot (and will not ever) standardise what I drink. Vodka is splashed into a glass before topped up with whatever, and some of my wine glasses hold easily a third of a bottle if I really tried. And thanks to various housemates and accidents, we don’t really have any ‘standard’ for which I could measure one and know how many ‘standard drinks’ I have in a night. As far as I’m concerned if I have 4 glasses of wine and polish off a bottle – well I’ve had 4 standard drinks. They’re standard for me. Nor does it help I chop and change what I’m drinking over the course of the night pretty much every night.  Spirits, red wine, white wine, liqueur... Nor does it help that I’ll generally leave a bottle for the next night – with the casks that we buy? 2 x 4L wine casks? They’ll be gone in a week. Almost like clockwork.

All this was meant to justify my results.  It’s made me feel like a pig.

Oh and for justification of the above?

• Drinks had tonight: 3
• Drinks the bottle says I've had tonight: 8

Enough said.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Executive Summary

SWOT Analysis

Chile Political SWOT

Chile Security SWOT

Chile Defence Industry SWOT

Chile Economic SWOT

Chile Business Environment SWOT

Chapter 2 - Political Overview

Domestic Political Outlook

Reshuffle Revival? Electoral Engineering?

Hostage To Fortune

Pinochet's Legacy

External Political Outlook

Bachelet Decides

Energetic Diplomacy

All At Sea?

Chapter 3 - Security Risk Analysis

It’s Security Ratings

Risk Ratings

Table: Regional Risk Ratings

Table: State Terrorism Vulnerability Index

Regional Security: Latin America

US-Latin America Relations

Regional Arms Race

Narcotics And Security

Chile Security Risk Rating

Chile Conflict Risk

Chile Terrorism Risk

Chile Physical Safety Risk

Chapter 4 - Security Overview

Internal Security Situation

External Security Situation

Chile-Argentina Relations

Chile-Peru Relations

Chile-Bolivia Relations

Chapter 5 - Military Structure & Defence Industry

Armed Forces

Regional Armed Forces (including conscripted) 2006

International Deployment

Table Foreign Deployments

Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Market Overview

Arms Trade Overview

Imports

Exports

Industry Trends & Developments

Procurement Trends & Developments

Chapter 6 - Industry Forecast Scenario

Table: Chile Defence Sector – Historical Data & Forecasts

Table: Chile Defence Sector – Historical Data & Forecasts

Key Risks To It’s Forecast Scenario

Chapter 7 - Macroeconomic Forecast

Fundamentally Sound Moderation

Risks To Outlook

Table: Economic Activity – Historical Data And Forecasts

Chapter 8 - Competitive Landscape

Table: Key Players – Chile Defence Sector

Chapter 9 - Company Profiles

Astilleros y Maestranzas de la Armada

Empresa Nacional de Aeronáutica (ENAER)

Fábrica y Maestranzas del Ejercito

Chapter 10 - It Forecast Modelling

How we generate our industry forecasts

Defence Industry

Sources

Chapter 11 - Appendix A: Risk Ratings Methodology

Conflict Risk Methodology

Terrorism Risk Methodology

Physical Safety Risk Methodology

Overall Risk Rating

State Vulnerability Index Methodology

For more information, kindly visit:
http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=18188

]]> http://sableverity.wordpress.com/?p=619 Fri, 16 May 2008 10:09:43 +0000 Sable http://sableverity.wordpress.com/?p=619

Well, it's that time of the week again.  Time to crown another worthy individual with the WTF Award of the week.  For those who have been living under a rock, WTF stands for "what the fuck". 

The criteria for the award is simple; acts by individuals must result in common folk like you and me responding with "what the fuck", as we read or see news coverage of said act.  And here are our nominees:

1.  Jay McKay.  Never heard of him?  Yeah, I hadn't either, but in a desperate attempt for 15 mintues of national fame, little Jay Jay here used his platform at KNZR 1560 AM in Bakersfield, and its website to barnicle himself to the Obamaramamania:

"Local supporters of presidential hopeful Barack Obama are upset with radio personality Jaz McKay for posting what they say are inflammatory fake slogans about Obama’s campaign. The slogans, which appeared on McKay’s page of the KNZR 1560 AM Web site, included “Obama ‘08” followed by “Hope. Change. Dead honkeys.,” “kill white folks” and “Kill Whitey!”"

Yeah.  Not funny.

Congrats Jay Jay, and good luck!

2.  Mike Norman.  Mikey finds himself fortunate enough to be nominated for much of the same reason as Jay Jay; barnicling himself to the Obama train and, even better, making a profit along the way.  Here's a reminder of why Mikey is a nominee:

An “ultra-conservative” entrepreneur in Marietta, Georgia, is quite pleased with himself for selling Obama ‘08 shirts that feature a photo of Curious George and a banana. Mike Norman claims he didn’t mean to offend, and opines that we as a people should really be past the point where we’re not allowed to call black people monkeys. See, he’s a progressive!

“We’re not living in the (19)40’s,” Norman said.  “Look at him . . . the hairline, the ears — he looks just like Curious George.”
I will be so glad when this election is over.

3.  Chris Mattews.  Hmm...how can we phrase this delicately...not sure that's possible.  So what did Chris do to become worthy of a WTF Award nomination?

Chris Matthews, never a big fan of the HRC, shudders at the thought that she would actually deign to mention “white blue collar” voters and play the ugly race card, then proceeds to accuse Clinton of being the “Al Sharpton of white people.”

 WTF?  The friggin' Al Sharpton of White people?  That's infers so many things one doesn't know where to begin.  Thanks Chis. 

4.  Houston mother of "naked", nipple showing teen. This nomination goes out to whomever is legally responsible for the Houston teen who opted to disregard prom rules and bare all via a few scraps of cloth McGyvered together and called an "original" design. In addition to walking around naked, she then acted a fool when school officials told her to leave, and wound up being dragged off to jail. Finally, and this is the cherry on top, this same 17 year old did an interview with local news, which wound up on CNN. She looked NOTHING less than a hot mess.

That made me ashamed on so many different levels, I do not know where to begin.  By relation, BET, ganster rap and video hos everywhere also receive a nod.

5.  Terry McAullife.  By now the name is familiar, he's the dude with the Clinton campaign.  I always think it's interesting to watch political advisors spin reality into something else.  I mean, they just say things that certain gets one's attention.    I'm sure we all have our own fond memories of spin at it's finest during this campaign season.  Terry's case is a bit different this time around.  He's nominated because:

The Washington Post reports on another grim news event for Hillary Clinton: confirmation that her campaign is $20 million in debt.  Campaign Chair Terry McAuliffe suggested Clinton might lend her campaign more money:

Terry McAuliffe, the Clinton campaign chairman, told Tim Russert on “Meet the Press” that he spoke to Clinton about the possibility of contributing more money and “she said that she would be willing to do it.” However, McAuliffe insists, “We haven’t needed it.”

Terry was nominated simply because his statement shows he doesn't give a good damn about the debt the Clinton's are raking in, or the fact that they owe people and vendors money.  If Barack Obama tried some shit like that he'd be tarred and feathered.  Also, is it comforting to the American people to know that their president couldn't even keep a balanced budget in her run for office?  How broke is this country?  Is that something we can really afford?  Terry seems to think so.  Jeez, blind loyalty really sicks.

And, the winner is...

Vote in the comment section below!

until then, here is a point form list of just what the hell i have been doing/thinking/whatever ... this is going to be all over the map, so don't expect coherence ...

- i am staying in a catholic parish with 3 priests ... a kenyan, a ugandan and a eastern sudanese ... the kenyans is this wonderful old guy named father bernard (beh-nad) who speaks very slowly and calmly without making any sense whatsoever until he gets to the point, at which time his wisdom slaps you in the face ... the ugandan is a young guy named father wilfred who may have one of the greatest personalities of anyone i have ever met ... he is funny without trying ... and enjoys drinking quite a lot ... which i can't really blame him for ... you should try living here ... the sudanese is father sebasitian ... he speaks english ... sort of ... he talks a mishmash of 3 languages faster than anyone i have ever heard, with much swinging of the arms and contorting of the facial muscles ... and then just starts laughing right from the depths of his belly ... i laugh with him, cuz he is hilarious ... though i am not sure i have really understood anything he has ever said ...

- it is hot here ... HOOOOOT here ... days are rarely under 40C and often above 50C ... nights rarely get below 35C ... which makes sleeping ... challenging ...

- the wildlife is majestic and truly something to behold ... my most frequent companions are: bats, snakes, lizards, frogs, scorpions, giant beetles, giant moths, giant spiders, giant other insects i don't even recognize ... and tiny silent mosquitos .. and flies ...

- the food is the same every day ... and when i say the food is the same everyday ... i mean the food is the same ... everyday ... everyday ... everyday ... at first i was all "oh yeah, i like rice and beans, i can eat these everyday" ... but then ... you know ... rice and beans twice a day for a month .. and you don't really enjoy rice and beans so much anymore ...

- we also eat goat ... though it's more of a special occasion food ... i have now killed a goat ... and prepared it to eat ... and cooked it over an open fire ... and have consumed every part of the goat imaginable, including the brain, spinal cord, lung, intestines, colon, tail, heart, etc ... and also made soup from the skull and hoofs ... most of it is not bad ... though i found the spleen to be a little on the mushy side ...

- we have power for 2 hours a day ... sometimes ... water is a bit more reliable, though recently a bat fell into the pipe and died, so we had none for a few days ... i have not looked at a tv or read a newspaper or magazine in a month ... or talked on the phone, except a 3 minute call to ma and pa each week ... i feel like i am on another planet ...

- while i frequently enjoy the sounds of random gunfire as i am going to sleep at night, today is a national holiday (SPLA Day) ... so everyone who has a gun (which is everyone) took the occasion last night to fire them off into the air ... all night long ... its strange ... going to sleep to the sound of machine gun fire ...

- i have very little to do most of the time ... getting anything accomplished is pretty much impossible and takes at least 2 weeks longer than you plan ... i have thus turned the whole event into something of a spiritual awakening ... i have started meditating everyday ... i have read almost the entire old testament from cover to cover, and should be finished the new testament before i leave (it is worthy of note that I am not really a Christian, and hope to read the major works of at least 3 more major religions before I depart africa) ... and i take long walks out into the middle of nowhere ... sit under random trees for an hour at a time, and think and watch and listen ... it's really amazing what you see when you just STOP ... these walks are by far the hi-light of my day ... though to be honest, the 'hilight of my day' competition is not exactly full of olympic calibre competitors at this point in my life ...

- funny story ... i just found out that the area i go walking to is very close to where the SPLA keeps their tanks ... good to know ... i see a lot of soldiers everyday, and one told me in a language i don't understand that if he saw me again tomorrow he would beat me with his gun ... i think ... he didn't look very happy anyway ... living in a country with no law really makes you feel ... vulnerable ... and for that reason more than any i am looking forward to leaving ... as i walked away from him, i felt truly violated ... i also was treatened with a spear one day ... though i think it was less of a threat than a 'hey look i have a spear and i can stab you if i want' ...

- i spend my time reading, walking and hanging out with a group of medical workers at the compound next to ours ... they are also mostly from kenya and uganda and are fun and funny and as hospitable as is to be expected from such lovely cultures ... i have managed to accomplish about 1/2 of my assigned tasks ... and should get the rest done by the end of this week ...

- one of these tasks took me to see what i was afraid of seeing ...

- the people ... the people ... they are ... hmmmmm ... the people are ... the culture is called the dinka ... and they are ... put it this way ... i think that father wilfred, who enjoys a few too many drinks a little too often ... deals with the challenges of this culture with significantly more grace and dignity than i myself could possibly claim ... they are an interesting people ...

- the men frequently have many wives ... some men have as many as 60+ ... the women work ... all day ... no matter where i go i see these graceful women carrying water and preparing food ... they are not educated though ... most have never been to school ... the men ... sit under trees and play games and drink ... all day ... so matter where i go, i never see men doing any real work ... but this is unfair of me ... i am being simplistic and over-judgemental towards an extremely complex culture ... a culture which has truly suffered under 20 years of war ... they have nothing ... literally nothing ... most of these people have never seen a television or ridden in a car ... can you imagine that ??? ... in 2005 when the UN IOM first came here, they did not have any idea what money was ...

so that's some of it ... am i enjoying myself ??? ... not really ... i am today, as i have just beaten malaria, i think, which was about as unpleasant as anything i have ever experienced before ... but on the whole ... it is not an experience to be 'enjoyed' ...

everyday is a challenge ... everyday is full of frustration ... there is no such thing as comfort ... but like i said ... it has been spiritual ... it has been a month spent with myself ... under difficult circumstances, and through it i have come to know ME in a way i never have before ... i have seen some of the deamons living deep within my soul and learned that i can overcome some of them ... i have learned to forgive to seek understanding in the face of frustration ... i have seen death and misery and hopelessness and learned a little about what they are ... and a lot about what they are not ...

my ride has just come, so i must go in a hurry ...

i am healthy in spite of bacterial infection and malaria ... i am happy in spite of many of the darkest days of my life ... and i am living my life each and every day ... and loving it ...

thanks to everyone for your support ... i have never missed my home so much as i have over the past 4 weeks ... if i know you, i have probably thought about you in the past month and smiled ... thanks for being part of my life ... just knowing you, whoever you are, has made me better ...

i would seriously consider killing somebody right now and going to jail for the rest of my life for one bowl of Kraft Dinner ... oh sweet mercy ...

For real.  Eat less, weigh less.  It may not happen overnight, but it will happen.  Get physical!  Take the dog for a walk!  Produce endorphins the old fashioned way because Lord knows the meds have not performed any kind of "magic" in the past 8 years!

The band isn't easy, a quick fix, or a miracle- it's all been an uphill battle.  Deal with it!  You are going to have to lose this weight the old fashion way.  With willpower and determination.

Today I will:

• Be kind to myself
• Eat only what I need, and only until I'm full
• Take the dog for a walk, no matter what- come hell or high water!
• Remember, ... that food is NOT love.

I'm highly excited about the forthcoming weekend.  For the last few months there has been a possibility floating around that I would be moving to a different house this summer and so I held off from planting my vegetables: it would have been terrible to sow them and then abandon the seedlings.  Yesterday I found out for certain that I'm staying put.  Thought I'd be rather upset if this were to be the outcome as the house I was hoping to move to is in a spectacular location but, after so much waiting and uncertainty, my  overwhelming feeling is one of relief and contentment.  I do, after all, love my current wee house.  It's wonderfully cosy and I'm more than a little proud of my vegetable patch. 

So, this weekend I'm going to get all grubby and get planting.  Hooray!  Having been weeded and fertilized and repeatedly forked, the soil is more than ready to host some seeds and young plants.  I may even erect a proper greenhouse this year.  Last year, the wee plastic contraption I bought was so flimsy it flew away in the gales, leaving behing lettuce, basil and tomato carnage. 

Lots of tomatoes would be lovely this year.   Not least so that I can make this salsa with fresh, sun-warmed tomatoes.  :)

Chunky Tomato Salsa

(serves 4)

300g cherry tomatoes, halved and seeded

1 red onion, chopped finely

1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 green chilli, finely chopped

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Handful of coriander or parsley, chopped

Seasoning

• Simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl, cover and leave to marinate for an hour (or overnight in the fridge). 

It's lovely now to be able once again to have flowers. Six months ago all there was around us was a sea of mud. I must share with you this "gem" from my 11-year-old daughter. I think it illustrates beautifully the modern young miss, growing up, as I guess we all do in our turn, with that fascinating mixture of ultra-sophistication and complete naive-ness.  Out of the blue one day she declared, "Mum, if you would only dye that grey hair, wear stiletto heels and give me oysters for breakfast, you would be a lovely mother!"

-- "Wairuna" (Waikato)

Found these items which form part of our daily diet and we think they are healthy, but is that completely true?

Here is the list of 10 items we think are healthy but are NOT!

Calories intake

Fruit Juices: Shocking!!! Aint it? Juices take up very little place in the stomach, leaving you hungry and unsatisfied. They also lack the one important ingredient that whole fruits contain: fibre.

Raisins: Raisins are simply too dense in carbohydrates to be considered a diet food.

Corn Flakes: Lacking a decent amount of fiber, corn flakes fail to fill you up or provide a steady flow of energy. Go for Wheat flakes instead!!!

Ghee: 1 tablespoon of ghee gives you 115 calories! Need i say anything more?

Brown Bread: Not all brown breads are made of whole wheat! Most of them just have color as an ingredient! :O

Pasta: Nearly fat free but has 50 gms of Carbohydrate for every 200 gms of Pasta. Have it with some fibres like broccoli to increase digestion.

Margarine: You may as well have butter! It is high in Saturated fat.

Caesar Salad: A whopping 135 Calories for every 25 gms

Milk: A mere cup (145 grams) of whole milk yields a whopping 150 calories, 8 grams of fat and 35 milligrams of cholesterol.

Wine: 1 gram of alcohol equals 7 calories, making it almost as calorie heavy as fats (1 gram of fat is 9 calories).

Watch what you eat! More importantly, know what you eat!

look how sad he looks!  i remarked to my friends that his eyes looked extra big and extra sad. 

the vet at the ER did a horrible job treating kipper's anal gland abscess, that days later, it ruptured anyhow. the only thing i could do was over-dose him with pain meds and keep the area clean. when that wound seemed to be healing he started to limp!  (the vet assured me it wasn't a sprain)
when it rains it pours, people. 
but now he's back to his old self.  thank god.  barking and growling and acting grumpy. 

a couple of fridays ago, my friend invitied me out to listen to live jazz. 
she knew i was worried about kipper and thought i could use a distraction.  
i've never heard live jazz so i thought why not.  

so, we met some other people at the infamous Birdland and ordered drinks and waited for the music to start.  it was honestly, the best perfomance i've seen and i've been to many, many concerts. 
i always found jazz to be a little too loud and inharmonious but seeing this live performance really changed my mind.  the stress just seemed to melt away.  i felt so light and free afterwards. 
we all had a ton of fun and couldn't stop talking about it.  the whole time i kept wondering why he wasn't performing at a bigger venue. 

the next day over lunch, we were gushing about the performers and found out that arturo sandoval is extremely famous! my sister couldn't believe we saw him performing live and worse yet, that we didn't know who he was.  i've never heard of him but i can see why he's so popular.  i've been checking jazz venues frequently to see if anything interesting comes up around the city so i can hear some live jazz again.

you can read about arturo sandoval, here on wikipedia.

oh, i should write about the food at Birdland.  Maybe i was too distracted by the music to really concentrate on what i was eating but it wasn't as good as the music.  The sweet potatoes fries were delicious and the drinks were well made.  But my goat cheese salad was disappointing.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Executive Summary

SWOT Analysis

Colombia Political SWOT

Colombia Security SWOT

Colombia Defence Industry SWOT

Colombia Economic SWOT

Colombia Business Environment SWOT

Chapter 2 - Political Overview

Domestic Political Outlook

Scandal Threatens Reform Outlook

Implications: Peace Plan Under Threat?

FARC Talks In The Balance?

External Political Outlook

Signed, Sealed But Not Delivered

CAN Vs Mercosur?

Chapter 3 - Security Risk Analysis

It’s Security Ratings

Risk Ratings

Table: Regional Risk Ratings

Table: State Terrorism Vulnerability Index

Regional Security: Latin America

US-Latin America Relations

Narcotics and Security

Columbia Security Risk Rating

Colombia Conflict Risk

Colombia Terrorism Risk

Colombia Physical Safety Risk

Chapter 4 - Security Overview

Internal Security Situation

Civil War?

Paramilitary Demobilisation

FARC And Counter-Insurgency

Negotiations with the ELN

External Security Situation

Colombia-US Relations

Colombia-Venezuela Relations

Colombia-Ecuador Relations

Colombia-Nicaragua Relations

Colombia’s Multilateral Relations – European Union

Colombia’s Multilateral Relations – Organisation of American States

Table: Colombia Changes In Security Situation

Chapter 5 - Military Structure & Defence Industry

Armed Forces

Regional Armed Forces (including conscripted) 2006

International Deployment

Table: Foreign Deployments

Market Overview

Arms Trade Overview

Imports

Industry Trends & Developments

Procurement Trends & Developments

Table: Comparison Of Military Equipment And Proposed Procurements

Chapter 6 - Industry Forecast Scenario

Table: Colombia Defence Sector Historical Data & Forecasts

Table: Colombia Defence Sector Historical Data & Forecasts

Key Risks to It’s Forecast Scenario

Chapter 7 - Macroeconomic Forecast

Moderation To Sustainable Growth

Table: Colombia – Economic Activity

Chapter 8 - Competitive Landscape

Table: Key Players – Colombia Defence Sector

Chapter 9 - Company Profiles

Industria Militar (Indumil)

Chapter 10 - It Forecast Modelling

How we generate our industry forecasts

Defence Industry

Sources

Chapter 11 - Appendix A: Risk Ratings Methodology

Conflict Risk Methodology

Terrorism Risk Methodology

Physical Safety Risk Methodology

Overall Risk Rating

State Vulnerability Index Methodology

For more information, kindly visit:
http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=18189

Dessert at Club Lounge Conrad Bali. Tasty.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Thieves raided the city flour market in broad daylight a few weeks ago, shooting and wounding two people before escaping with their loot.
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“We are not feeling safe,” said Hajji Hayatullah, one of the flour merchants, sitting on the floor of his shop with sacks of flour stacked around him. “We don’t have security and we don’t trust the government to provide it.” The merchants got together and hired eight private security guards.

Gaharid Olum sifted wheat at a small flour mill in Kandahar. Flour and bread prices have doubled in Afghanistan this month.

Yet their fears remain, not only about gunmen, but because they sense a growing hunger and desperation in the general population. While there have been no riots yet in Afghanistan over spiraling food prices, the economic pain and hunger are hitting the poor and unemployed, aid agency officials are warning. Teachers have threatened to strike and there have been some angry demonstrations.

“Prices are a big problem for our people. People do not grow enough and so we rely on imports from Pakistan, and the prices are going up daily,” Hajji Hayatullah said. “It is very hard for the people, unemployment is the biggest problem, people are very poor.

Read the rest:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/
world/asia/16kandahar.html

People, Energy, Food, Environment: The Crisis of Ideas

     by Noel Chellan

 Historically defined progress encapsulated in quantifiable indicators, the dominant of which is the Gross National Product, has to be debunked in the face of the energy crisis, the food crisis, the environmental crisis, the unemployment crisis, the safety and security crisis and the many other unwarranted crises that seem to overflow from the womb of capitalist development. Actually, the crisis that we are burdened with, is a crisis of ideas, in so far as it is these ideas that define and inform how people, energy, food and the environment intersect with each other.

Noel Chellan is a lecturer at the School of Sociology & Social Sciences.

http://iolsresearch.ukzn.ac.za/NC14323.aspx

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Executive Summary

Security

Defence Industry

Military Expenditure

Arms Trade

Chapter 2 - SWOT Analysis

Australia Security SWOT

Australia Defence SWOT

Australia Economic SWOT

Australia Political SWOT

Australia Business Environment SWOT

Chapter 3 - Political Overview

It Core Scenario

Domestic Political Outlook

Chapter 4 - Security Risk Analysis11

It’s Security Ratings

Table: Regional Security Ratings

Table: State Terrorism Vulnerability Index

Regional Security: South East Asia and Pacific Q406

Overview

Inter-State Conflicts

Internal Conflicts

Australia Security Risk Ratings

Terrorism Risk

Conflict Risk

Physical Safety Risk

Chapter 5 - Security Overview

Internal Security Situation

External Security Situation

Chapter 6 - Defence Industry

Armed Forces

Table: Regional Armed Forces

International Deployments

Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Chapter 7 - Market Overview

Industry Trends And Developments

Arms Trade Overview

Procurement Trends & Developments

Chapter 8 - Industry Forecast Scenario

Table: Australia Defence Sector Historical Data & Forecasts

Key Risks to It’s Forecast Scenario

Chapter 9 - Macroeconomic Forecast

Economy To Accelerate As Exports Revive

Table: Australia – Economic Activity

Chapter 10 - Company Profiles

ADI Ltd

Tenix Defence

Austal

BAE Systems Australia

Raytheon Australia

Boeing Australia

Chapter 11 - It Forecast Modelling

How we generate our industry forecasts

Defence Industry

Sources

For more information, kindly visit:
http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=18190 ]]> http://johnibiii.wordpress.com/?p=415 Fri, 16 May 2008 08:25:07 +0000 johnibii http://johnibiii.wordpress.com/?p=415 By Maureen Fan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, May 16, 2008; Page A01 
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BEIJING, May 15 At the headquarters of the Red Cross Society of China, volunteers turned a boardroom into a makeshift cashier's office Thursday, sending tens of thousands of fluttering bank notes through counting machines and handing receipts to people like Cai Lili, 30, who stood in long lines with bricks of cash to donate to earthquake relief efforts.
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Since a massive earthquake struck Sichuan province and surrounding regions three days ago, Chinese have donated $192 million to help their countrymen, according to China's Civil Affairs Ministry. The fundraising has come as officials have issued a rare public appeal for cranes and rescue equipment, hammers and shovels, bandages and medicine.

In scale, the financial contributions have been unprecedented in China, which for decades taught its citizens that the state and the state alone would take care of them from cradle to grave.

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I've only met D last week, but he's fast become sort of my pusher. He was the guy that I purchased my very first vinyl from, and after an sms exchange yesterday, I'm in line to purchase 5 more LPs. Plus he's on the lookout for a couple more that I've requested.

I know I need to have my limits but with the deals he has been giving me, it's simply so hard to say no.

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I've never heard of Valpolicella before, so I mistakenly thought that it was a grape variety rather than a region in Italy. Anyway, fancying something different last night, I had a glass. And another. And by the time it was over, I had a good and comfortable buzz.

Anyways, thanks to R, for putting up with my incessant rants about pretty much the same things. And sorry to L; honestly, we never thought alcohol would be on our agenda last night.

When we first walked into the restaurant, I was a bit confused.  They had a large take-away counter and full menu boards, which gave me the impression that perhaps the restaurant focused primarily on take-away.  The gentleman who worked at the restaurant quickly greeted us, and seated us on the patio upon request.  Just a little side note, it is a smoking patio. This is something to consider if you don't like the smell of smoke while eating, or a benefit to all you smokers out there.  The patio was quite lovely and had a nice shade covering so we weren't sitting in the direct sun.  Much has to be said for the ambiance of the patio, it really made the experience.  The man running the place was extremely friendly, and after taking our orders, quickly returned with out appetizers.

The appetizers consisted of the usual spring rolls, and this time fried egg rolls.  The appetizers were the best I've ever had (more on this from MP Eric in the future).  Let's just put it this way, the appetizers made me want to come back.  The pho itself, unfortunately, was a different story.  I ordered a regular sliced beef pho, although the actual number escapes me now.  With such good appetizers, I was expecting to have some fantastic pho and from the looks of the steaming bowl in front of me, I felt I was going to get it.   The steak was good, but the noodles were all clumped together in a mass.  I took a spoon full of broth and it lacked flavor, it seemed to be quite bland.  After doctoring up the broth, it tasted better, but still not the flavorful pho I am used to getting.  After taking a few bites and pondering, we all came to the agreement that there was a serious lack of noodles and meat  - another disappointment.  On a side note, the sodas come in cans meaning refills are not free, but having eaten at countless Asian restaurants in the past and having lived in a country where refills aren't offered anyway, this is something that I learned to deal with.

Why I have I returned to this restaurant even though the pho is mediocre?  It's the combination of the appetizers and the relaxing atmosphere of the patio.  The staff is welcoming, and there's always a few people lunching away.  Don't come here looking for the best pho in town, but come here when you want to sit around enjoying some good conversation on a lovely day with some good people.  I have and will continue to return here, but like I said before, it's to relax with a bowl of pho and not for the pho itself.

Taste: 3/5
Portions: 3/5
Value: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Overall: 3/5

Info:
Pho Factory
15455 Jeffrey Rd.
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 552-5735