My Blog

I enjoy reading mysteries and have enjoyed reading stories set in the 1920s since reading F. Scott Fitzgerald. And so it was easy to pick “Death of a Flapper” by Marva Dale as my next read.

The story takes place in the ’20s and involves a private detective (J.C. Brogan) who is hired to find out what happened to a missing flapper, Arabella Germain (nickname Angel). The investigation takes him other flappers, mobsters, an artist, and a high society crowd that enjoys partying most of all. The author takes us into speakeasies and jazz clubs, introduces us to bootleggers, and weaves an intricate plot of lies, cover-up, violence and romance.

Marva Dale, though J.C. Grogan, takes us through a list of suspects who know something about Angel’s disappearance and death and carefully leads the reader to the ultimate revelation of who actually done it. This is such an enjoyable read that I am going to look into other Marva Dale books to put on my future reading list.

“Death of a Flapper” is the works of cross-genre author Debra McReynolds who writes under two pen names depending on what type of fiction she is creating – Marva Dale for her intriguing and adventuresome mysteries and Deborah Merrell for her enticing romance novels.

And so the name Marva Dale will be found as author of the Death by the Decade mystery series that includes her most recent Death of a Flapper.

Some of the other popular novels written by McReynolds include Far From Eden: New World Part I of the Traynor Family Saga, The Snow Job, Babykins, Miami Spice, Babes In Arms: The Bomb Girls of Company B, Private Eyes, Naked Pizza, Under Cover Girl, Hot Pursuits, Angie’s Kiss and Pleasure Cruise.

Retired from the public relations field, McReynolds now spends her free time indulging in her passion for writing. “I used to fill my school notebooks with stories,” Debra relates, “and then add artwork to go along with them. My second grade teacher, Mrs. Daley, predicted that I would be a writer one day.” And so she has.

You’ve probably noticed that talk about mindfulness meditation is much more common than it was just a few years ago. Today, I hear about mindfulness meditation from a variety of different sources: on the news, television talk shows, online, and most often in conversation.

It wasn’t long ago that people who meditated were considered to be on the fringes of society. In the 60s and 70s, they were called hippies. In the 80s and 90s, they were called new-agers.

Today, people who meditate are seen as progressive and open-minded. Whatever term we may use to describe them, they are generally loving, kind, generous, insightful, and willing to help others achieve the same rich and fulfilling lives they have.

Mindfulness Meditation Migrates to the West

Though mindfulness meditation has been around for a long time, its migration to the West has been slow, but that has changed over the last few years. There are several reasons for this:

• Changes in the social and political environment. The end of the Cold War has enabled more communication between Eastern and Western societies.
• Advances in communication technology. The rise of the Internet has made communication much easier for cultures, which previously did not interact very much.
• Prominent figures active in diffusing the practice. Most notably, the Dalai Lama has been quite active in engaging the West. Interestingly, a great deal of his interaction has been with the scientific community, to encourage scientists to conduct research on the practice.
• Compatibility with Western values. Since mindfulness meditation is a practice, and not a religion, practitioners don’t have to abandon their current spiritual faith in order to avail themselves of the benefits of the practice.
• Effectiveness of the practice. Mindfulness meditation is proving to be extremely effective for all-around personal development.

The Scientific Evidence Is Compelling

The mindfulness revolution is being fueled by the scientific research being conducted on mindfulness meditation. Researchers are finding a wide variety of health benefits of the practice. For example:

• Stress reduction. Research has consistently shown that mindfulness meditation reduces stress and negative mood states, and also improves mental and emotional well-being. It does this by reducing the levels of cortisol, the main stress hormone. Patients are more serene, so they don’t experience stress-related disorders.
• Lower blood pressure. Several studies have revealed that meditation leads to lower blood pressure. A one-year follow-up showed that patients continued to experience the positive effects.
• Prevents stroke. By reducing the risk of hypertension (high blood pressure), we can reduce the risk of stroke.
• Decreased risk of heart disease. A recent study published in the American Heart Journal showed that mindfulness meditation led to significantly better symptoms in patients with chronic heart failure.
• Treats mental health. Mindfulness is becoming so widely accepted in the mental health community that it’s becoming an integral part of the treatment of various psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), borderline personality disorder, and more.
• Improves immune system. Mindfulness-based interventions also improve the functioning of the immune system. One study showed that it improved the function of the flu vaccine, and another study showed that it increased T-cell production in males with HIV.

Research has also shown that the practice even slows the aging process. People who meditate tend to look and feel much younger than their actual age. The practice also helps people tap into their creativity. It even helps them enhance their leadership and social skills, so they can advance their careers

Mindfulness Meditation and Social Issues

The practice is also being used to deal with the rising costs of health care. It is a natural healing practice that is safe and effective and can complement standard medical care. It’s already widely used in the treatment of various psychological conditions.

Organizations worldwide are beginning to realize that the practice can help dramatically lower their health care expenditures. Companies such as Google and McKinsey Consulting are already incorporating the practice into their health and wellness programs. They are even including it in their leadership training.

The mindfulness revolution is a movement whose time has come. Conditions are just right for the acceptance of the mindfulness meditation practice. As Westerners gain a greater understanding of the practice through continued scientific research and personal experience, they will see how the practice is compatible with their spiritual traditions and their general understanding of the world. Mindfulness meditation is bridging the gap between science and spirituality.

Many people wants to frame their own pictures or photographs but has no idea where to start. It is not a wise idea to start investing in the equipment immediately as you might not know the best equipment and way to frame your artwork. We therefore encourage you to ask and learn from us or from experienced framers. Any advice you get will be helpful in finishing your framing job successfully. That is what the Amateur Picture Framers Society – APFS are for.

Features of Joining the APFS:

Join the Amateur Picture Framing Society Now!

It is very common to hear these days that romance is dead, or that love and relationships of the present age just do not have the passion of the old days. But how true is that? Were relationships of the past so filled with romance and so perfect as often described?

The truth is, all those amazing love stories that are told in great novels and movies, even when real, are the rarest of relationships. From an early age, a perception is created in people’s minds about love and relationships, that it should all be as in fairy tales or in a romance; that love, when it comes, will be forever and will be a perfect and a smooth ride. Human beings are not perfect, therefore their relationships can’t be perfect either.

We’re not that much different from people who lived centuries ago; our core is still the same, our desires and feelings are unchanged. What has truly progressed, on the other hand, is a society which has now a different set of values that changed the way people perceive love and relationships. A few decades ago a wedding ring meant it was forever, but not because the couple would love each other endlessly; it was only because it was not possible to break the vows of marriage. No matter what happened between the two, there were no exit doors. And even though we are given the idea of these perfect marriages, the unavoidable truth is there were problems. They were just hidden behind veils of lies and deceit.

The key to making love and relationships last and be happy doesn’t involve any magic, or a ring; it’s about both people committing themselves to the fullest. Often people are so lost in their search for the stereotypes they believe, that they forget commitment and love is truly important to make things work. This is something that will remain the same over the years.

Love and relationships haven’t changed that much over the centuries, because men and women still feel the same way and are still after the same desires. Their surroundings, on the other hand, have evolved the perceptions of these ideas. Before, just as it is now, relationships were haunted with many problems, doubts and struggles between the couple, but no one is interested in reading stories about failed romances of the past. And this is what creates the dream of perfection in the minds of people, that is so far from reality.

The era of mobile technology has helped speed up communication between individuals. This is the general notion nowadays. Everyone talks about how it is much easier to communicate with loved ones who live miles apart than it was to do so in the old days. Technology has enabled man to communicate with someone from the opposite end of the globe within minutes. Business growth has taken place because the world is now a global village thanks to technological advancements. One can call his children who are in a university abroad; one can make a video call to friends and family who live in other cities, countries and continents! How easy it has become for an individual to get in touch with another individual. It seems as if everybody is merely a phone call away! However, all that glitters is definitely not gold. Everything comes with its price and the process of development in communication technology surely comes with a heavy price; the distortion of language, the murder of manners and the loss of close bonds between individuals.

There is no language on planet earth that has emerged overnight. Languages evolve over long periods of time. They are continuously improved as language is the primary factor which makes human beings superior to all other creatures. Yet, within what seemed like the blink of an eye, communication technology has distorted languages, particularly the English language, in a ghastly manner.

Since we live in the world where nobody has enough time, we look for short cuts in everything including expression. A very small example is the use of abbreviations to show joy and happiness; LOL is part of most internet and cell phone users’ daily vocabulary! In our attempts to ‘save time’, we have no respect for manners which were once a big part of language. A few years back, if one was busy, he or she would apologize to the other person and promise to get back shortly. Nobody has time for that now. TTYL is the new way of telling people how busy you are. Where are the manners of speech? Where is the respect for others?

‘U’ is the new ‘You’ simply because it takes less time to type. Students often make the mistake of using this form of writing in their formal assignments and exams, leaving the poor old English teachers shocked and speechless!

The linguistic impacts that communication technology has had are countless. However, these are not the only impacts that this technology has had. I once read something on Facebook (oh the irony!) which said, ‘you won’t have any wifi in the forest but I promise you’ll have a better connection’. The words struck me immediately because of the meaning they held. Despite the fact that the internet has made communication so easy, it seems like the connection between people has deteriorated. One sits for hours in front of a screen, using fingers instead of one’s tongue to type words instead of saying them and using emoticons to express feelings instead of using his or her own features to do so. The mini heart attack that one gets if he or she misplaces her phone even for a small while is not because of the fact that the person won’t be able to communicate with friends. It’s because of the fear of being ‘disconnected’ from the lives of hundreds of people one has added as friends on their Facebook account. Communication as a process has sped up, yet the process of communicating has deteriorated. It feels like the human race no longer knows how to communicate.

Communication technology has definitely helped the human race. However, the damage that it has caused and continues causing with each passing day cannot be ignored. If only the world did become a forest with no wifi, there probably would be a better connection after all.

In this day and age, anger is a major player in every society. People are driven by anger, meaning that they do not have any self control and the decisions made by them are actually decisions made by anger. We could even go so far as to call society an ‘Anger Driven Society’, where everyone is prone to anger outbursts.

If we observe our society for a while, we may be astonished to see that even children and teenagers are prone to anger outbursts as well. They are turning their negative energy into negative ways by attempting suicide, substance abuse, getting involved in violent activities, drinking alcohol, and so forth. Anger management is an issue that faces people of all ages and backgrounds. This is evident by the number of adolescent and teen anger management programs that are becoming commonplace. There are even free anger management advice lines for parents with troublesome pre-school kids.

Stress is playing a greater role in life nowadays and the stressors are so many that one may almost feel incapable of coping with them. The result is that each and every person is in a potentially hostile mood and if their trigger point is just slightly pressed, they will go out of control. This is not an example of a healthy society, and we should seek ways and means of anger management to turn all our negative energies collectively into positive energies and protect the foundations of a peaceful society.

On a governmental level, every country’s officials are angry amongst themselves and everybody wants things to go their way. Religious leaders throughout the world can be as angry as anyone and they want to impose religion on everyone. But let’s also remember that no religion teaches it is correct to impose things on anyone or talk rudely to anyone, or deceive someone, or to steal from someone, or to cheat someone, or to hurt someone. I can go on and on with the list and it will never end.

Every one of us is subjected, I guess almost daily, to some situations in which we just get mad and express ourselves in a negative way and think that our anger will resolve the issue. We expect someone will be intimidated by our anger and will do what we want them to, but it does not happen like this, it is not normal and the general point of view is that such people are in need of strong anger management therapy.

Honesty and decency is the best policy, but today, it is very difficult for an honest and decent person to survive in such society, because an honest person cannot hurt or cheat anyone. They expect honesty from everybody else that they are dealing with and they reserve the right of getting angry and reacting to the situation, in which they are being deceived, but they do not lose their control and never forget their principles of anger management.

They will often use diplomacy and negotiation as their main anger management techniques and call upon other anger management skills to enable them to ensure that their will does prevail, but without resorting to violence or dishonest means. If more people were to adopt this way of thinking then the world would be a better place to live in and honesty would be seen as the decent quality that it is, and not as some form of weakness as is often the case.

So, here’s a suggestion for everyone – let’s fight the negative energy, with all our might, and let’s be the first ones to take the steps towards positive thoughts and deeds in our anger ridden society, to make it a better place for the generations to come.

As we move into our adolescent stage, we soon start to take our own responsibilities. Behavioral changes occur which is why we become more social and self-dependent while making ourselves less dependent on our immediate family. It is obvious that in our teenage there is an adrenaline rush which excites our freedom and so we starts making own decisions related to education and choices in our lives.

It is ultimately the society and culture that contribute in the development of human. Attitudes, beliefs, behavior is actually the reflection of our society that every human posses. Areas that are economically deprived and experience low employment will surely prove to have high crimes. The areas that come with fewer opportunities in respect to education and work can never think of demolishing juvenile crime. The European countries do have a high rate of juvenile crimes and it is absolutely not a new phenomenon.

What leads to juvenile crime?

Parents try a lot to protect their children and keep them away from watching any kind of inappropriate media content and negative news. But, is it really possible? No matter how hard you try, it is impossible to completely keep your children secluded from negativity of the world as teens are today more engrossed into computers and social media.

• Nowadays teens have quicker access to information as it is easily viewed in their smart phones. But, due to lack of maturity and way of thinking, it becomes really difficult for them to understand the true meaning of any news and the sense of independence is rather being misused.
• Due to easy access to all kind of information, teens can read and view things that might not be appropriate. Girls fantasize about their love affairs whereas boys imagine themselves to be invincible.

These are the reasons why today’s generation is more inclined towards criminal activities. Being more isolated, teens are completely involved in technology. Teens those who grow up in a society that struggles to earn their bread everyday can certainly evoke a sense of anti-social behavior.

Categorizing juvenile crime

We can categorize juvenile crimes by felonies and misdemeanors. This categorization is basically done based on intensity of any crimes and level of violence in any cases. Depending on the intensity of any crime such as sexual offense or using a weapon with the intention to harm anyone can be treated as an adult crime.

Juvenile crimes can lead to severe consequences and it is the reason behind keeping the families far apart and so it can take any the innocence of a child. The childhood is literally endangered due to exposure of criminal minds and deeds all around.

Individual and family risk factors

There are different factors involved which can influence in juvenile criminal act. Minor who have lower level of intelligence and lacks proper education is certainly more prone to become a criminal. While there are also other factors which can lead to such heinous act such as uncontrolled aggression, impulsive behavior and dissatisfaction in everything.

Sometimes families do have contribution in making an adolescent violent which leads to some dreadful crime. Lack of supervision and parental guidance, neglect and abuse, parental conflict and lack of emotional, psychological support to kids can certainly contribute in ill behavior. Children who are not so close with their parents usually get involved in inappropriate activities.

It is amazing how once you notice something, you begin to pay attention and in paying attention you discover a whole new world.

Several weeks ago I wrote an article on portable medical records and the possible uses of technology to bring part of the medical records from novelty status to a mainstream medical device. A few weeks later I was introduced to a new generation of portable medical records that were capable of synchronizing with the electronic medical records at a physician’s office or at a hospital.

For those of you who are not familiar with portable medical records allow me a moment to give some definitions. A portable medical record is a USB drive device such as a Thumb Drive, a USB wristband, a USB flash drive wristwatch, pendant, or other portable mass storage that can be worn on the body attached to a belt or keys and holds basic medical information in a database form. Almost all these devices now are password protected and offer varying levels of functionality.

A personal health record is the online equivalent of the portable medical record. This software exists on the Internet with storage maintained at a third-party site. The information is again password protected and in an emergency can be accessed by the healthcare provider with an Internet connection and that password.

An electronic medical record is a software package utilized by hospital healthcare facility physicians that replaces the paper patient chart. This is an official document and subject to significant government regulation. By 2008 every healthcare provider in the United States must be executing concrete plans to transition from paper to electronic records and by 2014 all paper must be gone.

With that in mind let’s turn now back to the portable medical records. This is a market that is exploding. A few short weeks ago I wrote an article, my second in this arena, that described nine products of this type. Two days ago I did a new Google search on this topic (okay, I was desperate for an article topic) and I found no fewer than 24 companies now offering these devices in the United States, Canada and England. Many of these devices are now being made in Taiwan and China and installed directly on the flash drives. They are coming in every shape, size and form but unfortunately with little or no functionality.

Yes, they all have some form of password protection and an emergency screen where basic information can be seen without the use of the password. They hold information such as living wills, organ donor cards, healthcare surrogate contracts, past medical histories, allergies, medications and a few hold greater levels of data. Two of them integrate with online personal health records but only one can import and export to electronic medical records.

None of these systems however have one basic piece that is required for credibility in the medical world. It is called change tracking and it is the ability for the healthcare professional reading the portable medical record to look at what changes have been made in the portable medical record and what existed in the record before the change was made. Change tracking is an internal audit of the system and ensures that there has been no tampering that could threaten a patient’s life.

At least there was not such a system until this week. This week [http://www.theoriginalmymedicalrecords.com] announced the prototype release of Version 1.2, a portable medical record with change tracking, high-level encryption and password protection.

This is truly something new and represents a second generation of portable medical record.

Where will this new medical device find a home?

As the water resistant or splash resistant USB devices these units are already finding a home on the wrists of scuba divers, sky divers, mountain bikers and others who enjoy high fun/ high risk sports.

But I envision a larger market. I envision a day when rather than receiving a flimsy paper wristband at the hospital or nursing home a patient has a portable medical record in a waterproof band around their wrist. When the nurse comes by with their wireless Tablet computer to chart she simply plugs the patient record band in and the records are immediately synchronized. The patient goes nowhere without their chart on their wrist.

When they go home the patient takes the band with them carrying the entire chart in miniature form. The hospital has its copy. The patient has their copy and their copy goes back to the doctor’s office.

In the event of an emergency the patient’s band is on their wrist and it does not matter what emergency room they go into, what EMS service picks them up all the important information is at the fingertips of those there to save their life.

I envision a day when my disaster medical assistance team (MDMS/DMAT-FL3) provides care in a Katrina like event after a natural disaster with subsequent flooding and places a USB flash drive wristband around the wrist of every evacuee. Information on federal assistance, registration for finding lost family members, their own personal information as well as a health record will travel with them from the moment of rescue until their final destination. If they already had a personal medical record on their wrist or in their pocket or around their neck as an independent we in the MDMS/DMAT-FL3 would be able to plug their device into our computers and upload the important information to help them recover their lives and help us treat their injuries.

This second generation of flash drive device holds tremendous promise not only for the transfer of information but even the prevention of medical errors by ensuring that the most basic information is in the hands of those who are making the most important decisions.

Film has managed to gain an impressive role in the modern society. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that movies have the power to change perspective, to tackle with delicate problems and to draw attention upon real problems in society that need a solution. Of course, films have the power to entertain the audience, to make it lose contact with reality and completely allow the action on the screen to take control. When thinking about movies, you automatically think of Hollywood, about the United States of America, because this is where the core of the industry can be found. However, in the last few years, other parts of the world have started to grow and get noticed in the film industry. Australia is a valid example in this regard, a country in which film and all that is related to it have started to make an impression on other audiences rather than the local one.

Considering the competition on the international market, it is rather difficult to make it without a few tools. Australia film makers have quickly identified the need for a film society. It cannot be denied that the importance of a film society in Australia is rather high, as it would be anywhere else in the world. However, when mentioning Australia, you see more than film producers and independent projects that could be appreciated by film critics, you see actors, you see impressive landscapes that can be used in plenty of other foreign productions, you see a different culture. Basically, you see all the reasons for an appropriate development and growth of the Australian film industry. Starting a film society in this country could only facilitate this market, make Australia an important point on the film map of the world. Of course that before you begin to wonder how to it is possible to create an association of this kind, you might want to read several reasons for which Australia deserves film societies more than other places in the world. First of all, a society of tis kind can promote the work performed by local producers within the Australian territory, as well as world-wide.

Apparently, this industry has started to take shape. A great example in this regard is the AFTRS Bachelor of Arts, institution which in hosting important project in 2015, set to train interested individuals to perform various activities in the film industry. A film society is responsible with the spreading of news. Moreover, in Australia, just like in other parts of the world, film festivals are held. The Perth International Arts Festival is a great example in this regard. Some film societies only promote these events, others go as far as to host them. Actors that you know these days, that are highly popular and recognized as important names in the international film industry were promoted by dedicated film societies. Each country has something personal, something defining. Australia will surely stand out in a crowd due to its landscape, due to its wilderness and most importantly, its culture which has a bit of that English charm that people love so much. Surely, the Australian film industry has not reached its peek.

Most folks who have never run a business think all the regulations are a good thing, to protect us all from evil entrepreneurs. Little do they know how much better their lives would be without all those onerous and ridiculous regulations from the blob of bureaucracy. Interestingly enough, when they hear of the small business person’s plight, they want government to fix it, which to me is laughable, as they are the problem, not the solution. When discussing this I just said; Okay, but give us entrepreneurs a little credit, we kick ass, and at the end of the day, we will find a way – just get the government out of the way.

Still, the naïve citizen stated; “Entrepreneurs will always come out on top! I am a firm believer in that. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that if a government taxes a business more, they also tax the people (consumer). Let’s take a look at the Health Care issue and Papa John’s pizza. What’s to keep a business from increasing the slice of pizza by 50 cents to offset the losses due to healthcare? Nothing really, people still love pizza, and the top dogs of Papa Johns will still make their profits. So who is the loser, the consumer right?”

Yes, and really regulations work the same way, you put incessant regulations on businesses and those businesses pass on the cost of compliance. It’s like an inefficiency tax on the population. If you over regulate energy, resources, transportation, distribution, same thing; manufacturer, supplier, vendor, business consumer, worse it’s often a compounding effect and most regulations these days are enforced on business models or industries they were never intended to, but the growing bureaucracy doesn’t care.

It’s a status quo machine ‘sorry but that’s the law’ no matter that the intended law was drawn up the day before the bill was to be voted on in congress in a congressional members office at midnight by lawyers of a lobbying firm from a company or industry that donated money to the politician who is drunk at a party bending over a young call-boy brought in by Barney Franks and Company LLC. who isn’t even present at that careful crafting in their office with interns and staffers who think this is all legit, or the way of things, sure it is the way things work there sometimes, but that doesn’t make it right. Worse, the company in question with the lobbyists, a competitor of yours.

Personally, I am with Trump we need to drain the swamp, and I’d like to see them go after more Congressmen stashing corruption cash in a popsicle box in their DC apartment freezer, but I digress – AGAIN.