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Article Title: Look at South Africa - ‘Celebrate the Beloved
Country’ …but now time to show some firm leadership on
Zimbabwe, PRESIDENT MBEKI (and the WORLD) Author Name: Craig
Lock Line Space: 65 characters Category (key words):
“Inspiration, Spiritual”, South Africa, Inspirational Writings.
Web Site: http://kompuwiz.com/kompustore Other Articles:
http://www.soulful-writer.com and http://www.bridgeniche.com

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* Look at South Africa - ‘Celebrate the Beloved Country’ …but
now time to show some firm leadership on Zimbabwe, PRESIDENT
MBEKI (and the WORLD)

Introduction: As a South African writer living in tranquil
far-off New Zealand, I am enclosing a “letter” about my thoughts
and impressions following on from a visit, together with some
personal views on the current dire problems in Zimbabwe, which
may be of interest. Just sharing a few thoughts and remembrances
after a recent visit to my former homeland, this incredible,
vibrant and diverse country at the tip of the vast (”dark”)
continent of Africa, which may be of interest. This piece that I
wrote is based upon an inspiring address by former Archbishop,
Desmond Tutu. It is ten years since the first democratic
elections, so we can celebrate a decade of the birth of a new
country, where in spite of an endemic crime rate most people
accept each other and work together as common citizens of the
“beloved country”. Well, I’m always looking at some positive
aspects and this is my reason for sharing this piece about my
former (yet always in my heart) country! * In the light of
current world events and global uncertainty, I say: “Look at
South Africa”… Thousands of people died over the years of
South Africa’s turbulent, history (and under the “nightmare”
called apartheid - forgotten already ???)…which has ended
relatively peacefully. Out of a violent and bloody past, South
Africa’s extraordinary relatively peaceful transition to
democracy was a minor “miracle”… and I believe, South Africans
have accomplished something unprecented, unparalleled in the
last decade. Perhaps there is a message in South Africa’s
violent and tortuous path to democracy somewhere to the “trouble
spots of the world”… perhaps there was a reason for the misery
and tragedy of apartheid (as well as many centuries of
colonialism around the globe), after all… A possible
role-model? In spite of the corruption, crime and “cheapness of
life there, South Africa may be the “trail-blazer”, the beacon
of magnanimity, hope and reconciliation to the world. With
strong leadership, a spirit of goodwill, tolerance, acceptance
…and most importantly, attempts to understand other peoples
and cultures, who are different to us (yet we humans have far
more in common than our differences)…and especially with the
SPIRIT of peace, your nightmare too will end. An end to the evil
of terrorism, man’s inhumanity to man and the “impossibility” of
world peace CAN one day be achieved. Let the world celebrate the
quite magnificent achievement South Africans of ALL races and
creeds, “The Rainbow People of God” have accomplished in the
past decade. With your “torch of light” you may yet illuminate
the path to a world one day at peace with itself. CELEBRATE THE
“BELOVED COUNTRY” - a land of such contrasts, a “happy, sad”
land of great wealth and great poverty, yet the beauty and
richness of the land …and most importantly its most valuable
resource, the spirit of its 45 million diverse peoples always
seems to shine through in conquering adversity. “How apartheid
was finally buried, without requiem; but in joyous celebration,
will remain forever in the hearts and minds of a nation reborn.
When tears came, and there was dampness in the eyes of even the
most stern, it was for putting the past in the past and hoping
for hope in the future.”

“South Africa’s ability to overcome deep divisions, to negotiate
a common future and to commit itself to reconciliation and
reconstruction offers new hope - not only to South Africa, but
across the globe.

“God does work in amazing and miraculous ways…and every person
and country has a unique purpose in “God’s Divine Plan”. *
“South Africa is blessed in resources beyond many. It dare not
live just for itself. It must work and labour to bless Africa
and the world…but especially Africa. If only for Africa’s sake
we dare not fail; because as South Africa goes, so will the rest
of Africa.”

and as Zimbabwe goes, so perhaps may eventually even the
economic power-house of it’s Southern neighbour, South Africa.
Doesn’t the world need a leader like Nelson Mandela today?
“Cometh the hour, cometh the man.” The problems of the world
today cannot be solved by thinking at the same level that
created them. Jesus Christ challenged the conventional thinking
of the day over 2000 years ago. PPS: Why can’t the world and
especially South Africa now try a radically different approach
to South Africa’s “largely forgotten” neighbour, Zimbabwe in
“darkest Africa”. Even though it’s not a strategic country, like
Iraq!

Like South Africa in the past decade, let the INTERNATIONAL
(including African) COMMUNITY NOW show in a spirit of “unity”
how the immense problems under a brutal and repressive
government can also be solved PEACEFULLY through “constructive
engagement and negotiation in a show of peaceful unity with FIRM
LEADERSHIP”. Time to show some strong effective leadership and
to act decisively on Zimbabwe now, President Thabo Mbeki (though
you were allies in bringing freedom to your constituents, you
can immediately make the lives of thousands of Zimbabweans far
better by firmly condemning the brutal repression of its
citizens by Zanu-PF and through South Africa’s economic might
bring pressure on your neighbour by giving some ultimatums to
Robert Mugabe!

Standards of behaviour and repression that the international
community will NOT tolerate! And the world MUST support you.
Those leaders, who ignore the lessons of world history are
doomed to repeat them.

Let’s not wait for ten years idly passing by (as in Iraq!). It
is now time to “raise the bar” - what and what we will not
accept in the global community, as ‘acceptable behaviour’ what
the world expects now as acceptable (and decent) standards of
behaviour in the community of nations. A radically different
approach is needed with the problem of Zimbabwe to that imposed
on Iraq; yet with the same “force and passion” as the US
military have shown, yet without violence. Now it’s time for the
world to stand up and be counted. To show the peaceful, yet FIRM
way to resolving seemingly insurmountable problems and bring a
more “democratic” form of government to that beleagured country.
To at last show some effective leadership and shower the people
of that beautiful, yet blighted land under Southern skies with
humanitarian aid in the form of desperately needed food, health
supplies and education. That is the “pressure”, which will raise
the standards of what the citizens of Zimbabwe will and will not
tolerate from their brutal dictator. Pressure from within AND
without, as with Apartheid South Africa. A more educated,
well-fed and healthy population will bring about change
naturally and according to the will of the people….. so that
eventually “the people will govern”. Let’s fight the “war for
peace” with passion and with all of our energies. In the “WAR
FOR PEACE” everyone then benefits (a “win/win” situation). I
believe, that is the only true way to lasting world peace in
living with and acceptance of each other… And so helps make a
better world. Let us take courage. The years are passing. The
time for decision by all of us to shine that ray of light (and
hope) in an often dark world, President Mbeki and the world is
NOW.

Craig Lock “The greatness of a nation consists not so much in
the number of it’s people or the extent of it’s territory as in
the extent and justice of it’s compassion.”

- Inscription at the Horse Memorial in Port Elizabeth, for
horses killed in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902).

P.S: I am reminded of something Mahatma Gandhi’s said not long
before he was assassinated: “When I despair, I remember that all
through history the way of truth and love has always won. There
have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem
invincible; but in the end, they always fall. Think of it,
ALWAYS.” “Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not rejoice
in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love
never fails. And now abide faith, hope, love; but the greatest
of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13

“When the world is filled with love, people are overflowing
with hope.” - Craig Lock

Craig Lock’s second novel ‘The New Rainbow’ is a moving tale of
the diverse peoples of South Africa, which is based on fact.
Like Alan Paton, Craig Lock reaches to the heart of his troubled
“beloved country”. In his new novel, Lock, perceptively and with
an understanding of the historical elements, writes of the
situation as it was, as it is, and as perhaps one day it will
be, in the New South Africa. ‘The New Rainbow’ is available at:
http://kompuwiz.com/kompustore (click on SoulfulBooks)

“Uplifting, encouraging and empowering people through the power
of words and thought energy. Change YOUR world and you change
THE world.”

THESE WRITINGS MAY BE FREELY PUBLISHED

VIRUS OF THE MIND You’ve heard of ordinary viruses – those
microscopic entities that get inside your body and replicate
themselves. They war against your natural resistances and make
you feel rotten. And through your coughs and sneezes they jump
onto other people and make them feel rotten too. Well, did you
know that there are other kinds of tiny ‘organism’ called
viruses of the mind? What is a mind virus and are they a danger
to us? A mind virus is a tiny ‘seed’ of information that somehow
lodges itself within our minds. It is a ‘seed’, which, in given
individuals, falls on ‘fertile ground’, germinates and then
takes on a life of its own. It is as if this ‘germinated seed’
or ‘fascinating idea’ had an unconscious ‘intent’ and that blind
urge is to replicate itself. For example, you hear a joke and,
before you know it, you find yourself with an almost
irresistible urge to spread it around. You hear a catchy tune
sung by a show-off and before long you have joined the ranks of
punters who have bought the recording. In this way jokes and
tunes spread themselves around the world. Recently, in my neck
of the woods, children have been infected with the Pokemon mind
virus. In no time at all children up and down the country have
been gripped by a fanatical urge to purchase and save the
‘pocket monster’ cards. It has been a retailer’s dream. I
noticed another mind virus when it hopped over the pond from
America to England. This revealed itself when I saw large
numbers of young people wearing the same baggy ‘street cred.’
type clothes with baseball caps worn with the peak at the back.
They had all been infected with a mind virus. When you find
masses of people thinking, saying or doing some particular
thing, you can be sure that a mind virus is at work. This
happens when people fall under the spell of an ‘….ism’. I’m
thinking of socialism, conservatism, communism, monetarism,
fanaticism, fundamentalism, Christianity..ism, etc. Mind viruses
fill you with proselytizing zeal. You become possessed with a
great desire to spread them far and wide and some mistakenly
attribute this feeling to God. Some mind viruses appear fairly
benign. But what do you do when the idea becomes widely accepted
amongst ordinary people that it is quite acceptable to create,
on a weekly basis, piles of non-biodegradable waste, which has
to be tipped into a big hole in the ground? What are you to
conclude when masses of people think it perfectly reasonable
live in a world of plastic, neon, concrete, steel, brick and
asphalt. Now these are a couple of dangerous mind viruses. We
must remember that mind viruses, like our genes, do not spread
because they are any good, but rather because they are good
replicators. Now consider your treasured identity - that strange
complex of imperfect knowledge, fears, ambitions and
masquerades, your public and private ‘faces’, which you call
your ego. It could be nothing but a nest of mind viruses that
combine to cloud the mirror of your awareness, to eventually sap
your energy and to reduce your creative intent to that of folly.
If you doubt this, just try to stop thinking for a few minutes
and discover how difficult this is. You will find that you do
not have thoughts at all, but that thoughts have you – in their
grip! The inescapable conclusion is that a human being, with his
or her genes and mind viruses, is simply a host to the
successful replicators. Is this not what we are? And, in our
ignorance of this one fact, have we not just given in to the
urge to run amok on this wonderful self-organizing planet? You
see, for each of us there is no inner Self - at least not in our
everyday space ime existence. At any given moment, our sense of
identity is an illusion. We cannot know who we are for sure, so
it is pointless trying to ‘find ourselves’. This is because
beneath the mind viruses, which furnish us with an imperfect
knowledge of the world and of ourselves, there is only the
ever-changing mystery of pure awareness and intent. The latter
are magical emergent qualities that, in the course of a life,
get paralyzed or channeled into one-sidedness by mind viruses.
The great mystics think that it is not practical for us to go on
educating ourselves, adding yet more ‘bricks to the wall’ of our
ordinary knowledge, the better to solve our problems. They know
that this only fortifies the mind viruses and these in turn,
generate solutions that, in the long run, become new problems.
In his or her blindness, the average person calls the spectacle
of solutions becoming new problems ‘the march of civilization’
or simply ‘progress’. But real seers spot the joke and call it
what it truly is - an ongoing madness whereby ideal conditions
are maintained for the replication of genes and mind viruses.
Open your eyes and check these things out in your own life and
the world around. Would it not be better to adopt methods to
unlearn what we know in order to loosen the grip of our mind
viruses and to reinstate our original purified awareness and
intent? Instead of reacting to problematical circumstances and
coming up with solutions that become new problems, we might then
be better placed to create the world of our choice. We cannot do
without knowledge of some sort, but that which we need is
uncommon. It isn’t solely logical or deterministic understanding
or yet another mind virus. Rather it has to incorporate a
description of reality that engenders faith in a Strategy For
Getting Nice Surprises.

We old folks are often given impossible task. Marketers, newspapers, cable television companies, news channels, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers, etc., all absolutely hate us. They give us these impossible task. As a public service to marketers and other that deal with we old folks, here are some things that old people can’t do:

1. Old people can’t get to the telephone before you hang up unless you are a telemarketer.

2. Old people can’t read the small print on prescription drug bottles, the instructions for safe use, or the dosage for nonprescription drugs.

We can’t read the instructions for putting together that bamboo bird cage (not because it is in Chinese but because the print size is minus 6).

We can’t read any of the small print that flies down the television screen or printed in slick magazines telling us that the drug being suggested may cause diarrhea, nausea, dizziness, and sore gums.

We also can’t read the conditions for leasing or buying that new car being pitched on television or in newspaper ads.

3. We can’t hear news people when they lower their voices or decide to mumble as they do everyday on our Twin Falls station, channel news stations, and for dramatic, on regular TV programs.

4. We can’t watch bad news. (Anyway, I can’t. My wife always changes the channel.)

5. We can’t lift over 5 pounds so don’t suggest 15 pound barbells to help us get our muscles “back in trim.”

6. We can’t open packages containing things we really want to get our hands on like a new television remote, a DVD, an electric car, a CD player.

The plastic is so thick that our carpet knives don’t even cut it.

Listen to this you packaging engineers: Old folks don’t have acetylene torches.

7. We can’t follow the instructions for putting up that shed in the back yard.

We have to go back and remove Part 100653 and put in Part 100458 then put Part 100653 in again, etc.

This always takes 45 minutes.

The shed is supposed to go up in 3 hours.

It takes us 3 days if we can get our children to “take over” and finish the project.

8. We can’t see what is on television because of the brainless twits on the cable company’s television guide channel.

A field of only two channels passes by at the bottom of our screen while the twits distract us from watching the bottom of the screen.

It takes 5 seconds for the two channels to whip by and reveal two more channels.

One blink and you have to start over.

Also, you have to watch all the digital listings pass by before the analog channels appear again.

That’s why I hate my cable company even if they have very nice employees that don’t want me to switch to you-know-what. (I had one of those things on the top of my house and the cable guy took it down and through it in his truck. I never got a check for the thing.)

I want the old screen back that shows a full screen of analog channels and nothing else.

I know. If I would add the digital channels I wouldn’t have this problem. I could click around like on the you-know-what. Well, I’ll tell you a secret. That doesn’t work for me. When I’m at my grandkid’s house, they have to find the right channel for me. (They always find something they like better than what I want to watch.)

Well, if I switch to satellite I will have less of a problem.

(P.S.: My cable company doesn’t answer hate email.)

9. We don’t understand why a zillion companies are selling the MedicareRx Prescription Drug Plan.

When we get to the drug store we find that either they don’t take “your plan,” you can’t have the drugs anyway because of some medical mumbo jumbo, and that our drugs are in Tier 3 which have a higher co-pay than our old plan.

(We know that President loves the plan. That one reason why we can’t love President Bush.)

10. We can’t copy that telephone number we need to call to get Great Battles of World War II for only $9.95.

We wait for 25 minutes to get the number and it flashes by before we find our ballpoint pen won’t write (which we tested on the newspaper while waiting.)

So, let’s summarize:

Old people can’t see as well as young people.

Old people can’t hear as well as young people.

Old people can’t think as fast as young people.

Old people can’t memorize as fast as young people.

Old people can’t move as fast as young people.

Old people have aches and pains that distract them.

Are you great communicators writing all of this down?

The End

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com, a retired VP of R&D for Lenox China, is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering, humor), poetry, etc. Former editor of Ceramic Industry Magazine. He is Executive Representative of IWS sellers of Tyler Hicks wealth-success books and kits. He also sells TopFlight flagpoles. He calls himself “Taylor Jones, the hack writer.”

More info: http://www.tjbooks.com

Business web site: http://www.aaaflagpoles.com

All of humanity is completely misinformed of the meaning of Jesus Christ’s message. Only authentic inspired prophecy can cure that lack at once, while prediction can do nothing.

1 – Authentic Prophecy is based upon eternal wisdom and the complete understanding of God’s person, His principle, law and grace. Predictions are 50/50 suppositions of what could, or could not be so, a gamble with human lives in separation from God.

2 – Authentic Prophecy knows the beginning and the end simultaneously, for all is timelessly in existence now. Prediction relies on linear progression of ‘time’.

3 – While predictions reside in the earthly realm, prophecy combines heaven and earth into paradise, or God’s final intent.

4 - Predictions take what ‘is’ and shifts, shuffles and rearranges it for a different result in the future, while inspired prophecy knows the higher outcome and the ingredients for its achievement, regardless of what ‘is’ now.

5 – Predictions use current circumstances & trends that are based upon erroneous thinking, and without correcting fundamental mistakes, projects the same mistakes into the future, while prophecy focuses on the restoration of original perfection (glory), through divine shortcuts.

6 – While authentic prophecy knows of the possibility of perfection, prediction accepts its impossibility by assuming less than perfect results.

7 – No prediction is absolutely accurate, because it is not concisely based on biblical principle, while prophecy in its consistent insight into the Alpha to Omega Plot cannot fail at all.

8 – Nothing can hide from the true biblical prophet, for all is there, there are no secrets, and it just has to be laid open to him, or her, while the human making predictions deals with partial truths and obscurity leading to a misunderstanding of the whole picture..

9 – Authentic Prophecy is true at the moment it is being made, while the receiver of predictions has to wait and see ‘if’ the results turn up.

10 – Authentic Prophecy is available to all. However, in their 99.9% Apostasy, humans look exclusively at predictions.

It has been said that to a prophet everybody else seems blind.

The reason for this statement is that wisdom is 180 degrees opposite to human ‘knowledge’, and to read and listen to what some humans utter these days hurts all over to him/her who understands. I am not asking the reader to stop hurting me, but to begin helping themselves to true, timeless information that is already within, and can never be had from another human.

Understanding God’s plot and wisdom is unlike any other orgasm, merely of the body. It is wholesome and perpetually satisfying.

Humanity must stop relying on majorities, groups, parties and associations for misperceived ‘power’. Any one person with an understanding of God and congruent with His wisdom has more power than all other humans combined, which is the reason for Jesus demonstrative existence in the first place.

Drop what you’re doing and follow Jesus (understand His instructions).

How about beginning to use your ‘Wishing Well’, saying out loud your wish, and feeling the ‘coin drop’ in the great deep (God), when it hits the surface of the water (creative unison) deep, deep inside. If you feel an obstruction, just ask what is wrong and let the thought-memory and resulting feeling safely pass.

After a while, you will feel the clearance of your well and fire will fill it, instead. That is the baptism with fire only Jesus The Christ can give you. He fills your void and straightens your confusion. From that very moment on, you will begin achieving all that was pre-purposed for your unique, individual life of joy and fulfillment.

The ONLY ‘ism’ in the scriptures is Individualism. Every one on the Internet can already notice that the ‘hunt’ for the individual is on right now. Not one single company on this earth can survive without having a considerable group of individuals do business with them, because 6.6 billion people are much less than we were told…

To read more about the POWER of the individual, visit
http://www.telechurch.org/ - The End-Time Wave & Divine Shortcuts

Women are looking and acting younger these days. In fact, you hear the phrase “50 is the new 40″ meaning 50-year-old women are not the 50-year-olds you remember from your mother’s day. 50-year-olds are looking younger, are healthier, and are more active than ever before. They may be enthralled in starting a new career or they may have toddlers at home, having just started their family in their 40s. So here’s something to consider: “Why does the AARP start hounding you to join as soon as you turn 50?” Especially since most of their benefits seem to apply to people who really are retired and living on Medicare? I’m thinking this is giving 50 a bad name—at least, an unrealistic and negative image of the age.

In my observance about this age phenomenon, I’ve noticed another one: 30-year-old women are not what they used to be. Women? Come on. This age group calls themselves “girls.” And they wear pink. And they seem to want nothing more out of life than to Mrs. Right. They seem more like what 20-year-olds used to be. Don’t believe me? Have you caught any of the episodes of “The Bachelor”? The women are something out of a Doris Day movie of the late 50s/early60s, which I am also a fan of. And their genre of choice is chick lit or romantic comedy for those who are unaware of the genre started by “Bridget Jones’ Diary.” You know the ones with the pink covers. I also happen to enjoy chick lit—in fact, I write it. But my writing is geared more for the “oh no, I’m going to be turning 40 in a couple of years” or “I just turned 40—now where is my second chance?” set.

But this whole 60s, Doris Day retro movement—I still haven’t figured out it if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. What I am concerned most about is women losing their self-esteem in search of their identity through a man—like a retro Barbie doll. Whatever happened to the ideals of their mothers, the women’s movement of the late 60s? Have they totally thrown these hard fought for ideals away? Or have they just extracted the part they like best—like being open about having sex?

I’m also concerned about the younger girls, the real girls—the preschoolers who insist on dressing up like a Princess when they go to Disneyland or Disney World. I love Disney and these little girls are adorable dressed up in their Princess costumes, but I wonder what lessons the little girls are internalizing? Didn’t we learn that we shouldn’t emulate Cinderella and pin all of our hopes on Prince Charming?

Except for an occasional bout of nostalgia, like popularizing the 50s in the 70s, the 40s in the 80s, and the 60s today, our culture likes to turn a blind eye to the past. You know the famous aphorism, “Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it.”

Since history does repeat itself, I suspect it’ll all change again in the next generation. They’ll all be rebels standing up for women’s rights, dignity, and self-respect. I can only hope. And I can also hope they’ll be more effective than the boomers were at making the effects longer-lasting.

Kathy Holmes writes women’s fiction with romantic comedy elements while raising an awareness for women’s issues for women over 40
http://www.kathyholmes.net, http://chicksover40.blogspot.com

I arose to a windy, brisk November day and am rushing to make the 33-mile drive to work. A quick check of the watch tells me I have time to stop at the post office, in a village along the way, to mail a letter to my publisher. Dashing into the post office, I pass a lone, old woman, shrunken from age, cane in hand, leaning against the signpost. She is dressed far too lightly for this near winter weather.

I think, “Is she OK? Does she need help?” as I hurry through the door, secretly hoping that she is not there upon my exit.

The wait at the window was longer than anticipated. With mission accomplished, I head out. The woman still stands in the same place as before. Compassion flows within, but I have other tasks to do.

Then, I stop and turn, “Are you OK? Can I help?”

A feeble voice speaks of Cornerstone, a place unfamiliar to me in an unfamiliar town. She motions, taking my arm, as we cross the street. Oh, so slowly, we walk much farther than I anticipated. We don’t say much as I help her, she mainly motioning where we are headed. Along the way, people speak to us, I, in my business attire, and she, in her ragged clothes. About 15 minutes later I lead her to Cornerstone, a local restaurant on the downtown corner. As we approach the entrance, a man, perhaps the owner, opens the door, as if expecting her, and leads her in as I bid farewell.

The meeting I was rushing to started late anyway. However, it didn’t seem quite as important as before. Somehow, helping that elderly woman touched deep within me and put some perspective on priorities. I smiled much more that day!

Bob Casey is a poet, writer, educator, speaker, and presenter. He has cycled, hiked, sailed, and traveled to many far off destinations. He also spent a year on a teaching Fulbright in New Zealand. His many interests, include yoga, Tai Chi, skiing, cycling, photography, and wine collecting. “Poet Bob,” as his car license plate declares, is currently president of the Ohio Poetry Association. This position allows him to interact with some of America’s best poets. His first book, The Wanderer: A Poetical Journey published in 2002, focused on his around the world trip and the insights gained. His most recent book, Wisdom from the Journey, offers a diverse selection of poems, comments, vignettes, and recommendations complied from the “best” of his monthly e-zine, the Poetical Journal, which reaches over 13,000 subscribers worldwide. As one reader states, “…In a world of discontent, malice, greed and wars, the Poetical Journal is an oasis to nourish the soul.” His next book will be out late in 2006. To read more of his work, go to http://www.poeticaljourneys.com

With the unstoppable globalization of economy, careers and
culture are breaking barriers and making a borderless world.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in careers. Internet has
literally become the window to the world. As information and
opportunities abound, the choice in careers is no longer limited
to a region, but spread wide across the world. This has opened
the field for newer pastures and wide range of job
opportunities. Consequently, the need for learning foreign
languages has become necessary. Besides, in the highly
competitive business world that we are in, knowing additional
languages invariably gives you the added edge.

But learning a foreign language has its own subtle intricacies.
The pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and the use of proper
syntax are just some of the major problems confronting any
learner. However, there are some sound techniques for mastering
a language. Ideally they are best done using memory techniques.

One of the basic methods is to associate the foreign word with a
similar sounding word in the language you are very fluent in.
For e,g., the French word for rug/carpet is ‘tapis’. You can
associate the word with tap in English. Similarly, the
equivalent of grump in French is ‘grogon’. By associating
‘grogon’ with the word groggy in English, which means sleepy and
tired, you will be able to remember the French word.

Another memory technique is to use images for improving your
foreign vocabulary. So for the above two words in French -
‘tapis’ and ‘grogon’, you can imagine taps being open and water
running on a rug or carpet, and use the image to reinforce the
meaning of the word ‘tapis’. In the same way, you can use a
grumpy looking sleepy face to remember ‘grogon’ to convey the
meaning grumpy. The image of drooping eyelids and mouth can be
visualized to remember ‘grogon’ as grumpy.

Yet another well-known technique is using town language
mnemonics. Since the basic vocabulary of a language pertains to
everyday things - things that you will find in a town, village
or city - you can use the different areas and objects to link
the images and the corresponding foreign words. You can
associate all the food-related words by visualizing a familiar
supermarket and substituting the images and the words of food
items sold there with the corresponding foreign language words.

Likewise, all foreign words concerning animals and birds can be
remembered by imagining a zoo, and linking the images of
different animals and birds in the zoo to the corresponding
foreign words. In this way, you can cover different working
zones of a town, village or city such as library, park, shopping
mall, etc., and master the related foreign words associated with
each sphere of activities. This way you will reinforce your
foreign language vocabulary thoroughly.

Incidentally, Tony Buzan in his book ‘Using your Memory’ lists
100 basic words that are elementary to any language learning.
This could be used to learn the primary words of the foreign
language.

In all these methods, it would be obvious that memory has a
chief role to play in learning a language, more so for
increasing your vocabulary. You need to be familiar with the
words in order to use them effectively. Since Mind Mapping
technique was born out of the need for enhancing memory, Mind
Maps serve as an indispensable memory tool. Indeed Mind Mapping
is the most ideal method for improving your memory. Using Mind
Maps to learn foreign language is a highly useful and proven
technique for mastering a foreign language. Many people are
using Mind Maps as a vital tool for learning languages.

As the Mind Map technique is based on information processing
abilities of the brain, Mind Maps have a crucial role as a
memory-enhancing process. And deploying this technique for
mastering foreign language can only speed up the process of
learning. The simplicity of the technique and the efficacy of
its process, gives Mind Maps not just a clear edge but in
elevating it as a time-tested method for mastering any language.

In 1991, the Hot Springs Swimming Pool and Lodge Resort installed a DIN-Standard ozonation system for treating the world’s largest hot springs-fed swimming pool. Their were many reasons for this decision:

1. There was only one remaining supplier of gaseous chlorine available to the pool’s management, as it had become increasingly difficult to find a supplier willing to transport gaseous chlorine through the dangerous passes of the Rocky Mountains to reach the mountain-town of Glenwood Springs.

2. There was uncertainty whether or not the license for chlorine usage would be renewed.

3. There was concern with the storage of chlorine gas in close proximity to the swimming pools. On any given day, there could be as many as four one-ton chlorine gas cylinders near the pool.

4. There was uncertainty about the price of future chlorine supplies.

5. Despite meeting Colorado Health Department regulations of maintaining a 0.4 mg/l chlorine residual in the water, water quality parameters of turbidity, color (green), and overall water quality at times left much to be desired. There were frequent reports of eye and skin irritations, and isolated reports of infections.

6. There were also reports of significant algae growths which forced unscheduled pool closings, and added additional operating expenses.

7. There was incentive to abandon chlorine treatment because of reduced insurance rates associated with ozone treatment. The Lodge’s liability insurance costs have decreased dramatically since the ozonation process was installed.

Water Quality Parameters

The mountain resort is unique in that the water fed to the two open-air pools is from a fresh, natural mountain hot spring. These are outdoor pools, open the year round. Because the water source is from underground hot springs, considerable iron, manganese, algae spores, dissolved organics, and hydrogen sulfide contaminate the raw waters. All of these contaminants are oxidized by ozone treatment installed only in the larger of the two pools. The smaller (therapy) pool employs untreated spring water.

From a hygienic standpoint, the ozone treatment system on the large pool is designed to meet the following criteria:

• Bacterial disinfection
• Algae control
• Viral inactivation
• Compliance with Colorado State health codes

The ozonation system is designed to meet a minimum CT value of 1.6 mg/l-min to guarantee bacterial disinfection and viral inactivation. This will guarantee inactivation many more than 3-logs of Giardia cyst inactivation (if any are present) and many more than 4-logs inactivation of enteric viruses, according to the U.S. EPA requirements for ozone primary disinfection of drinking waters at 25oC.

Pool Dimensions and Hydraulics

The total volume of the swimming pool is 1,072,300 gallons, occupying a total area of 30,195 ft2. This outdoor pool is 405 ft in length and 100 ft at its widest point. The hot springs water flows naturally at the rate of 3.5 mgd. The average pool water temperature is regulated (by dilution with City tap water) at 90oF (32oC) in winter and 86-89oF in summer. Temperature of the springs water is 124-130oF. The Hot Springs Lodge & Pool at Glenwood Springs is situated at 6,000 ft above sea level. The average number of people visiting the pool throughout the year is between 1,000 and 1,300 per day, which sometimes rises as high as 3,000 people each day during the holiday seasons.

Pool turnover is designed for four hours with a flow rate of 4,500 gal/min. Makeup water per day is ca 500,000 gal, supplied by the natural hot spring. Most of this water is not consumed or discharge to waste, however, but is believed to drain through cracks in the piping system beneath the pool (the ozonation system was retrofit and was not part of a new pool design).

Water Treatment Process

This is shown schematically in Figure 1. From the balance tank, water is treated with ca 1 mg/l of polyaluminum chloride (PACl) flocculant just prior to ozonation. Ozone dosage at maximum loading is 1,200 g/h, reacted over a minimum two minutes retention time in a 9,000-gallon reactor. Ozone is injected under vacuum using a bypass turbine pump, a venturi injector, and a static mixer contacting device.

Application of ozone is monitored and controlled by ORP readings taken at the reactor effluent. ORP also controls the pH (adjusted by manual addition of HCl). Output of the ozone generator can be adjusted between 10 and 100 percent capacity. The majority of the time, the reactor tank outlet has an ORP level of ca 850 mV, with ORP levels in the pool waters proper of ca 750 mV. The pH varies between 6.9 and 7.5.

After ozonation, the water is passed through a gravity filter having a total surface area of 864 ft2. The bottom part of the filter consists of sand and gravel; the upper part of granular activated carbon. The filter has four cells, one cell of which is backwashed manually each day.

Sodium hypochlorite solution is added to adjust the residual chlorine level to 0.4 mg/l.

System Performance

This system has now been in operation for 15 years. The quality of water produced has shown a striking change in color from green to dark blue; and even though the pool is situated outdoors, algae control has been excellent. This is attributed to the combination of ozone destruction of algae spores followed by maintenance of 0.4 mg/l of chlorine residual (ORP levels between 850 and 750 mV).

Biozone Corp. provides innovative engineering solutions for medical, industrial, and municipal drinking water purification and waste water treatment needs.

Online learning is still a relatively new format for the delivery of classroom instruction. And while the benefits of attending a virtual classroom instead of a physical classroom are many — ranging from convenience and affordability to better collaboration and accessibility — there are still a number of potential students out there who are reluctant to give it a try.

Yet, there is a way to test the waters of online learning to figure out if online study is right for you. Unlike, say, parachute jumping or becoming a heart surgeon, you can find out without taking a big scary plunge.

While traditional colleges and universities normally require you commit to a full semester or even year of courses, that is anything but the case with most online schools. Without any commitment, and very little (if any) expense, you can decide firsthand whether or not online education is a good fit for your unique learning style. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

That being said, online learning isn’t just about earning a degree any longer — far from it in fact. There are countless certification courses out there — offered by top-tier and accredited universities — that can be taken to learn a new skill or brush up on an old one. From graphic design to massage therapy, certification courses can lead to a new hobby and even a new career.

‘Personal growth’ courses also abound, and range from discovering your inner peace and improving your positive thinking to photography and screenwriting. While these kinds of online courses might not enhance your resume, necessarily, the impact they have on one’s life can be profound. You won’t find a more convenient or affordable way to pursue some serious — and seriously fulfilling — self-improvement.

So why not give online learning a try — or try online learning to test that career path you’ve always dreamed of?

Here are some reasons to give online learning a try.

Dream Big

You only live once, so why not look into the true dream job or career you would want most out of life? With today’s countless options online, anything is within your grasp – whether you’ve considered becoming a private eye, trial lawyer, or heart surgeon.

No one wants to be wondering years down the road whether they should have taken the chance on a career that they really would have loved. You never know what’s possible until you try!

Get Creative

Online learning isn’t just about getting a degree or improving your technical skills. It’s now an educational arena more and more people are turning to for art, music, photography, and other creative endeavors.

At the very least, you’ll liven up your current life with a fulfilling creative release. And who knows, your creative passion might even lead to a whole new career!

Try Something New

As we mentioned, distance learning can be a convenient and affordable way to investigate a new passion, learn a new skill, or sample a new career direction — with no risk and little expense.

Maybe you’re a receptionist that’s always wanted to try graphic design? Or a paralegal itching to get into IT? Statistics show that most people change careers at least once in their lives, and gaining expertise in a new field is a great way to test-drive a new career. Online courses let you sample a new field without leaving your current one, and can generally be worked into your busy schedule with ease.

Take a Step Up

On the other hand, maybe you’re already happy with your job and chosen field, but would like a quick career boost. You’d likely be surprised at how much learning one new skill can impact your job standing. An accountant learning a new bookkeeping program, for instance, or a graphic designer getting a grasp of the newest cutting-edge software, can make all the difference in the world when a promotion is at stake.

Additionally, your employers will almost certainly be impressed with your drive and initiative — not to mention your tangible new skill. Some businesses will even cover the cost of your tuition if the course directly applies to your work with them.

Help Yourself

If you’re a small-business owner, or just aspire to be, there’s a perfect online course just waiting out there for you. What shopkeep, e-commerce seller, or innkeeper couldn’t stand to improve their bookkeeping skills, know more about saving on their taxes, or gain crucial knowledge on business management?

Imagine the money you could save by handling your own financial ledgers, or dealing with your own tax filing at the end of the year!

And for the aspiring entrepreneur, your only challenge will be choosing the right business to explore. Whether you’re considering opening a B& B, restaurant, import-export service, or other small business, there’s likely an online course available to show you the ropes.

Strengthen a Weakness

It’s safe to say that everyone has at least one weakness — from the technically handicapped, to the financially clueless, to those who struggle to communicate better or run their office in a more organized manner.

That monkey on your back has been there too long, but you can give him the boot with one thorough online course. You’ll feel a weight off your shoulders and won’t feel so much at the mercy of your bookkeeper or office IT staff.

Satisfy Your Curiosity

Maybe you’ve always wondered what it was like in the world of graphic design, or how those computer gamers come up with such amazing results. Everyone has something they’re curious about but never looked into. Our pragmatic side, or fear of failure, tells us “that’s not for you,” or “you’re an accountant, not an interior designer, darn it!”

With the accessibility and affordability of distance courses, you can now satisfy your curiosity without breaking the bank, or even a sweat. Even if you don’t end up making a career change, you’ll get to see how the other half lives – and gain expertise in a brand-new area.

Stop Waiting!

Regardless of your choice with distance learning, there’s no time like the present to give it a try. The field as a whole has grown to be so extensive there is literally no end to your online options.

For someone who’s unsure whether or not they want to start pursuing a full degree online, a certification or personal development course can be ideal for getting a true feel for what online learning is all about. If you like it and feel you can succeed at it, then you can take the plunge and move on to a legitimate degree program. If it’s not your cup of tea, no big deal, since the monetary and time commitments are fairly nominal.

But the fact is, you won’t know how you feel about online learning, or that dream career you’ve always thought about, or learning a new skill, until you give distance education a test-run.

You have little to lose and a world of possibilities to gain.

Zachary Chouteau is a freelance writer for SearchForClasses.com. To learn more about online education visit http://www.searchforclasses.com or join our newsletter at http://www.searchforclasses.com/newsletter/