Plot to blow up
Al-Aksa?
If the Israeli authorities truly suspected me of being involved
in such a dangerous activity to blow up Al-Aksa, they would have
NEVER RELEASED ME with only my passport in their hands. As for
the others allegedly involved in some plot, that were
“still at large” - THEY’RE STILL AT LARGE to this day,
nine years later, because they don’t exist! And, just like nine
years ago I protested my innocence, I continue to this day doing
the same, consistent, honest and true, as God knows, and as they
very well know and our former Consul General Edward
Abington Jr. knew and ignored to his shame.
The Israeli Secret Police had a computer disk with Beyond Babylon on it back then, and now Beyond Babylon is professionally
published, and it says now, as then, that it is the GOVERNMENT
of Israel’s responsibility to remove the mosques and prepare for
the Third Temple.
Gershon Salomon, chairman of the Temple Mount
Faithful, has been stating that fact publicly since he
helped to liberate the Temple Mount in 1967 during the Six Day
War. What we say is LEGAL and BIBLICAL, although some would
trample our rights to express ourselves and practice our
religion, in a vain attempt to appease the Nazi-Muslim beasts.
It’s past time Israel lift the entry ban against me, and right
the wrong that resulted in my unjust
deportation.
David
Ben-Ariel
Choosing electric guitar pickup replacements is a common decision made by guitar players. Even the beginning player knows that having sub-par pickups is going to affect the sound that your new or old guitar produces. When someone purchases a guitar that isn’t very expensive, it usually comes equipped with pickups that are either poor quality, or not to the taste of the consumer. For this reason, you can order or purchase many different pickups from many different companies to best suit the sound you desire.
Many vendors offer a wide variety of pickups for all types of guitars. Some of the main types of pickups are single-coil, humbuckers and acoustic. The single-coil picks are usually seen on the popular Fender Stratocaster. The Stratocaster is not the only guitar that carries this style of pickup. Thousands of other guitars use these as well. The one main difference between a Stratocaster and another guitar using single-coil pickups is the company that manufactures them. Fender offers top quality single-coil pickups to purchase even if your “Strat” did not come equipped with the ones you were wishing for. It is probably best to try out different guitars on the same amp to see what the best sound is for you. The single-coil pickups usually have a vintage tone, with more noticeable feedback. Fender does offer pickups that have less feedback though. Some guitars use up to three different pickups at once.
If you are searching for a more powerful tone, grabbing some humbucking pickups is the best choice. Such companies as “Seymour Duncan” and “Dimarzio” offer pickups for a wide range of guitarists. There are humbuckers for anything from a blues sound to a heavy crunch sound. These manufacturers have descriptions on whether the pickups produce a high pitch tone, or a warm, bass sound. To obtain these sounds, the pickups are loaded with different magnets, screws and wires. There are vintage sounding humbuckers as well, usually seen on the “Les Paul” style guitars by Gibson.
Acoustic guitars only require one small pickup and the variety is not as wide. Acoustic guitars don’t have nearly as many pickup choices due to the fact you are just trying to amplify the sound of the acoustic guitar and not change the acoustic tone. The three major types of acoustic pickups are soundhole pickups, soundboard transducers and undersaddle transducers. The soundhole pickups generally make your acoustic guitar sound and look more like an electric guitar. These soundhole style pickups normally sound less like the unplugged acoustic. Soundboard transducers are the most natural sounding of the three. Although they are more prone to feedback problems, they give you the more authentic sound. That just leaves the undersaddle transducers, which are less visible than the other types. The undersaddle style has a more natural sound than the soundhole pickup but is used for finger picking and light to moderate strumming. Strumming too hard, or using a heavy pick can cause the undersaddle transducer to produce an awkward sound.
After brief introductions to all the different types of pickups available today, you should have an easier time choosing which pickup or pickups suit you best. Just remember to do at least a little research before spending your hard earned money and experiment until you make a decision you will never regret.
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Guitars
There are many ways that God enters into judgment with both
individuals and entire nations. There is only one reason why he
enters into judgment and that is rampant immorality and sin. The
nations have followed the same path as ancient Israel. Like
Israel they sought God for a time, but when they were secure and
full they started backsliding into every imaginable sin. God
then sent prophets, preachers and messengers of every kind and
description. If their warnings went unheeded, which they did in
most cases the judgments given by the messengers came against
them.
When the people were tired of the lack of goods or the captivity
or the warfare they began to seek the prophets and messengers
again, but this time for the means to get right with God again.
A microcosmic example of this in our recent past would be what
happened right after the destruction of the Twin Towers in New
York on nine eleven. People started going back to church in
droves and church attendance reached record levels. But already
we are showing signs of slipping again. The call to defeat
terrorism by just returning to what we were doing before was
taken more seriously than the call to return to God.
When a people, Jew or Gentile begin seeking God again their lot
usually improves depending on how serious they are. This same
vicious cycle is repeated over and over throughout history by
almost every nation or people on the earth. Judgments come when
people pass over the mark God has set for them. God is patient
and slow to anger and it is amazing that he lets them go as far
as he does in some cases. The longer a nation or people persist
in their collective backsliding the more it strengthens them to
continue in that pathway. Because sentence against an evil work
is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men
is firmly set in them to do evil. Ecclesiastes 8: 11
The second coming will surprise more people than it will please.
The promise of his second coming seems a long way behind us, and
some would like to believe that it will not take place for
several more millennia. What seems like a very long delay is one
of the chief reasons they will he caught off guard and it is one
of the world’s major excuses for unbelief. The apostle Peter
covers this in 2Peter 3:3-4… Knowing this first, that there
shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own
lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming! For since
the fathers fallen asleep, all things continue as they were from
the beginning of the creation.
How God judges sinful nations is the greater variable than why.
He will use anything at his disposal in nature such as floods,
drought, wild animals, plagues and general pestilence. He also
uses internal collapses in the infrastructure and the financial
well being of a nation. One of the more common ways he enters
into judgment, is to bring another nation against the violators
in all out warfare. He uses one nation’s fury in all out war or
surprise attack to chasten the offender or to send a wake up
call. What is most amazing of all is that the nation that is
doing the judging may not even be as righteous or Godly as the
nation being judged. The ancient Babylonians were not lovers of
the God of Israel at all, but God used them to judge Israel. Not
only did they come under chastisement from this pagan nation but
the fact that they were so idolatrous was particularly offensive
to the self righteous Jews of that time. Babylon’s godlessness
was part of the humiliation attached to the judgment and they
knew it.
A major difference at the end times is that no nation is in a
position to judge any other nation. They have all gone into
perdition. They all have decided to become part of the new world
order and follow the antichrist. Since there are no nations able
to enter into judgment for God, He has to do it himself. In
other words at that time the whole world has passed the mark God
has set, and only God can enter the judgment. It is the
worldwide fall of nations that is the primary factor or what
actually precipitates the second coming of Christ.
When you have the right item - something that has wide appeal
and is in high demand - you can usually safely save on your eBay
listing fees by simply using a low starting bid and letting
multiple bidders run the price up. As long as there are five or
six bidders, or more, you will more than likely get a final
price that you are happy with.
Unfortunately, while this is the ideal scenario, for a large
number of items in many categories, this just isn’t always the
case. Many items on eBay have less than intense demand or they
appeal to a very narrow niche. When this is the case, different
listing techniques are needed.
In the past, many sellers used a reserve to protect items. But,
over the years reserve fees have significantly increased and
using a reserve has lost it’s appeal to many sellers. This means
you must find different techniques to get the same results
without paying exorbitant fees. Here are three different
approaches you can take to accomplish this.
Use a high opening bid
This may seem like an obvious technique to replace a reserve
bid, but actually it’s not that appealing. If you have an item
you feel you need to get $50 for, you can protect it with a
$49.99 opening bid, but eBay is still going to charge you $1.20
for that protection.
High opening bids also have a way of discouraging bidding. The
result will often be either the auction ends without any bids,
or a bidder will snipe the auction in the last seconds and buy
your item for it’s starting bid. Neither of these is a desirable
outcome.
Listing in two categories with a low opening bid
True, listing in two categories will double your listing fees.
But, if you keep your opening bid at $9.99 or lower your listing
fees will still be only $.70.
This technique can be especially successful when you have an
item that a buyer isn’t consciously looking for, but would be
interested in buying. Let’s say you’ve acquired a nice
illustrated catalog of William Hoosier kitchen cabinets form
1917. The obvious place to list it is in Books>Catalogs where it
will attract quite a bit of attention. But, by also listing it
in Antiques>Furniture>Cabinets>Armoires, Cupboards>Post 1900 you
are able to put it in front of many bidders who would have an
interest in it, but wouldn’t be actively looking for it.
This can be a very effective technique because it greatly
increases the chances that your catalog will be found by more
potential buyers. However, your catalog still won’t be
protected, and there are some items that don’t have
cross-category appeal.
Using a low opening bid with the option of a price revision
This technique keeps your listing fees low and also offers some
price protection for your item. Here’s how it works.
Start your auction at a low opening bid and be sure to monitor
it daily. If it starts getting bids from several buyers you
don’t need to do anything. However, if several days go by and it
just sits there without a bid, you simply revise the opening bid
to an amount more in line with what you need for the item.
This effectively returns you to the first tactic we discussed,
but you will have avoided giving the item away; while at the
same time given it a chance to attract attention.
Just happens to be public relations activity that alters individual perceptions leading directly to changed behaviors. PR pulls that off by persuading a manager’s key outside audiences with the greatest behavior impacts on the organization, to its way of thinking. Then it moves those external stakeholders to take actions that help the organization succeed.
I don’t believe public relations can deliver much more than that.
Not surprisingly, PR runs best on its own fundamental premise that gets everyone working towards the same external audience behaviors. Insuring that your PR effort stays focused, the blueprint goes like this: People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.
Results can range from community leaders beginning to seek you out, welcome bounces in show room visits and specifying sources looking your way to prospects starting to do business with you, customers making repeat purchases, and even fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures.
If, as a manager, that scenario appeals to you, try this path.
First, who handles the work required to produce such results? Your own full-time public relations staff? Some people assigned by the corporate office to your unit? An outside PR agency team? No matter where they come from, they need to be committed to you, to the PR blueprint and to its implementation, starting with key audience perception monitoring.
It’s useful to make certain the public relations people assigned to your unit really believe - deep down - why it’s SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Make sure they accept the reality that perceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can help or hurt your unit.
Working closely with the PR folks, start by nailing down who among your important outside audiences is behaving in ways that help or hinder the achievement of your objectives. Then, list them according to how severely their behaviors affect your organization.
Now, take steps to find out precisely HOW most members of that key outside audience perceive your organization. If you don’t have the budget to pay for what could be costly professional survey counsel, you and your PR colleagues will have to monitor those perceptions yourself. Actually, they should be quite familiar with perception and behavior matters.
Best way to get that activity under way is to meet with members of that outside audience and ask questions like “Are you familiar with our services or products?” “Have you ever had contact with anyone from our organization? Was it a satisfactory experience?” Be sensitive to negative statements, especially evasive or hesitant replies. And watch carefully for false assumptions, untruths, misconceptions, inaccuracies and potentially damaging rumors. When you find such, they will need to be corrected, as they usually lead to negative behaviors.
Now, it’s time to select the actual perception to be altered, which then becomes your public relations goal. Naturally, you want to correct any untruths, inaccuracies, misconceptions or false assumptions.
Kind of goes without saying that a PR goal without a strategy to show you how to get there, is like a sailor’s sandwich without the knockwurst. As you select one of three strategies especially constructed to create perception or opinion where there may be none, or change existing perception, or reinforce it, what you want to do is insure that the goal and your new strategy dovetail. You don’t want to pick “change existing perception” when current perception is just right suggesting a “reinforce” strategy.
At this juncture, you create a compelling message carefully structured to alter your key target audience’s perception, as directed by your public relations goal.
Your message must be a grabber and crystal-clear about what perception needs clarification or correction, and why. Of course you must be truthful and your position logically explained and believable if it is to hold the attention of members of that target audience, and actually move perception in your direction.
Then try this. Combine your corrective message with another news announcement or presentation which may provide more credibility by downplaying the need for such a correction.
Believe it or not, I call the communications tactics you will use to move your message to the attention of that key external audience, “beasts of burden” because they must carry your persuasive new thoughts to the eyes and ears of those important outside people.
You will be glad to know that a long list of such tactics awaits your pleasure. It includes letters-to-the-editor, brochures, press releases and speeches. Or, you might choose radio and newspaper interviews, personal contacts, facility tours or customer briefings. The only selection requirement is that the communications tactics you choose have a record of reaching people just like the members of your key target audience.
A fortunate factor is, things can always be accelerated by adding more communications tactics, AND by increasing their frequencies.
Questions will soon arise with regard to progress. Of course, you will already be hard at work remonitoring perceptions among your target audience members to test just how good your PR program really is. Using questions similar to those used during your earlier monitoring session, you’ll now be alert for signs that audience perceptions are beginning to move in your general direction.
We are fortunate indeed that our key stakeholder audiences behave like everyone else - they act upon their perceptions of the facts they hear about you and your operation. Leaving you little choice but to deal promptly and effectively with those perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach and move your key external audiences to actions you desire.
There’s never a happier moment in the practice of public relations than when the data shows that you have achieved the kind of key stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving your department, division or subsidiary objectives.
Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net. Word count is 1125 including guidelines and resource box.
Robert A. Kelly © 2004.
About The Author
Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communi- cations, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net
Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com
Have you got a few pounds to lose? Or maybe you have more than a few pounds to lose. When people think about dieting, they usually think about what they’re eating. In other words, how much of your diet consists of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. That’s a good place to start, but it isn’t the only thing we should be looking at.
Just as important as what we eat, is how we eat. Do you eat just because it’s that time of day? Or maybe you eat when you’re bored. Do you ever have an extra helping just because it tastes really good? How often do you keep eating, even after you’re full, just because the food is there? These, and other behavioral issues, can cause as much of a problem for us in our quest to lose those pounds as anything else. So, let’s look the challenge a little more closely, and from more angles.
There are all kinds of sensible diets that give us good guidelines regarding proper proportions of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Once we find a sensible diet that seems right for us, what are some of the other things we can do to help us succeed?
Look closely at the kinds of calories that you are ingesting. Did you know that by having a lite yogurt instead of a low fat yogurt, you can save up to 110 calories? Drinking a can of diet cola instead of a regular cola saves about 150 calories (and most cola drinkers have at least 2 cans a day, equaling 300 calories). Eating a hard boiled egg in place of a Power bar reduces your calories by 173.
If you replaced each one of those items in your diet for a week, you would save 4081 calories. That translates to the loss of over one pound per week just with those small changes. That translates to more than 50 pounds in a year. So, look for ways to make lower calorie substitutions for things that you like to eat. But, be careful with those choices, because things like “low fat” items are not necessarily lower in calories.
Most diets strongly suggest that we drink at least 64 ounces of water each day. If you drink a large glass of water about 10 minutes before each meal, it will help to make you feel full sooner. And, if you mix a fiber substitute into the water, it will not only make you feel fuller, it will help your body eliminate excess materials more quickly.
Another thing that many of us do that gets us in trouble with our dieting is how often we eat. Dieters often think that if they eat less frequently, it will help them shed the pounds quicker. Guess what? Almost the opposite is true. By eating less frequently, we are teaching our body that it needs to conserve energy by saving the calories we ingest for those times when nothing is being eaten. What will work better is to eat 5 or 6 smaller meals throughout the day so our body doesn’t feel the need to conserve extra calories.
In summary: analyze why you’re eating; look for healthy, low calorie substitutes; drink water before every meal; and eat more, small meals each day. These suggestions are not the only things you can do to help yourself lose weight. But, they will go a long way to making your weight loss goal more attainable.
©2005 Thomas D. Manfredi, MS
*******************
Online fitness coach Tom Manfredi is the creator of the site fitness-after-50.com. He has a master’s degree in exercise physiology and over 20 years of practical exercise experience.
This site is designed with the mature adult in mind. Learn more by going to
fitness-after-50.com.
The determination of pricing as described above works in most
cases but please be aware that this assumes that the implied
volatility in both the 35 and 40 calls is the same. Most of the
time, these two options will have a slightly different implied
volatility.
This intra-month difference in implied volatility values through
different strikes is known as a vertical volatility skew. The
reason the markets run volatility skews is to make sure that
out-of-the-money options have enough premium in them to justify
the individual option’s risk/reward scenario. Volatility
skewness will be covered in more depth in the future releases
where we will cover the Option Pricing Model and the Greeks.
For now, it is enough to know that there is a volatility skew,
but as long as it is a tight skew (little deviation of implied
volatility from strike to strike) the values should hold pretty
consistent in our previous examples.
Whatever factors effect the vertical spread, they are contingent
on where the stock is in relation to the spread. Changes in
implied volatility affect the price of a spread as stated above
but the position of the stock in relation to the strikes of the
spread are a key determinate of price.
Volatility
To get a good feel for volatility’s effect on vertical spreads,
we will look at three different spreads, against three different
implied volatilities while keeping the stock price constant at
67 . The three spreads we will be looking at will be the 60 -
65 call spread, the 65- 70 call spread and the 70 - 75 call
spread.
Looking at the chart we observe how volatility movements affect
in-the-money, at-the-money and out-of-the-money vertical
spreads.
Looking at the in-the-money spread (June 60 - 65) we see that as
volatility increases, the value of the spread decreases. This is
because with the increased volatility, the stock will have a
greater tendency to move around and that will bring a higher
likelihood of the stock moving to a price where the June 60 - 65
call spread will no longer be in-the-money.
To adjust for higher volatility risk, the spread will have less
value. The rule of thumb is that as volatility increases, the
value of in-the-money vertical spreads decrease. Vice-versa, as
volatility decreases, an in-the-money vertical spread’s value
increases.
The at-the-money vertical spread (June 65 - 70) will see very
little effect with the change in volatility. With the stock
price located equidistant from the two strikes, each strike’s
volatility component will be very similar. Thus, when volatility
increases both options will increase equally. Being long one and
short the other, the increase in values will offset each other
so the spreads value will hold pretty constant. The rule of
thumb is that when volatility increases or decreases, the value
of an at-the-money vertical spread will stay reasonably
constant.
The out-of-the-money vertical spread (June 70 - 75) has the
opposite effect of the in-the-money vertical spread (June 60 -
65). As volatility increases, the value of the out-of-the-money
vertical spread will increase. This is because the increase in
volatility assumes that the stock price will be more likely to
move and thus the out-of-the-money vertical call spread will be
more likely to finish in-the-money.
Because of the increased potential of this spread’s ability to
finish in-the-money, the value of the spread will increase.
However, if volatility decreases, the value of the spread will
decrease. The rule of thumb is that when volatility increases,
an out-of-the-money vertical spread’s value increases. When
volatility decreases, the spread’s value decreases.
Below, find a chart showing what happens to option deltas when
volatility increases or decreases.
When trying to estimate how your spread will change in price
with volatility movement, you must understand how the price and
delta of both of your options, (the long option and the short
option) will act.
It bears repeating again that each spread is different and will
act differently depending on where the stock is in relation to
the spread and what implied volatility does.
A good rule of thumb is that when volatility increases, spreads
crunch to their median value. For example, the median value of a
five dollar spread will be $2.50 while a $10.00 spread will have
a $5.00 median value. Crunching to the median value means that a
$5.00 spread that has a medium value over $2.50 will lose value
and head toward the median price. That happens with an increase
in volatility. Meanwhile, that increased implied volatility will
make a spread with a value less than $2.50 increase in value,
heading up toward median value. When implied volatility
decreases, the value of a $5.00 spread will move away from the
median price of $2.50. So, when implied volatility decreases,
all the spreads valued above $2.50 will increase in value toward
maximum value, while spreads valued below $2.50 will lose value
and head toward $0.
Time effects the spread differently depending on where the stock
is. As an example, we will look at the QCOM 65 - 70 call spread.
We view the spread over time and across three different stock
prices. First, let’s look at the spread’s reaction to the
passing of time with the stock price of $65.50. Below, find a
chart showing what the spreads value does as expiration
approaches.
With the stock at $65.50, the spread has $.50 of intrinsic
value. Holding the stock price frozen at $65.50 until expiration
the spread would be worth $.50. As seen by the table above, the
spread loses value as time passes and decreases in value toward
it’s $.50 intrinsic value.
Next, we will look at the 65 - 70 spread’s reaction to the
passage of time with the stock priced at $67.50.
As you can see, with the stock price located directly in between
the two strikes, the price of the spread holds at approximately
$2.50 throughout the passing of time. As a rule of thumb, time
has very little effect on a vertical spread when the stock price
lies half-way (equidistant) between the two strikes of the
spread.
Now, we set the stock price at $69.50 and observe how the spread
reacts over time.
The chart shows that as time passes, this spread increases in
value. With the stock at $69.50, the spread has an intrinsic
value of $4.50. If the stock held at $69.50 until expiration,
the spread would be worth $4.50 because that is the amount of
intrinsic value the spread has. As time passes, the spread’s
value will increase to finally reach $4.50 at expiration.
In conclusion, time’s effect on a vertical spread is contingent
on where the stock is in relation to the spread.
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For everyone who’s been on a diet themselves or knows someone who’s been on a diet, you know how bland the food can be sometimes. With foods like rice cakes it’s no secret why you lose weight, if the foods taste like carboard.
For everyone who’s had this experience there is hope. You should look at the Mediterranean Diet. The Mediterranean Diet isn’t a new fad or quick loss weight scheme, in fact it’s been around for over 40 years. However it’s taken science that long to fugure out what it was and why it works. The Mediterranean is a diverse region that is made up of 16 countries along the Mediterranean Sea. Countries like France, Spain, Italy and Greece have diverse and different cultures. While the foods are different on a nutritionally level they share many similarities. They contain lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Wine is consumed in moderate amounts daily. Eggs are consumed in moderate amounts, and foods like poultry, fish and dairy are consumed on a limited basis.
However as many nutritionists and scientists are discovering one of the keys to the Mediterranean Diet is the oils. Plant based oils are extensively used throughout the region, with olive oil being the most popular. Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat, which means it’s good for the body and does things like lower your cholesterol. Do to the rich fats in the foods and those used in the cooking the foods of the region are known for the full rich textures and flavors that they have. In fact it’s these fats which give the foods a luxurious “mouth feel”. However eating foods rich in fats is not without some sacrifices, as fats have more than double the amount of calories of similarly sized portions of protein or carbohydrates. Learning to manage and control your portions is a key aspect of anybody who wants to follow the Mediterranean Diet.
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This article was written by Allison Preston of www.Fitness-Web.com. Fitness-Web brings you information and reviews about infomercials, diets, and exercise equipment from different products across the internet.
