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Kevin Marsh, editor of BBC Radio 4′s ‘Today’ programme is to stand down from his role after three-and-a-half years, during which he steered the flagship show through the Iraq war and the Hutton Report – just as a novel about strange goings on at the BBC is published by one of his former colleagues.

Marsh had been editor of the ‘Today’ programme since November 2002 just prior to the invasion of Iraq and was its editor as the programme became embroiled in the Hutton Report, which was sparked after the infamous two-way interview of reporter Andrew Gilligan by John Humphrys.

The book, “The Dream of the Decade – The London Novels” by Afshin Rattansi has been widely publicised in the United States ahead of its official UK publication. The UK Daily Mail – one of the BBC’s harshest critics – has called it a “fascinating read.”

The final part of the book traces the career path of a trainee journalist at Britain’s most influential news organisation. Rattansi was present when Marsh replaced editor, Rod Liddle, who was forced to resign when BBC management found a column he wrote for The Guardian to be incompatible with his position at Today.

Afshin Rattansi denied that the publication of his novel had anything to do with Marsh’s move but joked that Marsh would certainly find his book interesting reading. The novel has been widely praised by the editors of many literary household names, including Haruki Murakami, Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis and Ian McEwan as well as Nobel Laureate, Jose Saramago.

As to the Marsh departure, Tim Luckhurst in the Observer wrote: “There was irony in Marsh’s position as editor responsible for Andrew Gilligan’s notorious May 2003 broadcast about the Iraq dossier. He was appointed to repair damage the BBC believed had been done to Today’s reputation by his swashbuckling predecessor Rod Liddle. It was Liddle who favoured controversial exclusives and appointed Gilligan; Marsh’s approach was less flamboyant.”

A friend of Marsh reportedly says: ‘Kevin has never really recovered from Hutton. He felt he was blamed for it and he felt responsible.’

As to producers at Today, one was quoted as saying: ‘He had a very rough ride. He has not been happy here since.’

And yet anoter claimed the legacy of the run-up to the war against Iraq has affected the programme’s reporting: ‘There is not enough of our own journalism any more. The post-Hutton response has been to make us a bit too solid and bureaucratic. Nowadays the suits think that if you let people do their own thing they will make mistakes. As long as the audience figures are good they are happy to see us emasculated.’

Luckhurst again, “Since Hutton his editorship has been a holding operation, designed to stabilise, not innovate.”

It was well known that Marsh did not want the job as editor – what The Dream of the Decade reveals about working with him at the BBC, we shall have to see.

Have a date this Saturday? Better check if Fate is on your side, with a quick look at your online dating horoscope.

There are different kinds of horoscopes. The Western Zodiac (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc.) is based on your birthday. The Chinese Zodiac (Snake, Dragon, Horse, etc.) is based on your birth year. There is also numerology, which gives a number equivalent to the letters of your name, and the date, place and hour of your birth. You can also get online tarot card readings and rune readings.

Depending on how detailed your horoscope is, you can find out about your personal fortune or your compatibility with your date. A personal fortune just looks at the kind of “universal forces” you need to consider during any particular time. For example, some days you’ll have a higher tendency to get into conflicts, while there are other days when everything just effortlessly falls into place. This doesn’t mean you’re predestined to fight by dinnertime. It just reminds you to watch out and be more conscious—sort of like the weatherman predicting rain, and saying you might as well bring an umbrella.

You can also find compatibility charts. Let’s say you were born in the Year of the Dragon: can you get along with someone born in the year of the Rabbit? In Ancient china, no marriage was allowed if their horoscopes weren’t “auspiciously aligned”. Even if you choose to take their advice with a grain of salt, it doesn’t hurt (and it’s even kind of fun) to check.

Some online dating horoscopes are free. Others give a free trial, then offer more personalized or detailed charts for a small fee. It depends on what you’re looking for. Some will actually go so far as to tell you which days are best for seeing people, which days you should stay in and watch reruns, what kind of lucky charms you may need to bring with you. Others give very general advice, like “It’s a good month for meeting new people.”

Other dating horoscopes don’t focus on making predictions, but are tools for self-awareness and reflection. This is especially true for tarot or rune readings. Many of these sites believe that what the “cards” (or any other tool) tell you isn’t the future, but the things going on in your life right now that may need addressing. Their philosophy is that your thoughts or emotions attract certain kinds of situations, and when you ask for a horoscope you’re taking a kind of “spiritual check up” so you can correct whatever’s blocking true love.

Whether you choose to get a general reading or a detailed chart, a year’s predictions or a chance to reflect and assess where you are right now, online horoscopes can be an important tool for dating.

From 25 thru 1 April.

This weeks weight loss diary could be the penultimate because after my Friday weigh-in I am down to 182.5 pounds (90.3 kilograms), just 2.5 pounds above my target figure. Last week I reported 186 pounds (92 kilo’s) but the scales were just below that figure so I guess I have shed a little over 3 pounds this week. That is way too much to lose in one week. A general target rule is1 pound each week if you want to keep it off, 3 is much too high.

So how was 3 pounds shed in just a week?

I think I told you a couple of week’s back that I was suffering from a cold and that is still with me. Due to a really busy business schedule it has been necessary to work through it even though my food intake has been low because I just feel crook. This is obviously a factor and next week it wouldn’t be surprising if the scales go up again.

Looking back over the week it has been a time when eating hasn’t been fun and fluids have formed the major part of my diet. On the other side of the equation I haven’t exercised as rigorously as normal and did miss one complete exercise session.

The most pleasing aspect of my program to date is that after just a few weeks my body has accepted the fact that smaller portions are fine. If I feel hungry between meals a piece of fruit or a raw carrot is ample and that it is fine to leave food on the plate. Ability to think is not impaired by eating less and improved aerobic fitness is great because suddenly walking and exercise is a fun, and challenging, thing.

If asked, “what is the best thing to come out of the program to date?” It is difficult to pick one individual item. The fact that I have become conscious of serving size is one of many that will come into the reckoning when we do the final debrief. However, the only thing I have lost is weight, there are for more that have been gained that we will go into in the final article. For now I am happy that my focus on serving size is the major thing that will keep weight from coming back.

This article is copyright © David McCarthy 2006.

Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In astronomy, it is the brightest star in a constellation. In common parlance, alpha means to be the first.

Alpha males are guys who seem to be leading the pack, the hunter, the ever-reliable male god. They are all around us, in the ranks burly blue collar workers to the impeccable corporate leaders. So why do women like alpha males; or do they?

Women do not only like alpha males; they adore them! Alpha males are the stuff that women’s romantic imaginations are of. These are men who get women’s attention wherever they go.

The attraction lies in the power seemingly possessed by alpha males. It’s not really just about the money but it is about strength in character and the ability to be respected by his peers.

A woman defines an alpha male as someone who is vocal about what he wants and who does everything to get it. An alpha male is not just cocky our loud, but there is a semblance of authority in his voice that seems to attract others, male or female. An alpha male is filled with confidence about his looks though he may not be handsome and is confident about his intelligence though he may not be a Wharton graduate.

In the animal kingdom the alpha males are those who lead the pack with an aggressive behavior. The animals have their own social structure where the alpha or the dominant males get to mate with the females, with the principle that the alpha males will most probably produce better offsprings. Same goes for the alpha males in the society of humans.

Women describe alpha males as those with an innate superiority and who literally leads the pack. These are males who are aggressive and assertive despite their limitations.

To be able to understand an alpha male, one has to get to know his characteristics such as but not limited to being:

Born leaders

Alpha males are born to lead the pack. They are known to be the peacemakers and the ones responsible for stopping fights after and aggression usually started off by a bully. These men are usually dignified men who have leadership capabilities and they sometimes rule their world. An alpha male is a no nonsense leader who cannot be dictated upon and who stands by his principles.

Gandhi is an alpha male. He is a charismatic leader who refused to be pressured into giving up his cause. He was able to win his battle by espousing non-violence. Microsoft czar Bill Gates is an example of an alpha male who continues to change the world and its people. There are many alpha males in a variety of settings, all of whom have provided inspiration and great leadership to their sectors. Most alpha males are attracted and married to strong and outstanding women.

Confident

Alpha males are so sure of themselves but not to point of being cocky. They have high self esteem, believing that they have the power to do anything they want and to achieve their dreams. They know they have that special something within them but they do not boat nor talk about their strength.

Women are attracted to the alpha because of the confidence that emanates from them. This confidence manifests itself in the way he carries himself and the way he deals with others. This confidence is shown in the way he does things and treats other people. The alpha male’s high self esteem makes him confident that he can get the best girl in town. The truth is, the girls usually flock around him.

Assertive

Being confident of himself and in what he can achieve, the alpha male is always assertive but not to the point of being pushy. He knows what he wants and how to get it. He asserts his rights and the rights of his friends. This may be the reason why alpha males are so popular with the pack. He leads them and gives them protection. Women love the alpha male for being assertive, of being able to know he can do it and doing something to achieve what he wants to do.

Born leaders, confident and assertive. These are the qualities that make women swoon over the alpha male. Need we say more?

Cancer is one of the most deadly of diseases. In USA and other developed nations, cancer kills almost 25% of people. This number is more in poorer third world countries. In cancer, the cells through a process of mutation, start to divide endlessly. Creating internal problems and finally death. It is a hard battle that one needs to fight against this terrible enemy. Both expensive and time consuming, many of the poorer nations today do not have cancer treating facilities leading to the painful death of many thousands of individuals.

There are many types of cancers. Basically, the disease can be divided into 2 broad categories. Adult cancers and childhood cancers. Adult cancers include Lung cancer and ovarian cancer.

Cancer can also occur in young children and adolescents, but it is rare. Child Cancer; especially leukemia, is on an upward trend. Though some studies have not shown this, others done over a longer scale of time have so indicated. The age of peak incidence of cancer in children occurs during the first year of life. Leukemia is one of the types that can occur. The other types include the central nervous system cancers, lymphomas, and rhabdomyosarcoma.

How is such a terrible disease caused? Cell division is a physiological process that occurs in almost all tissues and under many circumstances. Normally the balance between growth and programmed cell death is tightly regulated to ensure the integrity of organs and tissues. Mutations in DNA that lead to cancer disrupt these orderly processes.

The uncontrolled and often rapid proliferation of cells can lead to either a benign tumor or a malignant tumor (cancer). Benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body or invade other tissues, and they are rarely a threat to life unless they compress vital structures. Malignant tumors on the other hand are more dangerous and they often invade other organs, spread to distant locations and become life-threatening.

Can it be treated? Yes, Cancer can be treated if it is diagnosed at an early stage. Allopathic treatments like Chemotherapy have proved to be successful against cancer. There are many types of strong chemicals and radiation that help in fighting against cancer.

Today however other methods have emerged which show promise in fighting off cancer. Psychologists believe in curing cancer through thought processes. By having a positive frame of mind, they believe that this disease can be fought.

Meditation techniques like reiki that help in awakening inner forces are also proving to be very beneficial.

An unconventional treatment for this disease is laughter therapy. There is a very touching story about how one person got over this disease just through having fun. Norman Cousins was diagnosed by a form of life threatening tissue disease or a form of cancer. He started and experimented by watching and enjoying Marx brother movies. Six months later, he was up and perfect astonishing his doctors.

No matter how terrible the disease is, love, friendship and laughter can find a cure. Hope and courage are an individual’s best friends at any time and it is no different when some one is diagnosed with cancer. If one has no panic and fights the disease with a joyous spirit and complete healing will be a guarantied possibility.

A gazebo can be a wonderful addition to a backyard landscape, adding an aesthetic appeal as well as a comfortable relaxation spot. If you are thinking about adding a gazebo to your backyard décor, you will want to consider the location where you plan to place your new structure.

Gazebo location is going to depend to a large extent on what you are planning to use your gazebo for. Is it a garden gazebo, a gathering place for friends and family on beautiful summer afternoons? Perhaps you’ll be enclosing your gazebo and installing a hot tub or spa inside of it. How you use your gazebo will determine where you should build it. A garden gazebo might be located toward the back of your yard, in order to have friends walk through it. A hot tub shelter should probably be located closer to the door, to minimize the walk in a bathing suit.

Aesthetics are important: you may choose to highlight your structure by making it the center of attention or blend it in to your landscape and make it a secret hideaway. You should also be mindful of the building’s relation to other structures that you may have on your property.

Think about the pros and cons of your preferred site in all four seasons. The surrounding foliage (and weather) can look very different from one season to the next. All of these considerations may have some impact on where you build your gazebo.

Choosing a size for your gazebo is the next important step. The key is to ensure that your space is large enough for its intended purposes, while remaining proportional to the surrounding environment. A general rule of thumb is that an 8′ gazebo fits 2 people (2 chairs) and a small table. With every two-foot addition, two more people can be seated comfortably in the gazebo (for example, a 10′ gazebo holds 4 people comfortably, a 12′ gazebo holds 6 people comfortably, etc.).

Once you have decided on a size, it’s a good idea to stake it out the dimensions in your yard to ensure that the fit is comfortable for your needs and that the location is harmonious with your landscape.

Every year moms scramble to find just the right easter basket. Will it be the sports easter basket for $20 or the Spiderman one for who know how much? When did easter gifts become so expensive?

The average family has 2.4 children and easter gifts can break a budget in a hurry. Here are some wonderful easter memory creating ideas that won’t break the bank.

1. Bunny Paw prints
Grab an old shoe box lid and cut out big bunny paw print to make a stencil . On “Easter Eve” use the stencil to make paw prints through your house by sprinkling baking soda in the stencil. Turn it over to make left and right feet. (the baking soda vacuums up off the carpet)

2. Easter Eggstravaganza
For most kids, easter is not easter without decorating eggs. This year instead of letting the kids have all the fun, start a tradition that involves the whole family. Throw an annual Easter egg decorating contest. Choose enough categories so everyone gets a chance to win. Some categories might be: funniest egg, most original egg, scariest egg, or celebrity egg. The wackier the categories, the more fun you will have decorating and judging. Ask everyone to submit an egg and display them on the kitchen table. Ask Grandma and Grandpa to be the judges. Before you know it, you will have trouble finding judges because everyone will want to decorate an egg!

3. Follow the Ribbon
This is a simple tradition that doesn’t take much preparation. All you will need to do is buy some narrow inexpensive ribbon from a local craft store. Choose a different color for each member of the family (15 to 25 yards per person depending on how crazy you want this to be). Once the kids are in bed, tie a ribbon to each of their hidden baskets and wind them in and out of the furniture and the other ribbons until you can’t see where they began. Bring the ends to one central location (perhaps the kitchen table) as a place where your family can begin the entangled maze to find their baskets. Before you know it, everyone will be tangled in ribbons and laughs.

4. The Big People Egg Hunt
On Easter Sunday, gather the adults together and have them each hide one or more eggs somewhere on themselves. It might be in Grandma’s apron pocket, Uncle Bob’s boots, behind Dad’s glasses, or under Grandpa’s hat. This hunt isn’t just for the little ones, it involves everyone and is a wonderful way to connect the generations. Your family will be sure to get a laugh as the kids poke around looking for hidden eggs. No one and no place is considered out of bounds. You’ll definitely want your video camera ready for this Easter Egg Hunt.

5. Personalize Letter from the Easter Bunny!
What child does not get excited about getting mail? How about a personalized letter to your child from the Easter Bunny. This letter will be mailed directly to you child and talk about how mom and dad have told the easter bunny that he/she has been good. What an exciting memory for your child!

Easter baskets and gifts do not have to ruin your budget in order for them to be meaningful. These are just a few ways in which you can start some family easter traditions with your family.
Here’s to a wonderful traditions filled Easter!

This article was written to answer many of the most frequently asked questions on this topic. I hope you find this information helpful.

When you buy stereo equipment the speakers customarily come with the system. The quality of speakers depends on the type of stereo system and how much you paid for it. The cheaper system usually doos not have high quality speakers and they will wear out quickly. You might blow your speakers if the volume is over half way. If you are not satisfied with your speakers then you can buy new ones to fit your system. These are usually more costly; once again it depends on the cost and quality of the speakers. Speakers are manufactured for two types of listeners: those who want accurate reproduction and those who want a more vivid colorful reproduction.

Many people are looking for a set of speakers that will produce a great sound and a loud noise. Here are some tips for buying new speakers for your stereo system.

1.Look for someone who is has experience with speakers. This could be a person who works in the electronic department of your local electronics store, or you can find information in magazines or check out the internet. This information will help you decide what type of speakers that you are looking for.

2. Speakers require cables and wires to hook them up. Cables are not automatically included with your system, so before leaving the store with your new speakers, ensure that you have checked for the necessary cables and wires.

3. You should also look for speakers that are bass reflex and that they have ported speakers. You will like this feature if you want a lot of bass. This is available on most types of speakers. You should also have acoustic suspension. This will give you a clean, tight and accurate bass. This improves the sound of your speakers.

Where you shop for your speakers will depend on the type of speakers you want to buy. If you are looking for inexpensive speakers then you can shop for these in your local electronics store. If you want high fidelity speakers, then you should shop at a specific audio store.

I want to thank you for visiting. Go ahead and look around to find additional helpful tips and information.

Do you know how to pronounce the ingredients on the cleaning products? Do you know what they mean? Do you know that those ingredients can be dangerous or even toxic? I’m here to explain and give examples of these items.

When you enter any store, can you smell the cleaning aisle aisles away? Those products are sealed yet they still emit all the chemicals into the air through the plastic. Now let’s look at our homes.

There is a meter that measures the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in our homes. Average home has 50 ppb. Here are some examples of products that make the meter jump:

Pledge has 273 ppb (parts per billion), ingredients such as silicones, butane gas and propane are found in this product. Yet if you look at the ingredients, you won’t find any on the can. There are no ingredients listed. Companies are not required to list any ingredients.

Johnson and Johnson baby bathing products have an ingredient called Quanterium-15, which is a form of formaldehyde when water is added. Funeral homes use ½ the embalming fluid (formaldehyde) they did years ago. It takes a body longer to decompose due to the high levels of formaldehyde.

Clorox wipes come with more than 1,000 ppb. Ingredients dimethyl benzyl ammonia chloride .145% and dimethyl ethyl benzyl ammonia chloride are more pesticides, more danger and chemicals.

Lysol disinfecting spray has around 1,200 parts per MILLION not billion or 1,000 times higher then the Clorox wipes.

Lysol anti-bacterial action spray contains 79% enthanol, not just any ethanol but denatured ethanol. Also, ingredient alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride which is a pesticide. Doesn’t the commercial suggest spraying this around our children and their toys that they place in their mouths?

Here are some of the ingredient names that are dangerous: parabens (butyl-, ethyl-, methyl-, propylparaben), sodium laurel sulfate (SLS), sodium fluoride, propylene glycol, padimente-O, octyl-methoxycinnamate, D&C colors, FD&C colors, formaldehyde (embalming fluid) or fragrance, just to name a few. You can go to http://www.scorecard.org/health-effects/ and see a list of ingredients. It prints 19 pages of ingredients that cause cancer aka carcinogens.

After injuries, cancer is now the leading cause of death in children between the ages of 5 and 9. Wow, that is terrible. Especially since most can be avoided.

Childhood asthma has jumped by 400%. Why so high and so fast? It’s the air we breathe. We take over 24,000 breathes a day. Wouldn’t you want those breathes to be clean? I know I would and it all starts in the home.

It’s bad enough the food we eat is over processed and vegetables are filled with pesticides that now after many years of consistent use of cleaning products we have a higher risk of cancer and chronic illnesses. I watched a t.v. show about the benefits of seaweed. He said that the government is not looking to cure any disease or illness. They are looking to make these chronic illnesses treated by drugs.

So here we are again. If you have been lucky enough to make it to an older age, you will now pay an enormous amount of money for your chronic illnesses, when you should be enjoying the fruits of your labor from working a job so many years. Instead you are on a fixed income because your prescriptions are taking most of your income. I see this in the pharmacy all the time. It’s not uncommon for an elderly person to pay $400.00 for a month’s prescriptions.

It’s amazing. We’ve come so far but yet we haven’t. We have information at our fingertips with the internet. Yet we fail to act on that information. Everyday on the news they tell us what to eat and what not to eat. They are trying to help us live healthier lives. Eating right and exercising is just the beginning. We need to rid our bodies of the free radicals that break down our systems. Free radicals are things that enter our bodies by ingestion or absorbing through our skin into our bloodstreams that breakdown our cells. By breaking down the good cells, we have less good ones to fight off disease and illnesses.

Chances are after reading this you are even more concerned then you were before about the products you bring in your home. What can you do? You could make your own products or you can find a company that has done the research, done the tests and have actual environmentally safer household products that are less expensive then store brands.
Just make sure you can pronounce the words and you know what they can do before you use them. Check ingredients on products saying Natural or Sensitive, you might be surprised.

It’s all the rage. It’s what everyone is talking about. It is unquestionably the most effective form of marketing available to home based business owners. It costs almost nothing, it takes about 30 minutes a week, and it makes your business stand out above the competition.

What is this thing that everyone is talking about? The buzz is about “article marketing” – the practice of providing royalty free content to websites, e-zines and newsletters.

It works like this: You write a simple article that is interesting to a particular group of people. It doesn’t have to be The Great American Novel, just about 500 words on the topic of your choice. Then you submit your article all over the web to ezine publishers, newsletter editors and content-laden websites.

When they publish your article (and they almost always do) your target market reads your words, sees you as an expert (after all, you’re a published author!) and they click on a link to your website that you conveniently provided at the end of the article. Viola! Instant, qualified traffic.

And it’s not fleeting traffic. Your article remains out there for people to find for weeks, months, even years. As new people happen across your article, they click the link and visit your site. You have a perpetual traffic machine, driving tons of pre-qualified, open-to-an-offer, interested traffic to your site. This is better than advertising, and far less expensive.

The problem is the effort of submitting your articles to enough sites that you really make a splash. Most authors will submit their articles to 20-30 places before getting totally burned out on the submission process. It’s tedious, dull, drudge work.

There are three online services that automatically submit articles for authors. Each of these services explain the intrinsic value of publishing your articles, and of course they each describe their services as best-in-class. They range from single submissions to unlimited submissions and from completely free to $119.85. Check them out and draw your own conclusions.

- – - – - http://www.SubmitYourArticle.com – - – - -

Sends out articles in three categories:
* Internet marketing/online business
* Self-improvement/motivation
* Health and fitness. (They promise “Business-General” and “Finance/Investment” categories soon.)

Submits articles to an undefined number of ezine publishers and 15 or more article announcement lists with over 10,000 subscribers.

Special Feature:
Offers an article management suite to retrieve, edit, or resubmit your article.

Cost:
* Bronze membership, $37.00/month, you may submit one (1) article per month
* Silver membership, $57.00/month, you may submit two (2) articles per month
* Gold membership, $75.00/month, you may submit three (3) articles per month
* Platinum membership, $90.00/month, you may submit four (4) articles per month

- – - – - http://www.ThePhantomWriters.com – - – - -

Accepts articles in nine categories:
* Business and Marketing
* Coaching and Personal Development
* Health
* Internet
* Money Saving Tips
* Home and Family
* Pets
* Writing Related
* Christian.

Submits articles to about 20,000 publishers and webmasters. Depending on how you categorize your article, it will be submitted to appropriate publishers.

Special Feature:
No limit to the number of articles that can be submitted. (Is this really a