Have you ever had the distinct notion that people really do not know what they want or even what they are looking for? I believe this to be true because you can find someone who states that they want a solution to something. You offer them the perfect solution and yet they are not interested.

Next, you see this person get something that you know for sure is not going to help them solve the problem they stated to you. It is really interesting.

You try to help someone and they turn down that help and go in a direction that you know will not help them. Some people have to learn the hard way, I guess. In fact, it seems that most people have to learn the hard way.

It is also insulting when people don’t trust you enough to take your advice. But, that is life. Everyone, is living in a world of confusion. If they knew the perfect answer for themselves, they wouldn’t be looking for any answers.

This shows how incredibly ignorant human kind is. I am not singling anyone out here. I am including myself. So do not think that I am talking directly to you. I really mean all of us that are human.

Take the topic of gum disease for example. It is an important problem that many people have. Yet, most people are not aware that they even have gum disease. They will not believe you even if you tell them.

However, the statistics that dental care professionals share with us indicate that up to 80% of people have gum disease right now. You can talk to people until you are blue in the face about this problem, but they still won’t believe they have it or that they should do anything about it.

It is kind of like bad breath. Many people have it, but they don’t seem to realize that they have it. They get use to their own breath.

We live in a strange world.

Find the best meditation practice at FalunDafa.org

A wonderful show is coming to a city near you: ShenYunPerformingArts.com

Copyright 2009 – Do not copy.

This is a continuation of the article: Learning Italian Vowels and Consonants – Part 1

P sounds as it does in English, but without the aspiration, which sometimes happens in English.

Qu sounds as it does in English like in the word quest.

R is very different from the English; it is pronounced with one flip of the tongue against the gums of the upper teeth. This will make the trill sound of the r.

S before vowels and unvoiced consonants such as c, f, p, q, s, t is pronounced like the s in the English word rose.

T is pretty much like the T in English, but with no escaping of breath to go along with it in the Italian.

Z can be voiced, like ds in beds, or it can be voiceless, like ts in bets.

All Italian consonants have a corresponding double consonant, whose pronunciation is similar to, but not exactly like the single consonant. The mispronunciation of the double consonants can result in miscommunication.

Italian is known as a musical language because every sound is clear and distinct but stays soft rather than hard. The consonants will never lose their sound value even when linked together with syllables and words.

When they say Italian is a phonetic language, they mean it is spoken the way it is written. Italian and English share the Latin alphabet, but the pronunciation of each letter differs between the two languages.
Don’t you wonder how all of these languages that share the same alphabet became so different in countries that are so close together?

Scott Wells suggests Learning Italian Today!

Making a Christmas Wreath is not only fun – but you really can get creative with them and make them extremely unique.

Here are instructions for making a traditional holly wreath.

With these instructions, you will be able to get the basic idea of how wreaths are actually made, and you can then decide what to do to make your own holly wreath special – or go with an entirely different kind of wreath.

Materials Needed:

• A 20 inch wreath – This can be a plain foam wreath, a wreath that already has the evergreens on it, or a twine wreath. For a traditional holly wreath, the ones with the evergreens already attached are ideal.

• 1.5 yards of ribbon – this can be plain red, plain green, or a red and black or red and green plaid. The ribbon should about 2.5 inches wide, and can be silk or felt. It’s your wreath!

• Pine cones – you will need about ten. Try to find ones that are well shaped and unbroken.

• Pomegranates – six dried pomegranates will do. Don’t get fresh ones!
Or substitute other dried or good-looking plastic fruits.

• Additional Foliage – you need more evergreens (to make the wreath seem fuller) berry sprays and berry clusters.

• Construction Materials – scissors, hot glue gun, glue sticks, wire (if there is no hanger on the back of the wreath), sewing needle, thread (same color as ribbon).

If the wreath has no hanger, you will need to construct one with the wire. This should be done first. Make sure that it is secure, and that it can bear the weight of the wreath.

Fluff the existing evergreens and add more. The wreath should have a full
appearance. You will most likely need to straighten a few branches here and there – but don’t make it too ‘perfect.’ It should have a ‘natural’ appearance to it.

Let’s make and attach the bow. Cut a piece of ribbon about thirty inches long. Cut another piece of ribbon about four inches long. In the center of the long piece of ribbon, you want to form two loops that will make the bow.

The small piece of ribbon is used to secure the bow, in the middle of the loops. Note that the bow is ‘formed’ not ‘tied.’ There are no knots to tie. Secure the small piece of ribbon around the bow, in the back, with the thread. Each end of the bow will be about nine inches long.

You can place the bow wherever you choose to. It could go in the middle of the top, the bottom, or off to one side. The ends should be woven through the foliage on the wreath – or it can hang loose.

It is a good idea to paint the ends of the ribbon with clear fingernail polish to keep them from fraying over time. The bow can be attached to the wreath with glue or with wire. Just make sure that it is secure.

Once you’ve placed the bow on the wreath, you can glue two of the pomegranates in the center of the bow. The remaining four pomegranates should be glued to the wreath equal distances apart, in groups of two.
Next, glue the pinecones to the wreath. These can be spaced evenly apart sporadically, or in groups of pinecones. Do what looks good to you. Again, it is your wreath.

The berry clusters and sprays should also be glued to the front of the wreath. Glue some additional foliage over the top of the bow with a berry cluster for added affect. Remember that there is not specific way that any of this must be done. It is your choice.

It is a good idea to lay the pieces of the wreath on it before gluing anything down. This will allow you to see how the finished product will look before committing to anything. Try different arrangements of the material to see what looks best to you.

Once you’ve constructed the wreath, set it someplace where the glue has time to harden fully. Once this is done, pick the wreath up and gently shake it to make sure that everything is secured well.

Most wreaths hang on the door, and doors areconstantly opened and closed – and even slammed. You want to make sure that your wreath isn’t falling to pieces each time the door opens and closes.

In many cases, you may be able to use wire or a needle and thread to make items on the wreath more secure. Heavier items won’t be very secure with glue in most cases.

Remember that holly wreaths don’t have to be ‘busy’ to be beautiful. A few simple additions to the foliage is all that it takes.

The bow is typically the object that draws the eye, so make sure that the bow is really well done.

Now that you know how wreaths are made – and how easy it is – you may decide that you don’t want a holly wreath at all. You may opt for a themed wreath, a twined wreath, or a truly unique wreath that stands out. The possibilities are endless!

Learn about Making More Christmas Crafts

Fun for the Whole Family

Scott Wells writes for Make Christmas Crafts: http://MakeChristmasCrafts.com where you can learn to make Christmas crafts for entertainment, decoration and gifts.

The NEWS last night discussed how consumers were tightening down their spending – starting to only buy what was needed to survive – such as food.

This causes greater problems for the economy. As people spend less, more companies will lose money and lay more people off, which means even less money to go around.

The circulation of money is what keeps the economy moving. As you can surmise, the more afraid people become, the less money circulates. People want to hang on to what they have.

This is the reason why analysts talk about the ‘consumer confidence index’ so much.

So what is to be done? The government has to find a way to make people, particularly consumers, less afraid.

At the same time, the banks are also afraid, making it harder for businesses to get necessary loans to survive and grow. Business needs to grow and if it cannot get the capital it needs to grow, it will be forced to lay people off, etc.

As you can see this is a big problem. Our new president will need to tackle this problem head on. If he fails, the world economy will continue to suffer. It is difficult to predict the outcome – at this point.

For the rich, they have pleny of money to ride out the tough economic times, they will not suffer so much. But the common man and woman, will not have vast reserved to fall back on. When their jobs and savings run out, what will they do?

The time is now and taking action is key? But what action should you take? As always, information is needed! As they say, knowledge is power. How will you and I get through these times?

Click Here to learn more about surviving and even thriving during a recession

Posted by: David Snape
Author: What You Should Know about Gum Disease
ISBN: 978-0-9814855-0-8

PS: Learn about busting the personal stress that comes with tough times with this powerful meditation program

Flaming is the name given to abusive attacks by email. I’ve been working on the Internet for several years now and it is very, very seldom that I run into this kind of situation. Less than 24 hours ago, I was flamed.

This flaming gave me pause for consideration. In fact, it ruined most of my night yesterday as I thought about it. Even when I wasn’t thinking about it, the feeling was there. It just feels awful to be attacked in such a manner. Being attacked in any manner doesn’t feel good and this was no exception.

My spirtual beliefs tell me that when someone does something bad to you they must either pay you back in some way or you are paying them back. This could be for something done in this lifetime or, as in the case of someone you never meant and don’t know, it could be payback from a previous life.

I understand that not everyone shares my belief in past lives and reincarnation but that is another story. I don’t want to digress. There is still gold here for those who don’t agree with my beliefs. Besides, my beliefs do not require anyone else to believe as I do.

In this case, I had written a very innocent email to a group of people about a particular item used for ‘natural healing’. I explained what I thought and why I thought it and even where my information came from. I even admitted that there was no scientific proof, just years of observation to back up my opinion.

Next thing I know someone is attacking me. This person took what I said out-of-context, blew it out of proportion and was defending a position that I didn’t have any issues with. But he had issues with what I said and by the end of the email he attacked my work – which is basically a personal attack.

Keep in mind this was work that he had never read and knew not what it contained, but he felt that he should attack it anyway. Basically, I was shocked.

I responded to his email and explained that he hadn’t read what I had written and that I didn’t appreciate being attacked by him. But, I wondered, what is the point?

This person obviously isn’t coming from a place of calm or reason. He attacked me for something I didn’t say and I mean really attacked me. He dug into me as if we had some kind of personal problem with each other.

I’ve been wondering: what was the correct way to handle this? As I see it, there are really two problems. One is my own reaction. The second is what is the correct response?

On the first point, let me clarify, I did not respond in kind to this person. I did not attack him in return. But what concerns me most is my own feelings. Why did I feel so upset? I know that when you put yourself out in public, you can expect to be attacked once in a while.

I pride myself on staying calm in difficult situations. However, as I am only human, I do slip. Yet, I want to overcome these shortcomings and this is one more test for me in that journey. I still have much work to do on myself – that much is clear.

I really have nothing to defend and I don’t have a real investment in fighting to prove some point of view that means nothing to anyone when you come right down to it. Yet, even though I didn’t flame back, the emotion was there.

Let me illustrate this problem with another example. Some people advocate non-violent communication. They have correctly deduced that if you work on removing violence from your communication, it is harder for violence to manifest physically – not impossible, just more difficult. I admire these folks for their hard work to make themselves better.

For me, I strive to go one step further. Violence, in my opinion, starts a step or two deeper than communication. It starts with that feeling in the heart. It is a feeling of injustice, a feeling of anger, a feeling of indignation. Even worse, it could be the feeling of hate.

The human heart then is the problem. That is where I strive to change myself. And it is much harder than you might imagine.

Therefore, perhaps how I responded was not the problem, it is how I wanted to respond that IS the problem. I honestly wanted to punch this guys lights out. I confess that is a violent thought. And I am saddened that I still have this type of reaction after years of trying to cleanse my heart of such things. Worse, I thought that he was a total moron, an idiot who is completely irrational and even ‘stupid’.

These are all bad things in my opinion. I should not have felt this way, but I did. I should not have had such thoughts, but I did. That makes me sad. The good news is that I didn’t flame this person back. There is a time in my life when I would have. I’m glad that time is in the past.

Unfortunately, the feeling was there. My wish is that I could have immediately felt total compassion for this person, even though he had ‘wronged’ me. My wish is that I could have responded from a place that was completely unconcerned for my personal reputation or need to defend my thoughts or position.

I look forward to further character development. I hope I get there quickly. This is also the answer to the second question: How should I have responded? The simple answer is, my response will always be the right one if I come from a heart of kindness, tolerance and compassion.

Sadly, such a state of mind is a long distance away for most of us here on planet Earth. Never-the-less, I have to get there. It is the only place of being that makes sense.

Copyright 2008 David Snape ATP
Dave encourages those of a spiritual mind to read Zhuan . Falun Dave is the author of: What You Should Know about Gum Disease. You can reach David at http://tobeinformed.com You may reprint this article on your website or blog, provided that you keep this author resource box with the article and that all hyperlinks are kept ‘active’.