Sec. Martin Andanar on SWS Q4 2016 Self-Rated Poverty

Recently, Social Weather Station has released its findings saying 42% claims to be poor. Secretary Andanar has released a statement on this:

For two consecutive quarters, change has been really felt by our people when Filipino families who considered themselves mahirap/poor reached a new record low.

The figure registered at 44% in December 2016 while it was 42% in President Duterte’s first three months in office. These surpassed the previous record low of 47% in 1987 during the Cory administration.

This underscores the fact that we are on the right direction in putting emphasis on poverty alongside the war on drugs and crime. The President’s first Executive Order, if you will recall, is streamlining the agencies of government that deal with poverty. He wants simpler and faster services that will address the needs of the poorest of the poor constituency.

On the two-point increase in self-rated poverty nationwide, we take notice of the survey result showing the increase in self-rated poverty in Balance Luzon. This may be attributed to the strong typhoons that hit Luzon during the latter part of the year which damaged crops and properties and affected the livelihood of thousands. As a mitigating measure, the Department of Agriculture has been providing assistance to those affected.

The Duterte administration is resolute in bringing about real change in Philippine society. The war on drugs, crime and corruption has one overriding goal: to uphold the rule of law and restore peace and order so that sustained economic growth can lead to significant poverty reduction and improved living standards for all.

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How family and society can play a role in exacerbating eating disorders

Emile Jarreau, aka, Mr. Fat Loss is fascinated by health, nutrition and weight loss. For more great info about eating disorder for losing weight and keeping it off visit http://www.MrFatLoss.com. Unfortunately in our society today, eating disorders are becoming more and more a prevalent existence in the lives of our youth. It is estimated that there are more than 8 million women afflicted with eating disorders in the US alone and many of these are young girls. The push for beauty and the “thin is beautiful” mentality has led many women to try to mimic the looks of movie stars and magazine models often with disastrous results. These young impressionable women want so badly to be accepted as beautiful in our society that they often go to incredible lengths to get results. This can include trying various diets, forced vomiting, and even taking drugs such as diuretics to achieve what they think is the pinnacle of beauty, but in reality it's thin and sickly. Because of this overall acceptance that thin women are sexy women, even families can play a role in helping to exacerbate the problem of eating disorders that exist in our society. Some parents, although well-meaning, may make comments to their children about their eating habits or how they may look in general. A young person is emotionally vulnerable as it is and often has self-esteem issues as they begin going through the changes of puberty that is the normal process of turning into adults. These awkward stages may be completely normal but because of their fragile emotional states, any issues having to deal with self worth or their place in society can greatly be compounded by what they think others think of them. It may simply be a comment about how their daughter's clothes are fitting or perhaps how much food they had at dinner that sets the stage for worse things to come. Some women begin by trying to enter into exercise programs to lose excess weight and begin working out at a feverish pace to try to achieve results. Because many of these women have never had true experience with a healthy diet and exercise program they may not get the desired results they wanted and this can lead them to try to add other things to their regimen to speed up the weight loss. This can mean forced starvation or even ingesting diet pills to help the process along. Still other women may take part in what is known as binging and purging where they will eat thousands of calories and then force themselves to vomit so that they don't experience any weight gain from these episodes. All of these practices are incredibly harmful and can lead to serious health implications that can result in hospitalization, or even death in the worst cases. It is important to realize that young women, or any individuals for that matter, that may have self-esteem issues need to be handled with care. They may not rationalize others' statements but instead may see them as much more meaningful than they were intended. If you suspect that your children or those of your friends may be exhibiting any of the symptoms above, it is important that you take action and seek help immediately before the condition worsens and leads this young person to seriously damage their health, perhaps even permanently.

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Plastic surgery, disappointments and unrealistic expectations

Cynthia Rowland is widely recognized as an expert in all natural facial fitness. She has appeared on The View, The Today Show, Rachael Ray, The Doctors and other popular shows. Cynthia is co-host of The Ageless Sisters on blogtalkradio.com and author of The Magic of Facial Exercise. You may learn more about her anti-aging techniques at www.rejenuve.com/FacialMagicSL.htm and she welcomes your subscription to her FREE content rich newsletter at http://cynthiarowland.com/newsletter-signup.php

If you’re a woman born in the mid to late 20th century, you probably have not escaped the hype surrounding plastic surgery tales. It seems of late that the tales are tales of woe. Why? It seems that many victims now regret their decision to have certain procedures because their results were not what they expected.

Unrealistic expectations plague both the surgeon as well as the patient. Some of those who opt for breast enhancement felt their new breasts were too big or not optimally placed on the chest which means they were too close together or the implants were positioned too far apart.

Same goes with facelifts. Some of those who had face work performed lament that their faces looked too pulled and unnaturally taut. Some patients complain that other procedures i.e., eyelifts, laser treatments and liposuction were added to the surgical menu to prop up the profit margin, justifying their expenditures because the doctor recommended additional procedures.

Other situations and challenges involve complaints against the medical staff saying that the risks along with recovery times were not fully disclosed. 

Some practitioners prey on women who are in the throes of menopause because women are sometimes depressed. It has been suggested that those who are contemplating plastic surgery may want to wait until the depressive state has lifted. Lorraine Dennerstein, a psychiatry professor at the University of Melbourne in Australia, says "For some women the [years before, during and right after menopause] are a heightened time of vulnerability to life’s stressors – much like what might occur the year after giving birth." In other words, the coping skills of women in menopause may impact plastic surgery decisions and this means that the patient may not like the results they receive.

Hormonal depression or not, there are plenty of flubs surrounding plastic surgery.

Just look at our current crop of celebrities whose faces are frozen and misshapen. They actually paid someone they trusted to alter their appearance hoping that their results would match the computer generated images they saw in their doctor’s office before they agreed to invasive surgical procedures. 

Do you believe celebrities who wear frozen and misshapen faces really enjoy looking at themselves in the mirror or on-screen when they have been mutilated again and again? Looking at the altered faces affirms that surgery is risky and the results unpredictable.

Wake up potential patients! Unless you have a doctor who is a practicing artist you may not get the results you have been promised. Plastic surgeons are not magicians. They do not refund your money if you are dissatisfied with your new nose, your breast enhancement or reduction or your face work. 

Procedure after procedure, injection after injection, surgery and more surgery does not a pretty face make. Rather we begin to see waxen, odd, uneven and misshapen features that may include a trout pout with strangely stretched contours, unnaturally enhanced upper cheeks and that taut, pulled, perverted look that screams "inauthentic."

Remember frequent enhancements mean it is more likely there will be complications and bizarre outcomes. Risky, expensive and unpredictable results may mean that your close friends and family may not support your decision to have your beautiful face cut and sutured. Will you become a plastic surgery junkie willing to sacrifice your beauty?

There is nothing wrong wanting to look younger, better, revitalized and refreshed. In fact, you owe it to yourself to lovingly care for your body and that certainly includes your face.

Facial exercise is the most amazing thing you can do for your face. The results are apparent almost immediately and lasting results are possible when you exercise just minutes a day. The benefits are many. You will immediately see and feel your facial muscles improve as your facial symmetry is restored. Your jaw, your brow, your cheeks, the neck and forehead are just a few of the areas targeted using simple, easy exercise.

Lifting and firming from your clavicle to your hairline will increase day after day as you practice and perfect the routine. Your eyes will appear more refreshed as these exercises plump up and refine hollows, lessening the appearance of lines and dark circles. Each exercise deliberately increases the oxygenation levels as the isometric contractions revitalize your face and neck muscles.

Without anything harmful, without risk, without sutures, drugs or injections, using only your thumbs and fingers, you can de-age your face 10 to 15 years in 9 to 12 weeks.

You will look like you when you choose exercise. Your friends and family will offer genuine compliments as a result of your efforts as you put your best face forward.

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Problems with Acer laptops

Amit Raju owns and operates http://www.hatetech.com, focused on Acer Laptops and other user-friendly technology.

This article describes the most common Acer Laptop Problems. If you're thinking of buying Acer laptop computers in the US or UL, then I suggest you to read about the main Acer laptop problems before you buy.

There is an alarmingly large number of problems being described by Acer owners on different blogs and forums over the Internet. Some owners' Acer laptops have gone completely unusable, with signs of power or mother board failure. The machine will now not even turn on and if the warranty has passed, you will be facing some major issues. Acer has been notoriously difficult in communicating such problems with clients, the customer support is not very helpful and they don't reimburse too often. If you do a little research online, you will see a lot of people complaining about problems with Acer Aspire. Acer laptops are not cheap and should definitely provide far better quality for that money.

Another common Acer laptop problem is "getting the blackscreen." It appears that the LCD displays have the backlight (usually a cold cathode) burnt out. The repair typically consists of opening the monitor replacing the cold cathode tube and reassembling the unit. But before you go on to such decisions, make sure to check that you haven't just accidentally turn off the backlight. On Acer laptops, pressing the Fn button and F6 at the same time is the backlight on/off togle. Holding the Fn button and pressing the left/right arrow keys raises/lowers the backlight brightness. Another commonly reported problem about Acer laptops is USB port failure. Some owners have complained about the USB ports not working. Even after reinstalling the drivers, they still don't work.

There are cases when an Acer laptop would develop a fault with the HDD (Hard Disc Drive) where windows could not find the disc. The only fix here is getting a new hard drive and this would cost you around $200 if the warranty period is over. You should definitely report that problem and send the machine for repair. Acer would charge you more, but this a repair that even you can do by yourself should you be knowledgeable enough of course. Another problem is what's known as "the click of death." It can happen on a brand new model if the hard drive is making lots of clicking noises, which is a sign that the disc is not keeping the correct speed. 

A problem was recently discovered in the charging process of Acer Travelmate 2702WLMi laptop. When powered down, the charging only works intermittently. The charge light comes on but then randomly blinks on and then off etc. The result is that it takes forever to charge. This is a common Acer laptop problem that has got something to do with overheating. One of the fans can all of sudden stop working and as a result, overheating occurs. Make sure your laptop is not getting really hot. Another thing you can do is open it up and clear up the dust that's covering everything. Just remove the dust and it will work much better, because clogged-up heatsinks can affect the battery charging.

Some Acer owners have reported that the DVD burner has suddenly stopped working after the warranty period ended. The DVD-RW drive stopped burning to Disc and barely plays any dvds. This would normally happen if you have recorded a very big number of DVDs like a thousand, but shouldn't occur in other circumstances.

If your Acer laptop freezes, seek official Acer laptop support. In case suddenly your Acer laptop shuts down, check the Acer laptop troubleshooting manual.

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Reasons why girls date older men

Francis K. Githinji Is An Online Dating Expert. His Latest Project Free Online Dating Service Shows How The Power Of Online Dating Can Be Harnessed Internationally and With Great Success, Or You Could Post Your Valued Comments On His Blog At Dating And Relationships Magazine

Girls date older men all the time and society has really witnessed the cases increase. Dating older men for young girls comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Many girls have opted for men who are older than them ignoring all the disadvantages that are present. This article seeks to explore the reasons why girls date older men. It is vital to mention that the trend or practice is not just rampant in modern settings but, in traditional settings as well. In the traditional setting, many girls are married of even without their consent. Their parents are involved in arranging the marriages and, the girls end up being together with older men. The main reason for this is financial gain. This example is a bit different although, there are girls in the traditional settings who voluntarily opt to be married to older men. In the modern setting, a young girl will have many reasons; the following is an overview of some of those reasons.

The main reasons why girls date older men are because of financial security and stability. Older guys will tend to have it made and, many will be blessed with some few investments and money. This is a lucrative thing and when girls realize that they can take advantage of this, they go for it. In other words, many young girls have become gold diggers. However, it is also valid to say that older men know exactly what the girls are after and therefore do not mind as they encourage the trend. After all, there is something in for them. Older guys like the excitement of young vibrant souls in their lives. The buzz keeps them on their toes as they seek to have great romantic getaways. Reasons why girls date older men are for emotional security also. Young men are a bit rough and mainly unstable when it comes to relationships. Older guys know what they want and are more decisive and mature. For this reason, young girls can depend on the older guys to provide this.

Therefore, there are girls who are genuinely in search of love and affection. Girls date older men to get back at their peers. This can be a revenge mission where everything is centered on teaching the people they really love a lesson. Older guys are mainly untouchable and respected and, this is a plan that mainly works when one is truly lucky. Another reason for dating older men by girls is for the purpose of getting ahead. The girls may want favors which are not necessarily money. Many young girls have gotten the deals and breakthroughs they were looking for, just because of dating older guys. Whatever your reason for dating the men is, remember one thing. Life might not give you fifth or sixth chances of true love and, when you are young, it is best to seek that real genuine love that will not waiver in the end; regardless of what age the man is. Love is about living life to the fullest and enjoying yourself with clean fun everyday.

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Casual marijuana use may come with some not-so-casual side effects

Wolf Krammel is a content marketer for Stepping Up Recovery, you can find out more information on Drug Addiction Treatment in Lake Worth Florida Blog.

FoxNews, on its website, recently posted some alarming news for those who think of marijuana as a fun, safe, non-hazardous drug. Their article reads as follows:

Casual marijuana use may come with some not-so-casual side effects. For the first time, researchers at Northwestern University have analyzed the relationship between casual use of marijuana and brain changes – and found that young adults who used cannabis just once or twice a week showed significant abnormalities in two important brain structures.

The study’s findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, are similar to those of past research linking chronic, long-term marijuana use with mental illness and changes in brain development. 

 Dr. Hans Breiter, co-senior study author, said he was inspired to look at the effects of casual marijuana use after previous work in his lab found that heavy cannabis use caused similar brain abnormalities to those seen in patients with schizophrenia.

"There were abnormalities in their working memory, which is fundamental to everything you do," Breiter, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told FoxNews.com.  "When you make judgments or decisions, plan things, do mathematics – anything you do always involves working memory.  It’s one of the core fundamental aspects of our brains that we use every day.  So given those findings, we decided we need to look at casual, recreational use."

For their most recent study, Breiter and his team analyzed a very small sample of patients between the ages of 18 and 25: 20 marijuana users and 20 well-matched control subjects.  The marijuana users had a wide range of usage routines, with some using the drug just once or twice a week and others using it every single day.

Utilizing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the researchers analyzed the participants’ brains, focusing on the nucleus accumbens (NAC) and the amygdala – two key brain regions responsible for processing emotions, making decisions and motivation.  They looked at these brain structures in three different ways, measuring their density, volume and shape.

According to Breiter, all three were abnormal in the casual marijuana users. "For the NAC, all three measures were abnormal, and they were abnormal in a dose-dependent way, meaning the changes were greater with the amount of marijuana used," Breiter said.  "The amygdala had abnormalities for shape and density, and only volume correlated with use.  But if you looked at all three types of measures, it showed the relationships between them were quite abnormal in the marijuana users, compared to the normal controls."

Because these brain regions are central for motivation, the findings from Northwestern help support the well-known theory that marijuana use leads to a condition called amotivation. Also called amotivational syndrome, this psychological condition causes people to become less oriented toward their goals and purposes in life, as well as [to] seem less focused in general.

Given these eye-opening results,  Breiter said that more research is needed to look into marijuana’s effects on the brain – even in those who use the drug only once or twice a month. "We need to see what happens longitudinally," Breiter said. "What happens as you follow people over time?  What happens if they stop using – do these bad effects continue? What happens if you can intervene early?...My worry is we haven’t studied this compound and here we are looking to change legislation on it."

Although Breiter’s team members did not examine the patients’ cognitive symptoms, they do believe that the brain abnormalities seen in their study could lead to substantial effects on brain development and behavior, especially given the young ages of the participants.  Breiter also acknowledged the problems of analyzing a very small study sample – but said that their findings should still serve as a wake-up call to others.

"This study is just a beginning pilot study, but at the same time, the results that came out are the same as a canary in a coal mine," Breiter said.  "...The interaction of marijuana with brain development could be a significant problem."

While the sampling is admittedly small, the implications are alarming. If you’re a cannabis user, are you going to keep toking till the inarguable smoking gun is on display for everyone to see? Don’t wait! You could be seriously, permanently harming your brain function!

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I turned down $1 million

Carolyn Molnar is a Toronto based Psychic Medium and Spiritual Teacher. She has over 30 years’ experience.She provides readings and also teaches others how to tap into their intuitive abilities. Her book, It Is Time: Knowledge From The Other Side, has made a real impact in how people understand intuition. She has been featured on radio, television and in print.

I refuse to take the bait. I’m talking about the challenge issued by the U.S.-based James Randi Educational Foundation – if anyone can prove they have any type of psychic abilities, JREF will give that person $1 million. While a million bucks would go a long way to paying off my mortgage and allowing me to take that Sedona dream vacation, I don’t need to prove the existence of spirit to anyone who obviously has no faith in spirit, humanity, their own spiritual potential, or God. Actually, I feel sorry for the JREF-ers, who use cold, hard-nosed rationality to blind themselves to miracles that occur daily in all of our lives.

I’m not alone in passing on the challenge – reputable psychic mediums like James Van Praagh and Alison DuBois have ignored Randi’s tantalizing taunt. He was quoted in an article on sympatico.ca, saying, "Hopefully, the JREF's Million Dollar Challenge makes people think twice when they hear psychics claiming they can predict the future or talk to the dead. If psychics can really do what they say they can, why hasn't anyone taken our million dollars?"

Further, he said the challenge was meant to target "high-profile operators" [like Van Praagh and DuBois] who "are getting rich by preying on people's grief and guilt about loved ones who have died," calling their actions "despicable." 

While I must unfortunately admit that there are psychic scammers out there – charlatans who promise to remove curses for ridiculous sums of money – the majority of psychics and mediums I know are trustworthy individuals who truly want to serve humanity by bringing messages from spirit to their friends and loved ones still on the earth plane. From my own experience, many of my clients are happy and grateful when I provide for them verifiable evidence that I’ve connected with their loved ones in spirit. (Alas, I can’t claim 100 percent success, but no medium will make that claim.)

When my husband read the sympatico.com article, he prodded me to put in my two cents toward claiming the $1 million prize. You’ve got to understand that Benjamin, besides having great faith in my skills, is a former advertising and marketing writer, and thinks the JREF test would be a great way to create publicity for me. (Another of his ideas: Serve coffee and pie with each reading. Nahhhh…)

I won’t accept the Randi test for two reasons: First, if I were to agree to his challenge, I’d be doing it out of ego – to prove to myself and others that I was better than him. Because doing that, I’d no longer be working for spirit, I’d be working for myself. And I’m happy to be subservient to the needs of spirit, which needs to prove nothing.

Secondly, and most importantly, it’s impossible to prove something to someone who’ll never accept the impossible. Science only goes so far in explaining how the world works – the rest is up to a person’s faith. I accept in faith that there is life after death, and I live that acceptance every time I provide evidence that a client’s mother, father, friend or pet comes through in a reading. I accept that there’s a divine intelligence in the universe that had a hand in our lives, if we allow the intelligence to work with us. And I have faith that one day, humans will transcend the petty bickering that goes on between groups and we’ll embrace each other in the spirit of tolerance and love.

Why do I choose to have faith? That I can’t explain – I just believe. I accept the words of philosopher Khalil Gibran: "Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof." And I especially appreciate this thought from American humourist James Thurber: "It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers." 

As a former magician, James Randi made a living creating false realities to fool people. Perhaps this is why he sees falseness everywhere, and needs to cling to science as a way to believe in the world of truth. To respond to that, may I add one more quote I’ve come to like? Henry David Thoreau said, "Men are probably nearer the central truth in their superstitions than in their science."

Amen to that.

If you have any questions or comments on this subject or on any other spiritual matter, feel free to write me at mail@carolynmolnar.com. And please visit me again!

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