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Archive for October, 2010

The Forbidden City, located at the center of Beijing municipality, was the seat of power for 24 emperors from 1406 to 1911. It took thousands of artisans and 14 years to complete the colossal complex spread over 720.000 square meters with 9.000 bays of halls and rooms which become a symbol of China’s monarchial grandeur built on the blood and sweat of its toiling peasantry. Significantly, however, the main entrance to the imperial city, Tiananmen or the Gate of Heavenly Peace, connects the past with the present in a curiously fatalistic manner.

Indeed, the wealth gap in Chinese society has increased phenomenally with the difference between the wealthiest and the poorest having risen from as much as four times in 1978 to almost 13 times today.

So, what we have in China today is tremendous economic freedom without political empowerment of the citizenry. Corruption and nepotism are logical outcomes of this situation. And the middle class is too tiny to influence the system.  According to one estimate, middle-class groups with income ranging from 2,500 dollars to 10,000 dollars per year constitute less than five percent of the population. By contrast, lower income groups even in wealthier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou do not earn more than 900 dollars a year. About 60 percent of China’s population still lives in the countryside, with per capita income less than 300 dollars per year.

Having said that, one cannot ignore China’s huge population base of 1.3 billion people. Even at five percent, the country’s middle-income segment numbers at 65 million people. These people are the architects of the future China which, many observers predict, will be the major economic powerhouse of the world by the end of the decade. A glimpse of this can be had in Beijing’s scores of multi-storey shopping malls where customers literally trip over each other to move ahead. Its huge and fashionable hotels are crawling with guests, as are its eating houses, bars and discotheques.

And the Forbidden City is not so forbidden anymore. It is one of China’s major tourists’ attractions where hundreds of hawkers accost visitors and shove tourist books in their faces, quoting prices with huge margins for bargain. Finally, China is waking up from decades of slumber.

Being afraid of height (whether during a plane trip or escalading a mountain) is a serious problem that affects many persons and can have severe if not fatal repercussions on the respective person. The sickness is provoked by the lack of oxygen.

The easiest manifestation of height sickness can appear at altitudes of 2000 meters and it will manifest itself through headaches, dizziness, and incapability of movement. These symptoms will disappear in a few days if you continue staying at that height.

The most severe sensations of height sickness appear at extremely high altitudes usually over 3000 meters in altitude. Next to the symptoms already mentioned, others can appear like: loosing appetite, sleep disorders and waking up frequently in the middle of the night. The difficulty that can be encountered when breathing, stomach sickness, temporary losses of memory, encountering difficulty when trying to concentrate are amongst the most common and severe symptoms that solicit an immediate change of altitude.

Who are the ones most likely to be afraid of heights?
There is no way to predict who is going to be height sick. Surprisingly, older people, people with low physical activity and poor health are not more affected by the height sickness than other persons. This also means that if you never encountered this problem until now you can’t be sure that you won’t feel sick next time you take a trip by plane or climb a mountain.

How can this be avoided?
The best solution to avoid this sensation in the mountains is to climb slowly until you get to the destination, and to climb in such a way that the whole process is going to take at least a few days. In case of a plane flight, ask the advice of the physician about the medication you can take to stop the alternative of being plane sick.
It is extremely important to drink as much water as you can possibly drink to avoid deshidratation, a factor that can make the sensation of sick worse. A big quantity of water is lost when you are at low temperatures, but also when you are involved in activities that require a great effort, like winter sports.

Diamond certificates from independent organizations such as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) provide a diamond grading report, that gives you valuable information about the 4 C’s that were taken into consideration when the diamond was priced.  It’s important that you use an outside source for diamond certificates, instead of the jeweler who is selling the diamond you are interested in, because the jeweler wants to make money on the sale of the diamonds, the certificates may be slightly biased and you could be paying more than the market value of the diamond.

Reasons to have Diamond Certificates
When you go to a jewelry store, or consider making a purchase from an online retailer, the jewelry that has diamond certificates tends to sell for several hundred dollars more than diamonds that are graded the same that are without certificates.  This is because the jeweler recognizes that they typically grade their diamonds one level better than an independent grading organization, like the Gemological Institute of America.  The GIA is more conservative when grading diamonds because they do not gain anything from diamond sales.

Pay the Right Price for your Diamond
Diamonds are valued according to their quality based on a grading system that makes use of the 4 C’s.  You should receive diamond certificates (also called grading reports) from independent companies rather than a jeweler, to insure that your getting an unbiased reporting of the value of the diamond.  Otherwise, you could be paying much more for your diamond than what the diamond is actually worth.

Protecting Your Investment
Diamonds are not the same kind of investment as buying stocks and bonds, but having diamond certificates gives you a better investment than just having the diamond.  Diamond certificates make it easier to sell a diamond in the future, because you have documentation of how much the diamond is worth and why it was valued that amount.  In fact, if you attempt to sell diamonds without having diamond certificates, most dealers will not buy from you and you would end up having a certificate drawn up anyway, so you may as well have a certificate grading report created at the time of purchase, for your current protection as well as future possibilities for selling.

Increased Security during Cleanings and Repairs
Many people hesitate to bring their jewelry into the jeweler’s when they’re in need of repair services or cleaning.  It makes people wonder how they’ll know for sure that they’ve received the same diamond back that they brought in.  It is an extremely rare occurrence for a jeweler to purposely switch diamonds, however it could happen unintentionally.   Diamond certificates act as an additional security measure in this case.  They are like fingerprints stored in police databases; they contain all the data needed to match the person to the fingerprints, and diamond certificates have enough information on the diamond to match the diamond with the certificate and the owner.

In a child’s education an important factor is the parents’ expertise for this “job”. No one is born holding all the knowledge, but we can learn and understand some things from books or advice from qualified persons.

Amongst the commandments a parent should strictly follow are the following:
1. Do not underestimate your child

He can understand more than you think he does and if you make him believe you think poorly of him this might affect his development.
2. Don’t use threat

A child loves a challenge and once threatened he might probably go on and do what he wasn’t suppose to just to see if he can escape the punishment.
3. Do not bribe your child

If you are trying to get him to learn for money for example, he will fail to understand the importance of learning, all he will get from this is the importance of money.

4. Do not make a small child promise something

Small children can’t hold promises so don’t force them to lie and then punish them because they did that.
5. Do not keep them under a short leash

To grow up normally children need some space, some freedom.

6. Do not use big words or too many words when you are talking to your child

Keep your ideas simple and concise so he can understand every thing you have to say.
7. Do not expect an immediate and blind obedience

It is not recommended, the child has to be learned to think for his own not to follow orders.
8. Do not indulge him too mush

He can develop compartmental disorders.
9. Do not compromise when it comes to the rules of a game

The trick for a game to become educative is too have its initial rules respected.
10. Don’t impose rules that don’t go with the age of your child.

11. Do not try to inflict quilt

Quilt is not an appropriate feeling for children, especially if they are little.
12. Don’t give your child orders that you don’t take seriously

Your child will try to please you and giving him an order is drastic, and it becomes cruel if that order is a joke.
All these “commandments” are addressed first to the parent. But they are to be referred to by teachers and educators as well. Along with the parents, they will settle upon an attitude and strategy for the education and growth of the child, so that they can give him all the things he needs to properly develop emotional and physically.