I read this earlier and it kind of stuck with me! It’s about Dr. Harry Coover. Who you say?

May Dr. Harry Coover rest in peace. He made his contributions and has passed at 94. Here is a song to celebrate his life and his work. Also, please comment at the end.  This is not as mainstream as Dr. Lant’s usual articles, but shows a sense of variety. You’ll also want to read these few articles along the same lines. One about Jack LaLanne, one about Dr. Christian Lambertsen of SCUBA fame oh…and don’t forget the one about Liam and Theo, a real tear jerker.

Dr. Harry Coover

An appreciation for the life of Dr. Harry Coover, inventor of Super Glue, dead at 94.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Ever hear of Dr. Harry Coover? Probably not.
Know what cyanoacrylates are? Probably not.
Yet both of them have a place in your life — under the commercial name Super Glue. You’ve surely heard of — and used — that!
And now you’re about to learn the story about a smart man, his accidental invention, and how it holds the world together.
Picture the scene…
It’s war time in America – World War II war time that is — and Dr. Coover is doing his bit. He was working on a project; experimenting with acrylates for use in clear plastic gun sights. Problem was, he had to call it quits because those darned sticky acrylates just kept sticking to everything. Dr. Coover was in sight of his most well known invention… but he missed the forest for the trees. That time.
Fast forward to 1951.
Fred Joyner, who was working with Dr. Coover at Eastman Kodak’s laboratory in Tennessee, was testing compounds looking for a heat- resistant coating for jet cockpits. When Joyner spread the 910th compound on the list  between two lenses on a refractometer to take a reading on the velocity of light through it, he discovered he could not separate the lenses.
His initial reaction was panic at the loss of expensive lab equipment. No wonder. He had just ruined a machine worth $3000, which in 1951 was a fortune.
Yes, panic.
But Dr. Coover, remembering his 1942 problem with sticky cyanoacrylates had an “aha” moment. The forest was beginning to emerge… a moment of insight and perception that happens to every inventor — especially if they’re as smart as Harry Coover.
Yup, Harry Coover was about to break through, with the discovery that we all know and use all the time.
Coover in time-honored inventor fashion looked at cyanoacrylates in a new way. Not as things that ruin things like valuable lab equipment… but rather as adhesives with unique properties. They required no heat or pressure to bond.
Eureka! This was new, different, important.
The team started testing Coover’s hypothesis. It must have been fun in the lab as they tried this new substance on various items. Each time the items became permanently bonded… just like Harry Coover and cyanoacrylates.
Kodak knew Harry and his team were on to Something Big. After all everybody and his brother were always attempting to bond things… but they usually didn’t stick for very long which was a source of unending annoyance to all sorts of people.
In due course, Coover received patent number 2,768,109 for his “Alcohol-Catalyzed Cyanoacrylate Adhesive Composition/Superglue” and began refining the product for commercialization. His company packaged the adhesive as “Eastman 910? and began marketing it in 1958.
Marketing types quickly realized (faster than the inventive guys) that “Eastman 910? was most assuredly NOT a name to conjure with. What did it mean anyway? Flagging sales for one thing…  A hot new name, a spokesman, and a break were required.
And, hey presto, there was Garry Moore, host of “I’ve Got A Secret” and Dr. Harry Coover, his guest. Dr. Coover’s secret, of course, was that he had invented Super Glue. And then… he was asked to demonstrate. Coover was a natural showman and was eager to show what his baby could do.
A metal bar was lowered onto the stage, and Dr. Coover used a dab of the glue to connect two metal parts. Then he grabbed one and was raised in the air on the strength of his invention.
America took note. But Kodak couldn’t make it profitable enough. It sold the business to National Starch in 1980, and things took off. The 1942 accident that started it all had turned into one of America’s best-known products… it was the glue that kept the nation together!
But the best use for Super Glue was one you could hardly imagine. During the Vietnam War, it became apparent that cyanoacrylates could be used to treat war wounds. Field surgeons began using the substance by spraying it over open wounds. This stopped bleeding instantly and allowed hurt soldiers to be transported to medical facilities for conventional treatment. This saved lives.
Moreover, in due course, additional medical uses developed: rejoining veins and arteries during surgery, sealing bleeding ulcers, punctures or legions, stopping uncontrollable bleeding of some soft ulcers, and use during dental surgery. Super Glue was a medical marvel, saving lives one dab at a time.
Super Glue wasn’t all, however.
Dr Coover was an invention dynamo his entire career. He held over 460 patents by the end of his life. But he had always been an achiever. He studied chemistry at Hobart College in New York and then received a master’s degree and doctorate from Cornell University. He took a job with Eastman Kodak Co. and stayed with them his entire professional life; after retirement he stayed on as a consultant.
Dr. Coover understood the business of inventing. He spent his life pushing the envelope, dreaming dreams… and changing the world, one discovery after another. He understood, too, that inventors need optimism. They needed good work habits… persistence… the ability to see things in a different perspective to get results. They needed good team members…. and always, always good humor. When you’re going to places no one has ever been before there will be lots of errors… and therefore lots of humor required.
Dr. Harry Coover excelled in them all.
Along the way, his achievements garnered many awards and a lifetime of recognition. He deserved them all… Industrial Research Institute Medal Achievement Award, the Maurice Holland Award, the ACS Earl B. Barnes Award, and the AIC Chemical Pioneers Award. In 2004, he was inducted into the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame. And then in 2010, President Obama awarded him the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.
Dr. Harry Coover, dead at 94, March 26, 2011.
Dr. Coover is now gone. But his most famous invention — Super Glue — remains. It is a legacy that will stick… a useful legacy beloved of fixer-uppers everywhere. Coover always said he had a special place in his heart for his sticky invention, the invention that gave him the nickname “Mr.  Super Glue.” And why shouldn’t he?
Inventors are special people. They see the world as it can be… not just as it is. Of these inventors, Dr. Coover was one of the best. He will be missed, of course; such people always are. But he gave us his best… and that was ample.
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About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.

The first woman politician of prominence – she paved the way: Geraldine Ferraro

Geraldine Ferraro was my Representative in the House back when I lived in Queens, New York.   It did seem out of place back then but I remember Bella Abzug as a representative around the same time. I recall thinking back then that these were “men’s” jobs. she had been a teacher. That was a woman’s job. And …there was nothing wrong with thinking that way.
Geraldine Ferraro may you rest in peace.
‘If we can do this, we can do anything.’ An appreciation for the life of Geraldine Ferraro,  ex-vice presidential candidate.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
In 1984 a streaked-blond, peanut-butter-and-jelly-making mom made history… before she became an object lesson in unwittingly hurting the candidate and political party she was there to help.
Her name was Geraldine A. Ferraro, and now she is dead at 75, March 26, 2011 of complications from multiple myeloma, a blood cancer she had doggedly battled for 12 years.
Her day of days, July 11, 1984.
Arguably the most important day in at least her public life occurred July 11, 1984 when Walter “Fritz” Mondale made history by selecting U.S. Representative Geraldine Ferraro as his vice presidential running mate. At a stroke, she became the first major-ticket VP candidate… and the first national Italian-American candidate, two facts which proved to be critical in her startling ascent and the muddle, distractions, and stumblings which followed.
A presidential candidate’s first important act is the selection of a vice presidential nominee.
Americans look to their presidential candidates to demonstrate executive problem-solving skills and leadership. But such a candidate, unless he is president himself (when he and his record automatically become the focus of the campaign) have a big problem which must be handled early and without error.
While they might have the skills to be  president and even an impressive list of important accomplishments and decisions should they, say, have been governor of a major state (like Reagan and California), voters are still being asked to gamble that a person who has never made presidential- level decisions can, in fact, make them,  not surprise the nation (as has happened often enough) with ineptitude; (like Jimmy Carter, the master of Oval Office missteps and pratfalls.)
The only person immune from this aspect of any given campaign is an incumbent. If there is such an incumbent, he automatically becomes the virtual sole focus of the campaign, pro or con. (Obama take note).  But that problem, in 1984, was Reagan’s.
Mondale’s problem was the usual one of an out-of-power party… showing America it would be better off with a new president it didn’t know much about, instead of retaining  the incumbent they already knew, but who now stood before them no longer fresh, battle-scarred, and, of course, (whatever his achievements) with the usual legion of second-guessing detractors.
For the challengers the selection of the right VP candidate is crucial, couldn’t be more important. Yet candidates often (quick, can you say Senator John McCain?) muff this business… and help derail their own campaigns, by turning what should have been a plus into an unexpected minus. America always notes this with alarm, incredulity, disdain, and usually dismissal.
“Fritz” Mondale… the nicest guy in the world… except for Ronald Reagan.
Mondale, Jimmy Carter’s vice president, was by common repute a deeply honorable, good natured, well balanced man. He was the boy next door about, so the Democrats hoped, to get the prize ordinarily kept from the nice guys famously finishing last.
But he had a problem. “(Most) everybody loves Ronald” Ray-Gun. He needed a way to lay a finger on the guy and help America wise up. Because the Democrats thought Reagan unsympathetic to women’s issues… they needed a candidate who could help galvanize women. Abigail Adams, wife of the second president, had written him “don’t forget the ladies.” Democrats didn’t intend to. But how?
There she is… Mrs. America… Geraldine Ferraro.
She was pert, lively, credible, a real-life mom with real-life mom joys and dilemmas. She was also  a former Queens, New York prosecutor. There she battled the intractable problems of a great city which had them to spare; her daily diet rape, crimes against the elderly, child and wife abuse, so draining she later rote they caused her to develop an ulcer. And the liberal principles which, at her best, defined her.
At the urging of Mario M. Cuomo, then lieutenant governor of New York and another “Italo” wanting friends for his  own ambitions, suggested she run for Congress. She did, ultimately winning 3 terms, learning fast the tribal rituals of the House of Representatives and, most of all, learning to work with its chiefs. This included House Speaker Thomas O’Neill. He liked her and helped her advance within the establishment to chairwoman of the Democratic Platform Committee, a plum assignment for understanding the party and its players nationwide. In due course, it was O’Neill who urged Mondale to select her as his running mate. It goes without saying that all Democratic congresswomen (they called themselves the A Team)  were in her corner, saying that Geraldine was what they needed to wow the women, and the nation.
“Fritz” bit… and made the calculated decision to put a woman on the ticket. Whether she was the best available woman, or not, will always be argued. She was a gal, she was a great, tireless campaigner with a feisty, upbeat style people liked… all to the good. But… and these were big buts… she knew nothing of the world beyond Queens (a problem most of its denizens have); she had no executive experience at all… and absolutely no foreign policy experience or expertise.
But Mondale selected her anyway. This turned his dull nominating convention into a thrilling celebration of women in America, their inexorable, soul-stirring progress to the heights of the nation. As Ferraro said “If we can do this, we can do anything.” Millions felt uplifted, glasses raised, tears shed. It was a signature American event…
… And it began to fall apart within just hours as questions began to be raised about her husband’s financial and tax records. There were nasty innuendos, too, about organized crime, god fathers, the paraphernalia of ethnic hate. Mondale learned the hard way that behind every successful woman candidate is a husband… the man he didn’t select, but who could cause  an entire campaign to stumble. So it was with Ferraro and the man she loved. Thus, Ferraro and her connections became part of Mondale’s problem… instead of the solution she had once appeared to be.
In the end, of course, she probably wasn’t the ultimate cause for Mondale’s demise. Ronald Reagan was. America loved Reagan (despite lapses and errors). And he was becoming, right before their eyes not merely a president but a statesman, a man they liked, trusted and revered. Fritz never had a chance, and of course Ferraro went down with him.
Now the mom from Queens is gone, a footnote in history, not a chapter. But I prefer to remember the best moment of her busy life: “If we can do this, we can do anything.” She was absolutely right about that.
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About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.

Did you know words are born? My BFF said OMG after ROFL (that’s like LOL)

We are all using these phrases, mostly in out texting and social media. Twitter limits us to 140 characters so it is great to have some of these real shorties. I am glad OED has taken the time to update and keep us current.
I know Dr. Lant is very familiar with the language and embraces words that are recognized. So…here we go …enjoy! BTW, go get your dictionary before you start reading out loud!  Then check out this article too. Oh, and why not learn a few words for your next reunion. Prepare – go read this article on how to get ready.
OMG Oxford English Dictionary adds LOL and 1900 other entries.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
If you love the English language at all, you’re always glad to hear that it’s thriving, by far the language with the greatest number of words and senses (that is, how those words are used). We know this in large measure from the hard-working folks at Oxford English Dictionary, which rightly bills itself as “the definitive record of the English language.”
March 24, 2011 OED announced its latest update, revising more than 1,900 entries and adding new words from across the dictionary. As chief editor, John Simpson, reported things are hopping at OED.
Item: the new OED website is a gigantic success. In January, 2011 alone over 43% of all OED entries were accessed online at least once.
The most commonly researched words were dictionary itself. Then love, followed closely by culture… and an old favorite, nice.
Item: Over 30% of OED has now been revised and updated.  285,403 out of a total of 796,591 “senses” have been revised.
Item: 45,437 new words and meanings have been added since the last update. That means, over 13% of the dictionary is entirely new.
Item: Of the updated senses, 27% are “scientific” — or were at least considered to fall within the sections allocated to OED’s scientific editors.
All this is good news for people in love with language generally and the English language in particular. The English language is growing at an unprecedented rate. This is at least partly because of the Internet and its galaxy of new time-saving (purist affronting) abbreviations.
A number of these abbreviations –  including LOL, OMG, and IMHO — are now part of the official English language, but not necessarily because these initialisms are new and widely used.
OMG (“Oh my God” (or sometimes “gosh”, “goodness”, etc.) isn’t a new initialism. According to OED, OMG first appeared in a 1917 personal letter.
LOL (“laughing out loud”) had a previous life, starting in 1960 when it meant “little old lady”.
Fascinating isn’t it?
The minute you start digging into the OED,  not just new entries and senses either, you’re hooked. Hours fly by as you get a peek inside the words that define who we are and how we communicate with each other. IMHO (“in my humble opinion”) this can never be TMI (“too much information”).
What does a word mean? Where does it originate?
OED is a language sleuth. Its daily, never ending task, is finding out what people are saying, what they mean by it, and where both word and meaning originated. It closely monitors language trends and decides when a word should be considered usual English vocabulary. Consider the new OED entry “wag”.

WAGS 

In 2002, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported that the staff at the England footballers’ pre-World Cup training camp referred to the players’ partners collectively as “Wags”, from the initial letters of “wives and girlfriends.”
The term then remained relatively dormant, except for a small and brief revival around the time of Euro 2004, before the 2006 World Cup in Germany saw an explosion of usage, as the women, including Victoria Beckham and Colleen Rooney had a high profile of their own. Debates raged in the newspapers about whether the women’s presence was “distracting”  the footballers, alongside an equal fascination with what they were buying and wearing.
“Wag” quickly became a byword for the female partners of male professionals (in football and other spheres), often connoting a glamorous or extravagant lifestyle and a high media profile. By 2007 general readers could be expected to know what it meant… and the word was thus fast tracked to official OED standing.
OED makes a point of noting that it is quite uncommon for new words to reach a level of ubiquity in such a short time after their first appearance. What the rise of “wag” indicates is the importance retained by print media, even in this age of social networking. That surely cheered Fleet Street, where print media circulation and size have been steadily declining.
Other new words in the OED.
“Off the menu”.
The culinary appetites of the English-speaking world are ever more diverse. So are the words needed to feed these appetites. The March, 2011 update sees OED adding such far-flung items as “banh mi” (also known as Vietnamese sandwich;  “taquito” (a crisp-fried Tex-Mex snack); “kleftiko” (a Greek dish of slow-cooked lamb. And many other food-related items.
“From a land down under”.
OED aims to cover lexical developments from throughout the English- speaking world.

Yidakis 

In this update, a few new items from Australian English enter the dictionary for the first time: “flat white”, a style of espresso drink with finely textured foamed milk; “tragic” (a boring or socially inept person, especially  one with an obsessive interest or hobby); and “yidaki”, an Australian Aboriginal term for the musical instrument better known in English as a didgeridoo.
One more factoid.
This set of additions and revisions takes OED to the end of the letter R. In case you’re wondering, the biggest entry in this range is “run”. The verb alone contains 645 senses and is now the largest single entry in the dictionary; one sense is to run along… which is what I’ve got to do…
It’s all about us.
Frankly, there are few books as riveting as OED. No wonder. It’s ALL about us. It’s about smart people spending the whole of their productive lives listening to what we say, how we say it, and who said it first. (Maybe you!) What could be better than that?
OED is as vital as the latest email, film, novel, or conversation in the deli. Reading OED you have a comfortable seat for the thing that interests us most about each other: what we are saying right now, new, different, outrageous, crazy, shrewd. It’s all in OED.
That’s why my OED and I are BFF (“best friends forever”). You should be, too.
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About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.

Do you have any idea who Reichen Lehmkuhl is?

Have you ever watched The Amazing Race? I am a big fan and have seen every episode. If you’ve seen it, you probably remember Chip & Reichen. Reichen is in the news again (if you can call it that!) A very entertaining little story follows – enjoy! And…write a comment at the end …please! Another great read is about a Hooter Girl making good. Check it out it was a fun article. Another one on a similar topic where a guy went a little astray is the article Dr. Lant wrote about Adam Wheeler – if you missed it , I got it right here for you!
Here is some mood music!!!
Reichen Lehmkuhl reveals all — again. What a boy will do to get ahead.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
To be honest, I had forgotten  Reichen Lehmkuhl… and apparently a lot of other people had too. That’s the kiss of death for Reichen, a boy who has spent untold hours getting to be “known”, only to slip back into the unfathomable depths of obscurity.
If Reichen doesn’t know about the Myth of Sisyphus, he should. Sisyphus was a figure of Greek mythology, a man condemned to repeat forever the same meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain,  only to see it roll down again. It is a tale of frustration, futility, and despair.

Chip & Reichen

Is it better to inform him about Sisyphus, or not? A scene from Sam Spiegel’s epic film “Nicholas and Alexandra” (1971) frames the issue.
The Bolsheviks of Ekaterinburg have decided to assassinate the entire Romanov family, Nicholas II, his Tsaritsa Alexandra, and their five children, along with some members of their court, even  their dog. Their jailer knows this. He has been holding a sack full of their mail, wondering whether it would be “kind or cruel, cruel or kind” to give it to them…. He stands in the doorway of “The House of Special Purpose” musing. It is engrossing cinema but difficult to decide in real life…
I am faced by a similar conundrum. For it is painful to see what Reichen will do — and has already done — to capture the “bitch- goddess success”. William James, a Harvard man, coined the phrase in 1906 here in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “The exclusive worship of the bitch-goddess success is our national disease.”
James was celebrated worldwide when he made the celebrated observation. He was a man of family, education, worldwide renown, and substantial achievements.
All that he and Reichen Lehmkuhl have in common is the slender thread of Massachusetts birth, though James’ insight is crucial to understanding Reichen.
Reichen, you see, will do anything, everything for the love and admiration of unknown people… this is his curse, and it is painful watching, and wincing, as he grasps at straws which cannot turn into enduring, useful bricks. He is the bitch-goddess’ prisoner… no parole, no escape.
Born Richard Lehmkuhl, December 26, 1973.
Lehmkuhl’s parents, a policeman and a nurse, divorced when he was five years old. Thereafter his mother moved to a trailer park on  the Norton, Massachusetts Reservoir, near Wheaton College geographically, but a world away from its privileged youths. He was known as Richard then; “Reichen” he adopted after 2002. It sounded butch.
At age 16 (so it says in Wikipedia) , he received and accepted an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy. After graduating in 1996, he served five years and attained the rank of captain before his honorable discharge.
That’s the official story.
The unofficial story is more difficult, more important, and changed Reichen’s life.
In his first autobiography “Here’s What We’ll Say: Growing Up, Coming Out, and the U.S. Air Force” (2006) , Reichen tells the tale of being a gay cadet at the Air Force Academy, living a secret life that didn’t remain  a secret and  the harsh reality of harassment based on sexual preference. Writing this book with total honesty was perhaps his finest moment.
But the bitch-goddess success never makes things easy. She exacts a terrible price from those who worship at her shrine and want another dose of addictive fame, success, and the love and admiration of people they will never meet.
That dose, for Reichen, came when he and his “spouse” Chip Arndt were selected for “The Amazing Race 4? — and won…. a cool million the richer. Life wasn’t only good; it was idyllic. Youth, recognition, fans, money, love… it just doesn’t get any better than that.
Reichen was about to learn just how true that was.The bitch-goddess came with her I.O.U…and, as always, it was staggering.
He and Chip, the picture postcard perfect duo, split.
The money, easily acquired, was quickly dispersed, easy come, easy go.
Worst of all, Reichen, an officer and a gentleman by the act of Congress, a man of goals, deadlines, missions accepted, missions accomplished, now was ay loose ends, careerless, without the structure successful people know is crucial to their achievements and emotional well-being. The Air Force Officer who once flew high wasn’t grounded anymore.
For immediate recognition, strip and show all.
Reichen was gifted by God and hard work with an eye-catching bod. Now he decided it could be his passport to greater glories… not to mention lots of dates. And so, no doubt after due deliberation, he decided to put that body, all of that body, on display. Someone should have reminded him of a scene from “Saturday Night Fever.” (1977). A character named Annette wants a relationship with John Travolta’s character Tony. But he warns her, “Good girl or slut,” you can only be one or the other.
Stripped, Reichen started his descent, one provocative image at a time, flexed,  nude, the sex tiger…
He was buff, he was tan, he was chiseled, he was out-of-control.
And the bitch-goddess was grinning in the background… she was enjoying her work.
Every time you saw Reichen in the media, and Reichen sightings were frequent, he had less on, showed more beefcake and was with yet another, always younger guy friend. He made the West Hollywood party scene, where he party-hardied. There were the usual rumors of drugs and the usual frantic dissipations.
Then Reichen found love, or so he said. Lance Bass, younger, richer, celebrated (but dowdy), himself a former ‘N Sync band member wanted what Reichen had in spades… sex appeal to the max. Now there were endless Reichen and Lance sightings. For a while… then this relationship, too,tanked, so fast. It got ugly, it got messy, it got in the papers.
Now Reichen is shopping a new autobiography “It’ll Be Great Exposure.” On Twitter and Facebook, he says he’s dedicating this volume to “all who get fed this line.” In short, Reichen has become the “older but wiser boy”; or at least he says so.
The flesh is older now, though still alluring. It isn’t go much fun to do the party thing either. And it gets old, just ask him, being asked to strip and smile.  He was after all an Air Force Officer, a order giving man of spit and polish, destined for more than an aging boy toy. Now he’s angling for a second chance, a reformation. Only the bitch-goddess success knows whether he can have it… If you don’t see him in the papers, unclad and oiled, perhaps he got it after all.

About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Attend Dr. Lant’s live webcast TODAY and receive 50,000 free guaranteed visitors to the website of your choice! Dr. Lant is the author of 18 best-selling business books as well as a well known marketer and consultant.
Republished with author’s permission by Howard Martell http://HomeProfitCoach.com. Check out Push Button Money ->  http://www.HomeProfitCoach.com/?rd=qm8CGR4s

Goodbye Liz! I loved you too!

What I remember most about Liz is her relationship to Michael Jackson and her relentless pursuit of a cure for Aids. She will be missed, a true icon of American society. And…read below and enjoy one man’s perspective. The Author always has something to say – and say it he does!
‘Tell mama… Tell  mama all.’ An appreciation for the  life of Elizabeth Taylor,  who did  it  her way.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
First you saw two of the most beautiful people you had ever seen, Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. That was reason enough to pay attention.
Then, all of a sudden, the film made a quantum leap from eye-candy to the profound mysteries of sexuality, eroticism, desire. And Elizabeth Taylor was no longer merely the spoiled teenaged daughter of the country club set. She was a man’s ultimate desire… because she understood that desire is not about who you are… it’s about understanding what the other person needs, deep down inside… and making it, if only for an instant, temptingly available.
“Tell mama,” she whispered, “Tell mama  all.”
It was unexpected! It was erotic! It was kinky! This was the woman you’d kill for… as Montgomery Clift’s character did… it couldn’t be any other way.
This was Elizabeth Taylor… on the prowl, mesmerizing, entrancing, a woman who used her deep psychological insights to ensnare the man she wanted, the man who would ultimately bore her and so trigger another installment of the great game that was hers to play.
Was she just a character in “A Place In The Sun” (1951)… or was this the exciting, desirable woman herself? We didn’t know… but we definitely wanted to find out, whatever the cost. And we knew there would be a cost, a terrible cost.
“Tell mama… tell mama all.” We wanted the opportunity to do  just that.
And they say the ‘fifties were dull….  Not when Elizabeth Taylor was around. She didn’t know the meaning of the word and always chose mayhem over the placid and serene.
Now the woman is gone… but her great renown, her celebrity,  the legend all remain to titillate, captivate, thrill. All that will never be gone.
Elizabeth Rosamond Taylor, born February 27, 1932 in London.
Her father was an American art dealer, in London to open a gallery. Her mother,was an actress.  Although only 7 years old when her parents decided to remove her from war-threatened England and return to Los Angeles, there was always a faint hint of an English girl about her. But she was American through and through for all that Queen Elizabeth II in 1999 made her a Dame of the British Empire. And always remember this: at the supreme moment of American hegemony, Elizabeth Taylor was  the woman we  made one of our signature images. We were her co-conspirators every step of the way.
“National Velvet”  (1944).
Taylor’s parents wanted her to be an actress.  They packaged her like laundry soap and made the rounds of the studios. She did a successful screen test for Universal Pictures with her eyes — violet and soon to be world famous — the subject of comment. They always were.
That contract was brief and undistinguished, although she was paired with Carl Switzer (“Alfalfa” from the “Our Gang” movies) in the comedy “Man or Mouse”.  It was the last moment of her life when she would be unknown to the  world… although not the last where both the film and her performance were underwhelming. She got used that.
Her character, Velvet Brown, was a horse crazy adolescent. But what Hollywood and the discerning public saw was the way she talked about horses — she visibly throbbed with emotion. Her eyes — those famous eyes — gleamed, and her whole body shook with passion. “National Velvet” was a great hit… and it made Taylor, the mistress of passion, one of the hottest people on earth. She was just 12 years old, a real life Lolita. People talked about her; people always would.
The real problem was finding the suitable vehicle for her undeniable talent. It took 7 years — and a series of not-quite-right roles; (can you say “Conspirator” with Robert Taylor, 1949?)… but at last it all came together in “A Place In The  Sun.” Velvet Brown no longer was passionate about ponies; now she wanted men… when she wanted them, even if they had to kill so she could have them.
In that moment of profound psychological insight, Taylor realized that power and satisfaction grew out of the ability to be what every person needed. As she leaned into Monty Clift’s ear she was telling him she understood him and his needs and was ready to deliver. No wonder audiences thrilled. Women wanted to be her, so they could profit from this insight.
And men?
They would tell mama all; knowing that she would give them just want they wanted… and they would give her the world.
This role, this insight lead to everything that followed. Her motto now was “Let them come to you.” And they did… a worldwide caravan of admirers, followers, fans… including the men she selected to share her journey, then discard. Of her 7 husbands (if you count Richard Burton twice), Michael Todd, showman, dynamo, impresario, was the most important. She might not have stayed with him, either. However he would have known how to fight for her… and she would admire that. She understood the crucial difference between men who desired her… and men who knew what she needed: a fighter. Tragically, he died in 1958, in a plane  crash. It was the year of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, where she elevated insistent sensuality and the demands of desire to an art form.

Maggie

What “Maggie” wanted, Maggie got. Good women called her a “slut.” But, when  honest, women cheered her for doing what they could only dream of doing, with male management on top of the list. Elizabeth Taylor was never a hypocrite, something the hypocrites could never forgive. Her boldness affronted them, irritated them, infuriated them. It made the rest of us admire.
If Elizabeth Taylor cared, she never showed it or complained. It all worked to make her Larger than Life, the world riveted by every little move she made, with new husband in tow, or between “I do’s.”
Her last role was her finest, using the death of friend Rock Hudson from AIDS (1985) not as something to be ashamed of and forgotten, but as what it was: a  medical challenge to be confronted directly, honestly. If there were any justice, the Vatican would make her a saint. Predictably they vilified her for “erotic vagrancy.” It never said that about men and their amatory gyrations…
Dead at 79, March 23, 2011.
Now the lady is dead, a figure of history and lore… a creature of astonishing beauty with those violet eyes and talent, too, though not always seen in her films. Reports said she died of congestive heart failure, but that cannot be right, for she had nothing if not heart. It’s what defined her.
That’s why we believed her when she said,”Tell mama. Tell mamma all.” We knew she meant it and had the heart to carry through, even unto our most secret needs. We had to have such a person in our lives… and would do anything to keep her there. Now she abides with each of us alone, forever.

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About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.

‘And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.’ (Matthew 6:28) Easter Lilly, 2011

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
?????A great article on Easter. Creates a feeling of calm- the entire article is a must. Here is some music to get  you in the right mood!

It is today Easter Sunday. Easter came late this year, April 24. And it came into a world that was dismayed by our elusive springtime; temperatures low, hints of snow and even some late flakes, and the bone chilling winds that convince you January has never left, though in fact it is 55 degrees in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
My house is awash with flowers, many more than usual. I saw some lovely orchids at Shaw’s market in Porter Square; they were reasonably priced, too. And so then having nothing blooming inside, I brought them home. It is now two weeks and a couple days since I acquired them; they are faded now, of course. But  they still have traces, and proudly too, of the tasteful colors that made me snatch them up.
Doyle Taylor, a perceptive friend, saw that I was preoccupied one recent day and tended to be more caustic than usual. Doyle is a man who not merely believes in saying it with flowers but doing so promptly with a most thoughtful card signed by him and his new wife Casey. They were high school sweethearts who lost touch, married others… then after fate had dealt with them, rediscovered and married each other. They are charming, intelligent, delightful. One can never know too many such but life delivers them sparingly.
Then there is  my most recent floral acquisition, the mandatory (for some) Easter Lily. I got it only yesterday (when I inquired a week ago I was told they came in only a few days before the holiday. It has one  flower open and many buds promising  good value and good looks, too. It is of this plant and its Easter Lily — Lilium longiflorum — that I wish to speak for it is, verily, the  symbol  of the day and its world-changing events.
Many Easter lilies, not just one.
We speak in common parlance, as people do, of an “Easter lily,” but in fact there are several such. First, of course, lilium longiflorum, the clear winner of the name by its indisputable commercial prowess.
Following far behind in popularity, use, and commercial value is  Zantedeschia aethoipca, not a true lily at all, commonly called Lily of the Nile, Calla lily or Arum lily, native to southern Africa. Then Lilium candidum, commonly called the Madonna Lily, native to the Balkans and West Asia. Zephyranthes atamasco, commonly called Atamasco Lily or Rain Lily, native to the southwestern United States… then (you never guessed) daffodils, the daffs we love being lilies after all.
Where did Easter lilies come from?
Ever hear of the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan? That’s where today’s Easter lilies originate. And therein lies an important fact about why this industry was once dominated by Japan… and why today it is almost completely American. World War II was the transforming event.
Prior to 1941, the majority of Easter lily bulbs were exported to the United States from Japan. World War II changed everything. Today 95% of all bulbs grown for the potted Easter lily market are not only produced in the United States, but more surprisingly within a narrow coastal region straddling the California-Oregon border, from Smith River, California up to Brookings, Oregon. It gets even more interesting; just 10 farms in this area produce almost all Easter lily bulbs in the US of A. Unsurprisingly these farms have dubbed themselves collectively the “Easter Lily Capital of the World.”
An industry completely changed by one man and one bulb.
One man made a huge difference to this US dominance of the Easter Lily and how it looks today. That man was Louis Houghton who brought a suitcase full of hybrid lily bulbs to the south coast of Oregon in 1919. These he freely distributed certain that the weather and environment were perfect for the cultivation of a superior bulb to that grown by the Japanese. When WW II cut off Americans from the Easter lilies which were an integral part of religious services, Houghton was given his big chance on a silver platter.
He was successful beyond his wildest imaginings. By 1945 there were about 1,200 growers producing bulbs up and down the Pacific Coast, from Vancouver, Canada to Long Beach, California. The early comers profited for a time as the price of lily bulbs skyrocketed. It reminded some of the Dutch “tulip mania” of the 17th century, where a single tulip bulb cost the annual wages of 10 skilled crafts people. Were Easter lily bulbs next? A small army of lily farmers bet the ranch on it… and failed. The number of Easter lily producing farms steadily dropped; today there are just 10… comfortably dividing up the proceeds.
The Nellie White.
James White was one of the successful Easter lily producers. However, he thought the elimination of Japan (and its too small lilies) opened the door for other improvements, too. He wanted to end the dominance of the “White Gold” bulb… and significantly improve the look of Easter lilies with an entirely new bulb… in due course named after White’s wife, Nellie. Today the “Nellie White” dominates the U.S. market and thus the entire Easter lily business. One crucial thing in season can completely change any industry, and no one in business should ever forget that.
More about the Easter lily business.
One major reason why so many Easter lily producers closed was the considerable difficulty in growing and managing the plants themselves. First, Easter lily bulbs must be cultivated in the fields for three, sometimes four, years, before they are ready to be shipped to commercial greenhouse growers. During these years the bulbs are never dormant and require constant care and attention to assure superior quality and cleanliness. Each bulb is handled up to 40 times before it is ready to be shipped. And remember the commercial selling season is just two weeks annually at the time of Easter (the date for which changes annually)… and all Easter lilies must be ready and should ideally have at least one flower open, the better to showcase the thing that matters most of all to everyone who sees this stately, evocative plant: the Easter lily itself. It is astonishingly elegant, dramatic, the very essence of purity. As such Jesus saw fit to use this favored plant as a means of quieting nervous Christians.
The Sermon on the Mount.
Of the many seminal moments in the brief ministry of Jesus Christ on earth, the Sermon on the Mount needs special attention. It was given in about AD 30 and contains one essential element of the Christian religion after another, including this reassuring sentiment to believers:
“Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
And so Jesus turned a glorious flower into a symbol of God’s love for and protection of even erring people. Thus, when you attend Easter services today or any day and see the unforgettable white trumpet-like flowers of the Easter lily, you are seeing an apt symbol and manifestation of a love that can be ours and eternal.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. , providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author’s permission by Howard Martell <a href=”http://HomeProfitCoach.com“>http://HomeProfitCoach.com</a>. Check out Commission Maniac ->  http://www.HomeProfitCoach.com/?rd=rb14eOHk

Read this article aloud! – How do you sound? (ask somebody else!)

To be able to read well aloud, one needs practice. It is a lot harder than you think. Give it a try and I promise you one thing, nobody will want to listen. I sound so much worse than I thought I would. Anyway, here is an article on the subject!
Mastering the fine art of reading aloud… and why you must do so.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Go into any office in the world and its busy denizens will be emailing, leaving telephone messages, text  messaging, etc. Each and every time they use these admittedly convenient devices, their necessary human to human communications skills are melting away. Tools that are supposed to help us communicate exact a terrible price for convenience; that price is the whittling away of our language skills.
Go into any home in the world and the same perilous, reprehensible trend is immediately apparent. The members of most families rarely function as a united, cohesive unit. Instead, they spend their time text messaging, emailing, leaving telephone messages and, when not otherwise engaged, they sit before their home entertainment devices alone, very much in their own worlds, the occasional grunt and interjection all that passes for conversation and togetherness.
Now consider the classic film “I Remember Mama” (released 1948). Here family is not a thing. It is everything. Each evening this Norwegian immigrant family, now resident  in San Francisco, sits together at the supper table once the dishes have been removed… and they read to each other.
They read the great classics, adventure stories, mysteries, romances, travel, history… and they are expected to read well and to make every attempt (depending on their ages) to read clearly and to be able to discuss what they are reading.
You will say, but that is only a film, only fiction. But I shall say to you, most every family then spent most of their evenings so, even if the books they read were the King James Version of the Bible, The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (1678), and a volume or two of “improving” stories and sermons; in English-speaking lands quite likely the works of William Shakespeare, too.
In those days when a family was a family, people read to each  other. And they derived a plethora of benefits, immediate and long term, to wit, how to
* pronounce words properly
* discover the proper definitions of words and so increase vocabulary and language usage
* read for greatest personal understanding and the greater understanding of all auditors
* learn all the nuances of language from its greatest practitioners
* use language to make yourself completely clear and comprehensible, using the right word at the right time
* “read” your audience as you read to them
* make a presentation that influences people
* read at the right speed
* perfect daily language use
* talk to people, not at people.
Even merely perusing this list of benefits establishes just how far we have descended from the far more literate ages preceding our own. They spoke more clearly, read more clearly, and wrote more clearly than most people today, despite the trillions of dollars we spend on education generally and human communications skills particularly. Education, in this regard as others, has manifestly failed; as a result we have millions of people who have passed through the public (and private) educational systems (with graduation certificates to prove it) who are daily humiliated and shown to be completely inadequate at their own language.
If you are satisfied with this result, with producing children with less verbal dexterity and understanding than you and far, far less than their grandparents, then do nothing. Clearly you are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Otherwise, resolve to save your children, with or without the help of our schools. Most of these will advance a million “reasons”, or more, why reading aloud is impractical. The extent to which they do so is the extent to which they, too, are part of the problem, sabotaging the solution.
But let us begin, if only like the characters in “I Remember Mama” at the kitchen table… it will do just fine.
1) Start now. If you wish to save whatever communication and language skills remain, act at once to do so. Remember, they are at peril.
2) Read this article to your children before starting. It will help them understand the negligence of the schools, their own at risk position, and the need for as much of their cooperation as they can give.
3) Tape your sessions. No one can ever believe without such irrefutable proof that they read quite as badly as they do.
4) Keep sessions to 60-90 minutes. Even that, I admit, may seem unreachable, but what are goals for, after all, if not to challenge and set a clear objective representing improvement?
5) Select material which is interesting. Remember, you are competing against thousands of distractions which have been expertly developed by folks to steal your children’s attention and keep it squarely where they wish. So, select something decidedly interesting.
6) Keep a check list of things which can be improved. Keep a note pad at the ready so you can recall good things needing praise… and bad things needing attention.
7)  Ensure that all participating (and, remember, it needn’t be just children) have the opportunity to read aloud each session. This is a hands-on event, and no one should be just “audience.”
More tips
You must have  procedures in place for maximizing results. Here are some suggestions:
1) When the reader doesn’t know a particular word, do not give the definition yourself. Keep a dictionary at the ready and have the reader look up the word in question.
Idea: you can also ask the participants to write down what they think the definition is, then check the dictionary. Make this a game. No dictionary in your house? Get one at once.
2) Do the same where the reader trips over the pronunciation of a word. Here the dictionary is again invaluable.
3)  Keep close attention to the speed at which the reader reads; odds are, it will be too fast. That must be eradicated. You’ll find yourself saying “slow down” often, and quite right.
4) Make sure the reader doesn’t sit stiffly but instead naturally. The pose the reader adopts will influence the entire atmosphere. Calm and amiable are good objectives.
5) Make sure the reader learns the art of looking up from time to time, thereby establishing and maintaining complete audience contact.
Conclusion
What is great about learning how to read aloud is that the benefits will resonate through your entire life. They are crucial, aiding you in your educational endeavors, employment, relationships, and more.  Our schools have let your children down… don’t compound their problems by failing to do what you can. From this very moment.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.
Republished with author’s permission by Howard Martell <a href=”http://HomeProfitCoach.com“>http://HomeProfitCoach.com</a>. Check out Commission Maniac ->  http://www.HomeProfitCoach.com/?rd=rb14eOHk