4 dangerous dating games you shouldn't play | eHarmony ...

Some people say that dating is a game but in most games there are winners and losers. We at eHarmony believe that in the pursuit of a healthy, lasting relationship no-one should feel like a loser so discourage dangerous game playing.

People often refer to dating as a game but it can be very unhelpful to view it in this way if what you are looking for is a healthy, committed relationship with someone you are really compatible with. There are books and articles galore explaining the rules and the strategies and moves you should deploy in this game of love. While some of them may help you be successful in securing dates there are some games that are actually dangerous and can not be deployed without the risk of seriously hurting someone else?s feelings.

1. Exploitation of weakness

In any game of strategy the way to win is to identify the opponent?s weaknesses and exploit them. In personal relationships this can take many forms. Often what is exploited is someone?s vulnerability or neediness. A predatory dater could be on the lookout for people who are naive, vulnerable, lonely or isolated and attempt to develop a sexual relationship with no intention of making a commitment. On the other hand someone may look for a person with lots of money and feign affection to exploit their wealth.

Whatever the situation what is missing is a regard for the needs and interests of the other person ? the one who is game playing is only interested in their own needs and will care little for the damage they do to the other person when they no longer want them. This is a very dangerous game and one that can do serious long term emotional damage as the victim?s trust will be broken ? the better the player the more damage is done.

Often people play this game because they are afraid of being vulnerable themselves and mistakenly believe they will only get their needs met through dominating or manipulating another person. Until they stop the game they will always be the losers because they won?t ever know what it is like to love and care for someone else.

2.?Bluffing

This is a handy and useful tactic in a game of poker but bluffing has no part to play when it comes to dating. Stringing someone along because you have nothing better going on; allowing them to think your feelings for them are deeper than they are; using them to get back at your ex or because you can?t bear to be without a date on a Saturday night are all bad tactics. ?Unless you are being upfront about what it is you are doing then you are bluffing and using them and it will eventually backfire on you.

As frightening as it may be to be on your own and face your feelings of loneliness it is better than living a lie. Any relationship based on deceit will eventually crumble and is likely to do harm to both parties as well as stopping them moving on to healthier relationships.

3.????? A numbers game

Online dating means that you have the potential to meet many matches ? like fishing in the sea rather than in the little pond that might be your hometown or workplace. It is generally accepted that people will be chatting with more than one match at a time and may even be dating several people at once. This is absolutely fine as long as you are open and upfront about it. Most people will continue in this way until they meet someone they really connect with and after a few dates they become exclusive, letting the others down gently.

This only becomes a dangerous dating game if you are not honest and are pretending you are seeing someone exclusively while still meeting other people behind their back. You may think you are being smart because you are upping the odds of getting a real catch but if your dating strategy is based on dishonesty then the chances are that you will never land a winner.

4.????? Playing online

It is now generally accepted that internet use can become highly addictive, more so now that most people have smart phones and can access their messages any time, any place and any where. Every time we see the little symbol or light that indicates a new message a little bit of serotonin is released in the brain making us feel good.? Some people get so hooked on this that they spend the majority of their time in front of the computer communicating with matches but hardly any meeting anyone in person. This can damage you confidence and your interpersonal skills so unless you want your primary relationship to be with your computer then you need to build relationships face to face ? virtual love is a poor substitute for the real thing.

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Source: http://www.eharmony.co.uk/relationship-advice/dating/2013/01/4-dangerous-dating-games-you-shouldnt-play

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Health and environment: A closer look at plastics

Jan. 23, 2013 ? Plastics have transformed modern society, providing attractive benefits but also befouling waterways and aquifers, depleting petroleum supplies and disrupting human health.

Rolf Halden, a researcher at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute has been following the chemical trail of plastics, quantifying their impact on human health and the environment. In a new overview appearing in the journal Reviews on Environmental Health, Halden and his co-author, ASU student Emily North, detail the risks and societal rewards of plastics and describe strategies to mitigate their negative impacts, through reconsideration of plastic composition, use and disposal.

"We are in need of a second plastic revolution. The first one brought us the age of plastics, changing human society and enabling the birth and explosive growth of many industries. But the materials used to make plastics weren't chosen judiciously and we see the adverse consequences in widespread environmental pollution and unnecessary human exposure to harmful substances. Smart plastics of the future will be equally versatile but also non-toxic, biodegradable and made from renewable energy sources," says Halden.

Plastics are made up of a network of molecular monomers linked to form macromolecules. These versatile chemical structures come in enormous varieties and today over 20 major forms of plastics exist. Plastics are typically lightweight and biocompatible. Along with their myriad uses in everyday life, plastics fulfill many needs in the public health arena, where they are found in items including absorbable sutures, prosthetics and engineered tissues.

Further, plastics may be manufactured at low cost using little energy and their adaptable composition allows them to be synthesized in soft, transparent or flexible forms suitable for a broad range of medical applications. Because they can be readily disposed of, items like latex gloves, dialysis tubes, intravenous bags and plastic syringes eliminate the need for repeated sterilization, which is often costly and inefficient. Such single-use items have had a marked effect on reducing blood-borne infections, including hepatitis B and HIV.

Many varieties of polymers are produced to meet the expanding needs of modern medicine. Polymer chemistry is used to produce sophisticated drug delivery systems for the pharmaceutical industry; material to cement bone for hip replacements is made with polymer polymethylmethacrylate and polymer scaffolds are revolutionizing the practice of tissue engineering.

Researchers like Halden have shown, however, that the benefits of global plastics use can come at a steep price in terms of both human and environmental health. Continuous contact with plastic products, from the beginning to the end of life has caused chemical ingredients -- some with potentially harmful effects -- to form steady-state concentrations in the human body.

In recent years, two plastic-associated compounds have been singled out for particular scrutiny, due to their endocrine-disrupting properties: Bisphenol A (BPA) and di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP). Studies of bioaccumulation have shown that detectable levels of BPA in urine have been identified in 95 percent of the adult population in the U.S. and both BPA and DEHP have been associated, through epidemiological and animal studies, with adverse effects on health and reproduction. These include early sexual maturation, decreased male fertility, aggressive behavior and other effects. Concern over BPA exposure, particularly for highly vulnerable members of the population, has recently led the Food and Drug Administration to place a ban on BPA use in infant bottles, spill proof cups and other products intended for infants and toddlers.

Similar issues exist with DEHP, a plasticizer found in polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Because this additive is not tightly bound to the plastics in which it is used, the potential exists for DEHP to leach out and enter the body, causing unwanted exposure and affecting health. Both animal and human studies suggest DEHP may produce harmful effects, including insulin resistance, increased waist circumference and changes to male and female reproductive systems.

A variety of other plastic-related chemicals are currently under evaluation by Halden's group for their adverse effects on health and the environment. These include polyhalogenated flame retardants, polyfluorinated compounds and antimicrobials containing plastic additives such as triclosan and triclocarban.

While researchers are still at the early stages of assessing the risks to human health posed by plastics use, negative impacts on the environment have been a growing concern for many years. Over 300 million metric tons of plastics are produced worldwide each year. Roughly 50 percent of this volume is made up of products disposed of within one year of purchase.

Plastics today represent 15-25 percent of all hospital waste in the U.S. Some newer plastics are biodegradeable, but the rest must be incinerated, disposed of in landfills, or recycled. All of these methods have drawbacks and carry environmental risk, as the new study explains.

Biodegradeable plastics may break down in the environment into smaller polymer constituents, which may still pose a risk to the environment. Incineration liberates greenhouse gases associated with climate change. Landfilling of plastics, particularly in the enormous volumes now produced, may be an impractical use of land resources and a danger exists of plastics constituents entering the ground water. Finally, recycling of plastics requires careful sorting of plastic material, which is difficult. Recycled plastics tend to be of lower quality and may not be practical for health care and other applications.

As Halden explains, the problems posed by plastics need to be addressed on several fronts, and current research offers significant hope for improvements to human and environmental health. Better biodegradeable plastics are now being developed using carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide compounds and applying metal complexes as catalysts.

The technique provides a double benefit, binding unwanted greenhouse gases, while avoiding the competition with the human food supply. (Conventional bioplastics are made with plant sources like corn and molasses.) One application would be to replace BPA-containing epoxy resins lining metal food cans, thereby dramatically reducing BPA exposure while also sequestering 180 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (greenhouse) emissions.

The use of disposable items is also undergoing a reevaluation, in light of the potential environmental toll. In some cases, reusable plastic products are gaining ground, and estimates suggest the potential for a 50 percent reduction in medical equipment costs. Almost a quarter of all U.S. hospitals are now using reprocessing to decrease disposable waste.

Nevertheless, the largest source of plastics-related environmental damage stems from the overuse of items whose long-term harm outweighs their short-term benefit. Typically, these are consumer convenience items, often quickly discarded after a short use-life, including plastic water bottles, grocery bags, packaging, Styrofoam cups, Teflon-coated dental floss and other products. Halden recommends a thorough life-cycle assessment of plastics-based products, to identify safer, more sustainable replacement materials that reduce adverse effects to the environment and human health from plastic consumption.

"Many current types and consumption patterns of plastics are unsusustainable, as indicated by harmful plastic components circulating in our blood streams and multiple giant garbage patches of plastic debris swirling in the world's oceans. Continued use of plastics into the future will require us to redesign these indispensible materials of daily life to make them compatible with human health and the ecosystems we rely on," says Halden.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Arizona State University. The original article was written by Richard Harth.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/dfTI4MpfEOU/130123133928.htm

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NRA Lobbying Expenses Topped $3 Million In 2012

WASHINGTON -- The National Rifle Association and its government affairs subsidiary, the Institute for Legislative Action, spent more than $3 million lobbying the federal government on firearms-related legislation in 2012, according to newly released lobbying disclosure forms.

The nation's largest gun rights group reported $3.01 million in federal lobbying expenses for last year, $2.5 million of which was spent on its own in-house lobbyists, with another $510,000 going to four outside lobbying firms, including Karl Rove's consulting group Crossroads Strategies LLC.

This money is separate from the nearly $19 million the NRA spent trying to influence the 2012 elections. Lobbying and electoral spending are the chief ways the group promotes its legislative agenda.

The NRA's lobbyists reported working to influence Congress on a number of different proposed laws, none of which have been passed so far. The most ambitious bill, the Sportsmen's Act of 2012, would have allowed certain hunters to traverse national park lands, legalized the importation of trophy polar bear heads from Canada and cut funding for whale research. Other bills would have exempted lead bullets from toxic substance regulations and expanded hunting areas.

The NRA is one of the nation's most powerful single-issue groups, and its lobbying expenses dwarf those of similar organizations. For example, the National Wildlife Federation, one of the most active environmental groups in lobbying, spent $660,000 on such activities last year, while the abortion rights group NARAL Pro Choice America spent a mere $170,000 in the same period.

The gun rights group's lobbying expenditures in 2011 were nearly the same -- a total of $3.005 million -- as in 2012. But its in-house lobbying expenses in the fourth quarter of 2012 were lower -- by $45,000-- than they were in the same period of 2011. This cutback may represent the group's decision to go temporarily silent following the Dec. 14 massacre of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The shootings in Newtown, Conn., shocked the nation and galvanized public support for stricter gun laws, which the NRA vehemently opposes. President Barack Obama last week issued 23 executive orders aimed at preventing gun violence and called on Congress to pass stricter gun control measures.

The NRA went immediately silent in both the media and on Capitol Hill following the Sandy Hook massacre, but after nearly a month, the group re-emerged on Capitol Hill in mid-January, prepared to make sure members of Congress heard the gun lobby's side of any debate on gun violence prevention.

After an active few weeks on social media, the NRA's Twitter account was silent again on Tuesday, as news broke of a shooting at Lone Star College in Texas.

Related on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/22/nra-lobbying-2012_n_2528495.html

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Hearing loss may be linked to mental decline - Harvard Health ...

Loss of hearing represents more than just difficulty hearing sounds. It can lead to social isolation and depression. A new study suggests that hearing loss may also be linked to loss of memory and thinking skills.

In a study published online yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins researchers found that declines in thinking skills happened faster during a six-year period among people with hearing loss than among those without it. Among the nearly 2,000 volunteers, all over age 70, those with hearing loss we also likely to develop ?cognitive impairment,? defined as a substantial reduction in the score on a key test called the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination. The researchers estimated that it would take a hearing-impaired older adult just under eight years, on average, to develop cognitive impairment compared with 11 years for those with normal hearing.

This isn?t the first time that researchers have explored possible connections between hearing loss and brain function. Some saw what the Hopkins team saw, while others found no connection between hearing loss and thinking skills. The strengths of this study compared to earlier ones are:

??? It included older people who had normal tests for memory and thinking at the start.

??? All volunteers had standardized hearing tests performed by professionals.

??? The same methods for testing hearing and brain function were used throughout the study.

Keep in mind that this new study shows an association. It does not prove that hearing loss causes a decline in thinking skills. The work also raises a huge question: can treating hearing loss prevent or slow an age-related decline in brain function?

What?s the connection?

If hearing and thinking skills are truly connected, there are several plausible reasons that might be so.

Hearing loss can lead to greater social isolation, something to which older people are already prone, and social isolation is a definite risk factor for cognitive impairment and dementia. Like impaired vision, diminished hearing can lead to less brain stimulation, another risk factor for a decline in thinking skills. It?s also possible that by making the brain work overtime to process the signals it is getting from the ears, hearing loss pulls away energy from the ?thinking? parts of the brain.

Check your hearing

Up to two-thirds of adults older than 70 have some hearing loss. Doctors don?t routinely check for this problem, so it may be up to you to identify it. Since it often comes on slowly, you may be unaware you are having a problem.

Answering ?yes? to three or more of the questions below, from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, suggests that it?s a good idea to talk with your doctor. He or she may refer you for a formal hearing test.

• Do you have a problem hearing over the telephone?
• Do you have trouble following the conversation when two or more people are talking at the same time?
• Do people complain that you turn the volume of the radio or television up too high?
• Do you have to strain to understand conversation?
• Do you have trouble hearing in a noisy background?
• Do you find yourself asking people to repeat themselves?
• Do many people you talk to seem to mumble or not speak clearly?
• Do you misunderstand what others are saying and respond inappropriately?
• Do you have trouble understanding the speech of women and children?
• Do people get annoyed because you misunderstand what they say?

Source: http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/hearing-loss-may-be-linked-to-mental-decline-201301225824

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What Exactly Is Australian Barbecue? | FirstWeFeast.com

As far as stereotypical Australian phrases go, few come to mind more readily than put another shrimp on the barbie.

For Australians, however, the notion that they are forever tossing shrimp onto their barbies (barbecues) is absurd. In fact, the barbecue culture Down Under is much more reflective of the country?s resources, as well as its proximity to Asia.The Herald Sun quizzed Aussie food personalities on what they love to grill, revealing a much more diverse ?cue cutlure than you might expect.

First though, some definitions. While many of us use the terms ?barbecue? and ?grill? interchangeably, bonafide BBQ experts stateside consider the two distinct. Barbecue refers to cooking for a long period at a low temperature. This ?low and slow? approach to cooking meats?particularly tough cuts??allows for the food to soak up the smoke and rub flavors, and to become very tender and moist.? Grilling is the opposite approach??the method of cooking food hot and fast on your grill.??This technique is most commonly used for everyday backyard cookout fare like burgers, chicken, steak, seafood, vegetables, and fruit.

For Australians, barbecue is more all-encompassing, equivalent to our sense of grilling. For chefs like Curtis Stone, Marion Glasby, and Stefano de Pierri, the prime candidates for BBQ are lamb, sausages, and prawns. However, there were other chefs who named choices that reflected Australia?s rich immigrant background. A?third-generation Aussie, celebrity chef Kylie Kwong?chose?yabbies (freshwater crawfish) with a dressing of chili, garlic, ginger, and soy. Meanwhile, Gourmet Farmer?Matthew Evans believes that ?one of the joys of being Australian is being able to ?pick and choose and take in all the good stuff from around the world?,? which is why he opts for a Middle Eastern lamb kofte as a favorite.

[via The Herald Sun]

Source: http://firstwefeast.com/travel/what-exactly-is-australian-barbecue/

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McAfee outlines strategy for business security | Networks Asia

McAfee has announced its strategy for building upon Security Connected, the framework in which security products and services work together to safeguard businesses with better protection from new types of attacks.?

The company says it will expand its current broad portfolio through strategic acquisitions, development projects and key partnerships to deliver more integrated solutions and comprehensive protection across mobile devices, endpoints, servers, and network through an extensible framework.?

When organizations deploy many separate technologies, gaps are created which lead to breaches and compliance violations and allows attacks to happen.? Last year, attacks such as Flame and Shamoon exposed vulnerabilities in the point security product approach.? Additionally, the biggest day-to-day cost driver for organizations is operations including managing multiple security consoles, numerous policies and rules, and constant updates.? To tackle these inefficient silos, Security Connected seeks to deliver business efficiency, predictability and actionable information.?

?Security is now a boardroom level discussion,? said Michael Fey, chief technology officer at McAfee. ?The stakes are high, and businesses require a new model that gives them a comprehensive picture of their entire IT infrastructure. The industry has been built on a historical thought process that will not support the demands of the future.? We must move to having a real-time understanding and response capability if we are to meet the needs of the future.?

McAfee Security Connected brings network and endpoint together through an extensible framework, centralized management and integrated with global threat intelligence delivers unprecedented visibility across all threat vectors.?

At the core of McAfee Security Connected are the principles of integrated solutions, built-in intelligence, and advanced management offered with an extensible architecture for partners.

For integrated management, the McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator? is security management software in the industry that scales to over 250,000 nodes from a single server, and running on over 100 million endpoints.

Meanwhile the McAfee Enterprise Security Manager enables business with true, real-time situational awareness and the speed and scale required to identify critical threats, respond intelligently, and ensure continuous compliance monitoring.? McAfee Enterprise Security Manager is built for big security data ? featuring a specialized security information management back-end that delivers unsurpassed speed, intelligence and scalability.?

For intelligence, McAfee Network Security will continue to be an important focus within Security Connected. McAfee offers market leading IPS, next generation firewall, DLP, Web and network email security with an optimized management platform.?

Also part of the Security Connected framework is McAfee Endpoint Security that includes virtualization security, mobile protection, endpoint email security, whitelisting technology and web safety, and protection below the OS to allow businesses to guard devices against the latest threats with fewer IT resources.

Core to the Security Connected framework is the McAfee Global Threat Intelligence (GTI) which monitors the behavior of millions of Web sites globally and associated domain assets (email servers, file servers, etc.) to identify anomalous and potentially dangerous behavior.

By establishing and tracking a reputation score for these millions of sites, McAfee GTI can identify new cyberthreats as they occur and empower McAfee endpoint, network, and gateway products to protect users from new and emerging threats. Only McAfee Global Threat Intelligence is capable of identifying and blocking threats emanating from file, web, email, and network sources.

Source: http://www.networksasia.net/content/mcafee-outlines-strategy-business-security

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Report: Schwarzenegger says he still loves Shriver

BERLIN (AP) ? Arnold Schwarzenegger is quoted in an interview in Germany's top-selling newspaper saying he's still in love with his estranged wife, Maria Shriver.

The actor and former California governor is quoted in Tuesday's Bild newspaper as saying that despite their separation, he spent Christmas with Shriver and their children.

Schwarzenegger is cited as saying "we're not fighting any war: I still hope for reconciliation; I still love Maria."

Shriver filed for divorce last year after 25 years of marriage following Schwarzenegger's admission he fathered a child with the family's housekeeper.

He has also acknowledged other affairs.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-22-EU-Germany-Schwarzenegger/id-c057c5fe056c437e849c26e926e4de54

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