Why would you swallow something if you don't know what's in it?

   Most people, by the way, don't even examine what they eat in the first place. They just shovel it down without a thought.

It was the Greek philosopher Socrates who famously said, "An unexamined life is not worth living." My modern version of this quote in the realm of health is, "An unexamined diet is not worth eating."

And yet people almost never examine what they eat. They chew and swallow blindly, giving less thought to what they put inside their bodies than the clothes they wear outside their bodies.

Actually, they choose their foods from the perspective of entertainment. What taste and texture will be entertaining right now? What will give my taste buds pleasure in this instant, regardless of the lifelong effects of this substance on my body?

What sugars, fats or chemical taste enhancers can I place on my tongue in this instant that will provide some level of sensory experience to my brain and remind me that I'm still alive?

That's the real essence of it, you see. People are sleepwalking through our world half dead, and what they really seek is just stimulation to remind them that they aren't dead yet. Almost any stimulation will do: The loud blaring of speakers at a rock concert, the sexual foreplay with a new partner, the rush of an abused prescription drug, the thrill of a horror movie, the sensory engrossment of a violent video game, the stimulant kick of a Coca-Cola... it hardly matters as long as something is being felt through the numbness of emotional trauma that typifies human experience in our modern world.

The numbed-up, dumbed-down metrosexual seeker of experience is actually a biological stimulation machine with a tiny unit of consciousness tacked on top that's seeking a heavy hit of just about anything to remind himself that he still exists. "I feel, therefore I am," to bastardize Descartes' famous utterance.

But what do we really feel when we pursue a life of delusional junk foods and other false stimulation? We only feel further numbed from reality; numbed from our own bodies, numbed to our spirituality and numbed to the consciousness that would give our lives purpose rather than processed probiotic powder.

In pursuing a life of junk consumption, what becomes frozen is not merely our yogurt but our entire experience of life. Frozen yogurt is perhaps the perfect food metaphor for what's happening in American culture today: The mass consumption of a self-destructive lie that offers a brief moment of satisfaction followed by a lifetime of disease.

The illusion of healthy food

    If I throw probiotics on a pizza, it doesn't turn the pizza into healthy cuisine. If I slap probiotics on a cheeseburger, it doesn't make it a healthy cheeseburger. So why do so many people believe that mixing in a little probiotic powder with ice cream suddenly makes it a "health food?"

The answer? Because they want to.

Frozen yogurt shops don't deliver healthy food, but they do deliver the illusion of healthy food. And inAmerica today, where illusion dominates reality, that's good enough!

People aren't really interested in what they're eating, you see. They just want to be convincingly persuaded that whatever they're swallowing is somehow good for them. That's sufficient evidence in their minds to go ahead and start chowing down.

It's much the same with popular religion in the USA today. Few people really believe in God even if they claim to, because if they did, they wouldn't go out and destroy their God-given bodies with alcohol, cigarettes, booze, drugs and junk food. They don't really want to authentically believe in God, you see, because that would require a whole different level of personal discipline to act in a way that honored theirbeliefs (and honored their body as a temple). If you destroy your health with junk food, your actions scream to the universe that you really don't follow God's will at all.

What was that part in the Bible about gluttony? I don't often quote scripture, but it's relevant here:Proverbs 23:20-21 "Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags."

What people want in America today is junk food, junk news, junk knowledge and junk beliefs. They don't really believe much of anything except those simple spoon-fed beliefs that happen to coincide with the self-destructive lifestyle they wanted to pursue anyway. Life is an all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-smoke, all-you-can-drink orgy! So let's call it "reduced-calorie" dessert and get on with it, shall we?

People pick their beliefs, in other words, to try to justify their actions. Any belief that contradicts their short-term desires will be modified, pushed aside or simply overwritten with some other belief that allows them the excuse to pursue immediate satisfaction. The false belief that "frozen yogurt is health food" serves this purpose nicely.

Preparing a market study

   This part of the Principles of Marketing Tutorials provides information and guidelines that professionals and students should consider when presented with the task of researching a market. What follows is NOT a marketing plan. Rather what follows is a market study, a component within the larger marketing plan. (For more information on developing a marketing plan see the How to Write a Marketing Plan tutorial.) Thus, the information provided should not focus so much on what is being planned but on what has been learned about the market.

However, you can allude to what you plan to do in order to set the stage for why you are collecting certain types of data. For example, you can say "Product X is planned to target a specific segment of the XYZ market, consequently, we have investigated certain aspects of this market." Those interested in following these guidelines should not limit themselves to what is shown. Feel free to include more if it is appropriate.

The guidelines apply to almost all products and services. Additionally, these guidelines can be adjusted in order to be used as a study of a company as a whole and not just products/services. Please note this is an ever evolving set of guidelines so you may want to check back on a regular basis for any updates.

Google Adschoices

ini dia jawabannya google ad choices logo iklan google berubah kenapa ya? Katanya sih cuma tampilan baru Google Ads aja nggak pp dan lebih indah aja dipandangnya gak membosankan. Hehehe

Ya Boleh juga tampilan nya tuh, mencoba berkunjung ke blog-blog teman yang lain, eh sama juga berubah menjadi AdChoices katanya nggak pp, ya udah diem aja.

Ada apa ya adchoices google ini? Yok coba kita lihat apa yang terjadi, Google adschoices yang terdapat pada setiap iklan atau google ads para blogger itu normal saja.

Google hanya merubah tampilannya mungkin google bosan dan blogger juga kayaknya bosan juga kan? Hehehe

Itulah google sangat pintar mengambil hati blogger dan pengiklan, dengan fitur adchoices tersebut saat diklik akan merujuk pada halaman penjelasan yang mungkin menurut saya lebih sedikit minformatif.

Tidak seperti dulu mengenai beriklan di google. Hanya beberapa kalimat saja tentang Adword di google tersebut.

Ya Google tak kan melepaskan pengiklan dan publishernya dengan begitu saja, kecuali ya jika melanggar aturan mereka betul tidak? Hehehe.

Soo.. Jangan takut itu bukan salah kode script atau apalah hanya google memberikan kemudahan untuk pengiklan dan juga keuntungan untuk blogger.

Info lebih lengkapnya silahkan saja diklik adchoices tersebut dan baca apa yang dimaukan oleh boss google bagi para adv dan publishernya,

Interview with InnerFX: “JPY and CHF will Continue to Strengthen

Today, I bring you an interview with Liviu Flesar, an independent trader and blogger. His portal is InnerFX, which is billed as a “useful resource for traders from all over the world and a trading blog where novice traders can learn how to trade better.” Below, Mr. Flesar discusses his background and shares his thoughts on the major currencies, setting up trades, and how to reform the rating agency system.

Forex Blog: I’d like to begin by asking you about your background as a trader and as a commentator. How did you get started in forex? At what point did you make the transition from trading currencies to offering analysis to the public? What was your motivation for that decision?

Hello Adam, thank you for inviting me to the interview. Back in the year 2003, some friends were talking about investing in the stock market. I had listened to their conversations, which was quite interesting, even though I had only a little idea about what they meant. Once I got back home, I started to search on the Internet – looking for Stock Investing websites to learn more about it. I stumbled across various sites and soon opened my first account on a gambling site. Gambling – that’s right. For example, it was possible to try predicting the last decimal of a financial instrument after 10 market ticks. That was crazy and foolish. I blew my account after two weeks, so I decided to take a break and do some more research.

After browsing though forums and trading sites, I discovered the exciting and challenging world of FX Spot Trading. I also signed up with a trading advisory service, expecting to replicate its performance. The advisory service went out of business after almost one year, and I felt like I was alone in a dark place. Retail FX wasn’t too popular 7 years ago and there were only a few FX sites, so it was quite hard to find another reliable advisory service. While searching and trying to learn more, I came to understand that it’s best if I use my own brain to trade, as it is almost impossible to be successful on the long run by following other people.

I started to share my analysis with the public after one year, in 2004. I wasn’t especially motivated to do it. Perhaps I just wanted to start my own project, in a less popular niche. I wanted to give something back- to share some of what I’ve learned. Sharing market commentary on a daily basis was also keeping me focused, and the site became a great tool to improve my own discipline and to keep track of my own expectations: a hobby, a playground, a serious project – a little bit of everything.  
Site monetization was of course another reason – who would refuse some extra money?!

Forex Blog: Can you explain your approach to trading? Do you prefer fundamental analysis, technical analysis, or a mix of both?

I prefer the technical approach. When it comes to my own trading, I am a market follower. I don’t make predictions, I don’t ask questions, and I don’t seek answers. The FX Market is way too sensitive to all kind of events, both expected and unexpected. I believe that everything is reflected in market prices, so I prefer to concentrate on prices rather than analyzing the impact of every single economic data release. I don’t have enough time or skill to do that. I do care, however, about really significant things, such as quantitative easing, interest rates decisions and differentials, unemployment, bailouts, debt restructuring etc.

Forex Blog: You’ve written quite a bit about the EUR/USD. What do you make of the fact that the Euro is now rising rapidly, in spite of the unresolved sovereign debt crisis? Do you think the Euro will continue appreciating, or is it due for a correction?

EURUSD is one of the best pairs that reflects the dollar’s weakness nowadays. So this rally is not mainly about the EUR strength but rather about dollar’s weakness. Both currencies have their own major problems but recent and upcoming rate hikes by the ECB are making the euro more attractive relative to the US dollar.

Forex Blog: The Japanese Yen continues to behave erratically. After rising to a record high following the triple disaster, it proceeded to fall rapidly on the G7 intervention, only to resume its rise. What do you make of all of this. Under these conditions, is it even worth trying to formulate a fundamental trading strategy, or do you think traders should stick to technical analysis and short-term positions?

Recent history has shown that CB interventions in currency markets are ineffective and they are only causing massive short-term spikes. Although I prefer to stick to short-term predictions, I think that in the long run, both JPY and CHF will maintain their safe-haven status and will continue to strengthen against the US dollar.

Forex Blog: You recently observed that, “Nobody pays attention anymore to what the rating agencies have to say…” Why do you think this is the case? If the ratings agencies are indeed useless, how do you think individual traders gauge the seriousness of countries’ fiscal problems and the likelihood of default?

Most traders should be aware of the role the rating agencies played in the sub-prime crisis, and they were the main enablers of the financial meltdown. Well, it’s clear that fewer people care about what the rating agencies have to say. I certainly hope that traders and investors are more careful now, after the rating agencies missed both the sub-prime crisis and the eurozone debt crisis. Secondly, I don’t think we need the rating agencies to compete with each other to be the first to downgrade everything nowadays, playing the “Captain Obvious” role and telling us how troublesome sovereign debt really is. Most people can do their own research, especially large funds.  

Unfortunately, for all the flaws the “Big 3″ rating agencies have demonstrated, I think it’s a bit hard – but definitely not impossible – to find a better system. If governments would rate their own securities it would be totally pointless – obviously. So we shouldn’t even consider this option.

Changing the business model, making the bond buyer to pay the ratings agency instead of bond issuer probably won’t do any good either. Another option may be the Credit Default Swaps spreads, which represent more reliable data sources and viable alternatives to credit ratings.

Forex Blog: You occasionally offer “setups” to your readers. How are these designed to be used? Do you use these same setups as a basis for your own trades?

As you noted, I share charts, commentary and trade setups on regular basis.  
They are some of my own trades and intentions. As far as I know, most of my readers use their own analysis and strategies to make trading decisions and that’s what I highly recommend to beginners. All traders should do their own research before making any trading decisions. I learned that myself when I was still new to trading. I know that sometimes it is useful to read what other people expect and what strategies they use, especially when you are taking your first steps towards trading. Learning from others’ mistakes is better and more fun than learning from your own.

Forex Blog: InnerFX contains a great economic calendar that is very user-friendly. Given the abundance of economic data that is released every day, how can traders profit from this information? Which economic indicators are on your watch-list this week?

The Economic Calendar is provided by Forex Pros and is quite similar to other calendars you can find. I check it each morning in order to be aware of important economic releases and reports: I just don’t want to jump into trades a few minutes before Interest Rate Decisions or other key events. The most important events on my watch-list this week are the ECB Rate Decision and accompanying Press Conference and, of course, the NFP on Friday.

Forex Blog: Finally, what’s your advice for traders that want to beat the market and turn a profit in these uncertain times?

When it comes to trading, times will always be uncertainty: bubbles, crises, wars, rumors, lies, interventions, market manipulation etc. – we won’t get rid of them. My advice for traders is to have realistic goals and trade what they see, not what they think and preferably not what other people say.  
Also, don’t over-complicate trading and research. One who really understands how the market works can make great trades even if he doesn’t use any charts or indicators at all.