Journal Walker

Direct Banc - The U.S. Senate is currently considering a bill which could possibly save consumers that use credit cards on a regular basis. The Bill, Credit Card Fair Fee Act, sponsored by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), contends that credit card issuers have an unfair advantage in the marketplace based on the fact that they control 40% of retail transactions across the country. The legislation is specifically aimed at the bank’s interchange fees that they charge on every credit card transaction.

These hidden fees charged by the banks are non-negotiable and force retailers to pass the charges along to the consumer.

A recent CNN NEWS article refers to the violence over upcoming Zimbabwe elections to include the hands of opposition supporters being chopped off in order to discourage them from voting. Many more were beaten and displaced according to the article.

I would like to suggest that this is a sad day. But the truth is, it is no sadder than other days on planet Earth. From the persecution of Falun Gong in China, to the problems in Sudan, to terrorist acts across the globe, violence is, or rather always has been, a plague on humanity.

As a whole the human race is probably viewed very dimly by other intelligent beings living in our Universe. Our inability to get along with each other, to share power, to be friendly and to cooperate with each other speaks to the reality of the human condition.

Whenever there are people who are willing to turn to violence to get what they want, you will see other people become the victim of that violence. Some of those will retaliate, if they are able.

As a whole there is slim hope for the human race to evolve into a peace loving and tolerant culture. It appears that there will always be those who will resort to base means to achieve their end goals. There is no escape from this truth that I can see.

As a whole there may not be a any long lasting solutions, but as individuals, real change can occur. By learning from the devastating consequences of violence and the cost inflicted upon those receiving the violence, we can personally resolve to refrain from such behavior ourselves, as individuals.

But then, what is violence? Is the definition of violence merely limited to the physical? What if you say a discouraging word, curse, insult or initiate a nasty stare at others? Are those actions not violent in nature too?

If this is true, and it could very well be, could it be just a short step from these angry states to manifesting physical violence? I recently read about a 74-year-old Japanese man who killed is wife, son, daughter-in-law and grand daughter with a hammer. Could this be the result of an accumulation of pent up anger, irritation and frustration with those around him spanning years, possibly decades?

Each one of us has an obligation to ‘tend our own garden’, as put forth in Voltaire’s Candide. If we don’t curb our violent thoughts and violent potentialities and focus on caring and loving those around us, is the outcome inevitable? If physics is correct and the state of things tends to move toward chaos, then it is up to us to invoke our own will power to defeat the thoughts of violence that appear in our minds.

We are not violence and we are not violent thoughts, such thoughts are invaders that seek to overwhelm the human mind, much like weeds threaten to overrun Candide’s garden.

As human beings we have both violence and kindness in our nature. The only deciding factor as to which path we will take is choice. Thankfully, we have or were granted free will in regards to what choices we make.

Which path will you choose? More importantly, will you be consciously aware of that choice when you make it?

David Snape writes for All Things Pondered. This is a place where you can share your thoughts, ideas, articles, comments and even poetry. Here is the address: allthingspondered.com . Join us now with your own statement of non-violent choice. David is also the author of the book: What You Should Know about Gum Disease.

Once upon a time, a prince was looking for a real princess. He traveled about the world searching for a real princess but returned home disappointed. One evening, a young woman claiming to be a real princess seeks shelter from a storm in the prince’s castle. The prince’s mother decides to test the validity of her claim by placing a single pea on a bedstead and piling twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds atop it. There, the young woman spends the night.

In the morning they asked her how she slept.

‘Oh terribly bad!’ she said. ‘I have hardly closed my eyes the whole night! Heaven knows what was in the bed. I seemed to be lying upon some hard thing, and my whole body is black and blue this morning. It is terrible!’

There is a modern-day story that is very, very similar to the “Princess and the Pea.”

Once upon a time there was a prince who was searching for an investment adviser to help him preserve, protect, and possibly grow his fortune. He hoped that the money would help him in his old age and then after he and his wife were gone, he wanted to make sure that he could also provide for his children.

He searched high, and he searched low, and after a long while found someone who would surely be the right advisor.

Over the next few years, the financial advisor did all of the things that the prince required of him. He diversified the Prince’s portfolio among cash, bonds, and stocks. He even invested some of the Prince’s money in foreign lands.

The prince’s fortune grew at a relatively stable rate. Best of all, the investment duties required very little of the Prince’s time. Overall, the Prince was quite pleased with his choice of adviser.

Every so often the Prince would summon his adviser to the palace in order to complain that part of his portfolio wasn’t growing as fast as the rest. He would also complain in strong voice and at great length when any one of his investments declined in value.

His trusted advisor, over and over again, would try to explain that he wasn’t perfect and never would be. Due to the nature of the world, it is only during very rare times had everything is doing well or that everything is doing poorly. Most of the time, some things will be doing well while others are not.

The adviser tried to explain that in the Prince’s forest, not every tree grew at the same rate. Some trees even died due to circumstances such as drought, fire, and for and various other reasons. On balance, though, the forest continued to grow over many, many years. The advisor asked the Prince if under those circumstances, did he also summon his head forester in order to complain about those few trees?

The Prince, in all his Princely wisdom finally understood that it was more important for him to see his entire forest rather than to look at each one of his trees.

The moral of this story: Stop whining. You ain’t no princess. Don’t be such a pain in the ass.

Gary Wollin is a Warren Buffett style investment advisor with 48 years of Wall Street experience. He has been regularly featured in The Wall Street Journal and New York Times. He writes and speaks on sales, customer loyalty, and the stock market. http://www.garywollin.com

Do you know why it is so expensive to install Fiber To The Home? Why Bell companies are reluctant to deploy fiber optic network directly to consumers in a large scale?

It’s not the material cost. It’s the labor! The introduction of fiber into the subscriber loop has increased the installation of short cable lengths with large number of splices. The speed at which the cables can be placed, spliced, accessed and reconfigured are becoming extremely important.

So the need for new technologies that promise to reduce the fiber deployment cost are very high. Bell companies are anxious on acquiring these new technologies and products in order to reduce their cost and push the broadband fiber optic network installation.

That is where the high fiber count ribbon cables come to play. These compact, UV epoxy bonded cables are comprised with high precision optical fibers and can be massed fusion spliced with minimum loss. These products have proven to be an excellent platform for FTTH deployment.

Mass fusion splicing machines from Japanese companies are a integrated part of this process. These fusion splicers are used by the fiber installation technicians to splice up to 24 fibers at a time with very low splice loss.

Ribbon Fiber Design

The most basic requirement for any fiber optic cable design is to protect the glass fibers inside from harsh environment. But for ribbon fibers, there is the other vital requirement: organize the fibers for optimum space efficiency and ease of mass fusion splicing and handling. And at the same, they must also be able to maintain the optical performance and mechanical reliability.

This means that ribbon fiber cables must pack high count of glass fibers, organize fibers precisely for mass fusion splicing, provide individual fiber identification, can be divided into single fibers or subunits, mechanically reliable and can be easily accessed from the end or midspan.

These requirements must all be met at the same time which makes the manufacturing of high quality ribbon fibers a tough task.

So fiber cable specialists concluded a excellent design. A color coded array of fibers bonded in a line with fiber coating material. Based on this fundamental structure, two designed emerged: edge bonded or encapsulated.

Edge Bonded Design

The edge bonded design basically bonds the fibers together with only materials in between of each fiber. This design is more popular in the United States. This design is 40% smaller than the encapsulated design.

Encapsulate Design

In encapsulate design, bonding materials extend well beyond the gaps between fibers, it actually encapsulates all fibers inside a rectangular looking tube. This design are more used in Japan.

Ribbon Fiber Mass Fusion Splicing

The time savings for ribbon fiber mass fusion splicing are so big that sometimes in the field individual fibers are ribbonlized to make mass fusion splicings.

However, the success of mass ribbon fiber splicing relies critically on the fiber geometry, the ribbon and the mass fusion splicer. High quality and consistent mass fusion splices can only be produced with ribbons that are made from fibers having stringent geometric tolerances.

These high quality fibers and ribbons are already commercially available. And they make the fiber deployment in FTTH projects a joy for the installers.

Colin Yao is an expert on fiber optic technologies and products. Learn fiber furcation, fiber optic furcation, furcation tubing on Fiber Optics For Sale Co. web site.

When was the last time:

You went out to a restaurant and ordered the food you truly wanted?

Ate corn on the cob?

Sank your teeth into a mouth watering 16 oz. steak?

Enjoyed a juicy crisp apple?

If it’s been a while since you’ve done any of these things because of tooth loss or ill-fitting dentures, maybe its time you considered dental implants. A common dental procedure, implants are used to replace missing teeth, to support non-removable permanent bridges, or to provide support for full or partial dentures with clasps or retention bars. Dental implants also prevent additional tooth loss and jawbone decay.

Dental implants feel more natural than bridges or dentures. The implants are inserted into the jaw using a variety of different procedures. After implanted, they work like normal teeth and require no special care other than normal brushing and flossing. Dentists use life-like porcelain tooth restoration procedures to match the implants to the original tooth color so implants look as good as the real thing.

Dental implants can:

A. Improve overall quality of life. Dental implants allow you to eat healthier foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Chewing is improved which aids in better digestion and overall stomach function.

B. Improve confidence in social situations. When you go out in public you will never again have to worry about dentures slipping or fear ordering your favorite foods. Dental implants will also improve the look of your teeth, giving you that bright white smile that you haven’t had in years.

C. Save you money. Once implanted, dental implants can be cared for as easily as natural teeth. No more messy and costly denture cleaning solutions, replacements and refitting. Simply brush, floss and go!

D. Allow you to relax and stop worrying. Dental implants act as natural teeth so laugh and enjoy life again and don’t worry about unsightly denture slips.

Dental implants can actually restore your teeth to 90% of their original strength. They are used to replace old fashioned dentures and bridgework and help restore loss facial bone due to tooth loss and jawbone decay. A common dental procedure, implants are used to replace missing teeth, to support non-removable permanent bridges, or to provide support for full or partial dentures with clasps or retention bars.

Dental implants feel more natural than bridges or dentures. The implants are inserted into the jaw using a variety of different procedures. After implanted, they work like normal teeth and require no special care other than normal brushing and flossing. Dentists use life-like porcelain tooth restoration procedures to match the implants to the original tooth color so implants look as good as the real thing.

Q. What Types of Dental Implants are Available?

A. There are a variety of types of dental implant procedures available today. Traditional implant procedures involves a primary surgery in which the placement of a temporary crown or prosthesis. After 4 months, the permanent crown or prosthesis is permanently cemented into place. Another type of implant procedure which is becoming increasingly popular is immediate load implants. If bone decay is minimal, often patients can walk into the dentist office and have the dental implants done immediately, all in one appointment!

Q: How Painful are Dental Implants?

A: Most patients report that they have very little pain after the procedure. The pain of implant procedures are far less than the pain that comes from years of dental care neglect.

Q: What is the Cost of Implant Treatment?

A: The cost of dental implant treatment varies of the type of procedure needed. Many insurance companies cover the cost of dental implants and most dentists offer payment plans for those not covered by insurance.

With today’s modern dental procedures, no one has to settle for bulky dentures or uncomfortable bridgework anymore. Dental implants can quickly and easily restore your teeth to the way that they once were: white, bright and strong. They are many different types of dental implant procedures, visit your dentist today to find out which one is right for you.

Ray Subs works with Dr. Ronald Receveur as a consultant to his dental practice in New Albany, Indiana. More information regarding Dr. Ronald Receveur and his practice can be found at Indiana Smiles.com