Borges

What are subliminal messages? A subliminal message is a message displayed for such a short period of time that your mind does not consciously register what it sees or hears. Instead your mind registers it sub-consciously. This means that your conscious mind cannot build and use arguments against the ideas exposed and thus you can be more susceptible to the unconscious idea. Were talking about mind control from the outside that is working below the threshold of our awareness.

Like many others you may ask, is it really possible that the content or meaning of an event can affect peoples behaviour without their being aware of this event? The commercial and advertising businesses would probably pay millions to confirm whether or not such techniques are more effective than promotional communications of which people are aware.

Here are some examples of how such communications have been applied;

• sexual imagery embedded in print and video advertising
• film and video commercials containing briefly-flashed messages
• messages in rock and other types of music barely heard in the background
• sub-audible communications in self help audios

Examples of purposes of a hidden communication are;

• to lead people to make non intended purchases
• to get people to commit suicide
• an aid for helping smokers to stop smoking

Controversy and ethics

There has been much controversy about using unconscious messages without willing or aware subjects. This is not a strange thing, because for years hidden persuasive messages have been used, to manipulate viewers or listeners to behave in ways they otherwise would not using imperceptible or masked stimuli. There have been two particular areas where the ethics of this practice have been questioned

• In commercials and advertising
• By fundamentalists and rock music

Theres no doubt of the insidious character of subliminal persuasion. There has been much criticism regarding the unscrupulous, unconscious persuasive methods many large corporations have used in their cravings for increased profits.

Another ethical inquiry has been targeted towards religious and political fundamentalists who have promulgated their belief of occult, satanic communications in rock music.

The self help market

The most useful application of hidden persuasive messages according to my opinion is the self help or self improvement market. This $50-millions a year industry is still expanding at a high rate. Subliminal self-help tapes, CDs and mp3s have been used by thousands of people all over the world and there are also numerous testimonials available showing their effectiveness in personal improvement. Examples of areas where concealed audios have been useful are

• weight loss
• breast enlargement
• improvement in sexual function
• self-esteem
• improved bowling scores

and more. Some of these programs enable you to display your own unconscious communications and use them to change your life the way you want. These audios can be used anywhere; while driving your car, at work, playing with the kids, watching TV, doing workout, etc.

You use the subliminal program to display your own positive affirmations unconsciously in word or picture form. You are in total control of all communications which are displayed and also how they are displayed.

Terje Brooks Ellingsen is a writer and internet publisher. He runs the website 1st-Self_Improvement.net.

Terje is a Sociologist who enjoys contributing to the personal growth and happiness of others. He tries to accomplish this by writing about self improvement issues from his own experience and knowledge. For example, self help by building confidence as well as mind control and relationship building issues.

Besides water, green tea is the most consumed beverage in the world. It is estimated that over one-half of the world's population drinks tea in some form. Although England and other Northern European countries share a liking for tea with the rest of the world, they don't actually call it by the same word. It is instead called "cha", the Chinese word for it.

Chinese history attributes the origin of the drink cha to one King Shen Nong, also known as the father of agriculture and medicine. It was decreed by this king that for health reasons his subjects would have to boil water before drinking it. One day as Shen Nong sat in the shade of a tea tree while boiling water to drink, a light breeze blew some of the tea leaves into the kettle. When he decided to try a sip of this infusion, he marveled at its delicious taste and at once also felt invigorated. Tea had been invented! King Shen Nong then recommended it to his subjects, declaring that tea gives vigor to the body, contentment to the mind, and determination of purpose.

In short, tea is actually a stimulant drink just like coffee.

For the mythical story, we have the Japanese legend. It involves Bodhidharma, an Indian monk who also was to have brought Zen Buddism to China. So, Bodhidharma had been sitting facing a wall during nine years of meditation, and had fallen asleep during the fifth year. Waking with a start and angry with himself for his laziness, he cut off his own eyelids so that he would never sleep again. Throwing the eyelids to the ground, a tea bush was caused to spring from the ground on the spot. The bush's leaves, when infused with liquid, would prevent sleep.

For printing on the side of a tea box, that gory business with the eyelids is a little too intense for marketing purposes. So instead, the legend is sometimes augmented to say that Bodhidharma awakened and merely told his servants to scour the countryside until they found an herb to keep him awake, and tea was discovered that way.

The Chinese and Japanese later developed the tea ritual into a social and religious rite of exquisite refinement. Throughout the earlier centuries of its use the tea drink always was considered more of a medicine. Like many historic herbs, it was regarded as a remedy for nearly every and any human ailment.

The first published account of methods of planting, processing, and drinking tea appeared in an ancient Chinese dictionary published around 350 AD by Kuo Po, a Chinese author of the Jin dynasty. The book spread the knowledge of tea throughout China, and on into Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Slowly the practice of tea drinking evolved, from the classical "school of tea" where it was prepared as a cake of dried leaves during the Tang Dynasty, to whipped and powdered tea in the Song Dynasty, to the Ming Dynasty, where it was used in whole, loose leaves.

All of this went on and on in China, dating from the first millenium BC all the way to the year 879, as near as we can peg it, when it was at last spread to the Western world. In that year, an obscure and unnamed Arabian traveler brought back stories of tea to his home land, mentioning in his writing that tea and salt were main sources of revenue in a city in China. Next, the famous Marco Polo is credited with officially discovering tea for the West. By the early 17th century, a ship belonging to the Dutch East India Company bought a cargo load of the first green tea leaves to Amsterdam from China. Tea was known in France by 1636, and from there spread on into the rest of Europe and the Western world, as well as Russia.

The different pronunciation of the Chinese word for tea, "cha", led to its being called by its English name. This bears an influence on the modern drink "chai", which is tea is prepared with steamed milk, sugar, and spices, rather like our richer coffee-based drinks.

Freelance writer for over twelve years.

Work Uniforms Dickies Uniform Scrubs

Lowriding began as a cultural element of Chicano Americans, part of the street culture of the American barrio where Mexican immigrants maintained a lively urban culture. Lowrider bikes, one of the most splendid and unique products of this culture, are a cross between the Harley and the cruiser bike, decorated with paint and chrome and streamers, found in any all-American hometown parade.

As you might surmise, lowriding bikes hug the ground. The highest points on a lowrider bike are almost always its two hand grips, just like you might find on its motorized cousin, the Harley motorcycle. The seat of a lowrider bike is down at wheel level and its pedals are sometimes higher than the seat! These bikes are typically a highly individualized creation. Most of them are ridden with enormous pride by their creators, although you can buy some standard models and a few elaborate models in a good bike store, especially in cities of the American West.

Despite the fact that these bikes originated within the poverty of the barrio, lowrider bikes are anything but cheap. Makers of these one-of-a-kind creations regard their bicycles as much as an artwork and a mechanical marvel as a means of transportation, though part of the joy of creation has always been parading them down the street when completedthese are not pieces of art meant for life in dusty museums, for the most part. Each part is usually carefully selected for its utility as well as its beauty, with the resulting bike a breathtaking example of technical and artistic ingenuity.

Lowrider bikes are becoming a presence in more and more cities, perhaps made more "respectable" among the affluent bicyclists who drive the market by the increasing popularity of their cousin, the recumbent bicycle. As the baby boomer generation ages and feels increasing twinges of back pain riding on the dropped handlebars of road bikes, expect to see more and more lowrider and recumbent bikes alike.

And once you get your first basic lowrider bike, don't be too surprised if you find yourself flipping through the real or online pages of a lowrider parts catalog musing, "Hmm. I wonder how that golden sprocket would look on my bike?" Lowrider bikes have a tradition of creative embellishment and technical improvisation that calls out the artist and the inventor in many of us.

What, really, could be better to evoke, especially if you're already a bike rider?

Find further information on lowrider bikes at http://www.bikecyclingreviews.com , your online resource on road and mountain biking reviews, the hub of cycling information.

A Garden for your Pet Cat Cats enjoy roaming around in gardens, investigation and getting into mischief. Why not set aside a piece of garden to bring pleasure to your cat(s).

We have two house cats, a Ragdoll and a Persian Chinchilla, that love to go out and play in the sun. We set aside a part of the garden to the rear of the house which would be 3/4 lawn and the rest a planted raised bed.

We cleared the area concerned by taking down half a dozen 15ft conifers, some of the trunks were retained to build a cat climbing frame. The stumps and roots were poisoned then covered with pvc then a layer of weed suppressing material.

The raised bed was constructed first using natural materials, soil and compost. We installed a water fountain which the cats drink from. Other items included timber, stepping stones, rocks and ornaments. Plant were sourced from a number of garden centres and planted out. The cats quickly took to the fragrant plants like lavender and the herbaceous mint, thyme and Basil. Some of the blooming plants attracted in insects - something for the cats to play with, apparently.

The soil for the lawn area was dug over and prepared for some new turf. The turf was unrolled and cut to size, within a couple of weeks the grass was growing, within a month the first cut was given on a high setting. The lawn is now well established and lush. The lawn also acts as a play pen with climbers and tunnels for the cats to explore.

Other ideas for your cats include planting out terracotta pots with herbs. Keep a lookout at gardening centres for large broken terracotta, buy them for a song, remove any sharp edges, place around the garden for your cats to explore or find shelter in.

The cats now cannot wait to be out and enjoying the freedom of the garden, although our Chinchilla, Mikey, patrols around looking for and finding escape routes. See the Adventures of Mikey

Syd Graham is Editor and content manager for the AboutMyArea DH1 Community Website in Durham, England - http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/dh1

He has written small articles on many subjects and, where required, provided his own photography. He also creates his own graphics, animations and Flash for content and advertising.

He also designs web sites for other companies and provides content (stories, photos, animations, graphics, and manipulations) for UK based satire sites.