There is No Quick Fix to the Super Mom Problem

Faster than a speeding toddler ... more powerful than a Hoover upright ... able to leap large PTA meetings in a single bound! It's a bird ... it's a plane ... its Super mom! 

Or at least that's who you're trying to be. The problem is, being the perfect mom is as impossible as becoming an actual superhero—it is not who we were created to be. 

Barbara Rainey, co-author of the book Parenting Today's Adolescent, understands the pressure to be perfect. "It comes from expectations that we place on ourselves," explains the mother of six. 

Add on the desire to exercise, keep your home in order and have something left over for your husband, and women can feel downright crushed—which is how the archenemy of moms wants them to feel. 

"Too often behind our smile is a growing frustration and fatigue that starts to come out in other ways," writes Carol Kuykendall, director of communications for Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) International. "We have less patience. Shorter fuses. Headaches." 

Whether you have one child at home or 10, whether you work outside the home or not, and whether you're single or married, there is no quick fix to the super mom problem.

Ask for Help

Moms are not born with capes, and shouldn't go looking for them. And while they do SUPER jobs, there is not an invisible "S" stamped on their chests. Young children always want to help with the chores, but somewhere between the age of three and when they are actually required to do real chores, that urge to help simply vanishes! Despite the complaints (the ones that are actually heard, or not), moms should ask for help from everyone, including the family.

Children as young as two and three can do simple chores that they'll actually enjoy. Besides, it'll get them in the habit of helpfulness now, hopefully making it easier to build upon for the future. If possible hire help for those tasks that seem to always be daunting or remain outstanding. Sometimes the money is worth every penny when the task is no longer the proverbial albatross around one's neck. Attempting to fulfill the role of "super mom" is a super easy way to make one super mom tired. 

Take Time for Yourself 

Who takes care of mom and all of the things that mom manages when mom gets ill? The answer is typically - no one. If that is indeed the case, moms need to remember to care for themselves before they can care for family to avoid the illness that will make their lives only more chaotic. They should allow time to do things just for themselves.

For example, time to exercise, get a massage, read, listen to music or meditate. Whatever it is, quiet "all about mom time" provides moms with an opportunity to rejuvenate and refill patience levels that can help one again achieve clarity. It's necessary and downright crucial to achieving better time management. Can anything operate full throttle when its energy is half depleted? Well, neither can mom! 

Take a break

Let’s face it – parenting children is challenging. Not only do kids demand our constant attention, it's our job to protect and teach them. It's not an easy task, and it wears down even the most devoted mother. Fatigue takes over, exhaustion sets in, and it doesn't take long before your body gives you a message: Take a break! 

Ready to Tweak It

You've got the tools to put everything in place, so once you apply them they'll stay that way, right? Not even close. Now that you have some ideas for getting a handle on that ever elusive time thing, just remember that effectively managing time will be ongoing.

Continue to plan and always be ready and willing to adapt your schedule to better suit your needs. Yes, yours! Most importantly remember that you have more control over your time than you think you do. You have the knowledge, skills and ability to stop tasks from overrunning your life. Enjoy all of your extra time. 

Remember that you can't control it all

Don't try to control everyone or fix everything. Control is God’s job, and the more we allow Him to be in charge, the more emotional and physical energy we will have. If we set unrealistic expectations for ourselves or our families, we’ll end up tired and disappointed. When deciding to take on a task, learn to gauge your time and energy. 

Do we really need to do it all — or is it okay if we can't? What is most important: doing everything right or doing the best we can with what really matters? Realizing that we can't be everything to everybody can make life seem less stressful. 

While super moms don't exist, with God's help, supernatural moms do. The idea of a super mom and perfect executive, parent, wife and community leader, it’s not possible. And when all is said and done, the best tip is to keep life simple, enjoy everyday pleasures. And don't get down on yourself when you can't do it all!

A Brief Look at the Forces Shaping the Life of Spanish Women

Guests at Paramount Places Holidays Spain are within an hour or two of everything that is historic Spain. Located in Vilanova I la Geltru, which is just south of Barcelona in the Costa Dorada. The rich culture has given way to a number of unique Spanish guided tours with a variety of themes to enjoy based on your own preference. 

Known as the Golden Coast, this is the region of Spain where miles and miles of flat golden sand beaches are the most popular attraction. The land is less rugged than other parts of the Spain and the coastline stretches for miles and miles. With four golf courses and a number of others set for future development, this country is beginning to be highly favored by golfers as well as beach goers. Spain is the second most visited country in the world and likely this is due to the weather in the Costa Dorada region which is near perfect year round. 

Locals living in the Catalonia region have for hundreds of years fought hard to retain their unique culture and identity despite political influences to the contrary. Yet, some of it is eroding despite efforts to hold on to the past. And for good reasons, historically speaking, women’s issues have been all but ignored and traditional female roles of mother and homemaker have endured until very recently. The Spanish favor familial tradition and values over educational pursuits in respect to the female gender and that seems to be slowly giving way in the presence of a new and modern political international climate.

 

As more and more foreigners have begun investing in Spanish real estate property, there has evolved a more progressive attitude to women working outside of the home. Previously, women stayed home to raise and rear children and provide for the family despite their own wishes or desire to seek employment and careers similar to that of their male counter parts. 

In this new international climate which is overtaking traditional values, culture and belief systems in Spain, however, religion continues to be a major part of day to day Spanish life. Primarily Catholics, this along with new political influences is beginning to reshape the female role in this country. In fact, based on their religious beliefs, familial notions are beginning to elude the new generation of Spanish women with many opting not to marry at all. This sufficiently jeopardizes the concept of family values and has caused quite a stirring among both the male and female populations. Perhaps Spain is becoming like every other international metropolitan area and its people right along with it. 

Obviously, then the Catalan people knew what the future held which is likely why they have fought so hard to preserve their own unique culture and identity despite those political and foreign influences.

Five Ways to Reduce Your Stress Levels

Stress happens when we are not relaxed, when our minds aren't settled. When there's too much to do, too many distractions, and too many problems. Many of you started your home-based business to avoid some of the stress of working for someone else, or to ease the stress of financial worries. 

But working at home can create it's own stressors. Isolation. Kid's noises and distractions - which always seem to happen when you're on an important phone call. Worrying about where the next client will come from, and if he'll come in time to meet your obligations. Procrastination - household chores that never end even though you know you should be at your desk. 

An overload of stress is bad for your body, your emotional health, and your business. You can't eliminate it completely, but there are ways to reduce your stress levels. 

1. Organize your time

Set a schedule based on your priorities and your goals. Yes, flexibility is one of the major reasons for working from home but it is still a good idea to have a basic time-use plan for your day. Decide how much time you need to spend each day on household tasks, family and children, and your business activities.

Break your day up into manageable blocks of time and write down which activity belongs when. This will help stop that nagging little guilt in the back of your mind when you think you should be doing something other than what you are doing. 

2. Get your family involved in your business and your plans

Let them know what has to be done and share your plans with them. Older children can help out - either with the household or maybe even with your business. Giving them tasks helps develop responsibility and pride in accomplishments.

Schedule business time for when smaller children are sleeping or otherwise occupied. You might even consider having someone help out by distracting or entertaining children during set times for your phone calls or other business activities when you need quiet. 

3. Develop a strong support network

Everyone occasionally needs someone to talk to. Join online or community networking groups. This can be an invaluable source not only of emotional support, but for tips and advice as well. Nothing helps more than talking with people who are or have been in the same situation that you are in.

Ask questions, give advice, or just vent. Thats what these groups are there for so take advantage of them. You can get great ideas on both family and business issues, and these networks also can sometimes be a good source of business leads. 

4. Create a soothing working environment

Even if your home office is a converted closet or a corner of the den find ways to separate it from the chaos of the household. This helps in two ways. First, it helps you remove yourself from the household distractions in the background, and second it allows you to emotionally change gears when you "leave" work.

If your living and working spaces aren't separate you'll often find yourself worrying about work during family time because you can see it if it's constantly in view. You'll think of one more memo to write, or the proposal that you didn't finish. And the same goes for work time - you can't concentrate and be productive when you're looking at a sink of dishes that need washing and laundry that needs folding. 

If you don't have an actual door to close on the office use a screen or shelves; something to create a sense of a physical barrier between home and work. Make your working space relaxing. Display a picture of a soothing scene or something funny so that you can take a mental mini-break when you need to.

Use warm inviting colors, or soft music in the background. Don't go overboard though. You don't want to create a space that puts you to sleep, just relaxing enough to keep your stress at manageable levels so you can do your best and most efficient work. 

5. Avoid procrastination

This is related to the first idea - scheduling your time. Often, stress is created by the pressure of knowing you haven't done what you planned to do or what you should have done. There's no need to beat yourself up - guilt is very stressful too.

And it will happen occasionally, but that's one of the best advantages of working for yourself. You have the flexibility and the freedom to get yourself back on track.

How to Rightly Involve Parents in Child's Life?

We all want to connect and be involved with our child.  Children of involved parents generally feel more confident, assured and have a higher level of self esteem.  They excel in school and do well in extracurricular activities and with their hobbies.  

But is there such a thing as too much involvement? It's imperative when you're becoming involved with your school-aged child's activities and academics that you recognize the line of what being too involved can be.  

Remember, you're becoming involved in your child's life.  It's important that you don't intrude too much upon it.  Children need their space and privacy and they need to be able to develop their own skills, talents and abilities.  In our eagerness to help our child succeed, it's tempting to want to step in and start doing things for them because you feel they are doing it incorrectly or inadequately.  But remember, you had to learn too, and this is their chance to learn on their own.  

Be there to encourage and support your child, and offer praise at a job well done.  But also remember to step back and allow your child to learn from their own mistakes, and to develop their own way of doing things. We all know from our own life experiences that there's always more than just one way to do something, and just because your child is doing it differently than you would doesn't make it wrong.  Who knows, it could present a terrific opportunity for you to learn from your child as well.  

In addition, try not to become too overbearing or nosy when it comes to their social life.  Be available for them should they need to talk and encourage them to share their troubles with you so you can help them sort through a problem.  But if they say they don't want to talk about it or they just need some time to figure things out for themselves, respect that need by letting them know you're available whenever they need you.  

This is an important part of growing up and allowing a child to figure his own way through things is an integral part of that process.

How to Start a Massage Therapy Business and Be Successful With It?

Everybody would love to make lots of money quickly, working from home, and only doing a few hours of work per week. I've spent the past two years trying to find a great way of doing this. Only over the course of the past few months have I found any "get rich quick" programs worth buying. I've been trying to make money online for a long time. I had a few small websites, but they never made much more than a few hundred per month. It was easy money and didn't require much work on my part, but I knew there were people out there doing better than I was and I knew I could do as well as them.

Now, I've seen a lot of "get rich quick" programs. Most of these people make claims about earning $2000/day with Google or something similarly insane. Almost all of these people are complete liars. Even if they were making $2000/day with Google AdSense, it'd be because they had high- traffic websites with a lot of quality content. I'd know, because in one whole month, I never even made half of what they promised I'd make daily with their programs. Maybe you've already been scammed by one of these fraudsters.

Anyway, I finally got sick of what was being offered. I decided I'd look through the all of the "get rich quick" programs I could find and see if there were any that were actually legitimate. I found that there were owners selling their programs for well over $100, but the information in them could be found almost anywhere online for free. Additionally, they all contained out-of-date information, had no e-mail support, no money back guarantees, and broken links in the downloads section. In conclusion, almost all of the programs I found were completely useless. The owners knew it, but they couldn't care less about their customers since they didn't offer refund policies! 

Amazingly, while looking through all of the programs, I actually did find a few legitimate programs. They were run by ordinary people like you and me, and they had found some great methods of making money from their home by doing very little work. I spent some time working with those programs, and my income is now ten times what it used to be. These programs provided a large amount of great information on how to make extra money on your computer doing very little work. Numerous customers had provided great feedback and reviews for their products. Many of them have started to make money just days after buying!

Their programs have excellent prices, and the authors have a group of paid staff who are dedicating to helping you or providing assistance if you need any. I must say I was amazed! If you do decide to purchase any of the programs listed below, I recommend you join quickly. Most of the owners tell me they are getting an overwhelming number of sales and plan on raising prices in the near future, so order while prices are still low! 

To Your Online Success, Massage Therapy

Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Home and Work for Home Business

With so many young people trying to work from home on the Internet it is amazing just how many of them really do not have the slightest idea, of the workload they have gotten themselves into. Many of these people did not even sit down and assess what it is that they see as reasonable personal goal. This is a huge mistake on their part. 

You must know what you want in order to find a way to obtain it. It must be clear to everyone willing to jump into the Internet marketing world; if you are not sure whether or not you have drive and a willingness to succeed you might want to save yourself some money and much aggravation. It is easy to want something, and you may know how you have to get it. There is this little issue about dedication and determination do you have it? Why put yourself through the troubles of failing and wondering exactly where you went wrong.

The great Winston Churchill once said, “If you find yourself walking through hell, just keep going”. This idea of the struggles people face, in business and in life is just that. Struggles, the winners will survive and the weak will fall. This has been a true facet in life since the beginning of time. Basically staying power in the Internet marketing business is about keeping your face off the pavement.

They also do not get the fact that because it is their business, and not someone else’s responsibility that they in turn will have to work probably much harder to keep it going. When these people hear the nonsense about working 1 hour per week and striking it rich, I truly feel sorry for their heads and wallets when they inevitably re enter the earth’s atmosphere, and hit the ground with a screeching halt. Again this may be nothing more than naivety. And not total stupidity. The unfortunate part for most people new to the scene is that they have absolutely no idea just what it entails on a time basis. 

What must be remembered is that success cannot be bought in a can. It is the single marketing plan and strategy that is doomed to fail. You must be able to walk many avenues in order to reap the benefits of the successes it can yield. Buy into what you feel truly will get you ahead, listen to what other marketers are saying in the forums and try to catch on quick. This field is extremely fast and waits for no one. The best

way to do business is to spread out your resources as much as possible; the best way for exposure is to be out in the middle of the field.

Few Basic Rules Which Are Well Kept in Mind When Planning to Buy Office Furniture for Your Home Office

Office furniture – the term usually conjures up images desks, cubicles and chairs. We rarely think beyond it. But these days, there is more to it than a single functional unit. Today, your office furniture has to do more for you; it has to multi-task just like you do. Moreover, it has to accommodate your stationary, your rolodex as well as your technology infrastructure! 

Yes, now think of office furniture. Do you see something different? Thought you would! Now you have cubicles, chairs etc. and a desk with your laptop or PC, a printer, fax machine, headphones, phone(s), files, CDs, pictures, maybe even a coffee machine.  And it has to do this in style. So whether you are planning to buy office furniture for your home office, or a relatively bigger office where you are in charge of the décor, there are a few basic rules which are well kept in mind.

Identify the needs

The first thing to do when thinking of buying office furniture, is to keep work related requirements in mind. Do you use too many gadgets? Do you need a lot of space to store things? Do you doodle as you talk over the phone? These and many such questions will give you a good idea about how ‘functional’ your furniture needs to be.

All about logistics

Ask yourself logistical questions - How many employees do you have? Do you work from a home office or do you have a separate office space? How many hours do you plan to spend at work? Are you spending too much time sitting down? This will help you decide exactly what you need to spend on and what you can hold back on.

Create a list

Before buying furniture, make a list of what all you plan to buy and compare it with your needs. Further divide the list into “must have” and “nice to have” categories. This will save you a lot of trouble when you are picking things up and will let you stick to your core needs.

Stick to your budget

Identify a ceiling budget for your furniture shopping spree right at the onset. Else you may end up overshooting just because you had to have that overpriced and classy desk chair. 

Functionality or style?

It is usually wise to purchase furniture which is more functional rather than just stylish. But this would largely depend on the reason for the purchase, and for what type of business you are purchasing it. If you need chairs for the reception area of your employer, you might want to invest in stylish furniture. However, if it is for your home business, you might reconsider doing that. But if you get both style and function, which is not so rare these days, go for it!

Purchasing the work desk

The work desk is by far the most important piece of furniture you shall purchase. And because you are going to be using it so often, it is well worth investing a little extra so as to purchase a nice, sturdy functional and comfortable work desk. Make sure the surfaces of the work desk are non-staining thought. 

Storage areas and wall units

Every office needs storage space. Make sure you purchase storage cabinets and units can be installed nearby the desk and well within reach.  Also, make sure that they are sturdy and strong. Storage spaces are usually the first to fall apart from wear and tear caused by frequent opening and closing of the units.

Renting office furniture

Many big and small businesses consider renting furniture for their office space. This may not be the best option if you are planning to stay at the same place for the long haul. However, it is a great option for businesses which need to be mobile as it saves you heavy investments.

Health and safety

Whether you are purchasing furniture for yourself or your employees think about the ergonomics of your investments. Investing in good furniture is always profitable in the long run. You do not want to purchase a bad chair and have your employees stay at home because they developed a backache, do you? And nor do want to expose yourself to fatigue, eye strain, headaches etc. Buy furniture that is people friendly and made especially for work areas.

Furniture too has personality

All said and done, the most important thing to remember is to invest in furniture that goes with your personality. Yes, you want something functional, and comfortable, and within budget. But who says you cannot find the perfect style too? The style of the furniture you choose should compliment your personality. This is the furniture you will use day and in day out, 5 days a week more than 8-9 hours a day. You do not want to be stuck with something that is functional but will simply not inspire you to work!

All Wind and Sun Energy Lie: Truth, Deception and Green Religion

FREE energy from the sun and the wind! Isn’t that a wonderful idea? And it’s clean too! Yeah, right.

No, it’s not.

So-called free clean energy from the sun and the wind is neither clean nor free. Nor is it produced when the sun does not shine or when the wind does not blow (despite the headlines and the passion with which they are both promoted).

Neither source of electricity is cheap when subject to common sense economics—the cost of the steel, the plastics (yes), the concrete and the energy needed to produce them. Then there is the cost of connecting wind and solar plants to the national grid which is born by utilities like Eskom. Not to mention the cost of their back up petroleum-fuelled generators needed to balance their output. And finally, the fact that their promised output of energy rarely if ever, materializes.

Yes, some wind and sun-generated electricity can be stored in batteries but they are not yet able to perform as well as power stations the world is familiar with – those operating on coal, diesel, gas, and nuclear fuel.

Wind and sun are, we are told, the answer to an existential threat to human survival, the alleged but scientifically unproven and unproveable theory that the world’s climate is heating up to apocalyptic levels.

Ok, ready steady go! Half of those reading this can now go outside, scream blue murder, and run to the Press Council for my daring to express a view they think is akin to religious heresy: the other half can read on for a few salient facts not often aired or written about in the media, and judge for themselves if climate hysteria is justified and the trumpeted solutions are better for the planet.

It should be hammered home that all predictions of climate doom have been made by computers fed historical temperature records than conveniently exclude periods in history that were clearly much warmer than today’s and because the thermometer was not yet invented.

All earlier temperature records (before the thermometer) are guesses or second hand deductions from tree rings or ice cores or whatever else gets thought of: other words, theoretical temperatures. Nevertheless, this mishmash of temperature data is fed into a computer, “adjusted” and used to produce graphs that project expected temperatures into the 22nd century.  It is a perfect recipe for getting the future wrong and producing scary headlines to order.

Add to this method of predicting scary future temperatures, the unproven theory that the world is getting bunged up with too much carbon dioxide (that is the invisible stuff that all plants need to survive) and the confident statement that mankind’s guilty habit of keeping itself warm in winter, plus its desire to travel in comfort, and the result is a guilt trip of a power not seen since the Middle Ages and the unreformed Roman Catholic church.

In the process of constructing this Green religion in which belief rather than reason holds sway, some dirty secrets about “clean energy” sources have been brushed under a metaphorical carpet.

In contrast to the hysterical fear of nuclear radiation that has produced stringent rules for dealing with nuclear waste, the by-products of solar panel production have been allowed to go unchecked, largely one suspects because most manufacture takes place in Communist China where loud, theatrical demonstrations have about as much chance of lasting for more than a few seconds than the snowball’s chances of surviving a spell in Hades.

Yet measured against nuclear waste that does erode in toxicity over time, waste produced in photovoltaic panel manufacture lasts FOR EVER, and ever, and ever.

It has been estimated that solar panels generate 300 times more toxic waste than that produced by nuclear power stations when they generate electricity. Try finding that factoid in the main stream media of the western world. None of it is buried in concrete drums is specially selected landfills of impermeable clay. Instead it is allowed to leach from factory to farmland to the water table like so much bath water.

And what you may ask is this toxic solar panel waste? Well it’s pretty filthy, dirty enough to get every environmentalist green with anger and righteous indignation. There is a lot of it too. Solar panel manufacturer produces lots of waste, unlike a nuclear power station than barely manages a ton in a year of operation.

Already, Japan generates 10 000 tons every year. In twenty years, it will be – 800 000 tons. There are no plans to dispose of it safely. But that is nothing compared to the toxic waste generated by China where they not only make solar panels they operate twice as many as the United States. In thirty years’, time China will be producing some 20 million tons.

So much for the quantities of solar panel waste. Now for what it consists of. All those who think all nuclear waste is dangerous, however small, standby for a really shocking fact.

To make solar panels you need sulfuric acid, and phosphine gas. After use they contain lead, chromium and cadmium — all carcinogens. The manufacturing process also emits nitrogen trifluoride. This gas is the king of greenhouse gases. Its presence in the earth’s atmosphere has dramatically increased in recent years.

Surprise! You don’t hear much about it among the green enthusiasts.

Instead, we all are subjected to a steady stream of shock horror headlines, blatant misrepresentation of the science, and lately speeches in the United Nations General Assembly by Swedish teenagers angry with their parents for allegedly destroying their future.

As they say, you could not make it up.

Source: Cape Business News

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Imagine if These Lunatic & Socialist Extinction Rebellion Activists Had Real Power

CLIMATISM posts often begin with poignant quotes from past philosophers, scholars, academics, poets. Not only as a link to the subject matter, but as a guide to past thinking that can engender clues to our current existence and provide insight for future pathways.

THIS author is staunch in the belief that climate change has absolutely nothing to do with the ‘environment’ or “saving the planet”.

IF it did, every climate change activist, such as Extinction Rebellion, would be castigating China for unlimited emissions until 2030, as per their Paris Accord commitment.

TO suggest that China signed the Paris agreement (with their opulent concession) in a deliberate effort to further weaken Western economies, with a keen awareness as to their gullibility and virtue-signalling penchant to appease the loud minority with UNreliables (wind/solar) to “power a clean, green, sustainable future”, would be an understatement.

THE result of this ruinous, climate virtue-signalling by the West? Weak state governments, beholden to the loud minority and gods of climate change, literally blowing up cheap, reliable coal-fired power stations to make way for costly, weather dependent UNreliables — wind and solar — resulting in inevitable blackouts, brownouts and skyrocketing power bills.

CHINA, on the other hand, is massively ramping up their coal-fired power arsenal to gain an obvious economic and geopolitical advantage that only cheap, reliable, 24/7/365 thermal energy can provide.

A brilliant op-ed from Todd Royal sums up China’s domestic and global positioning using cheap, reliable energy as its literal ‘1st Infantry Division‘.

AN entirely deliberate geo-political strategy, open for all to see, if one is open to cold-hard-reality …

SO, where are Extinction Rebellion or Great Thunberg or the UN, on China’s massive coal expansion? Could it be that they are only interested in breaking down Western civilisation? The system that employs democracy rather than communism/socialism?

COULD it be that all around the globe, Climate Change is being exposed as simply a moral issue for the wealthy urban elite?

COULD it be that campaigning on climate guarantees political death?

RECENT Western ‘democratic’ elections, the world over, are surely proving that blue-collar workers, and the silent majority are simply not buying into the relentless fear-mongering and warming hysteria driven by climate theory-obsessed politicians, propped up by a compliant, (97% Leftist) mainstream media…

ENOUGH of the politics! Now for some fun…

AN excellent and entertaining video on XR via Paul Homewood’s excellent site “Not A Lot Of People Know That” :

Source: Climatism

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Renewables Can’t Power Modern Civilization and People Do Not Want to Return to Pre-modern Life

Over the last decade, journalists have held up Germany’s renewables energy transition, the Energiewende, as an environmental model for the world.  “Many poor countries, once intent on building coal-fired power plants to bring electricity to their people, are discussing whether they might leapfrog the fossil age and build clean grids from the outset,” thanks to theEnergiewende, wrote a New York Times reporter in 2014.

With Germany as inspiration, the United Nations and World Bank poured billions into renewables like wind, solar, and hydro in developing nations like Today In: Industry Kenya. But then, last year, Germany was forced to acknowledge that it had to delay its phase-out of coal, and would not meet its 2020 greenhouse gas reduction commitments.  It announced plans to bulldoze an ancient church and forest in order to get at the coal underneath it.

After renewables investors and advocates, including Al Gore and Greenpeace, criticized Germany, journalists came to the country’s defense. “Germany has fallen short of its emission targets in part because its targets were so ambitious,” one of them argued last summer. “If the rest of the world made just half Germany’s effort, the future for our planet would look less bleak,” she wrote. “So Germany, don’t give up. And also: Thank you.” But Germany didn’t just fall short of its climate targets. Its emissions have flat-lined since 2009.

Now comes a major article in the country’s largest newsweekly magazine, Der Spiegel, titled, “A Botched Job in Germany” ("Murks in Germany"). The magazine’s cover shows broken wind turbines and incomplete electrical transmission towers against a dark silhouette of Berlin. “The Energiewende — the biggest political project since reunification — threatens to fail,” write Der Spiegel’s Frank Dohmen, Alexander Jung, Stefan Schultz, Gerald Traufetter in their a 5,700-word investigative story.

Over the past five years alone, the Energiewende has cost Germany €32 billion ($36 billion) annually, and opposition to renewables is growing in the German countryside. “The politicians fear citizen resistance” Der Spiegel reports. “There is hardly a wind energy project that is not fought.” In response, politicians sometimes order “electrical lines be buried underground but that is many times more expensive and takes years longer.”

As a result, the deployment of renewables and related transmission lines is slowing rapidly. Less than half as many wind turbines (743) were installed in 2018 as were installed in 2017, and just 30 kilometers of new transmission were added in 2017. Solar and wind advocates say cheaper solar panels and wind turbines will make the future growth in renewables cheaper than past growth but there are reasons to believe the opposite will be the case.

It will cost Germany $3-$4 trillion to increase renewables as share of electricity from today's 35%... [+] AG ENERGIEBINLANZEN

Der Spiegel cites a recent estimate that it would cost Germany “€3.4 trillion ($3.8 trillion),” or seven times more than it spent from 2000 to 2025, to increase solar and wind three to five-fold by 2050. Between 2000 and 2019, Germany grew renewables from 7% to 35% of its electricity. And as much of Germany's renewable electricity comes from biomass, which scientists view as polluting and environmentally degrading, as from solar.

Of the 7,700 new kilometers of transmission lines needed, only 8% have been built, while  large-scale electricity storage remains inefficient and expensive.  “A large part of the energy used is lost,” the reporters note of a much-hyped hydrogen gas project, “and the efficiency is below 40%... No viable business model can be developed from this.” Meanwhile, the 20-year subsidies granted to wind, solar, and biogas since 2000 will start coming to an end next year. “The wind power boom is over,” Der Spiegel concludes. All of which raises a question: if renewables can’t cheaply power Germany, one of the richest and most technologically advanced countries in the world, how could a developing nation like Kenya ever expect them to allow it to “leapfrog” fossil fuels?

The Question of Technology

The earliest and most sophisticated 20th Century case for renewables came from a German who is widely considered the most influential philosopher of the 20th Century, Martin Heidegger. In his 1954 essay, “The Question Concerning of Technology,” Heidegger condemned the view of nature as a mere resource for human consumption. The use of “modern technology,” he wrote, “puts to nature the unreasonable demand that it supply energy which can be extracted and stored as such… Air is now set upon to yield nitrogen, the earth to yield ore, ore to yield uranium…to yield atomic energy.”

The solution, Heidegger argued, was to yoke human society and its economy to unreliable energy flows. He even condemned hydro-electric dams, for dominating the natural environment, and praised windmills because they “do not unlock energy in order to store it.” These weren’t just aesthetic preferences. Windmills have traditionally been useful to farmers whereas large dams have allowed poor agrarian societies to industrialize. In the US, Heidegger’s views were picked up by renewable energy advocates. Barry Commoner in 1969 argued that a transition to renewables was needed to bring modern civilization "into harmony with the ecosphere."

The goal of renewables was to turn modern industrial societies back into agrarian ones, argued Murray Bookchin in his 1962 book, Our Synthetic Environment. Bookchin admitted his proposal "conjures up an image of cultural isolation and social stagnation, of a journey backward in history to the agrarian societies of the medieval and ancient worlds." But then, starting around the year 2000, renewables started to gain a high-tech luster. Governments and private investors poured $2 trillion into solar and wind and related infrastructure, creating the impression that renewables were profitable aside from subsidies.

Entrepreneurs like Elon Musk proclaimed that a rich, high-energy civilization could be powered by cheap solar panels and electric cars. Journalists reported breathlessly on the cost declines in batteries, imagining a tipping point at which conventional electricity utilities would be “disrupted.” But no amount of marketing could change the poor physics of resource-intensive and land-intensive renewables. Solar farms take 450 times more land than nuclear plants, and wind farms take 700 times more land than natural gas wells, to produce the same amount of energy. Efforts to export the Energiewende to developing nations may prove even more devastating.

The new wind farm in Kenya, inspired and financed by Germany and other well-meaning Western nations, it located on a major flight path of migratory birds. Scientists say it will kill hundreds of endangered eagles. “It’s one of the three worst sites for a wind farm that I’ve seen in Africa in terms of its potential to kill threatened birds,” a biologist explained. In response, the wind farm’s developers have done what Europeans have long done in Africa, which is to hire the organizations, which ostensibly represent the doomed eagles and communities, to collaborate rather than fight the project. Kenya won't be able to “leapfrog” fossil fuels with its wind farm.

On the contrary, all of that unreliable wind energy is likely to increase the price of electricity and make Kenya’s slow climb out of poverty even slower. Heidegger, like much of the conservation movement, would have hated what the Energiewende has become: an excuse for the destruction of natural landscapes and local communities. Opposition to renewables comes from the country peoples that Heidegger idolized as more authentic and “grounded” than urbane cosmopolitan elites who fetishize their solar roofs and Teslas as signs of virtue.

Germans, who will have spent $580 billion on renewables and related infrastructure by 2025, express great pride in the Energiewende. “It’s our gift to the world,” a renewables advocate told The Times. Tragically, many Germans appear to have believed that the billions they spent on renewables would redeem them. “Germans would then at last feel that they have gone from being world-destroyers in the 20th century to world-saviors in the 21st,” noted a reporter.

Many Germans will, like Der Spiegel,  claim the renewables transition  was merely “botched,” but it wasn't. The transition to renewables was doomed because modern industrial people, no matter how Romantic they are, do not want to return to pre-modern life. The reason renewables can’t power modern civilization is because they were never meant to. One interesting question is why anybody ever thought they could.  

Source: Michael Shellenberger

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The 10 largest coal producers and exporters in Indonesia:

1. Bumi Resouces
2. Adaro Energy
3. Indo Tambangraya Megah
4. Bukit Asam
5. Baramulti Sukses Sarana
6. Harum Energy
7. Mitrabara Adiperdana 
8. Samindo Resources
9. United Tractors
10. Berau Coal

Top World Clean Coal Technologies Contractors

Fireplace Design - A Real Burning Issue

Mantlepiece and grate styles have altered but the basic structural elements of a fireplace have not radically changed for hundreds of years. The early combination of a large stone or brick opening with a chimney built over it evolved from the obvious fact that smoke rises, rather than from a scientific understanding of how a well-designed flue system works. Consequently early wood and later coal-burning fires were very inefficient and it was not until a certain Benjamin Thompson (also known as Count Rumford) produced his thesis on the principles of fireplace design in 1799 that smaller grates and improvements in the internal shape of the openings were introduced.

A brick or stone enclosure forms the basis of the fireplace. Variously known as the fireplace opening or recess or builders opening, it may be set flush with the wall or built out into the room, forming a chimney breast. This chimney breast rises through the height of the house, emerging through the roof to form a chimney stack. At the top of the opening the gather and flue combine to carry the smoke up the chimney. If the chimney is shared by several fireplaces on different floors, it may contain more than one flue.

The masonry over the fireplace opening is supported by a lintel or a brick arch. Old inglenook fireplaces used massive oak beams, whereas a strong iron strap usually supports an early brick arch. Later fireplaces may have a straight arch supported by angle iron, and by the twentieth century cast concrete lintels were the norm.

A hearth, constructed from non-combustible materials such as stone or tile-faced concrete, projects out into the room to protect the floor from falling ashes. In most old houses the hearth was set flush with the floor, although sometimes a superimposed one was used to raise the level. The space within the fireplace opening, known as the back hearth, is usually level with the hearth itself. A dog grate for burning wood or coal can be placed on this back hearth. However, by the mid-nineteenth century the mass produced cast-iron register grate which filled the opening, had become the fashion.

To complete the assembly, a mantelpiece or mantel – or fireplace surround, as it is often called today – is fitted to frame the grate or fireplace opening. The mantel may be constructed from stone, slate, marble, wood or cast iron. The walls around it may be finished with wood paneling, or more commonly with plaster, and in some cases the mantel extends upwards to form an impressive chimneypiece. Mirrored overmantels were introduced in the late eighteenth century, and these became the classic feature of Victorian sitting rooms.

Within this fireplace an open fire burning wood or coal is a cheerful sight, but if it is your only source of heat, as it was for centuries, this romantic image can soon fade especially if the fire does not burn properly. Getting a fire started and keeping it alight then becomes a challenge, if not a chore. For wood and coal fires to burn well a good supply of air is needed under the grate, as well as a means of escape for the hot gases and smoke. With the fuel safely contained within the fireplace opening on a grate, free circulation of air is possible and waste ash can fall through the grate so the fire is not stifled. If the chimney is inadequate or the flow of air is restricted the fire will not function effectively.

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The 10 largest coal producers and exporters in Indonesia:

1. Bumi Resouces
2. Adaro Energy
3. Indo Tambangraya Megah
4. Bukit Asam
5. Baramulti Sukses Sarana
6. Harum Energy
7. Mitrabara Adiperdana 
8. Samindo Resources
9. United Tractors
10. Berau Coal

Top World Clean Coal Technologies Contractors

How to Heat Your Home With Pellet Stove?

When you are looking for an alternate way of heating your home, a pellet stove is just the thing for you.  Once you have one of these great heating sources in your home, you will never want to go without it.  For just a few dollars a day, you can use your stove and benefit from the convenient heat source.

Pellet stoves are ran on little wood pellets that heat the home efficiently.  A pellet stove does require to be plugged into an electrical socket to provide electricity for the blower to circulate the hot air around the home.  You will find that one of these stoves will hardly affect your electric bill at all.

Pellet stoves can be placed just about anywhere throughout the home.  Wherever you need an extra heat source or an extra accent piece in the home will be great.  You do have to take few safety precautions when you are installing a pellet stove.  You should never place it near soft furniture and some hard furniture as well.  It is also a good idea to keep electronics away from the pellet stove because of the excessive heat that is provided from the stove.

Pellet stoves are usually found to be petite enough to fit in just about any area that you want.  You can find them to be in all different kinds of styles and shapes as well.  You will not need any additional vents or air ducts installed for your stove.  All you have to do is buy the pellets and you are ready to start heating your home. 

For the most part pellet stoves are safe.  They are an efficient and secure way of heating your home without breaking your bank account.  You will have to read up on the information that is sent along with the stove to make sure that you are following all of the recommended instructions that are given for installation and use. 

This new pellet stove will be a cheap alternative to heating your home throughout those bitter cold winter nights as well as the brisk fall evenings.  You will be able to control the amount of heat that is provided which makes this a great item to use all year round.  They are easy to work and anyone can do it. 

Another nice thing about a pellet stove is that you do not need to shovel coal or chop up wood for the heating source.  Most pellets can be bought in the same place that you buy your stove or you can have them delivered to your home.  These stoves are efficient, convenient, and safe.  There is not better way to heat your home for less and bring style and appeal to your home.

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The 10 largest coal producers and exporters in Indonesia:

1. Bumi Resouces
2. Adaro Energy
3. Indo Tambangraya Megah
4. Bukit Asam
5. Baramulti Sukses Sarana
6. Harum Energy
7. Mitrabara Adiperdana 
8. Samindo Resources
9. United Tractors
10. Berau Coal

Top World Clean Coal Technologies Contractors

Human CO2 Exhalation A Whopping 40,000 ppm in One Single Day

I looked it up – I was curious. How many times does a normal healthy human being breathe in and breathe out in just one minute? Well, Google tells me that we exhale (that means breathe out for the scientifically illiterate friends of mine on Facebook) some fifteen to twenty times in one minute.

Let us take the lower number. What is 15 x 60? It equals 900 exhalations in every hour! Let us now multiply 900 by 24 to get the number of breaths in 24 hours. That comes to 21,600 exhalations of Carbon Dioxide at 40,000 parts per million in one single day by one average person.

The total world population is presently reckoned to be 7.4 billion. And rising! You do the maths for that!

Now, all the animal kingdom and all the bacteria also inhale Oxygen and exhale Carbon Dioxide. And all the green plants and plankton just love this Carbon Dioxide and provide Oxygen for us humans to breathe. I love my Carbon Dioxide and plants love my Carbon Dioxide – the question is ‘Do you?’

‘Am I a Climate Scientist?’ Answer: No, I am not. Question: Is Al Gore a Climate Scientist? Answer: No, he is a politician. Is there such an animal as a ‘climate scientist?’ That is a moot question. The three principal sciences are Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Professor Tim Ball has a degree in Geography but is also known as a Climatologist – that is to say, someone who attempts to garner and preserve data about past climates.  This is unlike those who will neither reveal their metadata nor how, by all accounts, they unintentionally lose it. For full details please read https://principia-scientific.org/beware-fake-science-news by John O’Sullivan. But we can say is that there are Meteorologists, Marine Geologists and Astrophysicists, but it is only ignoramuses who talk about climate scientists.

The Global Warmers, or I should say the man-made Global Warmers, froth and foam about Carbon Dioxide. There is a lot that can be done with Carbon Dioxide. It can be made into dry ice that is colder than water ice. It can be liquefied for ease of transport. It can be used in any number of carbonated drinks like coca-cola or tonic water that goes so well with gin! In common with all molecules it will warm up with infrared and likewise cool by radiation.

If any dare suggest that what is said about ‘climate sensitivity’ is just poor science, they get called a ‘denier’. I tell you what – count me in! I deny absolutely that Carbon Dioxide has any warming properties whatsoever. A molecule may be warmed for a nano-second, but it cannot generate heat and it cannot capture or trap heat – that is impossibility. Even highly intelligent people get caught on that one. One may capture a substance, but it is impossible to trap a transfer of kinetic energy. In fact these transfers of kinetic energy are ongoing, everywhere without cessation. Just everything is seeking an equilibrium that is never attained.

There is only one entity that can warm the Globe with its radiation and that is the Sun. So who are the real deniers? Who are the deceivers? Who are the tricksters and mountebanks who deny the absolute supreme power of the Sun? None other than the Warmists, the Anthropogenic Global Warmers, who imagine that they can control the already fraudulent global temperature, by making laws regulating the amount of atmospheric Carbon Dioxide.

We already know that the total amount of atmospheric Carbon Dioxide is only 0.04% of the atmosphere, agreed by both sides of the argument. We also know that the figure for the human contribution from the IPCC is but 2.9%. If we round this up to 3%, then the total human contribution from the burning of fossil fuels amounts to 0.0012%, an amount that is so derisory that it is laughable. Well it would be laughable were it not for the fact that in conference after conference, as COP22, the Warmists attempt to impose upon the nations of the world draconian measures, designed specifically to torpedo Western civilisation and incidentally to impoverish the citizens of the Third World.

How long have we had to put up with their anti-Capitalist drivel? Not any more – their day of reckoning has come. Even James Hansen admits that the attempts to reduce emissions of Carbon Dioxide are an exercise in futility. Yet he persists. The President-elect of the United States has chosen a team of well known so called Contrarians and Deniers, who regard the doctrine of man-made Global warming as a false science. Or so it appears. I am holding my breath until January 20th. 2017 should be an interesting year!

The 10 largest coal producers and exporters in Indonesia:

1. Bumi Resouces
2. Adaro Energy
3. Indo Tambangraya Megah
4. Berau Coal
5. Bukit Asam
6. Baramulti Sukses Sarana
7. Harum Energy
8. Mitrabara Adiperdana 
9. Samindo Resources
10. United Tractors

Source: Anthony Bright-Paul