February 2011 GIR(L)

February 2011

Your Local Ladies Magazine

Romance

10 Tips

Diabetes Nightmare

of 1923

Plus: Health Tips, love your pet, & the perfect scent! www.TheGirlMagazine.com

February 2011

10 Ten Tips For a Romantic Valentine’s Day, Get it right this year 14 Reflections on Happiness, What you can do to be a happier person 20 Love Your Pet Day 22 Make Your Bedroom a Place for Love, Liven up the romance with these

few tips 26 Coconut Oil and Alzheimer’s, One woman’s experience, could be your experience.

34 The Perfect Scent, Perfume through the ages 42 The Nightmare of 1923 and it’s Cause, Read what happens when money dies 46 Habits of Thought, Your thoughts effect on your life 50 Black History Month, Shallow Ritual or Historically Relevant, Is there a need for this designation after our first black president?

55 The World’s Hottest Winter, 2011 Winter Party Festival hits Miami March 2-7.

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Publisher’s Note

T Shelly Allen

“There is no security in life... only

opportunity!”

- Douglas MacAurthor

Jackie Branca 6

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hey say in life if you don’t learn from history, you’re destined to repeat it. Some things are worth repeating, some things...not so much.

Valentine’s Day for instance, now there’s a holiday worth repeating every single year! Hopefully you’ve learned some lessons from Valentine’s past and you’ve tweaked your Valentine’s celebrations year after year. If you need a little help, we’ve got some great ideas for you in this issue of GIR(L).

Did you know February 20 is “Love Your Pet Day?” I know, I know every day is love your pet day but we thought it was pretty cool that our pets get a special day set aside for love too.

We have so much interesting and helpful information in this issue of GIR(L), it’s like having an incredible session of searching on the internet.

After all that’s what we like to do, find the information then bring it to you, straight up! We want you to get the information you want and also some information you need. So sit back, relax and enjoy this issue of GIR(L). See you next month, same time, same sandbox!

www.thegirlmagazine.com P.O. Box 50111, Lighthouse Point, Florida, 33074, 954.829.1982, 954.815.3220

Publisher Allen-Branca Media Company, Inc Managing Directors Shelly Allen, Jacqueline Branca Editorial Senior Editor Shelly Allen Research Alicia Polacek Contributing Writer Lindsey Peppar Contributing Writer Sue Willis Contributing Writer Allison Singer Contributing Writer Jennifer Davis Contributing Writer Claudia Beckenstein Contributing Writer Pam Wall Sales Director of Sales Jacqueline Branca Sales Associate Amanda Pearl Internet Sales Associate Lindsey Peppar Studio / Production Art Director / Production Design Pink Parrot Productions Advertisement Design Joya Design 954.829.9915 Layout Design Pink Parrot Productions Web Site Director / Designer Joya Design Distribution Tri-County Distribution Services 2011 Copyright here and abroad of all editorial content is held by the publishers of gir(L) Magazine. Reproduction whole or in part is forbidden without prior written consent from the publisher. Publisher may not be held liable or responsible in any way for any actions ensuing from advertisements or content.

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gir(L) inspiration

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gir(L) Romance

Ten Tips for a Romantic & Memorable Valentine’s Day 10 GIR(L) I 2011

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rom its earliest origins, Valentine’s Day has been associated with love. Centuries ago, the Romans celebrated a feast every February called Lupercalia.

The celebration included a ritual for matching young, single men and women. Names were placed in a box, a drawing was held and couples randomly matched together were partners for a year -- after that it was up to them.

The Valentine’s Day gift you choose for your loved one and how you decide to spend the day says a lot about the quality of your relationship, so give something that has real meaning to you. Gifts from the heart don’t have to be expensive. Since the traditional gifts of flowers or chocolates don’t last forever, here are ten creative ways to express your love.

• Create your own Valentine’s Day card. Compose a poem or an expression of love that expresses your personality.

• Create a "recollection collection" scrapbook filled with favorite photographs, love letters,

keepsakes from special occasions, and cherished mementos.

• Make a CD of your favorite songs as a couple including love songs that you both enjoy listening to. Buy some romantic CDs, classic videos or DVDs and wrap them all together with red ribbon.

• Jewelry is always a favorite. For the woman in your life, buy a heartshaped locket and put a picture of yourself in it. Personalize the locket with

your loved one’s initials so she’ll have something to wear that’s hers alone. Package it in a heartshaped box or tied to fresh flowers.

For your man, a good choice is the classic sterling silver ID bracelet or cuff links with his name or initials custom-engraved.

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• Give silk or glass flowers, which will last forever. If your beloved has a green thumb, give a flowering plant to put in the garden to enjoy year after year.

trainer to inspire you to exercise together, or visit a spa together.

Spend a night out at the theater and have dinner at a quiet and romantic candlelit restaurant.

• Prepare your loved one’s favorite dinner and serve it on a romantically set table and dine by candlelight on Valentine’s Day.

• If you plan to propose on Valentine’s Day, hide the engagement ring in a box of candy or at the bottom of a heart-shaped flute filled with champagne. Buy a pair of monogrammed champagne flutes and make a toast with your favorite bubbly.

• For the sweetheart with a sweet tooth, make a decadent dessert such as a chocolate fondue with melted chocolate mixed with a touch of heavy cream, and serve it with fruit or cookies.

• Give the man or partner in your life a personalized gift for their favorite hobby such as personalized golf or tennis balls that say, “I love you,” “You’re a hit!” or “Be mine,” or a monogrammed humidor for cigars.

• The gift of togetherness is precious, given today’s busy lifestyles. Plan a romantic, surprise weekend travel getaway.

Take lessons together to share in each other’s interests like dancing, cooking or sailing. Hire a personal 12 GIR(L) I 2011

If you want to propose at home, sprinkle rose petals around the house. Place heart-shaped candles around your home to create the right mood. Then, enjoy a quiet, romantic evening. Create a banner

that says, “Will you marry me?” and hang it outside her home.

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gir(L) Emotion

Reflections on Happiness

by Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D

D

uring the past three years, I have found myself thinking a good deal about the subject of happiness, and about the idea of not merely desiring happiness but making it a conscious purpose. This was an idea that first hit me as I approached my sixty-first birthday, and I would like to share some of the important things I’ve learned. My most important teacher in this area has been my wife of fifteen years, Devers, who is the most consistently happy human being I have ever known. What I identified about how she achieves this is 14

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part of the story I wish to tell.

There is a tendency for most people to explain feelings of happiness or unhappiness in terms of the external events of their lives. They explain happiness by pointing to the positives; they explain unhappiness by pointing to the negatives. The implication is that events determine whether or not they are happy. I have always suspected that our own attitudes have far more to do with how happy we are than any external circumstances. Today, research supports this view.

Take a person who is basically disposed to be happy, meaning that he is happy a significantly greater amount of the time than he is unhappy, and let some misfortune befall him--the loss of a job, or a marriage, or being hit by some physical disability--and for some period of time he will suffer. But check with him a few weeks or months or a year later (depending on the severity of the problem) and he will be happy again.

In contrast, take a person who is basically disposed to be unhappy, who is unhappy a significantly greater amount of the time than he is happy, and let something wonderful happen to him--getting a promotion, inheriting a lot of money, falling in love--and for a while he will be happy. But check with him a little later down the line and very likely he will be unhappy again.

Research also tells us that the best predictors of a person’s disposition to be happy are (1) self-esteem and (2) the belief that we ourselves, rather than external forces, are the most significant shapers of our destiny.

I have always thought of myself as essentially a happy person and have managed to be happy under some fairly difficult circumstances. However, I have known periods of struggle and suffering, as we all have, and at times I felt there was some error I was making and that not

all of the pain was necessary.

I began to think more about Devers’ psychology. When I met her I thought that I had never met anyone for whom joy was a more natural state. Yet her life had not been easy. Widowed at twenty-four, she was left to raise two small children with very little money and no one to help her. When we met, she had been single for almost sixteen years, had achieved success in a number of jobs, and never spoke of past struggles with any hint of self-pity. I saw her hit by disappointing experiences from time to time, saw her sad or muted for a few hours (rarely longer than a day), then saw her bounce back to her natural state of joy without any evidence of denial or repression. Her happiness was real--and larger than any adversity.

When I would ask her about her resilience, she would say, “I’m committed to being happy.” And she added, “That takes self-discipline.” She almost never went to sleep at night without taking time to review everything good in her life; those were typically her last thoughts of the day. I thought that this was important.

Then I thought of something I had noticed about myself. And that was, as I sometimes joked, that with every decade my childhood kept getting happier. If you asked me at twenty or at sixty to 2011 I GIR(L)

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describe my early years, the report would not have been different about the key facts, but the emphasis would have been different. At twenty, the negatives in my childhood were foreground in my mind the the positives were background; at sixty, the reverse was true. As I grew older, my perspective and sense of what was important about those early years changed.

The more I studied and thought about other happy people I encountered, the more clear it became that happy people process their experiences so that, as quickly as possible, positives are held in the foreground of consciousness and negatives are consigned to the background. This is essential to understanding them.

But then I was stopped by this thought: None of these ideas are entirely new to me; at some level they are familiar; why have I not implemented them better throughout my life? Once asked, I knew the answer: Somehow long ago, I had decided that if I did not spend a significant amount of time focused on the negatives in my life, the disappointments and setbacks, I was being evasive, irresponsible toward reality, not serious enough about my life. Expressing this thought in words for the first time, I saw how absurd it was. It would be reasonable only if there were 16

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corrective actions I could be taking that I was avoiding taking. But if I was taking every action possible, then a further focus on negatives had no merit whatsoever.

If something is wrong, the question to ask is: Is there an action I can take to improve or correct the situation? If there is, take it.

If there isn’t, I do my best not to torment myself about what is beyond my control.

Admittedly this last is not always easy.

The past two-and-half years of my life have been the most consistently happy I have ever known, even though it has been a time of considerable external stress. I find that I deal with problems more quickly than in the past and I recover more quickly from disappointments.

I can summarize the key idea here as follows: Begin each day with two questions: What’s good in my life?-and What needs to be done? The first question keeps us focused on the positives. The second reminds us that our life and well-being are our own responsibility.

The world has rarely treated happiness as a state worthy of serious respect. And yet, if we see someone who, in spite of life’s adversities, is happy a good deal of the time, we should recognize that we are looking at a spiritual achievement--and one worth aspiring to.

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gir(L) Pet

Activities To Celebrate Love Your Pet Day

by Abigail Richards

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ebruary 20th is Love Your Pet Day and what better time to let your best companion know that they are loved and appreciated.

No matter what pet you have: fish, dog, cat, guinea pig, rabbits, etc., this is the day to show them they are loved. Here are a few activities to make sure your pet feels loved.

Special treat breakfast

There are all types of safe alternatives that your pets would love to have for breakfast that goes against the normal routine. Mix their dry food with some wet food, check out the special treats at the pet store such as dog ice cream, get them a new bone or their favorite forbidden treats.

Take a trip to the groomer

Pets love being cleaned. If yours does not do well with strangers or does not normally like the groomers, you can clean them yourself. They will love the extra attention. Be sure to give the gift of a new collar, shirt or booties to keep their feet warm. They will take on a new personality. My dog turns into macho dog whenever he has a bandana around his neck and leaves

the groomers.

Go on an outing

Some dogs live for car rides. Who doesn’t like blowing their ears in the wind and sending slobber on the car behind you? Cats love car rides too.

You can go to the park. Go to the pet store. Take them shopping, many stores allow pets. The options are endless.

Take your pet to work

Some businesses allow pets to come to work. You may never have done it, but today is the day to step out and take your loved one to work with you. Google is famous for letting pets come to work. Find out your company policies.

Buy a new toy

Dogs are just like kids and love getting new toys. This is the day to treat.

These are just a few suggestions. From extra petting to tummy rubbing, this is the day to make your pet feel special.

So go ahead, curl up with your fourlegged friend and celebrate the day named in his/her honor.

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gir(L) Romance

Make Your Bedroom a Place for

Love

Alina Bradford

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ow to make your bedroom romantic and sexy, without fighting with your lover.

Every seasoned couple can tell you that sometimes the bedroom can become a hot zone for more than one reason. Fights can erupt from something that, before moving in, would have made you laugh.

He’s leaving socks on the floor or she’s hogging the bed; he wants a T.V. in the room, but she doesn’t. The smallest things can set off World War III. Here’s how to make your bedroom a place for love, not war.

A Clean Sweep The first rule for keeping love alive and spats at bay is to keep your bedroom as clean as possible. Getting ride of extra “stuff” that comes from combining two lives can be a big part of that.

Simple things such as cleaning clutter off of the dresser and

putting it in baskets, moving things from nightstands and putting them in drawers, and keeping clothes picked up can really make a difference.

Removing extra furniture can help make your bedroom look cleaner, as well.

“It’s so much easier to keep our room cleaner now that we took out some of the extra furniture,” newlywed Carrie Snider of Yakima, Washington said in an email interview taken by the author in 2006. “It really opened up the space.”

Romance Decor Another important part of having a bedroom you both get excited about is to banish distractions such as a T.V. and video games. But, Kevin Decker, relationship expert, in an email interview taken by the author in 2006, suggests adding some things with your new spouse that will liven up the room and add to the romance: 2011 I GIR(L)

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• Candles: The glow of a flickering candle often sets the mood for love.

perfect relaxation as part of your romantic evening.

• Music: Add a portable CD player to your bedroom and pick up a CD or two that you, and your

• Furnishings: Include extra pillows for snuggling and at least one expensive sheet set for luxurious sleeping.

spouse, find romantic.

• Flowers: An inexpensive bouquet of flowers can add color and ambiance to your bedroom.

Refresh them often with visits to your local flower shop.

• Soothing massage oils: A sensuous massage can be the 24 GIR(L) I 2011

• Pictures: At least one of your favorite getaway places and a picture of the two of you having fun.

• In the end, Decker sums up the basic idea you should have for your new home together, "The most important piece of your romantic bedroom are the people living in it.

When they enter a bedroom that they've prepared to be loving, fun, and romantic, it's sure to be just that."

www.thegirlmagazine.com

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Coconut Oil And Alzheimers

www.leading.wholefoodfarmacy.com

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lzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative disorder that affects the brain. It’s estimated that about 5.1 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, including 4.9 million people age 65 and older. The Alzheimer’s Association predicts that by 2050, the number of people age 65 and over with Alzheimer’s could range from 11 million to 16 million. So what can you do about it?

An article published in the St. Petersburg Times suggests that a woman improved her husband’s Alzheimer’s symptoms by using coconut oil. Dr. Mary Newport had slowly watched Steve, her husband, start to show signs of Alzheimer’s.

Steve had been struggling with daily tasks and confessed to his wife that he felt confused and didn’t know what was happening to him.

Luckily, an early diagnosis had been made and Steve tested positive

for the gene that puts someone at a greater risk of developing the Alzheimer’s disease. Steve was placed on several medications such as Aricept, Namenda, and Excelon to help slow the progression but his symptoms had gradually continued to get worse over time. Seeking a cure, Dr. Mary Newport looked into clinical drug trials that could offer her husband better results than his current medication. Unfortunately, he was not accepted into the first clinical drug trial. Steve’s Alzheimer’s symptoms worsened to the point he was unable to remember the month, day, or year. He tested so low on mental examinations that his results categorized him with “severe” Alzheimer’s.

During Dr. Mary Newport’s research into these clinical drug trials she had discovered a new drug that was showing amazing results. She learned that the patent applications primary ingredient of this new drug 2011 I GIR(L)

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gir(L) Health

was MCT oil, an oil composed of medium-chain triglycerides, derived from coconut oil and palm kernel oil. With the patent application of the experimental drug, a bottle of virgin coconut oil, and some simple math, she was able to determine the amount of coconut oil that would equal the new drug’s dosage.

The next morning she mixed two tablespoons of virgin coconut oil into her husband’s oatmeal. On the way to his second drug screening she asked Steve what the month, day, and year was - and he answered the questions correctly! “It was like the oil kicked in and he could think clearly again,” Dr. Mary Newport said. “We were ecstatic.” Steve continued to take coconut oil everyday and by the fifth day there was a tremendous improvement.

According to Dr. Mary Newport, her husband who is an accountant was unable to draw a simple clock before the coconut oil treatment. After two weeks of treatment, Steve’s drawing ability had improved, and after a month, the drawing 28 GIR(L) I 2011

started to become a lot clearer.

Dr. Mary said, “The oil seemed to “lift the fog.” Within the first sixty days, they started to see many remarkable changes. Steve had become more alert and happy, he was more talkative, and he started making jokes again. He was also able to concentrate and stay on task, whereas before the coconut oil treatment he was easily distracted and rarely accomplished anything by himself.

While coconut oil may not be a cure for Alzheimer’s, it does appear to be helping!

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“ gir(L) Humor

“My wife is a very reasonable woman...”

After being married for 41 years, I took a careful look at my wife one day and said, ‘Honey, 41 years ago we had a cheap apartment, a cheap car, slept on a sofa bed and watched a 10 inch black and white TV, but I got to sleep every night with a hot 22 year old gal.’

Now I have a $500,000.00 home, a $45,000.00 car, nice big bed and plasma screen TV, but I’m sleeping with a 63 year old woman. It seems to me that you’re not holding up your side of things.

My wife is a very reasonable woman. She told me to go out and find a hot 22 year old gal and she would make sure that I would once again be living in a cheap apartment, driving a cheap car, sleeping on a sofa bed and watching a 10 inch black and white TV...

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gir(L) Beauty

PERFECT scent... how do they do it? the

W

hat is

Perfume?

People have used perfumes for just about all of recorded history.

Although hygiene standards have varied over the centuries (Queen Isabella of Spain, the 1400s, boasts that she’d only had two baths in her entire life), people have always had an ambition to smell nice. And they’ve turned to perfume.

So what exactly is perfume? We see perfume now as liquids, which we can dab or mist on ourselves to 34 GIR(L) I 2011

give an enjoyable scent. The modern word perfume, comes from the Latin phrase per fumus, meaning “through smoke,” and that gives a hint to the origin of perfume. The earliest perfumes had been the smokes emitted by burning incense.

Incense and Ancient History Incense is one of humanities oldest inventions; records of it can go back to ancient Egypt, more than 3500 years ago. It was utilized to “scent” the air, and was mainly a “luxury”

product: the wealthy used it in their homes, and the priests utilized it in religious rituals. Unfortunately, ordinary folks had to handle the smells of ordinary life.

Incense was a luxury item owing to the tremendous effort that went into producing it. Then, as now, the more difficult it is to make something, the more it will cost. To get an idea of ancient incense preparation, just attempt to powder various barks, twigs, leaves, and flowers with a mortar and pestle. Now do it sufficient to create a barrel of incense.

And this takes us to an additional point: just where do perfumes come from? For the most part, perfumes and incenses are manufactured from plant products. Many woods, like cedar or mesquite, are fairly aromatic, and flowers give off numerous scents. Other substances, such as oils and wines, can be added to these in numerous combinations, to produce the desired scent.

Generally, in today’s terminology, if the origin of the fragrance is a solid, than it’s an incense; if the origin is a fluid, it is a perfume.

The ancient Egyptians knew about fluid scents as well. They utilized various oils and flower extracts on themselves, and the use of fragrances spread via their entire society.

Perfuming was part of bathing, and bathing was frequent. As a side note, the public baths of Greece and Rome probably owe something of their nature to Egyptian precursors.

The Egyptians also paid attention to the bottles and jars they utilized to keep perfumes. By and large, these had been ceramic or pottery, but they likewise used glass, just as we do today.

Bringing Perfume to the West Egyptian culture might have disappeared, but the practice of perfuming lived on. The Greeks and Romans did not use incense as extensively, but they did take up the practice of utilizing scented oils as part of bathing. Olive oil was frequently used as a base for men’s fragrances. These perfumed oils actually served a dual purpose. They smelled great, obviously, but within the hot Mediterranean climate they also protected the skin from the sun.

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For much of history, perfumes had been manufactured by crushing flowers, barks, woods, or leaves, and then infusing them into various oils or burning them as incense. Things began to change in the Middle Ages, when Arab chemists developed a procedure to extract oils from flowers. Today we call these oils volatile oils because they are the “essence” of the scent.

Perfume Enters Modern History Arab traders introduced volatile oils to Europe in the Renaissance period, and perfume makers quickly recognized them as superior for the production of scented perfumes, especially liquid ones.

Perfume, as a way of masking the unpleasant odors of life, quickly became well-liked throughout Europe. In France, it became particularly popular, partly by royal imprimatur. The court of Louis XV was called the “perfumed court” because of the prevalent use of scent. It was in France that the practice of daubing women’s perfume on the wrist joints originated.

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It wasn’t just the royal courtiers who had been perfumed, though. The gloves and wigs of the day had been frequently perfumed. The wigs Washington and other gentlemen wore were white, not from age, but from the perfumed powder that was applied to them.

Heading Toward the 20th Century The practice of creating fragrances from aromatic oils, primarily from floral sources, remains with us today.

The greatest distinction between women’s fragrances now, and also the women’s fragrances available in the 1700s, is the bottles.

Modern glass perfume bottles (as little bits of artwork) had been the brainchild of Francois Coty, the French-Corsican perfume maker. In the 1890s and 1900s, he developed a marvelous reputation as a perfume maker. He also had an eye for marketing and recognized that not everybody had the ‘nose of Coty.’

His insight was to trade his perfumes in small, attractive glass bottles. He partnered with a glass maker and we all know the rest of the story….

Tell them:

“I Saw You in� www.thegirlmagazine.com

gir(L) Magazine I 2011

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gir(L) In the kitchen

Blair Baxter

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“Terrorism is the best political weapon, for nothing drives people harder than a fear of sudden death.�

-- Adolf Hitler, (1889-1945) German Nazi Dictator 2011 I GIR(L)

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After receiving this card would you...

Love em or leave em?

Facebook, Myspace, or Twitter us, “Love em” or “Leave em.”

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gir(L) Historyt

The

Nightmare of 1923 (and Its Cause)

by Patrick Barron, Mises.org

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F

eel the need for a good, oldfashioned horror story, one that will make your hair stand on end?

Maybe one that will cause bile to rise in your throat? Well, don’t bother to reread William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or Bram Stoker’s Dracula. For a detailed account of the descent of an entire country into despair and barbarism read Adam Fergusson’s When Money Dies: The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany.

First published in 1975, republished in 2010, and made available through the Mises Institute, When Money Dies should dispel the notion that the rule of men is superior to the rule of law. Why “the rule of law”? Because it was the violation of the rule of law by governments themselves that supplanted the peaceful, liberal order of a gold-based international monetary system with one in which central banks, at governments’ behest, could print fiduciary media without limit.

The full implication of this change was seen in Weimar Germany, the German people’s first experiment with representative democracy, where civilized society fell victim to the evils of the monetary printing press. For all practical purposes, the German mark was not worth the paper upon which it was printed. Eventually the Reichsbank issued the largest denomination note ever printed in the history of the world, a one-hundred-

trillion-mark note, which no one would accept for payment. Be very careful if you believe that it can’t happen today.

Throughout Fergusson’s detailed, almost day-to-day description of government’s attempt to chase its tail around the inflationary circle — and of the pathetic, heartrending response of the great mass of the German people, who tried to survive when their money became worthless — my thoughts kept returning to modern-day America. The hair really did rise on the back of my neck and the bile really did rise in my throat when I realized that nothing had essentially changed in our monetary system.

That is, men rather than law control our money, and their understanding of the very nature of money is no different than it was almost a century ago.

For those who believe that Germany’s central bank destroyed its own currency in order to print its way out of its World War I reparations payments, Fergusson gives two pieces of compelling evidence to the contrary: One, there no evidence in the written record that German bankers ever secretly pursued this goal, and there is much written record. Two, in any case, Germany was forced by the Treaty of Versailles to pay its reparations in gold or real goods anyway.

So we must look elsewhere for the cause of the great currency inflation. And we need look no further than that men in positions of power were ignorant of monetary theory and had every incentive

not to become knowledgeable about such theory.

Money production had become politicized throughout the world prior to World War I. (Hmm, I wonder — is there is a cause-and-effect link here?) Rather than backing circulating currency by gold at least to some marginal extent, central banks engaged in a strategy to remove all the restrictions imposed on their inflation of the money supply by the fact that the quantity of gold could not be inflated.

Hard as it may be to believe, Fergusson presents a compelling argument that the central bankers of Europe did not believe that the quantity of money had anything to do with the price level. And I suppose you think that our modern Fed rulers understand at least this much.

Well, if they did they would not inflate the money supply; they would not issue statements that they are pursuing a 2 percent inflation rate in order to achieve full employment.

By the way, full employment was one of the main justifications for the Reichsbank’s inflationist monetary policies. So nothing has changed. Central bankers still believe that monetary policy can lower the unemployment rate.

We see what happened in Weimar Germany. When a little monetary inflation failed to cure all ills, a little stronger dose was prescribed, and then stronger 2011 I GIR(L)

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and stronger doses until chaos reigned.

Today’s pronouncements are no different. The Fed and its easy-money, Keynesian-trained apologists are calling for even more monetary inflation. So we now have QE2 and maybe QE3 and QE4. Further interventions have not been ruled out, and what would prevent them? Nothing. The failure of each monetary binge becomes the justification for the next. Furthermore, the near-term advantages are irresistible.

Bailouts are heralded by all who get the money, and the same apologists issue their propagandistic approval, which is then disseminated by an ignorant mainstream media to a populace untrained in economics.

But the most important conclusion that one can draw from the great German hyperinflation experience is that money expansion is a prelude to and an enabler of war. The demise of the gold standard is the common thread that underlies the belligerency of the European powers around the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. (America lagged behind somewhat, but only somewhat.)

The ability to print money in unlimited quantities is why the 20th century was the most brutally destructive in history.

Printed money allows governments to embark on military adventurism, because it allows them to confiscate resources and reward key constituents.

Even during Weimar Germany’s direst hours, there were those who knew how 44 GIR(L) I 2011

to benefit from the chaos. They were both the scum of society and the cream of society. The scum were the common crooks and the cream were the politically connected industrial and financial elites.

The middle class bore the lion’s share of the cost and was destroyed. Is this starting to sound familiar?

Today, in order to benefit from money expansion one must either live upon welfare or get a too-big-to-fail bailout.

Again, nothing has changed. The middle class scrambles to make ends meet while politically connected pressure groups benefit. In the meantime, men who only yesterday were little more than highly paid extortionists, scamming state governments for the benefit of special-interest groups, now send American troops, like so many toy soldiers, to every corner of the world.

Gone are the days of a noninterventionist foreign policy. And gone forever are the days of personal responsibility and living within one’s own means. To this we may give credit where credit is due — to fiat money produced in unlimited amounts and showered on those who support the government.

Patrick Barron is a private consultant in the banking industry. He teaches in the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and teaches Austrian economics at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, where he lives with his wife of 40 years.

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gir(L) Attitude

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Habits of Thought

by Napoleon Hill

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he drifter makes no attempt to discipline or control his thoughts, and he never learns the difference between positive thinking and negative thinking. He allows his mind to drift with any stray thought which may float into it.

People who drift in connection with their thought habits are sure to drift on other subjects as well.

In an allegorical account of an interview with the devil it was stated that the devil said he feared nothing except that the world might sometime produce a thinker who would use his own mind, adding significantly that he controlled all drifters who neglected to use their own minds.

The devil is not the only

individual who exploits the drifter. And the drifter is the victim not only of all those who wish to exploit him, but he is also the victim of all the stray, negative thoughts which park themselves in his mind.

The non-drifter takes full possession of his own mind through self-discipline, and organizes definite plans and purposes. He directs his mind to whatever ends he desires, and he keeps his mind occupied with the things he wants and off the things he does not want.

A positive mental attitude is the first and the most important of the twelve riches of life, and it cannot be attained by the drifter. It can be attained only by a scrupulous regard for 2011 I GIR(L)

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time, through habits of selfdiscipline. No amount of time devoted to one’s occupation

disciplined habits of thought.

The greatest of all training grounds for the cultivation of a positive mental attitude is provided by one’s chosen occupation, where he spends the greatest part of his life.

Here you may combine your efforts to make them financially productive and to develop a positive mental attitude.

can compensate for the benefits of a positive mental attitude, for this is the power which makes the use of time effective and productive.

When you get your own thought habits under control, you will have yourself under control, but you cannot do it by drifting.

A positive mental attitude does not grow voluntarily, like the weeds of the fields. It requires cultivation, through carefully

Organize your thoughts. Decide what you want, to what position in life you aspire. Then plan ways and means to express

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your thoughts in terms of organized action.

Follow through with applied faith and unremitting persistence. This is the means by which you can become the master of your fate, the captain of your soul.

Waste no time worrying about what others may think. The important thing is what you think and do.

Source: PMA Science of Success Course.

Published 1983. Pgs. 463-464.

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gir(L) history

Black History Month

Shallow

Ritual or Historically Relavent

Tiaja Ellis

“The remembrance and celebration of important African American contributions and events which helped shape America was the original idea behind Black History Month.”

I

n 1926, Harvard Graduate and noted historian Carter G. Woodson founded “Negro History Week,” a global recognition and celebration of African American contributions to the Americas and to the world in general. Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked 50 GIR(L) I 2011

the birthdays of two Americans who contributed greatly to the abolition of slavery in America: Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States and former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

The initial purpose of “Negro History Week” (later Black History Month) was to inform, teach, and

frankly, dispel racial stereotypes and correct the historical record, which suggested the only history African Americans owned, was one of slavery and subjugation. In order for African American consciousness to move from the demoralizing shadows of slavery into the light of freedom, they would need to build a vision that would give them the hope to participate in the fruits of Democracy.

The Fruits of Democracy The promise of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” inherent in the Declaration of Independence was given to all American citizens: “We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

- Thomas Jefferson Yet not only were African Americans denied their basic “unalienable rights,” they were also denied elementary civil liberties like the choice of which public restaurant to eat at or public restroom to use. And because liberty

is mostly perception, even when the shackles and fetters of slavery were physically removed many African Americans were still bound by the scars of oppression.

The Designation of Black History Month In 1976, during the nations bicentennial, former President Gerald Ford urged all Americans to seize the opportunity to honor the “too-often overlooked neglected accomplishments of black Americans.” He said: “IN THE Bicentennial year of our Independence, we can review with admiration the impressive contributions of black Americans to our national life and culture.

One hundred years ago, to help highlight these achievements, Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of AfroAmerican Life and History. We are grateful to him today for his initiative, and we are richer for the work of his organization.

Freedom and the recognition of individual rights are what our 2011 I GIR(L)

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Revolution was all about. They were ideals that inspired our fight for Independence: ideals that we have been striving to live up to ever since.

Yet it took many years before these ideals became a reality for black citizens.

The last quarter-century has finally witnessed significant strides in the full integration of black people into every area of national life. In celebrating Black History Month, we can take satisfaction from this recent progress in the realization of the ideals envisioned by our Founding Fathers.

But, even more than this, we can seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.

I urge my fellow citizens to join me in tribute to Black History Month and to the message of courage and perseverance it brings to all of us.”

- Gerald Ford

Black History Month: Shallow Ritual or historically Relavent?

John Fleming, ASALH (Association 52 GIR(L) I 2011

for the Study of African American Life and History) president from 2007 to 2009 and director emeritus of the Cincinnati Museum Center believes that today Black History Month should focus on the positive as well the negative aspects of African American culture. His ideas are similar in many ways to the original purpose and intent of Black History Month, which was to move African Americans beyond the psychological scars of slavery.

Fleming suggests: “Certainly, struggle has been an ongoing theme in our history from the very beginning.

However, we were not slaves prior to being captured in Africa — and while slavery was part of our experience for 250 years, we have a hundred-andsome years in freedom that we also need to deal with.”

He further states that he has seen “substantial progress on many fronts,” but “at the same time there are still major problems that have to be addressed, one being the permanent underclass in urban areas now. We don’t seem to be able to break that cycle of poverty. And there are still some major rural pockets of poverty” such as in the Mississippi Delta.

Many continue the passionate debate regarding the need for Black History Month. After all, white, brown, yellow, red, and black Americans alike voted for this nations first black president, Barack Obama.

But perhaps though “shallow ritual� to some, Black History Month still has emotional and psychological relevance much like Gay Pride Month or Breast Cancer Awareness Month have today. Or perhaps its true historical relevance may be found in this simple yet often overlooked fact that there was ever a need for a Black History Month in a free nation to begin with.

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54 GIR(L) I 2011

Winter Party Festival 2011: Six High-Energy Days for a Good Cause March 2 - 7, 2011

THE HOTTEST WINTE R IN THE WOR L D HITS THE SOUTH BEACH SAN D

F

rom the world renowned Beach Party to an Art Deco Walking Tour, the 2011 Winter Party Festival promises an array of events and activities as diverse as the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community itself. One of the world’s largest and most anticipated events of the year, Winter Party Festival is expected to draw 10,000 revelers from around the world for

more than 20 pulse-raising events, including several dance events with world-class DJs and entertainment.

Beyond the parties, Winter Party Festival features art and culture, shopping, cocktail receptions, tours and events exclusively for women, all dedicated to fundraising for local and national LGBT equality efforts.

Produced by the National Gay and 2011 I GIR(L)

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Lesbian Task Force, Winter Party Festival raises funds to build power, take action and create change for the LGBT community. Two-thirds of the net proceeds generated from Winter Party Festival go to work locally through grants administered by the Miami Foundation (formerly the Dade Community Foundation), while the remaining one third goes to support The Task Force’s efforts nationally. Since its inception in 1994, Winter Party Festival, along with The Task Force’s annual Recognition Dinner, has raised more than $2.2 million for LGBT organizations in South Florida.

“Miami Beach is, arguably, the world’s favorite playground,” said Chad Richter, chair of this year’s Winter Party Festival. “With our stellar line-up of events, DJs and entertainers, this year’s Winter Party Festival will most definitely deliver and exceed the expectations of our guests. But it’s also important not to lose sight of the reason behind why we’re all here to have a great time. The proceeds from Winter Party Festival help continue The Task Force’s local and national fight for LGBT rights and equality. Ulti56 GIR(L) I 2011

mately, that’s what it’s all about.”

In addition to the can’t-miss Beach Party on the sand along famed Ocean Drive, highlights of this year’s Winter Party Festival include the “Under One Sun Pool Party” on the Doubletree Surfcomber’s tropical pool deck as well as the debut of “Winter Party Matinee,” a partnership with one of Europe’s biggest dance parties. Additional activities include a shopping adventure on the Lincoln Road pedestrian mall, a concert and reception featuring young musical artists from the Florida Grand Opera and four exciting events exclusively for Winter Party Festival’s women guests.

“With apologies to Mark Twain,” Richter said, “we want everyone to know that they’ll have the hottest winter of their life at Winter Party Festival.”

Tickets to Winter Party Festival 2011 are available individually or as part of discounted, multi-event passes. For more information, to purchase tickets and passes, or to check out the complete schedule of events, visit www.winterparty.com.

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gir(L) Magazine I 2011

www.thegirlmagazine.com

The Cottage

Lake Worth