Weight does not determine worth
What is the difference between weight and worth? One changes—the other does not.
Adding or dropping pounds does not make a person’s worth go up and down.
Fear of fat. “Why do modern women in the most affluent countries in the world live like starving people in a primitive land? Why do they choose to be weak, apathetic and unable to fully contribute to their families, their careers, and their communities? It’s simple. They are terrified of being fat. Women today are afraid to eat . . . afraid their bodies will be unacceptable in a society obsessed by thinness. It’s a fear that consumes, shatters lives, even kills. . . . The number one wish of brilliant, ambitious young women is not to save the rain forests or succeed in a career, but to lose weight.” Excerpt from “Women Afraid to Eat Breaking Free in Today’s Weight-Obsessed World,” a book by Frances M. Berg (1999).
“The Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Health” by Paul Campos (2004) exposed the weakness of the evidence that being overweight is bad for health and the dangers of the current obsession with weight and weight loss in America. “Campos believes that the efforts to portray fat as unhealthy and unacceptable are driven by junk science, hatred of fat people, and a profit-hungry dieting industry.” www.livescience.com/.
The number on a scale is not indicative of your human worth. Measuring self by measuring pounds is an erroneous belief—a hyped hullabaloo. Skinny does not equal happy. Body dissatisfaction is out of control. Who is propagating weightism, size prejudice, and appearance discrimination? Who is body-shamming? Who needs to zip their lips?
Females are in body image bondage. Our self-worth and self-concept is tied up in knots. Like dancing puppets, we awkwardly shuffle to a repressive rhythm. Weight obsession is rampant. Can we cut the puppet strings?
Don’t exercise because you reject your body—exercise because you accept your body and want it to be healthy. Stop sending hate messages to your skin, muscles, bones—and fat cells.
Step away from the sensationalized selfie craze. Snapping and posting selfies lead to self-criticism as others spout off with judgmental comments. Why subject yourself to the catty crowd? Why compare your body to others? And even though you may receive positive remarks about your body—it’s still a focus on your outer container. And cyber body-bullying is a problem.
The perfect Barbie doll body is a fallacy. However, Mattel has created three new bodies for Barbie; curvy, petite (shorter), and tall. Why? Because parents requested a more realistic Barbie body. And Mattel listened—it’s about time!
Girls with negative body images are more likely to develop an eating disorder and to experience depression, isolation, and weight loss obsession.
While the world may not see the difference between worth and weight, wise women do. And they can communicate unconditional worth to their daughters—regardless of size and shape. Regardless of boobs, booties, or belly bulges. Regardless of social media and Hollywood hoopla. Regardless.
Preventing body image bondage for our daughters and granddaughters is essential. Let’s teach the next generation to accept natural body shapes and sizes. And that weight does not determine worth.
Investigate the national and global influence of the media’s messages about body shape, size, and weight. Stand up and speak out against body image bondage. Gather facts and statistics and debate the fear of fat.
Please say the following mantra to yourself daily, “My body is my container. It carries around my soul. And my essence. I will honor my body while working on being physically and emotionally healthy. My worth is not tied to my weight.” Find your inner female friend and be kind to her. Your worth is not determined by your weight.
Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is an author, columnist, educator, and therapist. She lives in Ohio.
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Is emergency evacuation from Seabrook reactor even possible? Public hearings demanded
By John LaForge
759 words
Ever wonder if the nuclear reactor near you has an evacuation plan that would work in an emergency? Have you ever been stuck in barely moving traffic on an interstate highway even when there was no crisis, no sirens, and no panic?
People driving Interstate-95 near the Seabrook reactor in New Hampshire have, and they have reason to worry, especially after the nonprofit group We the People and its founder Stephen Comley produced “No Evacuation Possible,” a public service video of routine summertime traffic jams on I-95 -- Seabrook’s disaster escape route, and warning of the impossibility of an evacuation in the event of an accident at Seabrook.
One wonders how many other nuclear reactors have a single evacuation route that is frequently, even routinely, rendered nonfunctional. Commercial reactors are required by law to have a workable escape plan.
In January 2018, the town of Merrimac, Mass. joined half a dozen other communities calling on the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to hold a hearing on whether Seabrook’s evacuation plan can be effectively implemented.
Reactor owner NextEra Energy Resources issued a Jan. 20, 2018 response/nonresponse in which it failed to address evacuation issues: “We have extensive emergency response systems in place,” the firm said, “including numerous back-up safety systems that provide our plants with layer upon layer of both automated and manual protection….”
Right. And—as with other catastrophic commercial nuclear power accidents, what if those back-ups fail and emergency evacuation is required?
NextEra’s dismissive position has helped We the People’s public warnings gain traction. Major state politicians and municipalities that are within what Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has called -- in a Feb. 26, 2019 letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- “the 50-mile Ingestion Exposure Pathway Emergency Planning Zone” have begun raising their own alarms.
Massachusetts State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and State Representative Brad Hill wrote to State Attorney General Maura Healey October 10, 2018, complaining of “constituent inquiries” about Seabrook’s evacuation plan. The lawmakers reported that the public “has become increasingly concerned about effectively evacuating the area in the event [of] a nuclear emergency,” and noted that “drone-recorded video of the Hampton Beach during the summer tourist season … shows the heavy traffic congestion on the seacoast.”
We the People has also won resolutions from half a dozen local towns and city councils in Massachusetts and New Hampshire calling on state and federal agencies to convene a public hearing where emergency first responders could try and explain the Seabrook emergency evacuation plan.
Last September 25, New Hampshire State Representative Peter Schmidt wrote to AG Healey about the “urgency” of having first responders “testify as to the plans and possibilities for safely, effectively and expeditiously evacuating the seacoast in the event of a nuclear emergency.” Several municipalities within the evacuation zone have “strongly endorsed We the People’s call for this first responder hearing,” Schmidt wrote.
Representative Schmidt’s letter raised two additional issues that We the People has brought to light. What Schmidt called “some sort of gag order” has allegedly been imposed on Massachusetts State Police officers and the New Hampshire National Guard members, forbidding them from speaking about evacuation issues.
Mr. Comley personally made a formal, recorded presentation regarding the question of the alleged gag order to the Massachusetts State Police on September 2, 2016. Then, according to a February 14, 2018 letter by Christina Lucin of the State Patrol’s Fraud Identification Unit, the record of the proceedings were “lost.” Consequently, Representative Schmidt complained to AG Healey: “[T]he disappearance of the record is very troubling.”
Seabrook is 13 miles south of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and 40 miles north of Boston, large cities within the “ingestion exposure” zone. In March 2011, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recommended the evacuation of all US residents from within 50 miles of the three Fukushima reactor meltdowns in Japan.
The Seabrook reactor is set between the towns of Seabrook and Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, a mere 1.2 miles east of Interstate 95. Hampton Beach and its popular state park are only 1.6 miles to the east.
So far, AG Healey has still not agreed to schedule a public hearing for first responders to speak about their concerns over the plausibility of emergency evacuation. We the People and seven local municipalities in the Emergency Planning Zone are still waiting to hear from the Attorney General’s office.
There are 98 commercial nuclear power reactors in the US. How many would effectively become weapons of mass destruction if an accident or a terrorist bomb made emergency evacuation both necessary and impossible?
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John LaForge, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is Co-director of Nukewatch, a peace and environmental justice group in Wisconsin, and is co-editor with Arianne Peterson of Nuclear Heartland, Revised: A Guide to the 450 Land-Based Missiles of the United States.
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USDA Invests in Rural Water and Wastewater Infrastructure in 20 States
Investments will Benefit 111,000 Rural Americans
Contact:
Weldon Freeman (202) 690-1384
Jay Fletcher (202) 690-0498
WASHINGTON, May 13, 2019 – Acting Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Joel Baxley today announced that USDA is investing in 40 projects in 20 states to improve rural water infrastructure (PDF, 151 KB).
“These investments will have a far-reaching, positive impact on rural residents, businesses and communities,” Baxley said. “Improving water and wastewater infrastructure enhances quality of life, helps support economic development and ensures that rural areas have safe and abundant water supplies.”
USDA is investing $82 million through the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant program. Rural communities, water districts and other eligible entities can use the funds for drinking water, stormwater drainage and waste disposal systems. The projects must be in rural communities with 10,000 or fewer residents.
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Hi Jim,
Please feel free to use the below article as is. For an interview or comments from Gui Costin on this and related topics, please reach out and I will be happy to coordinate.
Ashley
Why Businesses Must Grasp Millennial Thinking Or Face Economic Calamity
When it comes to shopping and buying, the Millennial generation appears to play by its own rules.
And businesses that fail to understand the Millennial mindset are destined to fall behind their competition – and perhaps plummet into irrelevancy, says Gui Costin (www.guicostin.com), an entrepreneur, consultant and author of Millennials Are Not Aliens.
“Millennials are changing how we buy, how we sell, how we vacation, how we invest, and just about everything else,” Costin says. “If you’re running a business, you have to pay attention to how they think and act.”
Millennials are the generation born roughly from 1981 to 1995, meaning that the older millennials aren’t that far from 40. There are about 80 million Millennials, or nearly one-third of the adult population in the U.S. – and that’s a lot of buying power.
Millennials grew up under very different circumstances than Baby Boomers and Generation X, though, and the way in which they came of age greatly influenced them.
One example is their relationship with technology.
“All of us, regardless of which generation we belong to, have been impacted by technology,” Costin says. “But the generation most affected by the digital, connected world are the Millennials. You could think of it this way: If technology were a geyser, Baby Boomers and Generation Xers have been sprayed by its impact, but Millennials got drenched.”
And their natural use of technology transformed the way they act as consumers, Costin says.
“Bargaining is a part of their process,” he says. “Because they are facile with technology, they rely heavily on their cell phones to price shop and hunt the best deals.”
Costin says there’s plenty that businesses need to understand about Millennials, but here are just a few other facts about their consumer habits worth paying attention to:
They let everyone know about their buying experiences. It is not uncommon for Millennials to candidly share details about their buying experiences, good or bad, on their public social media platforms. “This can translate to bad news for businesses that underperform or, conversely, great news for those that exceed expectations,” Costin says.
Big purchases can happen virtually. For many older people, it’s difficult to even conceive the idea of buying a car, for example, without ever physically seeing or touching it first. “Millennials do it all the time,” Costin says. “In fact, they are the very first of all the generations to make a large purchase without first performing an on-site inspection.”
Brand loyalty means something. No matter how fickle many people believe Millennials to be, they are extremely brand loyal, Costin says. In fact, 60 percent of Millennials say they almost always stick to brands they currently purchase.
Information is essential. Millennials scour the internet to learn about a brand or product before making a purchase. They check websites, blogs, or peer reviews that they trust.
Instant gratification is paramount. Because they have grown up in a digital age, Millennials are used to speed and immediate gratification. “They value prompt feedback and communication and do not like wasting time,” Costin says. “Think emails, text messages, and online messaging.”
“The environment you grow up in determines what you become accustomed to,” Costin says. “Gen Xers and Baby Boomers need to realize that how they grew up is affecting the way they are selling and marketing their organizations. But you cannot sell and market to Millennials the same way you were sold and marketed to.
“The good news is, many companies are listening. They are actively replacing dated, manual processes with more efficient, cutting-edge tools to promote the convenience and speed Millennials crave.”
About Gui Costin
Gui Costin (www.guicostin.com), author of Millennials Are Not Aliens, is an entrepreneur, and founder of Dakota, a company that sells and markets institutional investment strategies. Dakota is also the creator of two software products: Draft, a database that contains a highly curated group of qualified institutional investors; and Stage, a content platform built for institutional due diligence analysts where they can learn an in-depth amount about a variety of investment strategies without having to initially talk to someone. Dakota’s mission is to level the playing field for boutique investment managers so they can compete with bigger, more well-resourced investment firms.
Utah is the third fastest-growing state in the U.S., according to Census data.
To keep pace with growing population and consumer demand for insurance and financial services in the state, Allstate is looking to expand the Utah agency force. Of the 90 sales professionals Allstate is seeking, 18 will be agency owners and the remaining 72 hired by those small business owners will serve as licensed sales professionals.
Fast facts about the Allstate agency opportunity:
Allstate Seeks 90 New Insurance Agents in Utah
Insurance company seeking 18 new agency owners and 72 licensed sales professionals
SALT LAKE CITY — May 13, 2019 — Utah is the third fastest-growing state in the U.S., according to Census data.
To keep pace with growing population and consumer demand for insurance and financial services in the state, Allstate is looking to expand the Utah agency force. Of the 90 sales professionals Allstate is seeking, 18 will be agency owners and the remaining 72 hired by those small business owners will serve as licensed sales professionals.
For the agency owner opportunity, Allstate is seeking people with a strong entrepreneurial drive and passion to help others in their community. These candidates embrace challenges and are able to invest in a small business to ensure its stability and growth. Candidates don’t need an insurance background. Allstate provides them with comprehensive education, coaching and resources.
To help with agency owner recruiting efforts, Allstate is offering a $6,000 bonus to anyone who refers a qualified candidate to Allstate in Utah. The referral bonus is payable upon of the appointment of the candidate as an Allstate agency owner.[1]
"Allstate is a trusted brand and an excellent wealth-building opportunity for a small business owner. We are unique among all other insurers because the agent owns the economic interest in their business," said Brandon Nelson, strategic deployment leader for Allstate’s Southwest Region. "We’re dedicated to opening new agencies throughout Utah, one of the fastest growing states in the country.”
As a small business owner with Allstate, hard work is rewarded with a higher earnings potential, and there’s no cap on what you can make. The majority of Allstate agency owners earn between $170,000 and $450,000 gross annual revenue. [2]
Allstate agency owners can leverage one of America’s most recognized brands without ever having to pay a franchise or licensing fee. Candidates interested in becoming an Allstate agency owner need a minimum of $100,000 of liquid capital to invest in their agency. This money does not go to Allstate; it helps ensure the agency can successfully fund the normal day-to-day costs associated with opening and running a business. Sales professionals do not need liquid capital to apply.
To learn more about becoming an Allstate agency owner, visit www.allstateagent.com or call 877-470-8180. Those interested in the sales professional opportunity can apply at www.allstate.com/careers/agency-staff.aspx.
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[1] Subject to all terms and conditions as outlined in the Allstate R3001 Exclusive Agency Agreement and Exclusive Agency program materials. Allstate agents are not franchisees; rather they are exclusive agent independent contractors and are not employed by Allstate. Agency staff opportunity is not an employment opportunity directly with Allstate Insurance Company but rather employment with an Allstate Exclusive Agency owner who is an independent contractor. The referral award is payable forty-five (45) days after appointment and signing of an Allstate Exclusive Agency Agreement by Allstate and the referred candidate. No payments are made to you if the referred candidate is not appointed by Allstate. The name of the person making the referral must be on candidate’s Allstate agent application in order for such person to receive a payout. A referral award will not be paid to former Allstate Exclusive Agents (EA) and Exclusive Financial Specialists (EFS) and referrals of Allstate Field Sales Leaders transitioning to EA or EFS position. Existing agency purchases excluded. The referral award is subject to change. Referral award is not available to the applicant. Allstate’s recruitment team, human resources employees and Allstate employees whose responsibilities include recruitment are not eligible. The recipient of the referral award is solely responsible for all taxes and reporting of award. Allstate is an Equal Opportunity Company. Allstate Insurance Company, Northbrook, IL. © 2015 Allstate Insurance Co.
2 Based on a majority of Allstate Agents’ gross revenue earned during 2017 for agents with 12 months of affiliation who were active during the entire year. Compensation information includes actual fixed plus variable commissions (including Allstate Financial) and total bonus earnings. Excludes brokered businesses such as Ivantage. Also excludes Allstate New Jersey Exclusive Agents, Allstate Independent Agents and Dealership Agents.
Individual results will vary. Past results are no guarantee of future performance. Total eligible written premium is the sum of your last 12 months of written premium.
