What was the Cold War ?

The Cold War is the name given to the relationship that developed primarily between the USA and the USSR after World War Two. The Cold War was to dominate international affairs for decades and many major crises occurred - the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Hungary and the Berlin Wall being just some. For many the growth in weapons of mass destruction was the most worrying issue.




Do note that USSR in 1945 was Russia post-1917 and included all the various countries that now exist individually (Ukraine, Georgia etc) but after the war they were part of this huge country up until the collapse of the Soviet Union (the other name for the USSR).



Logic would dictate that as the USA and the USSR fought as allies during World War Two, their relationship after the war would be firm and friendly. This never happened and any appearance that these two powers were friendly during the war is illusory.



Before the war, America had depicted the Soviet Union as almost the devil-incarnate. The Soviet Union had depicted America likewise so their ‘friendship’ during the war was simply the result of having a mutual enemy - Nazi Germany. In fact, one of America’s leading generals, Patton, stated that he felt that the Allied army should unite with what was left of the Wehrmacht in 1945, utilise the military genius that existed within it (such as the V2’s etc.) and fight the oncoming Soviet Red Army. Churchill himself was furious that Eisenhower, as supreme head of Allied command, had agreed that the Red Army should be allowed to get to Berlin first ahead of the Allied army. His anger was shared by Montgomery, Britain’s senior military figure.



So the extreme distrust that existed during the war, was certainly present before the end of the war……..and this was between Allies. The Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, was also distrustful of the Americans after Truman only told him of a new terrifying weapon that he was going to use against the Japanese. The first Stalin knew of what this weapon could do was when reports on Hiroshima got back to Moscow.



So this was the scene after the war ended in 1945. Both sides distrusted the other. One had a vast army in the field (the Soviet Union with its Red Army supremely lead by Zhukov) while the other, the Americans had the most powerful weapon in the world, the A-bomb and the Soviets had no way on knowing how many America had.



So what exactly was the Cold War?

Cold War : this term is used to describe the relationship between America and the Soviet Union 1945 to 1980. Neither side ever fought the other - the consequences would be too appalling - but they did ‘fight’ for their beliefs using client states who fought for their beliefs on their behalf e.g. South Vietnam was anticommunist and was supplied by America during the war while North Vietnam was pro-Communist and fought the south (and the Americans) using weapons from communist Russia or communist China. In Afghanistan, the Americans supplied the rebel Afghans after the Soviet Union invaded in 1979 while they never physically involved themselves thus avoiding a direct clash with the Soviet Union.

Men Cheating

Men cheating

Why do men lie? There are many reasons. The lie because it’s in their blood, because they think that the truth will hurt, because they don’t think it’s necessary to tell the whole thing with the details, because they want to seem better than they are, because they want to make women love them, because they are sure it’ll be better for everybody and so on. After all “why does he lie” – is not a question of that big importance. But a woman should become worried if a man starts to tell the truth. This usually means that something’s going wrong. A woman should find out the reasons for that sudden sincerity to know what to do.

When we love we are used not to see the flows of our partner or not to show that we see them. If fact those flows mean very little when there’s love in the relationships. But when it’s gone all those unpleasant details in the character, appearance or behavior start to annoy us tremendously especially because they have become so obvious after a long period of not noticing them. That’s when men start pointing on the defaults of their women in the most rude and unpleasant way. If a man doesn’t love a woman anymore he doesn’t care whether his words hurt, if he doesn’t like something he speaks about it as it is just because he can’t any reasons to stay silent or to lie about it anymore. For any woman it’s better to leave because any relationships are supposed to bring care and attention but not permanent criticism and discomfort. You may of course stay, swallow your pride, watch your self-confidence fading away, feel yourself miserable and etc. But ask yourself is that really what you want?


But of course a woman isn’t meant to quit any relationships after a couple of critical notices in her address. The reasons why her man speaks the unpleasant truth can be different. Maybe he’s simply fed up with one of her very annoying habits. He loves her and he tried not to pay attention to that feature or habit, but he’s a human being and his patience isn’t eternal. So if he burst out once that doesn’t mean that will repeat over and over again. Probably he’s already apologized a million times and said that he never wanted to hurt her. Well in this case a woman should start looking closer at herself if she doesn’t want that explosion if truth to repeat.

Neither relationships are possible without compromises. And can love make us better if we don’t want to collaborate with it?

How to keep friendship?

How to keep friendship?

It's one thing to start a friendship, it's quite another to maintain it, to keep it, to stay on what Lewis called "the same secret path." Even strong friendships require watering or they shrivel up and blow away. That's why George Bernard Shaw touched an exposed nerve when we read the words he scribbled to his friend Archibald Henderson: "I have neglected you shockingly of late. This is because I have had to neglect everything that could be neglected without immediate ruin, and partly because you have passed into the circle of intimate friends whose feelings one never dreams of considering."

It's so easy to take good friends for granted. And in a sense, we should. Like a comfortable pair of gloves, old friends wear well. But friendships that suffer from busyness and overfamiliarity can't afford to be neglected too long. They need renewal. If you want and need to keep true friendship alive and well, please, consider and think over a list of the most important qualities offered to help you. Probably it will help you to understand why you and your best friend haven't called up for ages, why you're getting embarrassed while being asked "Whom are you going to have fun this weekend with?" Like Shaw, you may neglect your intimate friends from time to time, but if you fail to cultivate these qualities—loyalty, forgiveness, honesty, and dedication—you can't expect to keep true friends.


Loyalty

The quality that tops the list in survey after survey of what people appreciate most about their friends is loyalty - support that you always give to someone because of your feelings of duty and love towards them.


Harry Truman's secretary of state, Dean Acheson, caused quite a stir when he visited his friend Alger Hiss in prison. Hiss was a convicted traitor, and it was bad politics to have any association with him. But when prudent politicians condemned Acheson publicly, Acheson simply said, "A friend does not forsake a friend just because he is in jail." That's loyalty.


The famous maxim that "a friend in need is a friend indeed" is not the entire story of loyalty, however. A friend in triumph may be even harder to find. Isn't it easier to be a savior than a cheerleader for our friends? It takes twenty-four-karat loyalty for a friend to soar alongside us when we are flying high rather than to bring us down to earth. Loyal friends not only lend a hand when you're in need; they applaud your successes and cheer you on without envy when you prosper.


Forgiveness

As important as loyalty is, our friendships don't always have it. Enter forgiveness. Every friend you'll ever have will eventually disappoint you. Count on it. That doesn't mean that every offense of a friend requires forgiveness; some slights need only be overlooked and forgotten. Winston Churchill's mother, Jennie, understood this when she said, "Treat your friends as you do your pictures, and place them in their best light."


Too many good relationships fade because some slight - real or imagined - cancels it out. Some people pout, brood, or blow up if their friend is not speedy enough in returning a phone call or if they are not included in a social event. They set such high standards for the relationship that they're constantly being disappointed. They can't let little things go, every minor lapse becomes a betrayal.


By the way, forgiveness is a two-way street. Unless you are a saint, you are bound to offend - intentionally or unintentionally - every friend deeply at least once in the course of time, and if the relationship survives it will be because your friend forgives, the friends we keep the longest are the friends who forgave us the most. And the essence of true friendship is knowing what to overlook.


Honesty

Honesty is a prerequisite to the true friends' relationship. "Genuine friendship cannot exist where one of the parties is unwilling to hear the truth," says Cicero, "and the other is equally indisposed to speak it." Does this require brutal honesty? Not exactly. It requires honesty that is carefully dealt in the context of respect. In the absence of respect, you see, honesty is a lethal weapon. Perhaps that's what caused Cicero to add, "Remove respect from friendship and you have taken away the most splendid ornament it possesses." Honesty is not only expressed in words; it means being authentic.


True friends aren't afraid to be honest and they aren't afraid to be themselves. True friends follow Emerson's advice: "Better be a nettle in the side of your friend than his echo." Translation: If you are afraid of making enemies, you'll never have true friends.


Dedication

When was the latest you and your best friend met? Dedication refers to the ability of two people to influence each other's plans, thoughts, actions, and emotions, to spend time and effort on friendship, to give up something important or valuable for sake of friendship. Think about it.


Back when you are a kid, the hours spent with friends were too numerous to count. Contemporary life, with its tight schedules and crowded appointment books, however, has forced most friendships into something requiring a good deal of intentionally and pursuit just to keep them going.


Of course, dedication becomes most salient in times of crisis. When a friend's emotional bottoming out, for example, means canceling a date to provide a shoulder of support. That's what friends are for. So don't complain about having fair-weather friends if you are unwilling to be inconvenienced.

Personal sacrifice. Selfless devotion. Commitment. These are the noble qualities dedication requires.

Women choosing Men

Women choosing men

Who’s choosing whom? We are used to think that it’s men who choose. They usually first start an acquaintance with a woman, ask he for a phone number, call her first, offer to go out together and etc. The most obvious sign, as it seems, that it’s a woman who waits for a man to make her a proposal. At that is the order verified by ages.

Still the scientists claim that the situation can be a little different in the reality. They say that the woman makes her choice more carefully and attentively than a man. She’s more capricious and fastidious while searching for a partner. A woman looks first at man’s social status, his financial affairs. She need not a person to watch and admire but a partner to rely on. Men as everybody knows it love with the eyes. So the beauty and the sexuality of a woman is more important for. Of course later he will have to deal with her character but he isn’t looking that far while a woman is from the beginning orientating on a long-lasting relationships. By the way there’s also an opinion that women are better socially adapted than men.


Both men and men claim that the character of a potential partner is more important for them than the appearance, but on the first date men still get attracted with the beauty of women while women are trying to find out who that man is really are.


The explanation of this lays in the evolutionary history. Women were risking much more when choosing a partner and had to be more attentive making her choice. After having sex man could always get up and leave and a woman could get pregnant. So a woman is historically orientated on a choosing a man to build a family with. Nowadays the situation is of course quite different, women are more independent and the process of conception is put under control but the biological nature of the humans is progressing slower than their socials one so the instincts still play a considerable role in our lives. So a woman on a first date probably isn’t searching for a husband or any serious relations at all, but unconsciously she’s valuing any man she sees if he is valid for creating a family.

Take Action for Stop Global Warming

Take Action!

The Stop Global Warming calculator shows you how much carbon dioxide you can prevent from being released into the atmosphere and how much money you can save by making some small changes in your daily life. It’s our hope that the calculator will promote action, awareness and empowerment by showing you that one person can make a difference and help stop global warming.

There are many simple things you can do in your daily life — what you eat, what you drive, how you build your home — that can have an effect on your immediate surrounding, and on places as far away as Antactica. Here is a list of few things that you can do to make a difference.


Use Compact Fluorescent Bulbs :

Replace 3 frequently used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. Save 300 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $60 per year. Take the Energy Star pledge.


Inflate Your Tires :

Keep the tires on your car adequately inflated. Check them monthly. Save 250 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $840 per year.


Change Your Air Filter:

Check your car’s air filter monthly. Save 800 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $130 per year.


Fill The Dishwasher :

Run your dishwasher only with a full load. Save 100 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $40 per year.


Use Recycled Paper :

Make sure your printer paper is 100% post consumer recycled paper. Save 5 lbs. of carbon dioxide per ream of paper.


Adjust Your Thermostat :

Move your heater thermostat down two degrees in winter and up two degrees in the summer. Save 2000 lbs of carbon dioxide and $98 per year.


Check Your Waterheater :

Keep your water heater thermostat no higher than 120°F. Save 550 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $30 per year.


Change the AC Filter :

Clean or replace dirty air conditioner filters as recommended. Save 350 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $150 per year.


Take Shorter Showers :

Showers account for 2/3 of all water heating costs. Save 350 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $99 per year.


Install a Low-Flow Showerhead :

Using less water in the shower means less energy to heat the water. Save 350 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $150.



Buy Products Locally :

Buy locally and reduce the amount of energy required to drive your products to your store.


Buy Energy Certificates :

Help spur the renewable energy market and cut global warming pollution by buying wind certificates and green tags.


Buy Minimally Packaged Goods :

Less packaging could reduce your garbage by about 10%. Save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide and $1,000 per year.


Buy A Hybrid Car :

The average driver could save 16,000 lbs. of CO2 and $3,750 per year driving a hybrid


Buy a Fuel Efficient Car :

Getting a few extra miles per gallon makes a big difference. Save thousands of lbs. of CO2 and a lot of money per year.


Carpool When You Can :

Own a big vehicle? Carpooling with friends and co-workers saves fuel. Save 790 lbs. of carbon dioxide and hundreds of dollars per year.


Don’t Idle in Your Car :

Idling wastes money and gas, and generates pollution and global warming causing emissions. Except when in traffic, turn your engine off if you must wait for more than 30 seconds.


Reduce Garbage :

Buy products with less packaging and recycle paper, plastic and glass. Save 1,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year.


Plant a Tree :

Trees suck up carbon dioxide and make clean air for us to breathe. Save 2,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year.


Insulate Your Water Heater :

Keep your water heater insulated could save 1,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $40 per year.


Replace Old Appliances :

Inefficient appliances waste energy. Save hundreds of lbs. of carbon dioxide and hundreds of dollars per year.


Weatherize Your Home :

Caulk and weather strip your doorways and windows. Save 1,700 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $274 per year.


Use a Push Mower :

Use your muscles instead of fossil fuels and get some exercise. Save 80 lbs of carbon dioxide per year.


Unplug Un-Used Electronics :

Even when electronic devices are turned off, they use energy. Save over 1,000 lbs of carbon dioxide and $256 per year.


Put on a Sweater :

Instead of turning up the heat in your home, wear more clothes Save 1,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $250 per year.


Insulate Your Home :

Make sure your walls and ceilings are insulated. Save 2,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $245 per year.


Air Dry Your Clothes :

Line-dry your clothes in the spring and summer instead of using the dryer. Save 700 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $75 per year.


Switch to a Tankless Water Heater :

Your water will be heated as you use it rather than keeping a tank of hot water. Save 300 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $390 per year.

Switch to Double Pane Windows :

Double pane windows keep more heat inside your home so you use less energy. Save 10,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $436 per year.


Buy Organic Food :

The chemicals used in modern agriculture pollute the water supply, and require energy to produce.


Bring Cloth Bags to the Market :

Using your own cloth bag instead of plastic or paper bags reduces waste and requires no additional energy.


Buy the Bracelet :

Made from 100% scrap leather by Roots — 100% of net proceeds go the Stop Global Warming Fund.


Turn off Your Computer :

Shut off your computer when not in use, and save 200 lbs of C02. Conserve energy by using your computer’s “sleep mode” instead of a screensaver.


Be a Meat Reducer :

The average American diet contributes an extra 1.5 tons of greenhouse gases per year compared with a vegetarian diet. Eliminating meat and dairy intake one day a week can make a big difference.


Ditch the Plastic :

2.5 million individual plastic water bottles are thrown away every hour in the US. Start using a reusable water bottle and just say no to plastic!

Body language

Body language

Before one starts learning this interesting and thrilling issue, he/she should get rid of such prejudices, like nearly all people have, for example: the idea that all women are chatter-boxes, or that men refrain from touching other people. Now it is high time to come up to one of the most mysterious languages in the world – body language.

First of all let’s speak about gestures of domination for men.

Imagine the situation: a man – employer interviews a woman that applies for the job, he is constantly bending brows and even doesn’t look at his applicant, making the lady think she won’t get this position; but in couple of hours he will phone her and inform that she is accepted. What is the secret? Why do people sometimes try to mislead their interlocutors by wrong gestures and body movements? The good knowing of body language will save you from mistakes and misunderstandings. Sometimes the interlocutor wants to secure himself from offences or even worse disappointments in this way.

Personal space and body position


When a man places himself in the room, he wants to show his dominating position, that is why he occupies more space when he stands or sits; sometimes he sits, spreading out his legs. During the conversation he fidgets and changes the body position more often then a woman does. Also he usually prefers to stay distantly from the interlocutor, so that to observe and control the situation; while listening he prefers to recline. When he talks and stands, he prefers to come closer to a speaker, sometimes penetrating into personal space and confirming his predominating position.


Arm movements

Men’s arm movements are usually more brisk and angular; they keep their fingers together, or, on the contrary, point their fingers to an opponent. Men’s facial gestures are more reserved and express less warmth.

Women’s gestures are lighter and more flexible. During the conversation women bend to a speaker, while men bend the head to the side. All these signs show the positive atmosphere of the conversation, but if the situation is negative, a man is likely to look more steadily at the interlocutor, and a woman will remove her eyes.


Speech and intonation of men and women

According to the researches made, monologues are more typical for men. Moreover, men prefer using strict and direct formulations, they are less talkative then women, they will hardly use such elegant phrases like “ it would be extremely kind of you”, “ it was incredible”, “we have spent unforgettable evening” and so on. They hardly ever use the phrases like “ I hope” or “ I feel like”. Such phrases like “always”, “ never”, “ nobody”, “everybody”, “all” are more common for male lexicon. Men would rather not rise intonation at the end of the phrase. Even their requests look more like commands. Men use slang expressions and strong language oftener, than the weaker sex. Their sounds are more loud and brisk, but monotonous, than sounds in female speech.

How we act

Men are rarely pay compliments, but joke more; women, on the contrary, make compliments to the interlocutor, but will hardly joke. Men adore speaking about their achievements and successes. Women are not fond of speaking much about their abilities, and this behavior can be frequently treated by man as a lack or even absence of talents. Men are more skeptical. Women bear spite longer and burst into tears oftener, if they are offended; men, on the contrary, begin to cry and raise their voice. In the course of debates a woman would appellate to her past experience, while a man would keep his mind on present problem. After the quarrel women usually apologize, though they don’t concede, but simply regret about the quarrel. Women are more sensitive than men, and can be easily hurt by rude and impolite words. Men face difficulties, while speaking about their inner feelings.


All above-listed facts lead roots from difference in process of girls’/ boys’ upbringing. Problem in communication is nothing more but typical behavior for the representatives of this or that sex. Considering this, on may avoid quarrels and unpleasant situations in future.