Self Defense Pressure Points

High Blood Pressure Vs. Low Blood Pressure. The Cause And Natural Treatment For Hypertension!

2010-08-06T03:59:00.000-07:00

Do you have high blood pressure? Do you have low blood pressure? This is an important question for your health and your life. Why? According to the American Heart Association (AHA), about one in three adults in the United States have high blood pressure. And only about 63 percent of those with high blood pressure are even aware that they have it. Causing, a heart wrenching of almost 60,000 Americans dying each year of complications related to high blood pressure. So what are the symptoms of high blood pressure?

Symptoms of High Blood Pressure

Unfortunately, the reason so many people don't know they have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is that there aren't really any clear symptoms of hypertension. However, some high blood pressure sufferers complain of: frequent headaches and dizziness. Therefore, if you even question that you or a loved one has high blood pressure, it is important to monitor your blood pressure regularly. And if you know your blood pressure is too high, you can do something about it TODAY. Keep reading!

Blood Pressure 101

What is blood pressure? Blood pressure is basically the force pushing on the arteries by your blood as it passes through them. Someone with high blood pressure has blood that is putting higher than normal pressure on the arteries. This puts more stress on the body. Hence, the heart has to work so hard to get the blood pumped through those arteries that it can actually enlarge and damage the heart, eventually causing a heart attack, stroke, aneurysm and other heart problems if left untreated. High blood pressure is not something to mess around with!

Causes for High Blood Pressure

What could put you at risk for high blood pressure? There are numerous causes but here is a list of the major ones:

Heredity: If your parents had high blood pressure, you are at risk.

Race: African Americans are most at risk. However, all ethnicities are on a rise.

Gender: Men are more likely than women to have high blood pressure.

Age: As you age, your risk of high blood pressure increases.

Salt Intake: Sodium intake has been linked with high blood pressure sufferers.

Obesity: Being overweight is a huge risk factor for high blood pressure.

Smoking: Smokers will often times be more at risk for hypertension.

A Sedentary Lifestyle: If you are required to sit a lot at your profession… your risk rises.

A Natural Cure for High Blood Pressure

Due to the seriousness of hypertension, doctors do have medications for sufferers. Including: Diuretics, Beta Blockers, ACE Inhibitors, Alpha Blockers and Vasodilators. However, here is the shocking part, as well as costing hundreds to thousands, many of these medications could have the following side-effects: kill nutrients in body, risk of asthma symptoms, speed heart rate, depletion of taste, rashes, cold symptoms, kidney problems, headaches, nausea, weight gain, and growth of hair. Not pleasant! Besides, I thought they were suppose to help hypertension sufferers?

Now the good news! There is an all-natural treatment for high blood pressure. Yes, you can drop points off your blood pressure reading in days! Doctors would agree there are numerous non-pharmaceutical things you can do lower your blood pressure. Start with these…

How to Lower Your Blood Pressure Today!

1. Educate Yourself! Most people hate studying but we're talking about your life! Check out our web site below for more information on lowering your blood pressure.

2. Lose Weight! What are ways you can be more active and cut a few calories during each day? Jump on the scale in one week and you might be surprised. PS. Your blood pressure will drop too!

3. Lower your salt intake now. Try to lower your intake to less than 2,400 milligrams per day. If possible, go as low as 1,500 milligrams per day. Lower your salt… lower your blood pressure.

4. Get enough potassium. Eat foods rich in potassium including bananas, vegetable juice, potatoes, citrus fruits and fish.

5. Take those Calcium Pills and eat that low-fat dairy. This mineral is proven to help the cause of lowering blood pressure.

6. Pack in the fiber! Any fiber is going to be helpful for clearing out the excess gunk in your body and keeping the blood pressure normal. Switch to whole grain foods whenever possible.

Texas Points Speeding Ticket - How to Avoid Points by Knowing Your Rights!

2010-08-06T03:57:00.001-07:00

Some people who are issued a Texas points speeding ticket decide right there and then to just pay the fine and accept the ticket. Don't make this mistake. Doing so will only mean creating a spot in your clean record and causing the premiums on your auto insurance to rise. You can avoid getting points by knowing your rights, and this article will tell you just what it is you need to know.

What exactly is a Texas points speeding ticket? Basically, it is a traffic ticket for speeding or some other moving violation in Texas that add points to your driver's license, resulting in high fines or surcharges and increases in your auto insurance. It is a summons or citation issued to you when a police officer tells you to pull over if once you violate a motor vehicle law in the cowboy state of Texas. In essence, it obliges you to appear in court and plead your case. While it seems like a hassle to fight a traffic ticket, it can and should be done so you can protect yourself from dirty cops who pull traffic scams just to accomplish their required quota. You can even find several websites that offer tips on how to fight a traffic ticket, as well as legal advice so you can properly and effectively defend yourself in court.

It is most advisable to have a lawyer to help you deal with a traffic violation. A Texas points speeding ticket can have serious consequences. In fact, some traffic tickets for certain traffic violations are actually already criminal charges. There are many instances when motorists lose their licenses or have these suspended because of their failure to answer to the traffic ticket court date and time. You can avoid these repercussions by hiring a lawyer who is an expert in Texas motor vehicle laws.

The moment you receive a Texas points speeding ticket, you immediately possess the constitutional right to defend yourself in court, as well as confront or cross-examine the witness against you, which is primarily the police officer who wrote you the ticket. It is also your right to remain silent, so you won't have to say anything in court that can be detrimental to your case. It is wise to hire a lawyer to defend you, which is another one of your rights, to avoid conviction. It may seem like wasting your money on a trivial matter but the truth is, if you get convicted, which is likely if you decide to defend yourself without a clue as to the defenses you can put up, you'd have to pay fines and face suspension or cancellation of your license.

Defending yourself against a Texas points speeding ticket is a right you must invoke. When a police officer tells you to pull over for some traffic violation, quietly accept the ticket but don't agree to pay the fines. Instead, prepare to fight in court.

Coaching Basketball Defense: Top 12 Most Important Things To Emphasize On Defense

2010-08-06T03:56:00.000-07:00

As a basketball coach, you’ve probably struggled to find enough time to teach everything that you want. It seems that all coaches have this problem!

To be an effective coach, you have to prioritize and strategically decide what you will emphasize. Coaching is all about what you emphasize!

If you do not continually harp and emphasize certain aspects, your defense will not be as good as it could be. You need to pay attention to detail and correct your players when needed.

To help determine your defensive priorities, we came up with the "top 12 most important things to emphasize on defense". Of course, every coaching situation is different, but hopefully this will give you a few ideas and help you determine what’s really important.

Here is our list of the top things that we focus on and watch for within our man-to-man defense:

1. Always stop the player with the ball because that’s the only person that can score. If the ball is in front of you, stop it!

2. Keep the ball out of the "danger zone" and as far from the basket as possible. We put tape marks 12 feet away from the basket to give players a visual reminder of where the ball should never be allowed. We call the area inside the tape the "danger zone".

3. Keep your knees bent and stay low. The second you see your players start to stand up, correct them. If they relax for one second, that’s all it takes for the offense to score an easy bucket.

4. Intensity. Defense is all about intensity. If your players relax for a second, you need to get their attention.

5. Get back on defense. If your players don’t get back on defense, it doesn’t matter how good your half court defense is.

6. Deny all penetrating passes (included the post pass). Never allow passes into the post. The chances of the offense scoring increase dramatically once the ball is within the “Danger Zone.”

7. Always see your man and the ball. Your players need to be focused so that they can see their man and the ball at all times. If somebody penetrates or passes the ball, they need to quickly help and rotate.

8. Move on the pass, not the catch. This tactic alone can literally double to quickness of your defense. Teach your players to start moving to their correct defensive positions when the ball is leaving the fingertips of the passer.

9. Provide early help and quick recovery. It’s vital to any team’s defense to have early help and quick recovery. If you do not have early help, you give up lay ups. If you do not have quick recovery, you give up open shots.

10. Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! If your players don’t communicate, they will have many problems with screens, rebounding, positioning, etc. Make sure they yell, “Shot” when the offense shoots the ball. Make sure they call out screens. Make sure they communicate help to their teammates.

11. Ball pressure and active hands. Without ball pressure, the offense can operate comfortably and easily. You never want the offense to feel comfortable. Not to mention, sagging to far back makes it easy for the offense to make accurate passes in the post area and pick you apart!

12. Box out. If your defensive players don’t block out, all their hard work means nothing. They need to block out on every shot and every possession.

Pressure Points (An Excerpt From Secret Daughter By June Cross)

2010-08-06T03:53:00.000-07:00

My stepfather Larry Storch’s success as a character actor hinged on the indeterminate ethnicity of his face: his broad forehead, defined cheekbones, slanted eyes, and that thicket of dark hair allowed him to play a range an Asian, a Mexican, or someone from the Mediterranean. Now, he wanted to be considered for a starring role. But in the Hollywood of 1964, a face of uncertain ethnicity limited his career. Hollywood casting agents said Larry didn’t look “American” enough for a leading role in a tv series. He looked “too Chinese.”

The casting directors suggested that surgery to get rid of the Mongolian fold over his eyes might help break the glass ceiling that relegated him to cartoon voices and character roles. He got the surgery, and afterwards, he looked more like his Polish father than his Kazakstani mother. And sure enough, his auditions doubled.

Grauman’s Chinese Theater November 5, 1964
Dear June – Are you in the school band yet, Larry wants to know?
He’s testing for a pilot today – may have a weekly series next season! A cowboy and Indian type thing – Keep your fingers crossed!
Love-Mom & Larry

In February of 1965, the black rotary phone rang. Picking up, I heard long distance static.
“Larry’s got the series!”

A TV series! Aunt Peggy chatted a while, then gave me back the phone. I felt as excited as my mother. “So what’s the TV series about?”

“It’s a comedy with cowboys and Indians – called F TROOP. But instead of fighting Indians they make alliances with the Indians to sell moonshine. Larry’s got second billing with Forrest Tucker – do you know him?

“No,”

“Jew-oon,” she said in the exasperated tone she used when I didn’t recognize some showbiz tidbit, “he’s a big star! He’s like John Wayne, only funnier. And Larry’s got second billing! Second billing! Isn’t that great!”

“That is great,” I replied.

By the time I hung up, dinner was ready.

“We’ll see if it lasts,” Peggy said as she served the plates. “It could all fall through tomorrow. You know how show business is: when you’re up, you’re up; and when you’re not, you’re not.”

This was Peggy’s first and final word about show business. She recited it as if giving thanks not to be in such a fickle enterprise.

Paul just grunted.

F TROOP premiered in September 1965, with Larry playing the zany Corporal Agarn. “F Troop” meant “Fucked up”; and the Indian tribe, the Hakawi, was named after the punch line to an old joke that ended “where the fuck are we?” The show was anachronistic in its stereotypical depiction of Indians, its doting females – but the white male characters were just as ridiculous: dumb, dumber and sly.

After its third week, bursting with a secret I could no longer keep, I announced to my fourth grade class that my stepfather was on tv.

None of them believed me.

Santa Monica October 6, 1964
Beautiful palm-lined Palisade Park provides a semi-tropical setting of palm trees, flowers, and lush green lawns for beautiful Santa Monica Beach in the background.

Dear June – We won’t be moving here after all! And I’m rather sorry. But Larry decided it was too far away from the studio. So we’ve rented a house nearer to his work – move in 2 weeks. This is final! No more changes! Larry starts a new movie in 2 weeks too, “That Funny Feeling” with Sandra Dee – love you very much xxx ooo Mom and Larry

We followed the saga of Mom and Larry’s house search through their postcards. Mom wanted a house with a story, a history of importance: they looked at one that Mary Pickford once lived in; one whose owner once designed costumes at Twentieth Century Fox; one with the high gate which reminded her of Sunset Boulevard.

They finally settled on a place Mom called a Bird house (bringing to mind a cockatoo in a cage, although it really was named after an architect. To this house, she and Larry brought their own story: the seller knocked twenty thousand dollars off the asking price after they agreed to adopt the cat. Aunt Peggy and Uncle Paul and I laughed at the notion that a cat could be worth twenty thousand dollars. Had my own honey-colored tabby disappeared, five strays outside were begging to take its place.

Mom called to describe the new house. It had a pool in back with a windmill, and a patio that looked down on north Hollywood.

Larry added with a sense of wonder in his voice, that on a clear day they could see the ocean. On a real clear day, Malibu, and little white dots of sailboats. Up the road, Stevie Wonder owned a house, although they hadn’t seen him yet. At dawn and at dusk, deer came to feed on the apple tree by the carport. At night, they heard coyotes howl.

They were living a life of Hollywood dreams: expensive car, big house, designer clothes, paparazzi following them down the street. Meanwhile, in Alabama and Mississippi, demonstrators trying to register to vote were set upon by police dogs and mowed down by horses. I watched on them on the brand new color tv Larry had paid for. Mom and Larry were living the life, I thought, while in Birmingham, my brothers and sisters were putting their lives on the line. I felt helpless to resolve the contradiction; all I could do was learn to live with it.

In South Central LA, just down the mountain from my mother’s new house, other black Americans watched the images of civil rights demonstrators, including children, being tossed around like beach balls by the force of fire hoses.

The pressure of their deferred dreams of would soon reach volcanic force.

I visited my mother’s new home for the first time in August of 1965. I would spend a month in Los Angeles every summer thereafter until I graduated from high school.

Mom and Larry’s new house was small by Hollywood standards. Covered by cedar shingles, a kitchen and dining area bordered by west-facing bay windows yielded to the living area, a bar, and a bedroom facing a modest, guitar-shaped pool. It overlooked the area now known as Beverly Center.

The room I would stay in faced the driveway and the ridge over which the deer came each morning.

“It’s the Moroccan room” my mother announced gaily as she led me to the southeastern corner of her new brick and shingled bungalow nestled in a craig of Nichols Canyon. Mom and Larry had named their Hollywood retreat Dittendorf. They were the Duke and Dutchess. Larry named me the Countess.

The Countess of Dittendorf had a room worthy of Sherherazade. Tucked under a sloping roof anchored by a small, round fireplace, my hideaway was not much bigger than my room in Atlantic City - but oh, what a room! It was wallpapers with a mustard paisley Indian print. One whole wall was mirrored. Candle sconces Mom had bought in Marrakesh cast patterned shadows. Inside a small, circular fireplace, a huge hukkah pipe sat like a prize trophy. I imagined lying on the Hollywood bed wearing layers of chiffon, ochre ringing my eyes, gold jewelry dangling from my ears as I regaled my court with stories.

Aunt Peggy would have been aghast at such a room for a little girl, filled as it was with the hint of fire and passion. All my life Aunt Peggy tried to squelch my sexual nature; but Mom never did. That contradiction, too, would be one that lasted into adulthood.

My days filled with leisurely rituals. At dawn and at dusk, Larry fed the deer, beckoning them with a whistle and call he had invented. Mom and I crouched like hunters behind the bamboo shades of the kitchen, watching as they ate the apples. Their large eyes fastened on the fruit; their papaya-shaped ears surveyed the canyon like radar. One move from either Mom or me and they were gone in a blink.

Ten days after I arrived in Los Angeles in August of 1965, police stopped a black motorist in Watts, tried to arrest him, and ignited a riot.

Sitting in my mother’s living room, watching the riots on tv, I had only to look west, through the glass sliding door, to see smoke rising from the valley below.

Just a year earlier in Selma, television newsmen had been on the frontlines with the demonstrators, but now, their cameras stayed behind police lines. From this safety zone, their zoom lenses shakily recorded images of looters chanting “Burn, baby, Burn!”

My mother came and stood behind me, watching the explosions of fire that followed Molotov cocktails flying through the store windows that lined 103rd Street in Watts.

“What do they want?” she asked. It was the question of the day, being asked by whites all over America, and even some Negroes. “Why are they burning down their own neighborhood?”

A lifetime of forging relationships with people who weren’t my blood relatives, of being with my mother only when she chose, of absorbing the perils of revealing our relationship, informed my answer. “They’re angry,” I said soberly, “because they’re tired of being not wanted by whites.

They’re stuck in the ghetto because whites won’t let us live anywhere else. You don’t want us around.”.

I was only eleven years old. Adults had invented this system. How could she not understand why we were angry?

She fixed me with a long stare, then turned herself and looked out of the window towards the tornado of smoke rising from Watts. High up in the Hollywood Hills, we looked out the sliding glass doors that lined the patio. I was nearly as tall as she. We stood with our arms around each other’s waists - white and black, mother and daughter, observing the smoldering city below.

Three or four nights later, I had for the first time what would become a recurrent dream, that the rioters had moved out of Watts and burned a swath down Wilshire Blvd and up Fairfax. Nichols Canyon went up in a dry heat, the flames springing from rooftop to rooftop, heralds of a new day. By the time the crowd reached my mother’s house, the shingled roof was already aflame, the pine timbers showering sparks on the pool deck.

Mom and Larry jumped in the pool, as Larry had always said we should if a fire ever got out of control in the Canyon. I stayed put, watering down the walls with a hose. Larry called out, “Forget it! Forget the house! Get in the pool!” Instead, I went out to the front driveway to wait for the mob. They wore camouflage T-shirts with scuffed jeans, jeans torn at the knees, t-shirts faded and stretched out of shape by too many washings. Their faces were dark and angry, like the face of someone beaten down, coming back for revenge. They carried baseball bats and coca-cola bottles stuffed with gasoline-soaked rags, cocktails for the nouveau riche. Their dark skins gleamed in the sunlight as they worked their way to the back of the house where I stood. Confused to see me, they stopped.

“What ‘chu doin here?” one of the men at the front demanded to know.

“She’s my mother! And he’s my stepfather!” I pleaded as if to say, 'these are good white people. Save them!'

“Well, you got to choose!” a brother at the front of the line yelled. “Them or us?”

I no longer remember what I actually said; what I remember is the sense of panic, an anxiety that I can barely capture with words: the feeling that the well-being of the house, of everything I have or will have depends on what I say, what choice I make, whether or not I can convince the rioters to believe me.

(Excerpt from Secret Daughter by June Cross and reprinted with permission from the author).

(Originally published at GoArticles and reprinted with permission from the author, June Cross).

How To Diffuse Cold Calling Pressure Points

2010-08-06T03:52:00.000-07:00

Stop your expectations from sabotaging cold calls

Sales pressure is a mighty saboteur. And it comes in all shapes, sizes, and flavors. Beginning any conversation with the anticipation of a sale puts the whole conversation under pressure. This doesn’t normally create good outcomes. It usually triggers pressure, resistance, and tension.

People have received so many calls with such a strong focus on sales that they respond in a defensive manner to any sales calls at all. If you can release your expectations while making a cold call, you’ll diffuse the underlying tension that comes with sales pressure. And you’ll be surprised how often others will welcome talking with you.

Most of us truly believe that our product or service can help others, so we assume that anyone who fits the profile of a potential client should buy what we have to offer. Isn’t that one of the first things we learn in our sales training?

But this is a recipe for disaster when it comes to cold calling. When we make a call assuming someone will be interested, we’ve automatically moved into expectations. No matter how well camouflaged they are, sales expectations block the flow of natural conversation and put pressure on the other person.

So move away from making any assumptions when making cold calls. After all, how much sense is it to have assumptions about someone you’ve never spoken with? How much can you possibly know about their problems, issues, needs, budget, or other key information?

If you approach your calls from a place of genuine interest rather than expectations, you’ll diffuse any sense of sales pressure. The other individual will relax and the interaction will flow naturally.

However, if you’re already convinced in your own mind that they should be a fit, certain pressure has already started before the conversation has really even begun. The last thing you want is to introduce this into the conversation. So rather than moving into a sales presentation immediately, maintain the natural flow of interaction instead.

You can diffuse underlying sales pressure within any conversation by focusing first on whether you are a good fit. Invite the other person to focus on this with you. And determine together whether a good business relationship might genuinely be possible.

When our honest objective is not to make a sale but rather discover the truth of the situation, we have released expectations. The key is to offer options, so the person we’re talking with doesn’t feel pressure from us. This would only trigger the defensive reactions we’re trying to avoid.

Overcome the temptation to immediately discuss what you have to offer. Instead, help the other person overcome the fear of who you are and what is expected. Potential clients are much more likely to respond to you when they are not subjected to an immediate mini-presentation. This approach usually just creates suspicion and rejection.

So allow the conversation to have a natural sense of rhythm. Define mutual interest before launching into a description of your solution to a problem you probably know very little about at this point.

If you’re still caught up in the traditional mindset of making the sale, your voice and demeanor will be full of expectation. Although you may even be using the “asking questions strategy,” you are really thinking about moving the conversation into the sales process. Others will subtly (or overtly) react to this expectation with resistance.

It’s perfectly fine to describe your product or service. However, you must introduce this at an appropriate time.
So be relaxed and low-key. Otherwise you risk introducing sales pressure immediately.

Rather than a presentation, you might begin with the question, “Hi, maybe you can help me out a second?”

The person will almost always respond by saying “Sure. How can I help you?” You’ve now diffused any immediate sales pressure. You’re being genuine and not using the canned phrases that every other salesperson is using. You’ve gotten rid of the usual initial pressure and tension that comes along with sales expectations.

When your expectations are released, others won’t feel you’re trying to lead them down the path to a sale. They are usually willing to examine along with you whether a business relationship might be good.

So there you have it. Release your expectations to avoid conveying a sense of sales pressure. Potential clients become more interested and involved as a result, and also much more truthful about where they stand.

Criminal Defense: Public Defender Or Private Criminal Defense Attorney?

2010-08-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

Charged with a crime but can’t afford to hire a “real lawyer?” Afraid the “public pretender” will sell you out? Countless criminal defendants face this dilemma every day.

So pervasive is the distrust of public defenders that defendants routinely max out their credit cards, take out second mortgages, and empty their retirement funds just to hire a private criminal defense attorney. Should you do the same? It all depends on who you plan to hire.

Paying a private defense attorney is no guarantee of quality representation. Any warm body with a law degree can hang out a shingle and call himself a criminal defense attorney. In fact, many of those who can’t get a job at the public defender do just that. Your private attorney could turn out to be a bottom feeder, with poor academic credentials and little or no criminal defense experience. With a private attorney, you get your choice of lawyers, but will you choose wisely?

Public defenders are criminal defense specialists. They practice criminal law every day, and gain experience quickly due to heavy caseloads and a sink or swim mentality. They are surrounded by colleagues and supervisors whom they can learn from and consult with. Private attorneys, by contrast, generally have no supervision or quality control. Moreover, to survive financially, many private attorneys have little choice but to accept any client that walks in the door. One day your attorney is an immigration lawyer; the next he’s a divorce lawyer. For you, he’s all about criminal defense. Lawyers who do a little bit of everything are usually not particularly good at anything.

Public defenders develop an intimate knowledge of the particular court in which they practice. While private attorneys practice in many different courts, public defenders generally stay in the same court all day every day. They know the judges. They know the prosecutors. They become courthouse insiders who are able to predict how the judges will rule in your case and who know exactly what to say to a prosecutor to get the best deal for you.

Finally, public defenders typically have extensive trial experience. More cases lead to more trials. In addition, unlike those who hire private counsel, it costs indigent defendants nothing to take their cases to trial. As a result, public defenders go to trial far more often than private criminal defense attorneys. That experience helps in plea negotiations and may be critical if your case actually goes to trial

Despite all the institutional advantages of the public defender, there remains a risk that your particular public defender will be what is not so affectionately known as a “dump truck.” It is these lawyers who give public defenders a bad name. They may be overwhelmed by high caseloads, burnt out from too many years in the trenches, or perhaps they simply lack the make-up necessary for criminal defense work. Whatever the reason, these lawyers do little more than help prosecutors obtain guilty pleas. What’s worse, it is almost impossible to fire your public defender and get a new one.

A private criminal defense attorney will almost always be able to devote more time to your case and give you more personal attention than a public defender can. In the end, however, it is the quality of the attorney rather the cost of the representation that matters. Almost without exception, the best private attorneys are former public defenders. There is simply no substitute for that training and experience. Before you spend money you don’t have hiring a private attorney, consider giving the public defender a chance. Not only could you do a lot worse if you choose the wrong private attorney, but your public defender may well be a future star of the private criminal defense bar.