Easy Weight Loss with HCG Diet

Everyone, everywhere in the world wants to look beautiful and attractive. Different cultures have different perceptions of beauty. In the United States the perception of beauty depends on how skinny, slim, or lean one is. This is particularly pronounced when it comes to women.

There are numerous diet plans that promise weight loss, but none come anywhere near to the radical treatment that a HCG diet offers. By following the HCG diet one can lose 20-30 lbs within 30-40 days. This is perhaps one of the fastest non-surgical weight loss programs.

When I first heard about the HCG diet I was skeptical and even thought it was unhealthy. But after reading the various scientific facts, case studies and testimonials I think it is definitely worth learning more about. If that is the solution one is comfortable with it is worth trying.

Suing as a way of life in the US....

A year ago I had to take a sociology class and the opening statement of the professor was "We are a very litigant society." It is true, America is of the world's largest litigant societies. People and corporations sue each other at the drop of the hat. It is not a big wonder that Attorney's/ Lawyers make a lot of money in this country.

This afternoon while after checking my e-mail I saw a screaming headline on MSN.com talking about some women who fell into the icy waters of a Mall fountain as she rushed in busy texting on her mobile phone. Apparently the woman had been so preoccupied with her mobile phone that she failed to notice that she was walking into a fountain. The security cameras captured the video and it went viral thanks to someone who posted it on youtube. The lady became an overnight sensation across the country.

She grabbed the opportunity with both hands and went on air on CNN and other popular media claiming that she would sue the mall authorities. Well the latest on that is that she has her own set of legal issues.

Anyway the point I wanted to make was that, this woman was foolish enough to get so engrossed on the phone and fall into the fountain. After making a fool of herself, she is now trying make money out of it by suing the mall. That is why I get the impression that suing is a way of life in the US.

Saudi Girls Getting Smarter or Getting Exploited???

I recently chanced upon a news report online about a pre-teen girl from Saudi Arabia who won her divorce from her 80-year-old husband. After reading the brief article I must say I am pretty impressed by the way the girl and her family handled the entire matter. I don’t know whether to term this incident as an evidence of empowerment or exploitation of women. Maybe my readers will help me arrive at a suitable conclusion.

Let me present some facts of the case according to what I read in the original news report. Apparently the girl willingly married her 80-year-old relative (father’s cousin) a year ago. In the bargain the girl’s father received a dowry of $22,000, a small fortune I must say. A year later she decides that she doesn’t want to remain married to a man old enough to be her great-grandfather and approaches a human rights group to files for a divorce.

The state-run human rights agency takes up her case and privately settles her divorce case. At the end of a year the girl is $22,000 richer and FREE. The news report doesn’t comment about whether the dowry amount was returned or not. I guess it was not, because if it were to have changed hands the girl and her family would have screamed from the top of the tallest building in Saudi Arabia.

She can now go to school, probably emigrate to the US where she will be welcomed because she fought against the oppressive patriarchal society in Saudi Arabia, find a young boyfriend, get married and settle down. She could simultaneously invest the $22,000 she got as dowry last year and use it to pay for her college.

Fantastic idea indeed. She declared to the court that she married the 80-year-old man willingly, out of “filial respect to her father”.

This is where my dilemma comes from. I understand that what happened to the girl in question is totally unfair and the father and family of the girl who agreed to Sell for $22,000 to their aged relative are completely at fault. At the same time I can’t help but marvel at the smartness of the girl who managed her family and get rid of her husband and still be $22,000 richer. Alternatively I wonder whether the father of the girl conspired with his family and manipulated the young girl’s feelings and made her do and say things she did and said.

If it were the first instance then the 80-yr-old man tried to exploit the girl’s family and got exploited in return... kinda tit for tat. If it were the second case where the girl handled the case by her own smartness, then I must say there will be lots of changes in Saudi Society in the decades to come. If it is the third case where the father orchestrated the entire incident, then I would say this is no different from any other oppressive, and exploitative incident against women in such societies.

I’d be interested to know your opinions on this subject.

Women Power in America!!!

I have been reading the Dallas Morning News off and on. Recently a news item caught my attention and when I was about to forget all about it and move on I read a follow-up column by one of their women columnists. The column titled "The pinch heard 'round Flower Mound the least of city's worries" is a well written piece of literature and conveniently takes the focus off the main issue in question. This article also highlights how women get away Scot free even when they are guilty of a serious crime such as "Sexual Harassment". Simply because the subject of harassment was a male and didn't file the complaint... probably fearing humiliation and backlash.

Anyway let us me first relate what happened as per the several news items I read. This is a fairly old incident, one that happened about five months ago. During a city function two FEMALE city officials as high ranking as the Mayor and a city council member, sneaked up behind a MALE police officer and simultaneously pinched his behind. The poor police officer squirmed in his position in surprise and the ladies just giggled away to glory watching his predicament. The police chief who saw his staff member's harassment filed a case of sexual harassment in the court against the women.

What happened after that is interesting, the court commissioned an independent investigation and considered the CCTV camera footage of the incident and concluded that the incident was NOT sexual harassment but some innocent fun. The court promptly acquitted the culprits and told disciplined the police chief. Since then there has been report after report defending the two women and now this women columnist completely brushes aside the incident and talks about how mineral rights, oil drilling, and other issues have divided the city of Flower Mound, Texas and the said incident was just an excuse for two warring factions to fight.

Well that may well be the case, I wouldn't doubt the bigger money game and politics playing in the matter. But what I would like to point out in this case is that the women have not been disciplined suitably.

Let us consider a similar scenario involving men. Supposing it were two men, instead of the women, both high ranking city officials, who had pinched the bottom of a female police officer purely out of jest, without any sexual intent. What would be the result? Would the feminists, women and human rights activists remained quiet? There would have been an uproar and the men would have been put behind bars immediately and the investigation/ hearings and trail would have been conducted later. This would have also conclusively killed the political careers of the two men concerned, while the female police officer would have been hailed as a heroine.

Now why this discrimination between sexes? Is this because men are mostly silent sufferers in crimes of this sort? Or is this because women can get away by flashing a giggle or a smile and expressing innocence?? I would really like to know????

Empowering Women or Putting them in dangerous situations?

I came across this small newsreport on MSN with a screaming headling "HC allows women to work in bars, Karnataka to challenge order". Naturally interested in the happenings at my home state I started reading the article which spoke about a High Court judgement which clearly stated that women may be allowed to work in Bars as hostesses so long as they are not directly serving alcohol. Though employing women in bars has been prohibited in the Karnataka Excise Act, the High Court judges were of the opinion that this rule went against the constitution of India.

Quite expectedly the state government is not happy about the judgement. The government feels that women's safety is being compromised while working in places where alcohol was being served. The government has decided to move Supreme Court to challenge the High Court order.

There are several arguments in favour and against this issue. Conservative and traditional Indians would obviously be against the idea of women entering or going anywhere near places which serve or sell alcohol. While present generation of teenagers and young women happily guzzle mugs of Beer and shots of cocktails every evening or at least duing weekends. Moreover since the advent of call centers, BPOs and IT industry, women have become far more richer and financially independent than before. Women are taking up vocations such as driving an autorickshaw, buses, trucks etc, mechanics, and lot more. Several professions which were traditionally considered the preserve of men have been slowly but surely taken on by women.

Under such circumstances the government should act as a facilitator and help women storm another male bastian and take on jobs in bars. I would advocate providing women with self-defence training, offering them pepper sprays or even small fire arms such as revolvers and other protective equipment at reasonable prices and educating them about responsible use of these items. This way we will be empowering women rather than dumbing them down.

I am quite sure no man, sober or intoxicated will dare to misbehave with a woman who is physically fit, trained in self-defence and carries a deadly weapon. This is one way to make our society stronger and more balanced. And also like Neil Armstrong said after landing on moon: "One step by a man is a giant leap for mankind". This one step by few women initially would be a giant leap for the entire female population in India.

Well in an ultra-patriarchal society this is quite difficult. Especially when the society at large and government in particular continue to consider women as the "Weaker Sex".

A Guide to Employing Women!

I recently came across this interesting article which is a reproduction of the original guidelines issued to male supervisors when they started hiring women to work in factories, business establishments etc way back in the World War II period. That was perhaps the initial phases when women entered the work force and helped spur America's development into a strong economy. This continues to this date with most women working shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts contributing to the growth of the country. But these 1943 guidelines are rather funny and worth reading to get an understanding about how the society at that time was.