Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund

Like many large banks on wall street Goldman Sachs offers several hedge funds. A few of these took big losses this summer and in one case with the Goldman Global Opportunities Fund the firm had to inject $3B into the fund to keep it running ($2B of their own money). "Given the market dislocation, the performance of GEO has suffered significantly," Goldman said. "Our response has been to reduce risk and leverage." In other words their losses mostly came from using too much leverage in the first place.

"Many funds employing quantitative strategies are currently under pressure as recent conditions have resulted in significant market dislocation," Goldman said. "Across most sectors, there has been an increase in overlapping trades, a surge in volatility and an increase in correlations. These factors have combined to challenge many of the trading algorithms used in quantitative strategies. We believe the current values that the market is assigning to the assets underlying various funds represent a discount that is not supported by the fundamentals."

Other Goldman Sachs Hedge Funds

The two other funds that have recently come under fire include the multi-strategy fund Global Alpha and the North American Equity Opportunities Fund (NAEO). Goldman has said "The market dislocation impacting equity quantitative strategies has adversely affected NAEO's performance and has been a key contributor to Global Alpha's disappointing performance. We have reduced risk and leverage in these funds as well. At their current levels of equity capital, we believe the funds are positioned to actively pursue market opportunities."

Will Goldman Sachs Leave the Hedge Fund Business?

Never. Doesn't listen to journalists who predict Goldman's flagship fund going down in flames as an end to their play in this industry. The most recent trend with Goldman Sach's strategy towards hedge funds has been to invest and take partial ownership in dozens of medium to large sized hedge funds. This allows them to help grow these hedge funds while also participating in the upside of a diverse ray of hedge fund managers and strategies.

The Richard Wilson Hedge fund Blog (http://richard-wilson.blogspot.com) is a content rich source for hedge fund industry white papers, trends, articles and professional interviews. I also share lessons I learn in my investment marketing and sales (third party marketing) career and earning a graduate degree at Harvard. I live in Cambridge, MA and can be reached at 503.789.7901 or Richard@RichardCWilson.com. This post came from the Richard Wilson Hedge Fund Blog online at: http://richard-wilson.blogspot.com/2007/10/goldman-sachs-hedge-fund.html

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History Of Liverpool In A Nutshell (City Of Liverpool)

The view of Liverpools world famous waterfront was a different scene some time ago than what it is today. In 1190 the city was known was Liuerpul, which meant a pool with muddy water and another name that has been suggested is elverpool, which was a reference to the high number of eels in the Mersey.

King John granted Liverpool its charter in 1207 and advertised the establishment of a new borough at Liverpool inviting settlers to come and take holdings there. Rumour had it that the king wanted a port in the district that was free from the control of the earl of Chester and at first it served as a dispatch point for troops sent to Ireland.

Following this, the Liverpool Castle was constructed, which occupied a prominent site overlooking the Mersey and pool of Liverpool. It was described that the castle had four towers, a hall, chamber, chapel, brew-house and bake-house and was surrounded by a dry moat. Liverpool Castle was removed in 1726.

Throughout the 16th century, Liverpool only had a population of around 500 and it wasnt until the late 1600s that Liverpool was made a parish on its own by Act of Parliament. Following on from this the population and commerce increased rapidly and Liverpool became the second metropolis of Great Britain.

Liverpool was the safest landing spot for boats and the first wet dock in Britain was built in 1715. Profits increased from the slave trade, which helped the town grow and flourish.

Liverpools black community dates from this period and grew rapidly, - reaching a population of around 10,000 within five years. By the beginning of the 1800s more than 30% of the worlds trade was passing through the docks at Liverpool and during the 1840s the great famine brought many Irish to Liverpool. By the middle of the 1800s a quarter of the citys population was Irish-born.

Over the period of the 1800s to 1900s the growth of Liverpool continued to expand and the population grew. At the beginning of the 1800s the population was just 78,000 and grew to a massive 685,000 by 1901.

Albert Dock AreaIn 1888 Liverpool achieved city status and by the early 1900s it was announced the second city of empire. During this period the Albert Dock expanded and a number of major buildings were constructed such as St. Georges Hall and Lime Street Station.

As Liverpool was constantly expanding over the years, during the late 1800s and early 1900s people started emigrating from all over Europe to the city and the population continued to grow. It was said that Adolf Hitlers half brother had once stayed with his wife in Upper Stanhope Street but some believe that this is untrue.

Along with the huge Irish community in Liverpool, there were also a lot of other cultures and around the area of Scotland Road was once referred to as Little Italy. In addition to this, Liverpool was also the home to a large Welsh population and some people called it the Capital of North Wales.

Following the First World War, Liverpool experienced a massive slump to its economy, which the city council tried to resolve by making various improvements such as the construction of the East Lancashire Road and the Mersey Queensway Tunnel. When the Mersey Queensway Tunnel was first built it was the longest underwater tunnel in the world.

During World War II, Liverpool was bombed more heavily than any other city in Europe and was almost completely wiped out. At a certain time during this war the city was the headquarters of the Battle of the Atlantic from 1941.

Liverpool BombingHowever, at the beginning of the 1950s re-construction took place and Liverpool was once again the second most important port in the empire. In the late 20th century the dock was redeveloped and the Albert and Wapping Docks were restored as major visitor attractions and retail centres. The installation of new dock gates at Canning facilitated the Tall Ships and Mersey River Festival in the 1980s and 90s.

Since the middle of the 1990s some major redevelopment and reconstruction has taken place and there are many planning projects currently underway to revive economy in Liverpool. For most of this period the economy in Liverpool has grown faster than the national average and crime levels have remained lower than most other metropolitan areas in England and Wales.

Contact Me and Read More At Liverpool In A Nutshell

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The Secret to Staying Healthy as We Age

Everyone wants to live a long and healthy life. There are some simple steps to assist with this. Eat well and exercise will have a huge positive impact on your lifestyle. For a quick start add these five ingredients to your diet.

Soy to Manage Your Cholesterol

Adding soy to your diet has been shown to significantly lower cholesterol, which can reduce your risk of heart disease. Plus, soy is high in iron, which many women need. Some women also say that soy helps them manage hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause, although those benefits have not been proven by long-term clinical studies. Still, its cholesterol-lowering benefits are powerful enough. Indeed, the right diet can lower cholesterol as much as medication.

You can add soy foods such as tofu, soy milk, soy nuts, or green soybeans to your diet. There are meal replacement shakes that contain a high level of quality soy. These are a quick and healthy way to increase your soy and protein intake. You can check this out at my website.

Fiber for Your Whole Body

Once upon a time our diet was made up mostly of whole foods loaded with fiber which helped keep our cholesterol and blood sugar levels low, and kept our bowels functioning smoothly.

Studies have shown that dietary fiber -- including foods such as apples, barley, beans, and other legumes, fruits and vegetables, oatmeal, oat bran, and brown rice -- clearly lower blood cholesterol. High-fiber foods are also digested more slowly, so they don't cause spikes in blood sugar levels like white bread, potatoes, and sweets do. Of course, everyone knows that fiber helps keep you regular, but so do laxatives. Fiber, however, has an added plus: High-fiber foods help us feel full, making it easier to control weight. You could also take a fiber supplement such as chitosan.

Antioxidant 'Superfoods' to Protect Your Cells and Heart

When you're thinking "superfoods," think color. That means foods that are deep blue, purple, red, green, or orange. The carotenoids and anthocyanins that provide the color for these foods contain health-enhancing nutrients that protect against heart disease and cancer, and also improve our sense of balance, our memory, and other cognitive skills. Your "superfoods" color chart should include:

* Deep green -- Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli may help prevent colon cancer, while spinach and kale are good sources of calcium.

* Red -- Red tomatoes, especially when cooked, are beneficial sources of lycopeine, which helps protect against prostate and cervical cancer.

* Orange/yellow -- Squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, and yams promote healthy lungs and help fight off skin cancers such as squamous cell carcinoma.

* Deep blue/purple -- Eggplant, plums, blueberries, blackberries (strawberries, raspberries, and cherries come under this category as well) lower your risk of heart disease by helping the liver "sop up" extra cholesterol, as well as improve your mental functioning.

Calcium for Your Bones

If you want to keep your bones strong and lessen your chance of fractures as you get older, add calcium-rich foods such as low-fat cheese and milk to your diet. If you take a calcium supplement make sure it includes vitamin D which helps the body absorb the calcium. Calcium also keeps teeth strong, helps your muscles contract, and your heart beat. Recent studies have even shown that calcium may lower your risk of colon polyps, and help you lose weight. Researchers at Purdue University found that women who consume calcium from low-fat dairy products or get at least 1,000 milligrams a day showed an overall decrease in body weight.

Water for Energy and Your Skin

Most people don't drink enough water. You should aim for 8 large glasses a day. We need water to flush out toxins, keep our tissues hydrated, and keep our energy up. Water is also essential if you're eating high-fiber foods. Water helps fiber do its job. Keep a water bottle with you always. Have one in the car, one where you work and keep a jug of water on your bench at home. Your body will thank you for it.

Exercise

The exercise you do will vary depending on your personal lifestyle. If you are currently not exercising, start slowly, build up gradually. Weight resistance exercises are important for strong and healthy bones. The simplest exercise is walking. Dont catch the elevator, use the stairs. Swimming is a safe exercise for most people. Do not spend too long procrastinating over what type of exercise you will do. Just start some form of exercise today.

Healthy Outcomes

By following these simple steps you will improve your health. Cutting down on processed and fatty, fast food and carbonated drinks will save you money. It will lessen your need for medical interventions. Your body will look and feel so much healthier and younger.

To learn how to create an income stream with work from your home that will replace your job and develop true financial freedom visit: Cheryl Haining is a successful home business owner, weight loss, skin care, body shape and nutrition coach. She has her own successful business. Her mission statement is to ensure everyone reaches his or her optimum body shape, size and condition. Contact Cheryl at http://www.trimlikeme.net To learn how to create an income stream with work from your home that will replace your job and develop true financial freedom visit: http://www.keybusinesstips.info/

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Sudan and One Tourist Me.

In 1985 the Sudan was in considerable trouble. Sudan had been in trouble before but this time the country was almost on its knees. I had been invited to visit relatives of a dear friend of mine, a Sudanese girl I shared an apartment with, and I was hoping to be met by her cousin Zuba.

I arrived in Khartoum at the exact moment the Sudanese decided to sack their incumbent President, Gaafar Muhammad Nimeri. From the first moment of my arrival I could sense the tension; it was an almost tangible thing, raw and exciting. I arrived late at night, tiptoeing over the sleeping bundles of rags propped against scant furniture in the weirdly utility building rumored to be the arrivals hall. At least I was assured it was the arrivals hall.

There were piles of unclaimed baggage strewn in every direction, with locks hanging loosely; obviously having been tampered with by a series of looters. In my innocence and inexperience of life in Khartoum, I had worn a rather smart white dress and jacket for my journey, rather like selecting a wedding gown to explore a coal pit really, although I was unaware of my idiocy at the time.

I was sitting in what can only described as ultimate chaos. The aircraft I had just alighted from had disgorged over two hundred shell shocked passengers into a room only slightly larger and considerably dustier than a scout hut. Floating sand was everywhere, in the air, on the seats, settled into drifts along the counters and over the Perspex barriers which separated the passengers from barely visible immigration officials. Children were crying, some strange Arabian anthem was crackling across a loudspeaker, and outside the building cars and taxis were honking their horns.

As I sat, fine yellowish brown sand floated down onto the shoulders and lapels of my crisp, white dress and coat and onto the black leather of my dressing case and handbag which I carried, terrified to lose sight of my personal belongings in this bedlam.

A cluster of ragged bodies seemed to be pawing at a pile of baggage just in front of me. On closer inspection I managed to read the back of the tee shirt nearest me. ‘Baggage Handling’ it said. The wearer had on only a pair of worn out Speedo shorts, and flip flops. He was puffing away on an evil smelling clove cigarette and he and his friends had already opened a suitcase further along the line.

They had also opened a bird cage for some reason, and the occupant, an African parrot, had flown out in search of refuge. The parrot was now perched on one of the slowly turning blades of the most enormous ceiling fan I had ever seen, and was hurling selections from his considerable repertoire of phrases at everyone who went near him. Each sentence was couched in the most obscene terms and he had collected a group of admirers who were throwing him peanuts to coax him from his perch. I gathered from one of his young admirers that his name was Maxwell.

The collection of rags was now searching through one of my suitcases so I decided the time had come to assert ownership. Just as I arose from my seat, Zuba arrived. I should explain at this point that Zuba, as we affectionately called her, was 36 years old and, as yet, unmarried. In the Sudan, to be this great age and not yet betrothed or married was an unforgivable sin. She was not unattractive in a strange, Zuba sort of way. By that I mean she was of medium height, huge brown eyes with heavy fringes of lashes, smooth skin of a coffee complexion, and dainty hands and feet. Her voice, however, would cut through steel. Most of her remarks were quickly followed by raucous laughter, usually mistaken for male origin.

Zuba was ungainly in the extreme; she walked as a farmer might, when striding through a pig pen, with feet well apart, taking large strides and swinging her arms as she went. Zuba adored Bob Marley, Peter Sellers and going to parties. She had joined the army upon leaving school and had risen through the ranks, training as a medical officer and then as a Psychologist, until by 1985 she had reached the rank of Colonel.

Wherever Zuba went, so her entourage followed. There were two uniformed private soldiers she informed me were her bodyguards, both of whom were of considerably slighter build than she and terrified of her. A further four soldiers just seemed to trail behind the first two and try to look interested in everything Zuba said, or did. The seventh member of her little band was her driver, whom she pummeled with her handbag whenever he misbehaved.

She came toward me through the arrivals hall at Khartoum airport, dressed in her khaki uniform, pips and eagles adorning each shoulder, a gold lanyard swinging from her tunic, looking extremely official and parting the crowds of people by waving her service revolver at everybody who dared to get in her way. She threw her arms around me and lifted me off my feet, kissing me on both cheeks several times over. By the time she had finished planting kisses all over my face her emotions had overcome her and she began to actually cry. Her driver handed her a handkerchief and she blew her nose noisily before shouting to one of her troop to grab my suitcases.

Zuba led us through immigration in a flurry of handshakes and toothy smiles, introducing me to everyone and explaining that I was a VIP from diplomatic circles. I actually was a lowly administrator from Leeds so nothing could be further from the truth and it was very obvious none of them believed her, but they seemed not to care and we were soon outside the terminal doors.

Our transport was an open army jeep complete with flags and hooters. We raced through the hot, dusty trails, you could certainly not call them roads, and after what seemed like hours, we arrived at Zuba’s family home on the outskirts of Omdurman. Tired, caked with dust and filth, I entered the ruined splendor of Zuba’s home.

It was easy to see how in the old days her family had considerable wealth and influence. Now, the marble floors beneath my feet were gritty from sand, brown at the edges where the floors met the walls, bare light bulbs hanging from light fittings, threadbare rugs scattered everywhere. Zuba brought two young girls forward and introduced them as servants. ‘It’s okay Jan, you don’t have to kiss them, they are very black!’ she said! Shocked, I started to scold her about talking of the girls in that manner but she laughed loudly and began dragging me upstairs to unpack.

Zuba’s bedroom had not been decorated since she was nine years old and still had pink painted furniture and posters of pop stars of the sixties adorning the walls. A very young Donny Osmond grinned down at me from above a bed I assumed to be Zubas; cotton throws in bright colors were draped over the chairs to hide the childish Disney transfers of Snow White pasted to the backs. Zuba explained that her bedroom had been left in this state by her mother as a punishment for not getting married at a respectable age. I murmured something sympathetic and she continued to show me around her private quarters.

There was a heavy metal door at one end of the room which turned out to be the door to the flat roof. I stepped through the door, looking forward to seeing a roof garden with perhaps a dining area. Instead I was greeted by a collection of discarded cardboard boxes, some of which still had the smelly remains of fruit adhering to the sides. Beyond the boxes was another door, this time to a bathroom, containing a tap high up on the wall which was the only means of showering, and a toilet, the smell from which was beginning to make me gag. Everything up here was coated in brown dust. The rest of the roof was just an open space with a low wall.

A drunken washing line was strung between the bathroom wall and a hook on the parapet, and obviously it would be impossible to peg washing from it except at its highest point. At the far end of the roof was a plastic chair and table with a suspicious looking object trailing a wire through the wall.‘Here, Jan you can ring your family and tell them you are in Zuba’s wonderful house,’ she said, pointing to the object which I now recognized as a telephone without is plastic cover.

Zuba discreetly retired to the ground floor, leaving me to phone home. It was then I realized there was no dial on the object either, therefore there were no numbers to choose from. I sat on the plastic chair and laughed.

I stayed with Zuba and her family for six wonderful months. I was 31 and had been working as a secretary in the service branch of an engineering company for the past two years. I had been suffering from boredom for so long I was now beginning to accustom myself to the perpetual ennui of my set routine and I was terrified of waking up one morning on the wrong side of fifty and wondering where my life had gone. Sudan was exactly the kind of adventure I needed and I launched myself into the business of living on a knife edge with passionate abandon. I found a job as a temporary secretary with a local oil company and agreed to attend every single function I was invited to for the next three months.

Khartoum was overrun by American pilots who were there to train the local air force. They invited me to their parties and barbecues and treated me like royalty. I joined the Sudan Club, the last relic of British occupation and still inhabited by one or two live-in residents left over from the fifties when the Sudan still had roads and pavements.

At first I was content to stay with Zuba and learn about the way Sudanese families lived. After a few weeks though, I began to understand that I must be a drain on the family resources, in a city where food shortages were becoming more and more worrying each day.

Bread was queued for, sometimes for hours. The two servant girls were sent to wait for hours in the sun outside the bread shop, the grocery shop, and the worst of all, the gas depot, where gas bottles were rationed to those residents who had enough money to bribe the depot officials, thus enabling them to cook and to light their houses. The gas depot was a long walk away, no shelter from the sun when you got there, and no guarantee of coming home with gas.

One of Zuba’s cousins, Ozzy, was a regular visitor to the house. He would arrive late morning and greet Zuba politely, then retire to the front patio with her brothers, to smoke and drink ‘Sid’ – a disgusting concoction of ninety proof alcohol which passed for cocktails in these difficult times. The entire family was devout Moslem I must point out and therefore strictly forbidden to consume alcohol. As in all things, the consumption of alcohol was overlooked and deemed a necessary evil to help overcome the daily tiresomeness of living in reduced circumstances.

One evening about a week after my arrival, Ozzy invited me to visit his mother. I was delighted to be invited as Ozzy’s mother was reputed to be a great beauty of her generation and a highly sophisticated woman. We set out just before dinner and I was fascinated at how Ozzy could find his way around the sandy wasteland of Khartoum. There were no street signs, no signposts, and no stop signs. The sands of time had covered a once beautiful city. Ozzy informed me that long ago, when the British were in residence, the city had fire hydrants, post boxes, beautifully paved sidewalks, shops and taxi ranks and post offices. Now there were just tired, dusty houses facing other tired, dusty houses with a desert wasteland between. You had to use a compass to get around.

We stopped suddenly outside a house with a locked metal gate. There was a Mercedes parked outside the house and Ozzy got out of the car, opened the trunk and took out a plastic canister and a hose pipe. To my horror and disbelief, he began the process of siphoning petrol out of the parked Mercedes into our car! I objected strenuously to this blatant theft but Ozzy just smiled, ignored me and continued to his destination.

My visit to Ozzy’s mother, Una, was the first of a series of visits, each one more enjoyable than the last, and we became close friends. She helped me to find an apartment in Khartoum and I managed to furnish it with donated furniture from a collection of concerned friends.

I felt more comfortable now that I was not draining Zuba’s family’s limited supplies and in fact I was now able to supply them with a few luxuries such as shampoo and toothpaste which I bought at the American commissary, a perk of working for an American oil company. Some days were good and some were unspeakably bad.

One morning I woke to find my apartment flooded. There had been no water for three days and I stupidly left the taps turned to the on position. The water supply had been restored in the middle of the night and overflowed everywhere. On arriving in the street I found my driver, Khamis, busy under the bonnet of the company car allocated to me. After recruiting the assistance of a series of passersby it was concluded there was no petrol in the car.

It was stifling hot in the back seat and I demanded to know why I could not open the windows. Khamis informed me solemnly that he had super glued the windows shut to deter thieves. The front windows were not glued, I pointed out. No, he said, that was because he found it too hot with them shut.

Arriving at my office it would be quite normal to find the telephones did not work, the electricity had been cut off, the water was off, or the caretakers had not shown up to open the building, resulting in a mass adjournment to the cafes for endless cups of coffee until lunchtime. The Sudan Club supplied food most days. It would not do to be too fussy, you had to eat whatever was on the menu for the day. My lunch on some days consisted of a curious collection of pickles and a slice of bread, at other times there would be a veritable feast due to the arrival of a consignment of food which was then distributed by the resourceful characters in charge of imported goods through the ports.

Zuba was a regular visitor to my apartment and she made herself at home, arranging herself on the sofa with her feet on the coffee table and viewing my collection of library videos which I borrowed weekly from the American commissary shop. She would tuck into a large bowl of cereal, her latest fad, glue herself to the television and refuse to talk until she had come to the end of her movie.

I was amazed one morning to spy Zuba alighting from her staff car outside my apartment, in full dress uniform complete with white gloves and sunglasses, looking like a female version of Idi Amin, accompanied by her feckless driver who failed to catch her when she stepped off the sill of her jeep and she stumbled into a hole in the road, slapping him over the head with her handbag and screaming abuse at him top volume. She had been to the hairdresser, and her shoulder length hair had been braided into hundreds of tiny plaits, and secured at the end with multi colored beads; very attractive for party wear, but hardly suitable to accessorize an army uniform. Over the top of her uniform cap she had jammed a set of headphones, and she proceeded to dance up the stairs of the building to the tune of Bob Marley.

Zuba casually asked me what I did at work, and when I told her I typed, processed papers, made coffee, etc, she froze in shock. What did I mean by ‘make coffee?’ I explained that in the modern world secretaries make coffee for their bosses, it was no big deal. The next day she showed up at my office complete with entourage and service revolver, which she waved at my boss and warned him darkly that he was not to ask her friend to make his coffee again if he wanted to survive his term of service in the Sudan. I assured him after she had gone that he did not have to worry, I was quite happy to make his coffee. Nonetheless he never asked me to again.

During my time in Khartoum I explored the seam where the blue and the white Niles meet, helped in a crocodile hunt, survived the onslaught of numerous haboobs (sand storms) and flew into the wilderness near El Obaid, courtesy of the World Bank to meet the field Geologists studying desert life in isolated camps with their families; two years in the desert without any contact with the outside world made them very pleased to see us.

I experienced the discomfort of tear gas during the coup and had to bath in bottled soda water when water supplies completely dried up, and I watched with delight when Nimeri was finally ousted from power, joining the dancing and celebrations in the streets which went on for days. I visited the camps where my friend Marguerita was in charge of vaccines, nursing the children with so many famine connected diseases, and eventually nursed Marguerita while she died of cholera in my little apartment. She was so brave and strong, it seemed unthinkable she should end her days in such horrible circumstances.

My stay in Sudan came to an end when I had the opportunity to visit Dubai over a year later. I found modern desert life fascinating and a new platform for adventure. The Sudan and Dubai were at opposite ends of the spectrum of civilization. Whereas Sudan was poor, underprivileged and shabby, Dubai was sleek, rich and super efficient. I needed the change and went into my new life in the modern Emirates with the same rush of enthusiasm I had felt when I first stepped off the plane in Khartoum. I will always remember them; the Sudan, Khartoum, Marguerita, and Zuba.

Jan Gamm writes reflections on life with an emphasis on world travel. She has lived in many countries and traveled extensively in the Far East, the Middle East, America, South America and throughout the South Pacific. She writes for fun and for money whenever she can manage it.

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My Knees are Killing Me

If you are having an unusually tough time climbing the stairs and your knees feel like theyre being pounded by iron fists, then you might just be suffering from osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is the inflammation of the cartilage in weight-bearing joints such as those of the knees and is the most common type of arthritis in both the old and the young. Inflammation is caused by the wearing down of cartilages in the joints which serve to pad or in other words, to serve as a pressure cushion. The wearing down of the cartilage in the joints usually comes as a consequence of age and everyday activities although it can be aggravated by a traumatic injury, problems with ones weight, an unhealthy diet and an inactive lifestyle.

Causes of osteoarthritis in the knees

The abovementioned causes of osteoarthritis are general. Knee osteoarthritis has other affecting factors that could lead inevitably to arthritis pain specifically concentrated to the knee region. Sufferers of knee arthritis are often adults above the age of 40 and obese people. Obesity severely adds pressure, in the form of excess pounds, to ones knees. Knee arthritis has also been associated with past experiences of knee injury and tears, damages, and fractures of the meniscus, ligaments and bones around the knee region.

Diagnosis of knee arthritis

The symptoms of the condition can easily be detected but may be a bit hard to observe since they tend to come and go. Signs of knee arthritis involve pain, swelling, and stiffness in the knees. Sufferers of knee arthritis also find it hard to move a lot and thus the lost and diminishing of flexibility and range of motion is taken as a symptom of knee arthritis. Doctors would do physical examinations to diagnose the condition. X-ray examinations will usually tell you the severity of your arthritis and can also cite whether or not deformities are present.

Treatment of Knee arthritis

Because knee arthritis is highly associated with obesity, weight loss programs which involve regular exercise and a healthy diet are initial treatments. Activity modification is also a basic step that patients undergo in their treatments. Not all patients can do normal exercises straightaway and so alternative forms such as aquatic exercises are highly recommended. Moreover, physical therapy also helps to strengthen the muscles around the knees.

Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory drugs are usually prescribed to relieve pain caused by almost about any form of arthritis but are found to have some side effects especially in the gastrointestinal tract. Fortunately, specialists in the treatment of arthritis have introduced us to dietary glucosamine supplements such as Syn-flex Liquid Glucosamine that not only soothes pain caused by arthritis but also reverses the symptoms by aiding in repairing damaged joints, particularly damaged cartilages in the joints. The supplement contains ample amounts of ingredients that work synergistically to keep your joints in top gear. Since Syn-flex comes in liquid form, faster and more promising results can be anticipated. With the thousands of positive testimonials given by those using Synflex Liquid Glucosamine, both in people and pets, its no wonder why Synflex is the leader in Liquid Glucosamine sales, with close to a million bottles sold already.

Of course, any treatment needs to have been recommended and approved by your doctor. That is why consultation with the doctor is usually the first step when it comes to treatment.

Give Syn-flex Liquid Glucosamine a try. Its backed by a 100% Money Back Guarantee. http://www.syn-flex-usa.com/

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Light Up Your Room's Life

With the flick of a switch, the proper lighting can help set the mood in a room and illuminate dark areas. Lighting can be dimmed for that added ambiance and intimacy during a romantic dinner, while entertaining, or while watching a movie.

There are two types of lighting: task lighting and ambient lighting. Task lighting is necessary while reading or doing detailed work and is achieved with directed and higher intensity light, such as a downward reading lamp. Ambient lighting is softer and can be in the form of sconces, pendant lights, tapered candles, and tea candles. To help create ambient lighting, consider having a dimmer switch installed so that you can control the amount of light and set the mood you are trying to achieve.

Lighting general areas can be addressed through the use of recessed lights, track lighting, floor lamps, table lamps, and chandeliers. Floor lamps and table lamps add beauty to the home, are stylish, and serve the purpose of providing additional lighting where needed. Floor lamps and table lamps come in a variety of different styles from Traditional to Contemporary to Transitional. Also, chandeliers add a touch of elegance to a dining room and kitchen nook area.

Research the different types of lighting available before redecorating. You can consult with a lighting specialist or scour the internet for ideas and information. Also, find out what it will cost for an electrician to install these lights. This way, you will have an idea on whether or not it meets your budget.

Giorgina Devereaux is the creator of FurnitureMedley.com, which features furniture website reviews and articles on home decor and furniture. For more information, please visit http://www.FurnitureMedley.com

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Playing the Wisdom Game

What is wisdom? Like stupidity, we know it when we see it. But because wisdom manifests in so many different ways, it can't be adequately defined in a few words. Short dictionary definitions highlight some of wisdom's characteristics such as "keen discernment," "a capacity for sound judgment," and "the ability to discern inner qualities and relationships," but they don't get to the heart of the matter.

Joseph W. Meeker's eloquent yet concise statement about wisdom is much more illuminating:

"Wisdom is a state of the human mind characterized by profound understanding and deep insight. It is often, but not necessarily, accompanied by extensive formal knowledge. Unschooled people can acquire wisdom, and wise people can be found among carpenters, fishermen, or housewives. Wherever it exists, wisdom shows itself as a perception of the relativity and relationships among things. It is an awareness of wholeness that does not lose sight of particularity or concreteness, or of the intricacies of interrelationships. It is where left and right brain come together in a union of logic and poetry and sensation, and where self-awareness is no longer at odds with awareness of the otherness of the world. Wisdom cannot be confined to a specialized field, nor is it an academic discipline; it is the consciousness of wholeness and integrity that transcends both. Wisdom is complexity understood and relationships accepted."[1]

Wisdom is internal, embodied by persons. Words of wisdom arise from it. Wise behavior arises from it. But wisdom itself is not its products. Wisdom is a mode of cognition one rooted in perspectives, interpretations, and values. Wisdom is not about facts per se, it is about the context-linked meaning of facts. It is about the significance of facts and their implications. Wisdom is a kind of meta-knowledge that helps us make better sense of the rest of our knowledge. Wisdom does this by relating our ordinary everyday knowledge to a variety of contexts, and by viewing it from a variety of illuminating perspectives. Among those perspectives are:

The self-knowledge perspective
Wise people have a greater than ordinary understanding of themselves. They are aware of their strengths and weaknesses and have developed "workarounds" to stay out of trouble. Because they have paid attention to how their own minds work, they are better able to understand the mind processes of others.

Laws-of-nature perspective
We contemplate doing things in the physical world and ask ourselves: Will this work? What will be the consequences of doing this? In such circumstances an understanding of basic scientific laws can at times lead to better, wiser, decisions.

Laws-of-life perspectives
If we are observant, we eventually sense some general rules that apply in our relations with other people: Sexual infidelity almost always causes pain for someone. Angry words shut down communication. We rarely adopt other people's lists of dos and don'ts, but if we see these generally applicable truths for ourselves they can help guide our actions.

The system perspective
The system perspective on reality is a powerful tool for understanding the world around us. Complexity in the natural world emerges as a hierarchy of natural systems or holons which have the property of being a whole at their own systemic level and a part or component in a system at the next level up the hierarchy. The physical hierarchy of systems moves from subatomic particles to atoms to molecules to crystals and cells, to living organisms, then to ecosystems, the biosphere, the solar system, the galaxy, and the universe. In another branch of this hierarchy, human beings start communicating with each other and give birth to those systems we call societies, economies, and nations.

The evolutionary perspective
What is the universe up to? Where does humanity fit in? Have we become agents of the evolutionary process? Some wise people have developed an understanding of our cosmic and evolutionary contexts and found it helpful to look at the human situation from this "big picture" vantage point.

The complexity-of-causation perspective
There is a human tendency to simplify causation. We pick out some dominant element in a situation and call it "The Cause," when in fact there are myriad necessary elements an entire causal matrix with roots that go back to the origin of the universe.

Broadened-identity and "oneness" perspectives
As a person develops psychologically and spiritually, their sense of identity tends to broaden. Their circle of concern and identity widens from me, to us and for a few, to the entire universe and its underlying ground.

The finiteness-of-life perspective
Time is the raw material of our life, and a conscious awareness of our eventual death helps us to keep our life on a meaningful track and avoid meaningless, life-wasting detours.

A host of "high-values" perspectives
The deeply-held values of wise people are vantage points from which to view life situations and the world: Is this just? Is this truthful? Is this caring and compassionate? Etc.

THE ROLE OF VALUES IN WISDOM

Nicholas Maxwell has called wisdom "the capacity to realize what is of value in life for oneself and others."[2] The embracing of "high" or "superior" values is a hallmark of wisdom. High values have two roles in the lives of wise people. First, they provide those illuminating slants on the data of life. Second, they guide the decision-making process toward wiser decisions.

Human decision-making is a largely unconscious process in which a constantly shifting hierarchy of internalized values interacts with a constantly shifting set of perceived circumstances and retrieved memories. Some values, such as survival and reproduction, are hardwired. Other values, and their position in the value hierarchy, are the products of life experience and the influences to which we have been exposed. At any given moment our decisions are made by the combined action of:

1. The brain-mind process currently in charge

2. The hierarchy of value priorities that exists at that moment

3. The perceived nature of the situation calling for a decision

4. Memories of similar or related situations

Regarding item one, above, there are three distinct brain-mind processes, each having its own hierarchy of values:

• The instinctive/reactive process located in the earliest parts of our brain to evolve the structures of the brain stem and limbic system and their change-resistant programming

• The intellectual process: Typically centered in the left hemisphere of the neocortex

• The intuitive process: Less clearly understood, but generally associated with the right, nonverbal hemisphere

These processes and their values work together to make our decisions and control our behavior in the same way a computer's hardware and software work together to make the computer's decisions and control its outputs. We can look at the three brain-mind processes as the hardware of our behavioral control system. And the internalized values that each process utilizes constitute the heart of the software.

If you ask a person to list their personal values in order of relative importance, you are likely to get a list with some pretty impressive stuff on it. Yet if we look dispassionately at that person's behavior, it might soon become apparent that their deep-down, internalized, operational values are not the same as their professed values or at least do not have the stated priority. People always do what seems best, and that "best" is determined by how their hierarchy of internalized values interacts with the brain/mind's assessment of past, present, and anticipated future circumstances. As Nobelist Roger Sperry put it, "Human values...can...be viewed objectively as universal determinants in all human decision making. All decisions boil down to a choice among alternatives of what is most valued, for whatever reasons, and are determined by the particular value system that prevails."[3] Superior values, "the values of the wise," produce superior decisions and superior behavior.

The self-actualizing and ego-transcending people that psychologist Abraham Maslow studied were wise people, and Maslow's reports on their behavior and mindsets tell us much about the nature of wisdom and the values that underlie it. Maslow's self-actualizers focused on concerns outside of themselves; they liked solitude and privacy more than the average person, and they tended to be more detached than ordinary from the dictates and expectations of their culture. They were inner-directed people. They were creative, too, and appreciated the world around them with a sense of awe and wonder. In love relationships they respected the other's individuality and felt joy at the other's successes. They gave more love than most people, and needed less. Central to their lives was a set of values that Maslow called the Being-Values, or B-Values: wholeness, perfection, completion, justice, aliveness, richness, simplicity, beauty, goodness, uniqueness, effortlessness, playfulness, truth, honesty, reality, self-sufficiency.

Wise values express themselves in wise attitudes and wise ways of being and functioning. Among the value-based expressions of wisdom that speak strongly to me are:

• Feeling fully responsible for one's life choices and actions

• A positive, "let's make the most of it" attitude

• A reality-seeking, truth-seeking orientation

• A desire to learn, and a feeling of responsibility for one's own learning

• A desire to grow, to develop, "to become all I am capable of becoming"

• Being attentive: aware of mind events and mental processes as well as what is happening around us

• Being creative: producing uniqueness and novelty that has value

• Being a two-brain-hemisphere person, with intellect and intuition working together

• Being self-disciplined: able to work now for a reward later

• Being courageous: able to face dangers and fears with clarity and skill

• Being aware of one's own eventual death to the degree that it helps guide one's life

• Being able to deal with situations appropriately, using a large repertoire of approaches and techniques. Choosing the approach that best fits each situation: appropriate planning, appropriate timing, appropriate problem-solving, dealing with commitments appropriately, etc.

• Being non-reactive: able to deal skillfully with powerful emotions

• Being deeply loving, and able to manifest love in appropriate ways

• Having a sense of wonder

• Being compassionate

• Behaving in ways that benefit others

• Possessing a deep happiness that is independent of externals

• Recognizing that there are limits to personal knowledge and to the ability of our species to know

The world is not divided into wise and unwise people. None of us is perfectly wise or totally unwise. We are wise to the degree that characteristics like those mentioned above are part of us, to the extent that we actually live them. The specific qualities developed will differ in kind and degree from person to person, and this results in each wise person's wisdom having a distinctive character or "flavor."

DEVELOPING WISDOM

The good news is that the acquisition of wisdom is not something we must leave to the whims of fate, as many in the past have assumed. If we want to become wiser people, we can develop the characteristics of wisdom and incorporate them into our lives. The bad news is that we're pretty much on our own in doing that. It would be nice if we lived in a wisdom-fostering culture one in which every institution was dedicated to helping us become wiser. But we don't. So how do we become wiser people? In short, by

• exposing ourselves to wisdom-fostering influences, and by

• intentionally practicing, with effort, the behaviors and attitudes that we someday hope to become effortless expressions of our deepest, truest self.

THE ROLE OF INFLUENCES

If we don't like the values we have internalized to date or the particular mental process that is calling the shots, then we must change things. We are surrounded by influences that push us toward ordinary behavior and ordinary ways of thinking. But we need not be prisoners of ordinary; we can shift the balance of influences. We can intentionally increase our exposure to positive influences influences that promote and reinforce the kind of changes we are trying to make. We can, for instance:

Hang out with people who are already living the values we'd like to make our own. Where do we find such people? Groups that focus on personal growth and doing good in the world are a likely bet. Among these are some open-minded, non-doctrinaire religious groups such as Unitarians, Quakers, and Buddhists. Local and online discussion and activist groups are another possibility. Some of these focus on psychological or spiritual growth. Others focus on various social issues. We can experiment, and when we find a group that feels right, get involved.

Find out more about the nature and development of wisdom. As a starting point you might want to visit The Wisdom Page, "a compilation of wisdom-related resources" (A link to it appears with the author information at the end of this article.)

Read biographies of exceptional people. Your local library has many of these, and your librarian would be pleased to suggest some good ones.

Learn from the experiences of others. People all around us are struggling to up level their lives some skillfully and successfully, others very unskillfully and unsuccessfully. The world's literature, and movies too, present us with countless additional life stories. What can we learn from them? Can we pick out the strategies and behaviors that work and those that don't? Can we start to sense some general "laws of life" behind the specifics?

Be open to wise sayings that energize and motivate. Twice in my life sets of words have resonated so deeply with me that they initiated significant life changes. The first of these was a statement by Etienne de Grellet, a 19th-century Quaker, that I encountered as a university student:

"I shall pass through this world but once. If, therefore, there is any good thing I can do or any kindness I can show, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."

The second turning point, a decision to pursue my own psychological/spiritual development, was triggered by the words "become all you're capable of becoming" at a corporate seminar on Abraham Maslow's theory of motivation.

There was also a third set of words. It didn't change my life direction, but confirmed and clarified it. It is Goethe's admonition to "Go and dare before you die."

THE ROLE OF PRACTICE

Becoming clear about the values we would like at the center of our lives the values we want to make truly our own in a deep and powerful way is the first step. The next challenge is to move these values from our head to our heart and our guts. In psychological terms, we must internalize them so they are not merely nice thoughts, but actually guide our behavior. Doing this takes effort, and during one of his trips to North America the Dalai Lama gave an example of what we need to do. He spoke to an audience about the need for everyone to internalize that key value of wisdom, compassion. His advice to those who wanted to develop compassion was to put themselves in challenging situations and then, despite the natural reluctance to do so, behave compassionately. By making the effort to engage in value-based action again, and again, and again we eventually internalize the value. Expressing the value in action gradually takes less and less effort until it becomes part of our outlook, part of our natural way of being, part of who we are.

Becoming a wiser person is an exercise in inner development, and there are activities that can help us along the way. Counseling and other forms of psychotherapy can, if needed, help us reach the starting point for advanced work which we might call responsible adulthood or mature ego. A person at this stage is free of psychoses and crippling neuroses and has developed emotional control and empathy to an ordinary degree. To help us move beyond this stage we need other resources. Many people start with writings that discuss the farther reaches of human development. The writings, in turn, lead us to do-it-yourself practices: mind-quieting practices, self-knowledge practices, ego-transcending practices, and oneness-realization practices.

It is widely recognized that the fast track to self-knowledge and other important aspects of wisdom is meditation particularly the kind devoted to exploring the mind/body process, variously called mindfulness, vipassana, or insight meditation.

WISDOM ON A LARGER SCALE

This essay has focused on what I call life-centered wisdom the wisdom that results in a happier, more productive personal life and more harmonious interpersonal relations. But there is also the big chaotic world out there that needs all the wise guidance it can get. I have written elsewhere about a variation on the wisdom theme that strikes me as particularly suited to the initiation of wise action in the political, economic, and biospheric arenas. I have called it deep understanding. In short, it involves coupling the wisdom development process just described with the acquisition of intellectual knowledge relevant to the world problematique. To come to grips with the major scientific, social, and economic issues that bear on the present world situation, we must all become more holistic knowers. The way I see it, we can deal effectively with humanity's problems only if we have a deep and comprehensive understanding of the context in which those problems are set. This includes knowledge of the systemic nature of the cosmos, the evolutionary process in its most general sense, consciousness, human cultures, economic systems, and some of the more important principles, laws, and regularities that underlie functioning in all these areas.

If this broader application of wisdom piques your interest, you might want to visit The Wisdom Page. You will find there a compilation of wisdom-related resources various on-line texts concerning wisdom, references to books about wisdom, information about organizations that promote wisdom, wise activities, and listserv groups concerned with aspects of wisdom. (A clickable link to the site appears with the author information below.)

References

[1] From LANDSCAPE, Vol. 25, No. 1, Jan 1981

[2] From Nicholas Maxwell's book Is Science Neurotic?, London: Imperial College Press, 2004, p. 119

[3] From Roger Sperry's article "Bridging science and values: A unifying view of mind and brain," American Psychologist, April, 1977, p. 237

Copthorne Macdonald is a writer and independent scholar. He has written 8 books (3 of them on aspects of wisdom) and many articles, reviews, and column installments. Since 1995 he has tended The Wisdom Page a site devoted to wisdom resources.

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