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Destroy the Palm Trees - Five Reasons Why Palm Trees Need To Go Away

    I'm here to tell you about a vegetable menace that is the AIDS of the plant world. If you live in most parts of North America, these plants have you surrounded.  They're butt-ugly brown sticks thrusting phallically into the sky in unnatural rows, crowned by a spidery fright-wig of spikes. They look like a raspberry on a stick.        I'm talking, of course, about the omnipresent palm tree, found everywhere in your city. It doesn't matter what you hate, this tree embodies it.  The palm tree is the…
Score: 17.19

How To Build An EDH Deck For Magic: The Gathering

      Ready For Commander?  Commander, also called "EDH" (stands for "Elder Dragon Highlander," an outdated in-joke), is the most popular format of the collectible trading card game Magic: The Gathering, counting over-all formats.  While EDH doesn't appear much in competitive formats when the tournament is over, and the last booster box handed out, look for the players to be huddled up in the corner over a Commander game.  It has every reason to be popular; it is the only MTG format created entirely by the…
Score: 9.55

Thailand VS Philippines in language, culture, money, and love

Moving to Thailand or the Philippines and how the English language, cultural influence, cost of living, and relationships could affect your choices.        It is never as easy as choosing a pros and cons list or just doing what works for others.    If one is considering the possibility of moving to Asia and becoming an official Expatriate (or expat for short), two popular choices are:   Moving to Thailand Moving to the Philippines   I use these two more specifically because I have lived in both countries.  In…
Score: 5.27

Best Magic! the Gathering Sealed Products - A Guide to Strategic Investment in Magic: The Gathering

      "Many Magic: The Gathering players ask the question…" Don't you ever get tired of mocking the Professor of Tolarian Community College with that opening? The answer is no, we don't. Even though we love the Professor, and this post is partly inspired by his YouTube channel's content, he's just irresistible to mimic. Not to mention, if he were here reading this, he would probably disagree with the majority of what we're going to be saying here.  The Professor, spoiler alert, usually poops on Wizards…
Score: 4.68

Complete Guide Magic: The Gathering EDH Commanders You Will Never Get Tired Of Playing

    Over and over again, the number one question you see in any MTG:EDH forum is "What commander should I build next?"  Commander, the most casual and fun format of Magic: The Gathering, is a bit more involved than other formats. You have to build a 100-card deck, and every card has to be unique except for basic lands. Plus it allows anything - barring a short ban list - from any expansion set over the years; the game is rapidly approaching its 30th anniversary. So it has one of the biggest available…
Score: 3.55

Pandemic

Feel-Good Songs to Boost Your Immune System

by CFC123

Music has properties that defy human understanding.  Why a collection of notes and sounds can mean so much to people confounds scientists and sociologists to this day. In some incredible studies, music has even exhibited the ability to keep people healthy.       In these articles, we see that the “immune-boosting” properties of music are worth investigating. So without further ado, here is the Immune Booster Playlist, which taps into the various feel-good moods that music can inspire. Listen and…
Score: 1.16

The COVID-19 Investigation : Drastic Times Call For D.R.A.S.T.I.C. Measures?

     Your humble author grew up reading science fiction; it was my first passion and continues to be an enduring comfort. I was also born within the ranks of Generation X, so I came along at the right time for the cyberpunk wave in science fiction. I do write for a living now (oh… you noticed?), but as a teen I tried scribbling some sci-fi stories of my own. That turned out to be a bad idea, but you have to find these things out the hard way.  And let me tell you: Had I come up with the ridiculous…
Score: 1.01

Holding on to Hope: Ways to Cope in the Face of a Pandemic

“These are mad times we live in. Mad!”    These words, spoken by Professor Slughorn in The Half-Blood Prince, have been tumbling around in my head for weeks. In the film (and perhaps the book, I don’t recall), Slughorn relays this message to Dumbledore as the imminent threat of Lord Voldemort grows stronger. In this story, the imminent threat is COVID- 19, rather than an extremely powerful wizard.    I don’t know that there is a “chosen one” to defeat COVID-19 as Harry Potter defeated Voldemort, but…
Score: 1.0
Human Genetics

The Race Illusion : There Is Actually No Such Thing As Race

    It's the year 2021. Why are people still racist?  We have occasion, over and over, to keep wondering. The Washington Post pondered the question during the Trump administration, when the 2017 Charlottesville uprising showed us that America's ugly KKK roots are still alive and well. Of course, the WaPo arrive at no answer, only a bald examination of the puzzle.  Racism, and all forms of bigotry, make no sense, and yet they seem to be hard-wired into our brains. In fact, recent years show that we…
Score: 1.03
Home Cooking

Proper Kitchen Knife Technique - Chopping, Slicing, and Dicing for Safe, Less Waste & Better Taste

by ChefPerry

    If you’re going to spend any time in the kitchen, you’re going to have to learn how to chop vegetables. Proper chopping, slicing, and dicing techniques help us reduce waste, stay safe, and improve the taste and texture of our dishes.   Those of us who grew up under tyrannical chef-fathers, toiling away in the Dickens-Esque sweat-shops of their prep kitchens (sorry Dad, just trying to make a point…), may have spent months or years doing little else than chopping veggies, and take the techniques…
Score: 1.66

Understanding the Basic Kitchen Knife Cuts

by ChefPerry

    If you’re going to spend any time in the kitchen, you’re going to have to learn how to chop vegetables. Proper chopping, slicing, and dicing techniques help us reduce waste, stay safe, and improve the taste and texture of our dishes.  Those of us who grew up under tyrannical chef-fathers, toiling away in the Dickens-esque sweat-shops of their prep kitchens (sorry Dad, just trying to make a point…), may have spent months or years doing little else than chopping veggies, and take the techniques…
Score: 1.38

Grilling Fish for Health and Flavor, Direct Grilling, Baskets, Foil Wrapping, and Plank Grilling

by ChefPerry

  Grilling Fish for Health and FlavorChef Perry P. Perkins  Many of us are looking for healthier grilling options without sacrificing great flavor.  When my readers contact me asking about great-tasting, guilt-free grilling, I always point them to one of my favorite food groups: fish and seafood. It's hard to beat a succulent, tender bite of firm salmon or tuna, with a crispy char on the outside and just a hint of smoke, fresh from the grill.  Fish and seafood are so simple to cook outdoors...and…
Score: 1.15
nutrition

How To Avoid Eating Excess Sugar

I have a health condition called PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). I won't go into all the details about it but it puts me at a very high risk for developing type 2 diabetes later on in life. So recently I decided to start eating healthier and to cut out excess sugar from my diet. And from that point on, I've noticed that food companies put sugar in everything. Obviously, if you really want to know exactly what's in your food you should probably cook it yourself from scratch, but…
Score: 1.17
Museums

How Madame Tussauds Wax Museum Got Started

  Many people like going to wax museums to see the life-like recreations of famous people and celebrities, both alive and dead. But did you ever stop to wonder how wax museums became so popular in the first place? Most people already know about the most famous chain of wax museums in the world which is Madame Tussauds. But did you know that she was a real person and that the way she got started creating wax figures was anything but fun?    The Early Life Of Madame Tussaud    She was born December 1st…
Score: 1.08
New Music

The Joys of Music Exploration – Diving into the “New Arrivals” Deep End

by CFC123

As a teenager, discovering music is the best feeling in the world. I think most people transition through their influences the same way I did – first your parents, then your friends, then yourself. Graduating to that last step can be a challenge, but knowing the right sources opens doors to incredible musical possibilities you may never have considered.    With Spotify algorithms and radio services like Pandora, finding music is quicker than ever. Once you select or listen to something you like…
Score: 1.25
Nuclear War

The nuclear test sites heritage

by Dominus

What happened to the nuclear test sites after the nuclear tests stopped? The US alone carried out 1054 tests out of which 928 were executed on the mainland. Out of an initial lack of information about the dangers of nuclear contamination these sites were visited right after the detonations with devastating effects for the ones who were exposed to nuclear radiation. After this slow yet rude awakening, the sites were left alone for a long time. What is happening to them and how are they being…
Score: 1.11
stand-up comedy

Let Comedians Say What They Want - That's Their Job!

  I'm going to tell you a wonderful, wonderful story that happened to me one time:  I was perusing the works of the late, great George Carlin, one of my biggest heroes growing up. This was back in the day when you had to catch the special on HBO or else rent the video from Blockbuster (only a five-minute ride from my house on dinosaur-back). And I caught the one time in his stage act where he ripped into parents and children. Thanks to the miracle of modern YouTube, the clip is available here:    As I…
Score: 1.06
Criteria of Truths

Unraveling Truth and its Many Faces

  One of the most commonly used, or shall I say, abused words in the history of humanity is “truth.” Many, if not all, understood truth (solely) in the context of verifiability. In other words, if I am stating something -  a claim maybe; and if this [claim] is supported by evidences, then, I possessed the truth – done. In a colloquial definition, it is more associated to persona – a concrete human, by saying, “[truth] is someone who is a conveyor [bearer] of reality.” The notion of truth is…
Score: 1.1
Bio-Technology

It's Time To Embrace The Bio-Tech Age!

  The Present Author will repeat a maxim he's uttered for decades now, which is still on track to prove out:   "Bio-Technology will impact the 21st century to the same degree that computer technology impacted the 20th."    Don't look now, but it's well on its way already! And let's be perfectly clear up front: I want it to happen. I think we're on the cusp of an exciting leap in science, a pathway to augment the building blocks of our biology, and I think we should embrace it. I want clones, GMOs…
Score: 1.06