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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  Commander, also called "EDH" (stands for "Elder Dragon Highlander," an outdated in-joke), is the most popular format of the collectible trading card game Magic: The Gathering, counting over-all formats.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
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
Oregon

8 Must-Visit Places in Coastal Oregon - Perfect Getaway with Outdoor Explorations and Wanderings

On my first full day in Oregon, I met a woman who asked me how long I would be staying. I replied that I would only be there for the summer while I completed my internship. She then proceeded to warn me, with a sly smile on her face, that I should be careful or Oregon will steal my heart and I will not want to leave.    I went back home at the end of that summer, but the words spoken prophetically by the woman in the cafe rang true. I did not go to Oregon expecting it to steal my heart the way it…
Score: 1.0
Japanese Education

Five Outstanding Features of Public Schools in Japan for Americans

What do you know about similarities and differences between American public schools and other countries' public schools?  Here are five key features of Japanese Public Schools that stand out most from American education system.  By DarklanlanTaken by Darklanlan [CC0], from Wikimedia Commons  Well Planned LunchJapanese kids at elementary and junior high schools eat one menu lunch during their school lunch time. These lunch providers differ depending on the policy and mission of each city’s…
Score: 1.22
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
vTubers

VTubers (Virtual YouTubers): Is This The Future Of Entertainment?

       Pardon my round-eyed white idiot weeaboo indulgence, but your Present Author has been sent on a mission by the Editors That Be to explore vTubers(Virtual YouTubers, Japanese: Vユーチューバー, バーチャルユーチューバー). This is 21st century living at its most stereotyped: whole subcultures emerge and gain millions of followers within a couple of years, without most of the world quite knowing they exist.  But I'm a techie and media geek first, so even I can appreciate that there's something happening here. We all…
Score: 1.41
anthology shows

We Always Need A Black Mirror

    The Netflix original series Black Mirror has attracted a surprising number of critics, some ridiculing the very premise of the series - and having that backfire - others just dismissing it as "pretentious," while others claim the very title sailed over their heads, and finally a whole subsection out there blowing it off because it's similar to The Twilight Zone franchise.    Um, yeah, that's the whole point!      For those out of the loop: Black Mirror is a modern speculative fiction anthology series with…
Score: 1.11
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
Teamwork Within Orchestra and Business

Harmony of Teamwork and Leadership in the Orchestra and Business through the Eyes of a Musician

    I’ve spent most of my life in and out of various orchestras and businesses professionally throughout my career.   During this time, I discovered many subtle similarities between these two careers and what makes them successful or not.  In comparison, we look to understand the harmony of teamwork and leadership within the different “branches” of an orchestra and business through the eyes of a musician.    The Conducting CEO           I am sure there’s been a time in all our lives when we’ve thought,   “ Wow, the…
Score: 1.47