Backfire
Meaning:
to produce an unexpected / undesired / opposite result.
If your plan or action backfires, you get the opposite result to the one you wanted.
Example:
The new stricter school policy may backfire and do more harm to the students than good.
Her plan to lose weight backfired. After losing 10 pounds, she started to eat a lot again and gained 20 pounds quickly.
----------------------------------
Bark up the wrong tree
Meaning:
To misunderstand a situation and complain to a wrong person or blame a wrong thing.
If someone is barking up the wrong tree, he/she has an incorrect idea about a situation, and his/her course of action is wrong.
Example:
Don't blame me. I have nothing to do with it. You are barking up the wrong tree.
The committee spent more than 5 month to try to solve the problem. They were just barking up the wrong tree.
------------------------------
Beat around the bush
Meaning:
Avoid or delay talking about something unpleasant or embarrassing
If you beat around the bush, you don't say something directly to someone because you are worried about his/her reaction and don't want to upset him/her.
Some people also say " beat about the bush. "
Example:
Don't beat around the bush! Tell me what exactly you want.
Let's not beat around the bush anymore. You'd better do this project over. It's not acceptable to us.
---------------------------------------
Beat it
Meaning:
Go away immediately.
If you say "Beat it" to someone, you tell him/her to leave quickly because he/she is annoying. This is an impolite command.
Example:
I guess we should beat it before she comes back.
"This is not your place. Beat it!" (This is not a polite way to ask someone to leave.)
-----------------------------------------------
Bend over backwards (backward)
Meaning:
Do as much as you can to help or please someone.
If you bend over backwards, you do your best or try harder than you need in order to please someone or do something he/she wants.
Example:
The manager bent over backwards to help new employees.
I bent over backward, trying to defend her. I don't know what else I can do for her.
----------------------------------------------
Bite off more than one can chew
Meaning:
To try to do something that is too difficult
If you bite off more than you can chew, you try to do more than you are able to.
Example:
She has bitten off more than she can chew again. She has agreed to finish 3 very difficult projects by the end of this year.
Do your best. Do whatever you can, but don't bite off more than you can chew
---------------------------------------
(Have / Get) Butterflies in someone's stomach
Meaning:
Very nervous or excited before doing something important such as giving a speech and taking a test.
If you have butterflies in your stomach, you are very nervous and/or excited about something you are going to do soon.
Example:
He always gets butterflies in his stomach before taking a test.
----------------------------------------
ختان الأناث
Female genital cutting (FGC) refers to the excision or tissue removal of any part of the female genitalia for cultural, religious or other non-medical reasons. It is more frequently referred to as female genital mutilation (FGM) or female circumcision (FC).
Different terms are used to describe the act of female genital cutting, but regardless of the terminology the same practice is being referred to. Opponents of these practices tend to use the term Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), whereas groups who support and practice this ritual tend to use the term Female Circumcision (FC), which is also considered an euphemism. Advocates of male circumcision argue that the term "female circumcision" results in unwanted associations between the two practices, while genital integrity advocates might refer to all child genital cutting as mutilation.
The expression Female Genital Mutilation gained growing support in the late 1970s. The word mutilation not only established clear linguistic distinction from male circumcision, but it also emphasized the gravity of the act. In 1990, this term was adopted at the third conference of the Inter African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC) in Addis Ababa. In 1991, the World Health Organization recommended that the United Nations adopt this terminology and subsequently, it has been widely used in UN documents.
Amnesty International and the World Health Organization most often refer to the practice as 'Female Genital Mutilation'.
The use of the word mutilation reinforces the idea that this practice is a violation of the human rights of girls and women, and thereby helps promote national and international advocacy towards its abandonment. At the community level, however, the term can be problematic. Local languages generally use the less judgmental “cutting” to describe the practice; parents understandably resent the suggestion that they are “mutilating” their daughters. In this spirit, in 1999, the UN called for tact and patience regarding activities in this area and drew attention to the risk of “demonizing” certain cultures, religions and communities. As a result, the term “cutting” has increasingly come to be used to avoid alienating communities.
In 1996 the UNFPA-sponsored Reproductive, Educative, And Community Health program coined the term 'Female Genital Cutting', observing that 'Female Genital Mutilation' may "imply excessive judgment by outsiders as well as insensitivity toward individuals who have undergone some form of genital excision.
FGC predates Islam and is not practiced by the majority of Muslims, but has acquired a religious dimension.
Genital modification and mutilation is not explicitly endorsed in the Qur'an.
In Saudi Arabia, in the area known as the Hijaz, where Islam originated, FGC was practiced during the lifetime of Muhammad. To call a man a "circumciser of women" was an insult among the pagan Arabs at the time. Any Islamic allusion to the practice encourages the mildest form of FGC and this was thought to be supported by Muhammad. A saying of Muhammad rejected by the majority of Medieval scholars of hadith, and accepted by only a clear minority of Islamic scholars, states that "a woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. Muhammad said to her, 'Do not cut severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband.'" While a majority of scholars hold that this hadith does not require anyone to perform or undergo a circumcision, some scholars go further and hold that in the light of "games of chance" (maysir) being prohibited in the Qur'an, the rather unspecified term "severely" intentionally inherits the risk of a cut being deemed as too severe by Muhammad and/or God so that the tradition could easily be abolished later on. Only one of the four Islamic schools of jurisprudence or law, the Shafi'i school, ordered for a "slight trimming" of the hood of the clitoris, supposedly in order to enhance sexual pleasure for the woman.
Amongst all Muslim sects, including the Shi'ite tradition of Islam, the practice of female circumcision has never been to remove the clitoris. This form is outlawed by all leading Shi'ite Marjas that interpret Sharia traditions. The main form of surgery is to remove a small piece of the hood over the clitoris in order to increase sexual pleasure. This act is considered Mustahab, "duties recommended, but not essential", and not Wajib or compulsory. In general the Islamic clergy do not support the practice; Shaykh Faraz Rabbani states "As for excision, FGM, or other harmful practices, which have become culturally widespread, none of these are in any way permitted."
However there are some who have been adamant about its religious importance amongst Muslims. In 1994, Egyptian Mufti Sheikh Jad Al-Hâqq 'Ali Jad Al-Hâqq issued a fatwa stating: "Circumcision is mandatory for men and for women. If the people of any village decide to abandon it, the imam must fight against them as if they had abandoned the call to prayer. The Al-Azhar University in Cairo has issued several fatwas endorsing FGC, in 1949, 1951 and 1981. However, in March 2005, Dr Ahmed Talib, Dean of the Faculty of Sharia at the Al-Azhar University, stated: "All practices of female circumcision and mutilation are crimes and have no relationship with Islam. Whether it involves the removal of the skin or the cutting of the flesh of the female genital organs...it is not an obligation in Islam. Both Christian and Muslim leaders have publicly denounced the practice of FGC since 1998.
Many Muslim scholars believe FGC is practiced as a result of ignorance and misconceived religious fervor rather than for reasons of true religious doctrine. A recent conference at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo (December, 2006) brought prominent Muslim clergy to denounce the practice as not being necessary under the umbrella of Islam. Although there was some reluctance amongst some of the clergy, who preferred to hand the issue to doctors, making the FGC a medical decision, rather than a religious one, the Grand Mufti Ali Jumaa of Egypt, signed a resolution denouncing the practice.
In June 2007, 12-year-old girl named Bedur Ahmed Shaker was taken by her mother to a private clinic in Minya , a town on the Nile south of Cairo, for the FGC operation. She died before she could be transferred to hospital.
Egypt's Ministry of Health and Population has banned all forms of female genital cutting since 2007. The ministry's ban order declared it is 'prohibited for any doctors, nurses, or any other person to carry out any cut of, flattening or modification of any natural part of the female reproductive system'. Islamic authorities in the nation also stressed that Islam opposes female circumcision. The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, said that it is "Prohibited, prohibited, prohibited." The June 2007 Ministry ban eliminated a loophole that allowed girls to undergo the procedure for health reasons. There had previously been provisions under the Penal Code involving "wounding" and "intentional infliction of harm leading to death," as well as a ministerial decree prohibiting FGC. In December 1997, the Court of Cassation (Egypt's highest appeals court) upheld a government banning of the practice providing that those who did not comply would be subjected to criminal and administrative punishments. This law had proved ineffective and in a survey in 2000, a study found that 97% of the country's population still practiced FGC. There had been press reports on the prosecution of at least 13 individuals under the Penal Code, including doctors, midwives and barbers, accused of performing FGC that resulted in hemorrhage, shock and death. In light of the widespread practice of FGC, even after the ban in 1997, some Egyptian villages decided to voluntarily give up the practice, as was the case with Abou Shawareb, which vowed in July of 2005 to end the practice.
Female genital cutting (FGC) refers to the excision or tissue removal of any part of the female genitalia for cultural, religious or other non-medical reasons. It is more frequently referred to as female genital mutilation (FGM) or female circumcision (FC).
Different terms are used to describe the act of female genital cutting, but regardless of the terminology the same practice is being referred to. Opponents of these practices tend to use the term Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), whereas groups who support and practice this ritual tend to use the term Female Circumcision (FC), which is also considered an euphemism. Advocates of male circumcision argue that the term "female circumcision" results in unwanted associations between the two practices, while genital integrity advocates might refer to all child genital cutting as mutilation.
The expression Female Genital Mutilation gained growing support in the late 1970s. The word mutilation not only established clear linguistic distinction from male circumcision, but it also emphasized the gravity of the act. In 1990, this term was adopted at the third conference of the Inter African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC) in Addis Ababa. In 1991, the World Health Organization recommended that the United Nations adopt this terminology and subsequently, it has been widely used in UN documents.
Amnesty International and the World Health Organization most often refer to the practice as 'Female Genital Mutilation'.
The use of the word mutilation reinforces the idea that this practice is a violation of the human rights of girls and women, and thereby helps promote national and international advocacy towards its abandonment. At the community level, however, the term can be problematic. Local languages generally use the less judgmental “cutting” to describe the practice; parents understandably resent the suggestion that they are “mutilating” their daughters. In this spirit, in 1999, the UN called for tact and patience regarding activities in this area and drew attention to the risk of “demonizing” certain cultures, religions and communities. As a result, the term “cutting” has increasingly come to be used to avoid alienating communities.
In 1996 the UNFPA-sponsored Reproductive, Educative, And Community Health program coined the term 'Female Genital Cutting', observing that 'Female Genital Mutilation' may "imply excessive judgment by outsiders as well as insensitivity toward individuals who have undergone some form of genital excision.
FGC predates Islam and is not practiced by the majority of Muslims, but has acquired a religious dimension.
Genital modification and mutilation is not explicitly endorsed in the Qur'an.
In Saudi Arabia, in the area known as the Hijaz, where Islam originated, FGC was practiced during the lifetime of Muhammad. To call a man a "circumciser of women" was an insult among the pagan Arabs at the time. Any Islamic allusion to the practice encourages the mildest form of FGC and this was thought to be supported by Muhammad. A saying of Muhammad rejected by the majority of Medieval scholars of hadith, and accepted by only a clear minority of Islamic scholars, states that "a woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. Muhammad said to her, 'Do not cut severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband.'" While a majority of scholars hold that this hadith does not require anyone to perform or undergo a circumcision, some scholars go further and hold that in the light of "games of chance" (maysir) being prohibited in the Qur'an, the rather unspecified term "severely" intentionally inherits the risk of a cut being deemed as too severe by Muhammad and/or God so that the tradition could easily be abolished later on. Only one of the four Islamic schools of jurisprudence or law, the Shafi'i school, ordered for a "slight trimming" of the hood of the clitoris, supposedly in order to enhance sexual pleasure for the woman.
Amongst all Muslim sects, including the Shi'ite tradition of Islam, the practice of female circumcision has never been to remove the clitoris. This form is outlawed by all leading Shi'ite Marjas that interpret Sharia traditions. The main form of surgery is to remove a small piece of the hood over the clitoris in order to increase sexual pleasure. This act is considered Mustahab, "duties recommended, but not essential", and not Wajib or compulsory. In general the Islamic clergy do not support the practice; Shaykh Faraz Rabbani states "As for excision, FGM, or other harmful practices, which have become culturally widespread, none of these are in any way permitted."
However there are some who have been adamant about its religious importance amongst Muslims. In 1994, Egyptian Mufti Sheikh Jad Al-Hâqq 'Ali Jad Al-Hâqq issued a fatwa stating: "Circumcision is mandatory for men and for women. If the people of any village decide to abandon it, the imam must fight against them as if they had abandoned the call to prayer. The Al-Azhar University in Cairo has issued several fatwas endorsing FGC, in 1949, 1951 and 1981. However, in March 2005, Dr Ahmed Talib, Dean of the Faculty of Sharia at the Al-Azhar University, stated: "All practices of female circumcision and mutilation are crimes and have no relationship with Islam. Whether it involves the removal of the skin or the cutting of the flesh of the female genital organs...it is not an obligation in Islam. Both Christian and Muslim leaders have publicly denounced the practice of FGC since 1998.
Many Muslim scholars believe FGC is practiced as a result of ignorance and misconceived religious fervor rather than for reasons of true religious doctrine. A recent conference at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo (December, 2006) brought prominent Muslim clergy to denounce the practice as not being necessary under the umbrella of Islam. Although there was some reluctance amongst some of the clergy, who preferred to hand the issue to doctors, making the FGC a medical decision, rather than a religious one, the Grand Mufti Ali Jumaa of Egypt, signed a resolution denouncing the practice.
In June 2007, 12-year-old girl named Bedur Ahmed Shaker was taken by her mother to a private clinic in Minya , a town on the Nile south of Cairo, for the FGC operation. She died before she could be transferred to hospital.
Egypt's Ministry of Health and Population has banned all forms of female genital cutting since 2007. The ministry's ban order declared it is 'prohibited for any doctors, nurses, or any other person to carry out any cut of, flattening or modification of any natural part of the female reproductive system'. Islamic authorities in the nation also stressed that Islam opposes female circumcision. The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, said that it is "Prohibited, prohibited, prohibited." The June 2007 Ministry ban eliminated a loophole that allowed girls to undergo the procedure for health reasons. There had previously been provisions under the Penal Code involving "wounding" and "intentional infliction of harm leading to death," as well as a ministerial decree prohibiting FGC. In December 1997, the Court of Cassation (Egypt's highest appeals court) upheld a government banning of the practice providing that those who did not comply would be subjected to criminal and administrative punishments. This law had proved ineffective and in a survey in 2000, a study found that 97% of the country's population still practiced FGC. There had been press reports on the prosecution of at least 13 individuals under the Penal Code, including doctors, midwives and barbers, accused of performing FGC that resulted in hemorrhage, shock and death. In light of the widespread practice of FGC, even after the ban in 1997, some Egyptian villages decided to voluntarily give up the practice, as was the case with Abou Shawareb, which vowed in July of 2005 to end the practice.
برامج الواقع في التلفزيون
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming which presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people instead of professional actors. Although the genre has existed in some form or another since the early years of television, the term "reality television" is most commonly used to describe programs produced since 2000. Documentaries and nonfictional programming such as the news and sports shows are usually not classified as reality shows.
Reality television covers a wide range of programming formats, from game or quiz shows which resemble the frantic, often demeaning shows produced in Japan in the 1980s and 1990s (a modern example is Gaki no tsukai), to surveillance- or voyeurism-focused productions such as Big Brother.
Critics say that the term "reality television" is somewhat of a misnomer. Such shows frequently portray a modified and highly influenced form of reality, with participants put in exotic locations or abnormal situations, sometimes coached to act in certain ways by off-screen handlers, and with events on screen sometimes manipulated through editing and other post-production techniques.
Precedents for television that portrayed people in unscripted situations began in the 1940s. Debuting in 1948, Allen Funt's Candid Camera, (based on his previous 1947 radio show, Candid Microphone), broadcast unsuspecting ordinary people reacting to pranks. It has been called the "granddaddy of the reality TV genre." Debuting in the 1950s, game shows Beat the Clock and Truth or Consequences, involved contestants in wacky competitions, stunts, and practical jokes. In 1948, talent search shows Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts featured amateur competitors and audience voting. The Miss America Pageant, first broadcast in 1954, was a competition where the winner achieved status as a national celebrity.
The radio series Nightwatch (1954-1955), which tape-recorded the daily activities of Culver City, California police officers, also helped pave the way for reality television.
First broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1964, the Granada Television series Seven Up!, broadcast interviews with a dozen ordinary seven-year olds from a broad cross section of society and inquired about their reactions to everyday life. Every seven years, a film documented the life of the same individuals in the intervening years, titled Seven Plus Seven, 21 Up, etc. The series was structured simply as a series of interviews with no element of plot. However, it did convey the individuals' character development over time.
The first reality show in the modern sense was the 12-part 1973 PBS series An American Family, which showed a nuclear family going through a divorce. In 1974 a counterpart program, The Family, was made in the UK, following the working class Wilkins family of Reading. In 1992, Australia saw Sylvania Waters, about the nouveau riche Baker-Donaher family of Sydney. All three shows attracted their share of controversy.
Some talk shows, most notably The Jerry Springer Show, which debuted in 1991, try to present real-life drama within the talk show format by hosting guests likely to conflict on the set
Reality television as it is currently understood, though, can be traced directly to several television shows that began in the late 1980s and 1990s. COPS, which first aired in the spring of 1989, showed police officers on duty apprehending criminals; it introduced the camcorder look and cinéma vérité feel of much of later reality television. Nummer 28, which aired on Dutch television in 1991, originated the concept of putting strangers together in the same environment for an extended period of time and recording the drama that ensued. It also pioneered many of the stylistic conventions that have since become standard in reality television shows, including a heavy use of soundtrack music and the interspersing of events on screen with after-the-fact "confessionals" recorded by cast members, that serve as narration. One year later, the same concept was used by MTV in their new series The Real World; Nummer 28 creator Erik Latour has long claimed that The Real World was directly inspired by his show. Changing Rooms, a British TV show that began in 1996, showed couples redecorating each others' houses, and was the first reality show with a self-improvement or makeover theme. The Swedish TV show Expedition Robinson, created by TV producer Charlie Parsons, which first aired in 1997 (and was later produced in a large number of other countries as Survivor), added to the Nummer 28/Real World template the idea of competition and elimination, in which cast members/contestants battled against each other and were removed from the show until only one winner remained.
أدمان النت
Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is a theorized disorder originally made as a satirical hoax by Ivan Goldberg, M.D., in 1995. It is compared to pathological gambling as diagnosed by the DSM-IV. Dr. Goldberg, along with Kimberly Young, Psy. D. are currently lobbying for the inclusion of IAD into the DSM-V, the next edition of the DSM, which would open the doors for insurance companies to pay out for Internet addiction counseling. However many others argue that IAD is not an actual disorder and should not be classified as a mental disorder in DSM-V.
In June 2007, the American Medical Association declined to recommend to the American Psychiatric Association that they include IAD as a formal diagnosis in the 2012 edition of the DSM. Instead, their toned-down response recommended further research of "video game overuse." Members of the American Society of Addiction Medicine opposed calling overuse of Internet and video games a true addiction. Among the necessary research is a way to define "overuse" and a way to differentiate an "internet addiction" from obsession, self-medication for depression or other disorders, and compulsion.
A pattern of Internet use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress as manifested by three (or more) of the following, occurring at any time in the same 12-month period:
Tolerance, as defined by either of the following:
A need for markedly increased amounts of time on Internet to achieve satisfaction.
Markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of time on Internet.
Withdrawal, as manifested by either A or B below:
(A) the characteristic withdrawal syndrome, 1, 2 and 3 below
Cessation of (or reduction in) Internet use that has been heavy and prolonged.
Two (or more) of the following, developing within several days to a month after Criterion:
(a) psychomotor agitation
(b) anxiety
(c) obsessive thinking about what is happening on the Internet
(d) fantasies or dreams about the Internet
(e) voluntary or involuntary typing movements of the fingers
The symptoms in Criterion 2 cause distress or impairment in social, occupational or another important area of functioning
(B) Use of Internet or a similar on-line service is engaged in to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.
Internet is accessed more often or for longer periods of time than was intended, causing the untreated addict to neglect responsibilities at work and the needs of the family at home.
There is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control Internet use.
A great deal of time is spent in activities related to Internet use (for example, buying Internet books, trying out new WWW browsers, researching Internet vendors, organizing files of downloaded materials).
Frequent talks about the Internet in daily life.
Important family, social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced in duration and/or frequency because of Internet use.
Internet use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical, family, social, occupational, or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by Internet use (for example, sleep deprivation, marital difficulties, lateness for early morning appointments, neglect of occupational duties, or feelings of abandonment in significant others).
It should be noted however that these criteria were originally posted as a joke by Ivan Goldberg on www.psycom.net as a parody of the strict format of the DSM, Goldberg did not actually believe that IAD existed. Subsequent researchers such as Kimberly Young, Mark Griffiths and John Charlton have investigated the idea of IAD further and attempted to create more accurate diagnostic criteria for Internet Addiction Disorder
التأمين الطبي
Health insurance is a type of insurance whereby the insurer pays the medical costs of the insured if the insured becomes sick due to covered causes, or due to accidents. The insurer may be a private organization or a government agency. Market-based health care systems such as that in the United States rely primarily on private health insurance.
The concept of health insurance was proposed in 1694 by Hugh the Elder Chamberlen from the Peter Chamberlen family. In the late 19th century, early health insurance was actually disability insurance, in the sense that it covered only the cost of emergency care for injuries that could lead to a disability. This payment model continued until the start of the 20th century in some jurisdictions (like California), where all laws regulating health insurance actually referred to disability insurance. Patients were expected to pay all other health care costs out of their own pockets, under what is known as the fee-for-service business model. During the middle to late 20th century, traditional disability insurance evolved into modern health insurance programs. Today, most comprehensive private health insurance programs cover the cost of routine, preventive, and emergency health care procedures, and also most prescription drugs, but this was not always the case
A Health insurance policy is an annually renewable contract between an insurance company and an individual. With health insurance claims, the individual policy-holder pays a deductible plus copayment (for instance, a hospital stay might require the first $1000 of fees to be paid by the policy-holder plus $100 per night stayed in hospital). Usually there is a maximum out-of-pocket payment for any single year, and there can be a lifetime maximum.
Prescription drug plans are a form of insurance offered through many employer benefit plans in the U.S., where the patient pays a copayment and the prescription drug insurance pays the rest.
Some health care providers will agree to bill the insurance company if patients are willing to sign an agreement that they will be responsible for the amount that the insurance company doesn't pay, as the insurance company pays according to "reasonable" or "customary" charges, which may be less than the provider's usual fee. The "reasonable" and "customary" charges can vary.
Health insurance companies also often have a network of providers who agree to accept the reasonable and customary fee and waive the remainder. It will generally cost the patient less to use an in-network provider.
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming which presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people instead of professional actors. Although the genre has existed in some form or another since the early years of television, the term "reality television" is most commonly used to describe programs produced since 2000. Documentaries and nonfictional programming such as the news and sports shows are usually not classified as reality shows.
Reality television covers a wide range of programming formats, from game or quiz shows which resemble the frantic, often demeaning shows produced in Japan in the 1980s and 1990s (a modern example is Gaki no tsukai), to surveillance- or voyeurism-focused productions such as Big Brother.
Critics say that the term "reality television" is somewhat of a misnomer. Such shows frequently portray a modified and highly influenced form of reality, with participants put in exotic locations or abnormal situations, sometimes coached to act in certain ways by off-screen handlers, and with events on screen sometimes manipulated through editing and other post-production techniques.
Precedents for television that portrayed people in unscripted situations began in the 1940s. Debuting in 1948, Allen Funt's Candid Camera, (based on his previous 1947 radio show, Candid Microphone), broadcast unsuspecting ordinary people reacting to pranks. It has been called the "granddaddy of the reality TV genre." Debuting in the 1950s, game shows Beat the Clock and Truth or Consequences, involved contestants in wacky competitions, stunts, and practical jokes. In 1948, talent search shows Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts featured amateur competitors and audience voting. The Miss America Pageant, first broadcast in 1954, was a competition where the winner achieved status as a national celebrity.
The radio series Nightwatch (1954-1955), which tape-recorded the daily activities of Culver City, California police officers, also helped pave the way for reality television.
First broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1964, the Granada Television series Seven Up!, broadcast interviews with a dozen ordinary seven-year olds from a broad cross section of society and inquired about their reactions to everyday life. Every seven years, a film documented the life of the same individuals in the intervening years, titled Seven Plus Seven, 21 Up, etc. The series was structured simply as a series of interviews with no element of plot. However, it did convey the individuals' character development over time.
The first reality show in the modern sense was the 12-part 1973 PBS series An American Family, which showed a nuclear family going through a divorce. In 1974 a counterpart program, The Family, was made in the UK, following the working class Wilkins family of Reading. In 1992, Australia saw Sylvania Waters, about the nouveau riche Baker-Donaher family of Sydney. All three shows attracted their share of controversy.
Some talk shows, most notably The Jerry Springer Show, which debuted in 1991, try to present real-life drama within the talk show format by hosting guests likely to conflict on the set
Reality television as it is currently understood, though, can be traced directly to several television shows that began in the late 1980s and 1990s. COPS, which first aired in the spring of 1989, showed police officers on duty apprehending criminals; it introduced the camcorder look and cinéma vérité feel of much of later reality television. Nummer 28, which aired on Dutch television in 1991, originated the concept of putting strangers together in the same environment for an extended period of time and recording the drama that ensued. It also pioneered many of the stylistic conventions that have since become standard in reality television shows, including a heavy use of soundtrack music and the interspersing of events on screen with after-the-fact "confessionals" recorded by cast members, that serve as narration. One year later, the same concept was used by MTV in their new series The Real World; Nummer 28 creator Erik Latour has long claimed that The Real World was directly inspired by his show. Changing Rooms, a British TV show that began in 1996, showed couples redecorating each others' houses, and was the first reality show with a self-improvement or makeover theme. The Swedish TV show Expedition Robinson, created by TV producer Charlie Parsons, which first aired in 1997 (and was later produced in a large number of other countries as Survivor), added to the Nummer 28/Real World template the idea of competition and elimination, in which cast members/contestants battled against each other and were removed from the show until only one winner remained.
أدمان النت
Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is a theorized disorder originally made as a satirical hoax by Ivan Goldberg, M.D., in 1995. It is compared to pathological gambling as diagnosed by the DSM-IV. Dr. Goldberg, along with Kimberly Young, Psy. D. are currently lobbying for the inclusion of IAD into the DSM-V, the next edition of the DSM, which would open the doors for insurance companies to pay out for Internet addiction counseling. However many others argue that IAD is not an actual disorder and should not be classified as a mental disorder in DSM-V.
In June 2007, the American Medical Association declined to recommend to the American Psychiatric Association that they include IAD as a formal diagnosis in the 2012 edition of the DSM. Instead, their toned-down response recommended further research of "video game overuse." Members of the American Society of Addiction Medicine opposed calling overuse of Internet and video games a true addiction. Among the necessary research is a way to define "overuse" and a way to differentiate an "internet addiction" from obsession, self-medication for depression or other disorders, and compulsion.
A pattern of Internet use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress as manifested by three (or more) of the following, occurring at any time in the same 12-month period:
Tolerance, as defined by either of the following:
A need for markedly increased amounts of time on Internet to achieve satisfaction.
Markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of time on Internet.
Withdrawal, as manifested by either A or B below:
(A) the characteristic withdrawal syndrome, 1, 2 and 3 below
Cessation of (or reduction in) Internet use that has been heavy and prolonged.
Two (or more) of the following, developing within several days to a month after Criterion:
(a) psychomotor agitation
(b) anxiety
(c) obsessive thinking about what is happening on the Internet
(d) fantasies or dreams about the Internet
(e) voluntary or involuntary typing movements of the fingers
The symptoms in Criterion 2 cause distress or impairment in social, occupational or another important area of functioning
(B) Use of Internet or a similar on-line service is engaged in to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.
Internet is accessed more often or for longer periods of time than was intended, causing the untreated addict to neglect responsibilities at work and the needs of the family at home.
There is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control Internet use.
A great deal of time is spent in activities related to Internet use (for example, buying Internet books, trying out new WWW browsers, researching Internet vendors, organizing files of downloaded materials).
Frequent talks about the Internet in daily life.
Important family, social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced in duration and/or frequency because of Internet use.
Internet use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical, family, social, occupational, or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by Internet use (for example, sleep deprivation, marital difficulties, lateness for early morning appointments, neglect of occupational duties, or feelings of abandonment in significant others).
It should be noted however that these criteria were originally posted as a joke by Ivan Goldberg on www.psycom.net as a parody of the strict format of the DSM, Goldberg did not actually believe that IAD existed. Subsequent researchers such as Kimberly Young, Mark Griffiths and John Charlton have investigated the idea of IAD further and attempted to create more accurate diagnostic criteria for Internet Addiction Disorder
التأمين الطبي
Health insurance is a type of insurance whereby the insurer pays the medical costs of the insured if the insured becomes sick due to covered causes, or due to accidents. The insurer may be a private organization or a government agency. Market-based health care systems such as that in the United States rely primarily on private health insurance.
The concept of health insurance was proposed in 1694 by Hugh the Elder Chamberlen from the Peter Chamberlen family. In the late 19th century, early health insurance was actually disability insurance, in the sense that it covered only the cost of emergency care for injuries that could lead to a disability. This payment model continued until the start of the 20th century in some jurisdictions (like California), where all laws regulating health insurance actually referred to disability insurance. Patients were expected to pay all other health care costs out of their own pockets, under what is known as the fee-for-service business model. During the middle to late 20th century, traditional disability insurance evolved into modern health insurance programs. Today, most comprehensive private health insurance programs cover the cost of routine, preventive, and emergency health care procedures, and also most prescription drugs, but this was not always the case
A Health insurance policy is an annually renewable contract between an insurance company and an individual. With health insurance claims, the individual policy-holder pays a deductible plus copayment (for instance, a hospital stay might require the first $1000 of fees to be paid by the policy-holder plus $100 per night stayed in hospital). Usually there is a maximum out-of-pocket payment for any single year, and there can be a lifetime maximum.
Prescription drug plans are a form of insurance offered through many employer benefit plans in the U.S., where the patient pays a copayment and the prescription drug insurance pays the rest.
Some health care providers will agree to bill the insurance company if patients are willing to sign an agreement that they will be responsible for the amount that the insurance company doesn't pay, as the insurance company pays according to "reasonable" or "customary" charges, which may be less than the provider's usual fee. The "reasonable" and "customary" charges can vary.
Health insurance companies also often have a network of providers who agree to accept the reasonable and customary fee and waive the remainder. It will generally cost the patient less to use an in-network provider.
الصفحة الأخيرة
A bad apple
Meaning:
A (morally) bad person who makes a whole group bad.
A bad apple is someone who has a bad effect on a whole group or system.
People also say, "One bad/rotten apple spoils the (whole) bushel/barrel."
Example:
The corruption in the government started with a bad apple, a high official two years ago. Now the whole system is corrupt.
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Be a piece of cake
Meaning:
To be very easy
If something is a piece of cake, it is very easy to do.
Example:
A: How was the driving test yesterday? Did you pass?
B: Of course! It was a piece of cake.
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Be all ears
Meaning:
Be very intersted in what someone is about to say.
If you are all ears, you are eager and ready to listen to what someone is going to say.
Example:
Now tell us all about your adventures in Afraica last summer. I'm all ears.
When the president started his speech, he found everyone listening, all ears.
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Be the apple of someone's eye
Meaning:
Be loved very much by someone.
If someone is the apple of your eye, you think he/she is very important to you, and you love him/her very much.
This idiom is used especially when someone is loved by an older member of his/her family.
Example:
Erika is Mark's only granddaughter, and she's the apple of his eye.
Sarah's only son was the apple of her eye.
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Be as American as apple pie
Meaning:
Be typically American
If something or someone is as American as apple pie, it/he/she is typically or completely American.
Example:
Jose and Maria came to the U.S. 10 years ago and still keep the traditions of their home country. However, their children are as American as apple pie.
An American couple opened a restaurant in Japan, and their food tasts as American as apple pie.
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Be as blind as a bat
Meaning:
Be unable to see well or unable to see at all.
If someone is as blind as a bat, he/she cannot see well or cannot see at all because of his/her very bad eyesight.
Example:
A: Can you read the first paragraph on page 115 for me?
B: Sorry, I forgot to bring my glasses. I'm as blind as a bat without them.
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i'll put more later