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Welcome to 'The Free Voice Gazette.' This online newspaper has been an ambition for quite some time. As a recording artist, songwriter, author and fervent blogger, I figured that I had covered all bases writing-wise. Early in March I was talking to my children about this (because they asked) and they almost simultaneously mentioned the prospect of an online newspaper. On the home front things weren't running particularly well at that time but not so badly as to distract me from having this newspaper in the forefront of my thoughts. I do hope you enjoy the news that I bring to you. Feel free to subscribe via email as I anticipate fresh news articles will never be too far away.

Online Business Website Design Service

Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Edinburgh's premier web design agencyEdinburgh's premier web design agency (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Some online business doers are complaining about their business achievement. Probably, you think that your achievement is not like what you see on the other online business. You need to know that you need to update and make an interesting business website if you want to attract more customers. One thing which is considered as important element is the design of the business website.

By making an interesting business website more customers will attracted to see it and there is a possibility that

Online Business Website Design Service they will buy your products and use your service. Unfortunately, some of you can’t do it by yourself and you need a help from the expert. If you want to order web design service from the expert you can try to call and use the service of Crea7ive.Com. Their team will try to help you to make different design with the other competitors so the customers will see that there is uniqueness from your online business especially from the design of the website. You can take flash website design service as one of their specialization. In this case, they will help you to make an interesting flash design to attract more customers to see your website. If you still want to find more information about this kind of service you can see their portfolios to make you sure about what they will create for you as their client.

How about their achievement? For your information, this company had received 2nd best web design company in 2009 and it shows that they are seriously help you to create an interesting and attracting business website. The last thing to do is reading the testimony from the previous clients and you can see how they react before and after using this online service related to their business. If you think it is good opportunity to improve your business, you may register your name and make an order so they can do your project as soon as possible.
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Facebook And Google Plus

Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...Image via CrunchBaseDon't worry, readers, I'm not going to launch into a mind-numbing rundown of Facebook and Google Plus or, indeed, Facebook versus Google Plus. I can't because I simply don't know about them at that sort of level. I shall simply be commenting on my experiences over the last week or so.

Just over a week or so, I gently stepped into the world that IS Google Plus. Before I knew it, I had over 200 people in my various 'circles' and had been added to just over this number in other peoples circles. This initial influx seemed, on the surface, to be great for a self-confessed computer idiot.

After a few days, I decided to delve further but was disappointed to discover that 'this is it.' You have your profile and can share whatever content that you wish. The trouble is, that you soon vanish into the realm of 'me and everybody else.' There is nothing that you can share that hasn't been shared before or can be shared elsewhere. I did, however, find that Twitter was the most successful way of drawing attention to Google Plus.

After spending some time flitting between Facebook and Google Plus, it struck me.

The only major differences between Google Plus and Facebook, the only difference is that Google Plus seems to have a lot more articles of 'substance' as opposed to Facebook where people can share anything from a flying ant to a fuzzy, framed quote from someone that they probably haven't heard of.

I then discovered that you can have a Google Plus Business Page. I should have done it the other way around but I didn't so I'll be onto promoting my business page in the upcoming week.

So....I have no beef with Facebook or Google Plus. I would, however, take this opportunity to weigh up
what Facebook and Google Plus offer and don't offer. The biggest advantage that I've found is that if you have a purpose outside of socialising, Google Plus is not for you. If you're looking at sharing and receiving more purposeful and long-lasting media, then Google Plus IS for you.

At the end of the day, it is not a time-consuming task to operate both Facebook and Google Plus together....and I would most definitely recommend this.


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Counselling In Mental Health

Issues in Mental Health NursingImage via Wikipedia
Ultimately, counselling is (or should be) about learning and practicing how to HELP YOURSELF. A counsellor's job or task is to help others to help themselves! A misconception among general society about counselling relates to advice giving. A counsellor should only give advice in certain or particular situations or under certain circumstances such as if somebody is pointing a dealy weapon to their own head (the counsellor could rightfully use "shoulds" then in such circumstances). Generally, for a counsellor to give advice is going against the principles of what counselling is about or intended to be (if used correctly) A core idea of counselling as a general rule of thumb is for the client (or person receiving counselling) to grow in him or herself and become self-sufficient as far as handling/managing current and future problems, NOT to become dependent on a counsellor or

ANYBODY else to make decisions for them (such as advice giving) which will only hinder or stalemate personal growth and resolution of problems. The term "therapist" may loosely be used as a broad term covering counsellors and more recognised psychotherapists. Speaking in loose terms, a physiotherapist, a diversional therapist, a pastoral counsellor, an art therapist, a hypnotherapist, a counsellor, a psychologist, a behaviour therapist and many others could all be loosely termed or grouped as therapists. A constable and a sergeant are both police officers but one more highly recognised and a similar comparison could be made between a counsellor and a psychotherapist. An interesting point to note also is that studies have revealed/concluded that paraprofessionals (those with somewhat minimal training such as those who have only had a few hours of training in communication skills such as active listening, using reflective skills, empathy and the like, and others such as college students and those with no formal qualifications in "therapy") can obtain very positive results in working with those presenting for treatment of general life problems. In other words, many people can be aided in a "therapeutic" relationship or atmosphere with non-professionals (non-therapists) as much as certain professional people who are therapists. It's not always the case such as in adults who present with more disturbing issues, but the point is that helpers may not absolutely need to be an "expert therapist" in order for others (generally speaking and in general situations) to reap benefits of personal interaction in dealing with general life issues. Certain types of theories and those used in many forms of counselling state and believe that humans have the capacity for self-healing with general problems or issues in life. But it is ideally suitable to associate with others when we need to whether we are facing depression, anxiety problems, relationship problems, addictions and so-forth and a part of the healing package or the "ingredients" that are required for many of us to overcome various problems is to communicate ( in one way or another) with paraprofessionals, non-professionals AND sometimes professional people in whom may come in the form of a warm, empathic and accepting counsellor.



How might a counsellor help? What benefits are there in seeing a counsellor? How DO they help? What role can they play? Many questions may be asked and these seem to be some common ones. A counsellor may be able to help in various ways and some of this will be the actual approach that they use ("approaches" here meaning an actual school of thought as in different types of psychotherapies). Counsellors are generally trained at least in certain aspects of psychotherapy (such as Person-centred therapy developed by Carl Rogers) and will generally have certain skills not only in areas such as communication skillsconflict resolution, portraying a congruent attitude and demonstrating unconditional positive regard and so-forth, but they generally are able to utilise skills of particular techniques used in various forms of psychotherapy. Counsellors may not be as skilled or have specific expertise skills as somebody such as a psychologist who is trained in helping those with mental health problems, but they still do have a fairly large repertoire of "things up their sleeve" that they can use for helping to work with others ( remembering that counselling is or should be about helping others to help themselves). Most counsellors are renowned or have a reputation of being very warm-hearted people. It may be pleasantly surprising to discover some of the benefits in talking to a non-judgemental, empathic, listening, open-minded, genuine or "real" person as a climate of such an environment in such cases can contribute to personal growth and/or other positive aspects that may be so fruitful in fighting or facing the battle of mental health issues.


A counsellor can help by using certain skills, by actually wanting to listen to you and in other ways such as helping you to become more aware of parts of yourself, using your own inbuilt skills and abilities, practicing certain skills and techniques, right though to simply offering you a non-judgemental attitude and a caring relationship, helping you to find suitable other people who have specialist skills in helping in all sorts of different areas, helping you to vent feelings and thoughts which in itself can be therapeutic, dealing with unresolved issues of the past and becoming more fully-equipped to maximise the value of the present and putting things into place for future problems or challenges, assisting you to challenge negative self-defeating beliefs, reconstruct healthy, rational or adaptive ways of thinking and much, much more. Counsellors may not be psychiatrists or have quite the in-depth knowledge of mental health issues and disorders, but they can offer aspects of healing in oneslf to a lot of people with various mental health problems.
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Commit To Your Creativity

Monday, April 16, 2012


Yes Live in 1974Yes Live in 1974 (Photo credit: Hunter-DesportesAs creative people, many of us struggle with commitment. Sure, sometimes the well runs dry and we struggle to generate creative ideas, but more often, we have so many creative ideas that we have difficulty committing to one and getting started. We can get really creative about how we avoid creating-surfing the internet for "research," checking Facebook to see what our creative friends and colleagues are doing, baking cookies, watching TV, talking on the phone-the list is likely endless.We trick ourselves into believing that in order to commit to something, we need to feel sure-sure that it will be a "success" (however we define that), sure that we have the skill to carry through on our vision, sure that we'll complete it, sure that we'll be pleased with the outcome, sure that others will like it, sure that it will sell, sure that when it's done we'll look back on it as worthwhile investment of our time. We want a clear "Yes" or a guarantee. Even though as creative people we have chosen a path that often offers little security, we continue to crave security and certainty, when often these are simply illusions to which we cling.


Creative expression typically offers no guarantees, and sometimes it doesn't come with a clear yes. We may think we have a clear vision when we finally begin, but as we give it voice or form, we learn that it begins to take its own shape, and often it is somewhat different than how we first envisioned it. That's one of the beautiful things about creative expression, if we can simply learn to enter this flow and allow our idea to show us the shape that it wants to take. We may judge it as "better" or "worse" than our original vision, depending on a variety of factors that day, including our sense of self-worth, our mood, and how well we have eaten, slept or managed stress that week. Days later, we may feel differently about our creation, depending on the above-mentioned variables or something else that arises.
What would it be like to commit to the exploration of our creative ideas? The truth is that most commitments are followed by imperfect actions, and our thoughts and feelings and therefore our subjective judgment of our work varies from day to day and sometimes from hour to hour. What does it take to commit to our creative expression in light of the fact that life is always changing, our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are always changing, and there are no guarantees about anything?


Imagine beginning your week with making a list of creative ideas that have haunted you for days, weeks, or months that you've refused to give voice to and utilizing the process of discernment to rule out some of them and to commit to the one that calls to you the loudest. Imagine doing this with ease, because you've learned the skill of managing your own self-doubt and anxiety. Now imagine making a commitment to the one vision that you have chosen and beginning the process of giving it voice or form. Imagine accepting that you will have days that you're cranking out work that you love, and you'll have days that you won't like anything that you're doing, because that's the nature of life. Emotions come and go, our feelings of subjective wellness, happiness, and satisfaction come and go, and so too does the flow of our creative energy. We can learn things that we can do to increase our feelings of subjective wellness, attempt to stabilize our moods through mindfulness practice, cognitive behavior therapy, or medication and increase our sense of satisfaction, and we may achieve a greater sense of equilibrium, and still the nature of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors is that they change.
What would it be like to commit to a creative vision about which you felt sure enough-to move toward an idea and begin it, because it calls loudly enough to you, even if there's no resounding "Yes!" because it allows for deeper exploration of yourself or an area of interest, because you're tired of how it feels to continually not commit, or because you're ready to open yourself up to see where your creative expression can take you even if the outcome isn't perfect? What would it be like to simply go with the flow of change in life, take risks, and remain curious about the outcome?
Make a list of your creative ideas. Begin with ruling out several to shorten the list. See which one you feel most drawn to. What can you do today to commit to giving expression to your idea? If you're perpetually hung up by a degree of fear, anxiety, or self-doubt that keeps you from moving forward, what can you do today to begin to attempt to get past it?


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Nurses In Tasmania Face The Axe

I would like to make it clear that I have no political affiliations and the views expressed in this post are purely my opinion.

For goodness knows how many years, the Health portfolio in Tasmania has always been a 'hot potato.' After years of uncertainty, instability and poor management, health professionals have finally made their voice heard after several bungles have been publicised. The last straw came in the form of the Labor Party announcing funding cuts of $100 million.

Nurses at the North West Regional Hospital turned out in force to hear Health Minister, Michelle O'Byrne speak rather meekly to the 300-strong crowd. She went on to add that the cuts were "....short-term...." Leader of the opposition Liberal Party, Will Hodgeman gave a passionate speech which raised applause as his speech was also logical. Sue Robertson from the Australian Nurses Federation also spoke, stating, "....this fight is not over...."

Conspicuous in her absence was the State leader of the A.N.F, Nerolli Ellis. This is hardly surprising as her track record includes running for pre-selection for the Liberal Party and in Nursing management. It is this history of Union Representatives having the majority of their careers in management where it is common knowledge that they know very little about Nursing 'at the coal-face,' so to speak.

Also notable in their absence was Federal Labor M.P. Sid Sidebottom. He was, however, able to participate in 'The Burnie Ten' marathon a few days after the rally. Local Labor M.P, Bryan Green was also nowhere to be seen, unlike Liberal M.P. Jeremy Rockliff.

This situation has been brewing for many years and it has been brewing since our current Premier, Ms. Lara Giddings took on the Health portfolio.

Former Premier Paul Lennon conducted a study some years ago and came up with the sum of $380 million for upgrades to the Royal Hobart Hospital. For some reason, Ms. Giddings took it upon herself to seek $900 million which later blew out to over a billion dollars. Additionally, Ms. Giddings missed out on the opportunity to get Commonwealth funding for the Royal Hobart funding. The current Prime Minister, Ms. Julia Gillard, when questioned on the matter responded with words to the effect of, "....she only had to apply...."

With this sort of business sense and management ability, surely Nurses should be looking deeper than our current Health Minister and go straight to the root of this debacle.


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