A Generation Of Tech And Social Media Obsessed Youth

We live in a world where a day doesn’t pass by without people checking in on their various social media accounts. Everywhere you look, everyone is holding a phone (usually a smartphone) in their hands and their whole world revolves around it. Some even show off a different online persona than who they really are in real life, leaving everyone confused even themselves.

And as such, has its pros and cons. The dangers of too much tech, Internet use and the obsession with social media may not be obvious at first but they are there – slowly affecting the way you think and see things, even that of your priorities.

Amid an opioid epidemic, the rise of deadly synthetic drugs and the widening legalization of marijuana, a curious bright spot has emerged in the youth drug culture: American teenagers are growing less likely to try or regularly use drugs, including alcohol.

With minor fits and starts, the trend has been building for a decade, with no clear understanding as to why. Some experts theorize that falling cigarette-smoking rates are cutting into a key gateway to drugs, or that antidrug education campaigns, long a largely failed enterprise, have finally taken hold.

But researchers are starting to ponder an intriguing question: Are teenagers using drugs less in part because they are constantly stimulated and entertained by their computers and phones?

The possibility is worth exploring, they say, because use of smartphones and tablets has exploded over the same period that drug use has declined. This correlation does not mean that one phenomenon is causing the other, but scientists say interactive media appears to play to similar impulses as drug experimentation, including sensation-seeking and the desire for independence.

Or it might be that gadgets simply absorb a lot of time that could be used for other pursuits, including partying.

(Via: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/health/teenagers-drugs-smartphones.html?_r=0)

While we may think that this newfound obsession with technology isn’t as physically destructive as vices like smoking, drugs, and alcohol, the opposite is actually true. Too much technology and social media in our lives not only exposes us to harmful blue light and messes up with our sleeping patterns, it also has a damaging effect on our psyche.

The troubling practice of self-harm among young people is increasing along with their ever more widespread use of the Internet and social media, according to consultant psychiatrist for children and adolescents Dr Nigel Camilleri.

Speaking with The Malta Independent on Sunday, Dr Camilleri said: “I think self-harm has always been there but it has been more hidden. But nowadays, with social media and the Internet, there has been an increase.”

Figures published by the National Statistics Office this week show that people aged between 16 and 24, the youngest group in the study, use the Internet the most. In fact, over 98 per cent of Maltese youths were found to use the Internet.

“There is always a reason behind self-harm,” Dr Camilleri explained. “Most people do it as a coping strategy. There is a release of endorphins, so it is addictive, but then you feel guilty afterwards.”

There is too much freedom for the youth these days to browse the Internet and be exposed to sites that are not always good for them. Even the more popular ones like Facebook aren’t always free of criticisms.

When asked whether he believes growing up these days exposes young people to an avalanche of perhaps impressionable news stories that leave an impression on them, Dr Fenech observed that it would probably depend on the personality of the individual.

“There are some people who would be predisposed to a certain code of ethics, who would see violence and detest it even more. And then there will be those who have a less ethically-sound background and would thus find it more acceptable,” he said.

(Via: http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2017-03-19/local-news/Youth-self-harm-seen-to-be-increasing-with-heightened-social-media-and-internet-use-6736171789)

Anything in excess is not always good. We have been told about that time and again yet it somehow slips our mind every time and we fall into the trap of obsessing over the next big trend.

Parents should be wary about the interests of their children and exercise some form of parental guidance when necessary. Your child may hate you at first when you censor some things from them on the web but over time they will realize that it is for their own good. That is probably the best recourse to overcome the dangers of too much technology in our modern life when almost everything can be accessed with just a click of a button.

The following post A Generation Of Tech And Social Media Obsessed Youth is available on podblaze.com

source https://www.podblaze.com/a-generation-of-tech-and-social-media-obsessed-youth/

Will Trumponomics Make America Great Again?

To Make America Great Again – that is the bold (vague) promise from someone who is generally a newbie in politics. Donald Trump has high hopes that his win will help the country overcome its many economic woes and reclaim its former glory. Now, the nation is not just plagued by threats from terrorists and a recovering economy but that of a declining quality of education and healthcare.

In response, Trump and his troop came up with Trumponomics – the Trump-brand of economics that wishes to impose tax breaks, trade deals reforms, and defense and infrastructure developments. While most of these policies only managed to raise the eyebrows of many, it seems as if they are also far from helping the ordinary Americans for they will soon be deprived of basic services. Even the arts and the culture and the environment are not exempted and will lose funding and support from the federal government.

In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Trump outlined a three-part economic plan. First, he called for an increase in military spending—his budget would reportedly raise it by about 10 percent, or $54 billion, while cutting similar amounts from agencies including the State Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. Second, he called on Congress to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Third, he reiterated his support for tax reform, which, if it follows his previous proposals, would cut taxes by almost $10 trillion, with the benefits largely accruing to corporations and the rich.

Together, these three proposals would represent a dramatic shift away from the policies of the Obama administration: from diplomacy to weaponry, from environmental protection to national-border protection, from public-health spending to private health spending, from eight years of favoring redistribution to a period of falling taxes on the rich, and from a term of falling deficits to the re-emergence of large deficits.

On paper, Trump’s economic policy looks like a profound re-imagination of the government’s role in American life. But in political terms, each leg of this three-legged stool is wobbly.

(Via: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/trumps-tax-plan/518283/)

By not getting enough support from the Congress to eventually repeal Obamacare, the Republicans decided to let go of it for now and pursue other more important issues such as tax reform – albeit with a heavy and disappointed heart.

In a stunning defeat for Republicans, House Speaker Paul Ryan on Friday canceled a vote on the GOP bill to replace Obamacare because he did not have enough votes from his own members to pass the legislation.

"We came really close today, but we came up short," Ryan said at a news conference after he pulled the bill from the House floor. "I will not sugarcoat this: This is a disappointing day for us. Doing big things is hard."

Ryan and other Republican leaders said they will now move on from health care to tax reform, Southwest border control and other issues, essentially giving up on their No. 1 legislative priority for the foreseeable future.

"Obamacare is the law of the land," Ryan said. "It’s going to remain the law of the land."

The failure to pass the bill is a major blow to both Ryan and President Trump in their efforts to rack up Republican accomplishments now that they control both Congress and the White House. It was the first big legislative test for Republicans since they won back the White House and retained control of the House and Senate in last fall's election.

It also underscored just how divided the Republican Party is, with factions of hardline conservatives and moderates rebelling against their own leadership.

Repealing and replacing Obamacare was a major campaign promise made by Trump and scores of GOP House members and candidates in last year’s election. But they were never able to agree on the best way to achieve their goal.

(Via: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/24/house-obamacare-repeal-vote/99573690/)

While many Americans (especially from the poorer and rural sector) believed in Trump’s promise of bringing back the nation’s former glory, many of them are now disappointed that the policies he is pushing for does not or won’t likely work for them at all. Almost all Trump policies have little regards to the overall population and may only benefit those who are wealthy, which is probably why even the Republicans can’t unite and pass the new health care law. So, let’s see what Trump has to say to the nation at large when he faces everyone for his first major address to the nation.

The following post Will Trumponomics Make America Great Again? was originally published on The Pod Blaze Blog

source https://www.podblaze.com/will-trumponomics-make-america-great-again/

Religion And Politics Is Never A Good Mix

People will die for their religion – and many will kill for it too. Wars have been fought as people try to prove that their religion is better than the other. And while no one can really tell for sure which religion is “the real thing”, believing in their faith is enough to keep people going and remain hopeful.

The Church and the State always worked separately. While they may voice out opinions about the other, they try their best not to meddle with each other’s affairs. But it seems that very little has changed in this aspect of life. The church is always observant of the actions of the state. And the state does the same. It is not always a nice picture when the two pillars of society clash especially during election season.

Two of the most interesting photo ops of France’s current presidential election campaign took place last month 2,000 miles away in Lebanon — and they were all about religious optics.

In one, the far-right leader Marine Le Pen called off a scheduled meeting with Grand Mufti Abdellatif Deriane just outside his Beirut office when the Muslim cleric’s staff insisted she don a headscarf before going in for the meeting.

With the video cameras rolling, she emphatically refused.

Later that day, with the same media entourage in tow, she smiled and exchanged pleasantries with Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai, leader of Lebanon’s Maronite Christians and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

The National Front leader made her first trip abroad as presidential hopeful to burnish her weak foreign policy credentials, but the images flashed back to France sent a strong domestic message.

Her supporters back home immediately got the memo — “no to Muslims, yes to Christians” — and loved it.

Playing the religion card so openly is unusual in France, where the official separation of church and state is normally taken so seriously that politicians rarely if ever mention in public whether they have a faith or not.

But this two-round election, on April 23 and May 7, is not taking place in normal times.

(Via: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/03/24/france-president-election-politicians-religion-muslims/99580576/)

With the growing tension from terrorist threats, the issue of religion never fails to leave the spotlight considering most terrorists are devout Muslims who will not hesitate to give up their lives because of their religious beliefs.

And that is a major problem in the world today. Terrorist attacks happen in many places today and are no longer confined to war-torn countries where these terrorists often hail from. They attack major cities in progressive countries where many innocent lives are lost. And each year, we witness one attack after the other, but still, authorities can’t make them stop.

There has been a chorus from politicians, community and religious leaders about the need to present a united front in the face of the terrorist atrocity at Westminster. This desire for social cohesion is understandable and it is praiseworthy that there has been no backlash against peaceful Muslims who have no intention to terrorise anybody.

Such valid concerns should not, however, lead us to neglect the profoundly religious nature of the radicalisation which has led to this and other acts of terror all over the world. The Salafi-Wahhabi narrative which underlies extremism and its terrorist consequences is rooted in a selective but devoted reading of the early history and practices of the Islamic world and in a conviction that these provide a detailed agenda for law, governance and social ordering today.

(Via: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/24/try-might-cannot-discount-role-religion-atrocities-reform/)

If only we can have room for more love in our hearts and understanding for the next person, hate will be unheard of and everyone can coexist peacefully. You may disagree with one another (it is acceptable) but we should all know the line between what’s acceptable and what’s not.

World leaders should stop politicizing and start doing their job as public servants and religious leaders should start tending to their flocks and humanity will be in good hands. Religion is supposed to save mankind from sins and not provoke them to commit more injustice to the world.

The following blog article Religion And Politics Is Never A Good Mix was first seen on PodBlaze.com

source https://www.podblaze.com/religion-and-politics-is-never-a-good-mix/

Diseases of Despair: The Plight Of Some Americans

Modern life isn’t as convenient as many of us would like to believe. We are constantly in a rush and doing multiple things at once when life’s modern contrivances should have lessened our burdens, so we have more time to rest and relax. However, that is obviously not the case. Life wears most Americans out leaving them stressed, depressed and more likely to succumb to diseases.

While diseases recognized by science are usually the major concern, there are other conditions (often undiagnosed and likely to affect mental health) can also cripple a person and put them in pain like a real disease does. Experts now recognize a crippling disease that should raise warning signals among White Americans because many already succumbed to it and lost their lives in the process.

In rich countries, death rates are supposed to decline. But in the past decade and a half, middle-aged white Americans have actually been dying faster. Princeton economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton first pointed out this disturbing trend in a 2015 study that highlighted three “diseases of despair”: drugs, drinking and suicide. 

On Thursday, the pair released a deeper analysis that clears up one of the biggest misconceptions about their earlier research.

The problem of dying whites can’t only be blamed on rising rates of drug overdoses, suicides and chronic alcoholism, they say. More and more, middle-aged white Americans are dying for all kinds of reasons — and the underlying issue may have less to do with opioids and more to do with how society has left behind the working class.

“Ultimately, we see our story as about the collapse of the white, high school educated, working class after its heyday in the 1970s, and the pathologies that accompany that decline,” they write.

And here is a theory as to why the mortality rate among White Americans is increasing:

So the theory comes back to despair. Case and Deaton believe that white Americans may be suffering from a lack of hope. The pain in their bodies might reflect a “spiritual” pain caused by “cumulative distress, and the failure of life to turn out as expected.” If they're right, then the problem will be much harder to solve. Politicians can pass laws to keep opioids out of people's hands or require insurers to cover mental health costs, but they can't turn back the clock to 1955.

(Via: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/24/the-disease-killing-white-americans-goes-way-deeper-than-opioids/?utm_term=.2ffb328419fa)

And a more detailed explanation as to why this phenomenon is happening is this:

Since the early 1970s, people without a college degree have had fewer good career opportunities, stagnant wages, shrinking unions, declines in church membership, and fewer marriages. “These changes left people with less structure when they came to choose their careers, their religion, and the nature of their family lives,” Case and Deaton wrote. “When such choices succeed, they are liberating; when they fail, the individual can only hold him or herself responsible.”

“Cumulative distress, and the failure of life to turn out as expected is consistent with people compensating through other risky behaviors such as abuse of alcohol, overeating, or drug use,” they wrote.

“Ultimately, we see our story as about the collapse of the white, high school educated, working class after its heyday in the early 1970s, and the pathologies that accompany that decline.”

(Via: https://www.buzzfeed.com/matthewzeitlin/deaths-of-despair-white-working-class-americans-are-dying?utm_term=.iudl5P0Rk#.ylkl4DY8g)

So, what is the takeaway here? We should always listen to what our parents say. It all boils down to that. Parents know best, right? And almost every parent only wants the best for their children, including a good education. If there is one thing that is clearly the reason for the despair felt by many Americans that even cost them their lives – it is the lack of education that deprived them of opportunities and the knowledge and skills to help them adapt to a changing society. So, they resorted to drugs and drinking until they felt hopeless enough to take away their own lives.

The article Diseases of Despair: The Plight Of Some Americans is republished from PodBlaze.com

source https://www.podblaze.com/diseases-of-despair-the-plight-of-some-americans/

Taking Computer Hardware To The Next Level

Technology makes the world go round nowadays. Everywhere you look, there is a shiny piece of gadget that is sure to catch your attention. And almost everything is automated too. The demand for computer hardware continues to grow as people have increased computing needs at home or at work. Agencies, offices, and organizations are centralizing their operations, which mean data are encoded on the computer that likewise demands sufficient data storage memory.

The appearance and features of computer hardware have also changed a lot over the years. The newer hardware looks sleek and sophisticated and visibly much lighter than its older counterparts. Business is definitely booming and hardware manufacturers are generating millions of dollars in profit – not just in the U.S. – but on the global market.

The Americas was the x largest geographic region in the computer hardware market in 2016, accounting for $x billion or x% of the global market. Asia was the x largest geographic market, accounting for $x billion or x% of the global market. Europe was the x largest geographic market, accounting for $x billion or x% of the global market. The Middle East and Africa accounted for x% and $x billion, while Oceania accounted for x% of the global computer hardware market.

Emergence of Internet of Things - The Internet of Things (IoT) is emerging as the next big trend in the computers market with the ability to create an impact across the business spectrum. The Internet of Things merged the physical and online worlds to open up to a host of opportunities for companies, governments and consumers. The IoT is a complex ecosystem with multiple players such as device vendors, communication service providers, software vendors and IT service providers. For example, the August Smart Lock uses the Internet of Things platform to automatically lock and unlock the front door of a user's residence, and can remotely grant access to guests, friends or staff.

(Via: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/computer-hardware-global-market-report-2017-300411951.html)

Computer hardware (for personal/ office use) may have been selling like hot pancakes for years now but the increasing use of the public of the cloud can affect sales over time. Computer user groups show no preference to hardware brand at all when it comes to cloud computing.

The big computer hardware suppliers have ruled the hardware roost for many a year. So assured was their hold on enterprise IT budgets, there was even the saying of “no one ever got fired for buying IBM”, alluding to how these big IT brands carried the argument for large hardware expenditure. But is this now at risk?

Public cloud adoption is rising, and anyone who’s had the pleasure of wandering around some of the datacentres used to host these clouds may be surprised by the lack of large-brand logos on the hardware inside, and in many cases, the lack of any logos at all.

But wait, there’s more…

For the average organisation, buying hardware from a known entity with full commercial support still makes sense. However, as time moves on and more workloads move to the public cloud, this is a decreasing market for the main hardware suppliers. This is why IBM has spent so much time and energy repositioning itself as a purveyor of servers, network equipment and storage to a “cloud-first” company selling capabilities around SoftLayer, BlueMix and Watson.

Is all lost for the other hardware suppliers, such as Dell and HPE? Not necessarily. Outside of the massive public cloud providers, there are many other smaller public cloud providers only buying a few thousand servers. Although a basic ODM approach may be tempting, there are still opportunities here for the branded suppliers to offer a fully supported stack.

(Via: http://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/The-rise-of-the-ODMs-Should-the-branded-hardware-suppliers-be-worried)

People usually buy computer hardware that they can afford and matches their needs. Now that cloud computing is fast becoming accessible to many and preferred by big businesses, the hardware business is also changing to accommodate a different market. And perhaps, we may also be seeing some changes to the features of a computer hardware used on a personal level.

Taking Computer Hardware To The Next Level was first published to PB

source https://www.podblaze.com/taking-computer-hardware-to-the-next-level/

The Philantrophy Of Giving

“Sharing is loving” as the saying goes. And at a time when conflict is everywhere, sharing more love and compassion for others can go a long way. The basic living needs have changed. Although we still need shelter from harm and the elements and food to nourish our bodies, other luxuries of the past have evolved to become a need of the new generation.

For one, having an Internet connection is now a need that will allow people to connect with loved ones, to study or to oversee and grow their business. While many people aspire to achieve more in life through social connections and the accumulation of wealth and material things, others struggle to have the most basic things in life. In many underprivileged countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, food and water are scarce and people easily die from the most common of sickness.

Those who enjoy a better life feel the need to give and share their blessings to those who have less in life. And you don’t even have to go far to see poverty and extend help to people in need.

JEFF POWERS was raised as “a good Catholic boy”. So when he sold his wall-fastener business in 2012 for $225m, he wanted to give back. And, like many philanthropists, he started close to home. He donated to the hospital where his son had spent months recovering from a car accident. He helped pay for a swimming pool at his children’s school. Today he supports all sorts of causes, from scholarships in Florida to soup kitchens in New York.

(Via: http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21719494-rise-dafs-may-be-much-about-tax-charity-philanthropic-boom)

Nowadays, social media is also proving to be a powerful platform to raise awareness on certain causes or asking for help in raising funds to help an individual or an organization.

It is common to see GoFundMe pages asking for monetary donations that won’t require you to go through all the hassles of traditional donations in the past. Even challenges that have gone viral were also a vehicle in raising money in support of a particular cause.

Through the years, we’ve witnessed how social media has evolved – starting out as a simple media-sharing site, it now serves as a digital platform for brands. But what we should also be giving our attention to are the organizations who took the extra mile and used social media to raise awareness and funds for charitable causes.

1. #ALSIceBucketChallenge

Almost all of us have probably heard (and even joined!) this one. The mechanics of the viral ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was simple – participants just had to take a video of themselves pouring a bucket of iced water over their heads, share it on any social media platform with the hashtag #ALSIceBucketChallenge or #IceBucketChallenge then nominate their friends to take on the challenge and donate to the cause. Aside from spreading awareness on the Lou Gehrig’s Disease, it also helped the ALS Association raise nearly $100m in just 30 days.

(Via: http://lifestyle.abs-cbn.com/articles/4539/in-focus-3-viral-challenges-that-have-used-social-media-for-perfectly-selfless-causes/)

Here are some handy tips you can follow when you feel that you have more than enough in life and you want to share your blessings to others.

Look beyond the name

Visit the organization’s website and check its mission statement, along with any reports about its programs. Another great way to learn about a charity’s activities is to volunteer. You’ll witness firsthand how the group approaches the cause you care about.

Judge by the results

You have three major paths for getting clues to a nonprofit’s effectiveness, based on what you can learn online about that particular charity.

Listen to deep divers

Certain groups study nonprofits in depth to find ones achieving the best results. Your easiest option is to give to nonprofits that get their seal of approval.

Check directories

If those resources don’t cover causes you hold dear, you can consult two major online directories of nonprofits, Charity Navigator and CharityWatch. Each rates charities based on measures of their financial health, transparency, and accountability. While not directly measuring effectiveness, these ratings are designed to indicate how professionally an organization operates. And presumably a well-run organization has a better chance of having an impact than one that’s a mess.

Feel the urge to give? Do it directly through that organization’s website or mailing address. Avoid giving through a third party or via links sent in emails; even if the charity is real, the fundraiser may not actually represent it. And even legitimate fundraising costs can be too high. Daniel Borochoff, who founded CharityWatch in 1992, says the data he has seen indicates that, on average, telemarketers’ fees eat up two-thirds of the money they raise.

(Via: http://time.com/money/4583851/charity-donations-giving-guide/)

Social injustice is everywhere. People die because of poverty or resort to doing crimes to get through the day. While the government does its best to reach out to these sectors, all sorts of help are welcome. Your small change can feed a homeless person for a day. Your used clothes and shoes can make a difference in another person’s life. But what’s even better is that you give back to charities or groups with specific causes that not only offer a palliative solution to these issues but offer long-term solutions that help people get back on their feet so they no longer rely on other people’s generosity to survive.

The Philantrophy Of Giving is available on https://www.podblaze.com/

source https://www.podblaze.com/the-philantrophy-of-giving/

How To Spot A Narcissist

Love, trust, and respect are often the foundations of a solid and lasting relationship – whether it is just a platonic or an intimate one. People tend to get attracted to someone because of their finer features. But over time and as the relationship grows, you’ll be able to see glimpses of the not-so-good side and it will test how far you will go for the other person.

Couples often break up because of misunderstanding and personality differences. Once the arguments start, the relationship is likely doomed to end. However, there are instances when people stay in a relationship even though everything is on the rocks and being together is no longer just about love.

When you are in an emotionally abusive relationship, you tend to not realize that you are experiencing “real” abuse, such as victims of physical and sexual abuse.  In addition to this, so many people do not understand what narcissism is and are completely oblivious to what narcissist abuse is.

It usually takes years to figure out and usually your self-esteem is in the gutter when you realize THAT is the problem.

Know this, narcissists tailor make their abuse to fit their targets.  Their abuse will go under the radar for most people, including the victims.  In many ways, narcissists know what their targets’ weak spots are and use those as the places to hurt.

If a narcissist knows you are afraid of abandonment he will abandon you 1000 times.   If a narcissist knows you like a certain pet, he will hate that pet. If a narcissist knows you love to talk about politics, he will refuse to ever comment on politics to you, except to make a disparaging comment about people who like to talk about politics…

If your narcissist is on Facebook, he’ll comment on everyone else’s posts, and not yours.  Why? So that he can let you know how irrelevant you are.

See how insidious this is? If you try to tell others, “He doesn’t comment on my Facebook posts,” or, “He didn’t return my text,” or, “He won’t respond when I ask him a direct question,” people will tell you that those are irritating, but not really worth ending a relationship, particularly a marriage over.

(Via: https://pro.psychcentral.com/recovery-expert/2017/03/recognizing-narcissistic-abuse/)

If you look around you nowadays, many relationships are just like it. Most are casual hook-ups where the couple met online before starting dating – not really aware of the person’s background. Hence they only realize later rather than sooner about their quirks and idiosyncrasies when they’re already deep in the relationship and a breakup is easier said than done. Other times the person just becomes too immune to the abuse that they simply turn a blind eye and let it go.

You grew up surrounded by narcissists. They hurt you frequently. So frequently that your heart was seared. The pain rolled off like water-off-a-duck’s-back almost before you realized that, yet again, you’d been wounded. Talking back was swiftly and severely punished. So you learned to swallow all the pain, all the insults, all the hurt.

It was a coping mechanism, however unhealthy, that helped you survive narcissistic abuse.

But now? Well, this High Pain Threshold has outlived its usefulness. Previously, it protected us from pain. Now, it’s causing us pain.

(Via: https://blogs.psychcentral.com/narcissism/2017/03/how-narcissism-and-a-high-emotional-pain-threshold-ruins-relationships/)

To avoid being stuck with a narcissist (for life), learn how to identify one early on and how to deal with them in case you are already tied to one.

The top warning signs to identify a narcissist:

- The one sure sign I found was to really listen to the stories/conversations he has with you. You could be talking about anything under the sun, and he will find a way to turn the conversation back on/about him, all the time.

- We could only listen to his MUSIC, watch his TV shows, eats at restaurants he liked. It was always about him. There was no flexibility or compromise.

- When he talks, it is all about him and how great he is. He was very competitive and always has to win. Nothing is ever his fault. He needs his ego stroked. He can't argue because he is incapable of reasoning, so arguments just escalate. He never says he's sorry and can't give a compliment without a negative. He's very materialistic and all about the car he drives. I really think they have no heart.

• A narc will use the phrase “soul mate” especially very early on.

• Someone who lies like a pro. Smooth con. A manipulator.

• Narcissists have no sense of humor and literally to self-deprecating skills.

• The number one sign is he moves on too quickly in to the next courtship.

• A narcissist can’t take it when you tease them.

• Narcissists will often say put-downs wrapped around jokes.

(Via: https://www.firstwivesworld.com/index.php/my-narcissistic-ex-husband/item/9310-what-are-your-top-red-flags-for-identifying-a-narcissist)

While the manipulation of a narcissist may appear cute and flattering at first, it can quickly transition to annoying and even suffocating over time. A healthy relationship not only involves love, trust, and respect for each other but allow one another to have a life outside of the relationship.

The world does not revolve around the two of you. You may miss out on meaningful relationships with family and friends because your significant other only wants you to spend all your free time with him/ her. Find out if your love is that strong enough for you to accept his/ her narcissistic tendencies and remain to be committed to your relationship for a long time.

The following post How To Spot A Narcissist Read more on: https://www.podblaze.com

source https://www.podblaze.com/how-to-spot-a-narcissist/