CASA 12-Steps Program Blog!

Alcoholics Anonymous Origins and Early History: Part One

2011-12-25T00:03:00.000-08:00

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CASA 12-Steps Blog
http://casa-12steps.blogspot.com/

Alcoholics Anonymous Origins and EarlyHistory

The Dim View; Myths the Darkness Spawned; the Gaps; and the FactsResearch Unearthed

Part One by Dick B.

Copyright 2011Anonymous. All rights reserve

The Strange, Dimly Lit, Unexplained Ideas I Heard From the “Wisdom ofthe Rooms

The observations here represent no attempt to square themwith some theology or religious conclusion. They represent my own experience,maintaining sobriety, and attending meetings.

When my mind began to clear with ongoing sobriety, I keptasking myself these questions:

1)     Where did this “higher power” come from, and how did itget such a grip on recovery.

2)     Where did frequent references to Creator, Maker,Father, Heavenly Father fit in.

3)     How could one fabricate his or her personal conceptionof “a” god.

4)     How could one pray to an higher power that was a doorknob, a light bulb, or the group.

5)     What was a “spiritual experience” and why could it bechanged to an even less understood “spiritual awakening.”

6)     What place did the many biblical expressions andpractices have in the development of Alcoholics Anonymous.

7)     Considering that A.A. seemed to about some “god” as “weunderstood Him,” how could one square some member’s self-made religion andunderstanding with the Bible’s many descriptions of God, Jesus Christ, and thepower of the Holy Spirit.

8)     How could one conclude that alcoholism was incurablewhen the early AAs and the latest

Big Book edition said that Bill W., Dr.Bob, and Bill D. all said they had been cured.

9)     Why were people quashed, intimidated, and criticizedfor talking about God and the Bible on the grounds that this violated someunspecified “Tradition” or arbitrary rule.

10) Werethe suppressors acting on some authority, some unknown rule, or some writtendeclaration by Bill or Bob or the Big Book or the “Traditions” that made themright.

Later--as I was in direct touch with the founders’ families,friends, and writings, how clear to me it was that I was unearthing the realhistory and roots of A.A. At the same time, they more and more endorsed mywritings. They told me additional facts. They gave me additional leads. Theyshowed, and often gave me or allowed me to copy volumes and volumes of books,papers, and documents. They spoke freely on points that directly contradictedso many of the things I had been hearing.

And was all this a reason for anyone’s leaving AlcoholicsAnonymous, for joining some religious alternative, and for looking deeply forthe flaws, shortcomings, former and continuing mistakes the pioneers had embraced?Some might say, “Yes.” Not I.

The Dim, Dark Hole I Encountered as a Sick, Troubled, UnreasoningNewcomer

I realized that much of the negativity I was hearing wascoming from the mouths of those in the rooms who were making no attempt tosupport their views and statements. They just stood fast on their dicta,mouthed them on a “take it or leave it” basis, and filled the rooms withdarkness. Their intentions did not need to be an issue. The suppression andevil behavior did. It could kill.

Nonetheless, I clung desperately to the life raft. Ibelieved and believe I had overcome alcoholism and sleeping pill addiction bydoing everything I could from the very first--right in the fellowship ofAlcoholics Anonymous. I quit. I stayed quit. And I have been continuously aformer alcoholic and addict. And more and more I was turning to God and theBible for the help, Despite the vociferous and continuing criticisms from mysponsor and his sponsor, I was relying on the love, power, forgiveness, guidance,and healing I so desperately needed. And I still do.

I needed rescue not just because of excessive drinking andexcessive abuse of sedatives. I needed it because of the self-manufactured webof problems I was facing. These included problems of guilt, shame, anxiety,fear, confusion, bewilderment, brain damage, nerve damage, loneliness, despair,and domestic, legal, tax, criminal, reputation, livelihood, and abandonment byformer long-time friends, fraternity brothers, legal associates, clergy, andclients. They could have seemed endless and beyond victory. But, with God’shelp, I began seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

As so many probably do, I was fighting for survival in thefellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. I was urged to participate, to serve, to learnthe Big Book, to take the Twelve Steps, and to help others. I sure did justthat. In fact, the Steps seemed to offer a path that would lead to rescue fromthe Four Horsemen, of whom Bill Wilson wrote, and also from the problems thatwere giving rise to them. Those A.A. life-changing ideas included abstinencefrom alcohol; looking to God for help; cleaning up the wreckage thatresentment, self-seeking, dishonesty, and fear had generated. And then gettingon with the forward-looking growth the last three Steps seemed to offer.Particularly I savored and relished the satisfaction that seeking, helping,guiding, and befriending newcomers definitely made available. I still find thatsame challenge, result, and reward.

Amidst it all, I became more and more aware of a growingdarkness in the rooms, the talk, the behavior, and the very limited understandingof the very people who had been such so compassionate, helpful, and friendly.Contrasted with this was my growing understanding and belief that AlcoholicsAnonymous had emerged from Christian roots.

Its founders and pioneers had relied on God. The early onesinsisted on belief in God, coming to Him through Jesus Christ, praying,studying the Bible, observing Quiet Times and devotions, daily religiouscomradeship and fellowship, and helping others. These facts became more andmore evident with every excursion into archives, literature, interviews,“shrines,” documents.

At the same time, I could see the heavy hand of the sameAdversary who had tempted Eve, who had promulgated idolatry, who had wroughtsuch harm, who had rejected God, who had tempted Jesus, and who showed everypromise of being around and fulfilling the assurance in John 10:10. That wasJesus’ statement that “the thief cometh but to stead, and to kill, and todestroy.” And the Bible’s assurance that this enemy would be around until thereturn of God’s Son. And even thereafter until given his just reward andcertain end. I found the early AAs believed that too.

Then I learned how much the early AAs had turned to God for help, how thoroughly they had endeavored to obey and serve Him,and how successful they had been incarrying out God’s great commission to go and tell.

I also saw and still see that only light could dispeldarkness. As it shone more brightly—the more quickly vanished the darkness ofdefeat, the darkness of godlessness, the darkness of fear and hopelessness, andthe darkness of temptation, illness, and death.

God was and is that light. In Him there is no darkness. Tocome to Him, one must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of themthat diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6). And this same illumination was carriedto early AAs who really wanted to rely on God and to do His bidding.

The Next Part to Follow—Defining the Errors, Myths, and Darkness

The gap in A.A. history was overwhelming. It left a hugehole. One Roman Catholic priest and scholar, who held a Ph.D., called the holea lacuna. There was no assurance andis no assurance that filling the dark hole with researched facts would suffice.But, the inflow of myth and speculation, the outflow of relapsers and thosefleeing A.A., as well as those seeking other resources—many of which seemed tooffer no long-term deliverance—was worth dispelling. I do not necessarily holdwith the idea that “you have to give it away to keep it” is a truism. I dobelieve that the hunger of many Christians for truth can be satisfied. I dobelieve that the proliferation of groundless flows of myth can be staunched.And I do believe that many who are now crying out for “old school A.A.” and itssuccesses can, with more full and accurate knowledge, be rewarded withwell-researched facts about that very fellowship.

Therefore, to guide others to the task of finding the errorsthat need correcting, the next part will define those elements. Most important,I do believe that many more suffering newcomers will thereby be relieved oftheir alcoholism and addiction through trusting God, just as their foundersdid. And those founders were relieved, and the promise that God could and wouldif He were sought was fulfilled.

Gloria Deo

c/s

The CASA Twelve-Steps Program

2011-12-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

http://bit.ly/rsJJkw

+ The CASA Twelve-Steps Program +
~ Christians Against Substance Addiction ~ ‘The Real Deal’
"And you will know the truth, and that very truth will make you free.” ~~ John 8:32

The Complete Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen!”
~ By Reinhold Neibuhr ~ Websource: http://www.aahistory.com/prayer.html
<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>
Here are the CASA 12-Steps and Scriptures we worked which are recommended as a progressive Christian Recovery Program:

1. We admitted we were powerless over our drug addiction—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Matthew 9:36 “When Jesus saw the multitudes, he had compassion on them, because they were tired and scattered, like sheep which have no shepherd.”

2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Mark 9:23 “Jesus said to him, If you can believe, everything is possible to him who believes."

3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of Creator God, as we understood Him.
Luke 9:23 “Then he said in the presence of everyone, He who wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross every day and follow me.”

4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves, taking stock of our assets and liabilities.
Romans 8:27 “And he who searches the hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, for the Spirit prays for the saints according to the will of God.”

5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another humane being the exact nature of our wrongs.
James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man is powerful.”

6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these character defects.
I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.”

7. We humbly asked Him on our knees to remove our shortcomings.
James 4:10 ”Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men their faults, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive even your faults.”

9. We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Matthew 5:24 “Leave your offering there before the altar, and first go and make peace with your brother, and then come back and present your offering.”

10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it, while recognizing our continued progressive recovery.
Romans 12:3 ‘‘For I say, through the grace which is given to me, to all of you, not to think of yourselves beyond what you ought to think; but to think soberly, every man according to the measure of faith which God has distributed to him.”

11. We sought through prayer, meditation and study to improve our conscious communion with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us, and the Power to carry that out.
Mark 12:30 “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your might; this is the first commandment.”

12. We tried to carry this Message to addicts and practice these principles in all our affairs; having had a ‘Spiritual Awakening’ as a result of working these 12-Steps.
Galatians 6:1 "My brethren, if anyone be found at fault, you who are spiritual, restore him in a spirit of meekness; and be careful lest you also be tempted.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Ten Commandments ~ Exodus 20: 3-17

1. You shall have no other gods except me.
2. You shall not make for yourself any graven image, or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.
3. You shall not take a false oath in the name of the Lord your God; for the Lord
will not declare him innocent who takes an oath in his name falsely.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not kill.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor's.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The True Lord’s Prayer ~ Matthew 6:9-13

“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, As in heaven, so on earth. Give us bread for our needs from day to day. And forgive us our offences, As we have forgiven our offenders. And do not let us enter into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom And the power And the glory For ever and ever. Amen.”
Source: The Holy Bible ~ Ancient Eastern Text ~ Dr. Lamsa’s Translation from the Aramaic: http://www.aramaicbiblecenter.com/index.htm

OPEN CASA 12-STEPS MEETINGS ARE HELD EVERY SUNDAY @ 7 PM
@ The Salvation Army ‘Center of Hope’ ~ 1200 North ‘B’ Street
Sacramento, California (95814)

CASA 12-Steps Program Blog= http://casa-12steps.blogspot.com/

CASA 12-Steps Yahoo Group= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CASA-12-Steps/

Love God, Stay Straight and Help Others!
Brother Peta ~ CASA Field Coordinator
Sacramento, California, USA
Business: 916/442-0331 ~ CASA Phone: 916/604-2471
Email:peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
Update: 12-21-2011
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CASA 12-Steps Blog
http://casa-12steps.blogspot.com/

c/s

#READ The War on Harm Reduction by Jason Tan de Bibiana:

2011-04-15T22:20:00.001-07:00

http://bit.ly/f09rcM

#READ The War on Harm Reduction by Jason Tan de Bibiana: VIA @papakelt
Posted on 12 April 2011

By: Jason Tan de Bibiana

The Four Pillars Drug Strategy, as the name suggests, has four components for addressing problematic substance use: Treatment, Prevention, Harm Reduction, and Enforcement. This comprehensive approach was adopted by the City of Vancouver in 2001 and a number of other Canadian cities since then, but does not reflect Canada's current national drug strategy, which largely ignores Harm Reduction. Recently, Dr. Gabor Mate described its implementation as a "one pillar and three toothpicks" strategy – by which he meant that Enforcement still gets the majority of resources and support in Canada. Billions of dollars from Ottawa have been pledged for prison expansion, federal legislation has been proposed to impose mandatory-minimum sentences for drug-related offences, and the Conservative government is currently running for re-election on a tough-on-crime platform that promises to enforce mandatory drug testing of all federal inmates once per year, and lay additional charges on prisoners in possession of illicit drugs.

Seemingly, the current logic is to lock up all the drug users and then keep them in there until prison life beats the addiction out of them.

In contrast to an Enforcement-heavy approach, Harm Reduction is a crucial component of a balanced and pragmatic drug strategy. People use drugs for complicated reasons, in spite of knowing about all the risks they pose. Harm Reduction proposes that the negative consequences of drug use can be mitigated. Harm Reduction underlies clean needle-exchange and crackpipe mouthpiece programs, supervised injection and drug consumption sites, managed alcohol programs, and even providing taxi-rides home, water, and condoms at bars and clubs. A successful Harm Reduction program prevents overdose deaths and the spread of infectious diseases, and can complement Treatment and Prevention. These programs pay off in the long-run by averting future costs to the health care and social system from serious consequences such as HIV-infection, and give people the opportunity to stay alive and stay healthy.

The Conservative government is still strongly opposed to the idea of Harm Reduction and has been particularly hostile towards Vancouver's InSite, which remains the only legal supervised injection site in North America.

A few years ago, Dr. Stephen Hwang asked in an editorial:

What if a new treatment for diabetes was developed? It doesn't cure diabetes but it reduces many of the complications associated with the disease. The treatment is evaluated favourably by a highly-respected group of health scientists and findings are published in the leading peer-reviewed medical journals. The studies even suggest that the treatment is a cost-effective use of health care resources! Yet, the federal government calls the research inconclusive and says it will only support treatments that either prevent diabetes or cure it completely. Other health care providers are forbidden from providing the new treatment and the government even tries to ban it altogether.

Sounds bizarre, right? Well, Hwang reminds us that this is exactly what has happened to InSite.

The opposition to Harm Reduction is based on differences in ideology, not a lack of research and evidence. More than 30+ research studies have been published in peer-reviewed medical journals that describe the positive impacts of InSite, which include decreases in public injecting, syringe sharing and overdoses, and increases in uptake of addiction treatment and detoxification services. The researchers looked for evidence of negative impacts from InSite's operation, such as increases in crime rates in the Vancouver's downtown Eastside neighbourhood, and found none. Critics of InSite continue to declare that supervised injection sites and other Harm Reduction initiatives send the message that injection drug use is safe and will encourage people to use drugs. However, there is no empirical evidence to support this hypothesis – InSite isn't trying to corrupt our society, just to save some of the people who have been the most marginalized.

On May 12, 2011, the Conservatives will take another shot at shutting down InSite, in an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. InSite opened its doors in 2003, when the Liberals were in power, and has been allowed to operate since then under an exemption from Canada's drug laws. What began as an pilot project to evaluate whether a supervised injection site would improve health and result in other desirable outcomes, as well as whether it would be worth the money and resources, is now an important and established service. The experiment is over, at least by the consensus of the scientific community, and many others. But we're still waiting for government decision-makers that are willing to support policy informed by evidence and open to a balanced and comprehensive drug strategy that includes Harm Reduction as a valuable alternative to the "War on Drugs."

http://www.bloguments.ca/2011/04/the-war-on-harm-reduction/

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Comment: We all need to really comprehend the whole concept of harm reduction, that is, reducing harm done by street drugs; offer drug treatment and look at alternative therapies that will help us dig deeper into the true social-environmental-spiritual roots of drug addiction. The war on drugs is actually a war on drug addicts. Support Harm Reduction! @Peta_de_Aztlan
Venceremos! We Will Win!
Peta_de_Aztlan
Sacramento, California
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://twitter.com/Peta_de_Aztlan
http://www.facebook.com/Peta51
http://help-matrix.ning.com/
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F.Kennedy ~ c/s

On Being Progressive In Recovery via @Peta_de_Aztlan

2011-04-09T17:09:00.001-07:00

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F.Kennedy ~ c/s

On Being Progressive In Recovery via @Peta_de_Aztlan

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Peta_de_Aztlan

http://wp.me/prH9G-4a

I am first and foremost a spiritual being who has been wounded in life by its downers, disasters and many disappointments. I am in the process of recovering from my wounds. We cannot recover from anything that has wounded us if we do not even recognize the need for us to get involved in a recovery process for us to heal. We must closely examine the social environment that resulted in us first being wounded, though these wounds may not be apparent on the surface. Many times these wounds are in the mental and spiritual realms.

I was blessed to be born into a Mexican-American family with two beautiful parents and raised in the Southside Park area of Sacramento, California. I went to school and graduated from Sacramento Senior High in 1969. In my high school years I was already becoming politically aware and active. I was a member of MAYA, the Brown Berets, MECHA and other progressive groups. At the time, smoking marijuana and drinking booze was part of the whole scene, being cool and hip. It was no big deal.

It was at the end of the crazy 60s and going into the zany 70s. As I got older into my tens I became more and more involved in a loose life-style, along with alcohol and other drugs, such as, acid, mescaline, hash and peyote. Way later in my mid-40s I got strung out on 'crank' or methamphetamine for almost two years. It seems I was destined to become a hard-core drug addict.

Along the way I had several different jobs that did not last for more than a few years. I eventually lost them all for one reason or another, usually involving alcoholism, though, not always.

I saw the injustice in the world, the evils of corporate capitalism and over the years I came to realize that a mature fascism was 'in power and control' inside the United States. Many times in the past I felt so powerless to change connected reality. Disgusted by life I turned to alcohol and drugs to numb the pain, to take me out into the oblivion of being stoned out of my mind.

Today my sobriety date is June 24, 2004. In September of 2010, because of Sacramento County Cutbacks I got Laid Off from my job at the local Salvation Army where I was employed as a Caseworker and functioned as a Counselor.

It is hard if not impossible to express these thoughts in general without going into personal matters. It is a truism that we are as sick as our secrets, those deep dark secrets we reveal to no one, including to ourselves. Many times when we suffer in our addiction our own insane denial hides us from seeing what we have become and who we are in life. Once we overcome our core denial we open the possibility of seeing ourselves in the light of truth. We can clearly recognize that, to put it lightly, we have 'a problem' and need to work on 'a solution'.

The major problem that became a plague in my life has been addiction in general and drug addiction in particular. Addiction is the harmful habit of indulging in a substance or aspect of life that one craves, takes pleasure in and continues to engage in despite negative consequences.

Usually addiction is an on-going behavior pattern exhibited in the physical realm, though it can also be a mental addiction taking place in the mind. There are many kinds of addiction that people suffer from, not only drug addiction.

Inside the United States we now live in a highly addictive society. Many of us are addicted to work, to entertainment, to consumer consumption, to sex, to alcohol and drugs and even to ourselves. We must distinguish between use, abuse and addiction. Addiction results in our lives being out-of-balance. Addiction has harmful negative consequences. We may recover for short periods of time then we often relapse back into the pursuit of our addiction. It is a self-destructive life-style we can transform if we follow certain suggestions and raise our inner consciousness.

I am now involved in my own Spiritual Liberation program and progressive recovery wherein I seek total liberation from all forms of oppression, including liberation from drug addiction and its negative consequences: ruined health, homelessness, jails, institutions and death.

Progressive recovery is based upon the original A.A. 12-Steps program. A key element in my recovery is advocating for, supporting and promoting progressive causes. I strive to change the conditions of life in my environment that because of my self-loathing first got me caught up into the many dangers of drug addiction and other negative life-styles. Fighting for humane liberation, progressive recovery and building up my self-esteem are key elements in my own spiritual growth towards wholeness as a humane spiritual being.

Each of us is a unique being. In the process of living we must remember where we have been, find out who we are deep inside, keep in mind where we are here now and strive to create visions for the future. We must decide how we want to be, how we want to live out our lives and ultimately we need to find inner peace within ourselves ~seek serenity in life.

Let us have a spiritual awakening in the world. Let us come together and work on our spiritual healing. Let us help our loved ones who require healing to join with us so we can heal together.

Psalm 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."

c/s

FYI: [CASA 12-Steps Program Blog!] CASA Twelve-Steps Program~ 'The Real Deal'

2011-04-04T09:01:00.001-07:00

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Greetings! We should not forget that the basic 12-Steps Recovery Program is a good valid structure for improving our inner character as humane beings. Thus, I am submitting this to all who may be interested. I work with the CASA Christian Recovery Group at the local Salvation Army Homeless Shelter and it is a key factor in my remaining involved in a recovery progress that stimulates my spiritual growth as a humane being. We should respect all great religions
and see the common denominator of believing in the Creator of the Cosmos.

Many of our life problems and issues in life are related to our own remaining character defects, not merely governmental mismanagement.

Venceremos! We Will Win!
Peta_de_Aztlan
Sacramento, California
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://twitter.com/Peta_de_Aztlan
http://www.facebook.com/Peta51
http://help-matrix.ning.com/
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F.Kennedy ~ c/s

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Peta_de_Aztlan <peta.aztlan@gmail.com>
To: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
Sent: Sun, April 3, 2011 8:41:26 PM
Subject: [CASA 12-Steps Program Blog!] CASA Twelve-Steps Program~ 'The Real Deal'

~ Christians Against Substance Addiction ~ 'The Real Deal'
" And you will know the truth, and that very truth will make you free."
~John 8:32

The Complete Serenity Prayer: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen!"
~ By Reinhold Niebuhr ~ Websource: http://www.aahistory.com/prayer.html
<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>+<>

Here are the CASA 12-Steps and Scriptures we worked which are recommended as a progressive Christian Recovery Program:

1. We admitted we were powerless over our drug addiction—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Matthew 9:36 "When Jesus saw the multitudes, he had compassion on them, because they were tired and scattered, like sheep which have no shepherd."

2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Mark 9:23 "Jesus said to him, If you can believe, everything is possible to him who believes."

3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of Creator God, as we understood Him.
Luke 9:23 "Then he said in the presence of everyone, He who wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross every day and follow me."

4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves, taking stock of our assets and liabilities.
Romans 8:27 "And he who searches the hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, for the Spirit prays for the saints according to the will of God."

5. We confessed to God, to ourselves, and to another humane being the exact nature of our wrongs.
James 5:16 "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man is powerful."

6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these character defects.
I John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness."

7. We humbly asked Him on our knees to remove our shortcomings.
James 4:10 "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up."

8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Matthew 6:14-15 "For if you forgive men their faults, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive even your faults."

9. We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Matthew 5:24 "Leave your offering there before the altar, and first go and make peace with your brother, and then come back and present your offering."

10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it, while recognizing our continued progressive recovery.
Romans 12:3 ''For I say, through the grace which is given to me, to all of you, not to think of yourselves beyond what you ought to think; but to think soberly, every man according to the measure of faith which God has distributed to him."

11. We sought through prayer, meditation and study to improve our communion with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us, and the Power to carry that out.
Mark 12:30 "And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your might; this is the first commandment."

12. We tried to carry this Message to addicts and practice these principles in all our affairs; having had a 'Spiritual Awakening' as a result of working these 12-Steps.
Galatians 6:1 "My brethren, if anyone be found at fault, you who are spiritual, restore him in a spirit of meekness; and be careful lest you also be tempted."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Ten Commandments ~ Exodus 20: 3-17

1. You shall have no other gods except me.
2. You shall not make for yourself any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.
3. You shall not take a false oath in the name of the Lord your God; for the Lord will not declare him innocent who takes an oath in his name falsely.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not kill.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor's.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The True Lord's Prayer ~ Matthew 6:9-13

"Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, As in heaven, so on earth. Give us bread for our needs from day to day. And forgive us our offences, As we have forgiven our offenders. And do not let us enter into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom And the power And the glory For ever and ever. Amen."
Source: The Holy Bible ~ Ancient Eastern Text ~ Dr. Lamsa's Translation from the Aramaic: http://www.aramaicbiblecenter.com/index.htm

OPEN CASA 12-STEPS MEETINGS ARE HELD EVERY SUNDAY @ 7 PM
@ The Salvation Army 'Center of Hope' ~ 1200 North 'B' Street
Sacramento, California (95814)

CASA 12-Steps Program Blog~ http://casa-12steps.blogspot.com/

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[HELP-Matrix Blog] On the Eagle and the Condor Prophecy via Various Sources

2011-03-11T09:40:00.001-08:00

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Peta_de_Aztlan
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"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F.Kennedy ~ c/s

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From: Peta_de_Aztlan <peta.aztlan@gmail.com>
To: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
Sent: Thu, March 10, 2011 4:38:32 PM
Subject: [HELP-Matrix Blog] On the Eagle and the Condor Prophecy via Various Sources

The Inca Prophecy

As told by Peruvian Spiritual Messenger Willaru

The Inca Prophecy ~ As told by Peruvian Spiritual Messenger Willaru:
http://bit.ly/eEMyOs

We have been waiting five hundred years.

The Inca prophecies say that now, in this age, when the eagle of the North and the condor of the South fly together, the Earth will awaken. The eagles of the North cannot be free without the condors of the South.
Now it's happening. Now is the time. The Aquarian Age is an era of light, an age of awakening, an age of returning to natural ways. Our generation is here to help begin this age, to prepare through different schools to understand the message of the heart, intuition, and nature. Native people speak with the Earth. When consciousness awakens, we can fly high like the eagle, or like the condor...
Ultimately, you know, we are all native, because the word native comes from nature, and we are all parts of Mother nature. She is inside us, and we are inside her. We depend totally on the Earth, the Sun, and the Water. We belong to the evolution of nature in our physical bodies. But we also have a spiritual body that comes from the Sun, not the Sun you can see with two eyes, but another Sun that lies in another dimension, a golden Sun burning with the fire of spiritual light. The inner light of humans emanates from this spiritual source. We came to Earth from this Sun to have experiences on Earth, and eventually we will return to this Sun.
We are Children of the Sun.
* * *

Willaru Huayta is an Incan Spiritual Messenger from Cusco, Peru. Born a Quechua Indian, he learned to receive esoteric truth during his spiritual quests in the Amazon jungles. A few years ago he was asked to travel to the big city, Cusco, as a Chasqui (messenger) for the Great White Brotherhood with messages pertaining to the transitional times in which we live. Copyright © 1999 - Permission is granted to copy and redistribute this article on the condition that the content remains complete, full credit is given to the author, and that it is distributed freely. Comparing Native Prophecy

Plant forms from previous worlds have begun to spring up as seeds--the same kind of seeds are being planted in the sky as stars. The same kinds of seeds are being planted in our hearts. All these are the same, depending on how you look at them. Hopi prophecies speak of the return of Pahana, their True White Brother, who left them in ancient times, promising to return. They wear their hair in bangs to form a window, they say, by which to see their Elder Brother when He returns. It is also an identifying mark for the Elder Brother to recognize them. In 1975 the elders met in Canberra, drawing together over 350 Aboriginal people. They gave a warning of cataclysms to come and told the people to go out and teach their knowledge to the world, to prepare it for a future time when we would go back to our beginnings; when all cultures will exist as one.

Quechua Messenger:

Willaru Huarta grew up in the jungles of Peru, studying with the shamans. He says that his native Quechua Incan prophecies predicted the white man's coming would bring 500 years of materialism and imbalance. But now they say that era is coming to an end and the Age of Aquarius will "signal the return of Light to the planet and the dawn of a golden era. We live in a time of the fulfillment of prophecy." Now he tours the world teaching his simple message: "Humanity should cure itself and give help to the poor. Regenerate yourself with light, and then help those who have poverty of the soul. Return to the inner spirit, which we have abandoned while looking elsewhere for happiness." The Q'ero: Another Peruvian group that are releasing prophecy, traveling to the industrialized nations to hold ceremonies and share their vision of the future.

The Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor is told by many Native nations in the Western Hemisphere. The following is an elaboration from the Peace and Dignity Journeys Confederation of the Eagle and Condor Coordinating Council.

The Elders of this continent remember and talk about a prophecy that foretold how we will come together and reunite as one. We are like a body that was broken into pieces and this body will come back together to be whole again. They speak about this in the South, Center and North.

Our Elders tell us that we will unite and get our strength back like many arrows that will not be broken. They remember the history to keep the fire alive. We have to come together to be one, to have complete understanding. The main tool used was the arrow because our ancestors all over the continent were hunters. In time they added this arrow to a sacred bow. This bow is used all over this continent and is what we call the half moon. They knew we would be around and this bow would be again in the center, marking the direction that we should take. If we take a step we send this arrow to follow.

All of our people have to make a new design for our children and the future generations. They said it is written in the stars and we have to make this work so they can move the spiritual energy. This will begin a new time when we can take the Spirit in our own hands when the Eagle and Condor reunite.

Our leaders said that we should not forget to pass this message to our children. We will reunite our family and our people. Their Sun will be a new light. When this is done the people will fulfill their destiny. The pieces will be in place. There is a space for everybody and they will be apart of this prophecy. The majority of our leaders say don't forget to teach our children. All of the last leaders that were in command said to keep the family together. We will be standing in this new design. We will hold this in our home one day. Teach from Father to Son, from Mother to Daughter. It is very simple to understand.

The Encounter of the Condor of Urin and the Eagle of Hanan

This Prophecy was related during the First Encuentro of Indigeneous Peoples in Quito, Ecuador in 1990.

In the unfolding of the life of the Indian Nations, every five centuries produces transformations of both foundations and forms. With these changes, life does not lose its essence. It becomes covered with new skin. The old is rejuvenated. It is nourished with pure energy. This energy Is transmitted by the great spirits of Allpa Mama and Pacha Mama, that Is, of nature and of the Universe, in general.

Thousands of years ago, when life Initiated its vital cycle, Pachakamak (God of Time) created Intl (the sun) and Quilla (the moon) out of the union of it's tears and, thus, gave birth to the Runas, to the people, of this continent Appla-Yala and In this birth emerged the Condor and the Eagle, the Kuntur of Urin and the Anga de Hanan, their spirits continually enriching the veins of the Runas of this continent.

Their strength motivated the north and south to unite. The union of the people of the North with the South also signifies the union of the Condor and the Eagle. The Condor and the Eagle join their tears from Jahanpacha (the sky) to Ucupacha (the underground.) Out of this union sprang Central America. In this piece of earth was concentrated the wisdom of Hana and Urin. New nations developed, whose inhabitants had the capacity to sow the earth In the middle of a great ocean and convert it into what is today Central America.

These peoples, oriented by the laws of Allpa Mana and Pacha Mama, had to pass through difficult situations, one of which was the splitting of its nations into four parts. After this tragedy, the Willak Umus (prophets) instructed their Amautas, Curacas, Arawikus or wise men to create prophecies that would orient and guide our peoples. These prophecies would teach the Indian nations to maintain themselves solid, united and, above all, to search for the most appropriate paths for their liberation.

The beginning of the liberation of the Indian people would be symbolized by different prophecies, one of which Is the union of the tears of the Condor of Urin and the Eagle of Hanan. The union of these tears would cauterize our wounds and fortify our spirit, body and thought. The great spirit would open furrows and in each furrow would water its seed, and In each step would spring battalions of men who would bare their chests to fend off the daggers of the enemy. They would reach out with their hands to erase oppression, exploitation and Injustice, and they would write on the huge page of the sky the sacred word of liberty.

The union of the Condor and Eagle, according to the prophecy, should occur in this time. The ensuing time period will be born with a new spirit. This new spirit will unite once again the red nations of North, Central and South parts of the hemisphere.

It is important to understand the interpretation of the prophecy in order to understand the purpose and scope of the Peace and Dignity Journeys mandate which the intercontinental run is a part.

There are many steps that will and are being taken by our peoples in this time. The Peace and Dignity runs are some of these steps. All steps are part of the Vision, Dreams and Prayer that we are making to carry out the instructions of our ancestors and to fulfill the prophecy by active participation in these steps.

This is the prayer of Peace and Dignity that the Eagle and Condor Confederation be reestablished again.

Prophecies of the Q'ero Incan Shamans

The light of idealism gleamed in his eyes as Dr. Alberto Villoldo described how an earthquake in 1949 underneath a monastery near Cuzco, Peru, had rent the ground asunder, exposing an ancient Incan temple of gold. This fulfilled a sign that the prophecies of Mosoq, the "time to come," were now to be shared with the modern world.

Dr. Villoldo, a psychologist and medicinal anthropologist, has lived among and trained with the Q'ero shamans and has played a key role in bringing their ritual and prophecy to the awareness of the modern world.

The Q'ero are the last of the Incas - a tribe of 600 who sought refuge at altitudes above 14,000 feet in order to escape the conquering conquistadors.

For 500 years the Q'ero elders have preserved a sacred prophecy of a great change, or "pachacuti," in which the world would be turned right-side-up, harmony and order would be restored, and chaos and disorder ended.

The Q'ero had lived in their villages high in the Andes in virtual solitude from the world until their "discovery" in 1949.

In that year, Oscar Nunez del Prado, an anthropologist, was at a festival in Paucartambo, in southern Peru, when he met two Indians speaking fluent Quecha, the language of the Incas. The first Western expedition to the Q'ero villages then occurred in 1955.

Four years later, at the annual Feast of The Return of the Pleiades taking place in the Andes, the gathering of 70,000 pilgrims from South America were awed, and the crowd parted to let the Q'ero, unannounced and wearing the Incan emblem of the sun, make their way forward to the mountain top to make known that the time of the prophecies was at hand. They were welcomed by theassembly and were told, "We've been waiting for you for 500 years."

Recently, Q'ero elders journeyed to North America in fulfillment of their prophecies.

In November 1996, a small group of Q'ero, including the tribal leader and the head shaman, visited several cities in the US, including New York, where they performed a private ceremony at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

The shamanic ritual had not been performed for 500 years. But in thevery home of those who symbolized the former conquerors of their Incan ancestors they shared their ritual and knowledge, not only with interested Westerners who were learning their ways, but also with the Dean of the great cathedral, thereby symbolically and spiritually linking the two continents of North and South America.

According to ancient prophecy, this is the time of the great gathering called the "mastay" and reintegration of the peoples of the four directions.

The Q'ero are releasing their teachings to the West, in preparation for the day the Eagle of the North and the Condor of the South (the Americas) fly together again.

They believe that "munay," love and compassion, will be the guiding force of this great gathering of the peoples.

The new caretakers of the Earth will come from the West, and those that have made the greatest impact on Mother Earth now have the moral responsibility to remake their relationship with Her, after remaking themselves," said Don Antonio Morales, a master Q'ero shaman.

The prophecy holds that North America will supply the physical strength, or body; Europe will supply the mental aspect, or head; and the heart will be supplied by South America.

When the Spanish conquered the Incas 500 years ago, the last pachacuti, or great change, occurred.

The Q'ero have been waiting ever since for the next pachacuti, when order would emerge out of chaos.

For the past five centuries they preserved their s acred knowledge, and finally, in recent years, the signs were fulfilled that the great time of change was at hand: the high mountain lagoons have dried, the condor is nearly extinct and the discovery of the Golden Temple has occurred, following the earthquake in 1949 which represented the wrath of the sun.

The prophecies are optimistic. They refer to the end of time as we know it -- the death of a way of thinking and a way of being, the end of a way of relating to nature and to the earth. In the coming years, the Incas expect us to emerge into a golden age, a golden millennium of peace.

The prophecies also speak of tumultuous changes happening in the earth, and in our psyche, redefining our relationships and spirituality. The next pachacuti, or great change, has already begun, and it promises the emergence of a new human after this period of turmoil. The chaos and upheaval characteristic of this period will last another four years, according to the Q'ero.

The paradigm of European civilization will continue to collapse, and the way of the Earth people will return. Even more importantly, the shamanic elders speak about a tear in the fabric of time itself.

This presents an opportunity for us to describe ourselves not as who we have been in the past but as who we are becoming. Pachacuti also refers to a great Incan leader who lived in the late 1300s. He is said to have built Machu Picchu and was the architect of an empire the size of the US. For the Incas, Pachacuti is a spiritual prototype -- a Master, a luminous one who stepped outside of time. He was a messiah, but not in the Christian sense of the only son of God, beyond the reach of humanity. Rather he is viewed as a symbol and promise of who we all might become. He embodies the essence of the prophecies of the pachacuti, as Pacha means "earth" or "time," and cuti means "to set things right." His name also means "transformer of the earth."

The prophecies of the pachacuti are known throughout the Andes. There are those who believe the prophecies refer to the return of the leader Pachacuti to defeat those who took the Incas' land. But according to Dr. Villoldo, the return of Pachacuti is taking place on the collective level. "It's not the return of a single individual who embodies what we're becoming, but a process of emergence available to all peoples." The Q'ero have served as the caretakers of the rites and prophecies of their Inca ancestors. The prophecies are of no use unless one has the keys, the rites of passage.

The Star Rites, or "Mosoq Karpay" (The Rites of the Time to Come), are crucial to the practical growth described in the prophecies. Following the "despachos" (ritualistic offerings of mesa, or medicine bundles) at the ceremony in New York City, the shamans administered the Mosoq Karpay to the individuals present, transmitting the energies originating with the ancestors of their lineage. The transmission of the Mosoq Karpay is the ceremony representing the end of one's relationship to time. It is a process of the heart. This process of Becoming is considered more important than the prophecies themselves. The Karpay (rites) plant the seed of knowledge, the seed of Pachacuti, in the luminous body of the recipient. It is up to each person to water and tend the seed so that it can grow and blossom. The rites are a transmission of potential; one must then make oneself available to destiny. The Karpays connect the person to an ancient lineage of knowledge and power that cannot be accessed by the individual. It can only be summoned by a tribe. Ultimately, this power can provide the impetus for one to leap into the body of an Inca, a Luminous One. That person is connected directly to the stars, the Incan Sun of cosmology.

The Q'ero believe that the doorways between the worlds are opening again. Holes in time that we can step through and beyond, where we can explore our human capabilities. Regaining our luminous nature is a possibility today for all who dare to take the leap. The Andean shamans say, "Follow your own footsteps. Learn from the rivers, the trees and the rocks. Honor the Christ, the Buddha, your brothers and sisters. Honor the Earth Mother and the Great Spirit. Honor yourself and all of creation." "Look with the eyes of your soul and engage the essential," is the teaching of the Q'ero.

Mayan Prophecy:

Hunbatz Men tells of an ancient confederation of Native American elders made up of representatives from Nicaragua to the Arctic Circle. They have been meeting for thousands of years and continue to do so today. Before the Spaniards came the confederation decided to hide the Mayan teachings, entrusting certain families with their care. Hunbatz Men is an inheritor of that lineage. In his book Secrets of Mayan Science/Religion, he reveals teachings that mirror the Hindu and Buddhist ones of astrology, meditation, and the septenary root of creation. He speaks of Kukulcan and Quetzalcoatl, not so much in light of an expected return, but rather in terms of the possibility that each of us can attain the same exalted stage by treading the path of attaining knowledge. "To be Quetzalcoatl or Kukulcanis; to know the seven forces that govern our body not only know them but also use them and understand their intimate relationship with natural and cosmic laws. We must comprehend the long and short cycles and the solar laws that sustain our lives. We must know how to die, and how to be born." Don Alejandro Oxlaj is a seventh generation priest from Guatemala and head of the Quiche Maya Elder Council. He has traveled throughout North America, comparing the native prophecies of different tribes. In the coming year he hopes to record and publish, for the first time in 500 years, the Mayan prophecies of his people.

An interesting note to all these connections: Tibet is exactly on the opposite side of the planet from the Hopi Reservation.

The Tibetan word for "sun" is the Hopi word for "moon." The Hopi word for "sun" is the Tibetan word for "moon." The cliff paintings at Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde are guides for Hopi clansmen to follow, and they claim to have built the snake-shaped mounds in the eastern United States. The Hopi base their existence on faith only, and their story is a fascinating tale of that faith sustaining them: "White men come, white men go, but we shall always be here." According to Hopi beliefs, this is the fourth creation of life; the three preceeding ending in destruction. Each time conflict, which is not a part of The Hopi Way, came about as men forgot or denied the plan of the Creator. The faithful were protected underground with the ant people, and the kivas of today are representations of those anthills.

The Hopi creation story is about a succession through underworlds and each of these is associated with a specific direction, color, mineral, plant, and bird.

* The First World: "Endless Space" contained the First People and was a pure and happy universe. It was destroyed by fire.
* The Second World: "Dark Midnight" was destroyed by cold and ice. The Chosen People survived in an anthill and then climbed up a ladder into the third world.
* The Third World was destroyed by floods. Spider Woman saved these ancestors by hiding them in reeds and floating them to dry land into the Fourth World.
* The Fourth World: "The World Complete." The caretaker of this world is Masau'u, The Fire God. This world is unlike the previous three, which have been blocked by waters and ice. In the past worlds they had been well-provided for, but the fourth world has proven to be harsh, with deserts, marshes, mountains, and violent weather. The Hopi say this world is now ending and the Fifth World has begun.

AND: a trip down the Colorado River 90 years ago which led to the discovery of the Hopi connection with Egypt and Tibet. A continuing mystery of the area are the Zuni, whose way of life is very like the Hopi, but who speak a language unlike any other Native American Indian peoples. Strangely enough, research of the Zuni has led to a Libyan connection. More to follow.

The Hopi and Navajo have these beliefs in common:

* Sandpainting for sale always contains errors so as not to offend the higher powers.
* The PLEIADES Constellation is painted on Black God's cheek. He arranged these "star rocks" in the night sky.
* Origin myths are not to be recorded, only told to the initiated. This has changed, and peoples from all around the planet are coming forth with ancient teachings.
* Bad behavior explained: "He doesn't know any better, he had no grandfather to give him the stories."

New Zealand

The Waitaha nation claims the most ancient lineage in New Zealand. When the nation was broken up by warriors from the Pacific the elders concealed 1,000 years of their generational history and wisdom teachings, passing the knowledge on through only a tiny number of people in each generation. In 1990 the elders saw in the heavens a configuration that was a sign for them to release their sacred knowledge. A book, The Song of Waitaha, by Barry Brailsford, contains these teachings. In their language wai means water and taha means gourd, implying the idea of a water carrier, the sign of Aquarius.

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The Prophecy of the Condor and the Eagle
http://bit.ly/hL96nJ

The dawning age of intuition and spirit From Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (page 209) by John Perkins:

Nearly every culture I know prophesies that in the late 1990's we entered a period of remarkable transition. At monasteries in the Himalayas, ceremonial sites in Indonesia, and indigenous reservations in North America, from the depths of the Amazon to the peaks of the Andes, and into the ancient Mayan cities of Central America, I have heard that ours is a special moment in human history, and that each of us was born at this time because we have a mission to accomplish.

The titles and the words of the prophecies differ slightly. They tell variously of a New Age, the Third Millennium, the Age of Aquarius, the Beginning of the Fifth Sun, or the end of old calendars and the commencement of new ones. Despite the varying terminologies, however, they have a great deal in common, and "The Prophecy of the Condor and Eagle" is typical. It states that back in the mists of history, human societies divided and took different paths: that of the condor (representing the heart, intuitive and mystical) and that of the eagle (representing the brain, rational and material). In the 1490's, the prophesy said, the two paths would converge and the eagle would drive the condor to the verge of extinction. Then, five hundred years later, in the 1990's a new epoch would begin, one in which the condor and the eagle will have the opportunity to reunite and fly together in the same sky, along the same path. If the condor and eagle accept this opportunity, they will create a most remarkable offspring, unlike any seen before.

"The Prophecy of the Condor and Eagle" can be taken at many levels — the standard interpretation is that it foretells the sharing of indigenous knowledge with the technologies of science, the balancing of yin and yang, and the bridging of northern and southern cultures. However, most powerful is the message it offers about consciousness; it says that we have entered a time when we can benefit from the many diverse ways of seeing ourselves and the world, and that we can use these as a springboard to higher levels of awareness. As human beings we can truly wake up and evolve into a more conscious species.

I do not believe there is intelligent direction of the universe or that we were "born at this time because we have a mission to accomplish." But there are patterns in the evolution of culture that intuitive people can recognize. When similar prophetic visions occur independently in many cultures, they should be taken seriously. However, specific interpretations of these visions should always be treated with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Here is my take on this prophecy. Western Culture, since the middle ages, has been increasingly dominated by intellect at the expense of other dimensions of the human psyche. This one sided development of reason created modern science and technology through which Western culture has dominated the planet. Reason is a very powerful but also very limited tool. Inevitably it seeks over simplistic models in domains that are too complex for a rational model.

In large part, my thinking follows Carl Jung's Psychological Types. Jung saw the human psyche organized around two pairs of opposing functions: thinking versus feeling and intuition versus sensation. The first pair represents rational functions. Thinking organizes material from an objective standpoint as an engineer might. Feeling organizes material from the standpoint of what is important to ones well being as a mother protecting her children might. Since these represent different rational ways of organizing the same material it is difficult to develop both of these functions.

The irrational opposites are similarly difficult to develop together. They are both pattern recognition processes. Sensation looks for patterns in what is present here and now. Intuition looks for the patterns that explain what lead to the current state of affairs and how the situation may evolve over time. Sensation types cannot see the forest for the trees. Intuitive types are well aware of the forest as they crash into the tree in front of them.

At this stage in history the natural next step is the development of intuition. Developing feeling, the opposite function to dominant thinking, is too difficult. Intuition and not sensation has the potential to offset the over simplistic views that is a fundamental weakness of intellect.

Of course both intuition and intellect have been essential to the development of science and technology. However intellect has remained in the driving role. Academia is focused on developing intellect, Intuition is seen as an almost magical force that just happens without systematic development. Ancient systems of developing intuition like astrology, tarot, and the I Ching remain steeped and superstition and no modern replacements have evolved.

Intellect's dominance cannot be overthrown externally. Instead it bears the seeds of its own waning influence. This is starting to happen at many levels. As intellect solves more of the problems that it is capable of dealing with, it expands the scope and importance of problems that are beyond it. For example the enormous improvements of productivity that technology has created are beginning to be a problem. Instead of leading to better lives for everyone, they are concentrating wealth into ever fewer hands, while earning a decent living is becoming more difficult for the vast majority. Simplistic laissez-faire capitalism exasperates the problem. A far more subtle and complex understanding is required. This can only be done through open minded experimentation using both intellect and intuition to design and interpret the experiments.

Intellect seeks the solution, the correct answer the true path. The ultimate achievement of intellect is mathematics. This is a pure product of reason unsullied by the ambiguity and complexity of the real world. Yet it is in precisely this purest of intellectual products that the limitations of reason become most apparent. It has been proven with mathematical certainty that there can be no single path approach to discovering all mathematical truth. This can only be accomplished with a divergent process that, over time, follows an ever increasing number of paths. This result is known as Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem.

I see this prophecy as foretelling the rise of intuition and the beginning of a reconnection with ancient wisdom that does not fit into a narrow intellectual framework. But this must not and cannot be an abandonment or a renunciation of the achievements of intellect. It must be a union of the two that creates something different than and beyond what exists today.

I have spent a good part of my life thinking about these issues. One result is the book: What is and what will be.http://www.mtnmath.com/willbe.html

Paul Budnik
http://www.mtnmath.com/condor.html
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#Native The Eagle and the Condor by Barry Fraser:
http://bit.ly/fqV4hG
The Eagle and the Condor by Barry Fraser

In the first few pages of the book "Spirit of the Shuar" co-author Shakaim Mariano tells how he and his wife are saddened to see "how little they have" as they got to know the North Americans and Europeans who visited his Shuar village in the Amazon rainforest.

Were someone from North America to visit a Shuar village, they would see what might look like a materialistically impoverished people. They would see strong and healthy people who do not want for food and other basics, but who have very few "comforts", living in simple shelters with no electricity. Interestingly, they might say exactly what Shakaim Mariano said about that of the North Americans who visited his home.

But visitors would also see something that is sadly missing in our culture that we so desperately long for. They would see a people who have a profound spiritual connection to the earth and an indelible bond to each other and to their ancestors. They would see a people who spend their daily lives working three hours a day with the rest of their time spent playing, enjoying family, friends, and the beauty around them, experiencing the ecstasy of feeling their oneness with the earth and all living creatures. They would see a people who live joyously and have time for all the truly important things.

We have so much to teach each other.

Many of the indigenous cultures of the world share a two-thousand year old prophecy about the eagle and the condor. In the Andes it is expressed as the coming of the new Pachacuti, an interval of roughly 500 years. The prophecy foretold an unbalance and tremendous conflict throughout the Americas from around 1500 to 2000. During this time the eagle, representing the mental and materialistic, has driven the condor, representing the spiritual and heart-centered, almost into extinction.

The eagle represents the modern, technological world, and the people of the eagle have developed the intellect at the expense of the heart. They have developed technology to an extraordinary level, bringing them material wealth beyond their wildest dreams. But they also find themselves spiritually impoverished to their peril.

The people of the condor represent the indigenous people of the world living close to the land, with the heart and wisdom that come from being attuned to the natural world. They live from their heart and through their senses, and have an unparalleled depth of spirituality and wisdom that is an expression of their profound connection to nature. These people are spiritually rich but materially impoverished. The forces of the developed world now threaten their environment that they depend on for their material and spiritual sustenance. They must understand and develop some of the intellectual skills of the eagle.

According to the prophecy of the eagle and condor, we are at the beginning of the "Fifth Pachacuti", a time when the condor will rise again and will once again fly together wing to wing in the same sky as the eagle and the world will come into balance. It is a time of partnership, love and healing, and a transition out of an era of conflict and turmoil into more sustainable and earth-honoring ways. It will be a time of great transition but also with some dangers. The condor will not soon forget the domination of the eagle. The eagle must also change to help restore the balance.

Our task now is to begin to return to the heart-wisdom ways of the condor; to individually begin to fulfill the prophecy. We need to "come to our senses," and listen with our hearts to what the earth is trying to tell us. We need to begin to look at and understand how the individual choices we make every day not only perpetuate the destruction of the earth, but also contribute to our own sense of unhappiness, stress, and isolation from each other. We must begin now to help the condor soar.

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Posted By Peta_de_Aztlan to HELP-Matrix Blog at 3/10/2011 04:38:00 PM

FYI: [@Peta_de_Aztlan Blog] 1-29-2011 Sabbath Twitter Timeline @Peta_de_Aztlan#Egypt #Jan25

2011-01-30T08:38:00.001-08:00

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From: Peta_de_Aztlan <peta.aztlan@gmail.com>
To: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
Sent: Sun, January 30, 2011 8:15:38 AM
Subject: [@Peta_de_Aztlan Blog] 1-29-2011 Sabbath Twitter Timeline @Peta_de_Aztlan #Eg...

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1-29-2011 Sabbath Twitter Timeline @Peta_de_Aztlan #Egypt #Jan25
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http://twitter.com/#!/Peta_de_Aztlan ~Follow @Peta_de_Aztlan
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Peter S. Lopez AKA @Peta_de_Aztlan
Barrio Cinco, Sacramento CA
Spiritual Humane Being who Loves Truth, Peace & Wisdom! Create Peaceful Revolution! Get involved! Help Others! Join the Humane-Liberation-Party!
http://help-matrix.ning.com/
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About @Peta_de_Aztlan
28,977Tweets
42Following
1,256Followers
131Listed
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<+>Good Night Family~Buenas Noches Familia<+>Pray for our Family in Egypt! ~Namaste, Che Peta @Peta_de_Aztlan #Jan25
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Power in Egypt to the People of Egypt! Stay Alert, Stay Alive! #Mubarak Must Go! ~ http://flic.kr/p/9eacMB #Egypt #Liberation #Jan25
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@aglb66 Globally Same shitty Old World Order ~they just got new outfit ~same kind of dinosaurs fearing eventual extinction!
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@IranNewsNow With #Mubarak I am sure it will get ugly before it gets pretty in #Egypt
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@Penny_G Suggest Follow @monaeltahawy She was powerful on CNN Today #Cairo #Egypt #Jan25
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VIDEO: #Egypt Army intervenes to protect protesters from police~ http://bit.ly/dVYdah ~VIA @petequily #Jan25
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VIA @monaeltahawy: Updated my blog w my work over the past week in print, on radio and TV http://www.monaeltahawy.com/blog/ #Jan25
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RT @monaeltahawy: RT RamyRaoof urgent eye-witness several cars leaving now Ministry Interior #Cairo & shooting fire on demonstrators. #Egypt
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Julian #Assange: 'How do you attack an organisation? You attack its leadership'~ http://bit.ly/eMgfjz
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Matrix Concept: Co-ordinated strike action: a tsunami of resistance Trade Union Congress~: http://bit.ly/fVhneo
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Notice that Egyptian people in residential areas of Cario are not members of Guns for Fun Club like here in USA. #Cairo
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RT @JPBarlow: I believe there is natural Right to Know all one can about what is going on in his or her world. Turn on the Net, #Egypt
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01/29/11-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire ~THE "TSUNAMI" CONTINUES TO ROIL ACROSS THE ARAB WORLD http://bit.ly/dL9Q00
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Thursday Jan 27, 2011 ~Political #tsunami in #Egypt: http://bit.ly/dRxCL3
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@Farrah3m Farrah by Peta_de_Aztlan
#egypt prison of 1000 stormed by ppl trying 2 free prisoners, high rankng prisonguard killed #jan25 (via phone)
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@Farrah3m Farrah by Peta_de_Aztlan
People protesting for Egypt in NYC infront of UN http://fb.me/RqUu3JQQ #jan25
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RT @Ssirgany: RT @Elazul I tweeted area by area update of situation in Egypt (security wise) compiled here : http://ca7.com/Zkn #Jan25
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Does #Pharoah #Mubarak gotta wait until his Welfare Check comes on 1st of February to Move Out?! ...No, figure he gots stash.
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4 AM in #Cairo #Egypt 9 PM in #California ~All in the time of now. Sleeping there or not. Awakening here or not. All Family.
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@SHDW_of_LMNTS Iron sharpens iron ~Light creates light ~Love makes love ~Energy energises energy #Jan25 #MiddleEastTsunami
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Can you feel subtle shifts in balance of ~forces ~powers ~energies in the world today/tonight? #Tunisia #Jan25 #Egypt #???
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RT @thenation: "This is not Mubarak's Egypt anymore, and it will never be again": reporting from Egyptian revolution: http://bit.ly/dSwVbM
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VIDEO 1:25 #Egypt: A Nation Forced Offline (January 25th, 2011 Protests) http://bit.ly/fSrhNy #Jan25
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@sharifkouddous Sharif Kouddous by Peta_de_Aztlan
Muslim Brotherhood chanting Allah Akbar. Crowd stopped them chanting louder: Muslim, Christian, we're all Egyptian #Egypt
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RT @democracynow: @democracynow لآخر الأخبار عن مصر تابع http://ow.ly/3MCXW
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A tsunami of tidal waves for democracy and liberation is rising across Middle East! http://bit.ly/g3DwqA #Jan25
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@SoCoLaura It's life. Sometimes it comes together, falls apart, come together, fall apart, comes together! #Palestine
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VIDEO 2:16 The Most AMAZING Video on the Internet #Egypt #jan25 VIA hadi15: http://bit.ly/g3DwqA
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Is Qaddafi Next? New #WikiLeaks cable threatens to stir unrest in #Libya: http://bit.ly/ge6xMz #Tunisia #Egypt #Jan25
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Blessing to All on Twitter who HELP to Spread Truth and Encourage the Empowerment of People of #Egypt #Jordan #Syria #Libya
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RT @wikileaks: Is Qaddafi the next to go? http://is.gd/yL07ae
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VIA @nprnews: A Primer On Following Egyptian Protests On Twitter | http://t.co/zRT56AM ~Suggest Following!
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@CliftonR Clifton Whitley by Peta_de_Aztlan
RT @nprnews A Primer On Following Egyptian Protests On Twitter http://n.pr/egK3BC #jan25 #egypt
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Music VIDEO 3:44 ~Sting - Whenever I Say Your Name ft. Mary J. Blige: http://bit.ly/fMD9xJ
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@CornelWest Cornel West by Peta_de_Aztlan
My blues sister @MaryJBlige took a #Funk classic & gave us a message inherent w/ #Hope & #Love. LISTEN: http://ow.ly/3KEqg
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@CornelWest Cornel West by Peta_de_Aztlan
Where there is no death, there is no life.
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@CornelWest Cornel West by Peta_de_Aztlan
I give tribute to the incredible courage of my precious Egyptian bros & sis calling for an end to the ugly US backed tyranny of Mubarak.
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@CornelWest Cornel West by Peta_de_Aztlan
And as a follower of #MLK, I say to all pharaohs, "let my people go!"
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@CornelWest Cornel West by Peta_de_Aztlan
Shame on Pres. Obama & Sec. Clinton for their centrist rhetoric when we all should be extremist for #LOVE & #JUSTICE!
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@CornelWest Cornel West by Peta_de_Aztlan
@monaeltahawy Long live the dignity & decency of my Egyptian brothers & sisters in their quest for a democratic Egypt!
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@CornelWest Cornel West by Peta_de_Aztlan
To my dear sister @MonaEltahawy, God be with you in your magnificent eloquence in the midst of this historic crisis.
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@Peta_de_Aztlan Peter S. Lopez Matrix Concept: 3D Formula= Direction ~ Discipline ~ Determination
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Matrix Concept: Concentration on the Coordination of Communication
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Questions to Answer for Plan of Action: 5W Formula= Who? What? When? Where? Why?
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VIDEO @monaeltahawy &-surprise-Fran Townsend: #Egypt's History of Complicity with US Rendition: http://youtu.be/Y62tcoy7Q7Q #Jan25
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VIA @wikileaks: Cable: "Presidential succession in Egypt" http://bit.ly/gxZC8C
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RT @monaeltahawy: One CNN appearance today http://bit.ly/g5RzbA and another http://bit.ly/hsX9fd on #Egypt's uprising. #Jan25
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@emptywheel emptywheel by Peta_de_Aztlan
Here's that clip where @monaeltahawy gets Franny Fragos Townsend to admit we render to torture in Egypt. http://fdl.me/f7Osj0
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@monaeltahawy SunNight ~Right On Sister Mona! Saw you on CNN. You gave me a HEADS UP! Beautiful Energy and Keen Intelligence!
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@aglb66 Revolutions involving transformation of property relations between 'haves' and 'have-nots' are planned. #Egypt #USA
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NEWS Al Jazeera English: Live Stream ~Watch the broadcast here: http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/
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1/29/2011 3:26pm #Egypt Internet, social media users find some relief, Cairo blogger says @waelabbas: http://lat.ms/eouanC
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There are key lessons to be learned from the uprising in #Egypt with applications for all social liberation movements, #USA
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RT @katalystprods: TWITTER PROTEST TODAY: PLEASE BOMBARD @VodafoneUK @VodafoneEgypt to RESTORE INTERNET/SMS COMMS TO EGYPT! #egypt #jan25
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RT @wikileaks: "Omar Soliman keeps the domestic beasts at bay, and Mubarak is not one to lose sleep over his tactics." http://is.gd/nnC02g
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#Science: Scientists Find the Tiny 24-Hour Clock in Every Living Thing: http://fxn.ws/fnBE46 ~VIA @heidiko44
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@Shad84 Shaden Abdulrahman by Peta_de_Aztlan
what is the army's role in the revolution? they should be defending their people and fighting for their freedom #jan25 #egypt
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3 AM in Caiso, Egypt ~ 5 PM in California ~Just got up from a cat naps. Watching CNN on Crisis in #Egypt. Prison break?
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4/30/2008 ~Profile: Omar Suleiman ~key broker talks between Israe-Palestinians > http://bit.ly/epwFKi
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Omar Suleiman, #Cairo's New Spymaster-in-Chief by John Barry~ http://bit.ly/dJM3fh
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Omar Suleiman: Egypt's Own George Mitchell by Steve Clemons @SCClemons: http://bit.ly/fk1zzF #Egypt
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1/29/2011 ~Suleiman selection reassures Western allies By Clayton Swisher~ http://bit.ly/dMYaXW ~VIA @mohamed #Egypt
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RT @gemswinc: There have been six assassination attempts on Murabak over the years & he is worth ~ 25billion£
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LINK: World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011 > http://bit.ly/fqQ9dp
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RT @wikileaks: Assange full extradition case will start Tues Feb 7 Belmarsh Magistrates Court http://is.gd/FQpWLh
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@Raul_Ramos Gracias Carnal. We will get to know each other better in the future. Keep on inspiriing all of us! ~Che Peta
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Wed Jan 26, 2011 ~Noam Chomsky lectures on nation's problems: http://bit.ly/hFRl9A
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2:02 PM/PST ~Time for afternoon prayer and short siesta for this ancient brujo. Be good all. @Peta_de_Aztlan
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@haaretzonline Haaretz.com by Peta_de_Aztlan
In Egypt, protesters and soldiers declare: The army and the people are one http://bit.ly/efcyhg
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@haaretzonline Haaretz.com by Peta_de_Aztlan
Aluf Benn / Without Egypt, Israel will be left with no friends in the Middle East http://bit.ly/eLnNAu
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RT @Raul_Ramos: Catch rerun of my WYSO Book Nook radio interview 11am ET Sun. 1-30. Listen online: http://tinyurl.com/46qswlr #books #latism
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@ishtarmuz Then there is nothing quite like a Remington shotgun slung over my shoulder under my trench coat!
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@ishtarmuz I trust in the Creator of the Cosmos ~my own intuition ~and some Earthlings with complete trust, not many.
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Fall of #Mubarak Govt could set off tsunami ~topple other governments ~rearrange balance of powers in Middle East: http://lat.ms/geyx5r
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LA Times: #Egypt crisis puts Obama to the test ~biggest foreign policy challenge to date: http://lat.ms/geyx5r
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@gizm0bill Cool. How are the people there looking at Egypt? Do they know about what is going on or care there?
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Hell, #Cario at night now seems like a lot of inner city ghettos and barrios inside the United States. Homegrown #thugs!
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@MMFlint Michael Moore by Peta_de_Aztlan
People of Egypt! Use this dial-up provided by friends in France 2 go online: +33172890150 (login 'toto' password 'toto') #egypt #jan25
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@mediacology Antonio Lopez by Peta_de_Aztlan
Egyptian activists create an autonomous Internet, not routed through Egypt's network: http://bit.ly/dWyLqk Some serious hacking!
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@gizm0bill ~ http://help-matrix.ning.com/ ~ http://www.facebook.com/Peta51 ~
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@gizm0bill There are more ways than one to butcher a pig! Our great collective limitation is actually our own imagination!
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Sick perverted patriots who boast of Amerikan 'exceptionalism' disgust me. Amerikan Nationalism is inherently reactionary.
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On the side ~ Watching TV ~CNN EGYPT IN CHAOS ~some good coverage ~Yes, CNN is a big corporate news media network. Choices?
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@gizm0bill To profess to be non-political and not into politics is itself a form of politics. Politics should serve our needs.
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@gizm0bill All these historical experiences offer us fresh lessons, new ways of defining connected reallity of politics.
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@gizm0bill Yes, traditional politics is how gangsters keep themselves 'in power and in control'. We need People's Politics!
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Activist Social Networks extend beyond the Internet ~Internet is tool, not the Social Network itself: http://lat.ms/f6kflD
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Egyptian government cut off nearly all online services between midnight and 12:30 a.m., Egyptian time, on Friday, http://lat.ms/f6kflD
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RT @wikileaks: Yes, we may have helped Tunisia, Egypt. But let us not forget the elephant in the room: Al Jazeera + sat dishes
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Good Wife! RT @bencnn: My wonderful wife has handed out baseball bats, clubs, kitchen knives and tea to neighbourhood patrol.
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@gizm0bill There will still be need for administartive apparatus ~humanity has far to evolve if we do not self-destruct before.
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VIA LA Times @latimestech ~1/29/2011 #Egypt may have turned off the Internet one phone call at a time: http://lat.ms/f6kflD
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#Egyptians in #Cairo are getting a crash course in self-policing via local militias ~form of self-government http://bit.ly/VGnK
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@XtyMiller I have found no matter what good we do that some foul folks will still talk shit and do judgmental inventories.
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Masses know that #Egypt requires a fundamental transformation of state power, not surface re-shuffling of positions. #Jan25
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@SultanAlQassemi Yes, I quit Following @AlArabiya_Eng ~ Following @AJEnglish and few others, including you. ~In California
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Masses demand that #Mubarak resign, demand court martials for offenders. POTUS Obama should telll #Mubarak to stand down!!!
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@mssarahbellum Believe Social Networking websites provide mass pressure release valves for mass discontent ~shared concerns.
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@ishtarmuz Know when I walk around these streets around here in Downtown Sacramento I am always armed, just in case!
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RT @wikileaks: WikiLeaks news update http://wlcentral.org/
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RT @wikileaks: The New York Times vs. WikiLeaks http://wlcentral.org/node/1126
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All of us inside the USA should appreciate our blessings, exercise our humane rights and encourage conversations with others.
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11:52 AM ~PST ~Think it is almost 11 PM at Night in Cairo. Fascinating to observe it from afar thousands of miles away safe.
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It should be all about the people. People's Militias ~ People's Army ~ People's Government ~ People's World #Egypt #Jan25
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Military calling on Egyptians to protect their own properties from looting ~ http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/ ~People's Militias!
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@mideastmedia David Botti by Peta_de_Aztlan
PIC: Protesters take cover from volleys of rubber bullets fired by police on Mohamed Mahmoud St. #Cairo #Egypt http://yfrog.com/gz954ndj
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@mideastmedia David Botti by Peta_de_Aztlan
PIC: A protester seeks cover during back-and-forth clashes w/ police near Tharir Square. http://yfrog.com/h0hrfrij #Egypt #jan25
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@mideastmedia David Botti by Peta_de_Aztlan
Standing on top of an army tank, a demonstrator rallies the crowd to move against police. http://yfrog.com/gzba7ogj #Egypt #Cairo
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@mideastmedia David Botti by Peta_de_Aztlan
PIC: The scene on a street off of Tharir Sq. after some 12 hours of sporadic clashes: http://yfrog.com/hsid2ufj #Egypt #jan25 #Cairo
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People need to establish armed local militias to protect the homes of people in local communities now. #Egypt #America
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@SultanAlQassemi #Mubarak looks like an Evil Killer ~Look at his eyes! ~POTUS Obama has a flashy smile when he has others kill.
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@AI_808 ~INSPIRE 1 a : to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration #inspire #energy
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That's heavy ~RT @SHDW_of_LMNTS: If these words can reach you - imagine what love can do
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VIA LA Times~#Mubarak names party insider Omar Suleiman as new vice president of #Egypt: http://lat.ms/f2ilAi
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#EGYPT: Eight prisoners die in escape attempt amid Cairo unrest~January 29, 2011~ http://lat.ms/ee270B
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RT @AJEnglish: Mohamed ElBaradei calls for #Mubarak to step down today. Watch live: http://aje.me/ajelive #Egypt #25Jan #suleiman
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RT @AJELive: To the security forces: your role is to protect Egypt & the people, take the side of the people, not the tyrants #ElBaradei
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"Democracy is a great idea. Too bad it plays almost no role in U.S. foreign policy. " Fear Extreme Islamists?... http://ow.ly/3Mx4Y #p2
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RT @SultanAlQassemi: Al Arabiya; official total number of deaths in two days is 62. (of course it's much higher than that)
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RT @SultanAlQassemi: El Baradei "The Egyptian State is collapsing. President Mubarak is refusing to listen to the people"
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RT @SultanAlQassemi: El Baradei "The Egyptian people will remember who stood by them & who stood by the regime when it falls"
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"People will demonstrate, they will not go home until justice is restored and democracy is gained"- #ElBaradei http://aje.me/ajelive #egypt
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@Le_DeesseJaana POTUS Obama is a spin master at spinning attention away from his Achilles heel in Aghanisnam!
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1/29/2011~8:25 AM #EGYPT: Opposition figure Mohamed #ElBaradei accuses U.S. of dropping the ball: http://lat.ms/fRWFH4 #Jan25
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RT @AJELive: #MohamedElBaradei calls for #Mubarek to step down http://aje.me/ajelive#Egypt #25Jan
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RT @SultanAlQassemi: El Baradei The Egyptian State is collapsing. President Mubarak is refusing to listen to the people"
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@silvercrone DAR by Peta_de_Aztlan
The Facebook Setting You Should Change as Quickly as Possible http://t.co/CK9t03k via @gawker
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@indigenous_news Ahni by Peta_de_Aztlan
Land Has Breath: Respecting Nature in Altai http://is.gd/LcL0K8
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@deanprocter Dean Procter by Peta_de_Aztlan
@monaeltahawy @cynthiashearer: Suleiman ran the renditions for the CIA. Sources: Jane Mayer book and Stephen Grey "Ghostplane" book.
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RT @monaeltahawy: Brave #Egyptian revolutionaries are not looting. #Mubarak regime thugs are looting. Regime desperate as it crumbles #Jan25
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YOUR US Government has been subsidizing Dictator #Mubarak and buying off his loyalty for decades! Decades people! Decades!
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Those who are confused as to why we have government should go back to school and take a civics class, plus a geography class!
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Remember that true governments are meant to be for the people, by the people and of the people, not for corporate interests.
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Let us pray that we all support the people's mass liberation movements #worldwide for social peace, justice and democracy!
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Let us pray for common respect, humane love and mutual support among the Egyptian people and here in USA among Americans.
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@TheGameOfLife POTUS Obama will throw #Mubarak under bus without second thought, yet Obama is drone master in real world!
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@TheGameOfLife Being US Citizen here I am merely pointing out interconnections. What is US Govt role now? #Egypt #Mubarak
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In connected reality all these global conditions and social situations are interconnected ~raise consciousness ~make connections #Jan25
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RT @SultanAlQassemi: Museum http://yfrog.com/h25y0iij http://yfrog.com/hsu6aezj http://yfrog.com/h0arrqj http://yfrog.com/h8ijfrj ...
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RT @SultanAlQassemi: Egyptian security enters the Egypt Museum with weapons to protect it http://yfrog.com/h37dfxuj
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@TheGameOfLife US Govt is spending billions on insane wars in the Middle East ~has subsidized #Egypt Dic #Mubarak for decades
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Amerika! Open your eyes ~Look at #Egypt ~See dictatorship of Two-Party system ~Amerikan Empire expanding us into great debt!
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Amerika! Look at arrogant POTUS Obama still chasing ghosts in Middle East ~looting natural resources that belong to its people!
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Amerika: Look at your own poor homeless people in the streets who have been abandoned for decades by US Govt & Middle-Class!
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From afar, are unemployed lumpen-proletariat ~criminal elements ~domestic refugees ~decades forgotten ~taking advantage in #Cairo?
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RT @sharifkouddous: Wow. It's so quiet in Zamalek I can hear the crowd chanting across the river in Tahrir. #Egypt
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RT @bencnn: residential areas Cairo people setting up barricades protect their streets. Wielding clubs, knives fearing looters. #Egypt
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RT @bencnn: Cairo in tumult Tahrir demands Mubarak go. Gun battles Interior Ministry Other areas, chaos, looting, criminals on loose #Jan25
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RT @bencnn: Police no longer functioning as law enforcement force. Army doing little to actually enforce order. #Jan25 #Egypt
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#Twitter on #Egypt Follow: @AJEnglish @sharifkouddous @SultanAlQassemi @AlArabiya_Eng @DailyNewsEgypt @bencnn @AymanM @ElBaradei
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@AymanM Ayman Mohyeldin by Peta_de_Aztlan
#egypt reports from Ministry of Interior that protesters are trying to storm and takeover building #jan25 (via phone)
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@AymanM Ayman Mohyeldin by Peta_de_Aztlan
8 prisoners killed in prison outside of Cairo after clashes w police according to Min. of Interior source #egypt #jan25 (via phone)
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@ElBaradei Mohamed ElBaradei by Peta_de_Aztlan
We shall continue to exercise our right of peaceful demonstration and restore our freedom & dignity.Regime violence will backfire badly
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@SultanAlQassemi Sultan Al Qassemi by Peta_de_Aztlan
BBC Arabic guest, @ElBaradei ally : The protesters are chanting "The People Want an End to the Regime" not for it to change its colours.
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@SultanAlQassemi Sultan Al Qassemi by Peta_de_Aztlan
@marinildac @eavesdropann Yes Al Jazeera & Al Arabiya are competing channels. Al Arabiya is pro Saudi
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Hear ~ Watch Live Stream on #Egypt via Al Jazeera HERE > http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/
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@dfAvefenix I hope all people see the true Power of the People when they Unite Together for dramatic change now! #Egypt
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@cr4321 But I am not Egyptian ~merely a supporter safe from afar ~pondering how to wake up Amerikan sheep here in USA!
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@cr4321 Yes, Egyptian people have a strong sense of common sense ~Stop Looting from Museum, but looting from retailers is healthy.
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@Peta_de_Aztlan Blog: 1-28-2010-Friday #Twitter Timeline @Peta_de_Aztlan Saved Tweets!: http://bit.ly/hnkm0t ~
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@starZship Inner Peace ~Life Mission~Central Purpose~Pure Love~Self-Esteem~Discipline~Direction...
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@cr4321 Before recent days people of #Egypt seemed real obedient, passive and apathetic ~like Amerikans now! ~We will see!
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@MarilynSchlitz I am not hiding! ~ Contact Info= http://www.facebook.com/Peta51 ~Email: peta.aztlan@gmail.com ~@Peta_de_Aztlan
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@MarilynSchlitz You are absolutely correct. ~Final definitions of anything evolving are inherently defective.
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VIA CBC News: #Cairo police fire on crowd #Egypt protesters defy curfew as military watches: http://bit.ly/h5L6lW
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Image:1-25-2011~Masses inTahrir-Square-Cairo-#Egypt: http://bit.ly/f9Th2I
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@cr4321 This is only a few days into an intense liberating period, #Mubarak needs to Exit #Egypt now. Some have already died..
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@cr4321 Be realistic ~there has been No Overthrow yet ~so far in the main it is a Peaceful Revolutionary Movement in #Egypt.
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Image of Protest by the Masses in #Egypt #Jan25 ~ http://bit.ly/gI2k2j
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NEWS LINK: Egypt Daily ~ http://egyptdaily.com/
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RT @BrnEyeSuss: Once again, I would like to point out, Egyptians are over throwing their Government WITHOUT guns #p2
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#Egypt Awesome Images! Thousands of masses of people calling for resignation of Mubarak ~Fear shattered ~ http://bit.ly/VGnK
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All poor repressed people of Earth have a stake in the Liberating Example emanating from #Egypt against Mubarak Regime. #Jan25
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We need a global matrix of social networks online and on the streets in balanced coordination for our Mass Liberation. #Egypt
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RT @AJEnglish: Latest updates from our teams across #Egypt coming to you live now on #AlJazeera: Tune in: http://aje.me/ajelive #mubarak
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RT @democracynow: just posted: audio report from Ahmad Shokr in Cairo on day 5 of historic #Egypt protests http://bit.ly/eTIVfW
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Genesis 41:33 "And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of #Egypt." #Jan25
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Clearly #Mubarak needs to Resign ~Exit #Egypt ~His Fascist Ego as he nears 83 may prevent him ~Curfew in a few minutes??????
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RT @mohamed: Great pictures from yesterdays protests in Egypt : http://bit.ly/g2nHT2
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RT @mohamed: We're live from Cairo - watch it here on @AJEEnglish : http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/
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VIDEO 2:51 ~Military Prevents Confrontation between Protesters and Police in Cairo: http://bit.ly/feJ6qy
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RT @AlArabiya_Eng: Army tells Egyptians to defend themselves from looters: TV: #Jan25 #Cairo #Egypt http://tinyurl.com/72e45x
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RT @AP: We're looking for videos and images from #Egypt. Send directly to @AP by uploading here: http://apne.ws/eWhEA6 #Jan25
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RT @DailyNewsEgypt: Rumors of fire in Tora prison, gunfire near Maadi for 25 minutes #jan25
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RT @AlArabiya_Eng: Algeria sentences six Islamists to death http://www.alarabiya.net/english
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VIA @AJEnglish: Estimates say over 50,000 #Egyptians currently in Tahrir Square protesting. Watch LIVE here: http://aje.me/ajelive #cairo
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Masses in the Streets again #Egypt ~Headed towards Downtown Cairo ~Demanding Regime Change! http://bit.ly/VGnK
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NPR Weekend Edition Saturday ~Full Show: http://n.pr/8rBx3V
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@AJEnglish ~Al Jazeera English: Live Stream Watch the Broadcast here #Egypt > http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/
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RT @heidiko44: Merci mes amis @heartbloomsbt @shamansun @bonniebright5 @Peta_de_Aztlan @oceanshaman @BrokePimpStyles @LoriMoreno @t2van
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RT @GuerrillaGsOT: #FF @Knoxville_Mover @omenendez @alenafresquet @MCVNetwerk @princessrozanna @rentonsroom @Peta_de_Aztlan @ShelbyKnox
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Protesters back on #Egypt streets: http://bit.ly/eqXcnS
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<+>Saturday, January 29, 2011<+>Buenos Dias Familia!/Good Day Family!<+>Rise and Revolt!<+> Peter S. Lopez AKA @Peta_de_Aztlan
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Posted By Peta_de_Aztlan to @Peta_de_Aztlan Blog at 1/29/2011 11:29:00 PM

Martin Luther King - Nobel Lecture

2011-01-11T19:35:00.001-08:00

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Peta_de_Aztlan <peta.aztlan@gmail.com>
To: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
Sent: Tue, January 11, 2011 5:30:17 PM
Subject: [@Peta_de_Aztlan Blog] Martin Luther King - Nobel Lecture

[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-lecture.html]
Martin Luther King - Nobel Lecture

Nobel Lecture*, December 11, 1964
The Quest for Peace and Justice

It is impossible to begin this lecture without again expressing my deep appreciation to the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament for bestowing upon me and the civil rights movement in the United States such a great honor. Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meaning can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart. Such is the moment I am presently experiencing. I experience this high and joyous moment not for myself alone but for those devotees of nonviolence who have moved so courageously against the ramparts of racial injustice and who in the process have acquired a new estimate of their own human worth. Many of them are young and cultured. Others are middle aged and middle class. The majority are poor and untutored. But they are all united in the quiet conviction that it is better to suffer in dignity than to accept segregation in humiliation. These are the real heroes of the freedom struggle: they are the noble people for whom I accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

This evening I would like to use this lofty and historic platform to discuss what appears to me to be the most pressing problem confronting mankind today. Modern man has brought this whole world to an awe-inspiring threshold of the future. He has reached new and astonishing peaks of scientific success. He has produced machines that think and instruments that peer into the unfathomable ranges of interstellar space. He has built gigantic bridges to span the seas and gargantuan buildings to kiss the skies. His airplanes and spaceships have dwarfed distance, placed time in chains, and carved highways through the stratosphere. This is a dazzling picture of modern man's scientific and technological progress.

Yet, in spite of these spectacular strides in science and technology, and still unlimited ones to come, something basic is missing. There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.

Every man lives in two realms, the internal and the external. The internal is that realm of spiritual ends expressed in art, literature, morals, and religion. The external is that complex of devices, techniques, mechanisms, and instrumentalities by means of which we live. Our problem today is that we have allowed the internal to become lost in the external. We have allowed the means by which we live to outdistance the ends for which we live. So much of modern life can be summarized in that arresting dictum of the poet Thoreau1: "Improved means to an unimproved end". This is the serious predicament, the deep and haunting problem confronting modern man. If we are to survive today, our moral and spiritual "lag" must be eliminated. Enlarged material powers spell enlarged peril if there is not proportionate growth of the soul. When the "without" of man's nature subjugates the "within", dark storm clouds begin to form in the world.

This problem of spiritual and moral lag, which constitutes modern man's chief dilemma, expresses itself in three larger problems which grow out of man's ethical infantilism. Each of these problems, while appearing to be separate and isolated, is inextricably bound to the other. I refer to racial injustice, poverty, and war.

The first problem that I would like to mention is racial injustice. The struggle to eliminate the evil of racial injustice constitutes one of the major struggles of our time. The present upsurge of the Negro people of the United States grows out of a deep and passionate determination to make freedom and equality a reality "here" and "now". In one sense the civil rights movement in the United States is a special American phenomenon which must be understood in the light of American history and dealt with in terms of the American situation. But on another and more important level, what is happening in the United States today is a relatively small part of a world development.

We live in a day, says the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead2,"when civilization is shifting its basic outlook: a major turning point in history where the presuppositions on which society is structured are being analyzed, sharply challenged, and profoundly changed." What we are seeing now is a freedom explosion, the realization of "an idea whose time has come", to use Victor Hugo's phrase3. The deep rumbling of discontent that we hear today is the thunder of disinherited masses, rising from dungeons of oppression to the bright hills of freedom, in one majestic chorus the rising masses singing, in the words of our freedom song, "Ain't gonna let nobody turn us around."4 All over the world, like a fever, the freedom movement is spreading in the widest liberation in history. The great masses of people are determined to end the exploitation of their races and land. They are awake and moving toward their goal like a tidal wave. You can hear them rumbling in every village street, on the docks, in the houses, among the students, in the churches, and at political meetings. Historic movement was for several centuries that of the nations and societies of Western Europe out into the rest of the world in "conquest" of various sorts. That period, the era of colonialism, is at an end. East is meeting West. The earth is being redistributed. Yes, we are "shifting our basic outlooks".

These developments should not surprise any student of history. Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself. The Bible tells the thrilling story of how Moses stood in Pharaoh's court centuries ago and cried, "Let my people go."5 This is a kind of opening chapter in a continuing story. The present struggle in the United States is a later chapter in the same unfolding story. Something within has reminded the Negro of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers in Asia, South America, and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice.

Fortunately, some significant strides have been made in the struggle to end the long night of racial injustice. We have seen the magnificent drama of independence unfold in Asia and Africa. Just thirty years ago there were only three independent nations in the whole of Africa. But today thirty-five African nations have risen from colonial bondage. In the United States we have witnessed the gradual demise of the system of racial segregation. The Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools gave a legal and constitutional deathblow to the whole doctrine of separate but equal6. The Court decreed that separate facilities are inherently unequal and that to segregate a child on the basis of race is to deny that child equal protection of the law. This decision came as a beacon light of hope to millions of disinherited people. Then came that glowing day a few months ago when a strong Civil Rights Bill became the law of our land7. This bill, which was first recommended and promoted by President Kennedy, was passed because of the overwhelming support and perseverance of millions of Americans, Negro and white. It came as a bright interlude in the long and sometimes turbulent struggle for civil rights: the beginning of a second emancipation proclamation providing a comprehensive legal basis for equality of opportunity. Since the passage of this bill we have seen some encouraging and surprising signs of compliance. I am happy to report that, by and large, communities all over the southern part of the United States are obeying the Civil Rights Law and showing remarkable good sense in the process.

Another indication that progress is being made was found in the recent presidential election in the United States. The American people revealed great maturity by overwhelmingly rejecting a presidential candidate who had become identified with extremism, racism, and retrogression8. The voters of our nation rendered a telling blow to the radical right9. They defeated those elements in our society which seek to pit white against Negro and lead the nation down a dangerous Fascist path.

Let me not leave you with a false impression. The problem is far from solved. We still have a long, long way to go before the dream of freedom is a reality for the Negro in the United States. To put it figuratively in biblical language, we have left the dusty soils of Egypt and crossed a Red Sea whose waters had for years been hardened by a long and piercing winter of massive resistance. But before we reach the majestic shores of the Promised Land, there is a frustrating and bewildering wilderness ahead. We must still face prodigious hilltops of opposition and gigantic mountains of resistance. But with patient and firm determination we will press on until every valley of despair is exalted to new peaks of hope, until every mountain of pride and irrationality is made low by the leveling process of humility and compassion; until the rough places of injustice are transformed into a smooth plane of equality of opportunity; and until the crooked places of prejudice are transformed by the straightening process of bright-eyed wisdom.

What the main sections of the civil rights movement in the United States are saying is that the demand for dignity, equality, jobs, and citizenship will not be abandoned or diluted or postponed. If that means resistance and conflict we shall not flinch. We shall not be cowed. We are no longer afraid.

The word that symbolizes the spirit and the outward form of our encounter is nonviolence, and it is doubtless that factor which made it seem appropriate to award a peace prize to one identified with struggle. Broadly speaking, nonviolence in the civil rights struggle has meant not relying on arms and weapons of struggle. It has meant noncooperation with customs and laws which are institutional aspects of a regime of discrimination and enslavement. It has meant direct participation of masses in protest, rather than reliance on indirect methods which frequently do not involve masses in action at all.

Nonviolence has also meant that my people in the agonizing struggles of recent years have taken suffering upon themselves instead of inflicting it on others. It has meant, as I said, that we are no longer afraid and cowed. But in some substantial degree it has meant that we do not want to instill fear in others or into the society of which we are a part. The movement does not seek to liberate Negroes at the expense of the humiliation and enslavement of whites. It seeks no victory over anyone. It seeks to liberate American society and to share in the self-liberation of all the people.

Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding: it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.

In a real sense nonviolence seeks to redeem the spiritual and moral lag that I spoke of earlier as the chief dilemma of modern man. It seeks to secure moral ends through moral means. Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.

I believe in this method because I think it is the only way to reestablish a broken community. It is the method which seeks to implement the just law by appealing to the conscience of the great decent majority who through blindness, fear, pride, and irrationality have allowed their consciences to sleep.

The nonviolent resisters can summarize their message in the following simple terms: we will take direct action against injustice despite the failure of governmental and other official agencies to act first. We will not obey unjust laws or submit to unjust practices. We will do this peacefully, openly, cheerfully because our aim is to persuade. We adopt the means of nonviolence because our end is a community at peace with itself. We will try to persuade with our words, but if our words fail, we will try to persuade with our acts. We will always be willing to talk and seek fair compromise, but we are ready to suffer when necessary and even risk our lives to become witnesses to truth as we see it.

This approach to the problem of racial injustice is not at all without successful precedent. It was used in a magnificent way by Mohandas K. Gandhi to challenge the might of the British Empire and free his people from the political domination and economic exploitation inflicted upon them for centuries. He struggled only with the weapons of truth, soul force, non-injury, and courage10.

In the past ten years unarmed gallant men and women of the United States have given living testimony to the moral power and efficacy of nonviolence. By the thousands, faceless, anonymous, relentless young people, black and white, have temporarily left the ivory towers of learning for the barricades of bias. Their courageous and disciplined activities have come as a refreshing oasis in a desert sweltering with the heat of injustice. They have taken our whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. One day all of America will be proud of their achievements11.

I am only too well aware of the human weaknesses and failures which exist, the doubts about the efficacy of nonviolence, and the open advocacy of violence by some. But I am still convinced that nonviolence is both the most practically sound and morally excellent way to grapple with the age-old problem of racial injustice.

A second evil which plagues the modern world is that of poverty. Like a monstrous octopus, it projects its nagging, prehensile tentacles in lands and villages all over the world. Almost two-thirds of the peoples of the world go to bed hungry at night. They are undernourished, ill-housed, and shabbily clad. Many of them have no houses or beds to sleep in. Their only beds are the sidewalks of the cities and the dusty roads of the villages. Most of these poverty-stricken children of God have never seen a physician or a dentist. This problem of poverty is not only seen in the class division between the highly developed industrial nations and the so-called underdeveloped nations; it is seen in the great economic gaps within the rich nations themselves. Take my own country for example. We have developed the greatest system of production that history has ever known. We have become the richest nation in the world. Our national gross product this year will reach the astounding figure of almost 650 billion dollars. Yet, at least one-fifth of our fellow citizens - some ten million families, comprising about forty million individuals - are bound to a miserable culture of poverty. In a sense the poverty of the poor in America is more frustrating than the poverty of Africa and Asia. The misery of the poor in Africa and Asia is shared misery, a fact of life for the vast majority; they are all poor together as a result of years of exploitation and underdevelopment. In sad contrast, the poor in America know that they live in the richest nation in the world, and that even though they are perishing on a lonely island of poverty they are surrounded by a vast ocean of material prosperity. Glistening towers of glass and steel easily seen from their slum dwellings spring up almost overnight. Jet liners speed over their ghettoes at 600 miles an hour; satellites streak through outer space and reveal details of the moon. President Johnson, in his State of the Union Message12, emphasized this contradiction when he heralded the United States' "highest standard of living in the world", and deplored that it was accompanied by "dislocation; loss of jobs, and the specter of poverty in the midst of plenty".

So it is obvious that if man is to redeem his spiritual and moral "lag", he must go all out to bridge the social and economic gulf between the "haves" and the "have nots" of the world. Poverty is one of the most urgent items on the agenda of modern life.

There is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that we have the resources to get rid of it. More than a century and a half ago people began to be disturbed about the twin problems of population and production. A thoughtful Englishman named Malthus wrote a book13 that set forth some rather frightening conclusions. He predicted that the human family was gradually moving toward global starvation because the world was producing people faster than it was producing food and material to support them. Later scientists, however, disproved the conclusion of Malthus, and revealed that he had vastly underestimated the resources of the world and the resourcefulness of man.

Not too many years ago, Dr. Kirtley Mather, a Harvard geologist, wrote a book entitled Enough and to Spare14. He set forth the basic theme that famine is wholly unnecessary in the modern world. Today, therefore, the question on the agenda must read: Why should there be hunger and privation in any land, in any city, at any table when man has the resources and the scientific know-how to provide all mankind with the basic necessities of life? Even deserts can be irrigated and top soil can be replaced. We cannot complain of a lack of land, for there are twenty-five million square miles of tillable land, of which we are using less than seven million. We have amazing knowledge of vitamins, nutrition, the chemistry of food, and the versatility of atoms. There is no deficit in human resources; the deficit is in human will. The well-off and the secure have too often become indifferent and oblivious to the poverty and deprivation in their midst. The poor in our countries have been shut out of our minds, and driven from the mainstream of our societies, because we have allowed them to become invisible. Just as nonviolence exposed the ugliness of racial injustice, so must the infection and sickness of poverty be exposed and healed - not only its symptoms but its basic causes. This, too, will be a fierce struggle, but we must not be afraid to pursue the remedy no matter how formidable the task.

The time has come for an all-out world war against poverty. The rich nations must use their vast resources of wealth to develop the underdeveloped, school the unschooled, and feed the unfed. Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for "the least of these". Deeply etched in the fiber of our religious tradition is the conviction that men are made in the image of God and that they are souls of infinite metaphysical value, the heirs of a legacy of dignity and worth. If we feel this as a profound moral fact, we cannot be content to see men hungry, to see men victimized with starvation and ill health when we have the means to help them. The wealthy nations must go all out to bridge the gulf between the rich minority and the poor majority.

In the final analysis, the rich must not ignore the poor because both rich and poor are tied in a single garment of destiny. All life is interrelated, and all men are interdependent. The agony of the poor diminishes the rich, and the salvation of the poor enlarges the rich. We are inevitably our brothers' keeper because of the interrelated structure of reality. John Donne interpreted this truth in graphic terms when he affirmed15:

No man is an Iland, intire of its selfe: every
man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the
maine: if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea,
Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie
were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends
or of thine owne were: any mans death
diminishes me, because I am involved in
Mankinde: and therefore never send to know
for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee.

A third great evil confronting our world is that of war. Recent events have vividly reminded us that nations are not reducing but rather increasing their arsenals of weapons of mass destruction. The best brains in the highly developed nations of the world are devoted to military technology. The proliferation of nuclear weapons has not been halted, in spite of the Limited Test Ban Treaty16. On the contrary, the detonation of an atomic device by the first nonwhite, non- Western, and so-called underdeveloped power, namely the Chinese People's Republic17, opens new vistas of exposure of vast multitudes, the whole of humanity, to insidious terrorization by the ever-present threat of annihilation. The fact that most of the time human beings put the truth about the nature and risks of the nuclear war out of their minds because it is too painful and therefore not "acceptable", does not alter the nature and risks of such war. The device of "rejection" may temporarily cover up anxiety, but it does not bestow peace of mind and emotional security.

So man's proneness to engage in war is still a fact. But wisdom born of experience should tell us that war is obsolete. There may have been a time when war served as a negative good by preventing the spread and growth of an evil force, but the destructive power of modern weapons eliminated even the possibility that war may serve as a negative good. If we assume that life is worth living and that man has a right to survive, then we must find an alternative to war. In a day when vehicles hurtle through outer space and guided ballistic missiles carve highways of death through the stratosphere, no nation can claim victory in war. A so-called limited war will leave little more than a calamitous legacy of human suffering, political turmoil, and spiritual disillusionment. A world war - God forbid! - will leave only smoldering ashes as a mute testimony of a human race whose folly led inexorably to ultimate death. So if modern man continues to flirt unhesitatingly with war, he will transform his earthly habitat into an inferno such as even the mind of Dante could not imagine.

Therefore, I venture to suggest to all of you and all who hear and may eventually read these words, that the philosophy and strategy of nonviolence become immediately a subject for study and for serious experimentation in every field of human conflict, by no means excluding the relations between nations. It is, after all, nation-states which make war, which have produced the weapons which threaten the survival of mankind, and which are both genocidal and suicidal in character.

Here also we have ancient habits to deal with, vast structures of power, indescribably complicated problems to solve. But unless we abdicate our humanity altogether and succumb to fear and impotence in the presence of the weapons we have ourselves created, it is as imperative and urgent to put an end to war and violence between nations as it is to put an end to racial injustice. Equality with whites will hardly solve the problems of either whites or Negroes if it means equality in a society under the spell of terror and a world doomed to extinction.

I do not wish to minimize the complexity of the problems that need to be faced in achieving disarmament and peace. But I think it is a fact that we shall not have the will, the courage, and the insight to deal with such matters unless in this field we are prepared to undergo a mental and spiritual reevaluation - a change of focus which will enable us to see that the things which seem most real and powerful are indeed now unreal and have come under the sentence of death. We need to make a supreme effort to generate the readiness, indeed the eagerness, to enter into the new world which is now possible, "the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God"18.

We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say "We must not wage war." It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace. There is a fascinating little story that is preserved for us in Greek literature about Ulysses and the Sirens. The Sirens had the ability to sing so sweetly that sailors could not resist steering toward their island. Many ships were lured upon the rocks, and men forgot home, duty, and honor as they flung themselves into the sea to be embraced by arms that drew them down to death. Ulysses, determined not to be lured by the Sirens, first decided to tie himself tightly to the mast of his boat, and his crew stuffed their ears with wax. But finally he and his crew learned a better way to save themselves: they took on board the beautiful singer Orpheus whose melodies were sweeter than the music of the Sirens. When Orpheus sang, who bothered to listen to the Sirens?

So we must fix our vision not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but upon the positive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody that is far superior to the discords of war. Somehow we must transform the dynamics of the world power struggle from the negative nuclear arms race which no one can win to a positive contest to harness man's creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all of the nations of the world. In short, we must shift the arms race into a "peace race". If we have the will and determination to mount such a peace offensive, we will unlock hitherto tightly sealed doors of hope and transform our imminent cosmic elegy into a psalm of creative fulfillment.

All that I have said boils down to the point of affirming that mankind's survival is dependent upon man's ability to solve the problems of racial injustice, poverty, and war; the solution of these problems is in turn dependent upon man squaring his moral progress with his scientific progress, and learning the practical art of living in harmony. Some years ago a famous novelist died. Among his papers was found a list of suggested story plots for future stories, the most prominently underscored being this one: "A widely separated family inherits a house in which they have to live together." This is the great new problem of mankind. We have inherited a big house, a great "world house" in which we have to live together - black and white, Easterners and Westerners, Gentiles and Jews, Catholics and Protestants, Moslem and Hindu, a family unduly separated in ideas, culture, and interests who, because we can never again live without each other, must learn, somehow, in this one big world, to live with each other.

This means that more and more our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. We must now give an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in our individual societies.

This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men. This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response which is little more than emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the First Epistle of Saint John19:

Let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His
love is perfected in us.

Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day. As Arnold Toynbee20 says: "Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word." We can no longer afford to worship the God of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. Love is the key to the solution of the problems of the world.

Let me close by saying that I have the personal faith that mankind will somehow rise up to the occasion and give new directions to an age drifting rapidly to its doom. In spite of the tensions and uncertainties of this period something profoundly meaningful is taking place. Old systems of exploitation and oppression are passing away, and out of the womb of a frail world new systems of justice and equality are being born. Doors of opportunity are gradually being opened to those at the bottom of society. The shirtless and barefoot people of the land are developing a new sense of "some-bodiness" and carving a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of despair. "The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light."21 Here and there an individual or group dares to love, and rises to the majestic heights of moral maturity. So in a real sense this is a great time to be alive. Therefore, I am not yet discouraged about the future. Granted that the easygoing optimism of yesterday is impossible. Granted that those who pioneer in the struggle for peace and freedom will still face uncomfortable jail terms, painful threats of death; they will still be battered by the storms of persecution, leading them to the nagging feeling that they can no longer bear such a heavy burden, and the temptation of wanting to retreat to a more quiet and serene life. Granted that we face a world crisis which leaves us standing so often amid the surging murmur of life's restless sea. But every crisis has both its dangers and its opportunities. It can spell either salvation or doom. In a dark confused world the kingdom of God may yet reign in the hearts of men.

* Dr. King delivered this lecture in the Auditorium of the University of Oslo. This text is taken from Les Prix Nobel en 1964. The text in the New York Times is excerpted. His speech of acceptance delivered the day before in the same place is reported fully both in Les Prix Nobel en 1964 and the New York Times.

1. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American poet and essayist.

2. Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947). British philosopher and mathematician, professor at the University of London and Harvard University.

3. "There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world and that is an idea whose time has come." Translations differ; probable origin is Victor Hugo, Histoire d'un crime, "Conclusion-La Chute", chap. 10.

4. "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around" is the title of an old Baptist spiritual.

5. Exodus 5:1; 8:1; 9:1; 10:3.

6. "Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka", 347 U.S. 483, contains the decision of May 17, 1954, requiring desegregation of the public schools by the states. "Bolling vs. Sharpe", 347 U.S. 497, contains the decision of same date requiring desegregation of public schools by the federal government; i.e. in Washington, D.C. "Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka", Nos. 1-5. 349 U.S. 249, contains the opinion of May 31, 1955, on appeals from the decisions in the two cases cited above, ordering admission to "public schools on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with all deliberate speed".

7. Public Law 88-352, signed by President Johnson on July 2, 1964.

8. Both Les Prix Nobel and the New York Times read "retrogress".

9. Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater by a popular vote of 43, 128, 956 to 27,177,873.

10. For a note on Gandhi, seep. 329, fn. 1.

11. For accounts of the civil rights activities by both whites and blacks in the decade from 1954 to 1964, see Alan F. Westin, Freedom Now: The Civil Rights Struggle in America (New York: Basic Books, 1964), especially Part IV, "The Techniques of the Civil Rights Struggle"; Howard Zinn, SNCC: The New Abolitionists (Boston: Beacon Press, 1964); Eugene V. Rostow, "The Freedom Riders and the Future", The Reporter (June 22, 1961); James Peck, Cracking the Color Line: Nonviolent Direct Action Methods of Eliminating Racial Discrimination (New York: CORE, 1960).

12. January 8, 1964.

13. Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834), An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798).

14. Kirtley F. Mather, Enough and to Spare: Mother Earth Can Nourish Every Man in Freedom (New York: Harper, 1944).

15. John Donne (1572?-1631), English poet, in the final lines of "Devotions" (1624).

16. Officially called "Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons Tests in Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Underwater", and signed by Russia, England, and United States on July 25, 1963.

17. On October 16, 1964.

18. Hebrews II: 10.

19. I John 4:7-8, 12.

20. Arnold Joseph Toynbee (1889- ), British historian whose monumental work is the 10-volume A Study of Story (1934-1954).

21. This quotation may be based on a phrase from Luke 1:79, "To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death"; or one from Psalms 107:10, "Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death"; or one from Mark Twain's To the Person Sitting in Darkness (1901), "The people who sit in darkness have noticed it...".

From Nobel Lectures, Peace 1951-1970, Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972

Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1964

TO CITE THIS PAGE:
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Posted By Peta_de_Aztlan to @Peta_de_Aztlan Blog at 1/11/2011 05:30:00 PM

Cognitive Therapy for Bipolar Disorder Article by Dr. Jerry Kennard

2011-01-08T22:58:00.000-08:00

http://bit.ly/ehPow8

Cognitive Therapy for Bipolar Disorder

Article by Dr. Jerry Kennard (1,142 pts )
Edited & published by Paul Arnold (39,572 pts ) on Jan 6, 2011

See More About:

Bipolar DisordersAnxiety Disorders

Cognitive therapy for bipolar disorder is a proven and effective form of treatment that is both helpful and easy to understand.

Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/mental-health/depression-mood/articles/101949.aspx#ixzz1AWDUsodx

What is Cognitive Therapy?

Cognitive therapy is a form of psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is really an umbrella term that encompasses a variety of techniques and strategies designed to enable and enhance wellbeing. The evidence to date shows that psychological intervention, in conjunction with medication, provides a useful therapeutic strategy.

How Cognitive Therapy for Bipolar Disorder Can Help

Bipolar disorder is a complex and difficult illness. Therapy sessions can help with the general understanding of the disorder and with the identification and management of triggers. Coping with bipolar is a lifelong issue and a therapist can help with the development of relapse plans, come up with ways to reduce stress and help the person get back on their feet following a bipolar episode. These strategies provide the basic framework for giving the person a sense of control over their condition. Of course a therapist may also be helpful for very specific concerns that arise as a result of living with bipolar.

Cognitive Therapy for Bipolar Disorder

Cognitive therapy (CT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) are based on the relationship between thoughts, behaviors and emotions. Certain patterns of thoughts or beliefs are thought to reinforce mood states. The aim of the cognitive therapist is to identify such thoughts and beliefs and, in collaboration with the patient, find ways of changing them.

What Happens During Therapy?

Cognitive therapy for bipolar disorder involves a focus on learning and the application of skills and strategies designed to help the person cope with bipolar and all that entails. Specific topics may vary somewhat depending on individual needs, but the focus is always on problem solving and practicing the skills necessary for this. Homework is a feature of the approach, in which the patient is asked to complete certain tasks. The number of sessions in a ‘package’ of treatment can vary according to need, but can be as few as six sessions, perhaps with top-up sessions later.

Is Cognitive Therapy for Bipolar Effective?

It is important to appreciate that no form of psychotherapy is a cure for bipolar disorder. As a support structure however there is evidence that cognitive therapy for bipolar disorder can help to reduce relapses. CBT has a well-documented and well researched track record for a range of conditions associated with bipolar disorder. These include depression, anxiety disorder, panic, alcohol problems, eating disorders, sleep disorders and drug dependence.

Because the patient is an active participant in the therapeutic process, they feel empowered and are able to develop a mastery over their condition rather than be ruled by it. Many people like this form of therapy because attention is paid to the here-and-now and practical solutions to problems rather than delving into the past. The active task-oriented sessions provide targets and give a sense of accomplishment when these are met.

Is CBT Difficult?

Far from it. The theory is easy to understand and the tasks are straight forward. CBT is not a form of brain-washing and it is not a cold-mechanical process as sometimes portrayed. Moreover, there are no side effects and nothing that can cause harm.

References

Berk, L., Berl, M., Castle, D., Lauder, S (2009) Living With Bipolar. Vermilion Press.
Perry, A., Tarrier, N., Morriss, R., McCarthy, E & Limb, K (1999) Randomised control trial of efficacy of teaching patients with bipolar disorder to identify early symptoms of relapse and obtain treatment. BMJ, 318, 149-53.

Related Links

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21 Signs of Stress BY: Guy Finley

2010-12-31T17:53:00.000-08:00

http://bit.ly/eJFEDj

21 Signs of Stress

When you take a moment to realize how stressed you are it is the first step to making a change.

BY: Guy Finley

Here are 21 signs of stress. Look through the list to help you uncover areas in your life where stress is stealing the vital energies you need to be a quietly happy, inwardly whole human being. Study the list closely. Ask yourself if the character or daily condition describes you in any way, and if so, then give yourself one point for every “Yes, that’s true about me, or my life” that you find. Honesty is essential.

1. Finding fault with others comes easily to you.
2. You can condemn yourself at the drop of a hat.
3. Your day is likely to have many minor irritations in it.
4. Competition of any kind makes you feel alive.
5. You have a tendency to rush, even when there is no real need for it.
6. One form or another of some unfinished business is always hanging over your head.
7. You love being the center of attention, even if it’s just starring in your own mental movies.
8. Nothing is ever quite good enough for you.
9. You tend to make mountains out of molehills.
10. Revisiting past painful moments seems a natural thing to do.
11. You rarely see and feel something beautiful at least three times a day.
12. People tend to move too slowly for you.
13. More events in your life fail to measure up to your expectations than exceed them.
14. It doesn’t take much for you to feel as though someone has mistreated you.
15. You are easily shocked or irritated by the inconsideration of others.
16. Sitting quietly and doing nothing is difficult for you to do.
17. It’s easy for you to see what’s wrong with everyone else around you.
18. You tend to always arrive a little bit late for your appointments.
19. Confusion is your favorite fallback position when things don’t go as planned.
20. More often than not, you wait until the last moment to do what needs to be done.
21. There are people in your past that you still blame for the pain you feel now.

How Stressed are You? See Your Score
If your score is 1 – 5 You have some stress in your life, but your days are basically bright.
If your score is 6 – 12 Stress is manageable, but you often feel like you’re coming unwrapped!
If your score is 13 – 21 You are basically addicted to stressful states, and your health is at risk.
Guy Finley is the best-selling author of more than 40 works, including The Courage to Be Free, The Secret of Letting Go, and The Essential Laws of Fearless Living. He lives and teaches in Merlin, Oregon where he is Director of non-profit Life of Learning Foundation, www.guyfinley.org . Visit his Beliefnet blog, Letting go with Guy Finley.

Club drug ecstasy could help people with autism, post-traumatic stress syndrome: studies

2010-12-31T17:12:00.000-08:00

http://nydn.us/gppCo6

By Nina Mandell
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, December 31st 2010, 5:12 PM

Flickr

Ecstasy pills may be able to help people other than club-goers.

The club drug ecstasy may help people who have trouble connecting to others, according to a new study.

The drug, also known as MDMA, has long been known to encourage feelings of happiness and playfulness in people - despite its dangers. But now doctors say, in addition to encouraging casual hookups, it also can help increase sociability in people with a variety of conditions, according to the study published in the Biological Psychiatry Journal.

"These 'empathogenic' effects suggest that MDMA might be useful to enhance the psychotherapy of people who struggle to feel connected to others, as may occur in association with autism, schizophrenia or antisocial personality disorder," the journal's authors said in a press release.

The latest study isn't the only one to praise the use of ecstasy in medical situations.

It can also help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, according to another study published in July, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

But the drug also comes with some life-threatening side effects, the study and most drug experts note. While it might make people more social, it also impairs a person's risk-assessment and can quickly dehydrate users.

And the effects might not be that long-lasting. While it can increase sociability, the drug doesn't increase empathy, according to the December study.

"Within the context of treatment, these effects may promote intimacy among people who have difficulty feeling close to others," Dr. John Krystal, editor of Biological Psychiatry, said in the press release. "However, MDMA distorts one's perception of others rather than producing true empathy. Thus, MDMA may cause problems if it leads people to misinterpret the emotional state and perhaps intentions of others."

nmandell@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/12/31/2010-12-31_club_drug_ecstasy_could_help_people_with_autism_posttraumatic_stress_syndrome_st.html#ixzz19k7N9gSU

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/12/31/2010-12-31_club_drug_ecstasy_could_help_people_with_autism_posttraumatic_stress_syndrome_st.html
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Better than Dope: Natural Highs the Cutting Edge of Mood Alteration by Harvey Milkman, Ph.D.

2010-12-31T11:05:00.000-08:00

http://bit.ly/g2Rxat

Better than Dope: Natural Highs the Cutting Edge of Mood Alteration

Craving for Ecstasy and Natural Highs
by Harvey Milkman, Ph.D.
Orchestrating the brain's natural ability to induce pleasure.

Published on September 14, 2009

Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision
But today well lived makes
every yesterday a dream of happiness
And tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!
Such is the salutation of the dawn.
- Kalidasa, 3rd Century AD
Sanskrit poem

"The most pleasure that life has to offer is an adequate flow of dopamine into the nucleus accumbens."
- Stanley Sunderwirth

In the 1950's, animal studies by Olds and Milner showed that electrical stimulation to a rat's pleasure center was more reinforcing than food, sex or the avoidance of electrical shock. The widespread and wanton abuse of methamphetamine, driven by gargantuan jolts of dopamine to the brain's nucleus accumbens, has accentuated this finding in spades. In 1974 Hughes and Kosterlitz discovered internal morphine (endorphin) in a camel's pituitary gland. This proved that the brain produces its own internal opiates and suddenly the genie flew out of the bottle. By unveiling two key drivers of human pleasure - dopamine and endorphin - the stage was set for a deeper understanding of craving and addiction.

In October 1983 Stanley Sunderwirth and I published "The Chemistry of Craving," our treatise on how behavioral addiction to sex, gambling, risk-taking and a host of other pleasure-inducing activities can trigger drug-like reactions in our own brains, similar to the neurochemical changes brought about by stimulants, narcotics, depressants and hallucinogens. We posited that people do not become addicted to drugs, but rather to "self-induced changes in neurotransmission that result in problem behaviors...[and that] in the drama of addiction, experience is the protagonist, drugs and activities are merely the supporting actors." A recent case in point: Michael Jackson's problems in living were far more complex than mere addiction to any prescription drug or fixation on adolescent boys. His life was marked by an insatiable drive for showmanship, creativity, thrill seeking, and novelty, which became the focus for his genius and the bane of his existence.

Our hypothesis ignited a host of theoretical and clinical formulations on the biochemical underpinnings of addiction and the treatment indicated for various compulsive pleasure seeking activities, most notably Patrick Carnes' work on addiction to sex. We now know that there is a neurochemical analogue for each mind-altering substance that wreaks havoc on the ideals of sanity, well-being and human productivity. Given that the brain is a giant pharmaceutical factory that manufactures its own mind-altering chemicals, a fundamental question for the 21st century is: "How can we orchestrate the brain's natural capacity to induce pleasure to the betterment of the individual and welfare of society?"

The aim of this blog is to examine the positive and negative sides of pleasure. We view addiction as a syndrome of related disorders sharing common biological, psychological and social causes with similar life-course trajectories. Readers are invited to weigh-in on all sides of the ensuing debate. Is there ethical and medical justification for the use of "neuroenhancing" drugs by "normal" people? Does the achievement of lasting happiness and fulfillment include moderation in the use of mind-altering drugs? What are the benefits and liabilities of more widespread and legal access to marijuana? How can we avoid the pitfalls of overindulgence in such powerfully rewarding behaviors as eating, risk-taking and sexual activity? What are healthy means to achieve enduring pleasure and well-being? How can cognitive-restructuring, mindfulness, and positive psychology be used to improve happiness and fulfillment?

Finally, it is a great delight - a "natural high" - to orchestrate this forum on humankind's eternal quest to seek pleasure and avoid pain.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/better-dope/200909/better-dope-natural-highs-the-cutting-edge-mood-alteration
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10 Elements of Effective Drug Addiction Treatment

2010-12-29T22:16:00.000-08:00

http://bit.ly/eePui8

On any given day in the United States, one million people are in treatment for alcoholism or drug addiction. It is not getting into treatment, however, that makes the difference. Instead, it is what a person gets out of treatment. The fact that many people do not find success in treatment on their first attempt is due in part to a lack of understanding about what makes effective treatment.

The ten effective elements of treatment are;

1. There is no treatment formula that will work for everyone.
2. Medically supervised withdrawal is only one step in addiction treatment; alone it will do little.
3. Length of treatment counts
4. Drug addiction is a multidimensional problem, and treatment needs to address all of an individual's needs
5. Counseling (individual and/or group) is a critical part of effective addiction treatment.
6. Medications are an important part of treatment for many people.
7. Drug testing during treatment is important.
8. Alcoholics and addicts with mental health disorders should be treated for both at the same time.
9.Addiction Treatment works even for people who don't choose it of their own free will.
10. Don't give up.

As with other chronic illnesses, relapses can occur during or after successful treatment episodes. Addicted individuals may need lengthy treatment and more than one time in treatment before they can enjoy long-term abstinence and full restoration to a drug free life. The period after treatment is just as important as being in treatment. Finding support and continuous work to stay drug free will be necessary. A slip or relapse is just an indicator that more work, and possibly more treatment, is necessary. Donâ€™t give up.

Full story at Recovery Today
See also;

Clinical Guide to Alcohol Treatment: The Community Reinforcement Approach

Treat drug users not as criminals, but as patients who need care By Fernando Henrique Cardoso

2010-12-26T12:53:00.000-08:00

http://bit.ly/gNfRUj ~

By Fernando Henrique Cardoso
December 27, 2010

The war on drugs is a lost war, and next year there must be a shift from punishment to new policies based on public health, human rights, and commonsense. These were the core findings of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy that I convened, together with the former presidents Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and Cesar Gaviria of Colombia.

We became involved because the violence and corruption associated with drug trafficking threatens democracy in our region. The prohibitionist approach, based on repressing production and criminalising consumption, has clearly failed.

After 30 years of massive effort, prohibition's only achievement was to shift cultivation and drug cartels from one country to another, the so-called balloon effect. Latin America remains the world's largest exporter of cocaine and marijuana. Thousands of young people continue to lose their lives in gang wars. Drug lords rule by fear.
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The illicit drug trade will continue for as long as there is demand for drugs. Instead of sticking to failed policies that do not reduce the profitability of the drug trade – and thus its power — we must redirect our efforts to the harm caused by drugs to people and societies, and to reducing consumption.

Some kind of drug consumption has existed throughout history in the most diverse cultures. Today drug use occurs throughout society. All kinds of people use drugs for all kinds of reasons: to relieve pain or experience pleasure, to escape reality or enhance their perception of it.

The approach recommended in the commission's statement does not imply complacency. Drugs are harmful to health. They undermine users' decision-making capacity. Needle-sharing spreads HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Addiction can lead to financial ruin and domestic abuse, especially of children.

Cutting consumption as much as possible must, therefore, be the main goal. But this requires treating drug users not as criminals to be incarcerated, but as patients to be cared for. Several countries are pursuing policies that emphasise prevention and treatment rather than repression, and refocusing their repressive measures on fighting the real enemy: organised crime. A growing number of countries are moving away from a purely repressive model.

Portugal and Switzerland are compelling examples of the positive impact of policies centred on prevention, treatment and harm reduction. Both countries have decriminalised drug possession for personal use.

Instead of leading to an explosion of drug consumption, as many feared, the number of people seeking treatment increased and overall drug use fell.

When the policy approach shifts from criminal repression to public health, drug users are more open to seeking treatment. Decriminalising consumption also reduces dealers' power to influence and control consumers' behaviour.

We recommend evaluating from a public-health standpoint and, on the basis of the most advanced medical science, the merits of decriminalising possession of cannabis for personal use. Marijuana is by far the most widely used illicit drug. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the harm it causes is at worst similar to the harm caused by alcohol or tobacco. Moreover, most of the damage associated with marijuana use, from the indiscriminate incarceration of consumers to the violence and corruption associated with the drug trade, is the result of current prohibitionist policies.

Decriminalising cannabis would thus be an important step in approaching drug use as a health problem and not as a matter for the criminal justice system.

To be credible and effective, decriminalisation must be combined with robust prevention campaigns. The steep and sustained drop in tobacco consumption in recent decades shows that public information and prevention campaigns can work when based on messages that are consistent with the experience of those they target.

Tobacco was made less glamorous, taxed, and regulated; it has not been banned. No country has devised a comprehensive solution to the drug problem. But a solution need not require a stark choice between prohibition and legalisation. The worst prohibition is the prohibition to think. Now, at last, the taboo that prevented debate has been broken. Alternative approaches are being tested and must be carefully reviewed.

In the end, the capacity of people to evaluate risks and make informed choices will be as important to regulating the use of drugs as are laws and policies that are more humane and efficient. Yes, drugs erode people's freedom. But it is time to recognise that repressive policies towards drug users, rooted as they are in prejudice, fear and ideology, may be no less a threat to liberty.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso was president of Brazil from 1995 to 2002. He is co-chairman of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2010.

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On the Meaning of Christmas to Me via Peta de Aztlan ~Christmas Day 2010

2010-12-25T17:19:00.001-08:00

On the Meaning of Christmas to Me via Peta de Aztlan ~Christmas Day 2010

http://bit.ly/go63dj

To me, Christmas time is all about the birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and that is the primary reason for the whole Holiday Season. I say 'to me' because I cannot speak for everyone else, but I can speak for me as an entity. In fact, I am the only one that I am an expert on and can authoritatively speak for me now, not any other mortal.

I believe in the Creator of the Cosmos, a great divine beingness who brought about all of Creation as we know it. I am not here to debate about it all because I still do not even have a complete definition of the Creator. Nor can the mortal mind fully comprehend what Creator is in the ordinary language of words. Creator is something I feel in my being rather than know as a direct experience in my brain. Creator is what I sense inside and comes close to me when I feel the Holy Spirit within my eternal soul.

I am not a fanatical Christian, though I identify with the one called Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, who I believe was the son of God.

Jesus said to them, Is it not written in your Law, I said, you are gods?
~ John 10:34 ~Ancient Eastern Text

All of us should be sons or daughters of God or Goddess, depending upon your own free will. Nobody is forcing anyone here. All true believers in Creator have a sacred belief in the Creator no matter the great religion one may believe in or not. Let us not be divided based upon any religious belief system or divisive denomination.

I see Creator in the naturalness of nature, in the heavens above and in the poppies of the fields in Afghanisnam. I see Creator in the clear eyes of an innocent child.

Let us take what good wisdom we can from the Holy Bible, from the Koran or from any great book written by inspired mortals. Let the Holiday Season bring remembrances of what is good, what is beauty, what is truth and what brings us together as one family of humanity.

Be united within your own inner self as a humane being who has care, concern and compassion for others. Seek to be united with other loving beings in your world. The sun shines down on us and the rain comes upon us alike. We are all of Mother Earth. All living beings are of my family. Sometimes we have great family feuds we know of us wars. Sometimes there are battles within our own personal blood families. Peace is a worthy great goal and all I want for Christmas is Peace on Earth.

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Tags: Christ, Jesus

A Problem Shared is a Problem Halved

2010-12-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

http://bit.ly/fSRFiA

Putting feelings into words produces therapeutic effects in the brain
University of California – Los Angeles

Why does putting our feelings into words — talking with a therapist or friend, writing in a journal — help us to feel better" A new brain imaging study by UCLA psychologists reveals why verbalizing our feelings makes our sadness, anger and pain less intense.

Another study, with the same participants and three of the same members of the research team, combines modern neuroscience with ancient Buddhist teachings to provide the first neural evidence for why “mindfulness” — the ability to live in the present moment, without distraction — seems to produce a variety of health benefits.

When people see a photograph of an angry or fearful face, they have increased activity in a region of the brain called the amygdala, which serves as an alarm to activate a cascade of biological systems to protect the body in times of danger. Scientists see a robust amygdala response even when they show such emotional photographs subliminally, so fast a person can’t even see them.

But does seeing an angry face and simply calling it an angry face change our brain response" The answer is yes, according to Matthew D. Lieberman, UCLA associate professor of psychology and a founder of social cognitive neuroscience.

“When you attach the word ‘angry,’ you see a decreased response in the amygdala, a part of the brain” said Lieberman, lead author of the study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Psychological Science.

The study showed that while the amygdala was less active when an individual labeled the feeling, another region of the brain was more active: the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. This region is located behind the forehead and eyes and has been associated with thinking in words about emotional experiences. It has also been implicated in inhibiting behavior and processing emotions, but exactly what it contributes has not been known.

A Problem Shared is a Problem Halved “What we’re suggesting is when you start thinking in words about your emotions —labeling emotions — that might be part of what the right ventrolateral region is responsible for,” Lieberman said.

If a friend or loved one is sad or angry, getting the person to talk or write may have benefits beyond whatever actual insights are gained. These effects are likely to be modest, however, Lieberman said.

“We typically think of language processing in the left side of the brain; however, this effect was occurring only in this one region, on the right side of the brain,” he said. “It’s rare to see only one region of the brain responsive to a high-level process like labeling emotions.”

Many people are not likely to realize why putting their feelings into words is helpful.

“If you ask people who are really sad why they are writing in a journal, they are not likely to say it’s because they think this is a way to make themselves feel better,” Lieberman said. “People don’t do this to intentionally overcome their negative feelings; it just seems to have that effect.

Popular psychology says when you’re feeling down, just pick yourself up, but the world doesn’t work that way. If you know you’re trying to pick yourself up, it usually doesn’t work — self-deception is difficult. Because labeling your feelings doesn’t require you to want to feel better, it doesn’t have this problem.”

Thirty people, 18 women and 12 men between ages of 18 and 36, participated in Lieberman’s study at UCLA’s Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center. They viewed images of individuals making different emotional expressions. Below the picture of the face they either saw two words, such as “angry” and “fearful,” and chose which emotion described the face, or they saw two names, such as “Harry” and “Sally,” and chose the gender-appropriate name that matched the face.

Lieberman and his co-authors — UCLA assistant professor of psychology Naomi Eisenberger, former UCLA psychology undergraduate Molly Crockett, former UCLA psychology research assistant Sabrina Tom, UCLA psychology graduate student Jennifer Pfeifer and Baldwin Way, a postdoctoral fellow in Lieberman’s laboratory — used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study subjects’ brain activity.

“When you attach the word ‘angry,’ you see a decreased response in the amygdala,” Lieberman said. “When you attach the name ‘Harry,’ you don’t see the reduction in the amygdala response.

“When you put feelings into words, you’re activating this prefrontal region and seeing a reduced response in the amygdala,” he said. “In the same way you hit the brake when you’re driving when you see a yellow light, when you put feelings into words, you seem to be hitting the brakes on your emotional responses.”

As a result, an individual may feel less angry or less sad.

This is ancient wisdom,” Lieberman said. “Putting our feelings into words helps us heal better. If a friend is sad and we can get them to talk about it, that probably will make them feel better.”

The right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex undergoes much of its development during a child’s preteen and teenage years. It is possible that interaction with friends and family during these years could shape the strength of this brain region’s response, but this is not yet established, Lieberman said.

One benefit of therapy may be to strengthen this brain region. Does therapy lead to physiological changes in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex" Lieberman, UCLA psychology professor Michelle Craske and their colleagues are studying this question.

Combining Buddhist Teachings and Modern Neuroscience

After the participants left the brain scanner, 27 of them filled out questionnaires about “mindfulness.” Mindfulness meditation, which is very popular in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, originates from early Buddhist teachings dating back some 2,500 years, said David Creswell, a research scientist with the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.

Mindfulness is a technique in which one pays attention to his or her present emotions, thoughts and body sensations, such as breathing, without passing judgment or reacting. An individual simply releases his thoughts and “lets it go.”

“One way to practice mindfulness meditation and pay attention to present-moment experiences is to label your emotions by saying, for example, ‘I’m feeling angry right now’ or ‘I’m feeling a lot of stress right now’ or ‘this is joy’ or whatever the emotion is,” said Creswell, lead author of the study, which will be featured in an upcoming issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, a leading international medical journal for health psychology research.

“Thinking, ‘this is anger’ is what we do in this study, where people look at an angry face and say, ‘this is anger,’” Lieberman noted.

Creswell said Lieberman has now shown in a series of studies that simply labeling emotions turns down the amygdala alarm center response in the brain that triggers negative feelings.

Creswell, who conducted the mindfulness research as an advanced graduate student of psychology at UCLA, said mindfulness meditation is a “potent and powerful therapy that has been helping people for thousands of years.”

Previous studies have shown that mindfulness meditation is effective in reducing a variety of chronic pain conditions, skin disease, stress-related health conditions and a variety of other ailments, he said. Creswell and his UCLA colleagues — Lieberman, Eisenberger and Way — found that during the labeling of emotions, the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was activated, which seems to turn down activity in the amygdala. They then compared participants’ responses on the mindfulness questionnaire with the results of the labeling study.

“We found the more mindful you are, the more activation you have in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the less activation you have in the amygdala,” Creswell said. “We also saw activation in widespread centers of the prefrontal cortex for people who are high in mindfulness. This suggests people who are more mindful bring all sorts of prefrontal resources to turn down the amygdala. These findings may help explain the beneficial health effects of mindfulness meditation, and suggest, for the first time, an underlying reason why mindfulness meditation programs improve mood and health.

“The right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex can turn down the emotional response you get when you feel angry,” he said. “This moves us forward in beginning to understand the benefits of mindfulness meditation. For the first time, we’re now applying scientific principles to try to understand how mindfulness works.

“This is such an exciting study because it brings together the Buddha’s teachings — more than 2,500 years ago, he talked about the benefits of labeling your experience — with modern neuroscience,” Creswell said. “Now, for the first time since those teachings, we have shown there is actually a neurological reason for doing mindfulness meditation. Our findings are consistent with what mindfulness meditation teachers have taught for thousands of years.”

The research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health.

http://alcoholcoach.com/a-problem-shared-is-a-problem-halved/
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Study Finds Link Between Spirituality and Increased Recovery Rates

2010-12-22T19:00:00.000-08:00

http://bit.ly/glCBkf

December 22, 2010

Research has shown that 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) can be very helpful for people in recovery from alcohol or drug addiction. Many of these programs focus on the importance of spirituality, but some have contested the effectiveness of the spiritual aspect of these programs. A new study, however, has found that increased attendance to AA meetings is associated with an increased level of spirituality, especially among those who reported low spirituality at the beginning of the study.

John F. Kelly, lead author of the study and associate professor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, as well as associate director of the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, said that although spirituality is an important aspect of AA, it isn’t the only way to help recovering addicts.

He said that he has heard that AA is too spiritual and not spiritual enough, and that although spirituality is only one way to help recovering addicts, the study’s findings support the idea that AA works partly by enhancing people’s spirituality.

For the study, more than 1,500 adults were assessed at 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 months into their recovery process. The study examined the participants’ attendance to AA meetings, their religious or spiritual practices, and their alcohol-use outcomes to determine whether spirituality is associated with behavioral changes.

The researchers found that there was a significant association between an increase in AA meeting attendance with increased spirituality and a decrease in the frequency and intensity of alcohol consumption over time. Interestingly, the same amount of recovery was seen in both agnostics and atheists, which suggests that while spirituality is important in behavioral change, it is not the only method used in AA.

Keith Humphreys, a career research scientist with the Veterans Health Administration and a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, said that many people will find it surprising that alcohol-dependent individuals with little or no interest in spirituality attended AA meetings and seemed to have more success than those who already had a strong sense of spirituality. He added that this suggests that AA reaches a wider audience than people may think.

The researchers noted that although spirituality can be an important aspect of recovery, it is still unknown how these beliefs work in regard to recovery methods. Kelly said that they have found that participating in AA leads to recovery because the program helps members improve their social network, as well as their coping skills, motivation to remain abstinent, and psychological well-being.

Kelly added that it will be important to conduct more research and replicate the study’s findings to better understand how spiritual practices and beliefs can influence behavioral changes in the recovery process.

Source: Science Daily, Attending Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings May Increase Spirituality and Help Decrease Frequency and Intensity of Alcohol Use, December 14, 2010

http://www.everythingaddiction.com/addiction-treatment/study-finds-link-between-spirituality-and-increased-recovery-rates/
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$100 Million Drug-War Garrison Approved for U.S.-Mexican Border ~Posted by Bill Conroy - December 22, 2010 at 5:56 pm

2010-12-22T15:04:00.000-08:00

http://bit.ly/fUBEYH

Posted by Bill Conroy - December 22, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Complex Will Prepare Soldiers, Law Enforcers to Cope with Mexican Civil War, Founder Says

A small county board in southern California has just ushered in the era of the paramilitarization of the U.S. border by approving plans for a private, $100 million, 1,000-acre military and law enforcement training camp spearheaded by a former Navy Seal sniper who also has done work for the U.S. intelligence community.

The Imperial County Board of Supervisors earlier this week approved the project, to be developed near the small rural border town of Ocotillo, Calif., by a company called Wind Zero Group Inc. The supervisors, at a meeting held Tuesday, Dec. 21, voted 4-1 in favor of allowing the border garrison project to proceed toward construction, despite stiff community opposition, according to news reports.
The vote came after several postponements that pushed the final decision back to just days before the Christmas holiday, almost assuring scant press coverage of what is likely to become, absent effective organized opposition, the prototype for future private paramilitary-style training “camps” along the U.S.-Mexican border.

The planned Wind Zero training center is not unlike a similar project proposed several years ago in southern California by the private paramilitary company Blackwater (since renamed Xe Services LLC — which also was founded by former Navy SEALs). Blackwater pulled the plug on that controversial project in early 2008 due to community opposition.

Opponents of the camp proposed for Ocotillo have speculated that Xe is somehow involved behind the scenes in the Wind Zero effort as well — though no solid evidence of that theory has materialized to date and Wind Zero officials contend that, in fact, they consider Xe to be a competitor.

However, among the backers of the Wind Zero project is former Navy Captain and RAND Senior Management Systems Analyst John Birkler , who serves as a director of Wind Zero, according to SEC filings.

RAND bills itself as a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, but, in reality, it has a long history of close ties to the military and private-sector warfare complex.

RAND media spokesman Warren Robak told Narco News previously that “John Birkler and his involvement with Wind Zero is a private matter — it has nothing to do with RAND.”

But Birkler has at least one thing in common with Wind Zero beyond the Navy background he shares with the company’s founder, the former Navy SEAL sniper, U.S. intelligence agency operative and author Brandon Webb. Birkler, Webb and Wind Zero have expertise in the emerging arena of drone warfare.

At RAND, Birkler, among other responsibilities, oversees research for the U.S. Navy as well as the U.S. Special Operations Command — under which is the Navy SEAL program. And, according to Rand’s Web site, among Birkler’s specific areas of expertise is “unmanned aerial vehicles.”

In the case of Wind Zero, it has secured past contract work from the Naval Special Warfare Command to “assist the NSW Seals in tactical training, deployment and field uses of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) training,” according to a past press release.
The planned Wind Zero border camp seems particularly well suited for the operation of drones — and, in fact, will provide instruction in operating Unmanned Aerial Systems. The camp will feature a long airstrip and multiple heliports; a control tower and operations center; a vast amount of airspace, including a 25,000-foot above-ground-level (AGL) air ceiling; and a location only 87 miles from a major border population center (San Diego/Tijuana) that is ground zero on the West Coast for the drug war.

“The drone efforts that I envision will be principally military-intel led, although they do not have to fly from military reservations per se,” explains one military technology expert who provided some background insight to Narco News. “Entities such as Wind Zero do offer an interesting plausible deniability that could prove useful.”

The source adds: “If we place advanced UAVs over the Afghan theater airspace (which includes parts of Pakistan), we can put them over Mexican airspace.”

Drone Power

Currently, under the oversight of the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection agency, about a half a dozen Predator B (Reaper) drones are now operating along the southern U.S. border and coastal regions of the U.S., from Florida through Eastern California.

And it seems the Mexican government itself is operating UAVs, or drones, over the U.S.-Mexican border. A recent news story revealed that a Mexican drone dropped out of the sky earlier this month and crashed onto an El Paso, Texas, street.
Diana Washington Valdez of the El Paso times reported:

In a statement, Jenny L. Burke, spokeswoman for the [U.S.] Department of Homeland Security, said, "We responded to a concerned citizen's call and recovered a small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), which belonged to the Government of Mexico (GOM).

The U.S. and Mexican governments are already operating joint military missions targeting so-called “kingpin” narco-traffickers. As evidence of that reality, the Washington Post recently reported on a State Department cable made public through WikiLeaks that supports facts reported by Narco News in June 2010.
From that Narco News story:

The U.S. unit, dubbed Task Force 7, since early 2009, according to the CIA operative, has ... cooperated with the Mexican Navy in hunting down a major narco-trafficker, Arturo Beltran Leyva -- who was killed by Mexican Navy special forces last December during a raid on a luxury apartment complex in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Would it be any surprise if the U.S. and Mexican governments, via private contractors and/or government operations, also are coordinating drone missions along the border?

Beyond its usefulness as a drone operations and training center, the planned Wind zero camp also will offer plenty of other features necessary for training special operations soldiers and/or paramilitary forces.

The camp, which would be developed in three phases at a cost of up to $100 million (some $15 million for Phase 1), also will include numerous shooting ranges allowing for some 57,000 rounds of ammunition to be fired off daily; a mock-up of an urban neighborhood for practices assaults; a 6-mile dual-use race track for teaching defensive and offensive driving (and for private-pay recreational use); and enough housing and RV camper space (along with a 100-room hotel) to accommodate a small battalion of warriors.

Who Decides? A number of individuals in Ocotillo, home to some 300 souls, aided by activists from the Sierra Club, actively opposed the proposed Wind Zero development, arguing it poses a great risk to the health of the environment as well as the safety of the surrounding community — in the event of a flood or earthquake, both of which have plagued the area in the recent past.

However, Wind Zero marshaled the support of numerous law enforcement agencies in the region that would be able to make use of the facility for training purposes. Wind Zero, and its founder, Webb, also appear to have effectively hyped the project to local officials as a privately operated, state-of-the-art training center that will eventually employ up to 200 people and serve as economic boon to the small California border town of Ocotillo, located in Imperial County less than a dozen miles north of the Mexican border.

Barring litigation to halt the Wind Zero camp, it appears the project is poised to proceed toward construction, according to area media reports.

Given that reality, it’s worth noting what Wind Zero’s Webb has said previously in a YouTube video about the dynamics driving the escalation of the paramilitary era now rising along the U.S.-Mexican border.

From Webb’s YouTube video:
Mexico is very close to civil war right now; it doesn’t take much to buy off somebody and next thing you know, the president is assassinated and then what? A civil war breaks out, and we have a million Mexican citizens crossing the border into the U.S., and it’s the same situation that you have in Afghanistan and Pakistan. You have all these refugees coming across and Pakistan’s like, “What do we do with this?”
It’s not outlandish for that scenario to happen. So how do you prepare for that? You got to train these guys, and that’s law enforcement and the military.
As dangerously delusional as those statements may sound to those who understand the deeper dynamics at play along the border, and the life-and-death stakes for millions of people, it’s worth remembering that Webb, and those promoting the paramilitarization of the border, don’t have to convince the majority of Americans of the saneness of their methods.
In the case of Wind Zero, for example, the only people they had to convince were four county supervisors in a recession-decimated rural stretch of southern California.
Happy holidays and stay tuned for the New Year ahead …..
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Inner Strength

2010-12-20T19:00:00.000-08:00

http://addiction-recovery-blog.com/just-life/inner-strength/

Inner Strength

Monday, 20th December 2010

Just Life

“Troubles are often the tools by which God fashions us for better things.” – Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman

Getting up today, we may have felt that we needed more strength than we believe we possess. Along with our daily ritual of taking good care of ourselves, tending to our many obligations, going to our meetings, we often begin to feel overwhelmed, incapable of taking on anything more – even unable to handle what we have with any sense of accomplishment. We wish and pray for inner strength.

Let’s think about this for a minute. What are we but the sum of what we do, the trials we face, the actions we take to deal with life’s daily troubles, pain, challenges, joy and opportunities? If it is true that troubles surmounted make us stronger, then we should be really strong by now, right? All joking aside, we do get stronger as the result of doing. Whether we act and our decision turns out to be faulty, we have still learned something. When our actions result in a successful resolution of a problem or trouble, longstanding or temporary, minor or major, we have gained something in the process. That something is inner strength.

Think, then, of inner strength as a pitcher filling up with water. We add to our supply by doing. The more we do, the more we learn – and the greater our inner strength.

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John Pilger: Global Support for WikiLeaks is "Rebellion" Against U.S. Militarism, Secrecy

2010-12-15T18:44:00.001-08:00

http://bit.ly/eIPohi
December 15, 2010
John Pilger: Global Support for WikiLeaks is "Rebellion" Against U.S. Militarism, Secrecy

The award-winning investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker John Pilger is one of many high-profile public supporters of Julian Assange and his organization WikiLeaks. Pilger has attended Assange's court proceedings in London and has offered to contribute funds for his more than $300,000 bail. Pilger's latest film, The War You Don't See, includes interviews with Assange. Pilger says that WikiLeaks is revolutionizing journalism and galvanizing public opinion to stand up to global elites. [includes rush transcript]

Filed under Wikileaks

Guest:

John Pilger, Award-winning investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker who has written close to a dozen books and made more than 50 documentaries. His latest film, which premiered last night on television and in theaters in Britain, is called The War You Don't See.

#WikiLeaks supporters step up cyber war

2010-12-09T06:23:00.001-08:00

http://yhoo.it/fxVMqC

#WikiLeaks supporters step up cyber war

by Danny Kemp Danny Kemp – 1 hr 34 mins ago

LONDON (AFP) – Hackers stepped up their cyber war on Thursday in support of WikiLeaks as the embattled whistleblowers released memos showing the US views China as a "pernicious" competitor in Africa, lacking in morals.

After a group which has dubbed itself "Anonymous" vowed to intensify its "war of data" against Mastercard, Visa and other groups which have cut funding to the website, the Swedish government then came under attack.

In an online chat with AFP, organisers of the group said thousands of volunteers were taking part in their defense of WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, whom they described as a "free-speech martyr."

"We started off with a small amount of users (below 50)," they said. "Now, we are at around 4,000."

"We recruit through the Internet, that means, everywhere: imageboards, forums, Facebook, Twitter... you name it, we're using it," they said.

Anonymous members launched their first distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack on Saturday, taking down PayPal's blog, ThePayPalBlog.com, for at least eight hours.

Since then, they have taken down the websites of Visa, Mastercard and the Swiss Post Office bank for severing ties to WikiLeaks and the website of the Swedish prosecutor's office for pursuing Assange on allegations of sex crimes.

The latest apparent victims was the Swedish government, according to a report in the country's top-selling daily.

Aftonbladet said the official government website, http://www.regeringen.se/, was offline for a few hours overnight to Thursday, publishing a screen shot which showed the server could not be reached. The site was working normally again later in the day.

The paper also reported that WikiLeaks supporters had created a website bearing Swedish Justice Minister Beatrice Ask's name which then redirected users to WikiLeaks own site.

Members of Anonymous also took aim on Wednesday at the websites of US conservative standard bearer Sarah Palin and US Senator Joe Lieberman, who called for US companies to withdraw technical support for WikiLeaks.

Palin for her part described Assange as "an anti-American operative with blood on his hands."

Assange is currently behind bars in a south London prison. He handed himself into police on Tuesday after Sweden issued a European arrest warrant and he was then refused bail.

According to his lawyers, who plan to visit him later Thursday, the 39-year-old Australian remains in "very good spirits" and confident of winning his fight against extradition.

They will discuss a possible bid to win his release on bail ahead of a December 14 hearing on extradition to Sweden.

"My colleague Mark Stephens spoke to him yesterday and he was in very good spirits. He (Assange) was confident that we will be able to clear his name and that we will be able to beat this," lawyer Jennifer Robinson told AFP.

His supporters have vowed the arrest will not halt the flow of secrets, with the latest revelations causing more embarrassment for Washington.

The most explosive came in an assessment by the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Johnnie Carson, who illustrated the tensions caused by China's increasing involvement in resource-rich Africa.

"China is a very aggressive and pernicious economic competitor with no morals. China is not in Africa for altruistic reasons," Carson said in a February meeting with oil executives in Nigeria.

"China is in Africa for China primarily," he said, according to a confidential cable written by the US consul-general in Lagos.

Carson said another reason was to "secure votes in the United Nations from African countries" to forward China's own aims, and also to depress diplomatic support for its rival Taiwan.

Beijing had pumped a total of 9.3 billion dollars into Africa by the end of 2009, according to the China-Africa Trade and Economic Relationship Annual Report 2010, launched in October by a government-linked research institute.

Other cables contained claims that Nigeria's leadership was in total confusion over who was in charge early this year with then-president Umaru Yar'Adua thought to be in a "semi-comatose state." Yar'Adua died in May.

The documents also showed Washington put intense pressure on Berlin to not enforce arrest warrants against CIA agents involved in the 2003 abduction of a German citizen mistakenly believed to be a terrorist.

And senior Australian politicians insisted Sports Minister Mark Abib was not a "spy" for Washington after WikiLeaks cables reportedly revealed he was a "protected" source for the US.

~Join the People's Cyber War! Daring imagination is the key!

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The Information Revolution: saving money, saving lives > http://bit.ly/gsQqGA ~

2010-12-06T10:27:00.001-08:00

> http://bit.ly/gsQqGA ~

The information revolution: saving money, saving lives

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Providing better access to NHS data would add invaluable knowledge to our understanding of health services and how we can make them increasingly effective and efficient, says Roger Taylor, who believes it could lead to many more lives being saved

Data can tell us many things. It can tell us how many people are dying in hospitals or how many people are claiming benefits. But data with analysis can break down those crude statistics and tell us really useful stuff such as the effects of a change in policy. Analysis tells us the stories behind the data.

Take for instance Tom Wainwright and Robert Middleton at the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who used data analysis tools to find out that they halved the length of stay for more than 2,500 patients with hip and knee replacements by introducing an enhanced recovery programme. The average length of stay fell from 7.8 days to 4.1 days and there was no increase in the rate of complications or readmissions.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has recently introduced new legislation recognising the cost to the NHS of read-missions. The Royal Bournemouth analysis shows how data can help recognise improvements in the quality of healthcare for patients and save the NHS money.

One might also look at how the NHS treats patients suffering from a heart attack. A recent Dr Foster report shows that investment in gold-standard treatment for heart attack patients has resulted in lower costs to commissioners. Primary angioplasty – the use of a catheter to clear blocked arteries – is known to have better short-term survival rates than traditional thrombolytic treatment, which uses clot-busting drugs. While provision of angioplasty is initially more expensive, over three years the average saving per patient, due to decreased complications, increases and reaches £1,659 at the end of the period.

The additional good news is that primary angioplasty services are being rapidly expanded and the Department of Health aims to have primary angioplasty services in place across 95 per cent of England in 2011. This is good, strong evidence-based policy.

One key structural change within the NHS, and one the evidence shows should be embraced, is the movement of care out of the hospital and into the community. Hospitals are expensive places to treat patients and are certainly less comfortable or convenient for the patient than their own home.
Sophia Christie, CEO at Birmingham East and North (BEN), decided to introduce more care at home following research which highlighted the potential for the NHS to save millions of pounds in this way. Six months on, the figures are promising and robust. NHS BEN now has almost 300 patients on the end of life homecare pathway and all patient deaths bar one have been in their place of choice. Patient and carer satisfaction is high, with an average score of 98 per cent. BEN has more than doubled the savings it was forecast to make at this stage and is now looking to expand the service.

Dr Foster's mission is to harness the power of information to improve services and people's wellbeing. A culture of open government is essential in the provision and accurate interpretation of data. Although an information revolution has been promised by the coalition government, there are still many data sets that are kept inaccessible to all but a handful of government analysts.

There are a number of data sets where greater access would add invaluable knowledge to our understanding of health services and how we can make them increasingly effective and efficient. For example there is much that could be done with the Cancer Registry, the National Joint Registry and National Clinical Audit data to understand the efficacy of cancer care and other treatment on the NHS and to increase the quality of analysis around the services offered. It could lead to many more lives being saved through redefining services – only at this stage we just don't know.

We still do not have any proper idea how many medical errors occur or how many patients die from complications such as DVTs because we are failing to use the existing data systems effectively.

In primary care and social care there is a need to use data to track how well our GPs are performing or the efficacy of public health messages. However the real benefit of such data would be in tracking the patient's journey across primary and secondary care (from the GP surgery to the hospital admission) which would give us a clear understanding of how effective the health service is for the individual patient. Moves to give patients ownership of their own records and of devolving power downwards should be coupled with the patient's ability to properly understand those records.

Moving beyond health we should be freeing up data on benefits, education, crime and policing. By connecting the information surrounding those services, the power to reform them – in the most effective and evidence based way, to meet the challenge of the internet age – would be huge. As the 2020 Public Service Trust report into responsible data sharing shows, citizens expect public services to meet their changing needs for safe, online, personal and instant access to information. The release of data is surely the most effective way to meet this challenge.

Roger Taylor is director of research and public affairs at Dr Foster Intelligence

Manufacturer Pulls Darvon, Darvocet; FDA Wants Generic Makers to Do the Same ~ABC News Medical Unit

2010-11-19T16:24:00.000-08:00

http://bit.ly/coL77Q
Manufacturer Pulls Darvon, Darvocet; FDA Wants Generic Makers to Do the Same
Painkillers Toxic to Heart, Can Produce Deadly Heart Rhythms

By JANE E. ALLEN
ABC News Medical Unit
Nov. 19, 2010

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Friday that it is pulling off the U.S. market the prescription painkillers Darvon and Darvocet, which combines Darvon with the aspirin substitute acetaminophen, because of new scientific evidence they can damage the heart, even at recommended doses, or cause fatal cardiac abnormalities.

The manufacturer, Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Newport, Ky., agreed to withdraw the two brand-name drugs. The agency now is asking manufacturers of
generic propoxyphene to do the same.

Propoxyphene-containing drugs have been banned in Great Britain since 2005. The European Medicines Agency in June 2009 recommended their gradual removal from the European Union market after concluding risks, including the risk of fatal overdose,
outweighed pain-relieving benefits.

The FDA called upon the pharmaceutical companies to stop making propoxyphene (PPX) based upon a clinical trial in which electrocardiograms demonstrated that the drug altered the heart's electrical activity, potentially causing serious or life-
threatening arrhythmias.

"These new heart data significantly alter propoxyphene's risk-benefit profile," Dr. John Jenkins, director of the Office of New Drugs at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), said in a statement. "The drug's effectiveness
in reducing pain is no longer enough to outweigh the drug's serious potential heart risks."

Dr. Gerald J. Dal Pan, director of CDER's Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology, said that with the new results, "for the first time we now have data showing
that the standard therapeutic dose of propoxyphene can be harmful to the heart."

Dal Pan said that the cardiac changes aren't cumulative and that "once patients stop taking propoxyphene, the risk will go away."

About 10 million Americans took a prescription containing propoxyphene for mild to moderate pain in 2009, the FDA said. That same year, the agency announced an ongoing safety review of the drug.

Darvon, developed by Eli Lilly and Co., received FDA approval in 1957 and has been a controlled drug since 1976.

According to an FDA memo from Dr. Bob A. Rapaport, director of the FDA's Division of Analgesia and Anesthesia Products, "there have long been concerns
about PPX's safety. Reviews of the drug generated over the years have demonstrated PPX to be only mildly effective (although the studies are quite old
and analgesic studies frequently demonstrate only limited efficacy.)"

With the newest data, he wrote, "it became apparent that the risk for the individual patient can change at any time, even after prolonged chronic use."

Consumer Group Sought Ban for Years

Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, which petitioned the agency in 1978 and again in 2006, called the delay "a serious
advertisement
By JANE E. ALLEN
ABC News Medical Unit
Manufacturer Pulls Darvon, Darvocet; FDA Wants Generic Makers to Do the Same
Painkillers Toxic to Heart, Can Produce Deadly Heart Rhythms

indictment of the FDA's long-lasting unwillingness to protect people in this country from a deadly but barely effective painkiller."

Public Citizen contends that 1,000 to 2,000 Americans have died from the drug since the U.K. ban, based in part upon data from the state of Florida
that found 395 deaths from 2005 to 2009 associated with propoxyphene.

On Jan. 30, 2009, an FDA advisory committee voted 14-12 against continued marketing of drugs containing propoxyphene. Those who voted to keep it on the market wanted more detailed labeling that warned about use in elderly patients, whose bodies take longer to break down and clear the drug from
their systems, and about the risks of taking the drug along with other opioids or alcohol.

In July 2009, the FDA announced it would allow continued marketing of the drug with a new boxed warning that included the risk of fatal overdoses.
Acting under new authority, the agency at that time asked Xanodyne to study the effects of the medication on heart rhythms.

The resulting 11-day study on healthy volunteers tested daily doses of 600 mg and 900 mg of the drug. Higher doses never were tested because of cardiac changes seen at the 600 mg and 900 mg levels.

In addition, the agency reviewed other large U.S. databases that collect information on side effects. It found a higher rate of deaths associated with the use of propoxyphene than the narcotic pain relievers tramadol (Ultram) and hydrocodone in five-year reviews of each drug. There were 16 drug-related
deaths per 100,000 prescriptions for propoxyphene, compared with 10 per 100,000 prescriptions for tramadol and eight deaths per 100,000 prescriptions for hydrocodone.

As part of Friday's announcement, the FDA recommended that doctors stop prescribing the medication, advise patients using it to stop taking it and discuss other ways to manage pain, and be aware of the potential cardiac effects. Any patient who experiences an abnormal heart rate or heart rhythm, dizziness, lightheadedness, heart palpitations or fainting is advised to contact a doctor immediately.

FDA Lists Alternatives for Pain

Among alternative pain medications are the potentially addictive narcotic drugs oxycodone, hydrocodone and codeine; aspirin; non-aspirin pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol); and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen

(Advil, Motrin).

However, all have potential side effects. Codeine and other narcotics can cause constipation; aspirin can cause bleeding in the stomach and intestines;
acetaminophen can damage the liver; ibuprofen can damage the kidneys; and some of the NSAIDs can cause blood clots dangerous to the heart.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainArthritis/painkillers-darvon-darvocet-coming-off-us-market/story?id=12194165
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Yoga's Ability to Improve Mood and Lessen Anxiety Is Linked to Increased Levels of a Critical Brain Chemical, Research Finds

2010-11-12T10:26:00.000-08:00

http://bit.ly/crWeW4

ScienceDaily (Nov. 11, 2010) — Yoga has a greater positive effect on a person's mood and anxiety level than walking and other forms of exercise, which may be due to higher levels of the brain chemical GABA according to an article in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online.

Yoga has been shown to increase the level of gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, a chemical in the brain that helps to regulate nerve activity. GABA activity is reduced in people with mood and anxiety disorders, and drugs that increase GABA activity are commonly prescribed to improve mood and decrease anxiety.

Tying all of these observations together, the study by Chris Streeter, MD, from Boston University School of Medicine (Massachusetts) and colleagues demonstrates that increased GABA levels measured after a session of yoga postures are associated with improved mood and decreased anxiety. Their findings establish a new link between yoga, higher levels of GABA in the thalamus, and improvements in mood and anxiety based on psychological assessments. The authors suggest that the practice of yoga stimulates specific brain areas, thereby giving rise to changes in endogenous antidepressant neurotransmitters such as GABA.

"This is important work that establishes some objective bases for the effects that highly trained practitioners of yoga therapy throughout the world see on a daily basis. What is important now is that these findings are further investigated in long-term studies to establish just how sustainable such changes can be in the search for safe non-drug treatments for depression," says Kim A. Jobst, MA, DM, MRCP, MFHom, DipAc, Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

http://bit.ly/crWeW4

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Sacramento County wants public-private partnership to help the homeless

2010-09-13T12:52:00.001-07:00

http://bit.ly/a4GuVx

Sacramento County wants public-private partnership to help the homeless
chubert@sacbee.com
Published Monday, Sep. 13, 2010

Sacramento County no longer wants to coordinate the area's homeless programs and plans to turn over that task to a new organization to be made up of government and private stakeholders.

The county will be out of money for homeless services by the end of February, officials said, and is scrambling to come up with funds to operate programs through 2011.

In the meantime, it is pushing forward with a plan to form a nonprofit group or joint powers authority that would pursue government grants, raise money in the private sector and distribute millions of dollars to agencies that serve the homeless.

The approach could save money and deliver services more efficiently, said some of those involved in the planning process.

But "it's a little scary," said Tim Brown, director of Sacramento Steps Forward, which focuses on finding permanent housing for homeless families. "It's a huge change, and it's happening very fast. We're not aware of anybody who has made this radical a transition this quickly."

Officials from the county Department of Human Assistance will present their plan to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, and they want to embark on the project immediately. The new organization could be running by next June, they said.

Until now, the county has been in charge of securing and distributing $19 million to $29 million annually for homeless programs, including shelter beds, permanent housing units and the homeless census. Most of the money comes from the federal government.

But in the midst of a budget crisis, the county no longer has the staffing and resources for such coordination, said human assistance director Paul Lake. Without a new plan, the Sacramento area could lose millions of federal dollars and critical programs, he said.
"The situation has changed, and we need to find another solution," said Lake.

The new concept grew out of discussions with service providers, faith leaders, private business people and city and county government officials as the county's yawning budget deficit forced cuts across the board, including to homeless programs. Last year, for example, the county ended its winter shelter program at Cal Expo, forcing social services groups to find alternative places for homeless people to spend cold and rainy nights.

"The current system is not sustainable. We need a public and private partnership with as many stakeholders as we can get," said Anne Moore, Mayor Kevin Johnson's homeless liaison. Johnson has declared the homeless issue one of his priorities.

"We need to build a strong infrastructure that will extend far into the future with the ultimate goal of ending homelessness," said Moore.

An event earlier this year proved that the issue resonates with the public, Moore said. More than 80 houses of worship participated in a "One Day to End Homelessness" campaign, which raised $400,000 to pay for housing for 600 families. The new organization would use similar tactics to raise money to supplement dwindling government funding, she and others said.

In a handful of cities and counties around the country, homeless prevention programs, shelters, housing and other services are overseen by private entities made up of community leaders, said Lake. Columbus, Ohio, is one of those cities, and a contingent from Sacramento met with members of its nationally recognized Community Shelter Board recently in a trip funded by Sierra Health Foundation.

"With a nonprofit, we can do things more cheaply," said Brown. "Also, the county is just not set up to raise private dollars. That's increasingly going to be very important" to cover gaps in government funding, he said.

The new organization would be led by a paid executive director, and have a small staff and board of directors consisting of members of the public and private sectors, including churches, foundations and housing agencies, according to materials to be presented Tuesday to the supervisors. The group would work to secure funding to be distributed to more than 30 service providers and housing programs.

Leo McFarland, president and chief executive officer of Volunteers of America, one of the area's largest homeless services programs, said he supports the proposed changes even though the time frame seems dizzyingly short.

"I can't quite get my arms around exactly what it would look like, and I'm not sure it can be done at the speed at which the county would like," McFarland said. "If the county was not in a fiscal crisis, it would be a pipe dream.

"But the fact is that this is the way business is going to have to be conducted. We're going to have to do more with less, and nonprofits can do that because we can be more creative and flexible than the government."

McFarland said he expects some rocky times during the transition.
"But even if we stumble through it, I think it's going in the right direction."
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call The Bee's Cynthia Hubert, (916) 321-1082.

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Comment: Homeless domestic refugees needs a variety of social services that are not easily met. The County and shelter system must do a lot more than warehouse people who are homeless. This whole article forgets to include and incorporate homeless people themselves for their analyzes since they are most impacted by themselves being homeless. Duhh!

Many of our homeless who have fallen upon bad times are aware of the nature of their situation, many are highly intelligent and are stigmatized by society because they are homeless. There needs to be a lot more community education among the homeless and broader public education about who homeless people are, what their lives are like and what their common dessires are in life. Many people just have a negative stereotype about who the homeless are in these times of an undeclared Great Depression.

We may be surprised to find that all people want the survival basics of life: food, clothing, shelter, medical care and quality education.

Unidos Venceremos! United We Will Win!

PETER S. LOPEZ AKA: Peta-de-Aztlan

Sacramento, California

Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com

http://twitter.com/Peta_de_Aztlan
http://www.facebook.com/Peta51
"An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come."
~ Victor Hugo c/s

The Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media By: Scott Stratten September 13, 2010

2010-09-13T11:45:00.001-07:00

http://bit.ly/agve6z

By: Scott StrattenSeptember 13, 2010

In this excerpt from his new book UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging. author Scott Stratten shows the profane acts users of Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn commit. How many are you guilty of?

Social Media is so new that most people are making it up as they go,¹ but most people seem to make the same mistakes. Or dare I say sins. . . . We look at the biggest players online for business--Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn--but the same concepts can be applied to any social media site.

Greed

Greed is quite a popular sin. Twitter by default is a self-centered tool. It's about us. But it's 100 times better if used as a conversational tool versus a dictation. I see people using Twitter as a glorified RSS feed for their blog or an ad-puker. So absent of personality, I wonder why they even try. Yes, they are in business, but if they believe that business is built on relationships, they need to make building them their business.

This sin holds a special place for the people who only retweet compliments about themselves. I was talking to a colleague of mine and she was asking how I have built such a large amount of followers. I mentioned that I get retweeted a lot and I retweet others. Her reply was "I retweet others all the time!" When I checked out her page, the only time she ever retweeted anyone was if it was a compliment about her or a #FollowFriday² mention with her in it. You may as well tweet while looking in a mirror telling yourself you're good enough, you're smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like you.

Facebook is in a world of its own. Posting on someone's wall with a seven-line signature, mass-inviting people to every event (even if the event is local and the person is not even in the same country), to tagging people in articles that they are not even mentioned in just to get them to read it. There is a special vein in my forehead that you can clearly see when these things occur.

Someone didn't become your friend on Facebook to give you business or to allow you to use his or her wall as a billboard. Even the term "friend" means a relationship, and you are not building one when you invite me to your Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) event in San Diego and I live in Toronto. Instead, use Facebook to engage, and to comment on people's posts and status updates and to share links with them that they may like, not ones you have written to promote yourself but ones you have found that may help them.

LinkedIn falls under the same issues that Facebook does. The group's function has so much great potential because the site is fully business-oriented, yet the majority of the groups and posts that I have seen during my research were either outright spam or drive-by articles. Drive-by articles are those that are posted in multiple groups and sites, which are mostly a thinly veiled pitch for the author's services. Some gurus also teach this method, but you will notice that the original authors are never around when someone has a follow-up question. I hope that the LinkedIn discussion groups become just that, groups that have great discussion.

Gluttony

Get followers fast!!!! Most people on Twitter have seen tweets like this or thought of using a site that helps kick-start things for you. Seems innocent, right? Let's just have a look-see at this logic. Imagine a guy just followed you. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy that a new person is along for the Twitter journey with you, makes up for your lack of popularity in high school, and the day is getting better. Then you go to his profile and you see a bunch of tweets that say:

"I have found a way to get thousands of followers fast and automated!! Go to this site!"

How does that make you feel now? Still warm and fuzzy? Still getting tingles? Didn't think so. When you tweet out "follower system" tweets it says one thing: You're in it for the numbers. I'll bet the 3 cents I still have after my latest trip to Vegas that one of the next tweets will be about an "amazing business." Everything you tweet is an extension of your biz and your brand. If you want to scream about "getting thousands of followers," be my guest, but the funniest part about the above tweet? The actual guy has 149 followers. Seriously.

On Facebook, gluttony takes a different turn for me. While actually writing this book a service provider that I am "friends" with sent me an invite to a Facebook event called "Freedom from the Fat Trap!!!" Really? One of two things happened here. She either sent the invitation, which wasn't even for her own event, to her entire friend list or specifically chose to invite me to the event. I am going to go ahead and guess that it is the former and that I also do not have to tell you how badly somebody could take this. It is about as bad as inviting somebody to an event called "You're Ugly and Here Is How You Can Look a Little Less Ugly." Remember that everything you do impacts your business image, including inviting people to fat camp.

Sloth

Twitter is a conversation. It's truly what I love about it. But imagine having a conversation in person with someone where that person takes an hour to reply to you, face-to-face. How awkward would that be: "Hey, how's business?" and they blankly stare off for an hour, then reply "Good thanks!" That's how it feels if someone takes a week to reply to a tweet. I once had someone who took 79 days to reply to a question that I asked her on Twitter. Seventy-nine days! If it takes you longer to reply than it would to walk over a handwritten reply to my home, you're doing it wrong. I know, not everyone is a tweetaholic like me, and not everyone can devote a good chunk of their day to Twitter. So if you have a limited amount of resources or time, let's say five hours a week, it's better to spend 45 minutes a day for the entire week, than five hours once a week. Consistency breeds familiarity, which creates relationships.

1 - Nothing proves this more than the increase of social media experts from 5,000 in May 2009 to almost 16,000 listed on Twitter in December 2009) (source: whatsnextblog.com).

2 - #FollowFriday is a tradition on Twitter where you suggest people to others to follow.

Here we can combine Facebook and LinkedIn; if you are not going to be responsive on either site then you probably shouldn't have a presence. There is a difference between being present and having a presence. You need to be active and responsive to people's requests, whether that is accepting people as contacts on LinkedIn or as friends on Facebook. I was guilty of this last year on LinkedIn when I recently went back to ramp things up and realized I had connection requests from eight months ago. How do you think it made those people feel?

Envy

Ya, I'm kind of a big deal on Twitter in my own mind, which at the end of the day means nothing to the majority of the world, but every day I get DMs³ asking me to change my picture to add a "cause" or tweet about this or that. I'm all for causes, I'm a big charity guy, but mostly I'm a fan of choice. Meaning it's your choice to support anything you want but every once in a while people try to get others, through guilt, to change their avatar. When everyone changed their Twitter profile pictures to a shade of green to support some cause I got asked daily why I hadn't changed mine yet. My answer to them? It's none of your damn business why. My lack of participation in your cause does not infer lack of support, just like changing my avatar does not make me a better person by default. Same goes for people who think you should be obligated to follow them back if they follow you. Things on Twitter, just like most things in life, are choices. We should follow people based on interest, not out of courtesy.

Same goes for causes and groups on Facebook. You will see a popular cause of the month go around with plenty of invitations that you will usually ignore. Recently I had the pleasure of choosing to not join a cause just to be reinvited back multiple times by the same person. I admire their dedication, but despise their persistence that has turned to annoyance.

One of LinkedIn's greatest functions is the endorsement, where people can give testimonials about your skills at a particular job. The system allows you to request endorsements from anyone in your contact list. This is okay if they actually worked with you or were customers; however, I frequently am requested to give endorsements for people who I barely know anything about; or they write in the request "if you endorse me then I will endorse you." Which negates the very point of the system.

Wrath

One of the worst things about social media is the reactionary nature of it. Especially on Twitter, most of us don't think before tweeting and for the most part it's okay because most tweets are harmless, boring, and innocent by nature. But once in a while we react or lash out above our better judgment. It takes a thousand tweets to build a reputation and one to change it all. Twitter feels intimate sometimes, like you're on an episode of Friends, having a conversation with a few, except there are thousands "lurking" around. It's like having a harem of stalkers, without the creepiness.⁴

Being the object of someone's wrath is also common. For a full explanation on how to deal with trolls check out the section about them later in the book. But in a nutshell: Don't feed them. They aren't owed a reply, your time, or your emotions. You're better than that.

Wrath can be even worse when it is cloaked in the disguise of being helpful. This is usually done by the spelling freaks or grammar police. I admit that I do not always proofread what I tweet--I barely proofread a blog post and then usually only after I have posted it. Posting on my public comments and implying that I am a moron because I spelled something wrong isn't in anybody's best interest. It makes me feel stupid and it makes you look bad. I was taught back in my human resource days that there was one rule: Praise in public and reprimand in private. So I would say praise in public and assist in private. If I asked for help or feedback in a public forum, then fire away, but if the spell check is unsolicited, drop me a note privately. It is actually appreciated and makes you look even better. But beware of those who ask for feedback in public as well--they are usually looking for praise.

Lust

Social media sites are filled with humans. And when you throw a bunch of humans into an environment, a few things are sure to be present: 20 percent of people will have bad breath, 30 percent will wonder how their hair looks, 60 percent like peanut butter and cheese sandwiches but are scared to say something (or maybe I'm the only one), and 100 percent will have hormones. ⁵ It happens. We can pretend they don't exist, but they're always there. It's one of the reasons to have a flattering picture as part of your social media profile; it catches the eye. The problem is when people turn creepy or obnoxious (and by people I mean guys). I'm truly blessed to know many incredible women on Twitter who are not only brilliant in business but attractive as well. The stories they tell me about direct messages or replies they get from some men make me shake my head. Seriously, folks, I'm not sure what book told you the line "Your lips look tasty" works, but it makes me picture Silence of the Lambs, and not for the cool stuff. Every tweet, every DM, represents your company, and more specifically you as a person.

It is even worse on Facebook, where the laid-back attitude can make you look even worse. People post pictures of their vacations on the beach only to have them ruined by some guy making a comment that totally ruins the entire thing. And I repeat that you are always marketing your business--every comment, every post, is an extension of your brand.

Pride

You know what? Screw it. I have no problem with your being proud of something. I mean true pride. Something you accomplished, your kids, whatever. Scream it from the top of the mountains, good for you. Just do it in moderation. Don't just talk about yourself, spread pride of others, too. Retweet, comment, and share their accomplishments. One sin out of seven ain't so bad.

3 - DM is a Direct Message, which is a private message on Twitter that you can only send to someone who is following you.

4 - Okay, maybe a little creepiness . . .

5 - By the way, I know that this doesn't equal 100 percent, so feel free to shoot me an e-mail to correct me.

http://www.fastcompany.com/article/seven-deadly-social-media-sins?page=0%2C0

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Unidos Venceremos! United We Will Win!
PETER S. LOPEZ AKA: Peta-de-Aztlan
Sacramento, California
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://twitter.com/Peta_de_Aztlan
http://www.facebook.com/Peta51
"An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come."
~ Victor Hugo
c/s

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The Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media By: Scott Stratten September 13, 2010

Greed

Gluttony

Sloth

Envy

Wrath

Lust

Pride