Tuesday, September 28, 2010

DeTox 2 ReTox


What Goes In Must Come Out:


The study highlighted how our sense of right and wrong isn't just based on upbringing, religion or philosophy - but by the biology of our brains.


Saturday, September 25, 2010

Mentally Ill Have Their Uses


Join IVAW's campaign now by making a Pledge of Support.


The US continues its illegal and immoral wars, murdering innocent children, women and innocent men daily, by redeploying soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injuries and Military Sexual Trauma. Veterans view this as cruel, inhumane, and dangerous and know that without repeated use of traumatized soldiers on the battlefield, the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations could not continue. By winning troops Right to Heal, Iraq Veterans Against the War believes Americans can end the war and war crimes committed daily in their names.

On October 7, the 9th anniversary of the Afghanistan invasion, Iraq Veterans Against the War will announce its strategic campaign, Operation Recovery: Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Brain Study


Handling How You Are:

"If you ask most neuroscientists what area of the brain would be critical in anxious temperament and emotion, most would say the amygdala," said Jonathan Oler, an associate scientist at the Health Emotions Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-lead author of the study.

The amygdala is known to have a correlation with anxiety and stress responses. The hippocampus was previously thought to be mostly involved with memory.

"But the data are the data, and the hippocampus and the amygdala predicted anxiety in the monkey equally," Oler said. "What was different between them was the heritability component."

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Who Do You Love, Bo Diddley?:

People high in trust were more accurate at detecting the liars -- the more people showed trust in others, the more able they were to distinguish a lie from the truth. The more faith in their fellow humans they had, the more they wanted to hire the honest interviewees and to avoid the lying ones. Contrary to the stereotype, people who were low in trust were more willing to hire liars and they were also less likely to be aware that they were liars.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Crap Food Rant*


I've written often on this blog about the declining mental health within the American workforce. The alienation, the workweek grind, overbearing bosses and rude co-workers all are part of the sickness permeating the working class consciousness resulting in depression, over-sensitivity and workplace shootings.

Another factor in bringing down a person's self worth is nutrition, or lack thereof, in the American diet. How much high caloric, addictive crap food one ingests may be the most incriminating factor in mental meltdowns. One hears often of "the childhood obesity epidemic" as one only hears about bullying in the grade school situation, but by far, both of these conditions are larger and more dangerous among adults. 

This time of year many state and county fairs are in session. When you go, or among any large cross section of the population assembled, be honest and objective. Look. See what a bunch of blubber butts Americans have become. At the county fair I attended, the Tilt-A-Whirl broke down. It couldn't handle the weight. This was in an area, Northern Illinois, with the world's best soil and the heart of the breadbasket of the world. These farmers didn't even eat their own crop. 

It's very easy to sound mean to those people that should be 10 feet tall on the body weight/height chart. I would rather not be this way, but these fat people didn't get that way overnight. Much of it is economic, the poor simply can't afford fresh vegetables and fruits. I also know they were born with a brain and as there pants sizes got larger they kept eating Big Macs and supersizing the fries. Let's not forget to mention the 32 oz Coke that leads each and every lumbering step. I'm not talking about carrying a few extra pounds, I'm talking FAT.

At the California State Fair, an entrepreneur had 100 battery operated three-wheel carts to rent by the hour. They were snatched up immediately because some people couldn't walk the 50 yards that separated the deep-fried Twinkies and Corn Dog wagons. It became an absurd situation of Obese People bumper cars, or the little horn would remind you to move over so Tubby could get by. If there is a stock tip here, invest in any type of mobility device for the overweight, disabled, elderly fellow Americans that can't live a life without it.

Recently, at a popular tourist stop, I watched a bus load of older people unload to view the exhibits. I was appalled at how immobile they all were. Actually, quite helpless and it was very sad. There were older folks, but most couldn't have been too much over 60 years of age. They were in pitiful shape. They looked over medicated, lost, out of touch with their surroundings and themselves. Like they couldn't save themselves if they had to. It's all disturbing to me.

These are comments are of particular events. I know they sound mean-spirited, but I want the reader to wake up to what they are shoving down their gullets. Please understand the connection between mental and physical health. Crap food will lead to dead people walking (or just trying to). 

Next, the spiritual wasteland that is American popular culture.....

first published Sept 16, 2010
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Seems Most Are Already There

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Friday, September 10, 2010

They Keep On Coming

 

Work Kills:


Thursday's shootings came weeks after a driver who had been accused of stealing from a Manchester, Conn., beer distributorship shot and killed eight people and then himself.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The Four Agreements*



"A man may destroy everything within himself, love and hate and belief, and even doubt, but as long as he clings to life he cannot destroy fear; the fear, subtle, indestructible, and terrible, that pervades his being; that tinges his thoughts on his lips the struggle of his last breath."

-Joseph Conrad, "The Outpost"

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I recently read "The Four Agreements" by Ruiz. It's a self-help book, no pretense there. It purports to use the Toltec tradition and apply it to modern society. It guarantees some form of happiness and control in your life and I wouldn't doubt that it may. We are taught these concepts as children: Do unto others… If you can't say anything nice… don't make an ASS out of U and ME… A man's word is his bond. As an adult it is nice to be reminded not to throw sand in the sandbox and how malicious gossip is for relationship building. 

As in the movie "Doubt", those filmmakers took on the subject of Uber-mentor Roman Catholic priest with frankness and a challenge to the audience. When the priest was confronted with the accusation of his attentions to a young boy in the parish were more than guidance, he delivered a sermon the next Sunday about opening a feather pillow on the highest roof in town, and then the effort of retrieving every feather. That is what gossip does. Goes out and is unconfined. I'm sure all of us has been a victim of character assassination. It's hard to deal with. 

- One of the Four Agreements, the one I find most profound is "Don't take anything personally." I look back on the positions I put myself in and the over-ego-ed, insecure behavior that was. I see it in other people and how much distress it causes emotionally. It's easy to say "Let It Go", much more difficult to live it. This is the one that has brought me the most challenge and peace. Know that people around you, especially the most loved, will blab out the most mean hurtful stuff. The wicked tongue can't be listened to.

The other three are:

- "Be good to your Word" - Simple, but in the world of spin, white lies, collective conscious agreement on falsehoods, maintaining this concept on a daily basis is another story. This modern, high tech society is finding it harder and harder to separate fantasy from reality from self interest. Showing up on time is a start on the way to respect.

- "Don't ever assume" - It takes an aware person to be able to remove his/herself from their own thought patterns and confront the falsehoods that may appear worth fighting for. The mind, it seems to me, doesn't have a value system and if the rational needs an answer the emotional may respond with an illusion of Truth. "Be true to yourself" was better said by Billy Shakespeare. This concept is intimately tied to living in the moment since moving forward with conviction takes a focused effort and falsehoods, or assumptions, always push back.

-"Always Do Your Best"… an age old canard worthy of repetition. Where the learning process comes in I believe, is the flipside and having compassion for yourself when your "best" isn't always good enough. Going into an endeavor with enthusiasm doesn't guarantee success, now what? Of course, enter into every project giving your best effort, being honest with yourself, will give you peace of mind. Guilt, "I could have done more", has to be handled in the process.

The connections of these Four Agreements are the strength of the argument. Taken one at a time, it's too simple, but when combined together its power of mind reveals itself. Being Good To Your Word and Always Do Your Best sound like a surefire way to run a successful business., especially with Never Taking Anything Personal. "It's just business." Never Assume would sure help in my personal life backed up by My Good Word. Always Doing My Best is a work-in-progress, the glue and foundation that weaves through the fabric. Being honest with oneself seems to be its aura.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Boss of Nothing


Civil Rights:

European multinationals are exploiting America's weak labour laws to suppress unions, claims report by Human Rights Watch


Thursday, September 2, 2010

So Much Pollution



Know What Is Around You:

Mr. Vincent was a professional musician for 7 years and has a very nice collection of guitars along with a wonderful Yamaha keyboard. He has had a passionate love of music since age 6 -- while most children had a TV for a baby sitter, he had a radio -- and controlled that dial!