2012年9月19日 星期三

The Art Of Jedi Mind Tricks


Jedi mind tricks, while predominantly a fictional term, can be referred to as the act of brain washing, through thought control or coercive persuasion. The term has become a widely accepted modern word to describe such acts, thanks to its entrenchment in modern pop culture. It may be done by use of manipulative methods to change thoughts, behavior, emotions or even decision making. This may be done willingly or unwillingly. Jedi mind tricks are usually a gradual process and may be done by a professional or someone with good experience in it.

These procedures are usually carried out for behavior control and they use deception to manipulate and influence individuals. They usually like to deal with groups of people so that they can benefit either financially or politically. This usually starts with just verbal or audio techniques to soften up an individual, the use of rewards or punishment is then applied in some cases isolation from other people is encouraged. Communication is then restricted and emotional control comes into play making a person start to reevaluate their life, humiliation and threats can also be issued to change character.

How a person reacts to these procedures depends on the environment. One is placed on and so that is why most of these manipulators will change the environment to be quiet and secluded. This will further confuse their followers to adopt their ways.

Jedi mind tricks has been used to control people a good example is in the Chinese society where individuals were subjected to difficult situations including keeping them in filth, sleep deprivation, partial sensory deprivation, group social pressure and psychological harassment. This in turn caused the imperialist mindset individuals to conform to the new Chinese social system. However studies went to show that most of this individuals only changed because they had been promised better life after which all changed back to their old habits.

This kind of control has also been used among cult leaders to confuse their followers. Techniques like withholding information, emotional persuasion and behavior modification. This is all systematic means of deceiving their followers and with time they have been able to fully convince their followers complete even to believe absurd information.

A lot of groups have negatively taken Jedi mind tricks techniques to manipulate their victims groups like terrorist groups have confused their followers with issues of religion to convince them to do as ordered. In case of custody battles parents have been known to convince children to side with them and reject the other parents through Jedi mind tricks.

Jedi mind tricks can however be used positively assist individual in stopping bad habits. For example it is used in Teen behavior modification programs to help teens who are highly indiscipline to get back on track, it is also used by smokers to help quit smoking through help of recording played in a cassette, on listening to positive messages it helps an individual change their behavioral patterns. As much as this procedure can affect an individual it can be reversed through deprogramming sessions where positive methods are used to change behavior. Most of these effects can only be felt in short term and after sometime one goes back to their normal state of mind.




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2012年9月18日 星期二

How To Enhance Your Child's Intellectual Development


As a new parent, understanding the importance of intellectual development in your infant can help you provide the best care for your child. If you are convinced that your baby is only capable of mundane biological processes like eating, crawling, pooping and babbling, you may be surprised by the transformational work that is going on inside your baby's brain and the impact your involvement can have on the formation of his brain.

Studies have revealed that babies come equipped with an amazing array of cognitive abilities to learn and to communicate - from their first ability to make eye contact with you to their first steps toward learning to speak and walk.

Although our brain cell formation is mostly completed at the time of birth, much of our brain's wiring is formulated during infancy and pre-school years. These first years of life will then lay the foundation for our future experiences. While it is true that some kids with good genes may experience spurts in rates of mental development, with early nurturing, even those who possess the short end of the gene pool can be geniuses.

Here are four things you can do you to boost your child's mental development:

1. Feed your child's brain

The quality of nutrition and fat consumption during infancy plays an essential role on your child's brain growth. Never underestimate the power and health benefits of breastfeeding. Breast milk provides almost all vital nutrients, which include polyunsaturated fatty acids such as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), AA (arachidonic acid) and optimal amounts of lactose and Vitamin C necessary for brain growth.

Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended between 6 months and a year, depending upon your baby. While we can't promise that breast milk will turn your child into the next Einstein, documented evidence have indicated that breast-fed babies do end up more intelligent than their formula-fed counterparts.

2. Stimulate your child's brain power

Reading and talking to your child is a great way to stimulate his language growth - which in turn help to develop good language and communication skills in early age. Chanting poems, reading and re-reading his favorite books (especially those with rhyming texts) and imitating your baby when he makes noises or little cooing sounds will feed his imagination and foster creativity and positive interaction.

Physical stimulation like holding and cuddling your child reassures him of your love and affection and creates a healthy environment for his brain to absorb more information and learn more easily. Make it a habit to massage your baby once a day. Massaging can ease your baby's tense muscles, release his happy hormones and help him to sleep better. Positive interaction involving touch has shown to maximize a baby's growth hormone release, thus helping him to grow and develop faster.

3. Use music education

Playing or listening to music is relaxing, entertaining and enjoyable. But do you know that music can also make your child smarter? Developing your child's musical ability may improve his capacity to think, learn, reason and solve problems.

Babies recognize and are able to distinguish specific melodies at a very young age. One way to support your child's musical growth is to begin singing lullabies and nursery rhymes to your baby both before and after birth. Music therapy has shown to improve a baby's mood, increase his focus and alleviate anxiety and tension.

Complex classical Mozart or Beethoven tunes help to cultivate your child's natural abilities and develop the areas of his brain that are required for creative thinking and spatial reasoning. Allowing your child to play with musical toys will also help to stimulate his motor, sensory and auditory skills during later stages of development.

4. Employ proper use of television

Recent research has characterized television viewing as a multi-leveled sensory deprivation that may be stunting the growth of a child's brain. Children who are passively viewing have less opportunity to develop their senses than those who are actively playing.

When exposed to television, a child can become unresponsive and oblivious to his surroundings. Once the TV set is switches off, he can change from a contented, playful child to an irritable, screaming baby. The truth is that television viewing can be addictive. Do not let this valuable time that should be dedicated for the building of your child's foundation for healthy growth and development lost in the world of television.

As a parent, you can minimize the negative and maximize the positive effects of television by holding off introducing it to your baby for the first two years of his life. Choose only developmentally appropriate and nonviolent programs (which include educational videos) and allow your little ones to watch them for no more than 2 hours a day on alternate days. Try to skip the commercials and make it a point to watch along with him so you can monitor his responses to what he is seeing on television.




Jacqueline Ng is an aspiring freelance writer with an avid interest in literature and art.





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"The Creature of the Wildcard" by Jon Fischer: Book Review


The Creature of the Wildcard

by Jon Fischer


PublishAmerica (2006)

ISBN 1424118557

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (8/06)

I have never read a fantasy as unusual as "The Creature of the Wildcard." It is a cross between a metaphysical philosophical book and a fantasy novel. The fantasy part, involves a story about a man named Alaric Fischer. The metaphysical philosophy that I feel is in this book comes from Alaric's musings.

Alaric is a talented artist that gets caught up in the dream world. He gets involved with the Neuro Art Institute. The institute views the mind as a work of art and the brain as its artist. He goes there to take a course on dream imaging. Alaric wants to test a program called "The Eclipse" which is designed to bring an escape from suffering.

While Alaric is trying to learn how to control some delusional thoughts, he discovers that he has the power to change reality. As he further explores who he is, he uncovers some shocking truths about who he is and why he has his talents. He is told that he is the God of Alternity. Alternity is described as "being coined by John C. Lilly, the inventor of the sensory deprivation tank, to express an altered state of being on the drug ketamine. In actuality it is an alternative to death." The doctor, helping Alaric learn what his purpose is, tells him that it is his job to "condition mankind in the paradox of being alternative to known existence." Alaric will be going into an alternative state of existence and be able to achieve immortality to accomplish what he needs to.

The author's style of writing makes it easy to visualize the scenery as it unfolds around Alaric. It made me feel like I had entered into a psychedelic state. The story holds a great deal of depth and involves concentration and contemplation to seek out the deeper meanings. It is not a light fantasy. It is a book that will be enjoyed by people who enjoy the deeper, darker side of fantasy.




http://www.readerviews.com





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Floatation Therapy - All Stresses Simply Seep Away


Floatation therapy is a quick and simple way to achieve intense relaxation. Stress is constantly being recognized as the cause of illness and physical problems and floatation therapy is an ideal way to unwind and release pent up tension.

A physician and neuro-psychiatrist named Dr. John C. Lilly originally gave birth to the idea of the floatation tank. His studies veered him in the direction of sensory deprivation and the impact it had on reducing brain activity. While Doctor Lilly was undergoing psychoanalysis training, he continued to find out as much as he could about isolating people from any external stimuli. His first tank was created early in the 1950's.

Floatation therapy provides people with an almost instant feeling of well-being: As the brain activity lowers, any problems or stresses seem trivial and simple to overcome. Whether a person has been experiencing physical pain or aches or they have a stress related problem like insomnia, Dr. Lilly's invention will prove to be invaluable. When the body and mind enters into such a relaxed state, more areas of the brain can work harmoniously together to provide healing and clarity of thought.

Most forms of such deep relaxation take a lot of time and practicing before any deeper levels can be reached. With floatation therapy, no learning or practicing is required and no energy is necessary. It is as simple as climbing into the tank and floating for a while. Even if it's the end of a hectic, tiring week, mustering the energy to climb on in will be well worth it.

How do Floatation Tanks Work?

Of course the initial development of the floatation tank was nowhere near as comfortable as the modern day designs. They now have light, easy to open and close lids or doors, circulation fans, internal lighting and a very classy and new age look.

They have been created as a peaceful, comforting tank or room that contains approximately ten inches of water and a heap of Epsom salt. When water contains pounds of salt, it becomes much denser than the body and provides the floater with a feeling of weightlessness, making it easy to float.

Should the tanks only contain fresh water or water with chlorine in it, a person would have to constantly keep moving to keep floating. It wouldn't be a very relaxing experience if worrying about sinking was the main agenda.

Using professional floatation therapy methods allows the body to become completely relaxed while floating on the surface without effort.

The water is always set to body temperature which means it quickly feels like the body and the water become one. It is a private, dark, temperate and moist environment that most people find to be very pleasant. For those concerned about feeling claustrophobic, the lid can be left ajar or completely open, but floatation therapy is more effective if it's closed and completely dark.

Some people choose to wear bathers and others like to be naked for their floatation therapy. There is a shower to use before climbing in and whichever way makes an individual feel more comfortable will be best for them.

Another good idea is to wear ear plugs because usually the ears are in the water the entire time.

Lying on the back is not the only option and many people like to try different positions whilst floating. It feels almost like laying on a bed and there is freedom to move and float in different ways.

An hour of floatation therapy is equal to four hours of deep sleep. Usually there will be a light to indicate that an hour has passed, or the tank water may vibrate as the filters start to self-clean. It isn't recommended to spend more than an hour inside and this is seen as the ideal length of time.

The Epsom salt makes skin soft, smooth and silky to touch. The prune look normally seen after bathing is caused by water leeching salt from the skin and because the tank water is so salty already, this doesn't happen. Many people go straight from a floatation session onto their next appointments.

Important Features of Floatation Tanks

Today's floatation tanks have been designed with safety in mind, which is why it is impossible to ever be trapped inside. It is completely okay to climb in and out any time so users feel in control.

Modern tanks aren't air tight and also have their own fans circulating the air and keeping it fresh. In the rare event that something did go wrong with the fan, there would never be a shortage of air.

Advanced filtration mechanisms keep the tank and water clean. This means there are no concerns about picking up an infection or catching a disease.

Currently floatation tanks and floatrooms cost anywhere from $7400 to $24000. This is the price of the units only and doesn't include any delivery charges or extra accessories.

Not many people can afford to install there own tank at home. It's much more affordable to visit a local salon that offers floatation therapy and many will provide package deals offering discounts for more than one visit.

The First Floatation Therapy

There are some important points to consider before the first float, whether planning to use a tank in the home or visit a salon that offers the service:

* Because of the high salt concentration of the water, metal items can be damaged during a float. For this reason even wedding rings should be removed.

* To avoid damaging contact lenses if water goes into the eye, they are also best being removed.

* It's an excellent idea to spray some liquid skin or liquid bandage onto any cuts or abrasions. This is because the salt water will sting rather intensely for some minutes if there is any broken skin, so even shaving nicks should be considered.

* It is a courtesy to take a shower and wash your hair. Conditioner shouldn't be applied and the entire body should be washed and rinsed before floating. This prevents unnecessary pollution of the water in the tank.

* For those who have a specific issue on their mind, it's suggested that focusing on it while preparing for a session is beneficial. As soon as the body hits the water, asking for universal guidance towards finding a resolution is usually very effective.

Precautions to remember when in the tank are:

* It is pitch black when the lid of the tank is closed and it's not uncommon for someone to initially panic when the doors appear to be stuck. This is impossible and it's simply a matter of them being disoriented because it's so dark. If this happens, simply feeling around for the lids location will solve the problem and keeping any panic at bay.

* On initially entering the tank, it is best to take a minute to orient the mind to where the lid is in respect to floating.

* Another thing to find when first entering the tank is the light switch. Nearly all tanks have interior lights and knowing how to find it can also help prevent a panic attack.

Anyone attempting floatation therapy for the first time needs to remind themselves that they are safe and calm. The doors are designed so they can not be locked or stuck and there is always plenty of air. Any problems will only be related to locating the doors and that is not so hard to do as long as calmness is maintained. It is sometimes a good idea to find the light switch first and then find the door. If panic does start to set in the best solution is to lie back in the water, breathe, relax and then look again for the lid.

* If salt water does make its way into the eyes it can sting very badly. This is because the salt concentration is so high, so it's important to remember these points:

- As soon as the hands become wet they must be kept off the face and eyes.

- Any time the hands are raised over the head for a change of position, they should go outside the head, not over the face. This avoids water dripping into the eyes.

- The hair needs to be carefully pushed away from the face anytime the floating position is changed and especially when sitting up.

- In case water does get in the eyes, there should always be a towel near the door of the tank for immediate use.

It only takes a single floatation therapy session to fall in love with the feeling. It provides a natural pathway to health and wellbeing and is a wonderful feeling everyone should experience.




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2012年9月17日 星期一

Mentally Created Neuroplasticity


In prior articles my focus has been on how neuroplasticity follows sensory-deprivation or changes in how the senses are used. Findings derived from his work with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) patients led Jeffry Schwartz, MD, (2002) a University of California - Los Angeles Medical School neuropsychiatrist to the realization that the signals capable of creating neural reorganization can also come from the mind. His analysis of the causes and treatment for OCD focuses on a small handful of neural substrates. These include the right orbitofrontal cortex (R-OFC), the striatum [i.e. the region of dopamine receptors to include the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)], the limbic system's amygdala, and the caudate nucleus. Together he calls them the "OCD circuit."

His conclusions concerning the triggering and treatment of an OCD reaction starts with the function of the R-OFC. As the substrate most involved with anticipation, this totally mental - rather than sensory - perception event causes the executive - or thought-switching - function of the ACC to begin searching for answers (or patterns). This signal is correlated with simultaneous input from the amygdala, which is the limbic system's emotional center. Normally, the caudate nucleus would generate a dopanergic signal that the crisis is over. However, if this "switch" is not functioning, the ACC continues working harder, using more cerebral energy, and creating an imbalance - thereby withdrawing energy and function from nearby substrates - to include the right prefrontal cortex that is vital to the maintenance of inhibitions. Considering Hebbian Learning, the repeated firing of this circuit strengthens the related neural pathways and weakens others. This further exacerbates the problem.

Apparently such pathologies then become "learned responses." Therefore, Schwartz feels that they can be unlearned. His treatment for OCD includes teaching sufferers to trigger a dissociative awareness when an event onsets. Also he works with them to develop an alternate response. This newly learned pattern is then further strengthened with practice. Note that the neurological changes sought by Schwartz originate with the deliberate instigation of mental inputs. This begs the question as to whether deliberate mental inputs (i.e. suggestion and imagination provided by hypnotherapy) can serve as effective interventions in stress or anxiety-related mental pathologies.




Tim Brunson, PhD

The International Hypnosis Research Institute is a member supported project involving integrative health care specialists from around the world. We provide information and educational resources to clinicians. Dr. Brunson is the author of over 150 self-help and clinical CD's and MP3's.





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Alcatraz - An Island's History


Alcatraz, the small island in San Francisco Bay, received its name in 1775 from the Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala. He christened the land La Isla de los Alcatraces, which translates to Island of the Pelicans. He had no interest, as it was uninhabited, barren ground with minimal vegetation and treacherous, icy currents.

Having little to offer, Alcatraz was left on its own for another 72 years. In 1847, the U.S. Army claimed the island for use as a military fortification. Within a year, U.S. Army engineers were hard at work constructing both a military fortress and the Pacific Coast's first operating lighthouse.

Once completed, the fortress of Alcatraz became a symbol of military strength. Its features included long-range iron cannons and four 36,000 pound, 15-inch Rodman guns, which were capable of sinking hostile ships as much as three miles away. While the image of Alcatraz lived up to its reputation, the only round ever shot came from one 400-pound cannon. This was aimed at an unidentified ship, which it missed. Within 20 years, the rapid modernization of weaponry rendered Army defenses on Alcatraz obsolete. Soon the Army began rethinking uses for their island.

The natural isolation made Alcatraz the ideal location for an Army penitentiary. In 1861, the island began its 102-year history of housing prisoners, first as an Army penitentiary, then as a Federal prison.

Alcatraz was the Army's debut as a prison for long-term sentences. Civil War prisoners were the first to arrive. The population remained small until 1898, when the Spanish-American war brought the prisoner count from 26 to more than 450. In 1906, a catastrophic earthquake in San Francisco forced the city to evacuate hundreds of prisoners to Alcatraz. The large influx of prisoners forced building expansion. By 1912, a large, three-story cell house had been constructed on the island's central crest. The structure had almost reached full capacity by the late 1920s.

Rising operation costs led the military to close Alcatraz in 1934. Ownership of the island was handed over to the Department of Justice.

During the late 1920s and into the 1930s, the Great Depression brought an excessive crime surge. The combination of Prohibition, massive unemployment, and desperate need fostered a new era of gangsters and organized crime. This new breed of criminals had taken over large cities. Ordinary prisons were not doing a good job of keeping them behind bars. The federal government needed an "escape proof" prison, where they could lock away the worst of these bad guys. On Alcatraz, the government found exactly that.

In April 1934, contractors began work to turn the military prison into a maximum-security Federal prison. This new and improved Alcatraz was designed to hold no more than 300 prisoners. Only those convicted of federal crimes were sent to Alcatraz. These crimes included bank robbery, kidnapping, income tax evasion, draft dodging, and murders related to these crimes. The Federal prison on Alcatraz was designed strictly as a holding pen with no rehabilitative intents.

Few prisoners were sent directly to Alcatraz when sentenced at court. Inmates found their way to the island through behavior problems and escape attempts. Getting transferred out of Alcatraz was even more difficult. Parole was not an option. Inmates first had to earn their way to a different prison through good behavior.

James A. Johnston, the first of four wardens at Alcatraz, made the rules. He insisted on one guard for every three prisoners. The average ratio in other prisons at that time was one guard for every 10-13 prisoners. The inmates had no commissary. No newspapers were allowed; their reading material was censored and extremely limited. They had no television and radio was banned until the mid 1950s. Inmates received no counseling and were not offered any classes or groups to join. Recreation was severely limited. Boredom was an ongoing and extreme problem for both the inmates and the prison guards.

Prisoners were allowed one visit per month, which first had to be approved by the warden. These visits lasted approximately 1 1/2 hours and were conducted through glass with the use of a telephone.

The most controversial of Johnston's rules was the "Silent System". Conversation of any sort between prisoners was forbidden. The prisoners were deprived of even the most basic human contact. Several inmates were reported to have gone insane due to this policy. Over the years, the silent system became too difficult to enforce. Four long years later, the policy was abandoned and never reinstated.

Alcatraz Federal Prison consisted of 336 cells in three cellblocks. The main corridor - dubbed Broadway - held 168 cells and stood three tiers high. Broadway offered little privacy for the inmates, as this area received the most foot traffic. However, cellblock D was by far the worst area in the prison.

Called the special treatment unit, this area was also referred to as isolation, segregation, and solitary. Five of the cells on the bottom tier earned the nickname "The Hole". Each cell contained a sink, a toilet, and a low-wattage light bulb strung from the ceiling. The solid steel door had a small insert that opened in order to push the prisoner's food through. Inmates were provided with thin mattresses for sleeping but those were removed during the day. No form of entertainment was provided or allowed. The prisoner was cut off from all human contact, suffering extreme boredom and isolation.

The strip cell was reserved for particularly difficult inmates. This was a dark, steel-encased cell with no bed, sink, or toilet. The door was solid steel that remained closed at all times. Prisoners were stripped naked and placed inside with no blankets or light. The "toilet" was a hole in the floor. A thin mattress was provided for sleeping hours, then taken away. This cell was a cold, foul, black void that was feared by even the most hardened criminals.

Time in "the hole" was not supposed to exceed 19 days and time in the strip cell was limited to two days. This standard, however, was not always adhered to. Reports were made of prisoners driven insane by the extreme sensory deprivation of the hole and the strip cell.

In its 29 years as a Federal prison, Alcatraz held 1,576 prisoners. During that time, 14 escape attempts were made by a total of 36 inmates. Of those, 21 were returned alive, two were returned and executed, seven were killed by gunfire, and one drowned and his body washed ashore.

Five prisoners, from two separate escape attempts, managed to get off the island. Ralph Roe and Theodore Cole disappeared in 1937 and Frank Morris and Clarence and John Anglin disappeared in 1962. Despite nationwide manhunts, none of these men were ever found and no bodies were recovered. Much controversy exists to this day as to whether any or all of these men made it out of the water alive.

Alcatraz's structure began to deteriorate. By the 1950s, the salt air had corroded the metal and concrete. Around 1961, the power plant began to fail, causing electrical blackouts. Plumbing pipes were cracked and major structural repair was required. During 1960-1961, the Bureau of Prisons spent $300,000 on renovations. An estimated $4 million more was needed.

Repairs were not the only factor in the high maintenance costs of Alcatraz. Because of its isolation, supplies, including water, had to be trucked in. This meant that even everyday expenses were much higher. The cost per prisoner was almost three times higher at Alcatraz that at other U.S. prisons.

By the time of the last escape attempt in 1962, the decision to close Alcatraz had already been made. Construction had begun on the U.S. Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois, the replacement for Alcatraz. On March 21, 1963, the last 27 prisoners were transferred from the island prison. Alcatraz officially closed in June of 1963.

Aside from a caretaker and his wife, Alcatraz remained a desolate place while various parties lobbied the government with development ideas. Nothing came of these ideas. Then, in 1969, a large group of American Indians landed on Alcatraz. A relatively unknown treaty with the U.S. government in the 19th century allowed Native Americans to claim abandoned Federal property. Using this treaty, the group claimed Alcatraz as "Indian Land".

The Indians had an elaborate plan for transforming Alcatraz, which included an educational Native American cultural center. Public support quickly grew, with high-profile advocates from show business as well as the Hell's Angels. This was both a blessing and a curse. The volume of visitors to the little island quickly grew overwhelming. Sadly, Alcatraz soon became a haven for the homeless and derelict population.

Before long, the Indians faced the same problems that stymied the prison administration; the total absence of natural resources and the enormous expenses. A series of difficulties culminated in a fire on June 1, 1970 that burned down what had been the Warden's home, the lighthouse keeper's residence, and the officers' club. The Indian community fell apart. Approximately one year later, on June 11, 1971, Federal Marshals removed the remaining occupants from Alcatraz.

In 1972, Congress created the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which included Alcatraz. The island opened to the public in the fall of 1973. Today Alcatraz is one of the most popular National Historic Parks, with more than one million visitors landing there each year.




Darcia Helle is a published author of mystery/suspense fiction. An avid reader and writer, Darcia immerses herself in all things crime.

Go to http://www.QuietFuryBooks.com to learn more about Darcia and to read her free monthly nonfiction newsletter Guilty As Charged.





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Spiritual Experience Through Drugs - Illusion Or Reality?


The origins of and spiritual practise are shrouded in mystery, belonging as they do to that period known as "prehistory" of which our factual knowledge is very limited. The roots of drug use also date back to that primordial era. Equally ancient and mysterious is the link between these two - the use of mind-altering substances as part of the search for truth.

Early accounts of the use of drugs in an attempt to induce spiritual visions or ecstatic trances are mostly connected with the practises collectively known as "Shamanism". The ancient Shaman used a variety of methods to achieve these altered states, including prolonged, repetitive, ritual dancing and/or drumming, sensory deprivation, fasting and the use of hallucinogens found in plants. These techniques were employed to either free the Shaman's

spirit from the body, allowing it to travel in the spiritual worlds, or to call down spiritual entities into the shaman. Shamanic practises of this kind are still to be found among indigenous and tribal peoples in Africa, Asia and South America. Echoes of these practises are found in many different religious cultures and in all parts of the world, with the longing for otherworldly experience driving individuals to explore all the techniques open to them as part of their quest - including the use of substances that fundamentally change the individual's perceptions and bring about altered states of consciousness.

In the late twentieth century, the discovery and popularisation of synthetic drugs which appeared to induce visionary or trance states led to a resurgence of interest in the spiritual nature of these experiences. The writer Aldous Huxley, a spiritual man with an interest in Eastern philosophies such as Vedanta, detailed his experiments with psychotropic substances in his book "The Doors of Perception". Huxley felt that the human mind in its ordinary state acted to limit our awareness of higher or cosmic reality, and that drugs could be used to reduce this limiting effect, opening the individual to a new and higher state of being. Huxley's book became a must-read among hippies and counter-culturalists in the sixties, as did works by Dr Timothy Leary and Robert Anton Wilson, both of whom saw drugs as an effective tool for opening people to higher spiritual realities within and around them. Later, in the nineteen nineties, the use of MDMA (ecstasy) as a recreational drug spread rapidly. Despite the powerful effects of the drug, and users reporting states in which they felt powerful emotions such as joy and unconditional love, the mystical elements of this experience were not trumpeted in the same way as with the LSD experiment of the sixties.

The fundamental question regarding these induced experiences of trance, vision and ecstasy is: are they real?

In comparing the effects of spiritual practise (prayer, meditation, devotional song, chanting etc.) with those of drugs, the key is to examine the effects on the individual not just at the time of the experience but in the days, months and years that follow. Spiritual practise is undertaken for its transformational power, expressed in the learning, change and personal growth of the individual. In different spiritual and religious traditions, this journey of transformation is seen in different ways. The Christian aspires towards salvation from all sin, the Buddhist is travelling towards enlightenment, the Yogi seeks first liberation from attachment then the realisation of his or her oneness with God.

Examine, if you will, two individuals. One has pursued for many years what Dr Timothy Leary called "the chemical route to enlightenment" while the other has engaged in the more challenging pursuits of spiritual discipline, perhaps including daily prayer and meditation and the renunciation of a worldly life. What differences do you see? Are their attainments of the same order? Have their experiences carried them forward on their spiritual journey,answered their inner questions, brought them inner peace and insight? I leave it to you to make your own observations and decide for yourself.

Let us close with the words of Sri Chinmoy, an Indian spiritual teacher who came to America in the sixties and began teaching spirituality when the hippy movement was in full swing:

"I have spoken hundreds of times on drugs. Here all I wish to say is that if you have a real coin and a counterfeit coin, they look similar; but when you examine them properly, you know that one is real and the other one is false. I have a few disciples who once upon a time were addicted to drugs. They had very high, lofty experiences according to their own understanding and realisation at that time. But now these same disciples have been meditating with me for a couple of years and by the Grace of the Supreme they have had spiritual experiences. They say that the difference between the two is like the difference between a counterfeit or false coin and a real coin."




Roger Chamberlain is an experienced runner representing Sri Chinmoy A.C. at races around the UK. He works in Run and Become, a well respected running shop in Cardiff, Wales. Roger also gives free meditation classes on behalf of the Cardiff Sri Chinmoy Centre.





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A Challenge to the Moral Reputation of a Nation


For the most part, the bulk of this article pertains to the period after the events of 911 and preceding the Invasion of Iraq. I believe the following actions were a precursor to the Iraq War, and part of a much broader plan to establish major U.S. military presence in the oil-rich Middle-East to which our economy funnels over $700,000,000,000 a year purchasing oil; assets very much endangered by philosophical differences.

In the year 2000, a new Republican administration Lead by newly elected President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney, began leading what would come to be a fundamental drift away from the accepted morality of American Democracy, as we have known it, since WWII. As a result of the events on 911, key in the philosophical sell-out of American ideals would be Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. A participating group of lawyers that came to be known as the "War Council" would shape a different view of the United States of America, by the rest of the World. David Addington, William Jim Haynes, Tim Flanagan, Alberto Gonzalez, and particularly John Yoo, would craft legal opinions that evolved into Presidential orders that would grant the President, unprecedented powers. Over a period of time, they would literally rewrite the "Rules of War" as the World had seen them, for over 50 years. It is generally accepted that Vice-President, Dick Cheney, spear-headed this push for new Executive Power.

The resulting policy changes would infuriate the rest of the World, and bring shame on the people of our country. Subversion of the U.S. Constitution, challenges to the authority of the U.S. Supreme Court, and corruption of the responsibility of the U.S. Congress, brought about by "fear mongering" would result in denial of the Geneva Conventions, and bring Global respect for the United States to an all time, historical low! Many would suggest that this Administration's policies had perpetrated "war crimes" and abolished the concept of "humane treatment" that the U.S., itself had spear-headed at the Geneva Conventions, following the atrocities of WWII, basing interrogation and detainment techniques on those of the Communist governments of Russia and N. Korea!

Maj. Gen. Thomas Romig (2001-05), a senior advisor from the office of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) found the course that the "War Council" was pursuing, profoundly disturbing, from the very beginning. His opinion would normally be of the highest regard and very desired in such a major policy revision, as "rules of conflict". He was effectively left out of the process. In a significant meeting with senior military lawyers, Cheney and his 5 lawyers would finalize the original opinion, in the form of an official memo, and sign off on it with no JAG presence. Within hours, President Bush would sign it. At the Department of Defense, the resulting policy changes would also be opposed by Richard Shiffrin (1993-2003), Deputy General Counsel on Intelligence as having questionable legal ramifications. Thus, with notable opposition, the Bush Administration began an excursion into the detainment and torture of those that would be termed "enemy combatants" in the U.S. "War on Terror"!

On 911, the political concept of gaining power through terrorism was brought home to the United States of America. In an elaborate plan, a Muslim Extremist organization know as Al Quieda (led by Osama Bin Ladin, and known to few Americans) would be executed that would strike fear into the hearts of the entire country. Death and destruction as we had never experienced on our own territory, left the entire country in a state of shock! It is this unprecedented fear that the Bush Administration would capitalize on to take the United States into territory never before ventured. Amnesty International, the International Red Cross, and the American Civil Liberties Union would condemn their actions in years to come.

...The U.S. Army field manual on interrogation defines torture as, "The infliction of intense pain to the body or mind to extract a confession, or information, or for sadistic pleasure."

The ability to conduct war with little or no rules was now in the hands of the U.S. Government. Over a period of time, legal opinions would be crafted by the War Council and signed off by the President that actually set up detailed permissions regarding detainment and interrogation, attempting to avoid potential legal ramifications. Colonel Steven Kleinman Senior Intelligence Officer for the U.S. Air Force, who had served in both Iraq wars (1985-2008), has stated that, at that time, the CIA had no structured interrogation procedures. But, the U.S. Military SERE program did have a vast array of torture techniques learned from North Korea, used in survival training. These procedures would be fundamental in coming legal opinions written by John Yoo, aimed at expanding the power of the Commander-in-Chief in regard to detainment and interrogation of enemy combatants.

Then Deputy Secretary of State (2001-05), Richard L. Armitage, who was also left out of these processes and states that he would have had no part of them anyway, says that he had found Yoo's legal reasoning seriously flawed. In accordance, the Department of State warned the Administration that violating Section 3 of the Geneva Conventions would raise the risk of future criminal prosecution by other parties of the Geneva Conventions for "war crimes". It further warned that these prosecutions would not exclude President Bush and participating Staff members. In the same time frame, Amnesty International warned the Bush Administration that the use of sensory deprivation violated the same section of the conventions' laws, as they had acquired evidence of the use of hooding, shaving, chaining down and drugging of detainees. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stated publicly that these interrogation techniques were not a violation of civil and human rights, as the detainees at the Guantanamo detainee camp were the most dangerous, well-trained, vicious killers on the face of the Earth. This was quite alarming to many, as the vast majority of detainees were "suspects" and not determination of guilt had been established. Among those alarmed; along with his Deputy Armitage, was Secretary of State, Colin Powell. A most certainly imperative meeting to discuss Powell's concerns was subverted by Cheney and lawyers Addington and Gonzalez. They approached Bush with the idea that the Geneva Conventions were last century thinking and obsolete in regard to the current world issues and problems facing the United States. They further advised him that opting out of Geneva would go a long way in avoiding potential criminal prosecutions. Bush would follow suit, jettisoning the Geneva Law, declaring that the detainees, not "Prisoners of War", but rather that they were "Illegal Enemy Combatants" who would in any case, be treated humanely. Sadly, this whole mess would make Colin Powell's continued participation in the Bush Administration, a permanent scar on his life-long service to his country.

Col. Larry Wilkerson, Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State (2002-05), also Powell's long time aid and 31 year military Veteran, states that he believed this move was spearheaded by David Addington and was nothing more than an act of convenience. He is quoted as saying, "They had a vision, were ruthless in carrying it out, and executed it very well."

On February 7, 2002, George Bush publicly jettisoned Geneva and U.S. law, and declared the detainees to be Enemy Combatants.

U.S. Torture Statute, 1994: defines "Torture" as "an act committed by a person... Specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering... Upon another person within his custody or physical control."

America would no longer be constrained by the moral and humane prohibitions of Geneva. Cruelty and injustice had prevailed over principles long accepted ideals, ingrained in the American Philosophy of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. "Laws of War" would protect no prisoners in U.S. confinement. Our military began "routine" use of interrogation tactics that evolved in Stalin's Russian prison camps and the POW camps of North Korea. In fact, "water-boarding" specifically, dates back to the "Spanish Inquisition", one of the cruelest periods in the history of mankind. It was also a tool commonly used by the KGB.

The CIA was not so quick to jump on the bandwagon. Some insight into the goings on, has been offered by Martin Lederman, Associate Professor at the Georgetown University, Law Center: The Whitehouse urged the CIA to use interrogation Techniques that appeared to be illegal. Fearing potential intervention by Congress the CIA insisted on a "Golden Shield" of protection from prosecution. On August 1, 2002 the Department of Justice released a memo; another legal opinion originating in the office of John Yoo. It stated that, "Congress can no more interfere with a President's conduct of the interrogation of enemy combatants, than it can dictate strategic or tactical decisions on the battlefield." It further defined that, "Any attempt by Congress to interfere with a Presidential order, even if it crossed the line into torture, would be un-Constitutional, and any interrogation would be legal unless it caused pain equivalent to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily functions, or even death." The CIA had the green light to conduct interrogation with few limitations.

Sec/State, Staff Chief, Wilkerson observed: If you can define torture as death or almost death, then you can stand up and say that you don't do torture, and "I think that's what they were doing."

Once the "Golden Shield" had been established, secret Whitehouse meetings chaired by Condoleeza Rice were held. At these a committee of top officials including Cheney, Rumsfeld, and CIA Director George Tennant, reviewed and approved the specifics of over a dozen harsh interrogations, including the "water torture" technique. Following WWII and Vietnam this method of interrogation had been prosecuted by the United States as a "War Crime". Richard Armitage had experienced water-boarding in SEER training and said he found it to be enormously unpleasant and frightening. In an interview this subject came up and he stated, "There is no question in my mind, there's no question in any reasonable human being... there shouldn't be, that this is "Torture". He then appeared somewhat embarrassed as he stated, "I'm ashamed that we're even having this conversation." This is coming from a distinguished public servant who served 3 combat tours in Vietnam.

The "Golden Shield" of August 1, 2002 included yet another attempt at derailing future criminal prosecution of interrogators and their superiors, stating: "For purely mental pain or suffering to amount to torture, it must result in significant psychological harm, of significant duration, lasting for months or even years." After these legal opinions had taken effect and been used for a period of time, on December 2, 2002, Donald Rumsfeld approved another memo, this time signed off by Jim Haines. This one approved 15, interrogation techniques, many of which again defied our military's own definition of cruel and inhumane treatment.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice: Prohibits U.S. Armed Forces from engaging in cruelty, oppression or maltreatment of prisoners, and communicating a threat, to wrongfully injure a detainee. Before his firing, Rumsfeld rescinded some of the techniques among the previous group of 15. Many others, though, have been a routine part of interrogations for years since.

Under years of pressure from the ACLU and many International organizations, the U.S. Supreme Court, in 2006, ruled that the detainees at Guantanamo were entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions. By that time many of those prisoners had been detained for over 5 years, without recourse. Following that ruling, only weeks before the 2006 mid-term elections the U.S. Congress came to the Bush Administrations rescue. They passed new law that stripped the courts of the power to hear cases based on Geneva, that also granted retro-active immunity to officials that might have carried our or ordered torture. Thus, in finality, all 3 branches of the U.S. government had effectively failed the cause of "Human Rights" and the American people!

After the passing of more years of confinement for many detainees of the U.S. a Supreme Court ruling stuck! Now many of those prisoners have been detained for over 7 years. On June 12, 2008 the high court ruled that Guantanamo prisoners have the right to challenge their detention. The Whitehouse may very well, now, have to answer for its practices and treatment of detainees, in U.S. Federal Courts. But, don't count on it!

In recent months pressure to close the Guantanamo facility has increased, and also over 500 prisoners have been released (Think they're worried?). But, it is still operating and the War continues... costing taxpayers lives and about $10,000,000,000 a month!

Note this:

As a Veteran I found this whole subject to be quite disturbing, from the beginning. As an American citizen I have and still do feel very shamed by it. I have long been a member of the ACLU, because it became clear to me way back when I was in the Navy, that someone has to watch our Government, besides the government. That, though, is another entire subject that I will never discuss because of the security clearance I worked under in the military, and my loyalty to oaths I took. At any rate, over the years I have tried my best to stay informed of what is going on with my Country. The article has very little opinion in it, though there is some. For the most part, though, the facts were gathered from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Associated Press, Reuters news agency, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Public Broadcasting System, National Public Radio, Meet the Press, Whitehouse Press conferences, many other newspapers and books, and Internet encyclopedias.

After PBS aired "Bush's War" nationally, the Bush Administration threatened to literally abolish government funding for public television and radio. As a result they are reticent about the airing of such endeavors. On the subject discussed in this article, a few independent public television stations recently aired "Torturing Democracy", produced by Sherry Jones and co-produced by Carey Murphy. PBS will broadcast it nationwide on January 21, 2009, after the Presidential Administration is formally changed. Smart, I think!

Americans, who've been waiting for someone to graphically connect the dots between the legal memos justifying torture, abuse of prisoners of Guantanamo and beyond, and the consequences for the moral standing of this nation, need look no further. It's all here. "Torturing Democracy" should engender the same mass outrage as the 2004 photos from Abu Ghraib. - Dahlia Lithwick, Slate.com

"This will go into the record books for historians and teachers and others who look back to ask, 'What did we do?'" - Bill Moyers

If you care at all about this country's place in the International Community, which includes our place in the Global Economy or have an opinion about what you would like Your Country to stand for... Don't miss this program!!!




David R Carroll, CADC is a certified substance abuse counselor, in California. He has served as a treatment program Director (started a new program). He developed the curriculum for that program that required approval from the California Department of Corrections Substance Abuse Services Coordinating Agency, and the California Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs. He has also worked going into California prisons recruiting inmates for Aftercare threatment for addiction and alcoholism. Counselor Carroll is also WebMaster of the site, Addiction: Why Me?





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2012年9月16日 星期日

The 6 Rules to Succeed in Life - A Positive Mindset At Works


Putting the Law of Attraction into daily practice is a big change in your life; it requires believing not only in yourself but in the belief that what you believe can manifest itself into your real world life, changing it for the better. With daily life bearing down on you with all the freight of stress and the demands of fitting into your workplace and society as a whole, it's easy to get so overwhelmed that you can't positively apply the law of attraction to your current circumstances. To maintain your focus, follows these rules!

Rule #1

Take notes. Write down what you want, be explicit. Take the time to itemize what you want and set priorities. Make plans in broad strokes to find what dependencies are needed to achieve your goals. Work backwards from the end point to break your dreams down into small, bite sized chunks. Successful people write down lists of what needs to be done every day, and regularly reviewing it for concordance with their long term goals and making themselves happy..

Rule #2

While we mentioned it above, it deserves its own step. Review your list every single day day. Set aside 10 minutes and ask yourself if your days activities are furthering your aims, or are on a holding pattern, or are working against your dreams. Visualize those things on your long term list, and focus on the feelings of having achieved those goals right now. In a short span, you'll develop the habit of reviewing your list and visualizing the things you want; the difficult part is taking the first step of making the time to review it in the first place.

Rule #3

Every day, pick one task that furthers one of your dreams, and hopes and ambitions. Take action every single day - visualization and planning are not enough if you do not act., but action without visualization is usually wasted effort. Like visualizing what you want, after a few days it will become a habit, and eventually will lead to concrete results. Do not stress about taking a perfect action - an imperfect action towards your goals now is better than constantly postponing an action because it's less than perfect - remember, you get what you believe, and believing things in the future tense puts them in the unachievable tomorrow, rather than the achievable present.

Rule #4

Avoid negativity, in people, places, and things. This is difficult to do. As humans, we are habitual, and social primates. We hang around the same social groups, visit the same locations, and do the same behaviors and habits. The Law of Attraction may force you to realize that your Friday nights with specific friends need to change to a different social set and circumstances. Take a hard look at your friends and see if they're where you want to be going, or heading in that direction. You may have to make some difficult situations here - you can't change your friends behavior, but you can change your friends. It's not that they're bad people, but they may be holding you back.

Rule #5

Get rid of passive entertainments, be it television, or watching video on the internet, or surfing the web. Watching television for an hour creates the same brain activity as sitting in a sensory deprivation tank. Take the time out to go do things - play a sport, read a book, jog with the dog - do something with that time being sucked out of your life by the babble box.

Rule #6

Discuss your dreams with other people you care about. Make sure they support your changes and where you are going. The more you talk about where you are going, the more positive emotional potential you create for those goals. The more you talk about the things you are doing to get there, the more you want to do, and the quicker the Law of Attraction will bring positive benefits to your life.

If you are able religiously follow these rules above, your ultimate goal to a successful life is guaranteed!




CW Teo is an expert in personal development. Click 1912GettingRichScience.com to download a 100% rebrandable Free Report: Bob Proctor On Science of Getting Rich.





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Is Working At Home Really For You?


I remember what it was like when I was still working away from home. I remember all too clearly how desperate I was to quit my job and stay home with my children. It was my mission in life. So....there was a lot of discussion between my husband and I. There were a lot of questions that we asked ourselves; Can we afford to do this? What kind of business could I start and run at home? Am I really ready to give up my demanding, stressful, rewarding career?

That last question was an important one. Was I ready to give up the daily adult interaction, the support of my peers, the stimulus of being out in the world each day? If the idea of being fairly isolated from others sounds about as appealing as several weeks in a sensory deprivation chamber, you might want to stick it out with your 9 to 5.

Before you make the jump, be sure you know what you're signing up for. Working at home can be very challenging, especially for those lacking discipline. You can't get a whole lot done if you just can't resist watching Regis and Kathy Lee and the next thing you know, Oprah's on. You also have to be able to say no. When people know you are at home, even if they know you are working, it's seemingly irresistible for them to ask favors of you. You have to be able to politely let people know that while you do work at home, you do have a schedule to keep.

With children at home, it's even more challenging. How do you balance the time between kids and work? How do you meet your professional goals and not compromise your children's needs? What are you going to do when your toddler decides to throw a tantrum while you are on an important call with a client? I find that it is extremely important to have a structured day so that I set aside time for the kids as well as my work schedule. I want to accomplish certain things work-wise each day, but I'm not willing to give up the playtime, the homework time, or the just being-together time with my kids. For me, I have found that if I identify daily non-negotiables for work, family time and housework, I'm productive and I get to keep my sanity (OK, I don't really get to keep it, but I have use of it most of the time).

I do have to admit that I am probably really well suited to this. This is mostly due to the fact that I am (according to my husband) extraordinarily stubborn and determined. I am also willing to be a mom most of the day, and then do my "other" job at night. I have been known to get up out of bed in the middle of the night just to work on an idea. Do you think that if I had to get dressed and drive to an office somewhere that I would do it? This is what notepads were invented for. It really can be like having 2 or 3 full-time jobs.

This is not to say that there aren't at least as many benefits to working at home. I get to set my own schedule. I can take a break to give piggy-back rides to my little daughter. I can work in my pajamas (of course I don't really do that). Working at home can be very rewarding for many people, but it's not for everyone. Make sure you realistically envision the impact it would make on your daily life, and whether or not it fits with your personal needs.




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Sharon Davis is the Mom to two girls, the owner of 2Work-At-Home.Com, Work At Home Articles.net [http://www.workathomearticles.net] and the Editor of the site's monthly ezine, America's Home. In her spare time she reminisces about what it was like to have spare time.

To subscribe to her free ezine, Click Here.

This article may be reproduced providing it is published in it's entirety, including the author's bio. For a text version via autoresponder, send a blank email to isitforyou@sendfree.com





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Music, Culture, and Reality


A psychoactive is defined as that which has a profound or significant affect on the mental processes. Although typically used in the context of drugs and substances, this concept is often extended to anything evoking a seemingly 'mystical experience.' What people describe as mystical experiences are indistinguishable, neurologically and empirically, from deep and poignant religious experiences. Moments of oneness and insight are typical in both cases. In "The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)," William James describes mystical experiences as ineffable, noetic, passive (rather, a sense of loss of control), and fleeting. From the remote mystics of Sufism and Kabbalah, to modern day 'urban shamans,' psychonauts have sought methods other than imbibement to investigate the cosmos within. Through meditation, breath control, lucid dreaming, sensory deprivation, and a host of other methods, music has stood among cultures in this service probably since early man first danced around campfires.

Ethnomusicolgist Gilbert Rouget explores the connection between music and trance throughout history. Perhaps music is more than simply a mortal construct, rather having cosmic significance. Playing music (and truly appreciating music) forces an individual to focus on the present moment, which in turn is the cornerstone of meaningful experience. This emphasis on the present moment is the consummation of all other psychonautical resources (mediation, entheogens, etc.). Subscribers of the shamanic and mystical often view the passage of time as an illusion of the human mind, and regard a 'perpetual now' as true reality. Interestingly this is where science begins to align with the esoteric.

Quantum Mechanics argues that particles move backwards as well as forwards in time and appear in all possible places at once. String theory proposes that the physical world is composed of little, tiny strings of vibrating energy (It seems appropriate to allude to chordophones). Terrence McKenna, recounting a DMT (Dimethyltryptamine) induced experience, asserts that the constant dance of 'machine elves,' (entities occupying a parallel world) creates reality as we perceive it. Are the rhythms of music akin to the language of reality? Is music a method of staying in contact with the underlying 'Logos,' being the true virtue in which all things exist? Whether it be Spring's hymn of birds and bees or the elegant, geometrical dance of our physical world, music plays the universal tongue in a reality seemingly ripe with babbling discord.




Anthony Pace, a writer, philosopher, and web developer, blogs at [http://philosophy-explained.com]





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2012年9月15日 星期六

The Power Of Partner Touch In Relationships


Have you ever held your partner's hand and felt a tingling sensation through every cell in your body? Ever yearned for a hug from your partner, more than anything else in the world? Is it an essential part of relationships?

Humans thrive on touch. Research has shown that for humans and animals, a lack of physical contact can lead to emotional disturbances, reduced sexual interest and even a weakened immune system. Studies have shown that infants deprived of skin contact lose weight and can become ill. Online dating site Partner4Real found that touch was as important in some relationships as sex, conversation & commitment.

"Touch is as important as breathing," explains researcher Tiffany Field. Without it, children do not grow and develop.

"Sensory deprivation makes people depressed and immune-compromised, and gives them emotional pain and physical damage," she says.

We all crave our partner's touch but it can be difficult for some men to admit they need it. From a young age, many boys are discouraged to go running to their mother for comfort when things get tough. When they grow into men and start relationships, they can then associate hugs with weakness, and may show a lack of affection to their partners. Humans not only thrive on touch, but relationships do too. Some women in relationships complain that their partner only initiates physical contact as a precursor to sex. And yet many women crave physical intimacy so much that they sometimes agree to have sex simply to fulfil this desire for warmth and closeness.

But there is a lot to be said for touch for touch's sake. Listen up men: Try lightly brushing your partner's arm or gently squeezing her hand as you walk past her. And if you fancy something a little more intimate, author Valerie Ann Worwood suggests that a 10 to 15 minute massage from your partner a few times a week can work wonders in relationships. If you are looking for anew partner or starting anew relationship, think about how important this aspect of any relationship might be and how you communicate this, whether verbally, through your online dating profile or just by letting actions speak louder than words.




Juliet Johnson is a dating authority from Partner4Real - an online dating website for singles who want to get real about dating. Partner4Real uses social networking tools that enable users to constantly upload hundreds of on-the-spot photos and videos via their mobile phones and email wherever they are, free of charge. Get Real about your man!





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Are You Psychic? Find Out With Parapsychology


Parapsychology is the study of supernatural events including esp, consciousness after death, and the ability to see through objects. The science can help you answer the question - am I psychic? It can help you whether or not you are clairvoyant and whether or not you have psychic ability.

Parapsychology is often referred to as a pseudo science, even though it is studied by the military. Experiments conducted by parapsychologists have included the use of random number generators to test for evidence of being able to predict the future. The random generator configures the numbers and the psychics must guess what the next number is going to be.

Parapsychology is also tested using sensory-deprivation experiments. These are called Mansfield experiments. These are used to test for extrasensory perception and research trials. The reason that these are considered to be so useful is that they are conducted under contract to the United States government to investigate the possibility of remote viewing.

In remote viewing experiments, the psychic ability of a person is tested around their ability to see far into the future. Remote viewing experiments test the ability to gather information on a remote target consisting of an object, place, or person that is hidden from the physical perception of the viewer and typically separated from the viewer at some distance. In one type of remote viewing experiment, a pool of several hundred photographs is created. One of these is randomly selected by a third party to be the target. It is then set-aside in a remote location. The remote viewer attempts to sketch or otherwise describe that remote target photo.

Ganzield is a technique used to test individuals for telepathy. The technique was developed to quickly quiet mental "noise" by providing a visual and auditory environment. Isolating the visual sense is usually achieved by creating a soft red glow provided by half ping-pong balls attached to the recipient's eyes.

Parapsychologists study all different kinds of different paranormal phenomena, including:

Telepathy - the transfer of information through the mind using only the power of thought

Precognition - the ability to foretell the future

Clairvoyance - the ability to obtain information about events or places at remote locations

Psycho kinesis - the ability of the mind to influence energy, matter, or time

Reincarnation - the rebirth of the soul after death to live another life

Hauntings - This type of phenomena is often attributed to ghosts and the otherworldly activity is often associated with a person's abode or belongings.

Parapscyhologists also help develop tests to measure the success of these psychic experiments. There are a lot of critics of parapsychologists. Many of them believe that sloppy research methods and flaws in methodology prevent the findings from being accurate.

So what constitutes a psychic in the end? Most parapsychologists define it in the end, as the ability is the person that does better than chance when it comes to determining the outcome of something like the throw of dice.




Looking for a free psychic reading with powerful, expert psychics? Visit SpiritNow.com today, the online home of America's Top Psychic, Sylvia Browne, for a free psychic phone reading and the best spirituality content on the Internet.





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My Review of Systems as a Medical Transcriptionist


I am writing this article to pass on some of the wonderful experiences I have had through the profession of medical transcription. This wonderful part of my life started like this. I have been a medical transcriptionist for 20 years, but I did not know about this profession until after I had tried nursing, waitressing and insurance sales. After wandering through these other occupations unfulfilled, I was primed and ready for a career I felt I was suited for. But what could I possibly be suited for? I was equipped with a degree in nursing, but what do you do with a nursing degree when you don't like nursing? Starvation was a very real consequence when I sold insurance, so I knew I was not a sales person. I could always wait tables, but how much longer would my feet hold out? During this time when I was soul searching and trying to figure out what to do, I took a job as a medical secretary which involved scheduling surgery, making appointments, filing and a very small amount of transcribing office notes. In the job interview, I told the office manager I had a good bit of medical terminology knowledge and some, "experience," in a hospital. I deliberately did not tell her I had an RN degree and wanted this job as a secretary instead as this would probably have led to her looking at me wide eyed and then saying,"I'm sorry, you're over qualified." This job perked along just adequately, but it was here I realized I found transcription to be fun. I looked forward to it and was disappointed every day when the tape ran out after only an hour. I was one step closer to finding the profession of my dreams.

My first full-time transcription job (heaven!) was in a hospital in the city where I live. For the first time, I knew the career area in my life had gelled. All my education and experiences (good and bad, recent and distant) had come together and culminated in my becoming a medical transcriptionist. Any other kind of transcription simply is not the same as the medical field. Legal transcription, for example, I found to be extraordinarily boring. It is both the medical field and the transcription field put together that produces this unique profession.

When I have trained new transcriptionists who were really new with no experience in the field, I could decide within 15 minutes if they were going to stay at the job or leave flabbergasted and astounded that we actually do this. They never get comfortable sitting at the keyboard and actually look as if they are about to get up at any time. The keyboard is an awkward contraption that's impossible to operate with only 10 fingers. Word Perfect is Word Insanity to them. Their headphones are an awkward instrument of sensory deprivation. After they have entered the correct directory, pulled up the proper form and named it, they always look at you wanting to know how much money they have made so far. When they look up a word, they aimlessly wander around the book, hoping the correct term will jump up and say hello. I give these poor souls one day at the most, but there was one pitiful girl who lasted less than one day, unfortunately because of something I said.

Three-quarters of the way through the day, I stupidly asked her if she had remembered to save before leaving the document. She replied she had left the computer turned on. Long story short, she never even came back to get her glasses. There was one new recruit who actually exclaimed, "Why do you do this?" to which I responded, "I enjoy it and the money's good." This has always gotten me a look from them that meant they thought I was insane. A physician told me once, " I don't see why you don't go stark raving mad, sitting here all day and typing." I replied, "who says we don't?" I've always felt you had to be a little quirky to honestly want to do this job. After all, you sit and type and sit and type and sit and type, and then you sit and type some more. It's not unusual to continue to hear doctor's voices dictating in your head after you've gone home from work, although I've learned to be careful how I say that, especially to someone who's not a transcriptionist. Another occasion where someone looked at me like they thought I was insane (who says I'm not?).

Having been in this profession for so long, I have also become able to spot the, "real," transcriptionists, so they are called by the veterans. You judge for yourself. The, "real," transcriptionists actually enjoy sitting and typing, plugged into headphones for hours on end. Production is their passion, and they pound away tediously, completely content, pausing only to look up words or do the ever necessary proofreading.

Then, (eyes rolling) there are the people who like to call themselves transcriptionists and end up irritating the life out of the rest of us who really are. They come to work chattering, they work chattering and they leave chattering. When your concentration is broken , it takes a few minutes to get back to that point. These guys rattle on and on about every doctor, every patient, every irrelevant detail they can think of to talk out loud about. This usually results in the serious transcriptionists staring steadily at the chatterbox and typing all the while (which is a real transcriptionist's talent akin to patting your head and scratching your stomach) until the offender notices they are being stared down by a clerical lynch mob and finally hush. Then, they give the rest of us that, "you're insane," look with a hint of, "I'm offended, I thought I was entertaining you guys."

A so-called transcriptionist who asks the same question three times in one week is usually dubbed an, "Alzheimer's patient." These people have a defective short-term memory and cannot remember what they were told or what they looked up for longer than a couple days. A good transcriptionist has a memory that never fails. The Alzheimer's patients are also the people who ask about a word out loud instead of looking it up. They get in as much trouble as the chatterboxes.

There are also the comedians who have to announce to everyone in the room something humorous (or is it humerus?) they heard in dictation. This produces a polite, very small smile from the rest of us while never missing a keystroke (or the lynch mob might gather), silently hoping the, "typist," would either hush or go home. To be labeled a typist is the strongest putdown that can be bestowed. You see, a typist is someone who mechanically manipulates the keys on a keyboard, and nothing more. Your average monkey could accomplish this. They usually hunt and peck which produces a large silent grin (never missing a keystroke) from the rest of us that they never know about. A transcriptionist (harrumph!) is a professional with an extensive knowledge of medical terminology, editing, spelling, punctuation, English, word processing, pharmacology, lab and pathology, and sometimes foreign accent interpretation who melds all these abilities together seamlessly at 100 words per minute. We also have the necessary ability to communicate with each other with our eyes and expressions. As mentioned before, the professional transcriptionist is capable of transcribing and socializing silently at the same time.

Another valuable source of experience is the mental hospital. Let me explain! The patients there are usually required to have a general physical exam before they start having psychotherapy with their psychiatrists. In my mental hospital experience (as an employee, not a patient, mind you), I found the social histories fascinating. They read like good books and are very interesting.

I've always thought it would be risky for me or any transcriptionist to undergo general anesthesia because I just might spout someone's private information. Incidentally, knowing a celebrity's medical diagnoses is unnerving, not exciting, especially if it's something like a sexually transmitted disease or a mental problem. Public figures and movie stars see doctors also; they are not immune needing medical treatment. Needless to say, that's all the details I'll put in this particular paragraph, citing confidentiality! You can't be a transcriptionist and play Rona Barrett or a reporter for the National Enquirer.

When I worked in medical records in a mental hospital, I found that mental illness can strike anyone at any time. In this job, the psychiatrists (shrinks) visit their patients every day and dictate daily progress notes. Now, you have a serial TV show-type situation where every day there are new developments. When we heard that old familiar whir and click of the machine activating, we waited anxiously like housewives waiting for their favorite soap opera to come on. The machine would stop and the lucky one of us to grab the dictation first would tell us the news (only within the transcription room, mind you!) Some patients sank deeper and deeper into insanity, and others made a wonderful recovery. Just a bit of trivia; shrinks have the most entertaining sense of humor of all doctors I have ever known.

Back to maintaining confidentiality, this includes not repeating to anyone the statements or innuendoes made on the dictation whether knowingly or accidentally by the dictator. A word of advice: don't dictate in bed. If someone remembers something they need to dictate after climbing into bed, then they should get up before dictating and be doubly sure the recording has ended lest they document whatever else takes place in their bed and who it takes place with! Sorry, no more details with this one, except to mention that dictating right after you eat can provide the transcriptionist with some entertainment, accidental or not. Everyone should remember, most recorders pick up all sound that occurs in the room, and some dictators foolishly think they are, "alone," in the room even when the recorder is running. We don't type in "eructation," or "flatus;" we just laugh and report it to everyone in the room. For the aspiring transcriptionist, look up eructation and flatus, and get a good laugh. Due to events described in this paragraph, there are doctors I can't look in the eye any more and they don't know why.

So many good experiences, so little space. I'll sign off now with no chief complaints, only a review of systems within wonderful limits and a bright prognosis. See you in a follow-up visit!

You can contact Carol Roberts through by email at: meditrans@aol.com




Carol has been a medical transcriptionist for over 20 years and has been certified by the American Association for Medical Transcription. She owns and operates Carol Roberts Transcription in Pembroke Georgia and is a staff consultant for Meditrans Help, the medical transcription help site, [http://www.meditranshelp.com]





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Torture - What is the Correct Definition?


Let me open by saying that I totally agree with the premise that under normal circumstances nobody should be inflicted with torturous techniques. Period the end. I don't think that anyone, left or right, would disagree that the deliberate use of torture for no apparent purpose is absolutely wrong and should not be tolerated.

That argument however, does not carry a great deal of sway when we are talking about the safety of Americans and our allies around the world, during what can only be termed as a time of immense global insecurity. Not a war by definition, but very unsafe times. An argument exists that by torturing to get imperative information that will hopefully be used to save lives, we may be no better than the enemy that we are trying to combat. To that point I have two questions:


What constitutes torture?  
Is there some threshold by which those that oppose any degree of torture would accept it, were it to prevent an action brought by our enemies that would be so abhorrent and devastational as to justify it?

Is it perhaps possible that in the hatred of, and the rush to condemn the current administration no matter what (an administration that has no doubt committed significant blunders), the bigger picture has been lost? That is that we are fighting people that want us dead, and who do not play by the rules of the Geneva Convention. Far from it.

What Does The Geneva Convention say?

Should we go by the Geneva Convention when we determine what is an acceptable level of torture? Just what are some of the things that the Geneva Convention stipulates?

1. Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.

To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:

(a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;

(b) Taking of hostages;

(c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;

(d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.

2. The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.

(From the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights)

By Whose Definition Is Torture Determined?

I am not sure if the groups that seek to do us harm are abiding by all or any of these terms. One needs only to look at the attacks on 9/11 to see that is the case. In a manual discovered at an Al Qaeda safe house there was a description of the methods to use when interrogating and torturing a captive. Some of these included the use of:

Electric drills, hammers, blow torches, meat cleavers, pliers and wire cutters, chains, screw drivers, whips and handcuffs. Some of the drawings included the methods to be used for perpetrating some incredibly gruesome acts, including "how to drill hands, sever limbs, drag victims behind cars, remove eyes, put a blowtorch or iron to someone's skin, suspend a person from a ceiling and electrocute them, break limbs and restrict breath and put someone's head in a vice." (Fox News, May 2007)

Now let's compare these acts with some of those reported to be used by the U.S. in a Washington Post story on June 10, 2004. This story outlines and derides some of the "techniques" being used by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay to "torture" the detainees or prisoners.

If we compare the methods in the terms of the Geneva Convention, or any other convention for that matter, we have to wonder why the outcry is over the actions of the U.S. to a much greater degree than that of our enemy. These are some of the ones mentioned:

"Some of the more severe methods available to interrogators in Iraq, if they got proper approval, include forcing detainees to sit or stand in stressful positions, using sleep or sensory deprivation, and using military dogs to intimidate. Others requiring prior approval included isolating a detainee from peers; pride and ego up or down, which means attacking someones personal worth and sense of pride; and "fear up/harsh," in which interrogators could yell at prisoners, throw things around the interrogation room and convince a detainee that he has something to fear, change of scenery up; change of scenery down; dietary manipulation; environmental manipulation; sleep adjustment (reversal) ; isolation for 30 days"; and a technique known as "false flag," or deceiving a detainee into believing he is being interrogated by someone from another country."

Does the end justify the means? It depends which case you are looking at.




Michael Haltman, President

Exeter Commercial LLC

Jericho, New York

The Political and Financial Markets Commentator

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2012年9月14日 星期五

Topics to Add When Creating an Alternate and Modern Medicine Web Directory


Alternate medicine finds its own place in the hearts and minds worldwide and has a separate following to back its existence. There are many subcategories that could be added to the modern and alternate medicine website directories. Although the list below is not exhaustive it is a good start. After looking at multiple directories in the web that just places everything into one big category "health related websites". I thought it's time to present some categories in this vibrant segment of the web; there are lot's of websites in this category which need a separate home in the directories. Even in the High PR and traffic rich directories finding the right websites gets tough by browsing the whole category. For your reference a single line definition obtained from wikipedia is placed under each category.

o Acupuncture - a therapeutic technique intended to promote health and well-being, which involves the insertion of needles into "acupuncture points" on the body by trained practitioners.

o Alexander technique - a study of freeing response that is taught by studying one's own mannerisms of posture.

o Apitherapy - is the medical use of honeybee products. This can include the use of honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, and bee venom, but most commonly refers to use of bee venom, called bee venom therapy (BVT).

o Applied Kinesiology - a form of diagnostic kinesiology that is used as a primary feedback mechanism to examine how a person's body is functioning.

o Aromatherapy - is the use of essential oils, fragrance oils, absolutes, carrier oils, and other fragrances from plants to affect someone's mood or health.

o Ayurveda - a more than 2,000 year old comprehensive system of medicine based on a holistic approach rooted in Vedic culture.

o Biofeedback - is the process of measuring and quantifying an aspect of a subject's physiology, analyzing the data, and then feeding back the information to the subject in a form that allows the subject to enact physiological change.

o Chiropractic - is a health discipline that seeks to prevent and treat health problems by using spinal adjustments in order to correct misalignments, or subluxations.

o Color therapy - use color and light to balance energy wherever our bodies are lacking, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental.

The other well known subcategories include the following:

Gemstone Therapy, Herbs, Holistic Health, Homeopathy, Huna, Hypnotherapy, Iridology, Macrobiotics, Magnetic therapy, Massage Therapy, Meditation, Mind-Body Medicine, Music Therapy, Natural Hygiene, Naturopathy, Orthomolecular Medicine, Polarity Therapy, Pranic Healing, Reflexology, Rolfing, Sensory Deprivation, Somatic Education, Therapeutic Humor, Trepanation, Yoga.




If you like to employ a good page rank directory for finding further categories here is one that contain links for Acupuncture, Alexander technique, Breathwork and many of the categories mentioned in this article ? networlddirectory.com. Some of the definitions in this article were obtained from wikipedia.org. Author does freelancing through the no fee free freelance website freelancefree.com.

Author recommends MRCPCH related online courses and study material given by 123doc.com.





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How to Introduce Sex Toys to Your Partner

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