Mmmmm - 61

Could he acquire the conviction that our brain can be the only organ of thought in the whole universe

That everything in this world, save that organ, should be unconditioned and senseless, and that human thought alone should impart to the universe a meaning and a reasonable harmony in its integrity

If, in our conceptions of the Universe it be our fate to fall into illusions, then "illusion" has at least, the advantage of being very consoling.

For, it shows to me an intelligent Universe and the activity of forces working in it harmoniously and intelligently;

and that my "I" is not the product of chemical and histological elements but an embodiment of a common universal Mind

The latter, I sense and represent to myself as acting in free will and in consciousness in accordance with the same laws which are traced for the guidance of my own mind,

but only exempt from that restraint which trammels human conscious individuality

The limitless and the eternal, is not only a postulate of our mnd and reason, but a gigantic fact in itself

What would become of our ethical or moral principle were not the everlasting and integral truth to serve it as a foundation!

Dr Pirogoff

Twitchers

Might not be a word you are familiar with

.

Twitchers are bird watchers

.

They come in all shapes and sizes and are often very knowledgeable

.

Often about a lot more than the behaviour and habits of birds

.

Which brings me to one in particular

A friend of ours, James "The Birdman" who lives in Tanzania

.

He is not only very informed about birds but knows a lot about insects, flora, and other aspects of nature as well

.

As he says "It matters not whether we are considered bird-watchers or birders, ornithologists or bird-lovers, bird-spotters or rarity hunters, tickers, twitchers or listers

.

Are there 'philosophical implications'?

.

The gift of 'birding' has encouraged me to focus daily upon dynamic meditation; the interplay of the human mind and nature.

.

Specifically to concentrate upon the way this interplay should enhance our life, both as humbled individuals and in the greatest groups".

.

Have a look at his website and then his blog

.

We hope you enjoy them

http://www.birds.intanzania.com/

Notice

How thoughts keep popping in and out of our heads

.

All day long, every day all the time

.

Ever wondered if this is normal or reasonable?

.

Probably not because we just take it for granted that thoughts are coming to us all the time

.

If you ran your car all the time you would not be too surprised if it broke down

.

Why then do we find it so difficult to accept our own breakdowns?

We run ourselves all the time and often without much due care or attention
.
Most humans experience what we call illness, colds flu and the like
.
We accept disease as being the way it is sometimes
.
Physical illness is pretty usual from time to time in most humans
.
Mental breakdown on the other hand now that's not so easy to accept
.
Mental problems are a sort of no no
.
Even though our minds are working all the time we are conscious
.
Just like our bodies
.
In fact you could argue that our minds work more than our bodies
.
But if you do have a mental problem then better hide it
.
Easier to talk about psychological problems that has a somewhat more sympathetic flavour
.
More acceptable somehow
.
Turning to the idea of thought or mind overload
.
If you can learn to stop your mind then your system is more relaxed
.
Less strain
.
Less wear and tear
.
When we sleep our physical systems are more relaxed and this is when they mend best
.
Our minds also mend best when at rest
.
If we can turn off our thoughts we are more at rest, more at peace
.
Stopping our thoughts even for a short period of time is helpful
.
Turning off thoughts as it transpires is not an easy thing to do
.
Gautama Buddha once said that stopping our minds is the hardest thing that man can do
.
We do not need to doubt this as most cannot stop their minds from thinking for even thirty seconds
.
What to do?
.
Firstly recognise that turning off your mind and thoughts is a neat thing to do
.
Secondly decide to do it, discipline your mind that is
.
Thirdly start the process of doing so
.
How?
.
You have probably guessed it mediation
.
In truth there is no easy way
.
Meditaton though is not easy and anyone who says it is does not tell the truth
.
If you want to try then go to our blog for October 29 - 2005 called "Chattering minds" if you want a simple practical meditation

Good luck and if you want success then stay with it

I disagree

And how do you react?

When someone disagrees with you?

Are you defensive?

Do you argue?

Can you say "you are right"

Just that " you are right"

.

No preamble

No but, no justifications

Just "you are right"

Even if you think they are wrong

Even when you know they are wrong

Try it

As a test of emotional maturity it's not a bad one

It is very hard to say "you are right" when you know they are wrong

The act of doing so will show you things about yourself

One of them is, that after you have said it and some time has passed, notice how it doesn't matter

It really doesn't matter

Being right is not necessary to our self esteem

If we are sure of our position or facts then it really doesn't matter if someone wants to be right and insist on their point of view

Let them win

Let them be right

Allow yourself to smile

Let yourself be uninvolved

Free of the need to be right

Smell and partners

Body odour plays an important part in mate selection but the Pill appears to interfere with a woman's sense of smell, undermining her capacity to make the best choice, researchers said.
.

If confirmed, the finding suggests that, by disturbing a woman's natural olfactory preferences, the contraceptive Pill could be to blame for fertility problems, relationship dissatisfaction and marital breakdown.

It could even lead to problems in the next generation, resulting in children with weaker immune systems.

Opposites attract – in gender and in genes.

But the study revealed that instead of going for genetically dissimilar mates, as human beings are instinctively inclined to do, women on the Pill tended to select men more genetically similar to themselves.

This is evolutionary suicide because the survival of the species depends on genetic diversity.

Going for genetically similar men, detected from body odour, may increase a woman's risk of difficulties trying to conceive, miscarriage and of long intervals between pregnancies.

Whether the "armpit effect" is sufficiently strong to trump those traditionally desirable marriage traits – a square jaw, razor wit and a house in Antibes – is a matter of conjecture.

But researchers at the University of Liverpool insist body odour is a powerful determinant of mate selection.

Craig Roberts, a lecturer in evolutionary psychology who led the study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society, said: "When eyes meet across a crowded room, looks obviously count first in determining who we find attractive.

But smell is an important sense for us.

We are animals after all.

Smell kicks in more in maintaining a relationship – it may not affect who you are attracted to in a crowded bar, but it may determine how you feel about them next morning."

According to evolutionary theory, humans choose partners through their body odour and tend to be attracted to those with a dissimilar genetic make-up to maintain genetic diversity.

Human diversity is nowhere more apparent than in our immune systems.

Our immune response is determined by genes in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which also controls body odour through the immune system's interaction with skin bacteria. Genes in the MHC thus help determine which individuals find us attractive.

Appearance affects who we pick up, but it is body odour that determines who we stay with.

For the study, women were asked to sniff six male body odour samples, obtained by shredding unwashed T-shirts which the men had worn for two nights.

For each woman, three samples were selected that were genetically similar and three that were genetically dissimilar..

The experiment was repeated before and after they started taking the Pill.

Dr Roberts, who carried out the study in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Newcastle, said: "The preferences of women who began using the contraceptive Pill shifted towards men with genetically similar odours.

Not only could MHC similarity in couples lead to infertility problems but it could ultimately lead to the breakdown of relationships when women stop using the Pill, as odour perception plays a significant role in maintaining attraction."

The nose is the pathway to love

* It is through the baby's bond with its mother that the power of body odour is established, scientists believe.

* When we are attracted to someone we unconsciously register their odour, because it triggers ancient memories of being cuddled in the first few minutes of life.

.

* The sexually compatible enjoy one another's odour – that is one meaning of the sexual chemistry between them.

.

* For women, body odour is important in mate selection because it is a way of avoiding in-breeding.

.

* For men, spraying themselves with aftershave could be a mistake: studies show this can inhibit female arousal.

.

* Women often say that the most important sex organ is the brain, but the nose may run a close second.

Times

So many

People are not in touch with their hearts

Or put more accurately their higher self

The higher self that is connected to all of us

Is this important?

Yes very

Those people who live only in their minds do not have the same balance as those who live in both their minds and hearts

They have no possibility to grow far as individuals

To evolve their consciousness

Modern society though is forever extolling the virtues of mind.

Mind is the bedrock of our reductionist world

A world based on the values of reductionist thinking

Mind is rated above all else

Unfortunately over time those who only live in their minds lose the ability to feel and they become disconnected from their higher consciousness

In simple language they lose the ability to feel emotions

They have become calculators

Everything they see or touch is based on a calculation of it's benefit or loss to them

No other criteria are considered

Simply what is in this for me?

Unfortunately when you lose the ability to feel emotions you are losing a most important human quality

That of your relationship to your higher self

Which operates through the heart and thence through our emotions

.

So as you lose the ability to express or feel emotions so a part of you dies

What is left is a dry sad being

Often a righteous angry one

There are plenty around you

Have a look

Beings who only function on a simple cost benefit basis

We call them selfish and spoilt people

Egotistical often

Make the choice to enhance your relationship with your emotions and heart

Learn to listen to that small voice that is your higher self guiding you

Should you choose not to then no worries you will just have to re-live this life over again until you do

And yes that is what really happens when we fail to learn the lessons we came into this life to learn

Not a very exciting prospect living life over and over to learn the same lesson

So pay attention to the needs of your heart.

Life is so much more powerful and harmonious when you do

Just one more

Day without note.

Nothing special today

.

Just another day

Like many others before it

Same old stuff

Tired though at the end of it

Is it just me?

Being tired that is

Could be

Although as our human life parameters have changed this affects us all

We do not usually ask each other if we are tired so do not know that often we are all tired

Certainly modern stress is one factor

Pressure of job and family another couple

The change we are talking about started in 1997 during the total eclipse of the sun

.

This change or shift altered the etheric density experienced by man

.

Meaning the pressure we experience increased

.

There was another solar eclipse recently, which just pushed the pace or pressure up a little bit more

.

Essentially it works like this

.

Because the etheric density has increased

.

Everything is being obliged to work at a higher frequency

.

As individuals this has the effect of making us feel tired

People experience sinus problems

.

Many have more mucous than usual

.

Some experience swelling of the thyroid glands

.

Many are being given antibiotics for these symptoms

.

Not only a waste of time but quite possibly dangerous for many

.

Others feel sleepy at unusual times of the day, just wanting to lie down and sleep

.

This higher frequency also disturbs rigidity in all its forms

.

It provokes change

.

Translated we have to adjust

.

Our adjustment will determine how successfully we can live the rest of our lives

.

The old energies we were familiar with are gone and are no longer applicable

.

So like anything else in nature we adjust or die

.

Interestingly there is little or no comment on this subject

.

Why?

.

Because it is not generally understood that our life parameters have changed

.

Also it does not fit into current paradigm thinking

.

Pity really because it is easier when you know what is going on

.

If what we say resonates with you then learn to lie down when tired even if for only a little time.

.

Accept other physical symptoms of discomfort and learn to relax in spite of them

.

Accept that it takes time to adjust, months maybe longer

.

Be aware that this is not only physical

.

This applies to your mental and emotional states as well

.

If you are blocked in these areas then pressure will come upon you to change

.

Same old story letting go of your fears is the way out

.

If you cannot or will not let go then they will be brought to your attention more and more

.

Our world will not be the same again nor will we

.

Another cycle begins.

Why do the young have sex?

After exhaustively compiling a list of the 237 reasons why people have sex, researchers found that young men and women get intimate for mostly the same motivations.

It is more about lust in the body than a love connection in the heart.

US college-aged men and women agree on their top reasons for having sex -

They were attracted to the person,

They wanted to experience physical pleasure

And "it feels good"

Twenty of the top 25 reasons given for having sex were the same for men and women.

Expressing love and showing affection were in the top 10 for both men and women,

But they did take a back seat to the clear No. 1: "I was attracted to the person."

Researchers at the University of Texas spent five years and their own money to study the overlooked "why" behind sex while others were spending their time on the "how".

"It's refuted a lot of gender stereotypes ...

That men only want sex for the physical pleasure and women want love," said University of Texas clinical psychology professor Cindy Meston, the study's co-author.

"That's not what I came up with in my findings."

"The more we look, the more we find similarity," said Irwin Goldstein, director of sexual medicine at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego.

Dr Goldstein, who was not part of Professor Meston's study, said the Texas research made a lot of sense

And added to growing evidence that the vaunted differences in the genders might only be among people with sexual problems.
.

Professor Meston and colleague David Buss first questioned 444 men and women - ranging in age from 17 to 52 - to come up with a list of 237 distinct reasons people have sex.

They ranged from "it's fun", which men ranked fourth and women ranked eighth

Once they came up with that long list, the researchers asked 1549 college students taking psychology classes to rank the reasons on a one-to-five scale on how they applied to their experiences.
.

"None of the gender differences are all that great," Professor Meston said.

"Men were more likely to be opportunistic towards having sex, so if sex was there and available they would jump on it, somewhat more so than women.

Women were more likely to have sex because they felt they needed to please their partner."

.

.But this is among college students, when Professor Meston conceded "hormones run rampant".

She predicted huge differences when older groups of people are studied.
.

AP

Quite so

Again and again

Perceptions lead us to think and feel the way we do

Without stopping to think

We say "I think"

When in truth we have not thought at all

We just parroted what our group - culture - family - friends - newspapers - tv - say

If you want to get your life together then yes it is time to think

Start with what do I really know?

About myself for example

Yes what do you know?
.
Answer usually not very much
.
And this is what catches up with everyone over time

All those perceptions we carry around believing them to be the truth turn round and hurt us.

Why?

Because our perceptions are just that perceptions
.
And perceptions turn round and bite us when they hit unyielding reality
.
There is truth though and it is not usually to be found in our perceptions
.
Once we find the truth about something life gets easier
.
One less thing to worry or think about
.
Because now we know how it is
.
Beyond speculation and perception we now know
.
Start by finding the truth about yourself

What do you believe about yourself, and is it true?

What are your real values, and are they true?

And about all those things where you trot out "I think"

Surely one of the most abused expressions in any language

Seldom do people who really think trot out the "I think" line

Let go of your perceptions take the time to find the truth about things
.
A relative truth will do fine, absolute truths are not too common for humanity at it's present level of consciousness

Relative truth is also usually more interesting than mere perceptioms

It lets you move beyond those perceptions

To arrive at your own understanding of how things truly are based on objective criteria

It is a great investment leading also to better health and happiness
.
How?
.
Because knowing the truth about oneself or something leads to greater peace of mind
.
Even where this knowledge is not comfortable
.
Truth is more important than our comfort
.
And this truth can still offer us greater peace of mind than a perception
.
Peace of mind allows us to function better
.
To make more balanced decisions
.
Peace of mind will see you through both pain and happiness
.
And yes you can learn to find peace of mind
.
Let go of I think and get to know your true self
.
You are so much more than you think you are
.
Have the courage to learn about your true self
.
Look please no one can do these things for you
.
Only you can make this happen

How we choose

What people say and what they actually do in choosing romantic partners are two different matters.

True to the stereotypes, males state that they care more than women about a romantic partner's physical attractiveness.

While women state more than men that earning power is a turn on

But in reality men and women are equally inspired by physical attraction and equally inspired by earning power or ambition.

We can say that good looks are the primary stimulus of attraction for both men and women.

And that a person with good earning prospects or ambition tends to be liked as well,

Meaning that the earning-power effect as well as the good-looks effect do not differ for men and women.

Preferences based on real live romantic interactions contrast with the ideal sex-differentiated preferences thought to be true

People often do a poor job explaining why they do things, often referring to accepted cultural theories to explain their own behavior.
.

When it comes to romantic attraction we find that both sexes have similar romantic responses to each other

For sure there are many exceptions as there are in any subject studied

However it does tell us what is most likely going on with the other party when we meet and start getting to know each other

And yes wanting to appear more desirable is one reason why when attracted to each other people often exaggerate

Then later in the relationship find disappointment with each other

Accumulative rubbish

And just how much rubbish do we watch?

Not just the violent stuff

All the soaps, sitcoms and reruns

So much of what passes for informed comment is rubbish too

Lobbyists are so insidious that everything today is spun

Maybe that's why we like the weather forecasts

They are not yet spun to suit some interest group

Then again who knows?

Well not too often anyway

They offer a chance of a nice day maybe

A nice day tomorrow perhaps

Then again we might be approaching more storms in our life or in the weather

How will we handle them?

We come again to our choices

Choices that we can find easier if we are sorted in ourselves

Are you sorted.yet?

Let go the rubbish in your life

Start with what you watch on tv

Watch programs without violence, well try anyway

Nature, history, discovery, sport and educational interest

And if this is not easy then go on line and surf stumble or some such

Break lazy patterns
.
Free time for nice activities you choose
.
Not those chosen for you by some tv company

Air travel and sickness

Travelling on planes is something most of us do

We have no choice as to who flies with us

No choice as to who sits next to us

Just a lottery

No way of knowing who has a cold, flu or virus

No choice about the oxygen levels chosen by the crew

Many airlines turn these down on long haul flights to make us drowsy

So that we sleep and are quiet

All modern airliners with the exception of the Boeing 787, which is not in service yet take their cabin air in through the engine nacelles

This approach has been of concern to pilots for some time as any engine seal failures can lead to contaminated air being brought into the aircraft

And yes there are other health factors we could worry about

And so it is no surprise to hear that there are more and more people feeling sick days after travelling

Often no connection is made with the flight

In these times of stress it is a good idea to become more aware

When travelling by air there is not much we can change about how we travel

We can though be conscious that stress can make us more susceptible to catching that cold or flu or nasty bug

The tensions we carry make us more vulnerable

Feeling fear is also not helpful

So the less we worry or carry concerns the less likely we will be to pick up nasties

Approach travelling by air as a day off

Something different

A change

.

A day or time to enjoy being away from normal routines

.

And even if you are subjected to delays or other inconveniences let them go

.

Take a good book with you

.

Your music a dvd

.

Magazines, that Sudoko you wanted to do

.

More relaxation = less stress = calmer immune system = better protection

Moisturisers

Moisturisers used by millions every day may be increasing the risk of common skin cancers, scientists have warned.

Most such creams have never been tested for their cancer-causing effect on the skin.

Now scientists have found that they increase the carcinogenic effect of sunlight in mice.
.

The skin cancers involved are common in humans.

Although mostly non-fatal and easily removed, deaths do occur, especially from squamous cell cancers.

These are distinct from melanoma, the less common form of skin cancer, which causes over 1,000 deaths a year in the UK but was not the subject of the research.

Experiments on mice had shown that when caffeine was given orally or applied direct to the skin, it appeared to inhibit cancer.

Scientists at Rutgers University, New Jersey, planned to test caffeine as a cancer preventive in humans by adding it to a common moisturiser, Dermabase.

Before starting the study they decided to test Dermabase's carcinogenic activity.

To their surprise, they found that it increased the production of tumours in mice that had previously been exposed to ultraviolet light.

They then tested three other common moisturisers, all of which increased the production of tumours by an average of 69 per cent.

The significance of the findings for humans has still to be established, the team reports in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

Independent

Just so that you know!

Anti aging

Products do not work.

.

Period

.

In many cases the 'active ingredient' is so diluted it's actually inactive, or it doesn't even penetrate the skin barrier to be able to make a difference,.

It's difficult to measure because the clinical trials were small scale with vague and subjective measurement criteria rather than any real evaluation of what's happening to the skin, which is scary.

Many claims in advertisements promoting these products were carefully worded and are laughable,

.

Beware creams claiming to have a botox-like effect, because no topical product has been seen to mimic the action of the muscle paralysis treatment.
.

And while antioxidants have shown benefits in the diet, through foods like nuts and berries, their benefits in skin care products were "highly questionable".
.

A good diet, simple moisturiser, abstaining from smoking and avoiding the sun were the most well-proven anti-ageing measures.

.

But people seemed to be bored of hearing this and prefer to spend their money on dreams
.

Anti-cellulite products are also big sellers but independent studies have found that they had no effect.

.

The bottom line is that there is no topical solution and paying more doesn't help, Professor McGrath said at a recent conference in Sydney.
.

"I suggest we need to stop obsessing over youth and just get on with life."

AAP - SMH

.

Amen

Drugs in the UK

Julian Critchley - All the experts admit that we should legalise drugs

Eight years ago, I left my civil service job as director of the UK Anti-Drug Co-Ordination Unit.

I went partly because I was sick of having to implement policies that I knew, and my political masters knew, were unsupported by evidence.

Yesterday, after a surreal flurry of media requests referring to a blog I wrote that questioned the wisdom of the UK's drug policies,

I found myself in the thick of the debate again, and I was sorry to discover that the terms hadn't changed a bit.

I was being interviewed on the BBC World Service, and after I tried to explain why I believe that drugs should be decriminalised, the person representing the other side of the argument pointed out that drugs are terrible, that they destroy lives.

Now, I am a deeply boring, undruggy person myself, and I think the world would be a better place without drugs. But I think that we must live in the world as it is, and not as we want it to be.

And so my answer was, yes, I know that drugs are terrible. I'm not saying that drugs should be decriminalised because it would be fun if we could all get stoned with impunity.

I'm saying that we've tried minimising harm through a draconian legal policy.

It is now clear that enforcement and supply-side interventions are largely pointless.

They haven't worked.

There is evidence that this works.

Unfortunately, evidence is still not a major component in our policy. Take cannabis. When I was in the Anti-Drug Unit, the moves towards making it a class C drug began, and I hoped that our position on drugs was finally moving in a rational direction.

But then Gordon Brown ignored his scientific advisers to make it a class B again.

It was a decision that pandered to the instincts of the tabloids, and it made no sense whatsoever.

There is no doubt at all that the benefits to society of the fall in crime as a result of legalisation would be dramatic.

The argument always put forward against this is that there would be a commensurate increase in drug use as a result of legalisation.

This, it seems to me, is a bogus point: tobacco is a legal drug, whose use is declining, and precisely because it is legal, its users are far more amenable to Government control, education programmes and taxation than they would be otherwise.

Studies suggest that the market is already almost saturated, and anyone who wishes to purchase the drug of their choice anywhere in the UK can already do so.

The idea that many people are holding back solely because of a law which they know is already unenforceable is ridiculous.

Ultimately, people will make choices which harm themselves, whether they involve diet, smoking, drinking, lack of exercise, sexual activity or pursuit of extreme sports.

In all these instances, the Government rightly takes the line that if these activities are to be pursued, society will ensure that those who pursue them have access to accurate information about the risks; can access assistance to change their harmful habits should they so wish; are protected by a legal standards regime; are taxed accordingly; and – crucially – do not harm other people.

Only in the field of drugs does the Government take a different line.

The case is overwhelming.

But I fear that policy will not catch up with the facts any time soon.

It would take a mature society to accept that some individuals may hurt, or even kill themselves, as a result of a policy change, even if the evidence suggested that fewer people died or were harmed as a result.

It would take a brave government to face down the tabloid fury in the face of anecdotes about middle-class children who bought drugs legally and came to grief, and this is not a brave government.

I think what was truly depressing about my time in the civil service was that the professionals I met from every sector held the same view: the illegality of drugs causes far more problems for society and the individual than it solves.

Yet publicly, all those people were forced to repeat the mantra that the Government would be "tough on drugs", even though they all knew that the policy was causing harm.

I recall a conversation I had with a Number 10 policy advisor about a series of announcements in which we were to emphasise the shift of resources to treatment and highlight successes in prevention and education.

She asked me whether we couldn't arrange for "a drugs bust in Brighton" at the same time, or "a boat speeding down the Thames to catch smugglers".

For that advisor, what worked mattered considerably less than what would play well in the right-wing press.

The tragedy of our drugs policy is that it is dictated by tabloid irrationality, and not by evidence.

Independent

I would only add that this could be anywhere in the world

.

Sad really

Feeling sick

Take a paracetamol

Feeling better?

Ever thought that flu, colds and other non life threatening illnesses are there to teach us something?

To bring us up short

Slow us down

Some might say we just "catch" colds or flu

Not so others would reply there are no accidents

We get colds and flu because our immune systems are not strong enough

And if your immune systems are not strong enough have you even noticed?

And if you did notice did you just ignore the warnings?

Until you got sick and were obliged to acknowledge it

Do you use this time when you are sick or do you just lie there feeling sorry for yourself?

It is a good time to think, about your life and what is going on

You might even find the true cause of your current sickness if you look hard enough

Might though most will not

Sickness is an unusual time, a time when our normal life goes out of the window

Use your sick time to heal more than the inconvenience of whatever it is that has put you in bed.

Seldom in our scurrying, hurrying world of non stop movement do we stop to think

Next time think what are you not doing with your life?

What are you avoiding?

Illness is natures way of slowing us down

Offering us the opportunity to consider our lives and what we are doing with them
.
Feeling sick is not just the disease that's the symptom not the cause

Go look for the causes in your life

Chances are fear is lurking somewhere

Find it or nature will keep slowing you down until you do

Really

Literalism

If we examine the ‘sacred’ scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam critically,

We quickly realize that, while they may contain profound spiritual allegories and passages of inspiring beauty,

they are also full of contradictions, wanton cruelty and mindless violence

– with ‘God’ himself often being the worst offender.

Clearly, ‘they were not written or inspired by God, but created by men.

And often by the worst kind of men.

Politicians dressed up as priests

DP.

.

Why do we so seldom critically examine so called holy writings?

.

Particularly when they encourage violence against others

.

Promote division and separation

.

Maybe we don't care

.

Maybe we have no interest

.

Or maybe we just accept without thought

.

Maybe it's time we did because so much killing and mayhem is done in the name of religion

.

Has been for several thousand years

.

Continues to this day

.

Enough is enough

.

It will not stop until we think for ourselves and start to condemn crude teachings in who soevers name they are uttered

Bad day

Difficult night's sleep

Restless

Wake up feeling grumpy

Everything negative nothing is worth doing

No point to anything

Might as well drop dead

Most of us have iffy days

Experiencing the attack of negative entities

Everything irritates and frustrates

Get busy

Talk to others

Concentrate on something where you have no time to be self pitying

Do something where you need total concentration

Push thoughts away stay busy

After a while the iffy day will retreat

Iffy days are inevitable in a world like ours

Stress and pressure are not avoidable

They are also cumulative

Do not be fooled others also experience the same

Walking past them it is hard to see that they too feel an iffy day

This is one reason we feel so bad everybody else seems fine

Just focus on doing something positive today

Make today special

So when the day is over you can say to yourself I did right today

Do it.

Then take the next step which is to look at your life and decide to change those things that are not working

Only you can initiate this

Bad days will become less and less once you sort your life and determine to enjoy each and every day.

Second revolution wanted

Over the past couple of decades there has been a revolution in the way adults and children relate to one another.

Well-intentioned initiatives, designed to protect children from being physically chastised at school or at home, or from being assaulted by paedophiles, have had the unintended consequence of snapping the wider social bonds between the generations.

Children are taught to fear everyone they don’t know and told that no stranger can touch them.

Adults, fearful of being accused of paedophilia, avert their eyes when toddlers smile at them and dare not pick up a child if it falls from a swing.

There is no general building of warmth or trust.

Later, grown men are frightened to reprimand young girls, or to lay a hand on an aggressive boy, for fear of being accused of assault.

Children grow up in a cold vacuum of apparent mutual indifference, where they learn to ignore and be ignored by people around them.

They find that they get no help from adults when they are scared or mugged, but nor are they stopped when they intimidate anyone else.

They learn that they can feel powerful in public because everyone else is too scared to challenge them.

It’s not surprising that a minority of such children grow up indifferent to others’ feelings and are outraged, sometimes to the point of violence, when asked to consider them.

That’s the result of leaving them to act like Lords of the Flies.

There’s only one answer to this situation and that is for adults to reclaim their role.

It needs courage from individuals but it requires commitment by governments, too.

The legislative and social framework that deters people from engaging with children from their earliest years, from touching them or intervening in assaults, has to change.

The government are belatedly recognising the problem.

Last month in England Jack Straw oversaw a law that gives new protection to those who act instinctively to protect themselves or others.

Next they need to stop reinforcing the idea that every stranger is a danger and that adults and children shouldn’t interact.

It’s no way to build a safer society.

Unless we want this spiral of anxiety and violence to continue, we have to recognise our mutual dependence and stop seeing one another as a threat.

Jenni Russell - Times

Sunspots and Earth weather

Immense cracks sometimes develop in the Earth's magnetosphere and remain open for hours.

This allows the solar wind to push through and power stormy space weather.

The "solar wind" is a stream of charged particles issuing from the sun.

This wind can get gusty during violent solar events, such as solar flares and CME's (Coronal Mass Ejections).

Normally, the magnetosphere deflects these particles back out into space or toward either pole, causing the spectacular display known as the aurora borealis.

This deflection protects our atmosphere and helps stabilize weather patterns.

But when allowed into the atmosphere, these particles become a driving force in shifting ocean and jet-stream currents, and thus greatly alter weather patterns during the subsequent 48 to 72 hours.

.

It is generally accepted that satellites, radio communication, and power systems are affected by such space storms, but that the sunspots have such a monumental affect upon the weather on planet Earth has not been admitted by mainstream scientists.

The new knowledge that the cracks in the magnetosphere are open for long periods can be incorporated into space weather forecasting computer models to more accurately predict how our space weather is influenced by violent events on the Sun.

Mainstream science has finally acknowledged a direct cause-and-effect relationship between solar activity and space weather, although there is still reluctance to acknowledge the relationship with earth weather.

.

It now indeed looks like :
.

Sunspots => Solar Flares => Magnetic Field Shift =>Shifting Ocean and Jet Stream Currents =>Extreme Weather and Human Disruption

And why is this of importance?

Because Solar Activity Is Increasing

Geophysicists, Ilya Usoskin and colleagues at the University of Oulu, Finland, and the Max-Planck Institute for Aeronomy in Germany, have calculated that the Sun is more magnetically active now than it has been for over a thousand years.

They say their study methodology, which relies on a radioactive dating technique, is the first direct quantitative reconstruction of solar activity based on physical, rather than statistical, models (I. G. Usoskin et al. 2003 Phys. Rev. Lett., 91 211101, available online at About Physics).

Sunspots are produced by magnetic activity inside the Sun.

The more active the Sun is, the more spots are produced.

Observations of sunspots began in 1610 A.D. — soon after the telescope was invented — and no directly obtained data exists from before this time.

Now, however, Usoskin and coworkers have used the concentration of beryllium-10 (Be-10) in polar ice as a proxy for historic levels of solar activity. Be-10 is produced when cosmic rays interact with particles in the Earth's atmosphere.

The radioisotope then falls to the ground, where it is stored in layers of ice.

Since the Sun's magnetic field usually deflects cosmic rays away from the Earth, a stronger field would lead to less Be-10 being produced, and vice versa.

Using modeling techniques, the Finnish team was able to extrapolate data on solar activity back to 850 AD.

Using this technique, the researchers found that there has been a sharp increase in the number of sunspots since the beginning of the 20th century.

They calculated that the average number was about 30 per year between 850 and 1900.

Between 1900 and 1944, the rate increased to 60 per year.

And today it is at its highest value ever, at 76 per year.

Mitch Battros, however, based upon his close tracking of recent solar activity, speculates that the number of sunspots today is closer to 176 per year.

Whether it's 76 or 176, the figure seems alarming. "We need to understand this unprecedented level of activity," Usoskin told PhysicsWeb.

"Is it a rare event that happens once a millennium, which means that the Sun will return to normal?

.

Or is it a new, dynamic state that will keep solar activity levels high?

.

No one knows, and this is indeed a variable which can have incalculable importance to our future

.

BBC & Mitch Battros.

Little things

Bed Sheets

After drying sheets, put both sheets and one pillowcase in the other pillow case. Fold neatly in a square. Next time you change sheets, you just take the one pillow case and all the sheets and pillow case are inside. No need to look for matches.

Reheat Pizza

Heat up leftover pizza in a non-stick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Broken Glass
Use a dry cotton ball to pick up little broken pieces of glass - the fibers catch ones you can't see!
Easier thank you'sWhen you throw a bridal/baby shower, buy a pack of thank you cards for the guest of honor. During the party, pass out the envelopes and have everyone put their address on one. When the bride/new mother sends the thank you's, they're all addressed!

Name tag

If you purchase a new bike for your child, place their picture inside the handle bar before placing the grips on. If the bike is stolen and later recovered, remove the grip and there is your proof who owns the bike.

Flexible vacuum

To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling

Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and -- voila -- static is gone.

Measuring Cups

Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill it with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?

Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Voila! It unseals easily.

Conditioner for women

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair...

Good-bye Fruit Flies

To get rid of irritating fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2 with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dishwashing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants

Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' & can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

Take baby powder to the beach

Keep a small bottle of baby powder in your beach bag. When you're ready to leave the beach sprinkle yourself and kids with the powder and the sand will slide right off your skin.

Just some little things.

Six degrees

In a world of 6.6 billion people, it does seem hard to believe.

The theory of six degrees of separation says that, because we are all linked by chains of acquaintance, we are just six introductions away from any other person on the planet.

.

Recently though researchers at Microsoft announced the theory was right well almost.

By studying billions of electronic messages, they discovered that on average any two strangers are distanced by 6.6 degrees of separation.

In other words we are linked by a string of seven or fewer acquaintances to any one person

The researchers at Microsoft studied records of 30 billion electronic conversations among 180 million people in various countries, according to the Washington Post.

The database covered all the Microsoft Messenger instant-messaging network in June 2006, equivalent to roughly half the world's instant-messaging traffic at that time.

Eric Horvitz and fellow researcher Jure Leskovec considered two people to be acquaintances if

they had sent one another a message.

They looked at the minimum chain lengths it would take to connect 180 billion different pairs of users in the database.

They found that the average length was 6.6 hops, and that 78 per cent of the pairs could be connected in seven steps or fewer, although some were separated by as many as 29 steps.

The researchers wrote: 'Via the lens provided on the world by Messenger, we find that there are

about seven degrees separating us all

What we're seeing suggests there may be a social connectivity constant for humanity.

We are showing on a very large scale that this idea goes beyond folklore.'
.

A 'degree of separation' is a measure of social distance between people.

You are one degree away from everyone you know, two degrees away from everyone they know, and so on

Six degrees of separation between us and everyone else on this planet, which says that we are all bound to each other by a train of six people, although you also have to find the right six people to make the right connection.


And none of this considers re incarnation which reduces the odds even further

Having new brains in each life means of course that we are unaware of these previous connections or relationships.

But over the course of many many lives, did we but know it, we are all related

Just as the old teachings say

So take this idea on board that we are all related

All of us there is no them and us just us

Just us
.
So time to start behaving as if we understood this

Be nice to someone today she might be someone who knows someone you know!

Children and nature

Children have lost touch with the natural world and are unable to identify common animals and plants, according to a survey.

Half of children aged nine to 11 in Britain were unable to identify a daddy-long-legs, oak tree, blue tit or bluebell, in the poll by BBC Wildlife Magazine.

The study also found that playing in the countryside was children's least popular way of spending their spare time, and that they would rather see friends or play on their computer than go for a walk or play outdoors.

The survey asked 700 children to identify pictured flora and fauna.

Just over half could name bluebells, 54 per cent knew what blue tits were and 45 per cent could identify an oak.

Less than two-thirds (62 per cent) identified frogs and 12 per cent knew what a primrose was.

Children performed better at identifying robins (95 per cent) and badgers, correctly labelled by nine out of 10.

Sir David Attenborough warned that children who lack any understanding of the natural world would not grow into adults who cared about the environment.

"The wild world is becoming so remote to children that they miss out," he said, "and an interest in the natural world doesn't grow as it should.

Nobody is going protect the natural world unless they understand it."

Fergus Collins, of BBC Wildlife Magazine, said the results "reinforce the idea that many children don't spend enough time playing in the green outdoors and enjoying wildlife – something older generations might have taken for granted".

Experts blamed the widening gulf between children and nature on over-protective parents and the hostility to children among some conservationists, who fear that they will damage the environment.

They said that this lack of exposure to outdoor play in natural environments was vital for children's social and emotional development.

Dr Martin Maudsley, play development officer for Playwork Partnerships, at the University of Gloucestershire, said that adults had become too protective of wild places: "Environmental sensitivities should not be prioritised over children."

He said: "Play is the primary mechanism through which children engage and connect with the world, and natural environments are particularly attractive, inspiring and satisfying for kids.

Something magical occurs when children and wild spaces mix."

BBC

Are we really surprised?
.
Feed children with virtual stimulae and what do we expect?
.
And of more significance is where these findings are leading us

.

Generations of children brought up on dvds, video games and virtual everything are unlikely to regard nature in the same way as previous generations

.

How are your children going to be brought up?

08.08.08

Yep an interesting date

The Beijing Olympics start today

No accident 08.08.08 is considered an auspicious day in most of Asia

Many Russians, Australians and Bulgarians will marry today

It is also the day a secret society holds particular ceremonies

Also one where things can happen

Unusual things

Observe your day today

See what things of an unusual nature come your way

Thoughts maybe, unusual unaccustomed ones

Experiences

And when the day is done

Be happy for the consciousness that life is unknown

.

And that maybe just maybe life is more than logic

.

Reductionist logic that is

.

Wouldn't life be dull if we really knew as much as we pretend we do?

Children and video games

Playing video games can give boys a physical workout that raises their blood pressure and heart rate and burns as many calories as brisk walking or cycling, US researchers say.

The discovery meant computer gaming - often said to contribute to the childhood obesity epidemic - should no longer be classified as a sedentary pastime, and might even help fight fat, said Arlette Perry, of the University of Miami's exercise and sports sciences department.

In her study - the first on how the bodies of primary school-aged children respond to game play - 21 boys were hooked up to monitors while they played Tekken 3, a mock martial arts contest, on a Sony PlayStation.

.

Dr Perry told the boys, all avid video gamers aged between seven and 10, that they were competing.

The boys' heart rates sped up, they burned up more energy and they began breathing more quickly, although Dr Perry, an exercise physiologist, said the latter was more likely to be from excitement than exertion.

If children opted out of sport in order to spend time playing video games, that might contribute to weight gain, but "if … used to replace time spent watching television or simply resting, video game play can serve to more positively affect energy expenditure",

Dr Perry wrote in the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. "Video game play is not a passive activity in young children."

Computer and video games are among the most popular leisure activities among Australian children, after watching television and reading.

In an Australian Bureau of Statistics survey in 2003, 82 per cent of boys and 59 per cent of girls said they played them. Boys were heavier users - 46 per cent devoted at least 10 hours a week to them, compared with 23 per cent of girls.

But Dr Perry cautioned that gaming could not be a substitute for traditional exercise.

It had little effect on children's glucose and lactate levels - important for protecting against heart disease - possibly because it did not involve much muscle movement.

Michael Booth, a pediatrician and director of the NSW Centre for Overweight and Obesity, criticised Dr Perry's study, saying the children might have been particularly overexcited and fidgety from playing a new game in unfamiliar surroundings, and this might explain their apparent exertion.

The Miami researchers should also have studied the boys in other nominally inactive pastimes to draw more reliable conclusions, he said. "Little boys are Brownian motion. They can't sit still," Dr Booth said.

Sydney Morning Herald

.

Let the dialogue continue

.

Children today are not the same in their spare time desires

.

We need to understand what we are creating

.

Children of the virtual generation are not very interested in nature

.

They have different perspectives

.

Different outlooks

.

What kind of new world approaches?