Friday, December 30, 2011
Mental Balance & Wellbeing Success Stories !!!
>>> a little mor complex level by Pychiatrist/M.D. >>>
*** TBI's + PTSD + Emotional Affective Disorder(Related to latter 2 + Earlyhood Sexual abuse and 1 Year of Chemotherapy ~ interferon ~ by the VA!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
TRUTH <<< ~ >>> ALL i WANT (cont. CBT/MBT Inventory)
Link: Epispcapal Priest & NYC Councilman arrested @ Trinity Church: http://www.democracynow.org/2011/12/15/worker_owners_of_america_unite_will
.............. ~~~ ..............
Namaste, Ishwar eik hai!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nav varsh ki shubh kamanayein.
Chuttiyo Ki Shubh kaamnayein.
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Continue with "CBT Therapy, pls see (Brother, Mom) dating below videos, w/ Goal of improved Cognitive Health, Balance/'Stability'/Harmony/Peace increased over Time.
To start with or simple focus now ~!!!~ is "Feed the Good Wolf - starve the bad wolf". This means encourage and take Actions that keep wm's "State of Mind" in peaceful, thoughtful, calm "mode" more Time per in 'Now or moment" and 24 hour Day and per month... >>> then problematic /panic/highstress Mind State that has along with panic, intermitent symtom of "out of control" or "william's has left the stage".
This includes Day's "allocatio of Energy" to be used wisely, efficially and more evenly thoughout every Day. Muchos grasious mi Familia.
Change of Behavior pattern and cognitive functioning WILL !!! improve as this is accomplished. (Right Environment & keeping stress down)
.................***............
Smoke Mother Earth ~ Sacred Burning Bush before We die!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
NOTE "VETERANS FOR PEACE" T-SHIRT > william, Member since 2003. http://www.veteransforpeace.org/
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lynn & are called to be Allah's Occupy Warriors!!!
... of the Rainbow. Personal and Global Responsible.
St Pete in 2003, United States Vs william McLean
This ruling is particularly pertinent in the light of Florida's recent
ruling (per NPR)making cameras, masks, protest signs, puppets, and other tools
for demonstrators illegal just prior to the planned demonstrations in Miami,
November 19-21, against the ministerial meeting to continue planning for
the FTAA.
Joanne
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael
Cc: greensweek@gpus.org ; media-states@gp-us.org ; mfeinstein@feinstein.org
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2003 4:26 AM
Subject: Re: [media-states] Press Release: Indiana Green Party Sets
Program for 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Green
Party of Florida
October 22, 2003
Contact:
Mark Kamleiter
727-323-2555
William McLean
727-520-9199
Green Party
peace activist wins federal civil rights case
A victory for constitutionally protected free
speech
TAMPA, Florida -- The United States District Court in Tampa,
Florida, has struck down criminal charges filed against peace and justice
activist and veteran William McLean, who was found not guilty of disorderly
conduct and unauthorized demonstration for promoting peace outside the Bay Pines
Veterans Administration Medical Complex in Pinellas County on March 27,
2003. The federal court's fifteen page opinion issued
by US Magistrate Judge Mary S. Scriven was received Thursday, October 16, 2003.
McLean challenged the constitutionality of the regulations under which
he was charged, and in United States of America v. William McLean, the defendant
won. The trial took place in July, and McLean was
defended by St. Petersburg attorney Mark S. Kamleiter, who called the ruling "a
victory for constitutionally protected free speech." Kamleiter serves as
co-chair of the Green Party of Florida and is a Board Member of the Pinellas
American Civil Liberties Union.
After a medical appointment at the VA
Medical Center, McLean and his wife Lynn decided to exercise their free speech
rights outside the entrance to the complex by holding
signs which said "Trust God...NOT BUSH" and "Blessed are the
Peacemakers." VA police officers then told the McLeans they
couldn't stay on that side of the street, and that "the whole street is U.S.
Government property."
McLean said the couple started to cross the street, but were
called back by police to produce identification.
They were told - one time, according to McLean's testimony - to keep their signs
down. They were then led from the street over onto VA property. "We were
completely compliant with all requests during this time, McLean said.
"This took about 5 minutes, after which we led back off VA property to the
cross walk to go to the other side of the road. We were never given our I.D.s
back or we would have just left that side of the street."
.
At that time a VA Police officer named
Atkinson told the McLeans that holding up the signs on the other side of the
street would result in arrest. McLean replied by saying in a calm voice,
"There is a Constitution," which visibly angered officer Atkinson, who asked McLean if he
"wanted to be arrested." McLean didn't reply, insteadlifted
his peace sign, which prompted
his immediate arrest. McLean was handcuffed and the police seized the couple's
signs, even though they had been demonstrating outside of VA
walls.
McLean says of his treatment by
the VA police: "He then dragged me by the handcuffs behind my back and knocked
my head in the side of the police car. I was not in any way resisting.
I was then taken to
a 3 by 3 foot holding cage where I remained handcuffed with my wrists swelling
up for three hours. I later returned to the Emergency Room at the VA where these
injuries were documented and treated." McLean says the VA police officers were
not truthful or accurate in their reporting of the
incident.
The Court found that although McLean was
technically on the property of the VA Hospital, his position on a traffic
island/crosswalk outside the boundary walls of the complex was a
constitutionally protected public forum. The Court also found that the VA had
failed to demonstrate a reasonable grounds for prohibiting free speech in that
area and dismissed the "unauthorized demonstration" charges. The Court
found further that he could not be found guilty of "disorderly conduct" if the
conduct in question consisted solely of the constitutionally protected exercise
of free speech. Accordingly, the "disorderly conduct" charges were dismissed.
William McLean is an activist for the homeless and with the Campus
Greens. He is a member of Veterans for Peace, the ACLU
and the Pinellas Green Party, and continues to hold
weekly peace vigils with others in front of the Bay Pines VA Hospital.
>>>Our Friend Scott, and fellow Veteran for Peace, in Oakland:
************ T R U T H **************
Our Friend, Howie Hawkins, below, who lynn and i met in 2004, @the Green Party (Our Nacogdoches/Houston/Austin Texas Friend > Now living, where lynn i are moving>>> N CALI: http://www.humboldtgreens.org/ * , Allah the Trixter willing (He wore Crown of Thorns to Heal my Brain post Hep Virus C, strain 1A, then 1 yr Interferon/Ribavirin Chemo)~~~The Great Neurolologist of his Flock, We are Bhakni devotees of the Prince of Peace, the Light, Truth and Way.
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Green Party of California endorses state and national protests Saturday against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; Greens also call for humane treatment, release of WikiLeaks suspect
GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS RELEASE
SACRAMENTO (Mar 18, 2011) - The Green Party of California endorsed the statewide and national demonstrations March 19 and next month opposing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well calling for the inhumane treatment of Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is being held incommunicado in connection with the WikiLeaks release of documents to the public.
Demonstrations are scheduled this weekend in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities throughout the U.S., including many in California such as Grass Valley, Davis and parts of Los Angeles. Sunday, protests urging Manning's release are set in Quantico, Va. Other protests are scheduled next month against the never-ending wars.
"Greens believe every dollar spent on war is a dollar taken away from good-paying green jobs we desperately need," said Barry Hermanson, the co-chair of the Green Party of California state coordinating council.
"Today, we are facing massive cuts to service in our communities. Tens of thousands of teachers and other school employees have been pink-slipped. We believe we should spend our money on education and developing alternative energy - not wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said, noting that Republican and Democratic lawmakers voted to fund the wars. Hermanson urged voters to re-register with the Green Party because "together we can build a Green future, independent of corporate interests."
In calling for the humane treatment of Manning, and his release, the Green Party has urged Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Nancy Pelosi to investigate charges that Manning is being made to sleep naked, isn't allowed to exercise adequately and has been subjected to other subtle modes of torture.
"We deplore the treatment of PFC Bradley Manning. He has a right to a speedy trial and humane treatment. But he is being punished without trial, and being treated like detainees in Guantanamo, with little or no outside contact, according to his legal counsel. This is not acceptable," said Cres Vellucci, a Vietnam veteran and GPCA press secretary.
Love and Light, Bhavdeev, Aapka, lynn and wm
peace
Truth . . . > Occupy Mother Earth:::
Is it Today?????????????????????????????
WHAT ABOUT N O W ?
####################################
John 15:4-6 New King James Version (NKJV)
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sunday, 25 Dec 11:
Phone not working in Mississippi so hope to keep it simple..."Feed the Good Wolf not the Bad Wolf" or as it states in the sheet of the "PLAN pkg." on CBT; "Keep the Good Fires going and put out the bad ones"................>>>>>>>>>>>>>
the following might help as this is what i had to do with all my patients @ the Hospital @ Ft Ord, CA & Ft Lewis,WA:::::::::::::"SOAP NOTES":::::::::::::::
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOAP_note
(and pls be gentle with me as i have suffered for 8 years 100's of repeated traumatizations since Chemotheray. Pls, if possible, learn about TBI/PTSD w/ associated mental breakdowns or panic attacks when thinking becomes scrambled w/ symptomatic episodes of mental imbalance and even personality changes.
http://www.scatteredminds.com/about.htm
There has also been recent stress/trauma events including Lisa's Death here in Magee, along with Our Friend Steve Ward (i helped produce his album; "Beyond the Blues") and Legal Issues including fear of MS Penitentiary and having to have a collar around my ankle, like a puppet string or animal leash. ... and pee into a cup for 2 years denying me from my Religeous Freedom, as a Rainbow Warrior Hippie, Devotee of the Prince of Peace being led by the Holy Spirit into all Truth.
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What Does SOAP Stand For?
1. SUBJECTIVE — The initial portion of the SOAP note format consists of subjective observations. These are symptoms the patient verbally expresses or as stated by a significant other. These subjective observations include the patient's descriptions of pain or discomfort, the presence of nausea or dizziness, when the problem first started, and a multitude of other descriptions of dysfunction, discomfort, or illness the patient describes.
2. OBJECTIVE — The next part of the format is the objective observation. These objective observations include symptoms that can actually be measured, seen, heard, touched, felt, or smelled. Included in objective observations are vital signs such as temperature, pulse, respiration, skin color, swelling and the results of diagnostic tests.
3. ASSESSMENT — Assessment follows the objective observations. Assessment is the diagnosis of the patient's condition. In some cases the diagnosis may be clear, such as a contusion. However, an assessment may not be clear and could include several diagnosis possibilities.
4. PLAN — The last part of the SOAP note is the health care provider's plan. The plan may include laboratory and/or radiological tests ordered for the patient, medications ordered, treatments performed (e.g., minor surgery procedure), patient referrals (sending patient to a specialist), patient disposition (e.g., home care, bed rest, short-term, long-term disability, days excused from work, admission to hospital), patient directions (e.g. elevate foot, RTO 1 week), and follow-up directions for the patient.
What IS a SOAP Note?
The SOAP note format is used to standardize medical evaluation entries made in clinical records. The SOAP note is written to facilitate improved communication among all involved in caring for the patient and to display the assessment, problems and plans in an organized format.
Other Examples
eMedNotes Psychiatric Note
DocStoc.com Example
Univ of Kansas School of Nursing
Components of a SOAP Note?
The four components of a SOAP note are Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan. The length and focus of each component of a SOAP note varies depending on the specialty; for instance, a surgical SOAP note will generally be much briefer than a psychiatric SOAP note, and will focus on issues that relate to post-surgical status.
Subjective component
This describes the patient's current condition in narrative form. The history or state of experienced symptoms are recorded in the patient's own words.
It will include all pertinent and negative symptoms under review of body systems in addition pertinent medical history, surgical history, family history, social history along with current medications and allergies are also recorded.
A SAMPLE history is one method of obtaining this information from a patient.
If this is the first time a doctor is seeing a patient, they will take a History of Present Illness or HPI. To structure this portion of the note, you can use another mnemonic: OLD CHARTS, as in what would you find if you looked at the patient's "old chart"
•Onset
•Location
•Duration
•CHaracter (sharp, dull, etc)
•Alleviating/Aggravating factors
•Radiation
•Temporal pattern (every morning, all day, etc)
•Symptoms associated
Objective component
The objective component includes:
•Vital signs
•Findings from physical examinations, such as posture, bruising, and abnormalities
•Results from laboratory tests
•Measurements, such as age and weight of the patient.
Assessment
Is a quick summary of the patient with main symptoms/diagnosis including a differential diagnosis, a list of other possible diagnoses usually in order of most likely to least likely. When used in a Problem Oriented Medical Record, relevant problem numbers or headings are included as subheadings in the assessment.
What is a Problem Oriented Medical Record
A Problem Oriented Medical Record (POMR), a method of recording data about the health status of a patient in a problem-solving system. The POMR preserves the data in an easily accessible way that encourages ongoing assessment and revision of the health care plan by all members of the health care team.
The particular format of the system used varies from setting to setting, but the components of the method are similar. A data base is collected before beginning the process of identifying the patient's problems. The data base consists of all information available that contributes to this end, such as that collected in an interview with the patient and family or others, that from a health assessment or physical examination of the patient, and that from various laboratory and radiologic tests.
It is recommended that the data base be as complete as possible, limited only by potential hazard, pain or discomfort to the patient, or excessive assumed expense of the diagnostic procedure. The interview, augmented by prior records, provides the patient's history, including the reason for contact; an identifying statement that is a descriptive profile of the person; a family illness history; a history of the current illness; a history of past illness; an account of the patient's current health practices; and a review of systems.
The physical examination or health assessment makes up the second major part of the data base. The extent and depth of the examination vary from setting to setting and depend on the services offered and the condition of the patient.
The next section of the POMR is the master problem list.
The formulation of the problems on the list is similar to the assessment phase of the nursing process. Each problem as identified represents a conclusion or a decision resulting from examination, investigation, and analysis of the data base. A problem is defined as anything that causes concern to the patient or to the caregiver, including physical abnormalities, psychologic disturbance, and socioeconomic problems. The master problem list usually includes active, inactive, temporary, and potential problems. The list serves as an index to the rest of the record and is arranged in five columns: a chronologic list of problems, the date of each problem's onset, the action taken, the outcome (often its resolution), and the date of the outcome. Problems may be added, and intervention or plans for intervention may be changed; thus the status of each problem is available for the information of all members of the various professions involved in caring for the patient.
The third major section of the POMR is the initial plan, in which each separate problem is named and described, usually on the progress note in a SOAP format: S, subjective data from the patient's point of view; O, the objective data acquired by inspection, percussion, auscultation, and palpation and from laboratory and radiologic tests; A, assessment of the problem that is an analysis of the subjective and objective data; and P, the plan, including further diagnostic work, therapy, and education or counseling. After an initial plan for each problem is formulated and recorded, the problems are followed in the progress notes by narrative notes in the SOAP format or by flow sheets showing the significant data in a tabular manner.
A discharge summary is formulated and written, relating the overall assessment of progress during treatment and the plans for follow-up or referral. The summary allows a review of all the problems initially identified and encourages continuity of care for the patient.
Plan
This is what the health care provider will do to treat the patient's concerns. This should address each item of the differential diagnosis. A note of what was discussed or advised with the patient as well as timings for further review or follow-up may also be included. Often the Assessment and Plan sections are grouped together.
SOAP notes facilitate better medical care when used in the patient's record and provide for far greater review and quality control. SOAP Note Documentation of patient complaints and treatment should be consistent, concise and comprehensive.
Conclusion
The SOAP note is not meant to be as detailed as a Progress Report. Partial sentences and abbreviations are appropriate. However, care should be exercised based on how the abbreviations are used as they can differ for each specialty. The length of the note will differ for each specialty as well.
SOAP notes can be flexible and different care providers will often have their own styles as well as different office will have thier preferences. Usually SOAP Notes written by the uninitated will usually be a little longer than those of more advanced staff with more clinical judgment and experience in proper SOAP note writing format. A short, precise SOAP note is often better than an entry that is too verbose.
Documenting patient encounters in the medical record is an integral part of practice workflow. Additionally, Prehospital care providers such as EMTs may use the same or similar format to communicate patient information to Emergency department personell.
Examples
Very rough example for a patient being reviewed following an appendectomy (resembles a surgical SOAP note).
Surgery Service, Dr. Jones
S: No Chest Pain or Shortness of Breath. "Feeling better today." Patient reports flatus.
O: Afebrile, P 84, R 16, BP 130/82. No acute distress. Neck no JVD, Lungs clear Cor RRR Abd Bowel sounds present, mild RLQ tenderness, less than yesterday. Wounds look clean. Ext without edema
A: Patient is a 37 year old man on post-operative day 2 for laparoscopic appendectomy, recently passed flatus.
P: Recovering well. Advance diet. Continue to monitor labs. Prepare for discharge home tomorrow morning.
Note that the plan itself includes various components:
Diagnostic component - continue to monitor labs
Therapeutic component - advance diet
Patient education component - that is progressing well
Disposition component - discharge to home in the morning
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
* * * a few videos from Our (Part of CBT is "Creative Exercising") Video Cannels:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~We Hope to continue & do more in Califonia ~LOVE PRODUCTIONS~ i.e, Documentaries on Organic Growing/Feeding/Garden + + +, i.e. Biochestry for Energy and Material/Consumer Products including Carbon (Hemp = "Nature's Solar Panels) Ring proction (w/ 200 - 300 yr. degrading, as not to, like Vynel-dioxens, as GP Vaule of "Future Focus": http://www.gp.org/tenkey.shtml#fut and Music witing and art such as painting:
7777777777777777
__________________________________________________
http://blueberrypeacefarm.blogspot.com/2011/06/stress-disease-connection-add-new.html
Wednesday, 28 Dec 11:
hrsday
The impact of a moderate to severe brain injury depends on the following:
Severity of initial injury
Rate/completeness of physiological recovery
Functions affected
Meaning of dysfunction to the individual
Resources available to aid recovery
Areas of function not affected by TBI
The impact of a moderate to severe brain injury can include:
Cognitive deficits including difficulties with:
Attention
Concentration
Distractibility
Memory
Speed of Processing
Confusion
Perseveration
Impulsiveness
Language Processing
"Executive functions"
Speech and Language
not understanding the spoken word (receptive aphasia)
difficulty speaking and being understood (expressive aphasia)
slurred speech
speaking very fast or very slow
problems reading
problems writing
Sensory
difficulties with interpretation of touch, temperature, movement, limb position and fine discrimination
Perceptual
the integration or patterning of sensory impressions into psychologically meaningful data
Vision
partial or total loss of vision
weakness of eye muscles and double vision (diplopia)
blurred vision
problems judging distance
involuntary eye movements (nystagmus)
intolerance of light (photophobia)
Hearing
decrease or loss of hearing
ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
increased sensitivity to sounds
Smell
loss or diminished sense of smell (anosmia)
Taste
loss or diminished sense of taste
Seizures
the convulsions associated with epilepsy that can be several types and can involve disruption in consciousness, sensory perception, or motor movements
Physical Changes
Physical paralysis/spasticity
Chronic pain
Control of bowel and bladder
Sleep disorders
Loss of stamina
Appetite changes
Regulation of body temperature
Menstrual difficulties
Social-Emotional
Dependent behaviors
Emotional ability
Lack of motivation
Irritability
Aggression
Depression
Disinhibition
Denial/lack of awareness
Click below to go to the other Symptoms of TBI sections:
Symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury Homepage
Glasgow Coma Scale For Diagnosing Traumatic Brain Injury
Ranchos Los Amigos Scale For Diagnosing Traumatic Brain Injury
Mild TBI Symptoms
Severe TBI Symptoms
Diagnosis of Traumatic Brain Injury
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Continued...~Mind-Body & Stress-Disease Connection
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...rather than becoming just another mindless, religious robot, blindly believing that everything is in the hands of some spooky, incompetent father figure who doesn't give a shit, I decided to look around for something else to worship. Something I could really count on. And immediately, I thought of the sun.
Sun worship is fairly simple. There's no mystery, no miracles, no pageantry, no one asks for money, there are no songs to learn, and we don't have a special building where we all gather once a week to compare clothing. And the best thing about the sun... it never tells me I'm unworthy. It doesn't tell me I'm a bad person who needs to be saved. Hasn't said an unkind word. Treats me fine.
So I worship the sun.
Napalm and Silly Putty (book, 2001)
by George Carlin
******************************************************
******************************************************
A good thing to remember is somebody's got it a lot worse than we do.
Joel Osteen
A lot of churches have not moved with the times.
Joel Osteen
Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you're going to live your life.
Joel Osteen
Do all you can to make your dreams come true.
Joel Osteen
Faith activates God - Fear activates the Enemy.
Joel Osteen
God didn't make a mistake when He made you. You need to see yourself as God sees you.
Joel Osteen
God wants to bless us where we are.
Joel Osteen
God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us.
Joel Osteen
I don't go down the road of condemning.
Joel Osteen
I don't want to just preach to the church. I feel like I have a broader message.
Joel Osteen
I have always believed in God.
Joel Osteen
I made a decision when my father passed away that I was going to be who God made me to be and not try to preach like my father.
Joel Osteen
I think Bible principles are principles for life.
Joel Osteen
I think God's justice is making wrongs right.
Joel Osteen
I try to speak in everyday language. I feel like God has gifted me to take Bible principles and make them practical.
Joel Osteen
I'm going to let God be the judge of who goes to heaven and hell.
Joel Osteen
I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know.
Joel Osteen
I've never preached one sermon on money, on just finances. I want to stay away from it.
Joel Osteen
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Napalm and Silly Putty (book, 2001)
by George Carlin
You don't see many white, antiabortion women volunteering to have black fetuses transplanted into their uteruses, do you? No. You don't see them adopting any crack babies do you? No, that's something Jesus would do.
And you don't see many pro-lifers dousing themselves with kerosene and lighting themselves on fire. Remember The Buddhist monks in Vietnam? Morally committed religious people in Southeast Asia knew how to stage a protest: light yourself on fire! C'mon, you Christian crusaders, let's see a little smoke. Let's see if you can match that fire in your bellies.
I found Short Takes" particularly interesting. These are sections scattered throughout the book that are full of interesting little observations and thoughts. It's like reading the doodle pad in Carlin's mind:
If I had my choice of how to die I would like to be sitting on the crosstown bus and suddenly burst into flames.
In this era of "maxi," "mega" and "meta," you know what we don't have any more? "Super-duper." I miss that.
Wouldn't it be great if we could make a guy's head explode just by looking at him?
It's time to start slapping people.
We will never be an advanced civilization as long as rain showers can delay the launching of a space rocket.
When people say "clean as a whistle" they forget that a whistle is full of spit.
Near as I can tell, "jack-shit" and diddly-squat" are roughly the same amount.
What exactly is wrong with inmates running the asylum? It seems to me they are in an ideal position to know just what's needed.
Hilarious and irreverent, Carlin has been entertaining people since the 1960s when his Hippy Dippy Weatherman first surfaced. He has inspired countless comedians and his commentaries on life and the human conditio n are as sharp as they have ever been.
And remember this last piece of advice: "As you swim the river of life, do the breast stroke. It helps to clear the turds from your path."
And maybe wear a pair of goggles. Just a thought. | May 2001
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1 John 3:8 …For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil (Illusion, Lies, Selfeshness, Greed, Materialism w/out Consideration (SHARING!!!&THOUHGT FOR CONSEQUENCES for Our Children's Children!), Jealousy, Murder, WRONG THINKING.
OR >>> "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might Truth, Good Values)
Therefore, when confusion comes in, we must take authority over the confusion by pleading the Blood of Jesus Christ and by standing on what God PROMISES us as believers and children. We must be proactive in our warfare against confusion as Paul states…
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations (literally - confused thoughts), and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
We should not fear this warfare but have knowledge that through Christ there is love, power and clarity of thought.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
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“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow.”
Mary Anne Radmacher
“People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.”
Zig Ziglar
“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.”
Wayne Dyer
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SEE 1ST ( For ... http://blueberrypeacefarm.blogspot.com/2011/06/stress-disease-connection-add-new.html )
8-28-2011
Assessment score(s):
Mom's comments:
David's comments:
Lynn's comments:
william's (subjective) comments:
Daily Devotional, August 29, 2011
Holy Ground
From Upper Room: The Lord said, "Indeed, the whole earth is mine." Exodus 19:5 (NRSV)
HAVE you stood on holy ground? Perhaps you've stood inside St. Paul's Cathedral in London, St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, or the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. For some people, holy ground is a tiny white church in a quaint New England village or a church on the Gulf Coast that survived the hurricanes, a struggling downtown church or a rustic chapel.
Moses walked over a large area of holy ground. So did the psalmist who proclaimed the marvel of God's power and creation. The apostle Peter stood on holy ground at the Mount of Transfiguration and when he carried forth the message of Jesus Christ. From birth to death to resurrection, Jesus walked on holy ground.
But holy ground is not limited to places where religious events have taken place; every place can constitute holy ground. Did astronauts walking on the moon perceive it as holy ground? After all, God has created this marvelous world, the land we walk on, the seas we sail, the skies above us.
Because all that surrounds us is holy, we cannot justify abuse of the land or pollution of streams, seas, and skies. Nor can we account for the oppression of people or justify wars.
God calls us to search our souls for how we can treasure and care for all that God has given us. It's up to us to live as if wherever we are is holy ground -- because God is there.
>>>>>>Prayer ::::::::::: Remind us, Lord, that everything you have created is holy. Forgive us when we abuse your creation. Amen.
..........."Thought for the Day"
For links to photos of all the cathedrals mentioned here,
Links to cathedrals mentioned in today's devotion: St. Paul's Cathedral, London St . Peter's Basilica, Rome National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.
Assessment score(s):
Mom's comments:
David's comments:
Lynn's comments:
william's (subjective) comments: C B T +! (+! Means MBCT)
8-31-2011
**********John and Dodie Osteen**** "My Preacher/Teacher ~ age 17 & 18...)(Marrage Reselutions & Vows @ Lakewood "lynn & william McLean, July 2, 1993)
!!!::: "Message/"Sermon"/teaching starts @ about 30! - minutes into "Full Service~skip forward! if needed):::
by John Olsteen:: "Love rules"
****************"CBT+" ~ "Successful problem solving, PTSD "CBT+" therapy"; Joel Osteen:
Pastor Joel Osteen - Have a Good Opinion of Yourself;
Joel Osteen - Be a Bounce Back Person >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:::
The Right Perspective:
problem solving:
9-4-2011
Assessment score(s):
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David's comments:
Lynn's comments:
william's (subjective) comments:
9-7-2011
Assessment score(s):
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David's comments:
Lynn's comments:
william's (subjective) comments:
9-11-2011
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David's comments:
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william's (subjective) comments:
9-14-2011
Assessment score(s):
Mom's comments:
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Lynn's comments:
william's (subjective)9-18-2011 comments:
Assessment score(s):
Mom's comments:
David's comments:
Lynn's comments:
william's (subjective) comments:
Assessment score(s):
Mom's comments:
David's comments:
Lynn's comments:
william's (subjective) comments: C B T +! have had same sores (stress), and some turning into staff infections.
National Psoriasis Foundation - Symptoms | Types | Treatments ... www.psoriasis.org/ - The National Psoriasis Foundation works to find a cure for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and to eliminate their devastating effects through research
>See: http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=19383&subject=health
also... (from UCTC) > http://www.uctv.tv/search-moreresults.aspx?catSubID=203&subject=health
http://www.uctv.tv/search-moreresults.aspx?catSubID=20&subject=health
http://www.uctv.tv/search-moreresults.aspx?catSubID=164&subject=health
http://www.uctv.tv/search-moreresults.aspx?catSubID=77&subject=health
Corporations = "$GREED$; This One's for you!>+++
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Friday, August 5, 2011
Healing, Growth, AA 12 Steps & toward Mental Maturity
STRESS & the Psycodynamics of Stress Disease, Endocrine Explanation=Robert Sapolsky
The Tucker Foundation and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center
presents
Jon Kabat-Zinn
"The Healing Power of Mindfulness"
April 7, 2011
Spaulding Auditorium
Dartmouth College
'Stress, Neurodegeneration and Individual Differences' by Robert Sapolsky
The Tucker Foundation and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center
presents
Jon Kabat-Zinn
"The Healing Power of Mindfulness"
April 7, 2011
Spaulding Auditorium
Dartmouth College
'Stress, Neurodegeneration and Individual Differences' by Robert Sapolsky
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
First clinical LSD study in over 25 years
Award-winning author David Jay Brown uses the approaching completion of MAPS’ Swiss study of LSD-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with life-threatening illness to explore the complex and controversial history of worldwide LSD research. As the first clinical LSD study in over 25 years, the completion of this study represents a monumental achievement for psychedelic science.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally appearing at http://santacruz.patch.com/articles/landmark-clinical-lsd-study-nears-completion.
The first clinical LSD study on the planet in more than 35 years is almost complete. The Santa Cruz Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is sponsoring this research, which began in 2008, when Swiss psychiatrist Peter Gasser, M.D., became the first medical researcher in the world to obtain government approval to do therapeutic research with LSD since 1972.
Before 1972, nearly 700 studies with LSD and other psychedelic drugs were conducted. This research suggested that LSD has remarkable medical potential. LSD-assisted psychotherapy was shown to reduce the anxiety of terminal cancer patients, the drinking of alcoholics and the symptoms of many difficult-to-treat psychiatric illnesses.
For example, early LSD studies with advanced-stage cancer patients showed that LSD-assisted psychotherapy could alleviate symptoms of anxiety, tension, depression, sleep disturbances, psychological withdrawal and even severe physical pain. Other early investigators found that LSD may have some valuable potential as a means to facilitate creativity, problem-solving abilities and spiritual awareness.
Between 1972 and 1990 there were no government-approved human studies with any psychedelic drugs anywhere in the world. Their disappearance was no mystery. The worldwide ban on psychedelic drug research was the result of a political backlash that followed the promotion of these drugs by the counterculture of the 1960s. This reaction not only made these substances illegal for personal use, it also made it extremely difficult for medical researchers to obtain government approval to study them.
The situation began to change in 1990 when, according to MAPS president Rick Doblin, “open-minded regulators at the FDA decided to put science before politics when it came to psychedelic and medical marijuana research.” There are now more than a half-dozen clinical studies occurring worldwide that are examining the medical potential of psychedelic drugs.
Gasser’s almost-completed, MAPS-sponsored LSD study is being conducted in Switzerland, where LSD was discovered in 1943 by Albert Hofmann. The study examines how LSD-assisted psychotherapy affects the anxiety associated with suffering from an advanced, life-threatening illness. There are 12 subjects in the study with advanced-stage cancer and other serious illnesses.
According to Gasser, so far the results look promising. Early researchers found that LSD-assisted psychotherapy has the incredible ability to help many people overcome their fear of death, and this is probably a major contributing factor in why the drug can be so profoundly helpful when people are facing a life-threatening illness.
On May 26, the final subject in Gasser’s study completed his last experimental therapy session. The clinical team at MAPS is now conducting a preliminary data analysis, finalizing the study’s database for the FDA and assisting Gasser in preparing a manuscript for publication.
MAPS is also sponsoring other medical research into the psychotherapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs, and more studies are on the way. The medical and therapeutic value of LSD and other psychedelic drugs appears to be quite substantial—although, personally, I’m really looking forward to the day when this research can go beyond its initial potential as a psychotherapeutic tool, as well as a spiritual aid, and delve into the mysteries of creativity, psychic phenomena and the possible reality of parallel universes and non-human entity contact.
Meanwhile, it seems like these mysterious substances hold enormous potential for treating numerous psychiatric disorders. Evidence suggests that they have the ability to help us treat post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, end-of-life anxiety, cluster headaches and other difficult-to-treat mental disorders—including, I suspect, the general neurosis that comes from simply being a human being.
Back To MAPS index page.
http://www.maps.org/
related videos:
&
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally appearing at http://santacruz.patch.com/articles/landmark-clinical-lsd-study-nears-completion.
The first clinical LSD study on the planet in more than 35 years is almost complete. The Santa Cruz Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is sponsoring this research, which began in 2008, when Swiss psychiatrist Peter Gasser, M.D., became the first medical researcher in the world to obtain government approval to do therapeutic research with LSD since 1972.
Before 1972, nearly 700 studies with LSD and other psychedelic drugs were conducted. This research suggested that LSD has remarkable medical potential. LSD-assisted psychotherapy was shown to reduce the anxiety of terminal cancer patients, the drinking of alcoholics and the symptoms of many difficult-to-treat psychiatric illnesses.
For example, early LSD studies with advanced-stage cancer patients showed that LSD-assisted psychotherapy could alleviate symptoms of anxiety, tension, depression, sleep disturbances, psychological withdrawal and even severe physical pain. Other early investigators found that LSD may have some valuable potential as a means to facilitate creativity, problem-solving abilities and spiritual awareness.
Between 1972 and 1990 there were no government-approved human studies with any psychedelic drugs anywhere in the world. Their disappearance was no mystery. The worldwide ban on psychedelic drug research was the result of a political backlash that followed the promotion of these drugs by the counterculture of the 1960s. This reaction not only made these substances illegal for personal use, it also made it extremely difficult for medical researchers to obtain government approval to study them.
The situation began to change in 1990 when, according to MAPS president Rick Doblin, “open-minded regulators at the FDA decided to put science before politics when it came to psychedelic and medical marijuana research.” There are now more than a half-dozen clinical studies occurring worldwide that are examining the medical potential of psychedelic drugs.
Gasser’s almost-completed, MAPS-sponsored LSD study is being conducted in Switzerland, where LSD was discovered in 1943 by Albert Hofmann. The study examines how LSD-assisted psychotherapy affects the anxiety associated with suffering from an advanced, life-threatening illness. There are 12 subjects in the study with advanced-stage cancer and other serious illnesses.
According to Gasser, so far the results look promising. Early researchers found that LSD-assisted psychotherapy has the incredible ability to help many people overcome their fear of death, and this is probably a major contributing factor in why the drug can be so profoundly helpful when people are facing a life-threatening illness.
On May 26, the final subject in Gasser’s study completed his last experimental therapy session. The clinical team at MAPS is now conducting a preliminary data analysis, finalizing the study’s database for the FDA and assisting Gasser in preparing a manuscript for publication.
MAPS is also sponsoring other medical research into the psychotherapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs, and more studies are on the way. The medical and therapeutic value of LSD and other psychedelic drugs appears to be quite substantial—although, personally, I’m really looking forward to the day when this research can go beyond its initial potential as a psychotherapeutic tool, as well as a spiritual aid, and delve into the mysteries of creativity, psychic phenomena and the possible reality of parallel universes and non-human entity contact.
Meanwhile, it seems like these mysterious substances hold enormous potential for treating numerous psychiatric disorders. Evidence suggests that they have the ability to help us treat post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, end-of-life anxiety, cluster headaches and other difficult-to-treat mental disorders—including, I suspect, the general neurosis that comes from simply being a human being.
Back To MAPS index page.
http://www.maps.org/
related videos:
&
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Ditch Nuclear Power -gp.org
gp.org
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_05_04.html
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=401
Ultra-high radiation levels reported at Japan's Fukushima plant
News Desk [2]August 2, 2011 18:03
Override Title:
Ultra-high radiation levels at Fukishima
Radiation levels that could kill humans within seconds reported at Fukushima.
Radiation levels that could kill humans within seconds.
News Desk
Member Content:
Normal Content
Teaser:
The radiation levels -- 10,000 millisieverts per hour -- are high enough that a single 60-minute dose would be fatal to humans within weeks.
The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant detected the highest radiation levels at the facility since the initial earthquake and tsunami five months ago, a company spokesman said Tuesday.
The ultra-high levels [3] of radiation were measured Monday afternoon on the grounds of the facility, between reactors No. 1 and 2, CNN reported.
The power company immediately cordoned off the area, a spokesman for the Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said.
The radiation levels -- 10,000 millisieverts per hour -- are high enough that a single 60-minute dose would be fatal to humans [4] within weeks, MSNBC reported. Tepco said Tuesday it found another spot on the ventilation stack itself where radiation exceeded 10 sieverts per hour, a level that could lead to death after just several seconds of exposure.
Workers at Daiichi are only allowed to be exposed to 250 millisieverts [4] of radiation per year, MSNBC reported. Tepco, which provides power to Tokyo and neighboring areas, said it had not detected a sharp rise in overall radiation levels at the compound.
See GlobalPost dispatch: Japan's nuclear gypsies: a day in the life [5]: "In addition to 373 staff employed by the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant is teeming with 2,529 contract workers, all braving dangerously high radiation on what must be the most hazardous industrial site on earth."
"The high dose was discovered in an area that doesn't hamper recovery efforts at the plant," Tepco spokesman Junichi Matsumoto told reporters on Tuesday.
The Fukushima Daiichi disaster occurred when a 15-meter (48-foot) tsunami slammed the coastal plant after northern Japan's historic March 11 earthquake.The flooding knocked out the cooling systems for the three operating reactors and their associated spent fuel pools, causing the reactors to overheat and hydrogen gas explosions that blew apart the building housing reactors No. 1 and 3, CNN reported.
See GlobalPost: 6.2-magnitude quake hits Fukushima, as nuclear chief visits [6]
Another hydrogen blast was believed to have damaged the inside of the No. 2 reactor, while engineers struggled to manage an estimated 100,000 tons of highly contaminated water that was used to cool the reactors during the emergency.
Tepco projects the situation won't be fully over until sometime between October and January. The disaster has caused Japan to rethink its commitment to nuclear energy, and Germany has since announced plans to abandon atomic power entirely by 2022.
Dates
Publish Date:
Tue, 2011-08-02 18:03
Lead Media
Breaking News Graphic [7]
Slideshow Style:
Full Paged Block
SEO
Title:
Ultra-high radiation levels reported at Japan's Fukushima plant | GlobalPost
Meta Description:
Ultra-high radiation levels reported at Japan's Fukushima plant. Radiation levels that could kill humans within seconds reported near reactor.
Japan [1]
Japan
Copyright 2011 GlobalPost – International News
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source URL (retrieved on 2011-08-03 00:39): http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/japan/110802/ultra-high-radiation-levels-reported-at-japan-fukushima
Links:
[1] http://www.globalpost.com/news/regions/asia-pacific/japan
[2] http://www.globalpost.com/
[3] http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/08/01/japan.fukushima.radiation/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular
[4] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43982727/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/
[5] http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/japan/110719/japan-tsunami-nuclear-power-radiation-workers
[6] http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/japan/110725/japan-earthquake-fukushima-tokyo-nuclear-Yukiya-Amano
[7] http://www.globalpost.com/photo/5670565/breaking-news-graphic
Iraqi Ophans
Friday, January 25, 2008
4.5 millions Orphans in Iraq, a tragic situation
Baghdad,Voices of Iraq – (VOI). New reports of Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs released in 16 January, 2008 with new disaster numbers of children situation in Iraq. This report was declare that in Iraq now 4.5 millions Iraqi orphans with 500 000 living in streets without any home or family care about thier, as well as there are only 459 orphans in governmental houses of orphans.
The dramatic facts in this report also, there are 800 Iraqi orphans in American Iraqi prisons until January 2008 (700 orphans in Iraqi prisons and 100 another orphans in American prisons.
In a Baghdadi popular market, Mustafa Fadhil, a ten year old child, sits waiting to carry the items purchased by individuals who are out doing their shopping, for some trivial income that he needs to help his family following his father’s death who was a victim of the violence in Iraq.
From time to time, Mustafa imagines himself back again in classroom; a dream that disappears when a customer, looking for a carrier, calls him “I left school and started working when my father was killed in a mortar attack that targeted our house around two years ago, and I have been responsible for my family since then,” Mustafa said to Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).
In an attempt to depend on himself in order for himself and his family to survive under such severe circumstances, Mustafa limits his plans to the requirements of daily life. “I stopped thinking about my future, and what I would be when I get older.”
There are many children like Mustafa, orphans and street-kids that live a current tragic reality in Iraq, with an unknown future awaiting them, especially when considering that there are no pre-existing legislations or decrees that protect them and their rights.
The statistics of the Iraqi Ministry of Planning and Development Coordination show that there are 4.5 million orphans in Iraq, 500 thousand of them living in the streets.
At one of the intersections of Al-Karada, a Shiite neighborhood in downtown Baghdad – the capital of Iraq, Nassir Saadon, a 14 years old teenager, sells candy. “I live in a tragic situation and poverty, because my parents were divorced around two years ago,” adding, “I chose to sell candy because it is a job that doesn’t require a large amount of money, but the income is hardly enough to feed me. I feel that my future is unknown; if I even have a future.”
The Islamic Foundation of Woman and Child, a non-governmental organization, believes that with the current tragic circumstances of children in Iraq, a generation will grow up cultivated in an atmosphere of rebellious violence. Amal Kashefal-Ghetaa, the president of that foundation, explained that “Due to the current situation, a massive change took place in the lives of children that forced many of them to leave their schools and friends to go to work; a matter that affects them mentally.”
The Iraqi government, according to Kashefal-Ghetaa, “is not sponsoring those children, despite the fact that the social component representing them is getting wider, because of the violence in Iraq;” demanding the legislation of laws that sponsor these children.
The Iraqi Parliamentary Committee of Woman and Child have a pessimistic vision regarding the future of children in Iraq. Naddera Aif, a parliamentary member of this committee and affiliated with the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) told VOI “I have a pessimistic vision regarding the future of families in Iraq, due to the current violence, displacement, poverty, and family fragmentation. There are 4.5 million orphans, in addition to 800 children in prisons, 700 of them in the Iraqi detentions, and the rest in American custody, all accused of terror or issuing false statements.”
According to Aif, the Parliamentary Committee of Woman and Child recently suggested a number of laws in that regard, such as the laws of Orphans Fund, The Childhood Fund, and the Organization of Childhood Sponsorship, “These laws represent a temporary solution that will be discussed by the Iraqi parliament in this year,” Aif said without further details.
The Orphanages Department at the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs considers that childhood in Iraq suffers the loss of rights comparing with their counterparts in the neighboring countries. “Kids in Iraq are deprived of health care in schools, playing with their friends, and the right to self-expression,” Abeer Al-Chalabi, the manager of that department said to VOI, adding that many children in Iraq are subjected to sexual harassment, some of them are conducting hard jobs unsuitable to their ages, and others use begging to earn their living.
In Iraq, as al-Chalabi confirmed, there are 18 orphanages, 4 in Baghdad, and the rest are distributed throughout other provinces. The total number of orphans in all these orphanages is 459.
The sociologist, Atheer Kareem, told VOI that the negative situation that children in Iraq are experiencing will increase their suffering, unless the government in Iraq responds by issuing legislations that sponsors them and protects their rights. “Violence and bloodshed will have negative mental effects on kids, and their personality, and it would be difficult for a generation to grow up in a healthy manner without the required environments.”
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***************************************
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Want to Help Iraqis?
Hello everyone.
I apologize for my extended absence, life kept me busy for the last few months.
People always ask me how can they help Iraqis?
In many ways, if your government is involved in this war, you can do a lot of work to put pressure on it to withdraw their troops or cut their support, and you can do so either by demanding your representitives in the government, individualy and by organizing moves and gathering as much people as possible to do that. A great and essential thing to be done is to work on public awareness, by learning about the situation in Iraq and teaching your local community, organizing speaking events, hosting patriot Iraqis or people sincerely involved in the Iraqi issue, people that have been to Iraq or at least the ME and can give you a sense of the situation. You can organize many of these speaking events in your local community, university, church etc.
ON the other hand!
Mom has been working volunteerly for years now to improve the living conditions of Iraqis in Iraq and Iraqi refugees in Jordan. If you want to learn more about the projects she is doing then please read the post she has on her blog, she talks about the micro projects she funds that helps Iraqi families make a living, since Iraqis in Jordan are not allowed to work unless they have legal residency, and it's next to impossible to have one, most Iraqi families have no source of income, and are in real need for any kind of help, the Jordanian and Iraqi governments have ignored them, and international community abandoned them, UNHCR and other NGOs are doing very, very small work when compared to the numbers of refugees and the size of their needs. If you are willing to help, please read mom's post:
About CRP , why ?
http://www.collateralrepairproject.org/
peace upon you.....Since the beginning of the war against Iraq 2003, I was in Baghdad with my family,Before the war, I was just a mother of three boys, and Civil Engineer, working as executive manager of our firm in Baghdad.Main things in my life , was my family and my carrier.After the invasion, my life was changed, as what happened to many people inside Iraq or outside.The destruction of the country, violence with bloodshed, continued to be a daily ritual in our days.Since that time I started to work with Iraqi women NGOs in Baghdad, my aim was to help poor families, especially who lost their providers, by funding micro projectfor each family, to keep them survived and independent.
But the Iraqi women I was working with them that time, refused my vision, they were from business women, who were seeking for projects to fund their own projects.After I have left Iraq due to bad security conditions, and kidnapping of my son Khalid, the family decided to leave and settle in Jordan in 2005,We kept working to send medical supplies and water units to Iraqi hospitals, then I started to visit poor Iraqi families here, my network started to be bigger and bigger by the passing of time.
First, I tried to visit rich Iraqi families asking them to help their poor brothers and sisters, but they refused, I was very sad and disappointed, but by the passing of time, I decided to give micro loans to fund micro projects, the money was either from donation of friends, or from my pocket, its OK, I just want to see the change of the life of these families, on the ground.I was happy to see a family like Abo Abbas, I helped them with 320$ to buy special gas oven for Iraqi round bread, the man worked together with his wife and kids to mix flour with water, cut the pieces, spread it on wooden plates, then put it in the hot oven, when its ready , I saw their kids used their bike to deliver the bread for Iraqi restaurant around,…
After one month, the family moved to another house, I visited them , it is much better than the old one, the furniture was repaired, they looked in better conditions, I felt happy for them..This small loan changed their life to the better,..When I used to email my new friend Sasha, we talked about these stories, I sent her many stories about poor Iraqi families here with their photos, we talked many times and discussed many ideas about how can we help them?We agreed that micro loans is a kind of tiring operation, we need some one who will follow them to get the money back, If we can fund each poor family with small budget like 200$ , less or more, it will be easier for all the parts, the donor, the family, and for our teams.We decided then to announce about CRP, and put stories with photos , about these poor families here, who has no legal residency and no right to work , so how can they keep themselves survived?Should we ask them to go back home in Iraq to face death?What is the solution?
I think CRP (http://www.collateralrepairproject.org/)now is working to help these Iraqi families who are refugees , with no right to work, with no legal residency,..May be we can help them in a way or another , to keep them survived, until we all can go back home , one day…Then, about our proposals for projects inside Iraq, its either for IDP who are suffering from the lack of basic needs, or for poor Iraqi families inside many provinces who are abandoned from the government due to corruption controlling the country in this dark era..Hope the positive change will happen in Iraq, one day, and Iraqis will go back home to rebuild their country by their own hands,Amen..
Faiza Alaraji
Iraqi mother,
Civil Engineer
Blogger.
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Occupation's Toll: 5 Million Iraqi Children Orphaned
It is said that Iraq is the world's best-known conflict but the least well-known humanitarian crisis.
December 18, 2007
5 Million Iraqi Orphans, Anti-corruption Board Reveals
Voices of Iraq
Iraq's anti-corruption board revealed on Saturday that there were five million Iraqi orphans as reported by official government statistics, urging the government, parliament, and NGOs to be in constant contact with Iraq's parentless children.
"The government should set up an institutional or legislative program to help the Iraqi orphans. Iraqi is an oil-rich country and it is not acceptable that its orphans remain groaning in this tragedy," the anti-corruption board chief, Moussa Faraj, said during a conference in Baghdad dedicated to orphans in Iraq.
4.5 millions Orphans in Iraq, a tragic situation
Baghdad,Voices of Iraq – (VOI). New reports of Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs released in 16 January, 2008 with new disaster numbers of children situation in Iraq. This report was declare that in Iraq now 4.5 millions Iraqi orphans with 500 000 living in streets without any home or family care about thier, as well as there are only 459 orphans in governmental houses of orphans.
The dramatic facts in this report also, there are 800 Iraqi orphans in American Iraqi prisons until January 2008 (700 orphans in Iraqi prisons and 100 another orphans in American prisons.
In a Baghdadi popular market, Mustafa Fadhil, a ten year old child, sits waiting to carry the items purchased by individuals who are out doing their shopping, for some trivial income that he needs to help his family following his father’s death who was a victim of the violence in Iraq.
From time to time, Mustafa imagines himself back again in classroom; a dream that disappears when a customer, looking for a carrier, calls him “I left school and started working when my father was killed in a mortar attack that targeted our house around two years ago, and I have been responsible for my family since then,” Mustafa said to Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).
In an attempt to depend on himself in order for himself and his family to survive under such severe circumstances, Mustafa limits his plans to the requirements of daily life. “I stopped thinking about my future, and what I would be when I get older.”
There are many children like Mustafa, orphans and street-kids that live a current tragic reality in Iraq, with an unknown future awaiting them, especially when considering that there are no pre-existing legislations or decrees that protect them and their rights.
The statistics of the Iraqi Ministry of Planning and Development Coordination show that there are 4.5 million orphans in Iraq, 500 thousand of them living in the streets.
At one of the intersections of Al-Karada, a Shiite neighborhood in downtown Baghdad – the capital of Iraq, Nassir Saadon, a 14 years old teenager, sells candy. “I live in a tragic situation and poverty, because my parents were divorced around two years ago,” adding, “I chose to sell candy because it is a job that doesn’t require a large amount of money, but the income is hardly enough to feed me. I feel that my future is unknown; if I even have a future.”
The Islamic Foundation of Woman and Child, a non-governmental organization, believes that with the current tragic circumstances of children in Iraq, a generation will grow up cultivated in an atmosphere of rebellious violence. Amal Kashefal-Ghetaa, the president of that foundation, explained that “Due to the current situation, a massive change took place in the lives of children that forced many of them to leave their schools and friends to go to work; a matter that affects them mentally.”
The Iraqi government, according to Kashefal-Ghetaa, “is not sponsoring those children, despite the fact that the social component representing them is getting wider, because of the violence in Iraq;” demanding the legislation of laws that sponsor these children.
The Iraqi Parliamentary Committee of Woman and Child have a pessimistic vision regarding the future of children in Iraq. Naddera Aif, a parliamentary member of this committee and affiliated with the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) told VOI “I have a pessimistic vision regarding the future of families in Iraq, due to the current violence, displacement, poverty, and family fragmentation. There are 4.5 million orphans, in addition to 800 children in prisons, 700 of them in the Iraqi detentions, and the rest in American custody, all accused of terror or issuing false statements.”
According to Aif, the Parliamentary Committee of Woman and Child recently suggested a number of laws in that regard, such as the laws of Orphans Fund, The Childhood Fund, and the Organization of Childhood Sponsorship, “These laws represent a temporary solution that will be discussed by the Iraqi parliament in this year,” Aif said without further details.
The Orphanages Department at the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs considers that childhood in Iraq suffers the loss of rights comparing with their counterparts in the neighboring countries. “Kids in Iraq are deprived of health care in schools, playing with their friends, and the right to self-expression,” Abeer Al-Chalabi, the manager of that department said to VOI, adding that many children in Iraq are subjected to sexual harassment, some of them are conducting hard jobs unsuitable to their ages, and others use begging to earn their living.
In Iraq, as al-Chalabi confirmed, there are 18 orphanages, 4 in Baghdad, and the rest are distributed throughout other provinces. The total number of orphans in all these orphanages is 459.
The sociologist, Atheer Kareem, told VOI that the negative situation that children in Iraq are experiencing will increase their suffering, unless the government in Iraq responds by issuing legislations that sponsors them and protects their rights. “Violence and bloodshed will have negative mental effects on kids, and their personality, and it would be difficult for a generation to grow up in a healthy manner without the required environments.”
``````````````````````````````````````````
***************************************
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Want to Help Iraqis?
Hello everyone.
I apologize for my extended absence, life kept me busy for the last few months.
People always ask me how can they help Iraqis?
In many ways, if your government is involved in this war, you can do a lot of work to put pressure on it to withdraw their troops or cut their support, and you can do so either by demanding your representitives in the government, individualy and by organizing moves and gathering as much people as possible to do that. A great and essential thing to be done is to work on public awareness, by learning about the situation in Iraq and teaching your local community, organizing speaking events, hosting patriot Iraqis or people sincerely involved in the Iraqi issue, people that have been to Iraq or at least the ME and can give you a sense of the situation. You can organize many of these speaking events in your local community, university, church etc.
ON the other hand!
Mom has been working volunteerly for years now to improve the living conditions of Iraqis in Iraq and Iraqi refugees in Jordan. If you want to learn more about the projects she is doing then please read the post she has on her blog, she talks about the micro projects she funds that helps Iraqi families make a living, since Iraqis in Jordan are not allowed to work unless they have legal residency, and it's next to impossible to have one, most Iraqi families have no source of income, and are in real need for any kind of help, the Jordanian and Iraqi governments have ignored them, and international community abandoned them, UNHCR and other NGOs are doing very, very small work when compared to the numbers of refugees and the size of their needs. If you are willing to help, please read mom's post:
About CRP , why ?
http://www.collateralrepairproject.org/
peace upon you.....Since the beginning of the war against Iraq 2003, I was in Baghdad with my family,Before the war, I was just a mother of three boys, and Civil Engineer, working as executive manager of our firm in Baghdad.Main things in my life , was my family and my carrier.After the invasion, my life was changed, as what happened to many people inside Iraq or outside.The destruction of the country, violence with bloodshed, continued to be a daily ritual in our days.Since that time I started to work with Iraqi women NGOs in Baghdad, my aim was to help poor families, especially who lost their providers, by funding micro projectfor each family, to keep them survived and independent.
But the Iraqi women I was working with them that time, refused my vision, they were from business women, who were seeking for projects to fund their own projects.After I have left Iraq due to bad security conditions, and kidnapping of my son Khalid, the family decided to leave and settle in Jordan in 2005,We kept working to send medical supplies and water units to Iraqi hospitals, then I started to visit poor Iraqi families here, my network started to be bigger and bigger by the passing of time.
First, I tried to visit rich Iraqi families asking them to help their poor brothers and sisters, but they refused, I was very sad and disappointed, but by the passing of time, I decided to give micro loans to fund micro projects, the money was either from donation of friends, or from my pocket, its OK, I just want to see the change of the life of these families, on the ground.I was happy to see a family like Abo Abbas, I helped them with 320$ to buy special gas oven for Iraqi round bread, the man worked together with his wife and kids to mix flour with water, cut the pieces, spread it on wooden plates, then put it in the hot oven, when its ready , I saw their kids used their bike to deliver the bread for Iraqi restaurant around,…
After one month, the family moved to another house, I visited them , it is much better than the old one, the furniture was repaired, they looked in better conditions, I felt happy for them..This small loan changed their life to the better,..When I used to email my new friend Sasha, we talked about these stories, I sent her many stories about poor Iraqi families here with their photos, we talked many times and discussed many ideas about how can we help them?We agreed that micro loans is a kind of tiring operation, we need some one who will follow them to get the money back, If we can fund each poor family with small budget like 200$ , less or more, it will be easier for all the parts, the donor, the family, and for our teams.We decided then to announce about CRP, and put stories with photos , about these poor families here, who has no legal residency and no right to work , so how can they keep themselves survived?Should we ask them to go back home in Iraq to face death?What is the solution?
I think CRP (http://www.collateralrepairproject.org/)now is working to help these Iraqi families who are refugees , with no right to work, with no legal residency,..May be we can help them in a way or another , to keep them survived, until we all can go back home , one day…Then, about our proposals for projects inside Iraq, its either for IDP who are suffering from the lack of basic needs, or for poor Iraqi families inside many provinces who are abandoned from the government due to corruption controlling the country in this dark era..Hope the positive change will happen in Iraq, one day, and Iraqis will go back home to rebuild their country by their own hands,Amen..
Faiza Alaraji
Iraqi mother,
Civil Engineer
Blogger.
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Occupation's Toll: 5 Million Iraqi Children Orphaned
It is said that Iraq is the world's best-known conflict but the least well-known humanitarian crisis.
December 18, 2007
5 Million Iraqi Orphans, Anti-corruption Board Reveals
Voices of Iraq
Iraq's anti-corruption board revealed on Saturday that there were five million Iraqi orphans as reported by official government statistics, urging the government, parliament, and NGOs to be in constant contact with Iraq's parentless children.
"The government should set up an institutional or legislative program to help the Iraqi orphans. Iraqi is an oil-rich country and it is not acceptable that its orphans remain groaning in this tragedy," the anti-corruption board chief, Moussa Faraj, said during a conference in Baghdad dedicated to orphans in Iraq.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Good Communication + Morning tips
Tips for Talking
Marriage Communication
Communicating effectively takes practice and a great deal of effort. Without communication, it is nearly impossible to resolve conflicts or grow your partnership. Whether you are in a troubled marriage, simply seeing the value of a "tune-up", or seeking marriage help, here are some useful tips for communicating effectively within a marriage.
Realize that no one "wins" an argument. If you don't leave a discussion with a possible solution to the problem, then neither party has been successful.
Compromise is an essential tool to solving problems through communication. Before bringing up a problem, make sure you have thought of ways that you can help solve it by mutual compromise.
Try to be positive when bringing up sensitive marital problems. Instead of jumping right into a discussion, open by acknowledging that every partnership could be improved and you'd like to take some time and discuss the things that are working in your relationship and the areas that could use improvement. It helps to start by talking about positive things and then moving into the deeper discussion on problem areas.
Be a "reflective" listener and make sure you understand what your partner has said. "What I hear you saying is..." is a great way to make sure the proper message has been received.
Feel free to use the "time out" card if the discussion gets too intense. If an argument gets heated and irrational, it is better to postpone the discussion to a time and place where effective communication can happen.
Make sure your body language, facial expressions and vocal tone are in line with your message. One study showed that 55% of the emotional meaning of what you say is expressed by your facial expression. While only 7% of the emotional meaning is verbal.
Be honest, direct and focus on the real issue. If you enter a conversation insecure about making your point -- you probably won't make it.
If you can't come up with a definitive solution, at least try to end the conversation on a positive note like "I think it's good we've both shared our feelings and we'll continue to talk about it and try to come up with a better solution."
Don't ever be rude or talk down to your partner in a discussion about your relationship. Don't dismiss an idea or thought as absurd, but instead listen to your partner's point and then react with the reasons you disagree in a respectful manner.
Stay on track. If you sit down to talk about a financial problem and suddenly other emotional issues are coming up, realize that you may need to focus on one area at a time in order to create solutions instead of mere bickering.
Recognize when you need outside help to communicate effectively. A counselor or marriage retreat may help solve what seems to be an impossible communication problem.
That argument you had before work about who was responsible for buying new milk probably isn't the best example of effective communication. All partners "talk" to each other, but very few really use communication as a tool to build and revitalize their marriage. Here are some tips to help you move from "gabbing" to really connecting through your conversations.
Don't be cryptic because you are afraid to bring up the real issue. If you enter a conversation insecure about making your point -- you probably won't make it.
Remember, effective communication sometimes takes a great deal of effort. When bringing up sensitive issues or important discussion matters, make sure you assess all factors of communication -- especially your environment. Choose a time, place and atmosphere where stress and distractions are low so your conversation has more impact. And never be afraid to utilize the help of a counselor, therapist or marriage retreat to help resolve issues and communicate more effectively.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mornings!!! ::::::::::::
Morning "Pick-Me-Ups" for your Relationship
Mornings are infamous for not being pleasant. Too often it's the beginning of a busy day and just getting up and getting started becomes more important than paying attention to the people around you. But just as breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day, it is important to leave the house in the morning feeling connected to and appreciated by your partner. Here are some quick tips that can help your relationship start out on the right foot everyday:
Make a Routine:
In today's hectic world, sometimes you have to plan out the simplest of things. Arrange your morning routines so that there are ten or fifteen minutes that you can sit down and have a cup of coffee and discuss your upcoming day. Is anything important or exciting happening? Is there something you are nervous or anxious about? Understanding each other's mood and potential challenges or triumphs can help you better relate to your partner throughout the day and into the evening.
Break Routine:
Surprises can be good. You don't have to wait until a birthday or holiday to do something special for your partner. Spontaneously remind your significant other they are important and send them out the door with a smile. Make him or her a nice pancake breakfast with a whip cream smiley face. Have fresh flowers waiting on the breakfast table. Do a chore or errand they typically handle in the morning so they have a little extra free time. Be original and make your partner's morning great.
Write a Note:
Imagine your partner getting to work and opening their briefcase, already sighing at the growing workload, and, on top of the files and legal pads, they find a special note from you reiterating your affection and wishing the best for the day ahead. Never forget that the smallest gestures can have the biggest results.
Have the Last Word:
How many times have you remembered the ending of a movie or book but not much of the middle? Last impressions are critical. Make an effort to make sure the last words to your partner each morning are positive and encouraging. You can even try and think of one great thing about your relationship each morning and share this with your partner on the way out the door. Just a few words have the power to make a day start great or make it start bumpy - use your words the right way.
Follow Up:
The morning is the start of the day and a great time to begin communication, but don't forget to follow up later in the day. Your partner might be offended if you discussed an important meeting planned for that day but don't ask about it later. You must work to grow your relationship and support your partner morning, noon and night.
Mornings can be hectic and the best intentions can fall to the wayside, so make sure you take time to look at these tips and come up with your own ideas and plan their implementation to make sure your relationship wakes up on the right side of the bed.
Marriage Communication
Communicating effectively takes practice and a great deal of effort. Without communication, it is nearly impossible to resolve conflicts or grow your partnership. Whether you are in a troubled marriage, simply seeing the value of a "tune-up", or seeking marriage help, here are some useful tips for communicating effectively within a marriage.
Realize that no one "wins" an argument. If you don't leave a discussion with a possible solution to the problem, then neither party has been successful.
Compromise is an essential tool to solving problems through communication. Before bringing up a problem, make sure you have thought of ways that you can help solve it by mutual compromise.
Try to be positive when bringing up sensitive marital problems. Instead of jumping right into a discussion, open by acknowledging that every partnership could be improved and you'd like to take some time and discuss the things that are working in your relationship and the areas that could use improvement. It helps to start by talking about positive things and then moving into the deeper discussion on problem areas.
Be a "reflective" listener and make sure you understand what your partner has said. "What I hear you saying is..." is a great way to make sure the proper message has been received.
Feel free to use the "time out" card if the discussion gets too intense. If an argument gets heated and irrational, it is better to postpone the discussion to a time and place where effective communication can happen.
Make sure your body language, facial expressions and vocal tone are in line with your message. One study showed that 55% of the emotional meaning of what you say is expressed by your facial expression. While only 7% of the emotional meaning is verbal.
Be honest, direct and focus on the real issue. If you enter a conversation insecure about making your point -- you probably won't make it.
If you can't come up with a definitive solution, at least try to end the conversation on a positive note like "I think it's good we've both shared our feelings and we'll continue to talk about it and try to come up with a better solution."
Don't ever be rude or talk down to your partner in a discussion about your relationship. Don't dismiss an idea or thought as absurd, but instead listen to your partner's point and then react with the reasons you disagree in a respectful manner.
Stay on track. If you sit down to talk about a financial problem and suddenly other emotional issues are coming up, realize that you may need to focus on one area at a time in order to create solutions instead of mere bickering.
Recognize when you need outside help to communicate effectively. A counselor or marriage retreat may help solve what seems to be an impossible communication problem.
That argument you had before work about who was responsible for buying new milk probably isn't the best example of effective communication. All partners "talk" to each other, but very few really use communication as a tool to build and revitalize their marriage. Here are some tips to help you move from "gabbing" to really connecting through your conversations.
Don't be cryptic because you are afraid to bring up the real issue. If you enter a conversation insecure about making your point -- you probably won't make it.
Remember, effective communication sometimes takes a great deal of effort. When bringing up sensitive issues or important discussion matters, make sure you assess all factors of communication -- especially your environment. Choose a time, place and atmosphere where stress and distractions are low so your conversation has more impact. And never be afraid to utilize the help of a counselor, therapist or marriage retreat to help resolve issues and communicate more effectively.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mornings!!! ::::::::::::
Morning "Pick-Me-Ups" for your Relationship
Mornings are infamous for not being pleasant. Too often it's the beginning of a busy day and just getting up and getting started becomes more important than paying attention to the people around you. But just as breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day, it is important to leave the house in the morning feeling connected to and appreciated by your partner. Here are some quick tips that can help your relationship start out on the right foot everyday:
Make a Routine:
In today's hectic world, sometimes you have to plan out the simplest of things. Arrange your morning routines so that there are ten or fifteen minutes that you can sit down and have a cup of coffee and discuss your upcoming day. Is anything important or exciting happening? Is there something you are nervous or anxious about? Understanding each other's mood and potential challenges or triumphs can help you better relate to your partner throughout the day and into the evening.
Break Routine:
Surprises can be good. You don't have to wait until a birthday or holiday to do something special for your partner. Spontaneously remind your significant other they are important and send them out the door with a smile. Make him or her a nice pancake breakfast with a whip cream smiley face. Have fresh flowers waiting on the breakfast table. Do a chore or errand they typically handle in the morning so they have a little extra free time. Be original and make your partner's morning great.
Write a Note:
Imagine your partner getting to work and opening their briefcase, already sighing at the growing workload, and, on top of the files and legal pads, they find a special note from you reiterating your affection and wishing the best for the day ahead. Never forget that the smallest gestures can have the biggest results.
Have the Last Word:
How many times have you remembered the ending of a movie or book but not much of the middle? Last impressions are critical. Make an effort to make sure the last words to your partner each morning are positive and encouraging. You can even try and think of one great thing about your relationship each morning and share this with your partner on the way out the door. Just a few words have the power to make a day start great or make it start bumpy - use your words the right way.
Follow Up:
The morning is the start of the day and a great time to begin communication, but don't forget to follow up later in the day. Your partner might be offended if you discussed an important meeting planned for that day but don't ask about it later. You must work to grow your relationship and support your partner morning, noon and night.
Mornings can be hectic and the best intentions can fall to the wayside, so make sure you take time to look at these tips and come up with your own ideas and plan their implementation to make sure your relationship wakes up on the right side of the bed.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Analysis of U.S. Census: wealth gaps in whites vs. people of color grown to widest levels in 25 yrs
in Our "backyard": http://www.inourownbackyard.us/
NAACP, 102 years old this week! lynn and i are rhe Only 2 "white", in ONE HUMAN FAMILY, Members of the NAACP here in Magee, and only ones to attend 100 yrs Banquet & Awards Cerimony @ the Magee City Center, which was not even mentioned in the "Local" newspaper! http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_622.html http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html
Census: U.S. Racial Wealth Gap Widest in Quarter Century
A new analysis of U.S. Census data shows the wealth gaps between whites and people of color have grown to their widest levels in a quarter-century. White Americans now have on average 20 times the net worth of African Americans and 18 times that of Latinos. The Pew Research Center has found the median wealth of white U.S. households in 2009 was about $113,000 compared with just over $6,300 for Hispanics and just under $5,700 for blacks. The white-black wealth gap is the widest since the census began tracking such data in 1984. Roderick Harrison, former chief of racial statistics at the Census Bureau, said, "I am afraid that this pushes us back to what the Kerner Commission characterized as 'two societies, separate and unequal.'" Latinos have been hit particularly hard by the recession. The median wealth of Latino households fell by 66 percent between 2005 and 2009. During that same period the median household wealth of whites dipped 16 percent.
Posted on Tue, Jul. 26, 2011
Commentary: America, behold your future
quote from below Kansas City article:
"I'll tell you what the true face of poverty is: It is a child.
A shamefully large number of those children are growing up in economically unstable homes. In this seemingly unending recession, the hardest-hit have been those who don't have college educations. Families that were subsisting one or two paychecks away from disaster have hit the wall. Every month, more join their ranks. That does not bode well for their ability to afford a college education for their children - or in a lot of cases, just to provide the stability it takes to graduate from high school.
Just who does Congress think America can count on to rebuild its economy and thrive in the future?
Too many Americans like to think the poor are "not our problem." They are dead wrong. They are our future.
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/26/3029488/commentary-america-behold-your.html#ixzz1TF2TQQOO"
>>>>>>>>>from the Kansas City Star:
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/26/v-print/3029488/commentary-america-behold-your.html
NAACP, 102 years old this week! lynn and i are rhe Only 2 "white", in ONE HUMAN FAMILY, Members of the NAACP here in Magee, and only ones to attend 100 yrs Banquet & Awards Cerimony @ the Magee City Center, which was not even mentioned in the "Local" newspaper! http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_622.html http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html
Census: U.S. Racial Wealth Gap Widest in Quarter Century
A new analysis of U.S. Census data shows the wealth gaps between whites and people of color have grown to their widest levels in a quarter-century. White Americans now have on average 20 times the net worth of African Americans and 18 times that of Latinos. The Pew Research Center has found the median wealth of white U.S. households in 2009 was about $113,000 compared with just over $6,300 for Hispanics and just under $5,700 for blacks. The white-black wealth gap is the widest since the census began tracking such data in 1984. Roderick Harrison, former chief of racial statistics at the Census Bureau, said, "I am afraid that this pushes us back to what the Kerner Commission characterized as 'two societies, separate and unequal.'" Latinos have been hit particularly hard by the recession. The median wealth of Latino households fell by 66 percent between 2005 and 2009. During that same period the median household wealth of whites dipped 16 percent.
Posted on Tue, Jul. 26, 2011
Commentary: America, behold your future
quote from below Kansas City article:
"I'll tell you what the true face of poverty is: It is a child.
A shamefully large number of those children are growing up in economically unstable homes. In this seemingly unending recession, the hardest-hit have been those who don't have college educations. Families that were subsisting one or two paychecks away from disaster have hit the wall. Every month, more join their ranks. That does not bode well for their ability to afford a college education for their children - or in a lot of cases, just to provide the stability it takes to graduate from high school.
Just who does Congress think America can count on to rebuild its economy and thrive in the future?
Too many Americans like to think the poor are "not our problem." They are dead wrong. They are our future.
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/26/3029488/commentary-america-behold-your.html#ixzz1TF2TQQOO"
>>>>>>>>>from the Kansas City Star:
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/26/v-print/3029488/commentary-america-behold-your.html
Monday, July 25, 2011
Q: Why? A: Share, to uplift with Positive Vibe
ziggy, and brothers, Marley:
Ky-Mani Marley - Dear Dad
Bob: Positive Vibe:
Bob World Citizens:
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Is it True or False, Beautiful or Ugly, Right or Wrong?
and how will affect Others?
Honesty ^ Unselfishness ^ Love ^ Purity
Ziggy Marley Video: Love is My Religion
Ziggy Marley: True to Myself
WE ARE ALL EQUAL MEMBERS OF ONE HUMAN FAMILY
PROCLAMATION OF THE CITY OF KEY WEST, EARTH
**********!!!(CLICK TO ENLARGE)!!!**********
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Ziggy Marley-Rainbow In The Sky
Honesty ^ Unselfishness ^ Love ^ Purity
Ziggy Marley Video: Love is My Religion
Ziggy Marley: True to Myself
WE ARE ALL EQUAL MEMBERS OF ONE HUMAN FAMILY
PROCLAMATION OF THE CITY OF KEY WEST, EARTH
**********!!!(CLICK TO ENLARGE)!!!**********
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Ziggy Marley-Rainbow In The Sky
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
psyops and propaganda (illegal in America)
War Phyops & Propaganda Questions about WAR, Murder, War Crimes = manipulate the American Public (illegal by Federal Law & Congress; Our Representatives) Abu Griab, Torture, Murders & War Crimes by "Private Contractors"/Blackwater, No Bid Contractss to Halliburton/KBR even after many violations & even fines, Privatization & shifting of Military Responsibility, like $100 dollars/bag of a soldier's laundry (Halliburton), same with Food & Fuel, Pat Tillman, Jessica Lynch, no photos of Military Caskets, the Largest U.S. Embassy being built in Iraq, Paul Bremmer's action, Iraq's oil NOT control by Iraq, U.S. Geological Department analysing all of Afghanistan's resources, mineral and fossil fuel, etc by U.S. Military:
also:
and:
Sunday, June 26, 2011
the Green Approach to Economics
http://youtu.be/umjoyNmhMPY
also see gp.org
Green economics is rooted in ecological economics. Our economy should serve us and our planet. Our economy should reflect and respect the diverse, delicate ecosystems of our planet.
Our current economic system is gravely flawed. It is unjust and unsustainable because it is premised on endless economic growth and destruction of nature. Our market economy, by externalizing the environmental and social costs of greenhouse gas emissions, is creating the greatest market failure in history: climate change, and its devastating effects. Our government's top economic goal - increasing Gross Domestic Product - impels us to perpetually intensify our resource use and environmental destruction.
Green economic policy places value not just on material wealth, but on the things which truly make life worth living – our health, our relationships, our communities, our environment, and building peace and justice throughout our nation and the world. We aim to maximize our quality of life with a minimum of consumption. We aspire to less "stuff" but more happiness. We propose a shift away from materialism to help people live more meaningful lives as we save the planet from climate change and ever larger mountains of waste. We need to acquire the ability to distinguish between need and greed.
We must also end the colossal waste of taxpayer funds for armaments and war, to reduce our nation’s federal debt, and fund our environmental and social needs.
Greens intend to provide a green job to anyone who wants one. We support using the tax system to bring more equality to our nation. Rising income inequality makes us all poorer in myriad ways. More equal societies are happier, healthier, safer and greener.
Greens supportly strong local economies and regional trade. The best model of economic security is for a community and region to be largely self-sufficient in the production of its necessities. We support not the corporate control of “free trade” – which, through the machinations of the World Trade Organization places the enrichment of multinational corporations above the level of national laws – but “fair trade,” which protects communities, labor, consumers and the environment. Local economic vibrancy and regional trade keep more money in the community and the region, rather than going to distant corporate headquarters. This is the most sensible model for economic security.
Greens will change the legal design of the corporation so that it does not maximize profits at the expense of the environment, human rights, public health, workers, or the communities in which it operates. We believe the giant multinational corporation is the world’s most potent force for environmental and social destruction.
Unlike other political parties in the modern era, the Green Party views economics not as an end in itself but as a service to community development through the building and strengthening of community bonds that constitute the social fabric.
Greens are defenders of the commons -- the vast trove of wealth owned by the people, the social and tangible assets we inherit from generations past. Most people living in this country yearn for a more vibrant and lively commons, such as a richer community life, more parks and protected wilderness, clean air and water, more silence, better access to information and knowledge, and a more nourishing culture. We must stop big business from undermining and stealing our common wealth, such as our public forests and minerals, the fruits of federal research, the public airwaves and the Internet.
A. Ecological Economics
To create an enduring society we must devise a system of production and commerce where every act is sustainable and restorable. We believe that all business has a social contract with society and the environment--in effect a fiduciary responsibility--and that the concepts of socially responsible business and shareholder democracy can be models for prospering, successful business.
We call for an economic system that is based on a combination of private businesses, decentralized democratic cooperatives, publicly owned enterprises, and alternative economic structures. Collectively, this system puts human and ecological needs alongside profits to measure success, and maintains accountability to communities.
Community-based economics constitutes an alternative to both corporate capitalism and state socialism. It values diversity and decentralization.
Recognition of limits is central to this system. The drive to accumulate power and wealth is a pernicious characteristic of a civilization headed in a pathological direction. Greens advocate that economic relations become more direct, more cooperative, and more egalitarian.
Humanizing economic relations is just one aspect of our broader objective: to shift toward a different way of life characterized by sustainability, regionalization, more harmonious balance between the natural ecosphere and the human-made technosphere, and revival of community life. Our perspective is antithetical to both Big Business and Big Government.
Greens support a major redesign of commerce. We endorse true-cost pricing. [See section E.1.]; True Cost Pricing We support production methods that eliminates waste. In natural systems, everything is a meal for something else. Everything recycles, there is no waste. We need to mimic natural systems in the way we manufacture and produce things. Consumables need to be designed to be thrown into a compost heap and/or eaten. Durable goods would be designed in closed-loop systems, ultimately to be disassembled and reassembled. Toxics would be safeguarded, minimally produced, secured, and would ideally have markers identifying them in perpetuity with their makers.
Sustaining our quality of life, economic prosperity, environmental health, and long-term survival demands that we adopt new ways of doing business. We need to remake commerce to encourage diversity and variety, responding to the enormous complexity of global and local conditions. Big business is not about appropriateness and adaptability, but about power and market control. Greens support small business, responsible stakeholder capitalism, and broad and diverse forms of economic cooperation. We argue that economic diversity is more responsive than big business to the needs of diverse human populations.
Greens view the economy as a part of the ecosystem, not as an isolated subset in which nothing but resources come in and products and waste go out. There is a fundamental conflict between economic growth and environmental protection. There is an absolute limit to economic growth based on laws of thermodynamics and principles of ecology. Long before that limit is reached, an optimum size of the economy is reached which maximizes human welfare in an holistic sense.
We support a Superfund for Workers program as envisioned by the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union in 1991. Such a program would guarantee full income and benefits for all workers displaced by ecological conversion until they find new jobs with comparable income and benefits.
The Green Party supports methods, such as the Index of Social Health Indicators, the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare, and the Genuine Progress Indicator, that take into account statistics on housing, income, and nutrition.
B. Measuring Economic Progress – Economic Growth and the Steady-State Economy
Economic growth has been a primary goal of the American policy. Corporations, politicians beholden to corporations, and economists funded by corporations advocate a theory of unlimited economic growth stemming from technological progress. Based upon established principles of the physical and biological sciences, however, there is a limit to economic growth.
American economic growth is having negative effects on the long-term ecological and economic welfare of the United States and the world. There is a fundamental conflict between economic growth and ecological health (for example, biodiversity conservation, clean air and water, atmospheric stability).
We cannot rely on technological progress to solve ecological and long-term economic problems. Rather, we should endeavor to make lifestyle choices that reinforce a general equilibrium of humans with nature. This requires consciously choosing to foster environmentally sound technologies, whether they are newer or older technologies, rather than technologies conducive to conspicuous consumption and waste.
Economic growth, as gauged by increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is a dangerous and anachronistic American goal. The most viable and sustainable alternative is a steady-state economy. A steady-state economy has a stable or mildly fluctuating product of population and per capita consumption, and is generally indicated by stable or mildly fluctuating GDP. The steady-state economy has become a more appropriate goal than economic growth in the United States and other large, wealthy economies. A steady-state economy precludes ever-expanding production and consumption of goods and services. However, a steady-state economy does not preclude economic development - a qualitative process not gauged by GDP growth and other measures that overlook ecological effects.
One way to measure the economy is to assess the value of non-monetary goods and services and measure the rate of infant mortality, life expectancy of people, educational opportunities offered by the state, family stability, environmental data, and health care for all people. Another measure is to quantify human benefit (in terms of education, health care, elder care, etc.) provided by each unit of output. Measuring the gap between the most fortunate and the least fortunate in our society, for example, tells us how well or poorly we are doing in creating an economy that does not benefit some at the expense of others.
For many nations with widespread poverty, increasing per capita consumption (through economic growth or through more equitable distributions of wealth) remains an appropriate goal. Ultimately, however, the global ecosystem will not be able to support further economic growth. Therefore, an equitable distribution of wealth among nations is required to maintain a global steady-state economy. A global economy with inequitable wealth distribution will be subject to continual international strife and conflict. Such strife and conflict, in turn, ensures the economic unsustainability of some nations and threatens the economic sustainability of all.
C. Curbing Corporate Power
People before profits
Our Position: Greens want to reduce the economic and political power of large corporations, end corporate personhood and re-design corporations to serve our society, democracy and the environment.
Unelected and unaccountable corporate executives are not merely exercising power in our society -- they are ruling us. Greens will reduce corporate powers and privileges, including by stripping them of artificial "personhood" and constitutional protections. The Green Party supports strong and effectively enforced antitrust laws and regulation to counteract the concentration of economic and political power that imposes a severe toll on people, places and the planet.
Greens believe the legal structure of the corporation is obsolete. At present, corporations are designed solely to generate profit. This legal imperative -- profit above all else -- is damaging our country and our planet in countless ways. We must change the legal design of corporations so that they generate profits, but not at the expense of the environment, human rights, public health, workers, or the communities in which the corporation operates.
One point remains unequivocal: our planet cannot afford business as usual any longer. Because corporations have become the dominant economic institution of the planet, we must compel them to serve human and environmental needs, so that our peoples, nations and environment may live long and prosper.
Green Solutions
End corporate personhood.
Federal chartering of corporations that includes comprehensive, strict and enforceable social responsibility requirements.
Strengthen the civil justice system to ensure that it holds corporations strictly liable for corporate crime, fraud, violence and malfeasance. This would include revoking the charters of corporations that routinely violate safety, health, environmental protection or other laws.
Empower shareholders to stop abuses by the managers they hire through a structure of democratic governance and elections.
Enforce existing antitrust laws and support even tougher new ones to curtail the overwhelming economic and political power of large corporations.
Increase funding for and strengthen oversight of federal antitrust enforcement.
D. Livable Income
We affirm the importance of access to a livable income.
We call for a universal basic income (sometimes called a guaranteed income, negative income tax, citizen's income, or citizen dividend). This would go to every adult regardless of health, employment, or marital status, in order to minimize government bureaucracy and intrusiveness into people's lives. The amount should be sufficient so that anyone who is unemployed can afford basic food and shelter. State or local governments should supplement that amount from local revenues where the cost of living is high.
Job banks and other innovative training and employment programs which bring together the private and public sectors must become federal, state and local priorities. People who are unable to find decent work in the private sector should have options through publicly funded opportunities. Workforce development programs must aim at moving people out of poverty.
The growing inequities in income and wealth between rich and poor; unprecedented discrepancies in salary and benefits between corporate top executives and line workers; loss of the "American dream" by the young and middle-class - each is a symptom of decisions made by policy-makers far removed from the concerns of ordinary workers trying to keep up.
A clear living wage standard should serve as a foundation for trade between nations, and a "floor" of guaranteed wage protections and workers' rights should be negotiated in future trade agreements. The United States should take the lead on this front - and not allow destructive, predatory corporate practices under the guise of "free" international trade.
E. Fair Taxation
Our Position: Federal and state taxes must be strongly progressive.
Our current tax system is outrageously unjust. It is riddled with loopholes, subsidies and dodges for corporations and the super-rich. Most working people pay too much in taxes compared to corporations, multi-millionaires and billionaires. Many of our biggest and most profitable corporations pay little or no tax. Much investment income is taxed at less than the rate workers pay.
We can afford to cut taxes for most people if we make corporations and the super-rich pay their fair share. Then we can cut them even more when we halt our nation's wasteful spending on wars, weaponry and militarism.
We call for progressive taxation, shifting tax from individuals to corporations, taxing "bads" not "goods," taxing unearned income at the same rate as earned income, taxing speculation on Wall Street, and cutting corporate tax giveaways.
We will institute comprehensive tax reform to simplify the tax system. We will eliminate loopholes and other exemptions that favor corporate and wealthy interests over tax justice.
Small business, in particular, should not be penalized by a tax system which benefits those who can "work" the legislative tax committees for breaks and subsidies. We support substantive and wide-ranging reform of the tax system that helps create jobs, economic efficiencies and innovation within the small business community. We will end "corporate welfare." Smaller businesses are the U. S. A's great strength. Greens believe government should have a tax policy which encourages small and socially responsible business.
Political democracy remains a distant promise without economic democracy. A principal instrument for achieving economic democracy is our tax system. Taxes are the means whereby we fund our public services. They can also help create equity, justice, health and sustainability.
Green Solutions
1. Cut taxes for wage-workers
Exempt people earning less than $25,000 per year and families earning less than $50,000 per year (adjusted for inflation) from the federal and state income taxes.
Exempt food, clothing, prescription medications, other necessities and second-hand goods from sales taxes.
2. Fair taxes for corporations and the wealthy
End corporate welfare, such as the bailouts for Wall Street, the big banks and the automobile industry; subsidies for agribusiness, Export-Import Bank loan guarantees; tax abatements for big box stores; the tax loophole for “carried interest” from private equity and hedge fund managers; tax deductibility for advertising and business entertainment; offshore tax avoidance schemes; giveaways for new sports stadiums and casinos.
Impose a financial transaction tax on trades of stocks, bonds, currency, derivatives, and other financial instruments.
Block financial transactions with tax havens, to stop tax evasion.
Decrease the $1 million home value cap on the mortgage interest tax deduction for federal income taxes, to reduce the tax subsidy provided to those living in the most expensive homes.
Restore the estate tax.
Apply the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (Social Security and Medicare) taxes to investment income and to all levels of income, not merely the first $106,800 earned.
Oppose the privatization of Social Security.
Enact a wealth tax of 0.5% per year on an individual's assets over $5 million.
3. Eco-taxes to help save the planet
Establish a system of carbon taxes on all fossil fuels, to begin to reflect the real environmental cost of their extraction and use. Carbon taxes should be applied as far upstream as possible, preferably when possession of the carbon-bearing fuel passes from extraction (for example, coal mine; oil wellhead or tanker; gas wellhead) to the next entity in the supply chain (for example, coal shipper or utility; oil refiner or importer; natural gas pipeline). Offset potential regressivity for lower income individuals via the Green Tax shift that lowers income taxes and/or other approaches.
Eliminate tax subsidies for the oil, gas, coal, nuclear and timber and mining industries.
Enact a Green Tax Shift that shifts from taxing people and work (via income and payroll taxes) to taxing natural resource extraction, use, waste and pollution.
Enact a system of Community Ground Rent/Land Value Taxation that distinguishes between the socially and privately created wealth of land, by increasing the taxes on the former to retain for society the value that it collectively creates and lowers them on the latter to reward individuals for their initiative and work.
To ensure that prices reflect their true environmental cost, enact a system of True Cost Pricing (TCP) for goods and services. TCP is an accounting and pricing system that includes all costs in the price of a product. TCP charges extractive and productive industries for the immediate or prolonged damage (pollution of air and water) and diminishment of natural resources caused by their acts.
Impose a carbon fee on goods imported from nations with lower carbon taxes than in the U.S., based upon the carbon spent in manufacturing and transporting them to the U.S.
4. Taxes for a better, healthier USA
Simplify the tax code. Make it transparent, understandable and resistant to the machinations of powerful corporate and wealthy interests.
Eliminate tax incentives to send jobs overseas.
Raise taxes on tobacco, alcohol, soda pop and other junk food.
F. Local Economic Involvement
Our Position: Greens support reforms that give communities more control over their own local economies.
Greens support decentralization, and call for a community-based economics whose aim is local prosperity and self-sufficiency.
We support local production, local manufacturing, local sales, local recycling wherever and whenever possible. We encourage face-to-face relationships with local business owners and shopkeepers.
Successful local Green communities nurture everyone of all ages, generate good jobs and housing, and provide public services; creating cities and towns that educate everyone, encourage recreation, and preserve natural and cultural resources; building local governments that protect people from environmental hazards and crime; and motivating citizens to participate in making decisions.
Green Solutions
Protect local businesses from the predatory pricing practices of chain and "big box" stores.
Support incentives for co-operative enterprises, such as consumer co-ops, workers' co-operatives, credit unions and other institutions that help communities develop economic projects.
Allow municipalities to approve or disapprove large economic projects case-by-case based on environmental impacts, local ownership, community reinvestment, wage levels, and working conditions.
Allow communities to set environmental, consumer, human rights, labor, health and safety standards higher than federal or state minimums.
Invest in the commons: rebuild infrastructure; improve mass transit; protect and restore the environment.
Support local living wage laws.
Establish local currencies such as Time Dollars, Ithaca Hours and BerkShares, to strengthen local economies.
Enact place of origin labeling.
Enact corporate "good character" laws, requiring corporations, when applying for a permit, to disclose all violations of law they have committed. Empower officials to deny permits based on such information.
G. Small Business and the Self-Employed
Greens support a program that counter acts concentration and abuse of economic power. We support many different initiatives for forming successful, small enterprises that together can become an engine of (and sustainable model for) job creation, prosperity and progress. Small business is where the jobs are being created. Over the past decade and a half, all new net job growth has come from the small business sector.
The Green economic model is about true prosperity - Green means prosperity. Our goal is to go beyond the dedicated good work being done by many companies (referred to as "socially responsible business") and to present new ways of seeing how business can help create a sustainable world, while surviving in a competitive business climate.
We believe that conservation should be profitable, and employment should be creative, meaningful and fairly compensated.
Access to capital is often an essential need in growing a business. [See section I. Banking and Insurance Reform]
The present tax system acts to discourage small business as it encourages waste, discourages conservation, and rewards consumption. Big business has used insider access to dominate the federal tax code. The tax system needs a major overhaul to favor the legitimate and critical needs of the small business community. Retention of capital through retained earnings, efficiencies, and savings is central to small business competitiveness. Current tax policies often act to unfairly penalize small business.
Government should reduce unnecessary restrictions, fees, and bureaucracy. In particular, the Paper Simplification Act should be seen as a way to benefit small business, and it should be improved in response to the needs of small businesses and the self-employed.
Health insurance premiums paid by the self-employed should be fully deductible.
State and local government should encourage businesses that benefit the community especially. Economic development initiatives should include citizen and community input. The type and size of businesses that are given incentives (tax, loans, bonds, etc.) should be the result of local community participation.
Pension funds (the result of workers' investments) should be examined as additional sources of capital for small business. [See section J. Pension Reform]
Insurance costs should be brought down by means of active engagement with the insurance industry. Insurance pools need to be expanded.
One-stop offices should be established by government to assist individuals who want to change careers or go into business for the first time.
Home-based and neighborhood-based businesses should be assisted by forward-looking planning, not hurt by out-of-date zoning ordinances. Telecommuting and home offices should be aided, not hindered, by government.
H. Work and Job Creation
There is plenty of work to do that does not jeopardize our future, does not widen the gap between the richest and the poorest in our society, and that can enrich our communities. We must encourage the creation of these opportunities. People whose livelihoods depend on supporting remote, multi-national corporations cannot be expected to support changing the system.
The Green Party proposes a third alternative to a job or no job dichotomy: that is to provide everyone a sustainable livelihood. The need of our times is for security, not necessarily jobs. We need security in the knowledge that, while markets may fluctuate and jobs may come and go, we are still able to lead a life rooted in dignity and well-being.
The concept of a "job" is only a few hundred years old; and the artificial dichotomy between "employment" and "unemployment" has become a tool of social leverage for corporate exploiters. This produces a dysfunctional society in various ways: (1) It is used to justify bringing harmful industries to rural communities, such as extensive prison construction and clear cutting of pristine forests. (2) It has been used to pit workers (people needing jobs) against the interests of their own communities. (3) It has created a self-esteem crisis in a large segment of the adult population who been forced into doing work that is irrelevant, socially harmful, or environmentally unsound.
We will also promote policies that have job-increasing effects. Many people will still need jobs for their security. We need to counterbalance the decline in jobs caused either by new technology, corporate flight to cheaper labor markets outside our borders, or the disappearance of socially wasteful jobs that will inevitably occur as more and more people embrace a green culture.
To begin a transition to a system providing sustainable livelihood, we support:
Creating alternative, low-consumption communities and living arrangements, including a reinvigorated sustainable homesteading movement in rural areas and voluntary shared housing in urban areas.
Universal health care requiring coverage for all. [See section F. Health Care in chapter II]
The creating and spreading local currencies and barter systems.
Subsidizing technological development of consumer items that would contribute toward economic autonomy, such as renewable energy devices.
Establishing local non-profit development corporations.
Providing people with information about alternatives to jobs.
Creating Jobs
For creating jobs we propose:
Reducing taxes on labor. This will make labor more competitive with energy and capital investment. (See Taxation above.)
Solidarity with unions and workers fighting the practice of contracting out tasks to part-time workers in order to avoid paying benefits and to break up unions.
Adopting a reduced-hour (30-35 hours) work week as a standard. This could translate into as many as 26 million new jobs.
Subsidizing renewable energy sources, which directly employ 2 to 5 times as many people for every unit of electricity generated as fossil or nuclear sources yet are cost competitive. Also, retrofit existing buildings for energy conservation and build non-polluting, low impact transportation systems.
Supporting small business by reducing tax, fee and bureaucratic burdens. The majority of new jobs today are created by small businesses. This would cut their failure rate and help them create more jobs.
Opposing the trend toward "bundling" of contracts that minimizes opportunity for small, minority-owned, and women-owned businesses.
13. Reducing consumption to minimize outsourcing - the exportation of jobs to other countries - thus reducing the relative price of using U.S. workers.
I. Banking and Insurance reform
Greens will overhaul the financial industries to end their culture of impunity and to prevent them from committing fraud or malfeasance so severe as to drive our nation into a massive recession or depression.
Since finance, banking, and insurance institutions occupy a privileged position of power at the center of commerce, this special advantage brings with it special social responsibilities. We must ensure that the institutions chartered for these roles take that responsibility seriously and serve the public interest.
Greens aim to reform the financial industries to eliminate usury (exorbitantly high interest rates on loans) and ensure that they meet their obligations to taxpayers and local communities.
1. Banking reform
Break up our nation's largest banks and financial institutions so that none is "too big to fail." End taxpayer-funded bailouts for banks, insurers and other financial companies.
Regulate all financial derivatives, ban any predatory or gambling use of derivatives, and require full transparency for all derivative trades, to control risk of systemic financial collapse. Require regulatory pre-approval of exotic financial instruments.
Re-enact the Glass-Steagall Act, which prohibited bank holding companies from owning other financial companies and engaging in risky economic transactions.
Oppose the federal government being the final guarantor of speculative investments. During a financial crisis, if the federal government and/or a central bank must provide relief, it should be given in an equal manner and at the most local level possible, so that benefits are equitably dispersed and burdens are equitably borne. So rather than pouring trillions of dollars into the banking system, they should have provided direct mortgage relief to homeowners suffering the most from the housing bubble and negotiated with lenders to provide partial loan forgiveness.
Ensure that low and middle income people have access to banking services, affordable loans, and small-business supporting capital, especially through credit unions.
Oppose disinvestment practices, in which lending and financial institutions move money deposited in local communities out of those same communities, damaging the best interests of their customers and community.
Support the extension of the Community Reinvestment Act to provide public and timely information on the extent of housing loans, small business loans to minority-owned enterprises, investments in community development projects, and affordable housing.
Strengthen disclosure laws, anti-redlining laws, and openness on the part of lenders regarding what criteria they use in making lending decisions.
Oppose arbitrary or discriminatory practices that deny individuals or small business access to credit.
Support development of charter community development banks, which would be capitalized with public funds and work to meet the credit needs of local communities.
Support the expansion of co-operative credit unions.
2. Monetary Reform (Greening the Dollar)
The crisis in our financial system makes it imperative that we restructure our monetary system. The present mis-structured system of privatized control has resulted in the misdirection of our resources to speculation, toxic loans, and phony financial instruments that create huge profits for the few but no real wealth or jobs. It is both possible and necessary for our government to take back its special money creation privilege and spend this money into circulation through a carefully controlled policy of directing funds, through community banks and interest-free loans, to local and state government entities to be used for infrastructure, health, education, and the arts This would add millions of good jobs, enrich our communities, and go a long ways toward ending the current deep recession.
To reverse the privatization of control over the money issuing process of our nation‚s monetary system; to reverse its resulting obscene and undeserved concentration of wealth and income; to place it within a more equitable public system of governmental checks and balances; and to end the regular recurrence of severe and disruptive banking crises such as the ongoing financial crisis which threatens the livelihood of millions; the Green Party supports the following interconnected,
Nationalize the Federal Reserve Banks, reconstituting them and the Federal Reserve Systems Washington Board of Governors under a new Monetary Authority Board within the U.S. Treasury. The private creation of money or credit, which substitutes for money, will cease and with it the reckless and fraudulent practices that have led to the present financial and economic crisis.
The Monetary Authority, with assistance from the FDIC, the SEC, the U.S. Treasury, the Congressional Budget Office, and others will redefine bank lending rules and procedures to end the privilege banks now have to create money when they extend their credit, by ending what‚s known as the fractional reserve system in an elegant, non disruptive manner. Banks will be encouraged to continue as profit making companies, extending loans of real money at interest; acting as intermediaries between those clients seeking a return on their savings and those clients ready and able to pay for borrowing the money; but banks will no longer be creators of what we are using for money.
The new money that must be regularly added to an improving system as population and commerce grow will be created and spent into circulation by the U. S. Government for infrastructure, including the „human infrastructure‰ of education and health care. This begins with the $2.2 trillion the American Society of Civil Engineers warns us is needed to bring existing infrastructure to safe levels over the next 5 years. Per capita guidelines will assure a fair distribution of such expenditures across the United States, creating good jobs, re-invigorating the local economies and re-funding government at all levels. As this money is paid out to various contractors, they in turn pay their suppliers and laborers who in turn pay for their living expenses and ultimately this money gets deposited into banks, which are then in a position to make loans of this money, according to the new regulations.
3. Insurance Reform
Clean up the insurance industry. Eliminate special-interest protections, collusion, over-pricing and industry-wide practices that too often injure the interests of the insured when they are most vulnerable. Prohibit bad-faith insurance practices, such as avoidance of obligations and price fixing.
Enact single-payer universal health insurance. Until single-payer is established, we support laws that act to make insurance policies transportable from job to job.
Support and encourage the insurance industry's efforts for "loss prevention," that is, to reduce the incidence of death, injuries, disease and other calamities.
Support initiatives in secondary insurance markets that expand credit for economic development in inner cities, affordable housing and home ownership among the poor, sustainable agriculture and rural development maintaining family farms.
Prohibit companies from being the beneficiary of insurance on their own employees.
4. Broader financial industry reforms
Support a 10% cap on interest rates, above inflation, for credit cards, mortgages, payday loans and all other consumer lending.
Aggressively crack down on crime, fraud, malfeasance and tax evasion in the financial and insurance industries.
Reduce excessive executive pay.
Support the formation of Citizens' Utility Boards to defend the interests of consumers and policyholders.
Favor a tax on stock, bond, foreign currency and derivatives transactions to discourage excessive speculation.
J. Pension Reform
Working people--who own over $3 trillion in pension monies (deferred wages in effect)--should have financial options in where their money is invested apart from the current near-monopoly exerted by a handful of managers, banks, insurance companies, and mutual funds. Pension funds should not be used for corporate mergers, acquisitions and leveraged buyouts, corporate decisions that undercut workers rights, employment, and retirement while generously rewarding non-productive speculation. The current system has allowed vast amounts of American workers' hard-earned money to be squandered on job-ending, plant-moving, corporate downsizing.
Pension funds are gigantic capital pools that can, with government support, be used to meet community needs and benefit workers and their families directly.
Corporate-sponsored pension funds (the biggest category of funds) should be jointly controlled by management and workers, not exclusively by management.
Federal law must be changed so that pension funds need simply to seek a reasonable rate of return, not the prevailing market rate which greatly restricts where investments can be made.
A secondary pension market established by the government to insure pension investments made in socially beneficial programs must be considered as one method that could greatly expand the impact of this capital market, as demonstrated in the case of federally insured / subsidized mortgage lending.
Prudent pension fund investing should both make money and do good work. Creating jobs and supporting employment programs in public / private partnerships can become a priority as we seek to expand towards opportunities where new jobs are created - small business, not transnational business. We could target the under- and un-employed. We believe there are myriad opportunities for a profound shift in how the capital of America's workers is best put to use.
K. Anti-trust Enforcement
The Green Party supports strong and effective enforcement anti-trust regulation to counteract the concentration of economic power that imposes a sever toll on the economy. The anti-trust division of the Justice Department has had its scope and powers reduced. An explosion of unregulated mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, and leveraged buyouts has overwhelmed the federal government's capacity to provide effective oversight. Financial and trading markets have become particularly vulnerable to insider trading. Securities and Exchange Commission regulation of these markets has seriously fallen short. Overall, what we see in unchecked market power is self-serving abuse of the democratic political process, price gouging, loss of productivity and jobs, reduced competitiveness, and of predatory and monopolistic practices.
The Federal Trade Commission must vigorously oversee mergers where the combined sales of the companies exceed $1 billion.
The Justice Department must redefine "relevant market share" in assessing mergers.
The Congress must enact its calls for competitiveness by stopping illegal monopolistic practices.
We oppose the largesse of government in the form of massive corporate entitlements.
L. Advanced technology and Defense Conversion
1. The Green Party supports defense technology transfer towards a peacetime technology-based economy, particularly new industrial applications and developments in the areas of advanced communications, alternative energy, non-toxic battery technology and waste management.
Consolidation of the nuclear weapons complex should move toward alternative civilian technologies and non-proliferation work, not toward a new generation of nuclear weapon design and production.
We recognize the need for de-escalating the continuing arms race, and we strongly oppose putting nuclear weapons, lasers and other weapons in space in a new militarization policy that is in clear violation of international law. [See section F. Demilitarization and Exploration of Space in chapter I]
Let us go forward with government and civilian space programs; research initiatives in sustainability science, environmental protection, ecological economics and transportation, appropriate technologies and technology transfer; environmental sampling and monitoring; systems testing; laser communications; and high speed computers.
Let us devote a larger percentage of our nation's research and development budget, both private and public, toward civilian use and away from military use. Let us address our chronic trade imbalance in this fashion - not by increasing exports of military weapons and technologies.
The Green Party opposes patenting or copyrighting lifeforms, algorithms, DNA, colors or commonly-used words and phrases. We support broad interpretation and ultimate expansion of the Fair Use of copyrighted works. We support open source and copyleft models in order to promote the public interest and the spirit of copyright.
We call for a federal Technology Assessment Office to examine how technology fits with life on Earth, with our neighborhoods, and with the quality of our daily lives.
2. Telecommunications
Advanced telecommunications technologies (many of which came originally from defense applications), such as fiber optics, broadband infrastructure, the Internet, and the World Wide Web hold great promise for education, decentralized economies, and local control of decision-making. We believe we must move toward decentralization in these efforts, carefully protecting our individual rights as we go forward.
Advanced and high definition TV, digital communications, and wireless communications hold promise and challenge. For example, the public airwaves that will accommodate the new generation of telecommunications technology should not be free giveaways to media giants. An auction and built-in requirements that attach licenses to act in the public interest is needed. Technology provides tools: we must use these tools appropriately and ethically.
Broadband Internet access should be open to bidding, not simply the current choice between cable or telephone company monopolies, where grassroots Internet service providers must merge or go out of business. Broadband access should be a taxpayer-funded utility, like water and sewer, ending the "digital divide" that keeps low-income folks from access to the Internet.
3. Open-Source Software
Open-source software is necessary to achieve personal, cultural, and organizational security in the face of technological threats brought by corporations and individual criminals.
Government has a vital role in breaking up software monopolies, not so much by filing antitrust suits, but by buying nothing but open systems. The U.S. Government and the larger states are buyers large enough to influence the computer and software systems through their purchasing. It should be illegal for a government agency to create and store information vital to its operations in a format it doesn't control. Governments should always consider storing information with open-source software and in-house staff instead of only commercial systems, vendors and software. One way to achieve this would be to add a virtual bid for in-house open source deployment whenever a software purchase goes out for bid.
The Green Party supports protection of software (free or proprietary) by means of the copyright. We strongly oppose granting of software patents. Mathematical algorithms are discovered, not invented, by humans; therefore, they are not patentable. The overwhelming majority of software patents cover algorithms and should never have been awarded, or they cover message formats of some kind, which are essentially arbitrary. Format patents only exist to restrain competition, and the harm falls disproportionately on programmers who work independently or for the smallest employers.
4. Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology - the science of manipulating matter at the molecular level - is poised to provide a new industrial revolution with vast social and environmental consequences. Like nuclear science and biotechnology, nanotechnology is being pursued largely outside of public debate, risking great harm and abuse in its use and application.
The Green Party calls for a halt to nanotechnology development until the following conditions are met:
Development of full and open public debate about the implications of nanotechnology and the fusion of nanotech with biological materials and information sciences.
Development of democratic public control mechanisms which would regulate the direction of nanotechnology research and development.
Expanded research into the environmental and health consequences of exposure to nano-scale materials.
Development of technology to contain and monitor nano-scale materials, and.
Development of precautionary safety measures for the containment and control over nano-scale materials.
M. National Debt
Greens will reduce our national debt.
Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have irresponsibly expanded our national debt by trillions of dollars to finance tax cuts for savings of our workers are wealthiest citizens, war, corporate welfare and bailouts of Wall Street and the automotive industry. This debt and the interest that must be paid on it is not sustainable.
Working people and the small business community are bearing a disproportionate amount of the federal debt burden. Yet the federal debt is, to a large degree, the end product of tax cuts for the wealthy and big business, and the military-defense industry buildup.
For many years the federal government borrowed trillions of dollars. Money that should have been going into a better "safety net" for the poor, homes for the homeless, environmental and public lands conservation, sustainable jobs, research and development, roads and bridges, schools and the technologies of tomorrow, has been lost to servicing the national debt. We cannot ignore the consequences of our nation's past deficits and the related costs of debt service.
Reduce our national debt by increasing taxes on large corporations, the super-rich and pollution; and decreasing expenditures in some areas, especially for war, armaments and corporate welfare.
Oppose privatization of Social Security.
Increase funding for green jobs, Social Security, public housing, higher education, public transportation, environmental protection, renewable energy and energy conservation.
"The Green Party is no longer the alternative, the Green Party is the imperative"
~ Rosa Clemente
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