"How Trauma Traps Survivors in the Past"--Dr. Bessel van der Kolk/You Tube

Mitt’s real insult to the NAACP - Salon.com

I have to admit, I started out giving Mitt Romney some credit for agreeing to address the NAACP. I’m a sucker for the make-nice gesture in this age of political division and cruelty. Republican presidential candidates have been known to snub the group’s annual gathering: Bob Dole did in 1996, and while George W. Bush attended in 2000, when he was promising to be a compassionate conservative, he skipped it in 2004, when it was clear that he was not.

I knew Romney’s visit was mainly designed to make him appear reasonable to white swing voters who are a little worried about the GOP’s wingnuttery when it comes to our first black president. Still, I thought it was a mildly reassuring symbolic gesture that might serve to keep the chasm between African-Americans and the GOP from turning into a dangerous canyon.

I expected it would be awkward; .......

READ MORE: Mitt’s real insult to the NAACP - Salon.com

Joe Biden's speech to Military Heroes will rank with one of the best ever

This Memorial Day Weekend, VP Joe Biden gave a speech to the families of those that have given their life for their country.  The speech was given at the opening session of the 18th Annual TAPS National Military Survivor Seminar.

Transcript: http://www.defense.gov//News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=116508

Bidens Honor Survivors, Biden Shares Loss

By Lisa Daniel
American Forces Press Service
ARLINGTON, Va., May 25, 2012 – The first family of the military......

CONTINUE READING.......Joe Biden's speech to Military Heroes will rank with one of the best ever

Supreme Court Finds Frivolous Lawsuit to Be Frivolous; Upholds “Obamacare” | News & Politics | AlterNet

Today's ruling was an enormous win for the Obama administration, and will likely lead to a fundraising bonanza for corporate front-groups opposed to the law......


KEEP READING: Supreme Court Finds Frivolous Lawsuit to Be Frivolous; Upholds “Obamacare” | News & Politics | AlterNet

Thoughts on Texas, and .......

.....their eliminating HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills) and CTS (Critical Thinking Skills) courses from all school curriculums:

"They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. That’s against their interests. That’s right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table and think about how badly they’re getting [screwed] by a system that threw them overboard 30 years ago. They don’t want that. You know what they want? They want obedient workers. Obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly [worse] jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it"

~ George Carlin, 2005

Gratitude movement leader to speak in S.F. - SFGate

Are we in the middle of a gratitude movement? Evidence suggests so.

Publishers can't seem to print enough books with the words "gratitude" or "gratefulness" in the title. Scientists rake in millions of dollars in grants to study how feelings of gratitude might improve physical health and psychological well-being. And this weekend.........

READ MORE: Gratitude movement leader to speak in S.F. - SFGate

Pharmageddon: The Drug Industry's Grip on Our Health and Lives | Personal Health | AlterNet

David Healy is a Professor of Psychiatry at Bangor University. He is a former Secretary of the British Association for Psychopharmacology, and author of over 175 peer reviewed articles, 200 other pieces and 20 books, including The Antidepressant Era, and The Creation of Psychopharmacology from Harvard University Press,The Psychopharmacologists Volumes 1-3, Let Them Eat Prozac, Mania, & Pharmageddon.  He has been involved as an expert witness in homicide, suicide and birth defect legal actions involving psychotropic drugs, and in bringing problems with these drugs to the attention of American and British regulators, as well raising awareness of how pharmaceutical companies sell drugs by marketing diseases and co-opting academic opinion-leaders, ghostwriting their articles.


READ MORE.....Pharmageddon: The Drug Industry's Grip on Our Health and Lives | Personal Health | AlterNet

Yes, Romney's Vision for America Is Really That Scary / Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic

Yes, Romney's Vision for America Really Is That Scary

• Jonathan Cohn

• June 14, 2012 | 5:20 pm
• 
  Share on redditShare on tumblrShare on stumbleu|More Shari
• President Obama’s speech today was long on words and short on new ideas. I know some pundits are disappointed but, as I wrote earlier today, they shouldn't be. Obama has laid out his philosophy and proposals. So has Mitt Romney. The campaign is all about contrasting the two. And, boy, is the contrast stark. Obama would preserve the safety net and most other federal......

READ MORE: In Cleveland Speech, Obama Warns Of Dramatic Cuts To Safety Net And Tax Breaks For Wealthy If Romney Wins. The Facts Back Up Obama. | The New Republic

What Parents Can Learn From Prison Guards | Mother Jones

Hilarious, true and extremely well-written and balanced!




READ MORE: What Parents Can Learn From Prison Guards | Mother Jones

How to raise a “Dakota Fanning” | Soul’s Code

If your child is an 'old soul', he or she......


READ ARTICLE: How to raise a “Dakota Fanning” | Soul’s Code

Dr. Christine Jax-Castillo: How To Parent An 'Old Soul'

(A mother of seven uses a method called, “show, remind and tell” to raise a child who is an ‘old soul’)

GUEST COLUMN: DR. CHRISTINE JAX-CASTILLO — If you are a parent, you probably question if you are doing all that you can to ensure that your children find their own spiritual paths, and reach their full potential.  You wonder how you can help your children progress on their spiritual journeys, while encouraging them to follow your rules.

How can you can teach them right from wrong, while teaching them to see the good in all things?  How can you keep them safe, while relaying to them that fear is an illusion of the ego?

Now people are claiming that their children are “indigo” children or“old soul” children, and you wonder . . . are yours?

Because of your spiritual evolution and path, it is most likely that all your children, born or adopted, are “old soul” children.  But remember, we are all special and all have a reason for being on this planet at this time: we are each here for individual spiritual growthand to inspire further growth in others, and, if you are a parent, you have agreed to juggle both.  In the case of rearing an “old soul” child, you have agreed to expedite their spiritual development for their benefit, as well as for the benefit of humanity, as the children who are traveling this path have agreed to do so.

Common traits of “old soul” children

• Develop faster emotionally and intellectually than other children, yet may struggle in school due to constrictions on their creativity and critical thinking abilities
• Understand and demand justice long before such development is typically seen in children
• Demonstrate a global perspective and ask about people not like themselves
• Articulate a sense of charity and service; they want to help others
• Remember past lives
• Question the authority of adults and leaders, and demand respect for themselves
• Possess one or more “paranormal abilities:” ie. may see or communicate with non-physical beings such as angels, spirits, and ghosts; heal by touch; remember past lives; share mutual dreams with others; predict future events; sense when something is wrong; view remotely; experience astral projection
• Have a deep interest in religion or spiritual practices
• Communicate easily and actively with their guides, even if they have yet to identify what gives them knowledge about things

How to be a model parent for an “old soul” child

To raise an “old soul” child you need to model (show proper behavior), induct (bring out of the child what he or she already knows), and instruct (provide new information).  I refer to this as “show, remind, tell.”

Show your children how to be good citizens and stewards of the earth, and be mindful that they are going to emulate much of your behavior.  Also keep in mind that they will quickly recognize hypocrisy and just as quickly lose respect for you.   Do your best to walk your talk. This means not using physical force, coercion, insults or shaming to get what you want, including proper behavior, from your child.

I always tell people, “If you wouldn’t do or say something to or in front of your boss, don’t do or say it to or in front of your children.”

You can model empathy by speaking your thoughts out loud: “I guess I should pick-up this box I dropped.  It wouldn’t be nice to leave more work for the grocer.”  Show grace in how you admit mistakes and don’t blame others.  Find the good in all situations and in all people. When you are struggling with something someone has done, talk out loud to your child about how you are trying to understand their decisions without judging them.

Remember to teach love to all children

Remind your children of who they are and where they come from.  Let them know everything is made out of the same energy, love, which makes all people equal and everything worthy of care and respect.  Remind them that happiness is our right, and that it is found only in the moment because the past and present do not concurrently exist.

Help them remember that preparation for the next moment takes knowledge, good work, honesty, and faith; they will see whatever they believe and expect.  Discuss with them how forgiveness is essential for personal growth and happiness; peace can only exist if there is forgiveness. It may help to develop meditative and spiritual practices with them as part of your lifestyle.

Tell them every day that you love them, and tell them regularly that you are proud of them and amazed by them.   Let them develop with you the household rules and the consequences for breaking those rules.  Make sure they understand why there are rules, and be consistent and calm when you enforce those rules and enact punishment.  Give them opportunities to care for other people and to care for the earth.   Tell your children to follow their dreams, and then give them space and advice for how to do so.  Allow them to fulfill their dreams for themselves, not yourdreams for them.

Introduce your children to many different spiritual practices, including yours, but let them choose what is comfortable for them.  Let them experience chanting, drumming, walking a labyrinth, sitting silently with incense — experiment.  Point out to your children all that you have learned from other people and how much is achieved when people work together.  Explain that there are multiple perspectives of, and reactions to, any situation.

Create a life for yourself beyond parenting so you can allow and encourage your child to grow beyond you, your beliefs, and your needs, but always, always be your child’s biggest fan.

Dr. Christine Jax-Castillo has a B.A. in Child Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Education.  She is an author and international spiritual coach, consultant and speaker. She and her husband have seven children, ages 7 – 25, and they reside in West Palm Beach, Florida.

(Angel photo by Cyndi Ingle.)

Kevin Powell: Being a Father

I am a father. I did not know that I was one, but I am. Not even sure when it happened but, alas, it is a reality for me now. I did not ask for it, nor was it planned. And, to be brutally honest, I scratch my head and wonder how this came to me. I mean, for sure, I have a vague idea, but I am struggling to recollect what led to this.

This is especially profound for me because....... 

CONTINUE READING! Kevin Powell: Being a Father

The 44th president was his mother’s son - The Washington Post

The 44th president was his mother’s son - The Washington Post

How Obama became black - The Washington Post

How Obama became black - The Washington Post

Are Corporations and Big Banks Making a Windfall From Food Stamps? | Food | AlterNet

How much food stamp money are Coca-Cola, General Mills and Walmart getting? The government isn't telling........

June 13, 2012    

Photo Credit: AlexAnnaButs/ shutterstock.com

  

Perhaps you've heard: At a time of record need for food assistance among America's poor, the U.S. Senate is poised to cut roughly $4.5 billion from food stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which 46 million Americans -- one in seven of us -- rely upon.

READ MORE: Are Corporations and Big Banks Making a Windfall From Food Stamps? | Food | AlterNet

Military Suicide Rate Surges to One per Day: 50% More Suicides Than Afghanistan Combat Fatalities!!!!! / Huff Post

This fact is one of the most compelling upon which to deliberate, when considering action to withdraw from Afghanistan ... or any other war whatsoever. Probing this horror of our sons and daughters at war, evokes such a strong response ... and requires the deepest self-interrogation of each and any citizen/official who has any influence.  Without going there, at the moment ... that citizenry also includes certainly includes you and me.  

But war is highly profitable ... let's just cut to the chase. This article should strong-arm even the hearts of those who appear not to have one .... those who send our children into death's path for money:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/07/military-suicide-surges-_n_1578821.html

Scott Mowry: Signs of the Golden Age Are Everywhere

EACH and every day brings more and more confirmations that something exceptionally extraordinary is happening to the human race and our planet Earth. We must realize and appreciate, at this very moment, we are living in the greatest, most spectacular times in the history of the world – bar none........

 READ MORE: Scott Mowry: Signs of the Golden Age Are Everywhere

"A Wave of Reason"/Symphony of Science/YouTube

"A Wave of Reason" is the seventh installment in the Symphony of Science music video series. It is intended to promote scientific reasoning and skepticism in the face of growing amounts of pseudoscientific pursuits, such as Astrology and Homeopathy, and also to promote the scientific worldview as equally enlightening as religion. It features Carl Sagan, Bertrand Russell, Sam Harris, Michael Shermer, Lawrence Krauss, Carolyn Porco, Richard Dawkins, Richard Feynman, Phil Plait, and James Randi.

More science music videos can be found at http://symphonyofscience.com.

"No Religion? 7 Types of Non-Believers" | Belief | AlterNet

As a confirmed, highly theistically-inclined pantheist of many years, I found this article by Valerie Tarico to be an excellent article, addressing several levels:


READ ARTICLE: No Religion? 7 Types of Non-Believers | Belief | AlterNet

Florida Voter Purge Will Continue, Defying Federal Warning

Florida Voter Purge Will Continue, Defying Federal Warning

By Janelle Ross, Huffington Post – June 2, 2012

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/02/florida-voter-purge-federal-warning_n_1564131.html

Florida will defy a federal warning to stop purging people the state suspects aren’t U.S. citizens from voter registration rolls.

Despite a Justice Department letter, objections from county elections officials and evidence that a disproportionate number are voters of color, Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner’s office planned to continue scrubbing the election rolls, a spokesman said Friday. Gov. Rick Scott  ordered the search for potentially ineligible voters............

KEEP READING......Florida Voter Purge Will Continue, Defying Federal Warning