MY WORK ... MY PASSION

• Certified Transpersonal Hypnotherapist ; Past experiences: Dream Analysis /10 Years Experience •Psychotherapist / Use of Gestalt, Jungian, Zen, Reality and Energy Therapies /10 Years Experience •EMDR • Men and Their Journey: the neuroscience of the male brain, and the implications in sexuality, education and relationship • Women: Their Transformation and Empowerment ATOD (Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs) / 21 years experience •Ordained Interfaith Minister & Official Celebrant • Social Justice Advocate • Child and Human Rights Advocate • Spiritual Guide and Intuitive • Certified Reiki Practitioner • Mediation / Conflict Resolution • “Intentional Love” Parenting Strategy Groups • Parenting Workshops • Coaching for parents of Indigo, Crystal, and Rainbow Children • International Training: Israel & England • Critical Incident Stress Debriefing • Post-911 and Post-Katrina volunteer

MSW - UNC Chapel Hill

BSW - UNC Greensboro


With immense love I wish Happy Birthday to my three grandchildren!

May 22: Brannock

May 30: Brinkley

June 12: Brogan

All three have birthdays in the same 22 days of the year ....what a busy time for the family!

"An Unending Love"

This blog and video is devoted and dedicated to my precious daughter Jennifer, my grand daughters Brogan and Brinkley, and my grand son Brannock. They are hearts of my heart. Our connection through many lives..... is utterly infinite.




The Definition of Genius

"THRIVE"

https://youtu.be/Lr-RoQ24lLg

"ONLY LOVE PREVAILS" ...."I've loved you for a thousand years; I'll love you for a thousand more....."


As we are in the winter of our lives, I dedicate this to Andrew, Dr. John J.C. Jr. and Gary W., MD, (who has gone on before us). My love and admiration is unfathomable for each of you..........and what you have brought into this world.....so profoundly to me.
The metaphors are rich and provocative; we're in them now. This world is indeed disappearing, and the richest eternal world awaits us!
The intensity, as was in each of the three of us, is in yellow!
In my heart forever.........

Slowly the truth is loading
I'm weighted down with love
Snow lying deep and even
Strung out and dreaming of
Night falling on the city
Quite something to behold
Don't it just look so pretty
This disappearing world

We're threading hope like fire

Down through the desperate blood
Down through the trailing wire
Into the leafless wood

Night falling on the city
Quite something to behold
Don't it just look so pretty
This disappearing world
This disappearing world


I'll be sticking right there with it
I'll be by y
our side
Sailing like a silver bullet
Hit 'em 'tween the eyes
Through the smoke and rising water
Cross the great divide
Baby till it all feels right

Night falling on the city
Sparkling red and gold
Don't it just look so pretty
This disappearing world
This
disappearing world
This disappearing world
This disappearing world


TECHNOLOGY..........

In “Conversations with God”, by Neale Donald Walsch, there is a warning I think of. I refer to it as the Atlantis passage, and I've quoted it a few times before." As I have said, this isn't the first time your civilization has been at this brink,"

God tells Walsch. "I want to repeat this, because it is vital that you hear this. Once before on your planet, the technology you developed was far greater than your ability to use it responsibly. You are approaching the same point in human history again. It is vitally important that you understand this. Your present technology is threatening to outstrip your ability to use it wisely. Your society is on the verge of becoming a product of your technology rather than your technology being a product of your society. When a society becomes a product of its own technology, it destroys itself."

Monday, May 30, 2011

"The Price They Pay"




Afghanistan Double Amputee
First Posted: 05/30/11 08:43 AM ET Updated: 05/30/11 08:43 AM ET
In some cases, American military surgeons tell The Huffington Post, these traumatic amputations occur so close to soldiers’ hips that it is difficult to fit prosthetic legs, severely limiting the patients’ future mobility and rehabilitation. In addition, the loss of sexual function for formerly healthy young men in their early 20s causes severe anxiety and depression and can wreck new marriages.
The latest wave of severe injuries comes after Gen. David Petraeus ordered U.S. troops in Afghanistan last year to get out of their protective armored vehicles and start walking. "Patrol on foot whenever possible and engage the population," he directed in guidance to his troops last August.
The order was hailed as an essential counterinsurgency tactic used to get closer to the people, pick up intelligence more effectively and demonstrate American resolve to protect local villagers from Taliban insurgents.
But the enemy -- as Petraeus himself is fond of saying -- gets a vote, and the insurgents have attacked the dismounted patrols with a vengeance, planting lethal bombs inches beneath the dusty soil where a footstep can detonate them in blinding flashes.
Insurgents often make the bombs using a plastic bucket packed with explosive ammonium nitrite fertilizer and a simple "trigger" made with two sticks of wood or a discarded plastic bottle that completes a circuit and detonates when crushed. The crude components make the bombs more difficult to detect than those once made with metal parts.
Improvised explosive device (IED) attacks against dismounted troops have skyrocketed, from five in April 2009 to 210 in April 2010 to 376 this past April, according to data gathered and analyzed by the Pentagon’s counter-IED agency, the Joint IED Defeat Organization. JIEDDO counts "attacks" as IEDs detected before they explode, ones that detonate without causing casualties and ones that kill and maim.
U.S. Marines attached to India Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment patrol the outskirts of a village near Forward Operating Base (FOB) Zeebrugge on October 9, 2010 near Kajaki, Afghanistan. The Marines patrol in single file because of the threat of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) buried in the area. A Marine at the front clears the path with a metal detector before the squad follows. (Scott Olson, Getty Images)
Because dismounted troops walk with their weapons held out in front of them, an IED detonation often blows off the extended arm as well as both legs, according to Army medical staff.
That was the case with Marine Cpl. Tyler Southern of Jacksonville, Fla. He was 20 when he stepped on a IED that detonated with 10 pounds of homemade explosive in a village near Musa Qala, southern Afghanistan, in July 2010. The explosion was so big "it should have left me in pieces," he told The Huffington Post.
It almost did, tearing off both of his legs and most of his right arm and severely lacerating his left. During subsequent medical care he flat-lined twice, with medics each time managing to bring him back to life before he reached the Bethesda Naval Medical Center four days after the attack.
The number of dead and badly wounded IED survivors like Southern grew so rapidly that when Lt. Gen. MIchael Barbero took over JIEDDO in March, his operations research chief, Dr. Caryl Brzymialkiewicz, got in to see him promptly. "Boss, we got a problem," she told him.
The good news, she reported, is that American troops are adept at finding the buried IEDs. In April 2009, American and allied troops discovered only one out of every five IEDs before they detonated; the rest blew up harmlessly or killed or wounded troops. This past April, thanks to better training and improved detectors, the troops found and disarmed 79 percent of known IEDs, leaving only four percent to cause American or allied casualties, according to JIEDDO data.
Yet the sheer number of IED attacks means that even as troops find more of the bombs, casualties still skyrocket because of all of the devices left undiscovered. IED attacks caused casualties to dismounted U.S. and allied troops to rise from 93 recorded in the first nine months of 2009 to 368 in the same period last year, according to JIEDDO data released exclusively to The Huffington Post.
Among those casualties was Marine Sgt. Johnny Jones, 24. A bomb disposal expert, he was on a foot patrol in southern Afghanistan last summer when he stepped on an IED. The blast threw him into the air and he landed on his back in a deathly silence. Both his legs were gone and his right hand was nearly severed. The Marine next to him, Cpl. Daniel Greer, was alive but barely breathing, and later died.
As the attacks increased, surgeons at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Facility in Germany, where casualties are first brought from Afghanistan, tracked a growing number of severe wounds among patients arriving from the battlefield. Those with traumatic amputations -- in which one or more limbs has been blown off in combat -- increased from seven percent of all casualties in 2007 to almost 11 percent last year. Wounds to the genitals and urinary tract rose from 91 patients in 2007 to 142 last year.
The Defense Department does not release precise data on the effectiveness of IED blasts, because such information would be valuable to Taliban bomb-makers. But the Pentagon’s public accountingof Afghanistan war casualties shows that American battle deaths from IEDs rose from 152 in 2008 to 275 in 2009 to 368 last year. Since late 2001, IEDs in Afghanistan have taken the lives of 683 Americans and severely wounded 6,670.
"We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of service members who have not only amputations above the knee but what we call hip disarticulation, meaning they have no femur at all," Dr. Paul Pasquina, chief of orthopedics and rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., told The Huffington Post.
"So not only are they losing their legs, but half of their pelvis. And we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the numbers of casualties returning with testicular injuries or genital loss, and that has severe life-long implications" for these wounded troops, Pasquina added. Today, the patients at Walter Reed include at least four quadriplegics.
Martha Dominguez, 62, right, helps her son Juan Dominguez, 27, tidy up before his artificial leg fitting at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, California, April 27, 2011. On Sept 13, 2010, while on foot patrol in Afghanistan with fellow Marines, Juan stepped on an enemy explosive device that took both legs and his right arm.  (Don Bartletti, Los Angeles Times/MCT)
Soldiers and Marines arriving at Walter Reed with both legs blown off usually suffer other extensive injuries. Shrapnel perforates the abdomen, dirt and filth are driven deep into wounds and soft tissue; in some cases, the explosion tears away large patches of skin in an injury called "de-gloving." Heterotopic ossification, or bone growth in fleshy areas, can severely hamper the use of artificial limbs. Infections set in; blood clots can form. And in most cases, the patient arrives with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury, which can hamper rehabilitation.
"There’s just challenge after challenge, sad story after sad story," said Pasquina. "But at the same time we have had remarkable success, and pretty much 90 percent of it is attributed to the courage our service members have, their determination to recover and reintegrate back into society."
But the loss of sexual function can be "devastating," said Bo Bergeron, chief of physical therapy at Walter Reed. "It’s a pretty big issue when a guy finds out he can’t have any more kids -- and the spouse is sitting there," she told The Huffington Post. In common cases where a young wife has quit her job and flown with the kids a thousand miles to sit at the bedside of her now-disabled husband, "the family situation already is pretty tenuous. It’s just very very difficult," she said. The divorce rate among married patients is above 50 percent.
Despite such challenges, the amputees at Walter Reed tackle their rehabilitation with aggressive cheer. Many wear T-shirts emblazoned with a fiery explosion and the phrase, "I had a blast," designed and distributed by Tyler Southern and his father. High-tech, powered prostheses help many of them regain athletic prowess. It’s not uncommon to see amputees sprinting down the hallways; several who once played ice hockey have been fitted with artificial legs with skates attached.
U.S. Marine 1st Lt. James Byler concentrates on core strengthening exercises during physical therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He lost both of his legs when he stepped on an I.E.D. in Afghanistan. (Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times/MCT)
But in Afghanistan, the problem -- and the danger -- remain unabated. Much of the money the United States has spent to counter IEDs in Afghanistan has gone to a dizzying array of high-tech devices, ranging from miniature robots to sensors mounted on aerostats and on unmanned drones. Dismounted patrols work with hand-held detectors like the Vallon, which uses ground-penetrating radar to hunt for non-metallic bombs, and with trained sniffer dogs.
But JIEDDO found that while it had saturated U.S. ground combat units with detectors and other devices, training had fallen behind.
"We have focused on pushing these equipments and enablers and detectors out to the theater -- and that’s the right answer," Barbero told The Huffington Post. "But that creates a challenge of training."
In some cases, he said, the first time soldiers and Marines see the new equipment is when they show up for duty in Afghanistan.
JIEDDO is accelerating training for troops bound for Afghanistan, with focused pre-deployment exercises at the Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., and the nearby Marine training base at Twentynine Palms, Calif. "There’s a lot of forward momentum on this," said Brzymialkiewicz. "We know what drives early detection is visual: a well trained soldier."
But in the struggle with IEDs, she added, "there is, of course, no silver bullet.
"

"In the Arms of An Angel" - Tribute to the American Soldiers

DNA, Autism, UFO's,and Crop Cycles

This is a post where I will abandon my intent of making few comments, if any.  On a professional and personal level, after having worked with many children and teens with autism and Asperger's (in the autistic spectrum), I was always captivated with their minds, and what they brought forth in language. Add that to the concept of Indigo children (okay...a label, but becoming more and more evident with the present cycle of children being born in all nations)....well, I can say that my response to this video was visceral, and my mind flew back in time to so many of the kids I had worked with.  


THEN,  ...... add that to the notion of remote viewing and telepathy through the eyes of our Department of Defense ... and you might want to connect with this article about Paul Mitchell, retired Army intel:
http://watsoncommonthreads.blogspot.com/2011/05/paul-h-smith-as-referred-by-rhine.html


I grant that if you are unable at this time to "tap into" the changes with this new dimension and evolutionary period, this could sound "out there".  As these topics rapidly become substantiated empirically, I confess that I do have thoughts that run through my mind about people in my own life who have castigated such beliefs ....... I truly grin with an internal "And that's what I'm talkin' about, silly!"


Many of the "mainstream" beliefs (especially by teachers) about autism are now becoming obsolete ... those who deal with them breathe a sigh of relief because the real and phenomenal gifts of these children are finally becoming known.


This is a 10-minute-video, and I heartily recommend viewing it when you make a choice to take that time ... just for your own experience.


You don't have to believe in crop circles as an event that is produced by the mind.  At the same time, they are real ... and that begs the question about the mind that allegedly produces them.






Sunday, May 29, 2011

Aired Only Once....Budweiser Tribute to Our Armed Forces

"If I Die Before You Wake"

The True Meaning of Memorial Day

(Especially dedicated to our Mark...we will always remember.......your integrity, your bravery, your depth as a man. See you on the Other side......)

"Coming Home" ~ Tribute to, and Memoriam for....Our Troops

Tell the FCC: AT&T's takeover of T-Mobile must be stopped


AT&T's $39 billion proposal to take over T-Mobile is bad news for consumers, and a perfect example of what our anti-trust laws are supposed to prevent.
If it's corporate influence as usual at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), you can bet AT&T will emerge the winner and cell phone users will lose big time.
Tell the FCC: Stop the AT&T takeover of T-Mobile. It's bad for consumers, and it's even worse for our democracy.
The FCC is the only federal agency with jurisdiction over the takeover that accepts public comments on the record. It's crucial that we use the FCC's official comment period to demonstrate just how much public opposition there is to this deal.
There have already been an unprecedented number of comments filed by consumers opposing AT&T. But we'll need your help to make the response so huge that even the FCC can't ignore us.
Take action now and submit an official comment to the FCC before May 31st. We make it easy for you to file a protest against the AT&T takeover of T-Mobile.
If approved, there will be a virtual duopoly for mobile phone service -- with AT&T and Verizon controlling 80% of the market. It's one of the largest proposed "mergers" in years -- and the biggest potential anti-trust case of the Obama administration.1
Make no mistake, AT&T taking over T-Mobile would be a disaster for all mobile phone users -- not just T-Mobile customers. AT&T has a history censoring content and blocking phone features it doesn't like. The proposed takeover would lead to higher prices and stifle choice and innovation in the marketplace.2
Submit an official comment to the FCC: We make it easy for you to file a protest against the AT&T takeover of T-Mobile.
AT&T couldn't be better positioned for success. On issues like media consolidation and net neutrality, the FCC consistently sides with Big Telecom. And it's not just the commissioners it lobbies. AT&T's attention to the FCC is so fierce that it even delivered 1,524 cupcakes to FCC employees in 63 separate offices and departments at Christmas last year.3 In addition, AT&T is the top corporate contributor to Congress,4 and the company boasts an intimate and longstanding relationship with White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley.5
AT&T, which bitterly opposed net neutrality and succeeded in convincing the FCC to refrain from banning discrimination on the wireless web,6 would have even more control over the wireless Internet should the takeover be allowed to go through. The company has a long history of blocking competing services -- like Skype, Google Voice and Slingbox. And has in the past simply crippled mobile phones that can do more than what the company wants to allow its customers to do on the wireless Web.7
Tell the FCC: Stop the AT&T takeover of T-Mobile. It's bad for consumers, and it's even worse for our democracy.
The White House, FCC and the Department of Justice have a track record of caving to the major telecom companies -- supporting retroactive immunity for telecom companies that illegally spied on Americans, invoking state secrets to defend telecom companies against lawsuits on illegal practices, and failing to support strong net neutrality regulations at the FCC.
Consolidation of telecom and media hurts our ability to access the information we need as citizens to fully participate in our democracy and hold our government accountable. Corporate control of media, and increasing consolidation of that control of media by the country's largest corporate political contributor, is something that affects all Americans, regardless of who their cellphone carrier happens to be.
It's up to us to fight on every front, and especially at the FCC, to stop President Obama's administration from rubberstamping this terrible deal. With a May 31st deadline on public comments, the FCC must hear a resounding roar from the masses of people who oppose this deal.
Please, submit an official comment now to the FCC. We make it easy to protest AT&Ts's terrible proposed takeover of T-Mobile.

Republican Judge Strikes Down Ban on Corporate Contributions Directly to Candidates......What Is Your View?

BREAKING: Republican Judge Strikes Down Ban On Corporate Contributions Directly To Candidates

Reagan-appointed federal Judge James Cacheris just ruled that corporations have a constitutional right to contribute money directly to political candidates:
In a ruling issued late Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Cacheris tossed out part of the indictment against two men accused of illegally reimbursing donors to Hillary Clinton’s Senate and presidential campaigns.
Cacheris says that under last year’s Citizens United Supreme Court case, corporations enjoy the same right as people to contribute to campaigns.
The ruling is the first of its kind. The Citizens United case had applied only to independent corporate expenditures, not to actual campaign contributions.
Today’s decision extends beyond the egregious Citizen United decision because Citizens United only permits corporations to run their own ads supporting a candidate or otherwise act independently of a candidate’s campaign. Cacheris’ opinion would also allow the Chamber of Commerce and Koch Industries, for instance, to contribute directly to political campaigns.
If today’s decision is upheld on appeal, it could be the end of any meaningful restrictions on campaign finance — including limits on the amount of money wealthy individuals and corporations can give to a candidate. In most states, all that is necessary to form a new corporation is to file the right paperwork in the appropriate government office. Moreover, nothing prevents one corporation from owning another corporation. Thus, under Cacheris’ decision, a cap on overall contributions becomes meaningless, because corporate donors can simply create a series of shell corporations for the purpose of evading such caps.

Social Security Cuts Put Vets Back in Line of Fire | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

Social Security Cuts Put Vets Back in Line of Fire | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Nutrition’s New Design – Science and Technology – Utne Reader

Nutrition’s New Design – Science and Technology – Utne Reader

"Do You Cry?" "Is It Normal to Cry?" ~ Eckhart Tolle

The Day Before Disclosure: A Movie....A Must See!

The Day Before Disclosure

"Tantrums" from Brain Rules for Baby

DR. JOHN J. MEDINA, a developmental molecular biologist, has a lifelong fascination with how the mind reacts to and organizes information. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller "Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School" -- a provocative book that takes on the way our schools and work environments are designed. His latest book is a must-read for parents and early-childhood educators: "Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five."
Medina is an affiliate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He is also the director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University. Medina lives in Seattle, Washington, with his wife and two boys.

"Talk to Your Children" from Brain Rules for Baby

In the event that you have not heard of John Medina:

DR. JOHN J. MEDINA, a developmental molecular biologist, has a lifelong fascination with how the mind reacts to and organizes information. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller "Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School" -- a provocative book that takes on the way our schools and work environments are designed. His latest book is a must-read for parents and early-childhood educators: "Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five."
Medina is an affiliate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He is also the director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University. Medina lives in Seattle, Washington, with his wife and two boys.

Saul: Humanity Has Reached the Point Where it Can and is Listening to the Voice of God

Saul: Humanity Has Reached the Point Where it Can and is Listening to the Voice of God

Psychology Definition Of The Week: Displaced Anger

Anger is often associated with suspicion and mistrust, and can manifest itself in feelings of hostility, frustration, exasperation and even fury. But what happens when you displace your anger?

Anger displacement occurs when you direct your angry thoughts and feelings at someone or something that is safe or convenient, rather than the actual source of your anger. For example your boss gives you a hard time at work, but you say nothing and take it out on your partner when you get home. Not only is this bad for your relationships, but it is also ineffective when dealing with the angry feelings – the anger you feel at your boss is still there.
In time you may start to write a script for yourself that involves always displacing your anger, and this in turn can lead you to adopt a cynical and hostile view of your world. Anger turned inward can also lead to depressive disorders. So how can you deal with anger more effectively?
Think about what is making you feel angry and why it is you feel anger rather than a different emotion. Are you feeling threatened by the situation, or did you have unrealistic expectations to begin with?
Avoid reacting to provocation by showing indifference to the source. Don’t feel the need to justify yourself. Instead remain calm and detached.
Remember to breath. During angry ‘fight or flight’ situations your breathing may become shallow. This can impact on your ability to remain calm, rationalise and problem solve effectively.
Try to express yourself in a calm and level way the moment you start to feel angry. Don’t suppress the feelings so they build up. Remember to breath slowly and think “conversation not confrontation”. Try to be assertive rather than aggressive.
Smile, laugh. Visualise yourself letting go of the anger. Try to avoid thinking about the situation over and over again. This will just fuel your angry feelings. Distract yourself by thinking about something more pleasant.
What makes you angry? How do you deal with your anger?

"Do Psychopaths Mis-Rule Our World?"

http://muckraker-gg.blogspot.com/2011/05/do-psychopaths-misrule-our-world.html


In recent days the political news has been like an episode of some TV drama about high-level corruption – call itCriminal Minds meetsThe West Wing. The head of the International Monetary Fund – the global financial organization that sets terms for development aid -- was jailed in New York for allegedly assaulting a housemaid sexually at his hotel. Meanwhile, in California news broke that the state’s movie-star governor – known as both the Terminator and the Gropinator – fathered a love-child almost a decade ago and it didn’t come out until he was about to leave office.

Then, of course, there’s the presidential campaign of Newt Gingrich, a poster child for bad behavior, launched last week with a series of disastrous missteps and rationalizations. (To continue, click on link above)

When the Internet Thinks It Knows You

May 22, 2011


ONCE upon a time, the story goes, we lived in a broadcast society. In that dusty pre-Internet age, the tools for sharing information weren’t widely available. If you wanted to share your thoughts with the masses, you had to own a printing press or a chunk of the airwaves, or have access to someone who did. Controlling the flow of information was an elite class of editors, producers and media moguls who decided what people would see and hear about the world. They were the Gatekeepers.
Then came the Internet, which made it possible to communicate with millions of people at little or no cost. Suddenly anyone with an Internet connection could share ideas with the whole world. A new era of democratized news media dawned.
You may have heard that story before — maybe from the conservative blogger Glenn Reynolds (blogging is “technology undermining the gatekeepers”) or the progressive blogger Markos Moulitsas (his book is called “Crashing the Gate”). It’s a beautiful story about the revolutionary power of the medium, and as an early practitioner of online politics, I told it to describe what we did at MoveOn.org. But I’m increasingly convinced that we’ve got the ending wrong — perhaps dangerously wrong. There is a new group of gatekeepers in town, and this time, they’re not people, they’re code.
Today’s Internet giants — Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft — see the remarkable rise of available information as an opportunity. If they can provide services that sift though the data and supply us with the most personally relevant and appealing results, they’ll get the most users and the most ad views. As a result, they’re racing to offer personalized filters that show us the Internet that they think we want to see. These filters, in effect, control and limit the information that reaches our screens.
By now, we’re familiar with ads that follow us around online based on our recent clicks on commercial Web sites. But increasingly, and nearly invisibly, our searches for information are being personalized too. Two people who each search on Google for “Egypt” may get significantly different results, based on their past clicks. Both Yahoo News and Google News make adjustments to their home pages for each individual visitor. And just last month, this technology began making inroads on the Web sites of newspapers like The Washington Post and The New York Times.
All of this is fairly harmless when information about consumer products is filtered into and out of your personal universe. But when personalization affects not just what you buy but how you think, different issues arise. Democracy depends on the citizen’s ability to engage with multiple viewpoints; the Internet limits such engagement when it offers up only information that reflects your already established point of view. While it’s sometimes convenient to see only what you want to see, it’s critical at other times that you see things that you don’t.
Like the old gatekeepers, the engineers who write the new gatekeeping code have enormous power to determine what we know about the world. But unlike the best of the old gatekeepers, they don’t see themselves as keepers of the public trust. There is no algorithmic equivalent to journalistic ethics.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, once told colleagues that “a squirrel dying in your front yard may be more relevant to your interests right now than people dying in Africa.” At Facebook, “relevance” is virtually the sole criterion that determines what users see. Focusing on the most personally relevant news — the squirrel — is a great business strategy. But it leaves us staring at our front yard instead of reading about suffering, genocide and revolution.
There’s no going back to the old system of gatekeepers, nor should there be. But if algorithms are taking over the editing function and determining what we see, we need to make sure they weigh variables beyond a narrow “relevance.” They need to show us Afghanistan and Libya as well as Apple and Kanye.
Companies that make use of these algorithms must take this curative responsibility far more seriously than they have to date. They need to give us control over what we see — making it clear when they are personalizing, and allowing us to shape and adjust our own filters. We citizens need to uphold our end, too — developing the “filter literacy” needed to use these tools well and demanding content that broadens our horizons even when it’s uncomfortable.
It is in our collective interest to ensure that the Internet lives up to its potential as a revolutionary connective medium. This won’t happen if we’re all sealed off in our own personalized online worlds.

Eli Pariser, the president of the board of MoveOn.org, is the author of “The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding From You.”

"there were no words, but images flooded every cell in her being ...4 and a half decades!"

"there were no words, but images flooded every cell in her being ...4 and a half decades!"