Happy birthday to Jesus of Nazareth, Mithra of Persia, Attis of Phrygia, Horus, Osiris, Krishna, Heracles, Dionysus, Tammuz, Adonis, Hermes, Bacchus, Prometheus and solar messiahs that were BORN on on December 25th
Happy Bday!
It is sad how people experience stress during the holidays, but things don’t have to be this way!
The shopping, driving, mailing out greeting cards, going to the post office, budgeting, traveling and seeing relatives. Sounds familiar?
I want to tell you now, that you can change this. You do not have to be stressed. In fact, you can be happy and make a bunch of other people happy.
You do not have to navigate crowded malls, get stuck in traffic, drive long distances, deal with airports and air travel, worry what gifts to buy, wrap gifts, mail gifts, send cards… nothing! Yes, you can simply say “no”.
Many alternatives to the commercialized, stressful, costly and polluting norms exist. Consider finding a bunch of friends that are close to your heart and locale (in your same state or region) and spend time with them.
Give people good words, give good wishes, give hugs, give love, give smiles, do good deeds, be extra relaxed, open doors for people, plant trees, etc.. The sky is the limit. You do not have to venture into these pesky malls.
You have the power to save money, save the environment, save yourself from headaches and have a greater more positive impact this season by being a better friend to yourself, to others and to nature.
Yes, YOU have to power to keep things simple. To say no. To start new traditions. To be unique.
Consider giving a donation to non profit organizations, give the Gift of Microfinance , be selfless, serve others, or make some good food and invite people to eat.
Consider spending time alone in meditation, in counting your blessings, in reflection, in prayer, in adoring Nature or a candle’s flame. Take a walk on a trail, go alone or take a loved one, if it’s cold bundle up and go out, adore the snow, adore the sky, adore the trees, spend time with your God or Nature.
Make the new years, Christmas, solstice or Yule a time to be good, truly good to yourself, to nature and to other people.
If you celebrate Christmas, this year remember that Jesus said “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” and “sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Rid yourself of materialism and stress, keep things simple, honest, spiritual; you will be happier and make others happier while saving a bunch of trees, reducing your carbon and waste footprint and feeling better than ever for having done what you KNOW is right, not what you are told is right.
Remember, you are not alone.
Blessings, Love & Wisdom
Bangalore: Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) are on the brink of a path-breaking discovery. They may have found signs of life in some form or the other on the Moon.
They believe so because scientific instruments on India’s first unmanned lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, picked up signatures of organic matter on parts of the Moon’s surface, Surendra Pal, associate director, Isro Satellite Centre (Isac), said at the international radar symposium here on Friday.
Organic matter consists of organic compounds, which consists of carbon — the building block of life.
It indicates the formation of life or decay of a once-living matter.
Pal said the signatures were relayed back to the Bylalu deep space network station near Bangalore by the mass spectrometer on board the Indian payload, the moon impact probe (MIP), on November 14, 2008.
The relay of data happened moments before it crashed near the Moon’s south pole. The MIP was the first experiment of the Chandrayaan-1 mission, which was launched on October 22, 2008.
Pal, however, did not elaborate, but concluded saying “the findings are being analysed and scrutinised for validation by Isro scientists and peer reviewers”.
“It is too early to say anything,” said the director of Isro’s space physics laboratory R Sridharan, who is heading the team of MIP data analysis and study. He, however, did not deny the finding.
DNA later inquired with other senior Chandrayaan-1 mission scientists, who not only confirmed the finding, but gave further details.
“Certain atomic numbers were observed that indicated the presence of carbon components. This indicates the possibility of the presence of organic matter (on the Moon),” a senior scientist told DNA.
Interestingly, similar observations were made by the US’s first manned Moon landing mission, the Apollo-11, in July 1969, which brought lunar soil samples back to Earth. But due to a lack of sophisticated equipment then, the scientists could not confirm the finding.
However, traces of amino acids, which are basic to life, were found in the soil retrieved by the Apollo-11 astronauts.
The Chandrayaan-1 scientists, at present, are analysing the source of origin of the Moon’s organic matter. “It could be comets or meteorites which have deposited the matter on the Moon’s surface; or the instrument that landed on the Moon could have left traces,” a senior space scientist said.
“But the presence of large sheets of ice in the polar regions of the Moon, and the discovery of water molecules there, lend credence to the possibility of organic matter there,” he said.
http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_indian-scientists-detect-signs-of-life-on-moon_1322785
A series of news stories were published based upon a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, (OECD), that showed that the United States spent the most on healthcare, yet was not doing well when compared to other wealthy nations in several key areas of health measurements.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development issued a report on December 8, 2009 called the “OECD Health Data 2009: Statistics and Indicators for 30 Countries” which included a detailed study on the US healthcare system. The portion of the report specific to the US called, “OECD Health Data 2009, How Does the United States Compare”, has with it some telling statistics about the US healthcare system and the results we get for the money spent.
Some of the interesting facts uncovered by the report are the following:
The United States ranks far ahead of other OECD countries in terms of total health spending per capita, with spending of $7,290 . That represents almost two-and-a-half times greater than the other nations average of $2,964 in 2007. The next closest nation is Norway which follows, with spending of $4,763 per capita, followed by Switzerland with spending of $4,417 per capita.
The US spends 16% of its Gross Domestic Product on healthcare, compared with France, Switzerland and Germany, which allocated 11.0%, 10.8% and 10.4% of their GDP to health respectively.
The US pays a smaller portion of the health care bill from public funding than other nations. Only 45% of healthcare expenses are paid by public funds which is a much smaller amount compared to an average of 73% for other OECD nations.
Infant mortality in the US is at 6.7 deaths per 1,000 live births which is well above the average of 3.9 per 1,000 live births.
Life expectancy at birth in the U.S. was 78.1 years in 2007 which is a year less than the OECD average of 79.1, and puts the U.S. just ahead of the Czech Republic, Poland and Mexico. Norway and Switzerland have a 2 to 4 year longer life expectancy over the US.
The study also noted that drug spending has increased everywhere with the US leading the way. According to the report, per capita spending on pharmaceuticals rose by almost 50 percent over the last 10 years in OECD countries, reaching a total of $650 billion in 2007. The U.S. was the world’s biggest spender on pharmaceuticals, spending $878 per person, with Canada next at $691 per person and the OECD average at $461.
During your day, periodically bring your attention back to yourself. Bring your awareness from wherever it is, from the ether, from the computer, from other people; wrap it up and bring it all back in, as if you are calling the troops home. Call your energy and your attention from everywhere it’s at back into you. Regroup your thoughts, breath deeply, calm and be present inside yourself.
If you do this you will be aware, present & most importantly alive.
Albert Einstein was a Scientific Pantheist, but the term really hadn’t been coined in his lifetime. His views express this clearly. Scientific Pantheism is an Agnostic Atheist position, where one uses the word “god” to mean The Universe.
He was not a Strong Atheist (the kind that was well known at the time). But an Agnostic Atheist (like most scientists).
He was NOT a Deist. He believed the universe was eternal, so it could not have been “Created”.
Your dream is the gift of your own soul.
But if its promise is to be fulfilled,
You must turn your eyes from the world of men
and dare to fly among the stars.
~ Robert Sexton
Gore Vidal, Stephen Fry, Albert Einstein, H P Lovecraft, Peter Singer, Susan B Anthony, Janeane Garofalo, Penn and Teller, Shirley Manson, Ian Mckellon, Ayn Rand, Diane Keaton, Brian Eno, Mark Twain, Isaac Asimov, Richard Dawkins, Harvey Fierstein, Gloria Steinem, Rachel Griffiths, Douglas Adams, Germaine Greer, Charles Dar More..win, Daniel Dennet, Armistead Maupin, John Malkovich, Katherine Hepburn, David Attenborough, Sam Harris, Joaquin Phoenix, Gabriel Byrne, Voltaire, Bruce Lee, Carl Sagan, Bertrand Russell, Jodie Foster, Steven Pinker, Gene Roddenberry, Frank Zappa, Gary Numan, Dave Gilmour, Nietzsche, Kathy Griffin and John Adams.
Ask yourself what do you need right now:
Do you need to breath deeply?
Do you need close your eyes?
Do you need to drink water?
Do you need to eat?
Do you need stretch?
Do you need to use the bathroom?
Do you need to relax and take a break?
Do you need to plan something?
Do you need to stop?
Do you need look away into the distance from whatever you are doing?
Do you need to stop eating that snack?
Do you need to go on a walk?
Do you need fresh air?
Do you need a nap (to sleep)?
etc …
Now that you’ve asked, will you give yourself what it needs?
The lesson here is to check in with yourself from time to time, listen to the most important person (YOU).
This sounds simple, doesn’t it?
It is, but sometimes when we are at work, studying or working a project and too busy with life, paying attention to others, we forget to pay attention to ourselves.
So,
from time to time,
Ask yourself
“What do I need now?”
&
you will be more present in the now and more alive
Ethan Z
Optical Illusion can help you evaluate your vision habits. One example:
Although the image above appears to be moving, it is static …
… your brain is doing the moving!
It’s a healthy sign when you see the movement
Seeing the circles move means your eyes are relaxed and happily moving as well.
The exact area where you are looking (small center part of your field of vision) doesn’t turn but all the circles in your peripheral vision are moving, naturally and happily …
Don’t beleive it? Try to stare and don’t blink, the circles will stop moving and the picture may appear blurred. Why? This is due to strain. Staring and not blinking causes strain which caused reduced eye sight.
Practice: Breath, Relax, Blink, Sketch, allow your attention to smoothly glide over the image.
Enjoy!:)
Winona LaDuke, is an Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe) enrolled member of the Mississippi Band of Anishinaabeg and is the mother of three children. Winona is the Program Director of Honor the Earth and Founding Director of White Earth Land Recovery Project.
Leading Honor the Earth she provides vision and leadership for the organization’s Regranting Program and its Strategic Initiatives. In addition, she has worked for two decades on the land issues of the White Earth Reservation, including litigation, over land rights in the 1980’s. In 1989, she received the Reebok Human Rights Award, with which in part she began the White Earth Land Recovery Project.
In 1994, Winona was nominated by Time Magazine as one of America’s fifty most promising leaders under forty years of age, and has also been awarded the Thomas Merton Award in 1996, the Ann Bancroft Award, Ms. Woman of the Year Award (with the Indigo Girls in 1997), the Global Green Award, and numerous other honors. A graduate of Harvard and Antioch Universities, she has written extensively on Native American and environmental issues.
Her books include: Last Standing Woman (fiction), All Our Relations (non-fiction), In the Sugarbush (Children’s), and The Winona LaDuke Reader.
To show respect to all of her work, I post this article about Winona LaDuke under the Best Of category.
For more information, visit: http://nativeharvest.com.
Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
- Calvin Coolidge
I just wanted to write a quick post and say “Baking Soda, What a Precious Salt!” Baking soda can be used for so many things, from cooking to deodorizing, it makes a good tooth paste, has anti fungal effects and can be used to wash hair and quickly eliminate dandruff. What a useful precious salt!
Do you use baking soda for things other than cooking?
Below you will see what wikipedia says about backing soda. Retrieved 10/27/2009 10PM CST.
Sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slight alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda (sodium carbonate). It is a component of the mineral natron and is found dissolved in many mineral springs. The natural mineral form is known as nahcolite. It is also produced artificially.
Since it has long been known and is widely used, the salt has many related names such as baking soda, bread soda, cooking soda, bicarbonate of soda. Colloquially, its name is shortened to sodium bicarb, bicarb soda, or simply bicarb. The word saleratus, from Latin sal æratus meaning “aerated salt“, was widely used in the 19th century for both sodium bicarbonate and potassium bicarbonate. The term has now fallen out of common usage.
Sodium bicarbonate is primarily used in cooking (baking) where it reacts with other components to release carbon dioxide, that helps dough “rise”. The acidic compounds that induce this reaction include phosphates, cream of tartar, lemon juice, yogurt, buttermilk, cocoa, vinegar, etc. Sodium bicarbonate can be substituted for baking powder provided sufficient acid reagent is also added to the recipe.[3] Many forms of baking powder contain sodium bicarbonate combined with one or more acidic phosphates (especially good) or cream of tartar. Can also be used for softening peas (⅛ tsp. per pint of water and bring to boil for one hour)
Thermal decomposition causes sodium bicarbonate alone to act as a raising agent by releasing carbon dioxide at baking temperatures. The mixture for cakes using this method can be allowed to stand before baking without any premature release of carbon dioxide.
Many laboratories keep a bottle of sodium bicarbonate powder within easy reach, because sodium bicarbonate is amphoteric, reacting with acids and bases. Furthermore, as it is relatively innocuous in most situations, there is no harm in using excess sodium bicarbonate. Lastly, sodium bicarbonate powder may be used to smother a small fire. [4]
A wide variety of applications follows from its neutralization properties, including ameliorating the effects of white phosphorus in incendiary bullets from spreading inside an afflicted soldier’s wounds.[5] Sodium bicarbonate can be added as a simple solution for raising the pH balance of water (increasing total alkalinity) where high levels of chlorine (2-5 ppm) are present as in swimming pools and aquariums.[6] Read more…
I remember hearing my grandmother talk about how castor oil was used in the old days, especially when children got sick, had stomach aches or pretty much any ailment. I know my aunts and mother hated the taste of this Oil. They would reluctantly drink some, braving the discussing taste. But, the logic was, and remains, that the taste meant this was good for you. They all believe, while the taste was horrible, that Castor oil did have a positive healing outcome.
I never had the pleasure of trying Castor oil. But I was curious, I found some at a local store and I was considering trying some, but the warning on the bottle that mentioned ‘external use only’ deterred me from ingesting it.
Besides the stories I heard from my grandmother, pretty much I did not know anyone else that used this oil as a traditional remedy. I understand how disgusting the taste could be, but I can’t help but wonder if this is oil is does in fact work, and if its effectiveness and usefulness in healing has been forgotten.
Middle easterners used it in the old days to deal with ailments, it is apparently effective on skin and acne and modern day medicines do contain elements extracted from Castor oil.
Have you or anyone you know used Castorl oil for medicinal purposes?
Here’s what Wikipedia says on Castor oil (retrieved 10/25/2009 6PM CST):
In the food industry, castor oil (food grade) is used in food additives,[13] flavorings, candy (e.g., chocolate),[14] as a mold inhibitor, and in packaging. Polyoxyethylated castor oil (e.g., Cremophor EL)[15] is also used in the foodstuff industries.[16]
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has categorized castor oil as “generally recognized as safe and effective” (GRASE) for over-the-counter use as a laxative, with its major site of action the small intestine.[17] However, although it may be used for constipation, it is not a preferred treatment.[18] Undecylenic acid, a castor oil derivative, is also FDA-approved for over-the-counter use on skin disorders or skin problems.[19]
Castor oil penetrates deep into the skin thanks to its molecular weight, which is low enough to penetrate into the stratum corneum. Castor Isostearate Succinate is a polymeric mixture of esters with Isostearic Acid and Succinic Acid used for skin conditioning, such as in shampoo, lipstick and lip balm.[20]
Ricinoleic acid is the main component of castor oil and it exerts anti-inflammatory effects.[21]
One study has found that castor oil decreased pain more than ultrasound gel or Vaseline during extracorporeal shockwave application.[22]
Therapeutically, modern drugs are rarely given in a pure chemical state, so most active ingredients are combined with excipients or additives. Castor oil, or a castor oil derivative such as Cremophor EL (polyethoxylated castor oil, a nonionic surfactant), is added to many modern drugs, including:
He who fears he will suffer, already suffers from his fear
Michel de Montaigne
People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.
Monsters and Magical Sticks: Or, There’s No Such Thing As Hypnosis by Steven Heller
Meditation For Dummies (Book and CD edition) by Stephan Bodian
Essential Buddhism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs and Practices by Jack Maguire
Relearning to See: Improve Your Eyesight — Naturally! by Thomas R. Quackenbush
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