2009-02-21
Changing Professions

The Gynecologist Who Became A Mechanic

A gynecologist had become fed up with malpractice insurance and HMO paperwork and was burned out. Hoping to try another career where skillful hands would be beneficial; he decided to become a mechanic. He went to the local technical college, signed up for evening classes, attended diligently, and learned all he could.

When the time of the practical exam approached, the gynecologist prepared carefully for weeks, and completed the exam with tremendous skill. When the results came back, he was surprised to find that he had obtained a score of 150%. Fearing an error, he called the instructor, saying, 'I don't want to appear ungrateful for such an outstanding result, but I wonder if there is an error in the grade.'

The instructor said, 'During the exam, you took the engine apart perfectly, which was worth 50% of the total mark. You put the engine back together again perfectly, which is also worth 50% of the mark.'

After a pause, the instructor added, 'I gave you an extra 50% because you did it all through the muffler, which I've never seen done in my entire career.'


We all have our strengths. I am grateful however that the subject of the story wasn't "The Lawyer who Became a Gynaecologist."

[link]  Read More

2009-02-20
♥


"In the opinion of the viewpoint, any beingness, any thing is better than no thing, any effect is better than no effect, any universe better than no universe, any particle better than no particle, but the particle of admiration is best of all."


♥  Read More

2009-02-16
Hiya ∞Γσ╣▼⌡⌠...
I loved your stuff...
[link]
I'll miss you...
You old carmudgeon...

Ya need a new translator and since I've been blocked from commenting at your site I thought it best to let you know, Afrikaner style, which is to say straight forward, in your face personal, and honestly, that you've misinterpreted not only the Afrikaans but most everything I've ever said to you and certainly my attempts at dialogue.

No problem. I know I'm a bit of a strange duck for you. And I forgive you and thank you for all you've done over the years for me and NCN. I feel greatful that I had a chance to meet your mind if only ever so briefly. I rather looked up to you in so many ways. I'm not very good at showing that, I guess, but I want you to know that. And I'll miss you very much.

So with that in mind please read the rest of this, on the other side, as it comes from a well respected friend of mine who is a Psychiatrist/Psychotherapist as well as one time banker. I think there is wisdom in his words. He is a kind and gentle soul and, guess what, likes jazz!

Jy praat nog steeds my taal, jazzolog...

Au Revoir

To Mega Therion  Read More

2009-02-15
De la Rey
Soebela:

"Jy praat nog steeds my taal." - Bok van Blerk and the Mossies

"Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures..." - A.E.

"When fanatics threaten violence against people who simply use words, you should not blame the victim." - Johann Hari

Now that I've been accused of "working with the old apartheid intelligence community in South Africa," and of casting death threats at a fellow NCN member, and too many other things for me to want to address civily, I thought it may be time to introduce you to another way of looking at the Afrikaner thing. So please review the following article and see what ya think.

I've been called a "copypasta delete monster" by a person I thought was a friend but who has turned out to be just another ANC stooge in disguise. Self Determination is what I want, too, first of all for me and then for anyone else who wants to realise the age old dream of freedom from the shackles of tyranny and oppression. I feel that NCN is a place where we can all discuss this even in as heated a manner as possible. That we can lay our cards out on the table and be rhetoric, and all that that conveys and entails. Innuendo, subterfuge, insults, dialogue, the mechanics of the ad hominem, in all it's forms, etc. In short; the endless dialectic which we are heir to as human beings living on a strange planet in an often alien and bizzare multiverse.

I cut and paste because the cuts and pastes are the subjects of the research that I do. I paste them here in order to archive and to share the gems I have found that I feel in someway are operative in influencing our lives and common destinies. I do not claim to be a writer, just a researcher. I do appreciate good writing, though, and have been an avid book worm all my life. And perhaps someday I'll write more than just a blurb or two here and there. I do have other blogs where I have written things of my own but that isn't why I'm here at NCN.

If these 'cut and pastes' lead to discourse, fine. If they do not then that is fine too. I love the comments areas of these "newslogs" for more than just supposed 'flaming.' Flaming, too, is in the eye of the beholder. If you feel you've been flamed you'll know it. Intelligence Operations often utilise the 'flame' in order to denigrate, confuse, upset a target. You'll see it all the time in political debate. But that isn't real politik any more than a prune is a fig.

I hope you'll think twice the next time you are accused of anything other than being yourself and if that means rebutting a deceiving entity from falsely accusing something that you know you didn't do or that you are not then be filled with courage. The courage of your own truth in standing up for yourself in which ever way that might take form.

I trust in the moderation of the wise community and the Global Machine that we are creating via our mental apparatus and biochemicomagnetic substrate interactions. We are one, you say? I say I am an individual amongst many and that I've been blessed by my own sanctions to be able to comprehend the bigger picture that the facts of life have presented unto me in this life and other lifetimes - wholetrack and timetracks.

Vax


↨♥▬♥▬♥↨

South Africa – A modern day 'Zimbardo Experiment'

Mike Smith - 4/9/2008

In 1971, Dr. Phillip Zimbardo of the Stanford University, conducted his infamous and controversial "Prison Experiment". Most scholars of Psychology agree that to replicate this experiment today will be impossible, because of human rights. The world will simply not allow this to happen.

Yet we see this experiment being replicated on a grandiose scale and the world sits and watches, doing nothing. The Zimbardo experiment is being carried out in South Africa as you are reading this.  Read More

2009-02-12
♂ REMEMBER:

KINGSLEY WIMBUSH

A Writeup on Kingsley Wimbush's "Subtle Internal Suppression" Handling

[link]

"Big Richard's" Areas of Subtle Suppression (Dinging):

* Saying something hostile in a "nice" way.
* Failing to properly acknowledge or thank people.
* Not keeping promises or appointments.
* Being dismissive, rude, or discourteous.
* Not flowing power to people you depend on.
* Not defending people you depend on. (There are others, I don't have the list in front of me.)

[Editor's Areas of Subtle (and not so Subtle) Suppression (Dinging): It's interesting that when I started adding to the above list, I came up with an "explosion" of items:

* Subtle or covert put-downs.
* Mocking people or showing disrespect toward them.
* Ignoring people or what they say.
* Making snide or sarcastic remarks.
* Malicious gossip and back-stabbing.
* Treating people as if they're unimportant.
* Being teased and/or bullied.
* Personal rejection; rejection of your suggestions, work, or products.
* Being lied to, deceived, tricked, cheated, or betrayed.
* Treating people as if they're stupid.
* Trash-talk (disparaging, taunting, or boastful comments especially between opponents trying to intimidate each other).
* Being condescending or patronizing.
* Being reprimanded or punished.
* Treating people as if they are property or slaves.
* Taxing people.
* Forcing or coercing people.
* Being evaluated as a disappointment, failure or loser.
* Jokes, insults, slurs, or discrimination based on color, race, ethnicity, age, gender, body weight, sexual orientation, religion, etc.
* Being pulled over for "driving while black" or harassed by customs agents because of your "profile."
* Office politics.
* Nagging.
* Being given low grades.
* Being cut off in traffic.
* Ridiculing, trivializing, or invalidating people or what they say.
* Being laid off or fired from your job.
* Bicameral-2-type make-wrong (see 'The Bicameral Model of the Mind').
* Humiliation, particularly in public.
* Backhanded "compliments." (A teacher once said to me, "If you're the best in the class, what must the worst be like?" I actually felt good about this because it was the first time I realized he thought I was the best in the class!)
* From Mark Lindsay: In general, invalidating rather than validating self and others.]

The proof for me of the value of Kingsley's work is that every group it has been introduced to, became much more productive. Not in a small way, but in a very big way. So I'd like acknowledge Kingsley Wimbush for coming up with this, It really changed my life for the better.

Dinging and Dedinging
A few years ago I heard of businessman Kingsley Wimbush who operated a company in California. He and his personnel apparently became phenomenally successful, partly because of his recognition of "dinging." Many of us, most days, experience all kinds of little disappointments, verbal putdowns, negative self-talk, and the general negative effects of Slavespeak [link] . These negative incidents constitute dinging. I suspect that some people allow themselves to be gradually "dragged down" by dinging in a cumulative manner.

The cumulative allowing yourself to be "dragged down" can manifest as "burnout." It tends to be particularly noticeable among those salespeople who by the nature of their occupations have to deal with many more rejections than successful sales. (The book 'NewSell' by Dr. Michael Hewitt-Gleeson also contains some important information on this topic -- see [link]

"Dedinging" is a procedure whereby, every day, we recover from all that day's dinging incidents. I haven't yet come across the details of the dedinging procedure. I suspect it's one of the greatest "increasers of personal power." We need to track it down or redevelop it.

Fortunately, someone who asked to be known as "Big Richard" responded to the above. I've edited and expanded his report.

[link]  Read More

2009-02-09
I suppose that with the following article I'll be accused by some at NCN of 'Jew Bashing.' So be it. I'm comfortable with my Identity and I'm also a dual citizen of YiSRa-EL and USA. Shafiq, and a lot of 'YeHUDiiM,' make some interesting points where the war against the Palestinian people by the politicoes of YiSRa-EL is concerned. Not every YeHUDi believes that YiSRa-EL is sacrosanct and beyond punitive measures. Many of us have fought for her as well as for Am YiSRa-EL and Ha YeHUDiiM all over this world and will continue to fight but...many of us also know the Arab peoples and are very sympathetic with the Palestinian cause.

---

"The military invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli Forces bears a direct relation to the control and ownership of strategic offshore gas reserves. This is a war of conquest. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas reserves off the Gaza coastline".

"Citing the involvement of the British Gas Group and its partner, the Athens-based but Lebanese-owned Consolidated Contractors International Company, Chossudovsky says a 25-year exploration agreement was signed in 1999 with the Palestinian Authority.

"According to the professor, 60% of Gaza's offshore gas fields (worth 4 billion dollars) belong to Palestine.

"However, any prospect of drilling, exploitation and the building of pipelines were sidelined by the death of Yasser 'Arafat, and the heavy hand of Ariel Sharon. When he took power in 2001 he stated that Israel would never buy energy from Palestinians.

"In 2003, the burly Israeli Prime Minister vetoed an initial agreement that would see British Gas supplying Israel with gas from Gaza. In 2006 British Gas was close to signing a deal to pump gas to Egypt when British Prime Minister Tony Blair stopped it.

"In 2007 the issue resurfaced again when Ehud Olmert proposed that Israel buy gas from the Palestinian Authority. This deal was scuppered when the Israeli security establishment alleged the Palestinian Authority would use its 1 billion dollar profits to buy arms.

"Further Israeli skulduggery to avoid honouring an energy contract with the Palestinians saw British Gas closing their offices in January 2008." ---

---

"It means a new chapter in the history of Palestinian disempowerment. For not only will Gaza's residents have to confront their historic memories of stolen land and dispossessed towns and villages, but their children will also have to face the humiliating prospect of their natural resources – the very key to their economic independence – being pilfered from right under their noses."  Read More

2009-02-06
Emerging Threats
Commentary: Kremlin trumps NATO
By ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE, UPI Editor at Large
Published: Feb. 6, 2009 at 10:54 AM

"The five-to-10-year commitment in Afghanistan, as seen by some members of the Obama administration, loses much of its allure as the United States switches supply lines from the southern route through Pakistan to the northern route through Russia. Top Pentagon planners say we no longer can afford the luxury of democratic nation-building in Afghanistan. Instead, says a recommendation to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all resources should be thrown against the Taliban's privileged sanctuaries in Pakistan's tribal areas while at the same time de-emphasizing longer-term goals for bolstering democracy."

===

(*Note: By democracy they mean "Collectivism" which comes in a few flavors such as Fabianism and Leninism. The two which really are one at source. Socialism/Collectivism is anti individualism and freedom and favors the concept of the all powerful 'State.')  Read More

2009-01-19
Presented by [link]
Paranoid Delusions
Consciousness and the Future of Multimedia
[link]

Seminar Paper for Current and Future Directions in Multimedia

By: RainbowGyrl

15 April 2003

Forgive us Father for we know not what we do.

I worry this is more than theory. One of my biggest fears is that I am right about all this. I worry that our entire existence is nothing more than a virtual reality in some other beings' cyberspace. I cling with every ounce of sanity I have to the comforting notion that, "No! I do exist. I am not a figment of someone's imagination. This world is real," and I am glad that I never took any philosophy classes.

Sherry Turkle writes extensively about the creation of identities online. Her research focuses on Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs) online games where a character, distinct from one's own self and appropriate to the story, is created and exists. Interestingly, the MUDs she focuses on do not use graphics to represent their space or avatars to give identity. They rely solely on plain text.1 When one enters a MUD, a text description of the space is given. The finer details are left to the imagination of the user. The characters' physical identity is also described through text. While playing, the characters' personalities are revealed through dialogues with other users. The user can be whoever s/he imagines herself to be.

Hardly anyone would say that the characters we create to play in games are our "real selves." However, I would say that even those most honest of us explore our identity with any online persona. Simply that we rarely use our real names for our chat handles is proof of this. My online persona has evolved as I have. BlackAngel, an anorexic goth girl, was who I wished I could have been in high school. She was 10lbs lighter than I was and infinitely more popular. BlackMyst, her IRC (Internet Relay Chat) counterpart was more honest. She chatted on a local channel, #Moncton, and met her online friends in Real Life with some frequency. There was little room for falsehoods. RainbowGyrl is my current online incarnation. She is more productive academically than I. She's a chipper free spirit who finds it easy to love life. All of these personas are parts of me exaggerated. But, no matter how close to our real selves these personas are, they are still only likenesses of us.

Now here is where I need you to take a leap of faith. The gap's not that wide and I'll hold your hand. Suspend a little disbelief and walk through the garden with me. . .

Likenesses or not, these identities exist. In our eagerness to explore this mutual hallucination of cyberspace we are creating not just a virtual reality, but a reality separate and distinct from our own. An alternate dimension. No one knows how we were created. We can theorize all we want about the Big Bang, but in reality we have no idea. I believe that someday *it* will happen for cyberspace. Consciousness. No longer needing us or our computers. Created in our likeness just as the Bible says we were created in God's image.

There is a biblical creation myth that is often overlooked: John 1:1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."2 In this simple verse John contemplates our creation. This verse is often interpreted so "the Word" (translated from the Greek logos) is a reference to Christ. Logos means the thing, the thought, the work; the feeling, the invention; the means and end perceived. When applied to Christ it is an example of the interconnectedness of the Trinity. "In the Being, Person, and work of Christ, Deity is exposed."3. But what if John literally meant words? Text. In the beginning was text, and the text was written by God, in fact, the text was God!

Think about that in the context of cyberspace.  Read More

2009-01-17
An Expose On Jewish Racism
Showdown At The Kol Shofar Synagogue
Arthur Topham
1-17-9


Dear Radical Reader,

This is an unusually long post. My reason for running it will become obvious as one progresses through it.

It concerns a perspective on the current (and past) machinations of the state of Israel and the root cause for why we are seeing so much violence in Palestine and, by association, why we're also witnessing so much dis-information throughout the world wherever the Zionist-controlled media is presenting its version of this seemingly never-ending conflict.

It also introduces readers to Dave Kirsting, a name that most of you will be unfamiliar with on the net. Why he hasn't appeared thus far is a mystery to me for his ideas on political Zionism are as germane as anyone might wish for and ought to be seriously considered within the context of any debate over this ponderous and perplexing issue.

Please pass this article on to as many people as you can. Without a clear vision of the fundamental essence of this dangerous ideology we stand little chance of resisting the inherent evil that it represents. Thank you.

Shine your Light for Love & Peace & Justice for All,

Arthur Topham
Pub/Ed
The Radical Press
Canada's Radical News Network
radical@radicalpress.com
[link]


"Digging to the root of the issues since 1998"
Showdown at the Kol Shofar Synagogue

An Expose on Jewish Racism

By Arthur Topham
RadicalPress.com
January 15, 2009


The trouble with you
Is the trouble with me
You got two good eyes
But you still don't see.
~ The Grateful Dead/Casey Jones

Yet we must also respect those who simply protest anything less than full immediate denouncement of openly-declared racism, as Zionism defines itself to be, and as practiced for decades by the 'Jewish State' constantly expanding the turf of its supremacy. In all other cases of openly-declared state-racism, the ordinary, moderate response is to give the racist policies primary emphasis and absolute Zero tolerance. Delaying that frankness does perpetuate the cover-up which has managed to keep the gory Elephant of Zionist racism the best-kept secret in our living-room of ostensible egalitarianism.
~ Dave Kirsting, concerned Marin County, California resident


One of the great joys and blessings of being a publisher is the opportunity it provides for connecting up with interesting people from around the world.

Whether it's a short congratulatory note from Noam Chomsky; a friendly request for further info on Richard Warman from David Icke; a polite, personal invite from Jeff Rense for an interview; a gentle email from Layla Anwar; or a long, intensely humourous and perspicacious hand-written letter, replete with comic drawings!, from my dear American sister Carolyn Chute (author of The Beans of Egypt Maine and other exceptional books on the human condition), all of them and many more comprise a legacy of intimate contacts. It's these brief interludes with companion souls in the seemingly endless struggle to achieve peace and justice for all that help to compensate for the otherwise interminable and at times exasperating amount of energy expended in the operation of a thus far free and alternative news media.

In some respects each new day is like Christmas morning for a child raised in the belief that gifts are a result of living in harmony with a loving God and treating each other as we would like to be treated. And there is no gift so precious as that of discovering new friendships and realizing one is not alone, either in their feelings, their perspective or in the physical world that we all share.

One such gift for me was an email on Christmas day from a cyber friend who lives in Marin County, California. His name is Dave Kirsting. Dave has been a part of my Radical Press List Serve for some time and receives the assorted articles and analysis of global political events that I pass on to subscribers. On this occasion Dave was writing in regards to a short article of Layla Anwar's arabwomansblues entitled, Jingle Bells and all that Stuff... which I had sent out on December 24th.

As this is an article about Dave and his personal experiences with political Zionism as they pertain to the Arab ­ Jewish predicament in the Middle East and how such explosive events tend to spread out over the globe like ash from an active volcano only to settle in small communities everywhere where one finds the Zionist mindset, I will let him do most of the talking (so to speak). Dave is, in my humble opinion, a very articulate, caring and astute thinker, aware of certain basic truths that I feel need to be shared with a much greater audience.

His intial email begins:  Read More