Tracy Repchuk on Internet Marketing

Darlene Green on Stalking

“When someone “shows” you who they are, believe them!”

—Maya Angelou

What is Stalking?

Let’s talk a bit more about stalking behavior, and how dangerous it can be. If a guy is simply showing up at your home or office, he is just exhibiting to you how much he likes you right? WRONG, if he is uninvited and he is doing this often, and you have asked him nicely not to, this is not a show of affection this is stalking.

How common is Stalking?

The National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAW) in a landmark study that collected information about stalking, a nationally representative sample of 8,000 women and 8,000 men across the United States. The survey found that 8% of women and 2% of men have been stalked at some time during their lives. This means that 1 out of every 12 women and 1 out of every 45 men have been stalked at some time during their lives.

This same study shows that the majority of women who are stalked by current or former intimate partners also report having been physically assaulted by these partners and a sizable percentage (1/3) also report having been sexually assaulted by the same partners who stalked them. These important findings suggest that contrary to popular notions about who gets stalked, currently or formerly battered women have the greatest risk of being stalked.

Although the behavior might encourage us to think otherwise,   motivation for stalking is not primarily sexual, but is more likely to include anger and hostility towards the victim, often stemming from actual or perceived rejection of the stalker by the victim.  Erroneously, victims perceive control and obsessional behavior as primary motives of the stalker.

Raymond believed he loved my aunt and that his attention was supposed to help to show her that (in his fantasy) she loved and wanted him also, in spite of their agreement about not being serious, in other words; in his mind she was just saying that she didn’t want a serious relationship with him, she didn’t really mean it. He was helping her come clean about her feelings! And her continuing to deny her feelings only angered him because he saw her as being difficult, and when she ended the relationship he saw this as a betrayal of their true love and her real feelings for him. In his mind she wanted him as much as he wanted her, and his objective was to prove to her that she did!

Different Types of Stalking

Rejected stalking- arises in the context of the breakdown of a close relationship. Victims are usually former sexual intimates; however family members, close friends, or others with a very close relationship to the stalker can also become targets of Rejected stalking.

The initial motivation of a Rejected stalker is either attempting to reconcile the relationship, or to exacting revenge for a perceived rejection. In many cases, Rejected stalkers present themselves as ambivalent about the victim and sometimes appear to want the relationship back, while at other times they are clearly angry and want revenge on the victim.

Intimacy Seeking stalking arises out of a context of loneliness and a lack of a close confidante. Victims are usually strangers or acquaintances who become the target of the stalker’s desire for a relationship.

Frequently Intimacy Seeking stalkers’ behavior is fueled by a severe mental illness involving delusional beliefs about the victim, such as the belief that they are already in a relationship, even though none exists (Erotomanic delusions- a type of delusional disorder in which the subject harbors a delusion that a particular person is deeply in love with them...).

The initial motivation is to establish an emotional connection and an intimate relationship. The stalking is maintained by the gratification that comes from the belief that they are closely linked to another person

The Incompetent Suitor stalks in the context of loneliness or lust and targets strangers or acquaintances. Unlike the Intimacy Seeker, however, their initial motivation is not to establish a loving relationship, but to get a date or a short term sexual relationship. Incompetent Suitors usually stalk for brief periods, but when they do persist; their behavior is usually maintained by the fact that they are blind or indifferent to the distress of victim. Sometimes this insensitivity is associated with cognitive limitations or poor social skills consequent to autism spectrum disorders or intellectual disability.

Predatory stalking arises in the context of deviant sexual practices and interests. Perpetrators are usually male and victims are usually female strangers with whom the stalker develops a sexual interest. The stalking behavior is usually initiated as a way of obtaining sexual gratification (e.g., voyeurism targeting a single victim over time), but can also be used as a way of obtaining information about the victim as a precursor to a sexual assault. In this sense, the stalking is both instrumental and also gratifying. For those stalkers who enjoy the sense of power and control that comes from targeting the usually unsuspecting victim.

Resentful stalking arises when the stalker feels as though they have been mistreated or that they are the victim of some form of injustice or humiliation. Victims are strangers or acquaintances who are seen to have mistreated the stalker. Resentful stalking can arise out of a severe mental illness when the perpetrator develops paranoid beliefs about the victim and uses stalking as a way of ‘getting back’ at the victim.

The initial motivation for stalking is the desire for revenge or to “even the score” and the stalking is maintained by the sense of power and control that the stalker derives from inducing fear in the victim. Often Resentful stalkers present themselves as a victim who is justified in using stalking to fight back against an oppressing person or organization.

Although there is no “one size fits all” list of recommendations that will be applicable to all stalking situations, there are four Golden Rules that should be followed if you find yourself the victim of stalking;

1.            Have No contact with the stalker

2.            Tell others

3.            Increase Personal protection

4.            Collect evidence

After the stalker has been told by the victim in a calm, clear and firm manner that their attention is unwanted and that they are to stop all contact, the victim, their family and friends should have no further contact with the stalker.

Stalkers want a reaction whether it’s positive or Negative; it is crucial to ensure that everyone involved understands the importance of not appealing to the stalker to stop. The Police should be the only ones to confront the stalker.  (Mullen, 2009)

All states and the Federal Government have passed anti-stalking legislation. Definitions of stalking found in state anti-stalking statutes vary in their language, although most define stalking as “the willful, malicious, and repeated following and harassing of another person that threatens his or her safety”.

Darleen Green Interview

Sandy Bobal-Zuniga Interview

Sleepwalking through depression until woken by the nightmare of cancer.

Only someone who has battled depression can understand the sheer darkness of it. Every day when you find the strength to open your eyes, you’re at the bottom of the same pit of despair. You have to squint to be able to see even a sliver of light.

I’ve struggled with chronic depression for most of my life. At one point in college, I reached such a low that I tried to take my own life.

After spending three weeks in the hospital, there was still a cloud of depression looming over me. I wasn’t capable of making good decisions. My judgment was not only poor, but it was dangerous at times. I actually married an abusive man from whom I had to go into hiding to escape.

Fast forward fifteen years, a caring husband, and a breast cancer diagnosis later.

Little did I know that my new enemy would become my strongest ally in my lifelong battle against depression; the irony is surreal when I really think about it.

Grateful is a strong word, but I will say that I’m not sorry I was diagnosed with cancer. I feel that cancer was my own personal saving grace. It served a purpose in my life—if nothing else, as a bridge to manage my depression.

Faced with my own mortality at the age of 41, I was terrified of leaving this world without leaving a mark.

Where was that suicidal college student? Now, she was willing to do anything to preserve her life when at one time she tried to throw it away.

I wasn’t prepared to settle for my life being for nothing. Suffering in silence was not an option any longer. This challenge was bigger than me, and I had to come out of hiding and share my voice with the world.

During my treatments and my surgery, I launched an online community called My Personal Breast Cancer Journey. The tagline, We’re In This Together, does a good job of summing it all up. MyPersonalBreastCancerJourney.com is a club nobody wants to be a member of, but it does provide a tremendous amount of support for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and survivors alike, across the world.

Helping these women, who are in the same spot I found myself in last year, gives me something to occupy my mind, helps me to remain positive on my darkest days, and these survivor stories fill me with inspiration.

Cancer helped me manage my depression and identify my purpose in life, which I believe is to help other women work through their fight with breast cancer to not only survive, but to thrive and to find their own raison d'être. To let them know they aren’t in this alone and I’m always ready to provide a big hug for each of them even if it’s virtual.

Whatever obstacle you face, be it cancer, a deteriorating relationship or another type of tragedy; find a way to use it as a springboard instead of looking at it as a sentence. Use it to make your life better instead of worse. And seek support from others going through the same thing.

If you are recently diagnosed with breast cancer or a survior, grab your free guide here:

Finding Your Inner Strength Following Your Breast Cancer Diagnosis

If you know someone who has been recently diagnosed and you want to help, receive a free copy of:

How To Help: Essential Tips, Resources & Personal Stories for Breast Cancer Supporters

MyPersonalBreastCancerJourney.com is an online resource and community for women affected by breast cancer. It was founded by strong, beautiful survivor, Sandy Bobal-Zuniga. We’re in this together.

Bio: In her early 20s, Sandy Bobal-Zuniga was willing to take her own life to escape the hell of chronic depression she was living in. Fifteen years later, she was prepared to do anything in her power to win her battle against Stage 2 breast cancer.

Faced with her own mortality, Sandy was afraid to die without leaving a positive mark on the world. Before opting to undergo a single mastectomy, Sandy vowed that if she survived cancer and its havoc-wreaking treatments, she would create an organization that would educate, empower, advocate for and support women affected by breast cancer.

As founder and Chief Hug Officer of My Personal Breast Cancer Journey, Sandy is helping women around the world survive and then thrive. 

Sandy is dedicating her life to creating a legacy of compassion for women who are diagnosed until there is a world free of breast cancer. MyPersonalBreastCancerJourney.com

Jenni Wilson - Trust Your Intuition

Jack Eaton Interview

Five Never Before Published TIPS TO AVOID A SHARK ATTACK

No one is on TV talking about shark safety as often as activist Veronica Grey, also known as the Surf Lady, inventor of the world's first ever non-electronic shark repelling wetsuit (by Boz.) Last August during the annual shark week by Discovery Channel, she did four television appearances in under two weeks! This August during shark week The Surf Lady Veronica Grey has a scheduled interview with CNN! Her charity http://www.SwimWithoutSharks.com features numerous TV clips where she shares FREE lifesaving information on how to avoid a shark attack. Here she presents exclusively to Talk Story TV 5 brand new never before published tips! (Not for those who get grossed out easily.) 1. ONLY PEE AS YOU SWIM not as you stand in the same spot or sit on your surfboard idly waiting for a wave. Sharks are attracted to the smell of blood BUT NOT URINE; however, some of the components that make up blood also make up urine, so if you ARE going to pee, do it while you are in motion so that the water will quickly dissolve it as opposed to if you just sit on your surfboard and pee, now you have an entire cloud of urine just beneath you and sharks can smell parts per billion. 2. WEAR A BUTTLOAD OF SUNSCREEN ALL OVER YOUR BODY Until we heard this secret, we would only protect our face and hands with sunscreen because we enjoy a super-tan rest of our body. However, we learned to DRENCH OUR ENTIRE BODY with sunscreen and here is why. The main reason for shark bites is sharks test to see if we are food or not. Since they have such a keen sense of smell, if they detect that weird (un-appetizing) chemical suntan lotion scent all over emanating from your vicinity, chances are they won't bother to take a test bite because they know FOR SURE you are not food and sunscreen is not their version of hot sauce. 3. DO NOT SWIM WITH YOUR PETS Yeah we love our dog Flash Delirium so much that he even has his own Myspace. But when we discovered that what attracts sharks EVEN MORE than smell is SPLASHING AND THRASHING, we highly recommend keeping Fido out of the water. Splashing and thrashing reminds sharks of WOUNDED PREY because normal sea creatures swim elegantly and QUIETLY. If sharks hear a lot of commotion like that, they will come to investigate. Most surfers paddle with precise strokes that don't sound like an animal having problems, so parents with little children who frolic near the shore really need to pay attention to their noise level and splashing in sharky waters because some sharks like the bull shark can attack in as few as 18 inches of water. Some sharks have even beached themselves chasing after prey! 4. DO NOT SWIM ON YOUR PERIOD This sounds obvious but I used to, because I love surfing so much that I wasn't gonna go 5 days in a row without it each month. The peanut gallery is divided on this issue, especially with the invention of fabulous products like the Diva Cup or Instead that I wear, "Instead" of tampons, because tampon companies secretly infuse dioxin (A LETHAL POISON) throughout tampons

Veronica Grey Interview

Carmen Wyld Interview

Cassie Willis

Ten Rose Interview

Michael Leedy Interview

Emily Kinney Interview

Grace Wolbrink - Storyteller

Relics

Relics - The Book Trailer by Maer Wilson

When I first heard about book trailers, I was intrigued by the idea. I spent a lot of time watching
as many as I could. Eliminating live action with actors was easy. No big budget here, so I
focused on what other new authors and authors I knew were doing with theirs. I got some great
ideas!

One thing I noticed right off was the use of stock photos. Sometimes they were awesome, other
times - not so much. I wanted my trailer to stand out, though, and I didn’t want to comb through
endless pictures trying to find exactly the right ones.

I also wanted something that would be unique to my book and I wondered about using an artist
to create my pictures. During the summer of 2012, I put the word out to my friends that I was
looking for an artist to help with the trailer.

A pro was probably out, budget-wise. However, I also knew there were plenty of talented
students or recently graduated artists who might be a perfect fit.

It wasn’t long before a friend hooked me up with Kyle Floyd. Kyle and I began a long series of
emails, discussing ideas. I sent him my draft of the script and the ideas I had for special effects.
Originally, I had thought to use a digital style, but we quickly moved over to the watercolor style
that ended up in the trailer. I love the misty, other-worldly effect this created.

Collaborating with Kyle was simply a joy. He was very easy to work with and has an intuitive
grasp of artistic concepts. He’d send me drafts and we would tweak each one, discussing what
worked and what didn’t. There were actually very few changes.

Once we had the pictures down, Kyle moved into the assembling and effects phase. The things
he managed to do with those were beyond what I had imagined. This is where his own artistry
took over and he created something I’m extremely proud to show. The bleeding text near the end
was an idea I had that I think Kyle pulls off brilliantly. The lighting effects in the beginning are
pure Kyle and were a surprising gift when I saw the finished trailer.

For music, I turned to Kevin McLeod’s prolific website, as have so many other authors. His
generosity in making his music available under Creative Commons has enhanced so many book
trailers. I love his site and his music. His “Rising Game” was perfect for what I wanted. I also
used a couple of special sound effects, both composers are credited on the trailer.

Kyle took the music and sound effects and timed the slides to the musical cues and changes,
which I provided. Again he was able to take my ideas and bring them to a beautiful reality.

You can read more about Kyle and how we created the trailer at my website in a special “In the
Spotlight” interview. http://maerwilson.com/2013/04/29/in-the-spotlight-kyle-floyd/#more-1533

Julia, thanks again so much for having me on your show and blog!

Inoculating Against PTSD - Military Meditation

Study suggests meditation may help prevent PTSD By Bryan Bender | Globe Staff December 02, 2012 Kayana Szymczak for the Boston Globe ...

NORTHFIELD, Vt. - It is part of a highly regimented daily routine at Norwich University, the nation's oldest private military academy and a cultivator of battlefield leaders for nearly two centuries.

Dressed in combat fatigues and boots, a platoon of first-year cadets - "Rooks" - are up early in their barracks. On the orders of their instructor, the young men and women take their places. At 0800 sharp, they sit on wooden chairs in a circle and begin - to meditate. The first-of-its-kind training is part of a long-term study to determine whether regular brief periods of silent, peaceful consciousness can improve troops' performance.

Ultimately, researchers hope the transcendental meditation training might be made available across all branches of the military to help inoculate troops against acute post-traumatic stress disorder, which has reached epidemic proportions and is blamed for a record number of suicides in the ranks.

For an institution that demands that incoming cadets exhibit physical and mental toughness, meditation training is a radical approach. The broader military culture had long associated meditation with a leftist, antiwar philosophy. Known by its shorthand, TM was widely introduced to the West by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Hindu leader who once served as the spiritual guru to the Beatles. "I was very skeptical at first," said Norwich president Richard W. Schneider, a retired Coast Guard admiral who is among several university officials who have also been trained in the technique. "I'm not a touchy-feely guy." 'We want to send people to war whole and for them to come back whole.'

But the preliminary results of the study, now in its second year, surprised even its lead researchers. They have been methodically tracking the dozens of participants and several control groups of non-meditating cadets through detailed questionnaires as well as brain wave and eye scans to measure levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. "All those things decreased significantly," said Dr. Carole Bandy, a Norwich psychology professor overseeing the project. "In fact, they decreased very significantly." Positive traits such as critical thinking and mental resilience improved, according to preliminary findings shared with the Globe that Bandy and her team plan to publish next year. The project has garnered high-level attention from the Army.

"Becoming more psychologically fit is just like becoming physically fit. It is better to do it before you are injured," said retired Brigadier General Rhonda Cornum, a surgeon who until recently ran the Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program and visited Norwich three times to be briefed on the work. "There seems to be no question that meditation is, frankly, good for you. I am very encouraged by the Norwich University study."

Not everyone at Norwich is on board. Top university officials acknowledged that a few people in the university community have privately snickered over how meditation is "not Norwichy," though there has been no formal opposition from the faculty or board of trustees. But Reverend William S. Wick, the university's chaplain, remains concerned that its practice could undercut the school's Judeo-Christian foundation. "Contrary to what is claimed by its advocates and presenters, transcendental meditation is not a neutral discipline but is, rather, philosophically, spiritually, mystically, and religiously based - having Hindu monism and a pantheistic world view as its underlying base," Wick told the Globe in an e-mail.

Some 'jokes about nap time' The participating cadets, however, seem to share a single-minded commitment to the meditation sessions, which for now are voluntary. Each of the six men and three women who attended the first of their twice-daily meditation sessions last week sit silently, focusing thoughts on their mantra, a word or phrase privately assigned to them by their instructor in August. For the next 20 minutes they sit motionless, some with their arms crossed, others with hands resting in their laps. Some can be heard breathing, others cannot. "Ok, let's take a few minutes and then open our eyes. Take your time," David Zobeck, one of two meditation instructors, breaks in.

The approach is one among a variety of meditation techniques that date back thousands of years. The periods of silent reflection are intended to nurture what practitioners call "restful alertness" to improve overall mental health.

Zobeck, an Air Force veteran, works for the David Lynch Foundation, founded in 2005 by the film director to provide TM to adults and children suffering from PTSD. Since 2010, it has donated nearly $1 million to teach the technique to military veterans and their families. The foundation is funding Norwich's program. "It seems like some wacko thing from the Far East but there has been so much research done, including on veterans suffering from PTSD who say they have got their life back again," Lynch, who has been meditating for four decades, said in an interview. "It's not a hippie thing, it's a human being thing." "It's like putting on a flak jacket against stress," he added. "The things that used to almost kill you in the stress department have less power. For a soldier this is money in the bank."

The meditating cadets at Norwich agree. "At first it's silly," said Chandler Camlin, 18, a first-year cadet from Stamford, Conn. "But at the end of that 20 minutes, you feel refreshed." "It feels like a whole tremendous thing off your chest," said Dayne Valencia, 19, of Houston. "You feel so much lighter - like you told the truth after holding back for a long time." Before she arrived at Norwich, said Hana Kita, 18, of Titusville, N.J., "I had less activities and I was more tired. I feel less stressed now than I did back home."

Yet the meditating cadets have also faced ridicule from fellow Rooks. "There are a lot of jokes about nap time," said Anthony Russo, 18, of Rockland. But much of the razzing has dissipated since the group recently outperformed the 17 other Rook platoons in the so-called "culminating event," a grueling competition requiring tests of mental and physical resilience. Said Russo: "That pretty much speaks for itself."

More senior cadets who have participated in the study bring a unique perspective. A few of them also serve in the National Guard or Reserves and have already been to combat. Against the din of upperclassmen berating three Rooks running to class, Shea Burke, a 21-year-old junior who returned in February from a seven-month tour in Afghanistan, described his reaction when he learned about the study in the fall: "Are you serious?" But the Marine Reserve lance corporal volunteered to participate. He now believes it has helped him rejoin campus life after a stressful deployment. "You are still twisted and trying to come out of it," he said, wrapping the fingers of both hands together and turning his hands back and forth. "It re-centers yourself." The native of Amherst, N.H., said he could have used it in Afghanistan and knows of other troops who need it now that they are back. "Too many buddies are turning to substances," he said of those who are relying on drugs and alcohol to relieve tension.

Senior Sam Lieber, 21, who was taught TM last year, said he meditated while he was completing reserve officer training last summer aboard the destroyer USS Chafee in the Pacific Ocean. "I still do it regularly when I need to recharge," the Hampton, N.H., native said.

John Dulmage, a Norwich researcher who served in 1991 Persian Gulf War, said he wishes he had been exposed to the technique much earlier. "They never really helped us with our mental health," said Dulmage, 67, a 23-year Marine Corps veteran from Barnard, Vt., who is a trained nurse and the study's chief data cruncher. "We want to send people to war whole and for them to come back whole." He said his recent exposure to TM has helped him cope with the loss of his wife to a debilitating disease. "It sorts stuff out for me," he said.

Among the research project's most influential boosters is retired Army chief of staff General Gordon R. Sullivan, a Norwich graduate and Boston native who is now chairman of Norwich's board of trustees. "It is a way to get out in front and expose them, in a prophylactic way, to help them handle stress before the fact," said Sullivan, who runs the influential Association of the United States Army in Washington. "Whatever skepticism I may have had was dampened."

Later in the training day last week, some cadets got a small taste of what might lie ahead after they receive their commissions as officers in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps. After a drill on the football field, some gather in a corner of the field house for a role-playing exercise designed to test their critical-thinking skills. "You have two soldiers wounded," the instructor tells them. "One shot in the head, no pulse. Another soldier is shot in the chest." Consulting their handouts, the cadets have to make some quick decisions. "We have spent nearly 200 years preparing them physically to be military leaders," said Schneider. "What we have never spent any time doing is making them emotionally prepared for battle. We are waiting until the end of the fight. Why not give it to them before they get into the fight?" Schneider acknowledged that it is "going to take years to track these guys to see how they do." But he doesn't want to wait that long. "My plan is to make it available to anyone who wants it," he said. "I'm not yet to the point of requiring it [but] if this works I will be shouting from the rooftops."

Mike Bond - Saving Paradise

AMERICA’S TRAGIC WIND by Mike Bond

They tower over the wilderness like monstrous War of the Worlds steel insects, half the height of the World Trade Center and equally as visible. Miles and miles and miles of them, till the wilderness becomes industrial, and America’s lovely landscapes are all gone.

They kill birds and bats by the millions, far more than DDT ever did. Their developers laughingly call them “bird Cuisinarts” because they chop whole migrating flocks into piles of feathers and bloody bones.

They destroy communities and outdoor recreation, sicken families and drive them from their homes. They steal people’s money by ruining property values, set neighbors at each other’s throats, terrify wildlife and livestock, cause enormous erosion on hills and mountains, fill spawning grounds with sediment, despoil the beauty of the landscape for miles, and kill tourism.

Yet they are enthusiastically supported by the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups, and by the Obama administration. What are these insanely hideous things? They are called wind “farms”, but they produce no crop except misery, debt and destitution.

Sold to us as “green” and “renewable”, they are neither. These huge multi-billion monstrosities do not lower greenhouse gases or fossil fuel use because wind is so erratic that fossil fuel plants must run full-time to back them up and keep a “fixed” unvarying feed of power into the grid, to keep the grid from getting cooked or causing brownouts. In hundreds of studies across the world, not a single wind project has shown significant environmental value nor lowered greenhouse gases. In some cases they have been shown to increase CO2 generation because the backup plants have to work overtime.

But wind projects are a major cash cow for oil and energy companies that prey on the billions of dollars of taxpayer-funded subsidies provided by the Obama administration, the administration’s “payback” to the energy companies which helped fund the most recent campaign. Scores of other Democrats and some Republicans have voted to do the same.

British Petroleum, those fine folks who polluted the Gulf of Mexico, owns many wind projects and uses the tax credits to avoid reducing pollution at its refineries. Other U.S. wind companies are run by leftover Enron executives who haven’t yet done jail time, or by partners of the Italian Mafia. But they give tons of money to our politicians, who vote them more and more. These billions of dollars of subsidies are added to the 1.3 Trillion Dollars added annually to the national debt, which is now nearing 20 Trillion Dollars and can probably never be repaid.

Hundreds of communities from Maine to Hawaii have erected laws and moratoriums against industrial wind projects, but with our federal government’s backing, wind projects can override total public opposition, and continue their destruction of our wild landscapes and rural areas.

The Sierra Club, recently caught with its hand in the cookie jar taking $26 million from the natural gas industry in return for not criticizing fracking, is now pushing industrial wind power all over the country. Even though they too know wind “farms” don’t lower greenhouse gases or fossil fuel use. But who knows how many contributions they are getting from the wind

As industrial wind developer and oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens once said, “the only thing green about wind power is the money it puts in my pocket.” Do we need to keep them. The answer to the electricity part of America’s greenhouse gas problem is rooftop solar. PV panels are becoming so inexpensive that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) says they’ll soon be cheaper than coal or gas power. And they work as well in cold climates as

As I said in my latest book, SAVING PARADISE, our government is sadly becoming “the enemy of the people”. So it’s time to take our government back. And to get rid of industrial wind power before it devastates the last of our wild places.

Best-selling novelist, environmental activist and war and human rights journalist, Mike Bond can be reached at www.MikeBondBooks.com.

WHO’S REALLY IN CHARGE? by Christine Horner

All human activity is predicated on what we believe about God. Even in the most remote regions on Earth, indigenous cultures alike retell fantastic stories of something much larger than themselves woven into the tapestry of their lives. Our thoughts, whether consciously or not, loosely formulate around the essence of this mysterious force we cannot see, but have been told exists.

With the popularity of The Bible series on the History channel and increasing interest by the media in general, it seems now is the appropriate time to re-open the dialog, “What is God?” If this seems ridiculous to you, then stop and look at the ridiculousness of human behavior in the 21st century. Though technology has surged forward exponentially in the last century, it seems the same struggle and strife found in the Bible and throughout recorded human history exists at similar levels today. So what’s going on? Either the faithful following the Law of Love do so only when it’s convenient, or perhaps there’s something more.

 

CAN WE REALLY SEPARATE CHURCH AND STATE?

Consider that all you know about God has been passed down to you via historical documents and culture and conditioning. As a child, you may have been instructed to obey a condemnatory God, existing beyond our reach at the apex of the heap that metes out reward and punishment based on your blind obedience. These beliefs have allowed mankind to replicate a hierarchal, power-over structure rooted in exclusivity. But is there an apex?

The belief in a separate God is the co-conspirator to our social, economical and political structures. Rather than recognizing our neighbor or neighboring country as a necessary component to our own well-being, individuals, collective groups and nations play economic and literal hitman and we seek to compete with our neighbor for the abundance our home planet abundantly and freely provides. Over three billion people are left in poverty and despair with band-aid relief, lacking adequate food, clean water, shelter, healthcare and education—all in the name of Democracy, Capitalism, and even God.

When you walk into a forest or eco-system, who is in charge? When we contemplate God, all the Omni- words come in to play. Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent… Does God as Creator direct Creation from a disconnected Heaven or is Creation imbued with the same qualities as the Creator so that the acorn grows into a tree under its own power? Or birds journey migratory patterns utilizing their own internal guidance systems—what we call instinct.

By self-definition, Creation is infinite possibility or more accurately infinite expression. By that same self-definition, Creation exists in perpetuity. Its own power source, Creation produces more of itself, the third dimension as part to the whole.

Breaking it down further, third dimensional existence is subject to the Law of Conservation which states that the sum of all energy is constant; energy neither created or destroyed, merely changing form. When life “dies,” its form seems to disappear into formlessness for a time (death), recycling into different form as it re-couples with the rest of Creation. This cyclical pattern is referred to as the Circle of Life. When this is truly understood in its entirety, you see that Creation is form and formlessness—a paradox just coming to light in human consciousness.

A ROSE IS A ROSE

As Creation is self-sustaining as a whole, each part, or fractal is also self-sustaining in the role it fulfills. A rose is a rose; the Serengeti, the Serengeti; the Milky Way galaxy is the Milky Way galaxy. The caveat being that each fractal would necessarily exist in mutually-beneficial, self-similar relationship with other fractals. Thus, once again it is seen there is no separation. Think of the Universe as a giant quilt. It would appear to be random when comparing arbitrary sections, but viewed in its entirety it is a single blanket, as if homogenous in nature. Where is the apex?

What if the world has got it wrong and the Creator is not separate from us, but IS us, as part of the totality of Creation? If humans wish to continue acting out the story of separation, taking a predatory position at the apex of the heap here on Earth, we will continue to harm each other and our home planet. Any human construct requiring blind obedience with no room for inquiry is itself blind, ensuring its own, and our own, demise with its built-in self-destruct mechanism.

Are you ready to deconstruct everything you’ve been told about God by your culture by going within under your own power and try again? If you truly believe we are all one, the first thing that will become abundantly clear is that peace first begins with you, not your neighbor. If peace begins with you and there are nearly seven billion “you(s)” on the planet, who is in charge?

Are you smiling yet?

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Dedicated to the advancement of human consciousness, Christine Horner is the founder In the Garden Publishing and is the author of the recently published “What Is God? Rolling Back the Veil.” Her website is www.ChristineHorner.com. This article may be reprinted in its entirety with full attribution.

Christine Horner - What is God

Mike Finton - Saviors Guardian

Larry Oskin Fine Art Photographer

Celebrate Beauty With Fine Art!

Art Beautique Offers Inspirational Artwork
Created Expressly For Homes, Offices, Salons, Spas & Medical Centers

There now is a beautiful and affordable new opportunity to decorate your home or office with inspirational and customized Art Beautique images! Everyone needs to use artwork and décor to create a beautifully exciting environment.

Art Beautique Collections: Art Beautique was launched by fine art photographer, Larry Oskin. Art Beautique is a virtual art gallery servicing homes, offices, spas, salons and medical centers. The Art Beautique Collection celebrates the beauty of life. Some of the various collections include images from beautycare, glamour, nature, flowers, animals, landscapes and world capitals.

Artist ~ Larry Oskin: Originally from Buffalo, New York, Oskin has exhibited his original limited edition professional artwork in private art galleries and city museums across the USA, Canada and the world. His accomplishments include exhibiting at the famous Albright-Knox Art Gallery, considered one of the ten best modern art museums in the world. He continues to regularly exhibit his fine art collections within retail art galleries.

While Oskin now specializes in the professional beauty, salon, spa and medical industries, Oskin was Director of Marketing for Circle Fine Art earlier in his career. Circle Fine Art was respected as the world’s largest fine art publisher and art gallery chain, where he provided marketing for Peter Max, Erté, Yaacov Agam, Norman Rockwell, LeRoy Neiman, Marcel Mouley, Walt Disney Studios and many internationally respected artists. Before founding Marketing Solutions, he was formerly a Vice President of Marketing at Regis Corporation and Creative Hairdressers / The Hair Cuttery, two internationally respected beautycare salon chain companies.

Photo Impressionism: The Art Beautique collection celebrates the special inspirations of beauty Oskin has created a distinctive style sharing unique photographic art that often appears to be more like an impressionist painting, than a typical fine art photograph. Oskin shares, “My Art Beautique artwork is very stylized. I love to inspire others through bright, bold and vivid imagery that shares a sense of emotion, tranquility and relaxation. Each image is digitally enhanced to balance Oskin’s strong sense of color, layout and design. Through the fine art of digital photography, we are able to share what we can see, sense and feel, yet not touch! I believe that fine art photography remains one of our best artistic forms of creative media and visual expression. With fine art photography, we are able to share the instant of a beautiful sunrise, sunset and
cloud, which may only otherwise be a mere quick memory. With fine art photography, we are able to enjoy the memory of smiles, happiness, sorrow, love, warmth, friendship, beauty and spirit as well as to remember the unique joy we may have experienced from a complete array of emotions. A picture may only be worth 1000 words, while little else will compare when you are able to capture any special moment in time!”

The Art Beautique Collection celebrates the beauty of women, glamour, nature, flowers, animals, cityscapes and world capitals. The Art Beautique Collection is highlighted with original posterized abstract photographs and photographically enhanced canvas artwork. Oskin shares, “I am truly inspired by beauty. One of my primary goals remains to help women look great and to feel better about themselves while improving their self-respect, image, credibility and pride.”

Create Customized Artwork For Your Home Or Office! While hundreds of original fine art images by Larry Oskin are available, Art Beautique also offers you customized opportunities to create very special original artwork for your home or office while facilitating your own special photography sessions. Whether you share your own professional digital photography images or bring Oskin into your home and business; the opportunities for customized artwork are limitless.

Marketing Solutions: Oskin is also owner of Marketing Solutions as a full-service marketing, advertising, graphic design, photography and PR agency specializing in the professional beauty, salon, spa, health, wellness and medical industries – having worked with professional beautycare companies from across the globe. At Marketing Solutions, Oskin and his team create professional full-service marketing strategies with creative advertising, graphic design and photography services.

Inspired By Beauty! Visit Art Beautique at www.ArtBeautique.com. Art Beautique artwork is available in canvas prints as well as “matted presentations, suitable for framing. A second website offers you images in a poster format at http://larry-oskin.artistwebsites.com/galleries.html. For more information, contact Larry Oskin at 703-934-5495 and LOskin@MktgSols.com. For more information on Marketing Solutions, call 703-359-6000 or visit www.MktgSols.com.

Sherrie Clark - Small Voices Silenced

The Foster Care Machine: Well-Oiled or Broken Down

The Foster Care Machine: Well-Oiled or Broken Down?

By Sherrie Clark

The foster care system gets a lot of bad publicity. Debatable is whether its reputation is warranted and whether what you read and hear is factual or an over exaggeration. What isn’t debatable is that the foster care system does exist, that it’s alive and well, and that it’s a much bigger machine than given credit.

So, let’s examine the different components of this machine. From what I’ve seen, the parts of the machine are the workers. The energy that generates it is the law, some of which are subjectively construed based on a worker’s agenda. Although we would hope it would be all about following the letter of the law, it doesn’t always happen that way. As a result, that part becomes faulty.  

A corrupt part, of course, causes a machine to become dysfunctional. A prudent person would replace that part lest the whole machine breaks down. Not so with this machine. It keeps the corrupt part and continues operations, or so it seems.

All along the way, families are inserted into this machine to be “fixed.” If these items are placed without considering balance, it could cause the machine to wobble. After awhile, the wobbling causes the gears to be stripped, and the machine stalls. The items are removed, still in the same condition as when first placed into this machine. They are then declared as they should be instead of how they really are. And you’re left with thinking, well, what about the children?

Now we have an issue of reality. Just saying something is fixed doesn’t make it true, especially if the tool that was intended to fix it breaks down. Taking a child from a home for a period of time—and sometimes that period can be quite lengthy—and then returning that same child into a situation that’s been declared as it should be instead of how it really is has the potential to lead to calamity.

When a child is removed from a home, his or her parents or caregivers are given twelve months to complete the tasks given in a case plan. These are supposed to be customized based on what it was that caused them to be caught in the foster care system’s web.

But fear not! The system works hard, and I mean it works hard to return a child back to a home. In many cases, the real motto appears to be “Ready or not, here they come.” The system chants “reunification, reunification” as the square peg is forced…crammed into the round hole. This is especially true for those who have bought into the pervasive apathy that’s more the rule than the exception. In reality, this reprehensible indifference toward the welfare of a child is more of a cancer to its ideological mantra of “in the best interest of a child.”

What’s ironic is that the foster care system was created for children, but somewhere along the way, these same children have somehow managed to be reduced to by-products of a system gone awry. What has topped the priority list appears to be power aspirations and a healthy financial bottom line. And we’re left questioning, what about the children?

I’m sure that many of you are thinking that I must be a bitter, former client of the foster care system, and that I’m venting my frustrations. Well, yes and no. I was once a foster parent who unwittingly got inducted into this secret society. And the experience provided quite an education, one that you can’t get from any book, any training class, or from the latest statistics. We related to Alice and what she must have felt like after falling down the rabbit hole and into the unique world of Wonderland. In our unique world, though, children appeared to be an expendable commodity. And we were left feeling perplexed and asking, but what about the children?

So my origin of complaint isn’t from anger that evolved from pain but from a righteous anger that erupted from the injustices I personally witnessed. I once rode the mad merry-go-round of dysfunction where fear led to secrecy which led to dysfunction which led to fear which led to secrecy and so on. But I jumped off a long time ago, yet I see that the very things that drove me away are still very integrated in the engine that propels the system.

You may ask, “What things?” Well, how much time do you have? Suffice it to say that the misinterpretations of laws initially designed to protect children continues status quo. Let’s say that what’s actually in the best interest of a child is not necessarily what’s pursued in all cases. These are only a few issues (and don’t even get me started on the emotional roller-coaster ride they make foster parents suffer through).

What I see as the crux of the system’s problem are the actions by many of this society’s members that adhere to the very definition of corruption: “impairment of integrity; a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct” (Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). And we’re left frustrated, still wanting to know—what about the children?

My complaint isn’t so much against the system; in some cases, it has worked and done the job it was meant to do. My complaint isn’t against reunification with parents who once had their children removed from their custody; reunifying a child to parents who have worked hard to remedy their situation has got to be one of the most gratifying experiences for the system. No, my complaint goes much, much deeper. I take issue with any entity, person, or institution that insists on returning vulnerable and innocent children to those who either can’t change or refuse to change or simply haven’t finished changing. That’s the monster. When a system turns a blind eye to atrocious actions just to get another “reunification” on their record and just to save a few bucks at the cost of a child, it is in dire need of its own rehabilitation. And we’re left demanding, what about the children?

But will the system ever fess up to its shortcomings? My guess would be no, not until society has been made aware of what this system is capable of doing for the sake of anything but the child. And that’s what I hope I’ve initiated in my recently released, award-winning book Small Voices Silenced. Although this true story doesn’t lash out at the system as harshly as this article, it does expose some of the most horrid practices among foster care agencies. Although it includes all the components of a juicy fiction novel, remembering that it is a true story will deliver an extra emotional punch that can shake readers to their core.

And hopefully justice will eventually prevail, and we’ll come to a satisfying conclusion—that the world of foster care has returned to its roots of great intentions, where what’s in the best interest of a child once again takes priority.