HaPpy BiRtHdAy to Mieke today, Sept. 27th!!

May your day be as special as you are!

Mieke, there are many birthday wish's going out to you on the Sept.13th OT....

Much Love,
North and the Fam

http://www.intentblog.com/archives/2006/09/open_thread_42.html

is the OT Mieke, with lots of birthday wish's being said for you today....

@Admin: thankyou, for providing for us, another Open Thread this week! May the conversations here, be titilating, aspiring, inspirational and smothered with peace...

Check this out you may like it...........

God created the donkey and said to him.
"You will be a donkey. You will work untiringly from sunrise to sunset
carrying burdens on your back. You will eat grass,
you will have no intelligence and you will live 50 years."
The donkey answered:
"I will be a donkey, but to live 50 years is much. Give me only 20
years"
God granted his wish.
...........................
God created the dog and said to him:

"You will guard the house of man. You will be his best Friend.
You will eat the scraps that he gives you and you will live 30 years.
You will be a dog. "
The dog answered:
"Sir, to live 30 years is too much, give me only 15 years.
"God granted his wish.
........................
God created the monkey and said to him:
"You will be a monkey. You will swing from branch to branch doing
tricks.
You will be amusing and you will live 20 years. "
The monkey answered:
"To live 20 years is too much, give me only 10 years."
God granted his wish.
.......................

Finally God created man ... and said to him:

"You will be man, the only rational creature on the face of the earth.
You will use your intelligence to become master over all the animals.
You will dominate the world and you will live 20 years."
Man responded:
"Sir, I will be a man but to live only 20 years is very little, give me the 30 years that the donkey refused, the 15 years that the dog did not want and the 10 years the monkey refused.
"God granted man's wish
........................
And since then, man lives
20 years as a man,
Marries and spends
30 years like a donkey,
Working and carrying all the burdens on his back.
Then when his children are grown,
He lives 15 years like a dog taking care of the house
And eating whatever is given to him,
So that when he is old,
He can retire and live 10 years like a monkey,
Going from house to house and from one son or
Daughter to another doing tricks to amuse his grandchildren.
That's Life.
Is it not??????????

Sanjeev

India feels its air just starting to cool, in the dark of its late evening. In its bright midday, the US splits raggedly with northern cool and southern warmth. On Intentblog, the complex heat and current darkness of India runs in and clasps hands, and then runs away, leading a masterful dance with Europe's late day, Australia's night, US's bright skies, and all points between, in a dizzying swirl of words, thoughts and passions. What an amazing place to visit!

love, Heather

Dear Mohinder Suresh,

You wrote a touching piece in the other thread, even though you say that you cannot write. Like all others who addressed you before me, I would also urge you (and other silent admirers of IB like you) to shed your inhibitions and write here whenever your heart desires. Don't worry about whether your grammar is correct or whether you are eloquent enough.......that's all crap. What matters most is whether you write from the heart or not. IB is a place where people come to write and share their thoughts just for the fun of it, not to take part in some "best writers competition".

Each one here is a unique writer and each one is valuable.

Cheers!
Navin

Thanks Rehan.

Heather, I tell you what. You ought to write a Weekly Intent one of these days. That was brilliant! Indeed time and geography shrink in cyberspace. Good day to you!

Sanjeev

Dear Mieke,
I hope you are having a wonderful birthday filled with love and joy.
Many of these days,
Donatella

Dear Sanjeev,

Your #4 was a very apt description of the life of the male of the human species on this planet. LOL. Thanks.

Cheers!
Navin

Dear Savjeev

It's only there sometimes, not often enough to fuel a weekly intent. Today there was a confluence of rich, tender, lyric thoughts here, in a 90-minute period of time, especially on Aresenio's Quietude, which seemed to have lent a fringe of lucid energy to everything else. You're very kind, but I'm a painter-in-waiting.

love, Heather

The Hindu festival of Navaratri (the nine nights of the goddess) occurs each year during the months of September-October. This year it runs for nine nights from either September 22 or 23, depending on which part of the world you live in. It ends on the 10th day, known as the day of victory.

Navaratri – the cycle of transformation
The cycle of nine nights and the 10th day of victory in Navaratri is a time when we can undergo a powerfully transformative experience. One way in which we can achieve this is by committing to complete a spiritual discipline during the period of Navaratri, a sadhana. This often involves chanting a set number of mantras every day for nine days.

The nine nights are divided into three groups of 3 days, which are under the auspices of three different goddesses. The first three days are under the auspices of Durga-Kali (destruction of the negative in us), the second under Lakshmi (abundance in all forms) and the third under Saraswati (spiritual illumination).

During the first three-day period of Durga-Kali we often undergo recognition and purification of negative patterns in our body-mind, a process that can sometimes be a little distressing if we are not prepared.

During the second three-day period of Lakshmi we are ready to garner the forces of abundance and attain the means to live a good life and to support others.

During the third three day period of Saraswati spiritual realizations dawn as a result of successfully completing the previous days of practice.

This ultimately leads to the 10th day in which all the forces combine to create spiritual victory over the forces of darkness within.

http://www.bigshakti.com/navaratri.html

Dear SANjeev! So sorry! That's the second serious typo I made today. Left and right forefingers exchanged their places on that one.

love, Heather

Disclaimer:

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it,
or who said it, no matter if I have said it,
unless it agrees with your own reason
and your own common sense.

Buddha

Dear Rehan,

If I'm not mistaken, your name means Basil or sweet Basil. Right? This was also Aamir Khan's name in the huge hit this year, Fanaa, and sounds great.

Cheers!
Navin

Chapter 11
Hymn to Narayani

The Rishi said: When the great lord of asuras was slain there by the Devi, Indra and other devas led by Agni, with their object fulfilled and their cheerful faces illumining the quarters, praised her, (Katyayani). The devas said: 'O Devi, you who remove the sufferings of your suppliants, be gracious. Be propitious, O Mother of the whole world. Be gracious, O Mother of the universe. Protect the universe. You are, O Devi, the ruler of all that is moving and unmoving. You are the sole substratum of the world, because you subsist in the form of the earth. By you, who exist in the shape of water, all this (universe) is gratified, O Devi of inviolable valour! You are the power of Vishnu, and have endless valour. You are the primeval maya, which is the source of the universe; by you all this (universe) has been thrown into an illusion. O Devi. If you become gracious, you become the cause of final emancipation in this world.

Heather,

What makes you think that painting and writing are two mutually exclusive arts? Suchitra—Shekhar’s wife—is a painter-cum-actress-cum-dancer-cum-singer-cum-writer! And Navin is a budding actor, but he writes well and has appeared on Weekly Intent twice (may be more?). I have been reading your comments; you come across as a very sensitive person with a keen perception and an uncanny ability to see through people.

You also said you read a lot. Muse is a very fickle mistress. With a little perseverance she can be at your beck and call.

Sanjeev

I am enjoying this thoroughly! LOL.

Kate, the hacker has written on my profile page again, hearing your question. Just click on my typekey profile icon. This hacker guy is a clown. I'm lovin it.

Cheers!
Navin

Here is a copy paste of what the hacker has posted:

"Tell Kate not to be too curious. I am not in a mood to go for a walk with her which I am sure is her ulterior motive to punish me after I were, revealed (I am trembling and literally shivering now! Are you setting a trap Mister? Believe me, it is waste of time.) I hope you wouldn’t further suggest your own theories with false associations when you chanced upon some irrelevant evidence.………………..Thanks for your unintended help anyway in the fiasco of the last few days. Your advice is taken, I shall go take a walk but on one condition, don’t force me to do that with Kate…………….As I said, I like to see you mention S, RK in your comments. At least stand by S, I believe you have the piercing eyes to see all the avatars of this Little Krishna in the presence, Re,Wh,Wa,Am, the first two already contacted you, the last two are little secret weapons, now don’t abandon your friends. OK, I shall take a walk now, a solitary walk indeed!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIEKE. LOVe and GOD bless.

I loved #4 Sanjeev, thanks. Namaskar.

Pyari Saheli Heather, your #5 has 5 exquisite lines. Please do write a weekly intent. Love and God bless.

Donatella #12 is very nice. I had the good fortune of listening to a divine sage this past weekend. He told us the story of DURGA MATHA. I would like to share the gist of it.Love and God bless.

Long long time ago, during the time of DEVAS, Asuras etc in the Indian Subcontinent(Mythological times), there were two Asuras, SHUMBHA, and NISHUMBHA who were especially mean, brave, and had many boons and were very powerful. They were troubling the Devas and defeated them in war and took their kingdom and their positions.All the Devas including Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva entreated Divine Mother to help them. Divine Mother took the DURGA avatar and appeared, all the Devas gave their subtle energies also to her, SHE was invincible and defeated the Asuras. So we celebrate NAVARATRI in rememberance of that.

I am on a fruit fast, during the day, like many women all over India and elsewhere. We started the fast on Saturday the 23rd. We will end it on the 1st of october. We also either read DEVI MAHATME, chant Durga ashtottara, or Lalitha Sahasranama.

NAVARATRI GREETINGS TO ALL MY FRIENDS AT IB.

Dear Geeta,
Thank you. I dedicate the Mahalakshmiashtakam to you.
Tomorrow, I will start the Saraswati mantra.
Namaste,
Donatella

@Geeta--Many Blessings and Happy Celebrations to all those celebrating...

Dear Hacker,
(Thus addressed due to confusion on your Real name/s)
Be assured - taking a walk in the park was not on my mind, but now that you mention it, I will take my broken heart and tears to the river at sunset, and reflect on your rejection.
Well,
thanks for ruining my afternoon.
Ever yours
in dreams only,
~ Kate

@Kate--dear Kate.. please don't be wounded by the calousness of another? I wish that post were never posted here... which caused you this un-necessary pain.

Realize dear Kate..they reject themselve's when they reject your love-offering...

so very many of us have walked with you this past year, and will at anytime you would have us with you...

Love,
North

Dear Kate,

I hope you were not serious in your #25. Just laugh at the Hacker like I do. He is just playing a little game with us. Let us just play along and amuse ourselves.

Dear Hacker,

Hope you will write something to mend the broken heart of dear Katie in your next hacking adventure.

Cheers & good night!
Navin

Dear North,
Thank you for your sweet words.
I am truly baffled at the rejection of the hacker/s.
I can only say,
I would never force anyone
to walk with me,
~ Kate

Dear Navin,
Here are my tears, that you have gently captured in your warm hands.
Sweet dreams to you
(and dear hacker/s - please let Navin rest in peace tonight)
~ Katie

@Dear Kate.. that post should not have been openly-posted.. seems to me, it were only meant for Navin? Navin, why would you post this painful thing for Kate to read here at IB?

Kate, continue walking in your beauty..and those of us captivated by your kindness, will always see the beauty as you do...

Love,
North

TypeKey is a free, open system providing you a central identity for posting comments on weblogs and logging into other websites. You can register for free.

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Comment Registration with TypeKey
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It Works All Over the Web
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http://www.sixapart.com/typekey/

Rehan, it is such a pleasure to meet you. Salam Ale Kum. Thank you dear Rehan. We are all sparks of the same Divinity, whether we call Him/Her Allah or Durga Matha. At the level of soul Navin, Sanjeev, North, Donatella, Heather, Kate, the Hacker, and the rest of us, including you and I are one.

Durga Matha is ferocious to the evil doers, and gentle to the gentle folk. Parvati is a gentle Goddess and takes care of pregnant women.

Thank you North.

Thank you Donatella. You are so beautiful inside and out, just like the Divine Mother. Love and God bless.

Dear Hacker, please come and celebrate Navaratri with us. Namaskar.

Although I mentioned a long break, I never promised not to show up once in a while. Before I too get banned here, let me assure everybody that my intentions on intentblog are sincere and my “guiding light” is truth, reality and reason!

Faith vs. Reason.

A reason-based mind will say this:

“Mysticism is a rational enterprise. Religion is not. The mystic has recognized something about the nature of consciousness prior to thought, and this recognition is susceptible to rational discussion. The mystic has reasons for what he believes, and these reasons are empirical. The roiling mystery of the world can be analyzed with concepts (this is science), or it can be experienced free of concepts (this is mysticism). Religion is nothing more than bad concepts held in place of good ones for all time. It is the denial - at once full of hope and full of fear - of the vastitude of human ignorance.”

”A kernel of truth lurks at the heart of religion, because spiritual experience, ethical behavior, and strong communities are essential for human happiness. And yet, our religious traditions are intellectually defunct and politically ruinous. While spiritual experience is clearly a natural propensity of the human mind, we need not believe anything on insufficient evidence to actualize it. Clearly, it must be possible to bring reason, spirituality, and ethics together in our thinking about the world. This would be the beginning of a rational approach to our deepest personal concerns. It would also be the end of faith.”

In contrast, a faith-based brain might write something like this:

--Wisdom tradition will grow to embrace the great spiritual teachings at the heart of organized religion.
--Faith will no longer be seen as an irrational departure from reason and science.
--Aspects of the paranormal and miraculous will be widely credited.
--Prayer will be seen as real and efficacious.
--Manifestation of desires will be talked about as a real phenomenon.
A faith-based brain may even feel that remote cutlery bending is a reality that our culture is trying to deny us, or connect consciousness to quantum mechanics and critical mass.

Some of the reason-based minds belong to: Richard Feynman, Sam Harris, Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking. These guys will share their knowledge with you in language you can understand. They won’t ask you to abandon well-established laws of physics but will explain these laws to you. You will end up with knowledge not belief, fact not fiction!

The above reason-based reflections are Sam Harris’s.

Posted on:
www.intentblog.com
http://www.krishworld.com/politics/
http://whitewings.sulekha.com/blogs/commentdisplay.aspx?cid=98567

“If what Richard Bronson is promising materializes, it will have put him in the rank of one of the world's most generous philanthropists, "planetarians" and humanitarians of all time.”
Well said Ron. The highlight in Germany was my buddy Kuhn getting his young team into the next round, followed by the lowlight of them being eliminated without conceding a single goal!

Yes Kate, soccer is it. Our favoured sport tends to be like our religion, what we grow up with we often stick with.

Even though we are all born atheists!
But then the miracle happens. As we grow up, most of our parents and our cultures choose the only true God for us. By the time we are adults, we are so convinced we have faith in the only real God we start killing each other because the others believe in a false one.

What would have happened if we had all stayed atheists or agnostics, focusing on things that are, rather than believing in thing that are not?

Dear Kate,

My suspicion is that the hacker would very much like to join you on one of your walks, hoping to get your attention by stating the opposite.

Love, Patzi

@Dear Patzi...good point! : )

@Dear Geeta... best wish's allways, Geeta..((not just during this celebration(wink))

Love,
North

Dear Kate and everyone else

I would not take anything the hacker and WW have to say seriously. Their purpose is to create dissension and discomfort, to weaken the bonds between people, break down mutual support, and exercise psychological power over people here, from time to time. They are not the kind of people you want as your best friends, needless to say.

love, Heather

Dear Mieke,

Many happy returns for today my love...

I hope your birthday today was a very special day for a very special woman....

I will write you a birthday card tomorrow...

Lots of love

MWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAA XX

Simon xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xxx x xx xx xxx

@Simon--you are sooO sweet!! Will you share the card here with us.. or is only Mieke privy to it, being as she's the birthday girl!!

Oh where o where, is our birthday girl??

@Heather--great points Heather!! I do hope you are feeling better soon, and have recovered from the near-hit by a vehicle the other day.

North

Aloha to Patty and hello to Skeptisch.
Enjoy your walk, Kate :)
Love,
Donatella

Since the days when Roman Emperors threw Christians to the lions, the relations between the emperors and the heads of the church have undergone many changes.

Constantine the Great, who became Emperor in the year 306--exactly 1700 years ago--encouraged the practice of Christianity in the empire, which included Palestine. Centuries later, the church split into an Eastern (Orthodox) and a Western (Catholic) part. In the West, the Bishop of Rome, who acquired the title of Pope, demanded that the Emperor accept his superiority.

The struggle between the Emperors and the Popes played a central role in European history and divided the peoples. It knew ups and downs. Some Emperors dismissed or expelled a Pope, some Popes dismissed or excommunicated an Emperor. One of the Emperors, Henry IV, "walked to Canossa", standing for three days barefoot in the snow in front of the Pope's castle, until the Pope deigned to annul his excommunication.

But there were times when Emperors and Popes lived in peace with each other. We are witnessing such a period today. Between the present Pope, Benedict XVI, and the present Emperor, George Bush II, there exists a wonderful harmony. Last week's speech by the Pope, which aroused a world-wide storm, went well with Bush's crusade against "Islamofascism", in the context of the "Clash of Civilizations".

* * *

IN HIS lecture at a German university, the 265th Pope described what he sees as a huge difference between Christianity and Islam: while Christianity is based on reason, Islam denies it. While Christians see the logic of God's actions, Muslims deny that there is any such logic in the actions of Allah.

As a Jewish atheist, I do not intend to enter the fray of this debate. It is much beyond my humble abilities to understand the logic of the Pope. But I cannot overlook one passage, which concerns me too, as an Israeli living near the fault-line of this "war of civilizations".

In order to prove the lack of reason in Islam, the Pope asserts that the prophet Muhammad ordered his followers to spread their religion by the sword. According to the Pope, that is unreasonable, because faith is born of the soul, not of the body. How can the sword influence the soul?

To support his case, the Pope quoted--of all people--a Byzantine Emperor, who belonged, of course, to the competing Eastern Church. At the end of the 14th century, the Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus told of a debate he had--or so he said (its occurrence is in doubt)--with an unnamed Persian Muslim scholar. In the heat of the argument, the Emperor (according to himself) flung the following words at his adversary:

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".

These words give rise to three questions:

(a) Why did the Emperor say them?

(b) Are they true?

(c) Why did the present Pope quote them?

* * *

WHEN MANUEL II wrote his treatise, he was the head of a dying empire. He assumed power in 1391, when only a few provinces of the once illustrious empire remained. These, too, were already under Turkish threat.

At that point in time, the Ottoman Turks had reached the banks of the Danube. They had conquered Bulgaria and the north of Greece, and had twice defeated relieving armies sent by Europe to save the Eastern Empire. In 1453, only a few years after Manuel's death, his capital, Constantinople (the present Istanbul) fell to the Turks, putting an end to the Empire that had lasted for more than a thousand years.

During his reign, Manuel made the rounds of the capitals of Europe in an attempt to drum up support. He promised to reunite the church. There is no doubt that he wrote his religious treatise in order to incite the Christian countries against the Turks and convince them to start a new crusade. The aim was practical, theology was serving politics.

In this sense, the quote serves exactly the requirements of the present Emperor, George Bush II. He, too, wants to unite the Christian world against the mainly Muslim "Axis of Evil". Moreover, the Turks are again knocking on the doors of Europe, this time peacefully. It is well known that the Pope supports the forces that object to the entry of Turkey into the European Union.

* * *

IS THERE any truth in Manuel's argument?

The pope himself threw in a word of caution. As a serious and renowned theologian, he could not afford to falsify written texts. Therefore, he admitted that the Qur'an specifically forbade the spreading of the faith by force. He quoted the second Sura, verse 256 (strangely fallible, for a pope, he meant verse 257) which says: "There must be no coercion in matters of faith".

How can one ignore such an unequivocal statement? The Pope simply argues that this commandment was laid down by the prophet when he was at the beginning of his career, still weak and powerless, but that later on he ordered the use of the sword in the service of the faith. Such an order does not exist in the Qur'an. True, Muhammad called for the use of the sword in his war against opposing tribes--Christian, Jewish and others--in Arabia, when he was building his state. But that was a political act, not a religious one; basically a fight for territory, not for the spreading of the faith.

Jesus said: "You will recognize them by their fruits." The treatment of other religions by Islam must be judged by a simple test: How did the Muslim rulers behave for more than a thousand years, when they had the power to "spread the faith by the sword"?

Well, they just did not.

For many centuries, the Muslims ruled Greece. Did the Greeks become Muslims? Did anyone even try to Islamize them? On the contrary, Christian Greeks held the highest positions in the Ottoman administration. The Bulgarians, Serbs, Romanians, Hungarians and other European nations lived at one time or another under Ottoman rule and clung to their Christian faith. Nobody compelled them to become Muslims and all of them remained devoutly Christian.

True, the Albanians did convert to Islam, and so did the Bosniaks. But nobody argues that they did this under duress. They adopted Islam in order to become favorites of the government and enjoy the fruits.

In 1099, the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem and massacred its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants indiscriminately, in the name of the gentle Jesus. At that time, 400 years into the occupation of Palestine by the Muslims, Christians were still the majority in the country. (my addition: Same is the case with India. After almost 1000 years of Muslim rule, majority of Indians are not muslims) Throughout this long period, no effort was made to impose Islam on them. Only after the expulsion of the Crusaders from the country, did the majority of the inhabitants start to adopt the Arabic language and the Muslim faith--and they were the forefathers of most of today's Palestinians.

* * *

THERE IS no evidence whatsoever of any attempt to impose Islam on the Jews. As is well known, under Muslim rule the Jews of Spain enjoyed a bloom the like of which the Jews did not enjoy anywhere else until almost our time. Poets like Yehuda Halevy wrote in Arabic, as did the great Maimonides. In Muslim Spain, Jews were ministers, poets, scientists. In Muslim Toledo, Christian, Jewish and Muslim scholars worked together and translated the ancient Greek philosophical and scientific texts. That was, indeed, the Golden Age. How would this have been possible, had the Prophet decreed the "spreading of the faith by the sword"?

What happened afterwards is even more telling. When the Catholics re-conquered Spain from the Muslims, they instituted a reign of religious terror. The Jews and the Muslims were presented with a cruel choice: to become Christians, to be massacred or to leave. And where did the hundreds of thousand of Jews, who refused to abandon their faith, escape? Almost all of them were received with open arms in the Muslim countries. The Sephardi ("Spanish") Jews settled all over the Muslim world, from Morocco in the west to Iraq in the east, from Bulgaria (then part of the Ottoman Empire) in the north to Sudan in the south. Nowhere were they persecuted. They knew nothing like the tortures of the Inquisition, the flames of the auto-da-fe, the pogroms, the terrible mass-expulsions that took place in almost all Christian countries, up to the Holocaust.

WHY? Because Islam expressly prohibited any persecution of the "peoples of the book". In Islamic society, a special place was reserved for Jews and Christians. They did not enjoy completely equal rights, but almost. They had to pay a special poll-tax, but were exempted from military service--a trade-off that was quite welcome to many Jews. It has been said that Muslim rulers frowned upon any attempt to convert Jews to Islam even by gentle persuasion--because it entailed the loss of taxes.

Every honest Jew who knows the history of his people cannot but feel a deep sense of gratitude to Islam, which has protected the Jews for fifty generations, while the Christian world persecuted the Jews and tried many times "by the sword" to get them to abandon their faith.

* * *

THE STORY about "spreading the faith by the sword" is an evil legend, one of the myths that grew up in Europe during the great wars against the Muslims--the reconquista of Spain by the Christians, the Crusades and the repulsion of the Turks, who almost conquered Vienna. I suspect that the German Pope, too, honestly believes in these fables. That means that the leader of the Catholic world, who is a Christian theologian in his own right, did not make the effort to study the history of other religions.

Why did he utter these words in public? And why now?

There is no escape from viewing them against the background of the new Crusade of Bush and his evangelist supporters, with his slogans of "Islamofascism" and the "Global War on Terrorism"--when "terrorism" has become a synonym for Muslims. For Bush's handlers, this is a cynical attempt to justify the domination of the world's oil resources. Not for the first time in history, a religious robe is spread to cover the nakedness of economic interests; not for the first time, a robbers' expedition becomes a Crusade.

The speech of the Pope blends into this effort. Who can foretell the dire consequences

From: http://www.counterpunch.com/avnery09262006.html

Terri Irwin--an interview with Barbara Walters from Australia. I had written a piece on Steve's tragic death on my blog. Watching Terri, whom showed such strength, and I admire her courage to face the nation...the photo's shown, are captivating and completely touched me to the core. Such a tragic and senseless death.... Crickey Steve, you will be missed!!

Naj---great post!!

North

If this ship sinks - a valve is let loose - in a drunken brawl - who can we count on - other than Kate? - to deliver that death kiss - to spread her seraph wings - up heavenwards - in a surreal walk?

(These words are put together as per the wish of my employer)

*

Your sincere concerns shall be heard. We are looking for at least ten messages from the regulars of this blog, which should include at least five men, five women and one contributor. After our conditions are met, every minute detail shall be addressed with utmost care and seriousness. It is an unusually generous offer from my employer, who is a very busy person.

Kobayashi, Consigliere to Keyser Söze

Kate is a kindly woman, filled with unconditional love and compassion for every member at Intent, including those, whom would hurt her with immature, careless, willful abandon. She has a daughter and parents, whom she adores, and speaks of them regularly, sharing the joy they give to her, with us all. Kate is adored by everyone here at IB! I have never seen Kate say an unkind word, not even when provoked. She is a lamp.

With Loving Kindness,
North

True Meanings of Computer Industry Acronyms

AOL: Almost On-Line
Apple: Arrogance Produces Profit-Losing Entity
ACRONYM: A Completely Random Order Never Yields Meaning
Basic: Bill's (Gates) Attempt to Seize Industry Control
CD-ROM: Consumer Device, Rendered Obsolete in Months
DEC: Do Expect Cuts
DOS: Defunct Operating System
IBM: I Blame Microsoft
ISDN: It Still Does Nothing
Macintosh: Most Applications Crash, If Not, The Operating System Hangs
M.C.S.E.: Must Call Someone Else
MICROSOFT : Most Intelligent Customers Realize Our Software Only Fools Teenagers
OS/2: Obsolete Soon, Too
PCMCIA: People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms
PENTIUM : Produces Erroneous Numbers Thru Incorrect Understanding of Mathematics
SCSI: System Can't See It
WINDOWS : Will Install Needless Data On Whole System
WWW: World Wide Wait

Sanjeev

Couldnt remember if i had sent you all this site before. If not then take a look...probly one of the best i have ever found concerning real world functional fitness. Used by many trainers, athletes, military, law enforcement etc...very well rounded for all ages and fitness levels.

Their philosophy in 100 words...
Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports. http://www.crossfit.com/

They say to start with the warm up and a scaled down version of the WOD "workout of the day".

Afew Crossfit women...very inspiring :
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/051204.wmv

Jack LaLane's birthday was Tuesday.

He turned 94. Will he swim the English Channel again?

At work, 26 yrs. ago, they called me "Jack",

can't imagine why...

Condolances to the family of Byron Nelson(golfer),

he passed on yesterday at the age of 92.

David,

It looks like the devil has reared his ugly head again there in Colorado this time in Bailey high school. You take care friend.

Kind Regards,
Stan

Hello Everyone,

food for thought and upcoming elections in November

So, if our President Bush is pretty much telling our House and Senate that he NEEDS to TORTURE, so, they better hop to it and give him the a-okay in writing doesn't that pretty much exonerate all the men and women who were convicted of torturing in the Abu Grubby affair becuase, yes, we now know, that, in fact, they were following orders; the dogs, the naked bodies piled on one another, the hooded hangmen, the sexual stuff all the degredation that was photographed with these enlisted men and women was just them doing their jobs and now they are in jail, court martialed. What is wrong with this picture? Shouldn't we be standing up for our enlisted and making the Department of Defense release them or if not shouldn't we insist that Bush and Rumsfeld suffer the same punishment for the torture?

What is the deal here, the Attorney General denied that torture was okayed and encouraged, but if that were the case why would our President insist on getting an okay in writing from our House and Senate.

Why did those Republicans make such a big deal about it and then pretty much say okay to what the President was asking?

Why is the American public so stupid as to let the men at the top put enlisted men and women, who risk limb and life for our Nation's safety, be punished for following orders?

I am confused.

Dear Kate

I hope the sun is shining for you today, and if it's not, you like the weather anyway. Fresh breezes down by you are snaking their way up the Atlantic the coast, all the way to here. Love, hugs and kisses to you.

Dear Geeta, North

Thanks for your wishes about my health, the strep throat I contracted as a result of the shock of my near-accident is backing down now.

Dear Sanjeev

Your confidence is me is touching, but I'm a painter-in-waiting. Most writing I do is a way of trying to distract myself from the difficulty of facing that. (Two of your IT acronym defs are slightly dated, as Apple has redeemed itself in the past 18 months.)

Dear Kobayashi on behalf of Keyser

I'm glad your employer paid proper tribute to Kate.

Otherwise, I'm not sure what your mysterious request means. Messages to Keyser? Like my fervent hope that he will be able to arrange to a trip into Alaska's oncoming winter for a while? Does that count as one? Or, my prayer that he will learn to meditate on life's mysteries, and will no longer need to spend his very valuable and busy time making up his own? Does that count as two? Or my practical suggestion that he take off his mask and put on another? Does that count as three? If these are acceptable, and more than one message is allowed per person, I can easily fullfil the entire quota of women's messages. Moreover, if he'll be so kind as to grant me a waiver for sex and status, I can fulfill the entire quota he's requesting. But if I'm being dense and I'm simply not understanding his request, please explain further.

love, Heather

@Ruth--I am against the bill, which would condone human torture!! AS we all know, information obtained via torture, fear and deprivation of sustenance, do not necessarily constitute a truth! I am aghast really, that the american people are willing to up the ante of terror on this planet, by allowing human torture to become a law! Outrageous!! Bush is the terrorist, we all know that!

@Heather--glad you are better...and shaking off the strep and shock of a near-hit by a vehicle!

@Stan--caught that on the news here too..isn't it so sad, that people would harm children?

@Kate--you are in my thoughts.

North

Dear Kate,
I hope you had a delightful vision of the new moon glowing with love and nurturing bestowed upon you.

Dear Ruth,
Great points in 51.
Love,
Donatella

Professor's data at root of latest corporate scandal BIGGER THAN ENRON

Research triggered look at firms that backdated stock options for top executives
By Todd Dvorak
ASSOCIATED PRESS
IOWA CITY, Iowa - A framed single share of Enron Corp. stock hangs on the wall of University of Iowa finance professor Erik Lie's office.

The stock, purchased in 2002 when Enron's value hit rock bottom, features the inscription "Respect. Integrity. Communication. Excellence." That served as the disgraced energy company's corporate slogan.

"It's a good reminder for people who forget," said Lie.

In executive suites across the country, there are plenty of CEOs, financial officers and board members who might like to forget Lie.

From his second floor office at Iowa's Tippie College of Business, Lie spent months analyzing data to demonstrate how companies were illegally and retroactively timing stock option grants to fatten bonuses paid to top executives.

His work is widely credited with exposing the latest scandal to rattle corporate America.

"He's uncovered a scandal that has just mushroomed," said Adam Pritchard, a former attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission and now a law professor at the University of Michigan. "He recognized something there that needed looking into. I don't think you can understate what he's done.

"There would be no issue right now if he had not done this research."

The SEC's chief accountant issued a letter Tuesday giving companies extra guidance on handling and reporting stock option grants, designed to differentiate between companies that granted them in good faith and those that artificially inflated their value.

So far, the SEC, along with the Department of Justice, has launched 82 investigations into companies nationwide over the possible manipulation and illegal reporting of stock option grants.

Investigations have already led to criminal charges against executives from two companies, and many more are conducting their own internal inquiries.

Regulators and academics who study corporate finance and governance say the backdating inquiry could be the most widespread and significant corporate scandal in 30 years.

Lie's work has made him a focus of media attention for months, but he's maintained a modest, reform-minded view.

"When we conduct research, we all want to make an impact," said Lie, who grew up in Norway and taught at the College of William & Mary in Virginia before moving to Iowa City with his wife and two children in 2004. "I'm very happy to see a clear and immediate effect of the research on the corporate world."

Lie's findings are spelled out in two papers, one published in 2005 and the other made public on Web sites last November.

The first piggybacked on research by David Yermack, a finance professor at New York University who in 1997 studied the relationship between stock prices and option grants. Yermack concluded that executives were either bending the rules or keen at predicting their company's stock performance.

Lie took it one step further.

After reviewing proxy statement data filed with the SEC from every company on the S&P 1500 index, Lie discovered a pattern in which stocks fell slightly just before options were granted and rose shortly after the grant date, an increase attributable to shifts in the entire market.

Those price patterns were attributed in the past to executives predicting how their companies would do; but if that were true, it would mean they could predict what the whole market would do, Lie said.

"To me, that was a clue that people weren't merely predicting," he said. "There's certain things we can't predict."

Backdating options can be legal if approved by a company's board, disclosed to shareholders and properly accounted for in tax and regulatory filings. But Lie said too many public companies, more than 2,000 overall that gave stock options to executives, ignored those rules or failed to deduct the added compensation from their bottom line.

Options allow employees to buy shares of their company's stock in the future at a set price, typically the price on the day the option is issued. Backdating grants options retroactively, and as Lie found, coinciding with a slump in the stock's value. Options dated to a low price then redeemed during a surge helped hundreds of executives reap multimillion-dollar paydays.

Randall Heron, a professor at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, said he believes Lie never intended to unearth corporate wrongdoing when he began investigating backdating.

"His original idea ... was that there was this puzzle out there and a lot of unanswered questions about what was happening," said Heron, who shared an office with Lie during their doctoral days at Purdue University.

"But after the first study, I'm sure his moral compass kicked in and he said, 'OK, these guys are doing something wrong.' And I'm sure that increased his desire to get to the bottom of this," Heron said.

But the first study's data lacked the key evidence necessary to make an airtight case that rules were being broken.

So Lie, with Heron's help, did a second study, this time including in their analysis insider transaction documents filed with the SEC.

They found the pattern of dating options between a fall and subsequent rise in stock value declined sharply in August 2002 after Congress passed a new corporate accounting law. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act took aim at a variety of questionable corporate practices, and Lie attributes the falloff to a provision that closed the window for reporting option grants to the SEC from a period of months to two days.

Despite its far-reaching scope, experts agree the backdating scandal has yet to reach the degree of public outrage generated by the misdeeds of executives at Enron, Worldcom Inc. or Tyco International Ltd.

"The Enron stuff is very sexy, but that type of fraud was not pervasive," said Andrew Metrick, a professor of finance and corporate governance at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. "This is widespread, pervasive. I think when this is all said and done, the total amount of dollars that we'll find have been stolen from the corporate till is larger here than any other case we've seen."

It's hard to tell how many millions of dollars are involved, Lie said, because it depends on how far down in the organizations backdating occurred and only executives and directors are required to report option grants.

For Lie, life as America's newest corporate sleuth has meant a flurry of interviews with reporters from around the globe and the knowledge that investigations could lead to corporate reform and greater vigilance among shareholders.

"To be able to sit back and say my research did this is nice ... but I've decided it's not going to change my life," Lie said. "It's more important that we deal with these issues, move forward and make the financial markets more transparent."

LIKE I HAVE SAID WE ARE ENDING DISEASE ON THE PLANET

Print this out - Inform others - Spread the word
RE: Open Letter by Matthias Rath, M.D. to the Health Food Community in the USA

Dr. Rath is the physician and scientist who led the medical breakthrough on vitamins and cardiovascular disease documented in his book “Why Animals Don't Get Heart Attacks - But People Do”. Two-time Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling stated in his last will in June 1994, “There is no question in my mind that I thought about Dr. Rath as my successor”.

Dr. Rath was born in Germany and worked in the USA for many years. Now he lives in Holland and is organizing the battle against the head of the international Pharma-Cartel Germany's Hoechst, Bayer, and BASF and their efforts to ban vitamins and other natural therapies world-wide.

With this Open Letter Dr. Rath informs the health food community in the U.S. and the American people about important recent developments in the global battle to preserve vitamin freedom. Moreover, this letter is an appeal to every human being to seize the historic responsibility and opportunity helping to end the tyranny of the Pharma-Cartel and lay the foundation of a new health care in the interest of the people.

The time to act is now.

German Pharma-Cartel Hoechst, Bayer and BASF
– Unmasked as the Organizers of Auschwitz
- Now Threaten World-Wide Vitamin Freedom

• German pharmaceutical multinationals Hoechst, Bayer and BASF spearhead international efforts to ban health information on vitamins and other natural therapies

• Deutsche Bank (German Bank), in a futile forward defense, admits that they financed the concentration camp Auschwitz and Nazi war efforts on behalf of Hoechst, Bayer and BASF

• With credibility of the Pharma-Cartel at an all-time low, people around the world now have the historic opportunity to liberate themselves from the yoke of the Pharma-Cartel and its “business with disease”

• Health food stores and the health food community become cornerstones of a new community-based health care system that is effective, safe and affordable

The years 1999 and 2000, the turn of the millennium, also coincide with a fundamental turn in human history and human health. The 20th century will become known as an epoch were human health was controlled by the pharmaceutical industry, an industry that shamelessly promoted diseases as the basis for a trillion-dollar annual business with pharmaceutical drugs.
Now, at the end of this century of deadlock for human health, the most common dis-eases are recognized to be the direct result of vitamin deficiencies and therefore preventable in a natural way. As a direct result of this knowledge heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, heart failure affecting and killing millions of people today will become largely
unknown during the 21st century.

In order to secure the survival of its trillion dollar global market, the pharmaceutical industry will put up a fierce fight against anything that threatens it. The key for the survival of the pharmaceutical industry, as we know it today, is the immediate and comprehensive ban of information about natural therapies, particularly health information about vitamins.

The health food stores and the natural health community at large is facing another wave of attacks from new regulations, legislation to the infiltration of the nutritional supplement industry and the take-over of vitamin companies by pharmaceutical multinationals.

In the battle for global health care in the next millennium there will be only one victor. On one side is the pharmaceutical industry which maintains and promotes disease as the very basis of expanding their pharmaceutical markets. On the other side is the natural health community with its goal to prevent and eliminate diseases through vitamins and other natural therapies.

In this historic battle, the Pharma-Cartel has received a series of severe blows before, among them the DHEA act of 1994. But now, in February 1999, the Pharma-Cartel received its biggest blow from which it is unlikely to recover.

Under pressure, Deutsche Bank (German bank) had to reveal that the German pharmaceutical companies Hoechst, Bayer and BASF, the spearheads of the international Pharma-Cartel, were the organizers of the worst crimes ever committed in recorded human history.

Chemical/pharmaceutical giants Hoechst, Bayer and BASF were the organizers of the Auschwitz concentration camp, the financiers of Hitler's rise to power, and the driving force of his military conquest of the world,
the Second World War.

These revelations show the true face of the international Pharma-Cartel. In its insatiable greed to control the chemical and pharmaceutical markets of the world, this industry risked the death of over 50 million people during World War II. Now, with its plan to ban health information on vitamins, the same Pharma-Cartel risks death of more than 600 million people from preventable disease in the next generation alone

Pharmaceutical Industry – Business Based on Proliferating Diseases

• According to European health insurance companies, 98% of the pharmaceutical drugs currently marketed and prescribed are without proven efficacy. Thus it is now established that most pharmaceutical drugs can
neither prevent diseases nor cure them.

• According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, severe and known side effects of pharmaceutical drugs are the fourth leading cause of death in the US and other industrialized countries. Thus, in an effort to expand their global markets, the pharmaceutical industry created the fourth largest epidemic to haunt mankind, the drug side effect epidemic.

(JAMA, April 15, 1998).
• In a public alert, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in its January 6, 1996 issue warned that all cholesterol-lowering drugs currently on the market cause cancer and should be avoided. Yet the Pharma-Cartel consistently ignores this warning. Since this public warning, the market for cholesterol-lowering drugs has been extended to an estimated
20 million people worldwide creating a time bomb for a future cancer epidemic.

• After publication of these anti-Pharma-Cartel studies in JAMA, the pressure of the Cartel on the American Medical Association (AMA) increased. In January 1999 in an unprecedented move the AMA fired JAMA-Editor-in-Chief Charles Lundberg under a bogus pretence. The real background of this step is the Pharma-Cartel's effort to control and manipulate the information provided to the doctors in America and beyond.

The credibility of the pharmaceutical industry with patients and consumers is approaching zero. In a desperate effort, the Pharma-Cartel is putting the finger in this dam of lost credibility.

1999/2000 Decisive Years in Battle of Human Health Against the Pharma Cartel

The next two years will be decisive in the global battle for a new health care. The Pharma-Cartel remains determined to outlaw health information on vitamins and other natural therapies worldwide.

• Spearheaded by Germany’s Hoechst, Bayer, and BASF, the world's largest exporters of pharmaceutical products, as well as the German government, the next meeting of the UN Codex Alimentarius Commission on nutrition and dietary supplements is scheduled for spring 2000 in Berlin, Germany.

• With global mergers, the pharmaceutical industry tries to prepare for the decisive battle to manipulate world opinion about health matters with mass media advertising through sheer financial force.

• Lobbying and manipulation of national and international pharmaceutical laws remain a key tool in the Pharma-Cartel’s effort to suppress natural health information. In a spectacular move, German pharmaceutical giant Hoechst plans to merge with French Rhone Poulenc and establish its headquarters at Strasbourg, the seat of the future government
of the United States of Europe.

• At the national level every legal device is used by the Pharma-Cartel to roll back earlier defeats. New nutritional labeling legislation is introduced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) violating the accomplishments of the Dietary Health and Education Act of 1994.

• New “standardization” rules and requirements for clinical studies are introduced making it difficult or impossible for vitamin companies to finance proving the efficacy of natural health remedies.

• As a last desperate step, pharmaceutical multinationals are trying to infiltrate the health food industry and its industry bodies. In the April 1996 edition of the Medical Investment Report, Rexall Sundown, an influential member of the NNFA and of the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) announced a “strategic alliance” with Hoechst. Shortly thereafter,
Rexall Sundown tried to acquire other major vitamin companies in the US.

Not surprisingly, at the last meeting of Codex Alimentarius in September 1998, CRN was openly siding with the Pharma-Cartel’s position. Almost a side aspect in this context: Rexall Sundown was publicly connected to Organized Crime in a lead article of the April 14, 1997, issue of the Dow Jones Weekly Barron’s.

All these efforts are not signs of strength, but of a battle that can not be won by the pharmaceutical industry. But the biggest blow for the Pharma-Cartel was yet to come.

Hoechst, Bayer and BASF – Committing Crimes Against Humanity Then and Now

In a widely publicized speech at the city hall of Chemnitz, Germany on June 21, 1997, I had already revealed the dark Nazi past of Hoechst, Bayer and BASF in the context of our fight against the Codex Alimentarius plans. This tribunal against the Pharma-Cartel was immediately translated into several languages and disseminated through the Internet (www.drrath.com).
Over the last 18 months this Chemnitz Program had created a public ground swell inside and outside of Germany. It was this speech and its international repercussions that terminated 55 years of silence on the part of German companies ignoring the justified demands of victims from Auschwitz and other forced labor camps.

On February 4, 1999, 20 months later and under increasing international pressure, the largest German bank, Deutsche Bank, had to open its Nazi files totaling more than 6 miles in length. The Deutsche Bank files about the Nazi connection of Hoechst, Bayer and BASF force us to re-write the history of W.W.II and the 20th century. The revealed documents show:

• To achieve control of the world's natural resources and raw materials Hoechst, Bayer and BASF's promoted Hitler's rise to power and his W.W.II effort to conquer the world. With over 70 million Reichsmark (more than half a billion dollars in today's currency) they were the single largest donors to the Nazi Party, essentially financing the preparations for W.W.II. To combine their strategic global efforts Hoechst, Bayer and BASF had formed a Cartel with the code name “IG Farben” (Interest Union Colors).

• Hoechst, Bayer, BASF’s IG Farben execu-tives Hermann Schmitz and Karl Krauch developed the four-year economic plan for the war preparation and met with Hitler’s Reichs-Marschall Hermann Göring on June 15, 1936. Three months later, on September 9, 1936, Hitler himself presented the IG Farben plan in a spectacular announcement as the “New Phase,” the official Nazi economic policy to prepare for war.

• 80% of the positions in the newly created German Ministry of “Resources and Raw Materials” in W.W.II Germany were filled with Hoechst, Bayer and BASF specialists who coordinated the acquisition of industries and property in conquered European countries on behalf of IG Farben.

• The Auschwitz concentration camp was the forced labor outpost of “IG Auschwitz,” the largest industrial plant in W.W.II Europe and a 100% subsidiary of Hoechst, Bayer and BASF's IG Farben. This concentration camp supplied free labor for nearby “IG Auschwitz” which produced 100% of all synthetic gasoline and rubber as well as other chemicals for Hitler's war.
The chemical and pharmaceutical corporations Hoechst, Bayer and BASF were the organizers, architects and the operators of the Auschwitz concentration camp, the site of the worst crimes ever committed against humanity.

• To test unexplored pharmaceuticals and vaccines, Hoechst, Bayer and BASF used thousands of innocent inmates of the concentration camp as human guinea pigs. More than 50% of all participants died during these “experiments.” Many more were silenced afterwards so that they would not be able to tell others about their torture.

• Daily selections among the work force of Hoechst, Bayer and BASF were made at the factory gate to optimize work efficiency of “IG Auschwitz.” “Useless work force” was disposed of in the gas chambers of the Auschwitz camp. Even the extermination chemical Zyklon B was provided by Hoechst, Bayer and BASF's IG Farben.

• In the 1947 Nuremberg War Crime Tribunal several managers of Hoechst, Bayer and BASF were convicted of mass murder, slavery and other crimes against humanity. Telford Taylor, the lead US-Prosecutor at the Nuremberg Tribunal concluded: “Without the support of IG Farben the Second World War would not have been possible.”

• In 1947 the Nuremberg War Tribunal dismantled the IG Farben-Cartel, but Hoechst, Bayer and BASF were allowed to continue. By 1953 all of the convicted managers were free and immediately assumed highest positions in
post-war German industry.

• Only ten years later, in 1963, Hoechst, Bayer and BASF were ready for their next global attack on human rights. As part of the global expansion of their pharmaceutical market, Hoechst, Bayer and BASF had to make sure that the health benefits of vitamins remain unknown. Towards this end they pressed the German government to spearhead an international effort to ban vitamins and other non-patentable natural therapies. In 1963 the German government became the political executor of these plans by initiating the now infamous UN Codex Alimentarius commission on nutrition, and chairing
this commission since.

Deutsche Bank – Assisting in Crimes Against Humanity Then and Now

Why was Deutsche Bank's CEO Rolf Breuer forced to make these revelations and why did Deutsche Bank have to come out with the truth now, over half a century after the end of W.W.II?

• On February 6, 1999 the influential German Newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) wrote about the Nazi-IG Farben documentation: “Deutsche Bank was the house bank of IG Farben and they (Hoechst, Bayer and BASF) dictated the business terms of this bank.”

• Half a century ago Hoechst, Bayer and BASF dictated that Deutsche Bank finance Hitler's military conquest of the World on behalf of these chemical/pharmaceutical multinationals. Their involvement was so deep that a 1946 Allied investigation of the Deutsche Bank recommended it be liquidated and its leaders tried as war criminals.

• Today Deutsche Bank is still the “house bank” of the Pharma-Cartel and this bank plays the same role: Financing the way for the economic conquest of the world on behalf of the German Pharma-Cartel.

• This global strategy explains the current plan of Deutsche Bank to acquire Banker's Trust of America to become the largest bank in the world. In light of the facts, neither the people of America nor American corporations will benefit from this merger. To the contrary. People, politicians and anti-trust authorities in the USA should stop this merger now.

• The Pharma-Cartel sent Deutsche Bank boss Breuer into the minefield in an effort to clean up the Nazi past on their behalf. In a desperate forward defense they thought by revealing the historic facts they might be pardoned by the world opinion. This pardon, they know, is a precondition for the unhindered expansion of their global pharmaceutical market.

• Even with the timing for going public with this historic confession, Deutsche Bank and the Pharma-Cartel showed how much they fear the light of the day. The revelations were deliberately placed during times of maximum media distraction in the US the last days of the Clinton impeachment trial and in Germany at the climax of carnival season.

Futile Efforts by the German Government to Protect the Pharma-Cartel’s Interests

The current German government continues the tradition and functions as a blind servant of the German Pharma-Cartel. Immediately after he had become German Chancellor in September 1998, Gerhard Schroeder started a whole series of secret meetings at the Chancellery with executives from Hoechst, Bayer, BASF and other German companies. The purpose of these meetings was to find a way to protect German companies from an avalanche of class action lawsuits from concentration camp survivors. Schroeder assigned his chief of staff Bodo Hombach to the job of manipulating public opinion and twisting the arms of the Jewish community as well as the US-government officials. Hombach’s travel party includes Rolf Breuer, the CEO of the
German Bank who was sent on this sinner’s pilgrimage by his corporate clients.

The targets of the Hombach-Breuer mission in the US are, among others:

• The World Jewish Council from whom they want approval,
• Ed Fagan and other attorneys from class action lawsuits who are pressed to abandon those lawsuits,
• The US financial and anti-trust authorities, among them New York City Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who are pressed to approve the merger between Deutsche Bank and Banker’s Trust,
• Stuart Eizenstat, Under Secretary for Economic, Business and Cultural affairs at the US-State Department, who is pressed to legally exclude any further lawsuits from Nazi victims.

Hombach’s mission is to try to pressure the US government for a legal guarantee that German corporations would not be held responsible any longer for the crimes they committed. In return, on February 16, Schroeder and Hombach announced a “fund” for Nazi victims, which would leave some victims with a few hundred dollars each, while ignoring most of them. The proposed deal would mean that in return for starting the Second World War, plundering all of Europe, killing millions of people and using millions more as slaves, the German Pharma-Cartel would be pardoned in return for a donation of a few million dollars and given green light to continue plundering millions of people worldwide by means of a trillion-dollar
pharmaceutical market.

On Thursday, February 11, Germany’s Chancellor Schoeder even had the audacity to meet with President Clinton pressing him to back this remarkable plan. He was not successful.

Lessons to Be Learned for History

There can be no amnesty for Hoechst, Bayer, BASF, the builders of Auschwitz, as long as these corporations continue to commit crimes against humanity.

In the interest of excessive financial gains, these corporations continue to cause unnecessary suffering and premature death of millions of people by maintaining and proliferating diseases in epidemic proportions in order to expand a global pharmaceutical market of over one trillion dollars.

With their plan to ban life-saving health information on vitamins and other natural therapies, they actively prevent the eradication of heart attacks, strokes and other common diseases, the primary cause of which are
vitamin deficiencies.

Hoechst, Bayer, BASF and other members of the international Pharma-Cartel have to be held responsible not only by the survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp, but by millions of patients world-wide who have fallen sick, remained sick or by the relatives of patients who died as the result of known severe side effects of pharmaceutical drugs.

Why We Can Win the Battle Against the Pharma-Cartel

The main reason why we can and will win this battle for a new health care system is that truth is on our side. The Pharma-Cartel can only win if it is able to suppress the truth. We can win if we speak out loudly about the truth. This is true for the historic facts as well as for the current facts presented in this letter. Let’s have a look at the recent years:

• In 1991 I discovered that heart attacks and strokes are no diseases but, similar to scurvy, the result of vitamin deficiencies and therefore preventable. These discoveries are summarized in my book “Why Animals Don’t Get Heart Attacks – But People Do.”
• For the pharmaceutical companies it was clear at that time that the survival of their hundred billion dollar annual market of cardiovascular pharmaceuticals had become dependent on one single factor: how effectively could they prevent the information about this medical breakthrough from spreading.
• It was this medical breakthrough that triggered the fierce attack on nutritional supplements led by the FDA on behalf of the Pharma-Cartel. But they could not win this battle. The people of America won the battle for vitamin freedom culminating in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA).
• Analysts confirmed that the DSHEA of 1994 was the worst defeat in the history of both the FDA and the Pharmaceutical industry. Once again, the moral strength that comes with the truth has prevailed over financial and
political power.
• With the US the largest national market was lost for the Pharma-Cartel, forcing it to turn to the international level. This is the background why the dormant UN Codex Alimentarius Commission was suddenly reactivated in 1995, bringing the center of the global battle for vitamin freedom to Germany.
• In 1996 my book was published in German and in 1997 I moved to Europe to lead the battle against the head of the Pharma-Cartel-hydra directly from its doorstep. We were able to achieve some remarkable accomplishments:
• At the Codex Alimentarius meeting in Berlin, September 21-25, 1998, the Pharma-Cartel was unable to get consensus from the delegates of more than 40 countries. The plan to outlaw natural health information globally had to be postponed to the next meeting in spring 2000. The resistance we had put up before and during the Codex meeting in Berlin, including the
Berlin Tribunal against the Pharma-Cartel, is documented on our Website.
• In the Federal German elections the previous chancellor Helmut Kohl was voted out of office by a landslide defeat. Helmut Kohl was a former lobbyist for the Pharma-Cartel and had been promoted by the Cartel into the highest position of the German government. From there he served the Pharma-Cartel politically for 16 years on the national and international
level.
• Analysts confirmed that our national campaign for vitamin freedom in Germany became the single most important factor in the land slide defeat that washed away not only Helmut Kohl but also the entire previous government.
• On behalf of patients world-wide and to clear up the role of Helmut Kohl as political accomplice for the criminal practices of the Pharma-Cartel I filed a complaint against Kohl for assisting in crimes against humanity and other felonies with the Federal prosecutor in Bonn.

The text of the complaint can be reviewed on our Website and could serve as a starting point for class action lawsuits against the Pharma-Cartel in many countries.

Responsibility of Health Food Stores

During the battle for vitamin freedom in the US from 1992 to 1994, the role of the health food stores can not be overestimated. Thousands of health food stores across America became the locations were information was
disseminated to millions of customers, and they were the coordination points of fighting back the attack of the Pharma-Cartel.

In this battle the health food community gained invaluable experience for the next and decisive stage of the battle. There can be no doubt that the Pharma-Cartel wants to eliminate the natural health sector or confine it to a fringe existence. But the actual role of the health food store is exactly opposite:

Health food stores across America have become the corner stones of a new community-based health care system. By joining the public fight against the Pharma-Cartel at this new and decisive stage, the health food stores of America and beyond will emerge as the natural leaders into a new era of human health. This new health care system will have rid itself from the
yoke of the Pharma-Cartel and will promote the prevention, natural healing and, above all, the eradication of diseases.

What Needs to Be Done Now

There simply can not be amnesty for the organizers of Auschwitz as long as they continue to risk the lives of millions of people worldwide.

The first and foremost task is to inform your customers about these developments and the background. You may copy this Open Letter and hand it to your customers. Your store should become a continuous information center that can serve your customers with information they do not receive anywhere else.

Your customers may also want to take a firm stand on this important issue. Here are some actions that need to be taken up immediately. Make sure your Senator, Congressman and the White House learn about your opinion:

• No legislation can be allowed protecting the organizers of Auschwitz from further lawsuits from their victims
• All talks with German politicians acting on behalf of the Organizers of Auschwitz need to be stopped immediately
• There can be no approval of the merger between Deutsche Bank and Bankers Trust designed to pave the way to expand the grip of the German Pharma-Cartel on the American people and businesses. Let your opinion be
known.
• German Chancellor Schroeder, Chief of Staff Hombach and other accomplices of the Pharma-Cartel must be declared undesired persons in America as long as they act as accomplices of the Pharma-Cartel and support Codex Alimentarius. Send them an E-mail at the address below.
• Hoechst, Bayer, and BASF, the organizers of Auschwitz and the spearheads of the international Pharma-Cartel and of Codex Alimentarius must be banned from trading on any US stock exchange. Speak with your political representative, help to make the issue public.
• Consumers in the US and around the world must boycott all products from Hoechst, Bayer, and BASF until these companies have paid due compensation for the past crimes against slave labor victims as well as the other destruction and suffering their action caused across Europe. Inform your friends, neighbors and colleagues about this boycott. Ask local
newspapers to write about it.
• Individual and class action lawsuits must be filed against Hoechst, Bayer, and BASF and other pharmaceutical companies by patients who suffered from severe side effects of drugs marketed by those companies.
• Pharmaceutical companies must open their files on the side effects of pharmaceutical drugs they are selling in order to protect patients from being harmed.
• Write to your political representatives urging them to stop any and all support for the Pharma-Cartel’s plan to restrict health information in relation to vitamins and other natural therapies at the national or international level.
• Write to your political representatives urging them to stop all legislative and regulatory plans undermining the accomplishments of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act.
• Write to the Commissioner of the FDA, the FTC and inform them that any regulation they issue that complicates the free exchange of life saving information on natural health, is compromising human health and human lives. Any official involved in such measures should be tried for criminal offenses.
• When you deal next time with CRN or any other organizations pretending to represent your interest, have a close look.

I encourage you to join this new stage of fighting the Pharma-Cartel in your own interest for the survival of your health food store, in the interest of your customers and of millions of Americans who are interested
in effective, safe and affordable natural health.

Sincerely yours,

Matthias Rath, M.D.

Medical journal reveals that 70 percent of drug decision-making panel members have financial ties to industry

The journal Nature has published studies showing that 70 percent of the drug decision panels run in this country are rigged with decision-makers who have strong financial ties to the very drug companies whose products are affected by these decisions.
So much for evidence-based medicine. Drug approval decisions have little to do with evidence and everything to do with materialistic greed and cold, hard cash. That cash is doled out to decision-makers in the form of research grants, consulting fees and outright bribes. These decision-makers, who are often physicians, generally do not reveal their conflicts of interest. Yet they accept positions on decision-making panels where these so-called experts sit around and decide what should be the standard practice for various diseases, symptoms and conditions. Write-ups of those practices are then distributed to physicians around the country who follow the procedures. The journal Nature has revealed that 70 percent of these panels are rigged with decision-makers who have conflicts of interest.

Conventional medicine tries to say this is all evidence-based. They say you should trust all this information because doctors are trained in medical school and their studies are published in peer-reviewed journals. What they don't tell you is the reality of the situation, which is that pharmaceutical companies pay for most of the clinical trials conducted on drugs, and nearly all drug trials magically produce results that favor the firm footing the bill.

They also don't tell you that the negative studies are swept under the rug and censored by the drug companies. You only hear about the positive studies. They could conduct trials on a particular drug in which five trials reveal that the drug kills people and five other trials reveal that it helps people, and guess which five you will hear about? Guess which five the mainstream press will cover in the news? Guess which five will show up in a published peer-reviewed article in the medical journals? They also don't tell you about the influence of medical journals themselves.

Drug-pushing medical journals
Drug company advertising brings in hundreds of millions of dollars a year that fund these medical journals and pay the salaries of the editors who determine which studies the journal will and won't accept. So guess what gets into the journals? That's right -- the studies that promote prescription drugs. The benefits of these drugs are routinely exaggerated and the risks are routinely minimized.
When something goes wrong with the drug and it starts killing tens of thousands of Americans, guess what? They convene a decision panel. This is what happened with the FDA recently, when they convened a panel to decide whether Vioxx was dangerous enough to be banned from the marketplace. It turns out Vioxx has probably killed more than 60,000 Americans, according to a senior drug safety researcher at the FDA, Dr. David Graham. He revealed this in testimony before the U.S. Senate. According to the FDA, that's not dangerous enough to pull the drug. The FDA panel voted to keep Vioxx on the market.

What they did not tell you is that many of those panel members had strong financial ties to drug companies. They were being paid consulting fees or receiving research grants from the very companies that were affected by their decisions.

Once again, so much for evidence-based medicine. The only evidence that I'm finding here is evidence of a giant drug racket. There is ample evidence of corruption and collusion. In fact, the more you look at this industry, the more you realize just how deeply the American people have been conned. It's a giant scam. There are really no other words to describe it. To call it scientifically based medicine is a hoax. It's an insult to real science and honest scientists.

Prescription drugs are a leading cause of death in America
Conventional medicine wants you to think these drugs are recommended because they've been scientifically proven, because they have undergone safety testing and have been approved as safe by the FDA. They don't tell you the rest of the story. Prescription drugs are now the fourth leading cause of death in this country. The drugs approved as safe by the Food and Drug Administration are now killing 100,000 Americans a year.
Prescription drugs make deaths from terrorism, murder, automobile collisions and illegal drug use seem tiny by comparison. The number of deaths from prescription drugs dwarfs just about everything else that's happened in this country in terms of fatalities. That's the story they absolutely do not want you to know about. In fact, it has taken years for the truth to surface about these decision panels populated by experts with ties to the pharmaceutical industry. They don't go out of their way to tell you about their conflicts of interest. They keep them hidden until someone comes along, does the research and finds out that these people have been taking money from the very companies whose products they are testing.

Intimidation of critics
Do you know what happens when you're a doctor on one of these panels and you vote against the approval of one of these drugs? Take a guess. Your research money suddenly dries up, and you have no more research grants. Your career fizzles out. In fact, this was happening at the Harvard Research Medical Center. One of the people there, Dr. James Fries, characterized it as "a pattern of consistent intimidation by the drug companies." That's his quote, and that's what's happening to experts who don't say good things about prescription drugs.
Critics can easily be blackballed by the industry, so there is tremendous pressure on doctors and decision-makers to always vote in favor of brand-named, high-profit prescription drugs anytime they sit on decision panels. Now, they will tell you they have no conflicts of interest. They say, "We only decide based on the evidence." And yet they consistently decide in favor of dangerous drugs, even when clear evidence of harm is right in front of them.

They are heavily influenced by drug company money, intimidation, threats and the medical profession's "circle the wagons" mentality. For years and years, I've been warning about collusion in the drug industry and the magnitude of the drug racket in the United States. This industry is largely a scam. In fact, what's going on today is criminal in nature.

If you wish to be a healthy individual, then you have to find alternatives to prescription drugs. You have to say no to unnecessary surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. You must get outside this corrupt system and move on to something that actually promotes healing like naturopathic medicine, nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy or massage therapy. These are the areas of medicine in which you can experience and discover lasting human health.

Don't be a financial slave to drug companies that are only interested in turning your body into a profit center. Remember, they can only make more money by expanding the definition of disease and using your body as a system for generating financial profits. They're exploiting your health to generate shareholder profit. That's the reality of what's going on out there today, and thanks to the Internet, the truth about conventional medicine is finally beginning to be told.

That above was written by The Health Ranger

http://www.healthranger.org/

Richard, great articles!! Thanks for posting them! Amazing, how government is willing to damage it's own people, for the corporate world, which now controls the world! Very scary indeed!

North

Women are meant to be loved, not understood.
Vs.
Women are sphinxes without secrets
Oscar Wilde

Here's my..;)
By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
Socrates

Love, Passion, East-European, but.. then again,
;)

weatherthestorm team:

The recent kind teachings here about Navaratri, from Donatella and Geeta, have had me thinking it might be an apt time to share a fantasy character I've been thinking about for a month or so. Here's a description of what this character is like in my mind:

"A heroine like a comicbook character, with blazing lightbulbs in place of hands. She swung her hands around and dashed them against some stones, and now her hands are open shards of glass -- look out -- she is seeing hurt all around her, and will hurt you if you touch anyone unfairly. She has disconnected herself from her normal way of being to protect the goals and dignity of others, and has become brittle and sharp. Her anger needs to flow out, molten and unchecked, to reverse the process of unfair attacks."

Some people have said this character is kind of Durga-like. I plan to work up a sketch or painting of her. When I do, I'll share it here. Maybe Gotham's company will pick it up the character, and do a book. For now, the concept is wholly mine. I don't believe anyone has thought of a character like this before, although Edward Scissorhands is a little like her, when he's angry.

I'd like to thank you for your consistent negativity, hounding and unfairness to people here, as these qualities of yours were the direct inspiration for this character.

Dear Marek

Well said!
May I add:

Most women are in love, at any moment: with life, with their families and kids, their husbands and lovers, their goals, with God.

Most men are too, but they're often very unaware of it.

Dear Admin

My hands-of-glass character comment was written in response to a versified comment from the weatherthestorm team. Please feel free to delete my comment above. Its context has been diminished, and perhaps it's too Durga-like in its message, anyway.

love, Heather

Marek, I've great respect for Oscar wilde and Socrates. You too seem to have burnt your fingers. I already became one 5yrs back, my brother is on his way, as Socrates says.

Dear Marek,
Thank you for your noble views on women.
Love,
Donatella

Me, too, heather, me too, but you have too, there is no other more divine brainchemistry..;)

June, call it Karma, call it contrast,
in my case, God thought..?, that's the quest?-ion.. or adventure..

anyhow, in my Polish-Dutch, distinctions,
It's better to overpay, for every value,
then,
but maybe that's Karma,

Better to give that a bearhug, then to quote Louise Hay's later..

So, little by little, I see more,

Love, Passion!

Heya Donatella,
My pleasure, from the heart,

Princesses do exist, scientific fact!,
take my Polish word on that,
where, ..mhmnn..

That and,
love, Passion,

Some people seem to understand only the language of attack. Some women are elated when they are praised for being so kind, so generous and so humble. That’s it. They never try to incorporate those qualities into their being. Only a few do. These people have heard the teachings of Mother Teresa -- Don’t stop giving even if you are ridiculed. If you stop loving when you are attacked (or hated?) then that is not your true nature. You are but hypocrites. You talk about fairness but are unfair with double standards -- you are but hypocrites. You judge others and presume to know their motives while you cannot take an ounce of criticsm. It is but a disgrace to woman hood if you don’t practice what you preach. You have to be brave enough to accept you mistakes and faults and stop judging the intentions of other people and ridiculing them and labeling them, slandering them with your narrow-mindedness -- grouping people who don’t agree with your views and labeling them as one and to direct your anguish and personal attacks, you remind me of the unfair treatment to people. That certainly is not the qualities of a true woman. For example, only few women have those qualities in this blog: Geeta , Donatella, North etc. Women, who run away from criticism or humorous ridicule directed towards them, are pretenders. When a friend of yours is attacked (You see differently when you are attacked) then you would go give moral support and ask her to be strong, and counter attack the attacker with unfairness and double standards. Where are your qualities of woman hood -- love, compassion, kindness, humility at all times? I forgot you like to justify your actions and never accept you fault unlike some men/women of integrity. Also, you can see through my malicious intentions crystal clearly — I forgot.

As the NeoCon American Zionist ideologues move in for the kill:

"Wiretap bill moves closer to passage,"
http://[delinker]www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15012302/,

and,

"Republicans move to seal terror trial plan,"
http://[delinker]www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15044215/

and,

"Bush and Iran: Going to War to Save His Own Ass?"
http://[delinker]counterpunch.org/lindorff09262006.html

And the only thing the democrats worry about is being apart of the show . . .

Christian, and secular, anarchists unite!

Peace

Cornerstone

I have this thought
of a smooth flat stone
pulled up from a damp riverbed.
Like a cottage step,
or an old hearthstone,
its bound to our lives by a thread

of love, and it's lasted
because of its strength,
worn smooth by passage of time.
Its texture's gray silk,
of a hard, cool kind, and
it sparkles, though covered in grime.

On this cool river stone,
I build my hope
we can all live together some day,
without knives of steel
deep in our sleeves,
or poisons that help us betray.

With this gray river stone
smooth-textured and strong,
a floor of safety I'll lay,
with a prayer to the Gods
and the universe, too.

Of peace for us all, will I pray.

Two hours' pause is just a start.

love, Heather.

And just for the record, this is a lengthy quote from Russ Feingold; pretty good 'stuff.'

"Even Timothy McVeigh Was Afforded Constitutional Rights
The Flaws in the Military Commissions Act
By Sen. RUSSELL FEINGOLD

Let me be clear: I welcome efforts to bring terrorists to justice. It is about time. This Administration has too long been distracted by the war in Iraq from the fight against al Qaeda. We need a renewed focus on the terrorist networks that present the greatest threat to this country.

But we wouldn't be where we are today, five years after September 11 with not a single Guantanamo Bay detainee having been brought to trial, if the President had come to Congress in the first place, rather than unilaterally creating military commissions that didn't comply with the law. The President wanted to act on his own, and he dared the Supreme Court to stop him. And he lost. The Hamdan decision was an historic rebuke to an Administration that has acted for years as if it were above the law.

Finally, only because he was essentially ordered to do so by the Supreme Court, the President has agreed to consult with Congress. I would have hoped that we would take this opportunity to pass legislation that allows us to proceed in accordance with our laws and our values. That is what separates America from our enemies. These trials, conducted appropriately, have the potential to demonstrate to the world that our democratic, constitutional system of government is our greatest strength in fighting those who attacked us.

And that is why I am saddened that I must oppose this legislation. Because the trials conducted under this legislation will send a very different signal to the world, one that I fear will put our own troops and personnel in jeopardy both now and in future conflicts. To take just a few examples, this legislation would permit an individual to be convicted on the basis of coerced testimony and hearsay, would not allow full judicial review of the conviction, and yet would allow someone convicted under these rules to be put to death. That is simply unacceptable. We would not stand for another country to try our citizens under those rules, and we should not stand for our own government to do so, either.

Not only that, this legislation would deny detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere-people who have been held for years but have not been tried or even charged with any crime-the ability to challenge their detention in court. Among its many flaws, this is the most troubling-that the legislation seeks to suspend the Great Writ of habeas corpus.

The legislation before us is better than that originally proposed by the President, which would have largely codified the procedures the Supreme Court has already rejected. And that is thanks to the efforts of some of my Republican colleagues for whom I have great respect and admiration.

But this bill remains deeply flawed, and I cannot support it.

One of the most disturbing provisions of this bill eliminates the right of habeas corpus for those detained as enemy combatants. I support an amendment by Senator Specter to strike that provision from the bill. I ask unanimous consent that my separate statement on that amendment be put in the record at the appropriate point.

Habeas corpus is a fundamental recognition that in America, the government does not have the power to detain people indefinitely and arbitrarily. And that in America, the courts must have the power to review the legality of executive detention decisions.

Habeas corpus is a longstanding vital part of our American tradition, and is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

As a group of retired judges wrote to Congress, habeas corpus "safeguards the most hallowed judicial role in our constitutional democracy--ensuring that no man is imprisoned unlawfully."

This bill would fundamentally alter that historical equation. Faced with an executive branch that has detained hundreds of people without trial for years now, it would eliminate the right of habeas corpus.

Under this legislation, some individuals, at the designation of the executive branch alone, could be picked up, even in the United States, and held indefinitely without trial and without any access whatsoever to the courts. They would not be able to call upon the laws of our great nation to challenge their detention because they would have been put outside the reach of the law.

That is unacceptable, and it almost surely violates our Constitution. But that determination will take years of protracted litigation.

Why would we turn our back on hundreds of years of history and our nation's commitment to liberty -- particularly when there is no good reason to do so? We should be working to provide a lawful system of military commissions so that those who have committed war crimes can be brought to justice. We can do that quite well without denying one of the most basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution to those held in custody by our government.

Some have suggested that terrorists who take up arms against this country should not be allowed to challenge their detention in court. But that argument is circular--the writ of habeas allows those who might be mistakenly detained to challenge their detention in court, before a neutral decision-maker. The alternative is to allow people to be detained indefinitely with no ability to argue that they are not, in fact, enemy combatants. Unless any of my colleagues can say with absolute certainty that everyone detained as an enemy combatant was correctly detained--and there is ample evidence to suggest that is not the case--then we should make sure that people can't simply be locked up forever, without court review, based on someone slapping a "terrorist" label on them.

There is another reason why we must not deprive detainees of habeas corpus, and that is the fact that the American system of government is supposed to set an example for the world, as a beacon of democracy. And this provision will only serve to harm others' perception of our system of government.

A group of retired diplomats sent a very moving letter explaining their concerns about this habeas-stripping provision. Here is what they said: "To proclaim democratic government to the rest of the world as the supreme form of government at the very moment we eliminate the most important avenue of relief from arbitrary governmental detention will not serve our interests in the larger world."

Many, many dedicated patriotic Americans share these grave reservations about this particular provision of the bill.

The