In the next few months we will give you an in depth analysis of each US intervention within Latin America from past to present in great visual graphix. HOLLA BACK MENG.

3 out of 4 poop sticks.

Speaking at a conference at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution on the Federal Reserve’s recent extraordinary actions, George Shultz – who served Republican administrations as secretary of Treasury, State and Labor — says the government needs to re-learn the habit of saying no to private interests who seek taxpayer rescues when their bets prove to be losers. . . . [continue]

After attending both home and hospital births as a doula, I can honestly say that most women do not know how easily preset hospital policies can negate a birth plan or at least make it more difficult to enact without pushing for patient rights.

For instance, hospitals that restrict food and drink intake during labor unwittingly decrease a laboring woman's energy level, making it difficult for her to manage increasingly strong contractions, causing her body to tense up and stop dilating. If a woman does not dilate for a few hours, it's off to the OR she goes!

Another example is how easily a woman can be labeled high-risk, when in fact her situation may simply be a variation of the normal. If a woman is labeled high-risk without good reason, she is essentially prepped for the OR without being told about it. Thus a woman can be trying very hard to have a good vaginal birth experience (despite IV, fetal monitor, various drugs, food and drink restriction, and being stuck in bed) only to end up with a cesarean because those interventions make it more likely and because the hospital staff know that with a cesarean rate of 30% or more in thier hospital, her chances are not very good that her birth plan will come into being.

Although many women do not mind having cesareans, there are many more who feel regret, disappointment, and even depression over not being able to have an empowering birth experience. All feelings are legitimate, but because so many women react negatively to having a cesarean, they need to know how legal, monitary, and fear issues affect their hospital births more than any health factor.

If you really want to have a vaginal birth in the hospital, this is what you need to do:

1. Learn when interventions are actually called for - any restriction, intervention, or tool used in your care can begin the "cascade of interventions".

2. Learn your patient rights. There are federal, state, and hospital patient right bills, all essentially saying that you have the right to have your care provider give you information on both sides of the proposed intervention, and the right to accept or refuse anything your care provider offers.

3. Make a list of oth reasons your ideal birth is so important to you and remember them.

4. Make a list of potential complications and how you would respond to them. How far are you willing to go to protect your rights, and at what point will you accept your care provider's recommendations for treatment?

5. Hire a doula. Doulas have knowledge of patient rights, birth plan options, research, and hospital policies. They also have a history of reducing rates of all major interventions, and increasing patient satisfaction.

6. Choose your care provider carefully, interview them thoroughly before they begin giving you care.

7. Learn as much as you can about the process of birth so that you will be able to ask questions and have a better understanding of what your body needs in labor.

Please note that many care providers do their best to work outside of the norm and to avoid potentially harmful hospital policies. Unfortunately the odds are against them and regardless of how good your care provider is, you may still end up with an undesired birth experience. Why am I telling you this? Because if you want to get the experience you desire, you are going to have to know how the system works, and how to get what you want despite that system.

• Visualize your visions
• Create concepts
• Perpetuate your purpose

Webters's defines the word 'achieve' as: to carry out successfully.  Let's go there for a moment.....

All day long we achieve minor achievements that we take for granted simply because they are a matter of course.  ie. we just rising and shining each morning, wake up get out of bed, go to the bathroom, wash our face, brush our teeth, grab some breakfast ect.  Not once do we think about the paraplegics in the world that have to get lifted out of the beds, placed in a wheelchair, and have to have someone help them with those little things that we do everyday.  We carried out all those tasks successfully (achieved) them and thought nothing of it.  Then there are those achievements that take time, that you have to work hard for, and when you get to where you wanted to be you feel this sense of pride and accomplishment.  You pop ya colla and say "yeah, I did that!" 

When you turn your dial to the Achievement station you will find that your life will unfold right before your very eyes.  You may work towards achieveing your goals for weeks, even months on end with out little or no sleep at all, but you don't feel tired or you don't feel fatigued.  You feel constantly renewed and revitalized because you are working towards something that you are passionate about.  It the difference between byching about $5 a gallon gas and being excited about spending $5,000 on a gift for that special someone.  The latter doesn't bother you because it is something that you 'want' to do.  You get that same passion and excitement when you are working towards achieve something.  Ask yourself, are you hard a worker or are you working hard towards your goal?  One makes you feel fulfilled and happy, while the other makes you feel used and unappreciated. 

The philosophy surrounding Achieveology is fundamental to tapping into and nurturing that part of our being that wants more out of life and to help you find out not only who you are, but who you are meant to be.

Trizah Morris, Achieveologist

Top Stories

http://www.empoweredchildbirth.com/

http://www.truebirth.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZy0JPtubiQ

"Reluctantly we come to acknowledge that there are also scars which mark the surface of our earth, erosion, deforestation, the squandering of the world's mineral and ocean resources in order to fuel an insatiable consumption."

The Holy Father's got it right, this time. We are insatiable.  And will have no rest until we have left no corner of the Earth unturned. 

Are we to let our addiction run its fatal course, or should we intervene? 

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PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia asked the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to intervene in its dispute with Thailand over land near an ancient temple, saying the standoff had created "an imminent state of war."

But a clash seemed a remote possibility near the hilltop Preah Vihear temple, where more than 4,000 troops from both countries were camped out. The soldiers - some without their weapons - shared cigarettes, ate and chatted together in a disputed area a few hundred yards from the site.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, using the harshest terms yet in the confrontation, said he had no choice but to appeal to the U.N. after discussions with Thailand on Monday failed to produce a breakthrough in the weeklong crisis. He made a similar request to the grouping of Southeast Asian nations.

"In the face of this imminent state of war, this very serious threat to our independence and territorial integrity, we have an obligation to resort to the U.N. Security Council," Hor Namhong said.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat rejected the appeal to the U.N., saying he still felt "that bilateral options are still not exhausted."

After the meeting with Hor Namhong, U.S. Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli told reporters that "we're disappointed that this has happened."

"The movement of troops is something that is always worrisome," he said following the talks, which included other foreign ambassadors. "When you have that many young men with that many weapons in that close proximity, there's always a danger of violence."

The dispute over 1.8 square miles of land near the Preah Vihear temple escalated earlier this month when UNESCO approved Cambodia's application to have the complex named a World Heritage Site.

Thailand sent troops to the border July 15 after anti-government demonstrators attacked Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's government for supporting Cambodia's application to UNESCO. They claim the temple's new status will undermine Thailand's claim to land around the temple. Cambodia responded with its own deployment.

On the Thai side of the border, Thailand's regional commander Lt. Gen. Sujit Sithiprapa said he was confident that fighting would not break out.

"Although we have troops up there, there is clear understanding and clear order that no one will use force," Sujit told an Associated Press reporter. "The governments will have to resolve legal issues but the situation here remains normal."

Similar sentiments were expressed by Cambodian officers. "Nothing has changed. We have received orders to continue maintaining patience" after the talks failed, Cambodian Brig. Gen. Chea Keo said Tuesday.

But the atmosphere in a border town of Kantaralak in Thailand's Sisaket province was less optimistic, with villagers expressing fears that the government would resort to military action, which would damage the tourism industry.

"I don't want to lose Thai soil to Cambodia and I believe Thailand would do everything to protect our sovereignty," Boonruem Pongsapan, a local teacher at the border town of Kantaralak, said. "But I am scared there will be military action. Most parents of my students rely on tourists. What would we do now?"

Associated Press writers Ambika Ahuja and Sutin Wannabovorn in Bangkok, Thailand, Ker Munthit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Sumeth Panpetch along the Thai-Cambodian border contributed to this report.

• Person has an addiction to something and agrees to be in a show about addiction.
• The person and their family members are interviewed throughout the course of the show about the person/addiction.
• Person participates in their addiction in front of the camera so we can see how jacked up they (and their family usually) are.
• Family/friends agree to no longer support and enable the person with the addiction and demand that they accept treatment for their disease.
• Hilarity ensues (just kidding, the show is actually really heavy)

I usually have a whirlpool of emotions that rise up during that show. I'm going to explore this a little here. 

What Went Wrong?

The first thing that often hits me is when the person and family members recount the early life of the addict. They show pictures typically of a smiling baby; full of hope and joy - smiles ear-to-ear. And then often, after revelation of some traumatic event in the addict's life, they show succeeding pictures. These often betray a different look in the eyes of the addict. It's not the addiction yet, it's that pain...

That pain that tells you something has gone terribly wrong.

Something happens to all of these addicts where they are so affected by an event or their environment that their brain can't cope with its reality. It needs help. Chances are the things that should be in place to help a child through something like this (parents, family, responsible adult of some type) are missing. As a result, a malignant coping mechanism develops. This mechanism delivers some type of relief (if only a short-term one) that somehow makes life livable for that moment.

I'm no psychologist - although I have invested enough time and money to at least take pot-shots at figuring a few things out - so these things I write aren't facts by any stretch. They may or may not be true.

What is true are those pictures. I KNOW that pain too. I don't know why I know it, but I know it.

I can guess:

• Mom & Dad married early - divorced early (I was less than a year old - I think).
• Dad liked to drink and gamble. He was chasing after his own addictions (probably because of the reasons I outlined above). As a result, he wasn't a substantial part of my life.
• Dad favored my older brother. The little attention/affection that was up for grabs predominantly went to him.
• Mom (and I tread lightly here because of my intense respect/admiration/love that I have for her) was deeply wounded by Dad's antics (as well as other family issues that will be left untold here).

That at least scratches the surface.

When I read that I think to myself, "If I understand and own those things above, that should diffuse whatever pain those circumstances created". I'm very analytical. That equation is perfect.

And yet day after day after day - that pain lurks. It doesn't get any better. It doesn't heal. It simply demands more food. The more light that is shed on it increases my understanding, but it doesn't 'FIX' anything. Not even a little bit.

I also live in sort of a 'get over it' family. We don't really talk about the deep things that hurt us (probably why I'm writing to you fine people). You are expected to just deal with life. You do what you can to overcome and move on. If you have trouble, we'll help you - but we don't need to talk about how it hurt you - because it's over now, right?

Sounds pretty good, huh?

I like the book I'm reading now. It's opened up something inside of me that I didn't have before - permission to own my experience and my feelings. It doesn't matter if other people believe things went down differently. My experience is unique to me. I get to own it.

I'm learning that when you pretend that everything's ok, you need something to fuel that lie. Truth will not be silenced. It takes a lot of work to keep it at bay. I've heaped a lot of food into my lie to get the truth to shut up and leave me alone.

What's my truth? I hurt. A lot. Not on the surface; but deep. So deep I can't even get to it most of the time. As the truth silently rises in me, that same coping mechanism that couldn't deal with it as a child heaps food into the mouth of the lie for fear of being overcome.

Overcome...by what?

This is where all reason breaks down. The irrational fears of the child in pain take over. Those fears have been alive longer than my identity today - they have seniority - they win; not because I want them to, but just because.

I'm going to stop here. But I'll hint at where I'm going:

• I realize that God has walked with me to this point, and He stands ready to guide me down the next stretch of road. I don't need a bunch of trite 'trust God' encouragement from people who don't get it. God is good and is my Strength. He's the reason I'm not 400 lbs.
• I've learned that when He requires it you have to jump - and then allow God to catch you. No questions, no play-by-play of how it's going to go down, you just go when He says go. That first step off the cliff is excruciating - it just plain sucks.

Sorry to be all over the place...

--Matt

When you build your goals and dreams based on this philosophy your ideas and concepts enter the world complete.

I have work through a LOT of issues with a LOT of people and there is a single commonality that transcends color, gender, and income and that commonality is that EVERYONE has a basic desire to be a better person.
Once you feel that you can do something, DO IT!!!!! Because you can.
Attack your dream like a roach on the wall when company is over!
See your vision all the way to its completion and don’t doubt yourself! Not even a little bit.

DOUBT BREEDS DOUBT LIKE SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS!

My God-Sister, friend, and colleague Kela Price, marketing guru, life coach, and law student wrote the synopsis on the back of my book Miracles of My Mistakes. What moved me the most was the part when she said, “Don’t give anyone else the power to tell you what your purpose in life is.” That is in itself is so powerful. Statements like you can’t do that or you ain’t never gonna be shyt will choke the life out of life. Stay away from negative people. They will drain your spirit like a bad alternator.  Day in and day out they see things without observing.  They take you work, your tools, and your routine as a matter of course, although your goal or dream may offer possibilities for worth-while suggestions.  Too often they see you doing something new or a new direction you taking your life in, they get mad and say things like, "that's nothin' or I could have thought of that."  They had their eyes open, but they couldn't see the forest because of all of the trees.  They miss strong opportunities to improve their lives that are presented to them (a free wealth building seminar), but they jump at minor improvements (free drinks before 10) that would have naturally been taken care of in the course of time.
Negative people are simultaneously amazed and envious at the slightest bit of success perpetuated by others because they can’t wrap their mind around the art of achieving. My Naana always told me, if you hang around 9 broke friends you’re bound to be the 10th one.

So the next time you are in the midst of achieving your goals be it professional or personal and some unmotivated, misguided hater tells you that you are wasting your time. Tell them that they are wasting their mind!

GET UP, GET OUT, & GET YOURS!

Love, Peace, and $ucce$$

Trizah Morris, Achieveologist

I had to travel by myself the other day to take one of my doggies to the vet.  By necessity, I had to run into Tim Hortons for a few minutes, so I left my poochie in the car with the AIR CONDITIONING ON.  Imagine my surprise when I came back to my vehicle and overhead the discussion from the car sitting next to me.  Fellow dog lovers, they had spotted my pooch and assumed he was trapped in the car with no windows down.  In 90 degree heat with a ton of humidity.  So they were discussing how much time to give me before they smashed my window in. 

Firstly, this is a conversation my husband and I have had on more than one occasion when spotting a dog apparently left out in the heat.  However, for all those activists out there, I would suggest that you CHECK to see if the engine is running before you decide to put out someone's window.   We have a very quiet running vehicle.  Unless you place your hand on it, you might not hear the engine running.  Otherwise, you will be left with an enraged citizen, a lovely repair bill, and likely, a court date.

On a more personal note, please don't hesitate to act - responsibly- if you think or even suspect that a dog is in danger!  I once saved a dog from certain death in a parking lot because I bothered to go inside the associated professional offices and announce loudly that there was a dog, in a certain vehicle, with the windows rolled completely up, which looked like XX, in the parking lot and I was going back out to put a rock through the window if the situation wasn't resolved immediately.  There are studies that show that on an 80-degree day the interior of a vehicle heats up to 102 degrees in 10 minutes. It will reach 120 degrees in 30 minutes.  

One of the staff members leaped up and ran out to the vehicle.  Turned out the business owner had, completely by accident, forgotten the dog in the car when they came into work that morning.  I've known this person for 20 years and they are the biggest animal lover I can think of.  They were in tears when they realized what could have happened.  So, get involved.  Ask questions.  Maybe you will save a life one of these days.

The Northerngardener

(Copyright 2008 by the Northerngardener.  Go ahead and link to me, just don’t copy me. )

To this...

I couldn't even help you get a manual labor job with you looking like that. I know you gotta have some money left. I find it hard to believe that after all the CD sales and movies you've appeared in, that you're more broke than MC Hammer. I mean, did you really spend all your money on houses, drugs, and pit bulls? We know you didn't spend it all on your entourage. You seem to only be getting arrested by yourself. And now I gotta read that you just used a fake name and skipped out on a medical bill at a hospital! What's going on with you?! I knew something was off with the way you used to be all angry and bark recklessly (Nothing is wrong with barking though. I do it sometimes myself for a pretty well-known reason.). I hope you haven't resorted to doing that for money in the streets. I'm sure people wouldn't even recognize you if you did. Do you have any explanation for yourself?

Confused? Will you stop staring at me with that blank ass look on your face! Shower, shave, put on some deodorant and clean clothes, and a very small amount of cologne. Earl, we are going to turn your life around. We need to get you back on the right track before you end up on a VH-1 celeb-reality show. Perhaps you already have. Nonetheless, get dressed Earl! Today we are going to find you a job!

Abstract: Agitation in individuals with dementia living in the nursing home environment affects care and quality of life. Relaxation techniques such as music and massage are showing promise to decrease agitation and improve quality of life in individuals with dementia. Using an experimental 3 x 3 repeated measures design, 41 residents with mild to moderate dementia participated in a study to test the effectiveness of favorite music (FM) and hand massage (HM) in reducing agitated behaviors. Agitated residents were randomly assigned to either the treatment or control groups. Residents in the treatment group received each of three treatments, HM, FM, and HMFM, with each treatment lasting 10 minutes. Residents in the control group received no treatment. Agitation was measured using the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) at three different intervals. The results suggest that FM and HM individually and combined are effective in significantly decreasing agitation immediately following the intervention and also one hour post intervention.

For the full-text of this article please email: susan.jennings@lancashirecare.nhs.uk

One useful online resource, germane to some aspects of current discussions on anthropology and counterinsurgency, following from the previous post, is:

Jorgensen, Joseph G., and Wolf, Eric R. (1970). Anthropology on the warpath in Thailand (a special supplement). The New York Review of Books, 15 (9), November 19.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/10763

In that article, which provoked lengthy and critical responses, the two authors reflect on the significance, back then, of what they learned of the role of anthropologists in gathering information to facilitate counterinsurgency activities. The problem, as they state, is one that has,

dogged anthropologists from the inception of the discipline. European conquest and colonialism had, after all, provided the field for anthropology's operations and, especially in the nineteenth century, its intellectual ethic of "scientific objectivity." But "scientific objectivity," we believe, implies the estrangement of the anthropologist from the people among whom he works.

Here the authors place scientific objectivity within the framework of building empire. They refer to Claude Lévi-Strauss for further defining this issue:

Anthropology is not a dispassionate science like astronomy, which springs from the contemplation of things at a distance. It is the outcome of an historical process, which has made the larger part of mankind subservient to the other, and during which millions of innocent human beings have had their resources plundered, their institutions and beliefs destroyed while they themselves were ruthlessly killed, thrown into bondage, and contaminated by diseases they were unable to resist. Anthropology is the daughter to this era of violence. Its capacity to assess more objectively the facts pertaining to the human condition reflects, on the epistemological level, a state of affairs in which one part of mankind treats the other as an object. (Claude Lévi-Strauss, "Anthropology: Its Achievement and Future," Current Anthropology, vol. 7, 1966, p. 126.)

•••••••

Jorgensen and Wolf reflect on their colleagues' engagements with counterinsurgency, in light of the history of anthropology. As they put it,

The Thailand episode is only the latest violation of the conscience of anthropology; in retrospect we see that anthropological projects calculated to interfere in the affairs of others have a long, and not entirely visible, genealogy.

The advent of World War II, in the words of the outgoing president of the American Anthropological Association, "[provided] anthropologists [with] an unprecedented opportunity to play a variety of applied roles in government." There was, for instance, an opportunity to aid in the forcible relocation of 100,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry to places east of the Sierras. There was the opportunity to analyze Japanese culture through the analysis of secondary sources and interviews with Japanese in the United States, under the auspices of the Foreign Morale Analysis Division, Office of War Information. There was, further, the chance to write war background studies of individual countries, such as "Siam—Land of Free Men," under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution. Finally, anthropologists shouldered the White Man's Burden in Micronesia, serving as administrators to local populations under the auspices of the Navy.

Also worth noting is that the Human Resource Area Files (HRAF) emerged from Yale's Cross-Cultural Survey, which had the purpose of providing the military with information on world areas that were deemed critical. The Army, Navy, Air Force, and CIA each contributed $50,000 annually to help support the development of the HRAF.

•••••••

At the time at which they wrote there had already been several meetings between government officials, military representatives, and academics from the SS (the social science community). Participants were aware of several problems that would place obstacles in the way of acceptance of their research plans, including widespread opposition to war in southeast Asia. As the minutes of one conference made clear, Jorgensen and Wolf explain,

there are devices for getting around these difficulties: increased salaries, congenial companionship, "interesting problems like existence of Thai communists"; professional opportunities and prestige; support of military officials at universities; closer ties of government with universities; greater support for RAND and Army think tanks; the hiring of top professionals at high costs to enlist and serve as a model for others; the development of administrative anthropologists who, on the British and French design, would become advisers to Empire.

Like much of the rest of the article, it often reads like an exposé of the Human Terrain System and the Minerva Research Initiative, only with different actors and acronyms. With some remarkable resemblance to what is contained in the call for Minerva grant applications Jorgensen and Wolf state: "As the Thailand papers show, the government is less interested in the economic, social, or political causes of discontent than in techniques of neutralizing individual or collective protest." Little has changed.

It's also interesting to note how the payment of high salaries is meant as more than just "compensation," but as a lure in attracting SS recruits. Interesting to note as well the presence of RAND, now as then. The infusion of government and military money had a definite impact, Jorgensen and Wolf note:

Nearly everywhere, anthropologists were drawn into the network of information gathering and processing; the demand was for their data, not for their values. The anthropologist was supposed to bring in the "behavioral" information; others would use that information to formulate and execute public policy. Thus the curious quid pro quo which provides current working conditions for a great many anthropologists was established. The researcher would get the chance to carry on field work with a heady sense of engagement in a global welfare operation, punctuated by occasional participation in an international meeting, followed by a dry martini at the airport bar in Bangkok or Dar es Salaam. In exchange, others received the right to play with his data. Many signed their contracts, unwittingly or otherwise, in return for fellowships, research grants, and jobs.

•••••••

Throughout the article the authors are highly critical of secret research, noting how much damage it can do not just to anthropology's credibility and future, but especially to the people studied by the anthropologist:

Obviously, such techniques and goals are anathema to the anthropologist who is dedicated to open and free inquiry, and who feels an obligation to the people among whom he performs his work, people whom he can no longer regard as objects of the goal of "scientific objectivity." Indeed, the anthropologist's traditional obligation to the people among whom he works is the critical issue. In order for the anthropologist to work at all, he must learn to trust them and they him. He must learn to depend upon them, and in return, he promises that he will not betray their personal confidences, or permit his findings to be used without their knowledge for political purposes. Furthermore, many anthropologists feel that they should obtain their subjects' consent to collect and disseminate information, and that, moreover, having received such consent on one topic, the researcher is not free to collect and use information on other topics.

Jorgensen and Wolf do not stop there. They argue that a naive anthropology can serve in the role of "informer" to the powerful and aid the purposes of imperial domination:

The days of naïve anthropology are over. It is no longer adequate to collect information about little known and powerless people; one needs to know also the uses to which that knowledge can be put. Behind an appeal for pure research, a research grant, a consultant's fee, an appeal to personal vanity or to patriotism, is a government that may well use the knowledge gained to damage the subjects among whom it was gathered. Perhaps this is the grimmest lesson of all the events of the past years: many a naïve anthropologist has become, wittingly or unwittingly, an informer.

I was similarly concerned about this in an earlier post about "exposing the network."

•••••••

Jorgensen and Wolf essentially call for the decolonization of anthropology as a means of countering the cooptation of anthropology in building empire:

Admittedly, anthropology was ambiguously conceived. Now, in our view, it must disengage itself from its connection with colonial aims or it will become intellectually trivial. The future of anthropology, its credibility, depends upon sustaining the dialectic between knowledge and experience. Anthropologists must be willing to testify in behalf of the oppressed peoples of the world, including those whom we professionally define as primitives and peasants

Now, as then, the decolonization of anthropology remains to be achieved, and it will now be harder than ever. It's best not to set any limits to either the nature or the extent of opposition to the recolonization of anthropology that is necessary.

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'Buddhism and Physics'
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And I believe that using the government to enforce any of these beliefs is a gross abuse of the role of civil authority. That is why I will vote for same sex marriage should it ever appear on a ballot in my state, something I hope for. That is why I will stare on in amazement at the FCC for refusing to let parents alone decide what is appropriate for their children to watch. That is why I do not support DCF showing up in the middle of the night to take your kids simply because you are... uncouth in your lifestyle (Texas polygamists come to mind). That is why I fully embrace the First Amendment and the separation of church and state in America. That is why I will be mortified should the Constitution ever be amended to define marriage or prevent physical desecration to the flag. That is why I support your right to insult and blaspheme my faith however you please.

I will tolerate your actions so long as you do not harm other people or the society we share. I will love you as a person regardless of anything. It is not me that will succeed in changing the way you view the world. My role is to do the best I can to respect you as a human being and care for you, setting your actions aside and getting to know you as a person, gay, straight, single, hooking up, Christian, militant atheist, patriot, nationalist, or whatever else you choose to do.

Social conservatives do themselves and their causes a great injustice by seeking to politicize everything they find and seeking to criminalize the behavior of others. This is not the way that we are taught to bear witness to our choices as evidenced by Jesus, Gandhi, or whoever else we listen to. There is a reason that the prophets do not preach to the king. It is the people we must convince. To do this, we must show tolerance. Seeking to bring the forces of government to bear against people who live differently than us is more than just a poor choice of tactics: it is a contradiction of the very message we believe in.

We believe that there are laws regarding human conduct that transcend humanity itself. Why, then, do we insist that the government step in and side with us in our battles? Let others do what they please. Get to know them and interact with them. Do not try to use coercion to bring them into line with our ways. Be upright in your own ways. Be lights on posts, cities on hills. Do not be intolerant of others, but cherish them and, without saying a proselytizing or self-righteous word, bear constant witness to life that points to something greater than itself.

All too often, the people who drive people away from tradition are the very ones who preach the loudest about the need for social restraint. How many conservative pastors need to be arrested for money laundering before we get the point? How many conservative politicians need to fall from grace committing deplorable sexual acts before we understand?

We believe in what we believe in. If we live it truthfully, we have to have faith that we will be justified and respected, regardless of the laws of men.

It may sound cliche thanks to others who use it, but if you don't want a gay marriage, don't get one. Do not try to convince others of the correctness and benefit of our beliefs at the bars of a jail cell, the denial of a piece of legal paper, or a microphone silenced.

Tolerance and compassionate coexistence are the only ways social conservatives are going to accomplish anything in this world.

Crédit photo Rovaro

Annie Mathieu a publié aujourd'hui un article dans La Presse sur le site d'injection supervisé de Vancouver, le Insite. Je suis cité dans l'article. Soit parce que j'arrive de Vancouver et que j'ai visité le Insite. Soit parce qu'il n'y avait pas personne d'autre disponible avant la tombée de l'article. Je suis présenté comme un ex-travailleur de rue. Ouf! Je viens de prendre un coup de vieux.

Annie Mathieu n'a pas menti. J'ai fait du travail de rue plein temps de 1992 à 1997. Avec l'ouverture du Café-Graffiti en 1997, tranquillement mes activités de travailleur de rue se sont transformées en travailleur de milieu. Aujourd'hui, je suis obligé de cumuler les fonctions de directeur de l'organisme, directeur clinique de l'intervention, rédacteur en chef, journaliste... je m'assure que les vidanges sont sorties ainsi que la récupération.

Avec les années, j'accompagne des jeunes qui ont des amis qui en connaissent d'autres... Mes présences en dehors du local pour du travail de rue puriste comme j'ai fait jusqu'en 1997 ne se font que lorsque j'ai des gens à rencontrer dans des conditions très spécifiques et très particulières.

Possiblement que cette trajectoire est la même pour plusieurs travailleurs de rue. Après un certain temps, on tombe en charge de la formation des jeunes intervenants, on continue l'intervention auprès des jeunes que nous avons adopté ainsi que de leur milieu de vie. Finalement, ça devient la chaise de directeur d'organisme. Un vieux meuble, mais encore bien utile. D'autres enseignent à l'université, ce que j'ai aussi fait pendant 5 ans avec McGill.

Donc, quand je croiserais Mme Annie Mathieu de La Presse, je lui demanderais de ne pas me présenter comme ex-travailleur de rue, mais plutôt comme le directeur de l'organisme. Un jeune directeur vaut mieux qu'un vieux travailleur de rue!

Billet sur Insite, le site d'injection supervisé. Voyage complet à Vancouver.

PUBLICITÉ
Quand un homme accouche. Roman de cheminement. Le personnage principal accouche de son enfant intérieur qui devient son ami et son thérapeute tout au long du roman. Ce livre est le premier d’une trilogie qui a été reprise dans L’amour en 3 Dimensions. 9,95$

Disponible dans toute bonne librairie.
Par téléphone: (514) 256-9000, en région: 1-877-256-9009
Par Internet: www.refletdesociete.com
Par la poste: Reflet de Société 4233 Ste-Catherine Est Montréal, Qc. H1V 1X4

Crédit photo Rovaro

Annie Mathieu a publié aujourd'hui un article dans La Presse sur le site d'injection supervisé de Vancouver, le Insite. Je suis cité dans l'article. Soit parce que j'arrive de Vancouver et que j'ai visité le Insite. Soit parce qu'il n'y avait pas personne d'autre disponible avant la tombée de l'article. Je suis présenté comme un ex-travailleur de rue. Ouf! Je viens de prendre un coup de vieux.

Annie Mathieu n'a pas menti. J'ai fait du travail de rue plein temps de 1992 à 1997. Avec l'ouverture du Café-Graffiti en 1997, tranquillement mes activités de travailleur de rue se sont transformées en travailleur de milieu. Aujourd'hui, je suis obligé de cumuler les fonctions de directeur de l'organisme, directeur clinique de l'intervention, rédacteur en chef, journaliste... je m'assure que les vidanges sont sorties ainsi que la récupération.

Avec les années, j'accompagne des jeunes qui ont des amis qui en connaissent d'autres... Mes présences en dehors du local pour du travail de rue puriste comme j'ai fait jusqu'en 1997 ne se font que lorsque j'ai des gens à rencontrer dans des conditions très spécifiques et très particulières.

Possiblement que cette trajectoire est la même pour plusieurs travailleurs de rue. Après un certain temps, ont tombe en charge de la formation des jeunes intervenants, on continue l'intervention auprès des jeunes que nous avons adoptés ainsi que de leur milieu de vie. Finalement, ça devient la chaise du directeur d'organisme. Un vieux meuble, mais encore bien utile. D'autres enseignent à l'université, ce que j'ai aussi fait pendant 5 ans avec McGill.

Donc, quand je croiserais Mme Annie Mathieu de La Presse, je lui demanderais de ne pas me présenter comme ex-travailleur de rue, mais plutôt comme le directeur de l'organisme. Un jeune directeur vaut mieux qu'un vieux travailleur de rue!

Billets sur le site d'injection supervisé, In Site. Article d'Annie Mathieu sur le site d'injection supervisé dans La Presse.

PUBLICITÉ
Quand un homme accouche. Roman de cheminement. Le personnage principal accouche de son enfant intérieur qui devient son ami et son thérapeute tout au long du roman. Ce livre est le premier d’une trilogie qui a été reprise dans L’amour en 3 Dimensions. 9,95$

Disponible dans toute bonne librairie.
Par téléphone: (514) 256-9000, en région: 1-877-256-9009
Par Internet: www.refletdesociete.com
Par la poste: Reflet de Société 4233 Ste-Catherine Est Montréal, Qc. H1V 1X4

Interestingly enough, I sat down long enough to watch and episode of Intervention, as well, another A&E show that features loved ones hosting an intervention for an addicted friend.  Needless to say, somewhat unchartered territory in the realm of mental health. 

If you're interested in the genuine human experience (not just about fame seeking hard bodies) and the effects of addiction you will certainly be intrigued by both these shows.  Catch them both on A&E.

Having a generally introspective weekend. Or maybe month. Hard to differentiate between them sometimes. The latest episode of Top Gear was on last night so I've been watching that. I love the show -- I love watching men being boys (as long as none of them are "my" man; then it's just frustrating). Not a huge car fan but they're fun to watch and, since I'm finding myself thinking that relocating to England some day sounds like a grand plan, anything British just really grabs my attention. (Yay! again for Youtube.) I have a huge thing for the Stig. ;-) The white helmet and racing gear are hot, and you have to love the strong, silent type.

<added> Oh, no!!!! The Stig talks!

(The description accompanying that last one says "White Stig's name is Ben Collins and he does most of the top gear track tests but since White stig has existed there have been a few guest stigs including Heikki Kovaleinen who drove the F1 car and the Skidoo jump was done by Dan Lang a Swedish snowmobile cross rider." -- I'd avoid actually visiting the Youtube page as the comments are mindless crap, even by Youtube standards.) I'm so disillusioned.</added>

Found a Stig quotes application in Facebook, and then the Top Gear Facebook page. That got me looking at various Youtube clips that didn't make it into actual episodes. (That's how I ended up looking at the Stig videos above.) Much as I like the show, sometimes I think they (Jeremy Clarkson, in particular) take the kidding of each other just a bit too far. Then again, man-children tend to do that when they get together. Do they ever grow up? I have to admit that I have a bit of a soft spot for James May, and he seems to take an awful lot of ribbing. In this clip, they're discussing a "mood steering wheel" and after James makes the very dark comment "What colour would it turn if you were...sometimes when you're driving along and suddenly you get that moment of absolute black dog despair when you think you've wasted your whole life?", Jeremy takes things just a bit too far:

I don't believe for a second that no one in that hangar has ever experienced what James was describing. In fact, I'd bet that more than a few of them have. This blog was started because of that sentiment...minus the driving, of course -- and, if I've learned one thing in the almost two years since then, it's that I'm not alone in feeling that way. I've mentioned that before. But, as bleak as it is to think that I've wasted my life, I hate even more so many other people are in the same boat, like knowing you're drowning and being unable to save the others drowning around you.