Planet Deb's Topics Board

Thank goodness for PolitiFact.Com

2010-02-16T13:46:00.000-08:00

When I really want to know and understand what's happening I read "Truth-o-meter" at PolitiFact.Com. This is the place where they've already sorted through all those half truths and out right lies so I don't have to.
Link: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/

I'm enjoying ...

2010-02-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

Nathan Wirth's A Slice of Silence
http://integrallife.com/node/67114

Wise quote ...

2010-02-11T15:09:00.000-08:00

From The Quote Garden, "Wise Words" section ...

"God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me. ~ Author unknown, variation of an excerpt from "The Serenity Prayer" by Reinhold Neibuhr

Charles Caleb Colton quotes

2010-01-26T08:04:00.000-08:00

Patience Rayn's Decodaquote from Saturday January 23, 2010 turned out to be a quote by Charles Caleb Colton:

"Men will wrangle for religion, write for it, fight for it, die for it; anything but live for it. "

Colton Caleb Colton (1780-1832), an English cleric and writer whose words and insights still continue to ring true two hundred plus years later. Such as this one, which remind me of Sarah Palin ...

"It is an easy and a vulgar thing to please the mob, and not a very arduous task to astonish them, but essentially, to benefit and improve them is a work fraught with difficulty, and teeming with danger."

Sarah Palin continually chooses the easy route - the path of pleasing and inflaming the fears and prejudices of the mob

Barack Obama continually chooses the more difficult path - the path of improvement for us all.

I know which path I'm on.

Thank you Barack.
Good-bye Sarah.

Reference Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Caleb_Colton
http://www.decodaquote.com/

I've Discovered TED

2009-02-18T13:13:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted to his blog in so long.

When I first created this blog, blogging was a new and exciting event. Then came myspace and I had to try that as well. Followed by Facebook and pretty soon every place was offering blogging. That's when I lost interest. I realized, personally, I simply don't have that much to say. Let alone anything important to share.

But I do still find things I enjoy sharing with others, things I thing other may like.

Recently I discoverd TED (link: http://www.ted.com/index.php) TED's been out there for awhile, it's only new to me. None the less, it has many intersting videos of talks of interests given by people I admire and/or find fasinating.

One of my favorites is Jill Bolt Taylor talking about her "Stoke of Insight"
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

It moved me so much I had to purchase her book. It arrived this morning. Can't wait to read it.

Kind regards,
Deb

An Appropriate and Fair Ending

2006-05-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

"Mr Moussaoui, you came here to be a martyr and die in a big bang of glory; but to paraphrase the poet T.S. Eliot, instead, you will die with a whimper. You will spend the rest of your life in prison and you will never again get to speak, and that is an appropriate and fair ending." - Judge Leonie Brinkema

I Agree.

Are people finally waking up...

2005-11-13T09:50:00.000-08:00

"In their statement, the bishops pledged to pray daily for the end of the war, for its American and Iraqi victims and for American leaders to find "truth, humility and policies of peace through justice." "We confess our preoccupation with institutional enhancement and limited agendas while American men and women are sent to Iraq to kill and be killed, while thousands of Iraqi people needlessly suffer and die, while poverty increases and preventable diseases go untreated," the statement said." -- Excerpted from article below

Are people finally waking up and coming (back) to their senses? Perhaps so! I welcome their prayers, I welcome their joining back with those who never wanted things to go this way in the first place, and those who have been praying for this "wake up" since day one. With gratitude ... Deb

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1111-08.htm
Published on Friday, November 11, 2005 by FOX News
Methodist Bishops Repent Iraq War 'Complicity'
by Kaukab Jhumra Smith

WASHINGTON -- Ninety-five bishops from President Bush's church said Thursday they repent their "complicity" in the "unjust and immoral" invasion and occupation of Iraq.

"In the face of the United States administration's rush toward military action based on misleading information, too many of us were silent," said a statement of conscience signed by more than half of the 164 retired and active United Methodist bishops worldwide.

President Bush is a member of the United Methodist Church, according to various published biographies. The White House did not return a request for comment on the bishops' statement.

Although United Methodist leadership has opposed the Iraq war in the past, this is the first time that individual bishops have confessed to a personal failure to publicly challenge the buildup to the war.

The signatures were also an instrument for retired bishops to make their views known, said bishop Joseph H. Yeakel, who served in the Baltimore-Washington area from 1984 to 1996. The current bishop for the Baltimore-Washington area, John R. Schol, also signed the statement.

The statement avoids making accusations, said retired Bishop Kenneth L. Carder, instructor at Duke University's divinity school and an author of the document.

"We would have made the statement regardless of who the president was. It was not meant to be either partisan or to single out any one person," Carder said. "It was the recognition that we are all part of the decision and we are all part of a democratic society. We all bear responsibility."

Stith, who spent more than three years after his retirement working in East Africa -- including with Rwandan refugees -- said going to war over the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks did not solve the real problems behind them.

The real issues are that much of the world lives in poverty, desperation and depression, he said, while an affluent minority of the world often oppresses them. Americans need to take responsibility for their world, Stith said.

"To ignore things and to assume that persons in the government have all knowledge is to reject our franchise and our democracy," Stith said.

About six weeks ago, Carder discussed the idea of a public statement with other colleagues who "had concerns" about the war, and the idea just grew, Carder said.

Last week, the statement circulated during a biannual meeting of the Council of Bishops, "and before the week was out, we had 95 bishops," Carder said.

In their statement, the bishops pledged to pray daily for the end of the war, for its American and Iraqi victims and for American leaders to find "truth, humility and policies of peace through justice."

"We confess our preoccupation with institutional enhancement and limited agendas while American men and women are sent to Iraq to kill and be killed, while thousands of Iraqi people needlessly suffer and die, while poverty increases and preventable diseases go untreated," the statement said.

Some bishops declined to sign their names, although they supported the statement, Carder said.

This week's statement follows years of public opposition to the Iraq war by the church.

In May 2004, the Council of Bishops passed a resolution that "lamented the continued warfare" and asked the U.S. government to seek international help to rebuild Iraq. The church's women's division called for an end to the war in 2002. And in 2001, the church's head of social policy, Jim Winkler, said the push for war was "without any justification according to the teachings of Christ," according to a report by The (London) Observer.

Public approval of the war has steadily declined since the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003. At the time, seven of 10 Americans said the U.S. did the right thing. By this October, only four of 10 Americans did, according to CBS polls.

About 11 million people belong to the United Methodist Church, including 200,000 in the Baltimore-Washington area.

Carder and Stith said they hoped their statement would encourage more people to think about peacemaking.

"The only solution seems to be to stay the course. But if you're on the wrong course, you don't stay the course," Carder said. "At the heart of the Christian faith is the willingness to acknowledge mistakes."

Capital News Service contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2005 FOX News

The Art of Compromise (Peace) in action ...

2005-05-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

“Non-violence and peace do not mean that we remain indifferent, passive. I believe that as long as human beings remain, as long as human intelligence is present, some kind of conflict remains. If we look at contradictory ideas, they are not necessarily negative. Forces that contradict one another are the basis of further development. What we need is a method, a technique, to overcome these contradictions. That is compromise. In today’s reality the only way to solve a problem is compromise. Since your interest is very much related with others’ interest, you can’t sacrifice others’ interests. Therefore compromise, 50-50.”
– H.H. the Dalai Lama, from “The Art of Peace: Nobel Peace Laureates Discuss Human Rights, Conflict, and Reconciliation”

... In today’s reality the only way to solve a problem is compromise...(excerpted from quote above

and so it is …

Examples:

Compromise Slows Power Play - Byron Williams
Excerpt:

As the majority of the Senate gave its best efforts to forgo its traditional genteel persona, preferring the more raucous, steel-cage-match nature of the House, a gang of 14 returned them to their collective sensibilities, if only momentarily. (cutting)

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, perhaps summed it up best: "The American people clearly understand that this whole exercise was a Republican abuse of power designed to water down our constitutional system of checks and balances and turn the Senate into a rubber stamp for the president."

Though far from perfect, the bipartisan Senate compromise managed to accomplish that much.

Sen. Clinton, Former House Speaker Gingrich Team Up on Health IT Legislation, USA
Excerpt:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga) on Wednesday announced they will work together to promote legislation to spur the adoption of electronic record-keeping applications by the health care industry, the... AP/Las Vegas Sun reports (Freking, AP/Las Vegas Sun, 5/12). Clinton and Gingrich appeared at a news conference in support of a bill (HR 2234) introduced in the House on Wednesday by Reps. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) that would provide doctors and hospitals with incentives to adopt health information technology networks.

Brave new steps for peace being boldly taken a hostile environment because ...

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu
Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)

Notes about this Quotation

* Although this is the popular form of this quotation, a more correct translation from the original Chinese would be "The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet." Rather than emphasizing the first step, Lau Tzu regarded action as something that arises naturally from stillness. Another potential phrasing would be "Even the longest journey must begin where you stand." [note by Michael Moncur, September 01, 2004] - Reference: http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/24004.html

Whichever way it's said … it has begun; The Art of Peace ... being created as we live, with the many brush strokes of compromise. May it BEcome the most beautiful and treasure piece of art, of all mankind.

-Deb

Join with me in the PoeticSOS Campaign to Save Our Schools

2005-03-23T08:55:00.000-08:00

Please join with me in the PoeticSOS campaign to help our schools. The PoeticSOS campaign was created by Sherry Williams to help our California schools. If you or anyone you know is concerned about the quality of education in our state; please read this information, write letters, and then pass this information along to others. Working together, we can make a difference. Thank you – Deb.

Power Of E-mail To Inspire Californians - Save Our Schools (Poetic S.O.S.)

http://www.poeticsosquick.blogspot.com/

Dear parents, teachers, child and education advocates, and others concerned about children and quality education in California:

Governor Schwarzenegger is proposing that California eliminate the Proposition 98 minimum funding provision for education, passed by voters in 1988 - for more information about this, click here: ASCA School Funding Q & A. Of further concern, the governor is proposing that education be subjected to statewide "across the board" cuts as often as twice a year, if state expenditures exceed revenues. After already struggling from four consecutive years of budget cuts, these further cuts would be devastating to our schools and districts.

California’s schools are among the lowest funded in the nation. Our average class size is the second largest in the nation. At the same time, we have the most rigorous academic standards and one of the most stringent accountability systems in the nation. These high standards point the way to academic success for our students and future workers, but schools need adequate funding in order to fulfill that promise.

I feel that it is now a critical for all individuals concerned about school funding in California to speak up and be heard. California schools have already been cut back to the bare bones for years. Please help by becoming involved, writing to your elected officials, and letting your voices be heard.

Please learn all that you can and don't get tricked into signing one of the petitions currently being passed around to change Proposition 98!!

Thanks,

Sherry Williams, One Mom from Concord
Now Teamed with Parents and Many Others Throughout California including Poway Unified Education Advocates

E-mail: PoeticSOS@aol.com

Links:
PoeticSOS Latest News
PoeticSOS Home
Poway Advocates - A Must Read For All Parents

Article: Maximum pain is aim of new US weapon

2005-03-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7077

Maximum pain is aim of new US weapon

* 19:00 02 March 2005
* Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition
* David Hambling

The US military is funding development of a weapon that delivers a bout of excruciating pain from up to 2 kilometres away. Intended for use against rioters, it is meant to leave victims unharmed. But pain researchers are furious that work aimed at controlling pain has been used to develop a weapon. And they fear that the technology will be used for torture.

"I am deeply concerned about the ethical aspects of this research," says Andrew Rice, a consultant in pain medicine at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, UK. "Even if the use of temporary severe pain can be justified as a restraining measure, which I do not believe it can, the long-term physical and psychological effects are unknown."

The research came to light in documents unearthed by the Sunshine Project, an organisation based in Texas and in Hamburg, Germany, that exposes biological weapons research. The papers were released under the US's Freedom of Information Act.

One document, a research contract between the Office of Naval Research and the University of Florida in Gainsville, US, is entitled "Sensory consequences of electromagnetic pulses emitted by laser induced plasmas".

It concerns so-called Pulsed Energy Projectiles (PEPs), which fire a laser pulse that generates a burst of expanding plasma when it hits something solid, like a person (New Scientist print edition, 12 October 2002). The weapon, destined for use in 2007, could literally knock rioters off their feet.

Pain trigger

According to a 2003 review of non-lethal weapons by the US Naval Studies Board, which advises the navy and marine corps, PEPs produced "pain and temporary paralysis" in tests on animals. This appears to be the result of an electromagnetic pulse produced by the expanding plasma which triggers impulses in nerve cells.

The new study, which runs until July and will be carried out with researchers at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, aims to optimise this effect. The idea is to work out how to generate a pulse which triggers pain neurons without damaging tissue.

The contract, heavily censored before release, asks researchers to look for "optimal pulse parameters to evoke peak nociceptor activation" - in other words, cause the maximum pain possible. Studies on cells grown in the lab will identify how much pain can be inflicted on someone before causing injury or death.

Long-term risk

New Scientist contacted two researchers working on the project. Martin Richardson, a laser expert at the University of Central Florida, US, refused to comment. Brian Cooper, an expert in dental pain at the University of Florida, distanced himself from the work, saying "I don't have anything interesting to convey. I was just providing some background for the group." His name appears on a public list of the university's research projects next to the $500,000-plus grant.

John Wood of University College London, UK, an expert in how the brain perceives pain, says the researchers involved in the project should face censure. "It could be used for torture," he says, "the [researchers] must be aware of this."

Amanda Williams, a clinical psychologist at University College London, fears that victims risk long-term harm. "Persistent pain can result from a range of supposedly non-destructive stimuli which nevertheless change the functioning of the nervous system," she says. She is concerned that studies of cultured cells will fall short of demonstrating a safe level for a plasma burst. "They cannot tell us about the pain and psychological consequences of such a painful experience."

Related Articles

Top US biologists oppose biodefence boom (01 March 2005)
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7074

Pentagon reveals rejected chemical weapons (15 January 2005)
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18524823.800

Sweeping stun guns to target crowds (16 June 2004)
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6014

Weblinks

Sunshine Project
http://www.sunshine-project.org/

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London
http://www.chelwest.nhs.uk/jobs/index.asp>

Office of Naval Research
http://www.onr.navy.mil/

Neuroscience, University of Florida
http://www.neuro.fsu.edu/

Department of Physiology, University College London
http://www.physiol.ucl.ac.uk

Political Interference with Scientific Determinations

2005-02-27T08:12:00.000-08:00

The following article, links and information are from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Check them out! ~~ Deb

Political Interference with Scientific Determinations
Large numbers of agency scientists reported political interference in scientific determinations.
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/rsi/page.cfm?pageID=1601

RESTORING SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY
Are scientific abuses endangering wildlife?
A survey of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists reveals political interference in scientific findings has a chilling effect on scientific candor and staff morale, potentially undermining the agency's ability to fulfill its mission of protecting endangered species.
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/rsi/index.cfm

Specific Examples of the Abuse of Science
In conjunction with the scientists' statement on scientific integrity, the Union of Concerned Scientists released two reports detailing multiple examples of the Bush administration's unprecedented manipulation, distortion, and suppression of government science.

Since the two UCS reports were published, the mainstream and scientific media have continued to report abuse after abuse, many of which may have dangerous impacts on our nation's health, safety, and environment. You can find links to some of the most recent news articles detailing specific abuses of science here.

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/rsi/page.cfm?pageID=1398

And here:

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/rsi/page.cfm?pageID=1406

Why a Topics Board blog instead of a Topics Board message board?

2005-02-25T14:21:00.000-08:00

Why not!