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comrade-meow · 3 years ago

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A great deal of the transgender debate is unexplained. One of the most mystifying aspects is the speed and success of a small number of small organisations in achieving major influence over public bodies, politicians and officials. How has a certain idea taken hold in so many places so swiftly?

People and organisations that at the start of this decade had no clear policy on or even knowledge of trans issues are now enthusiastically embracing non-binary gender identities and transition, offering gender-neutral toilets and other changes required to accommodate trans people and their interests. These changes have, among other things, surprised many people. They wonder how this happened, and why no one seems to have asked them what they think about it, or considered how those changes might affect them.

Some of the bodies that have embraced these changes with the greatest zeal are surprising: the police are not famous social liberals but many forces are now at the vanguard here, even to the point of checking our pronouns and harassing elderly ladies who say the wrong thing on Twitter.

How did we get here? I think we can discount the idea that this is a simple question of organisations following a changing society. Bluntly, society still doesn’t know very much about transgenderism. If you work in central London in certain sectors, live in a university town (or at a university) or have children attending a (probably middle-class) school, you might have some direct acquaintance. But my bet is that most people don’t know any trans people and don’t have developed views about how the law should evolve with regards to their status.

So the question again: how did organisations with small budgets and limited resources achieve such stunning success, not just in the UK but elsewhere?

Well, thanks to the legal website Roll On Friday, I have now seen a document that helps answer that question.

The document is the work of Dentons, which says it is the world’s biggest law firm; the Thomson Reuters Foundation, an arm of the old media giant that appears dedicated to identity politics of various sorts; and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Youth & Student Organisation (IGLYO). Both Dentons and the Thomson Reuters Foundation note that the document does not necessarily reflect their views.

The report is called 'Only adults? Good practices in legal gender recognition for youth'. Its purpose is to help trans groups in several countries bring about changes in the law to allow children to legally change their gender, without adult approval and without needing the approval of any authorities. 'We hope this report will be a powerful tool for activists and NGOs working to advance the rights of trans youth across Europe and beyond,' says the foreword.

As you’d expect of a report co-written by the staff of a major law firm, it’s a comprehensive and solid document, summarising law, policy and 'advocacy' across several countries. Based on the contributions of trans groups from around the world (including two in the UK, one of which is not named), it collects and shares 'best practice' in 'lobbying' to change the law so that parents no longer have a say on their child’s legal gender.

In the words of the report:

“'It is recognised that the requirement for parental consent or the consent of a legal guardian can be restrictive and problematic for minors.'

You might think that the very purpose of parenting is, in part, to 'restrict' the choices of children who cannot, by definition, make fully-informed adult choices on their own. But that is not the stance of the report.

Indeed, it suggests that 'states should take action against parents who are obstructing the free development of a young trans person’s identity in refusing to give parental authorisation when required.'

In short, this is a handbook for lobbying groups that want to remove parental consent over significant aspects of children’s lives. A handbook written by an international law firm and backed by one of the world’s biggest charitable foundations.

And how do the authors suggest that legal change be accomplished?

I think the advice is worth quoting at length, because this is the first time I’ve actually seen this put down in writing in a public forum. And because I think anyone with any interest in how policy is made and how politics works should pay attention.

Here’s a broad observation from the report about the best way to enact a pro-trans agenda:

“'While cultural and political factors play a key role in the approach to be taken, there are certain techniques that emerge as being effective in progressing trans rights in the "good practice" countries.'

Among those techniques: 'Get ahead of the Government agenda.'

What does that mean? Here it is in more detail:

“'In many of the NGO advocacy campaigns that we studied, there were clear benefits where NGOs managed to get ahead of the government and publish progressive legislative proposal before the government had time to develop their own. NGOs need to intervene early in the legislative process and ideally before it has even started. This will give them far greater ability to shape the government agenda and the ultimate proposal than if they intervene after the government has already started to develop its own proposals.'

That will sound familiar to anyone who knows how a Commons select committee report in 2016, which adopted several positions from trans groups, was followed in 2017 by a UK government plan to adopt self-identification of legal gender. To a lot of people, that proposal, which emerged from Whitehall looking quite well-developed, came out of the blue.

Anyway, here’s another tip from the document: 'Tie your campaign to more popular reform.'

For example:

'In Ireland, Denmark and Norway, changes to the law on legal gender recognition were put through at the same time as other more popular reforms such as marriage equality legislation. This provided a veil of protection, particularly in Ireland, where marriage equality was strongly supported, but gender identity remained a more difficult issue to win public support for.'

I’ve added my bold there, because I think those are very telling phrases indeed. This is an issue that is 'difficult to win public support for' and best hidden behind the 'veil of protection' provided by a popular issue such as gay rights. Again, anyone who has even glanced at the UK transgender debate will recognise this description.

Another recommendation is even more revealing: 'Avoid excessive press coverage and exposure.'

According to the report, the countries that have moved most quickly to advance trans rights and remove parental consent have been those where the groups lobbying for those changes have succeeded in stopping the wider public learning about their proposals. Conversely, in places like Britain, the more 'exposure' this agenda has had, the less successful the lobbying has been:

'Another technique which has been used to great effect is the limitation of press coverage and exposure. In certain countries, like the UK, information on legal gender recognition reforms has been misinterpreted in the mainstream media, and opposition has arisen as a result. ….Against this background, many believe that public campaigning has been detrimental to progress, as much of the general public is not well informed about trans issues, and therefore misinterpretation can arise.

In Ireland, activists have directly lobbied individual politicians and tried to keep press coverage to a minimum in order to avoid this issue.' (Emphasis added).

Although it offers extensive advice about the need to keep the trans-rights agenda out of the public’s gaze, the report has rather less to say about the possibility that advocates might just try doing what everyone else in politics does and make a persuasive argument for their cause. Actually convincing people that this stuff is a good idea doesn’t feature much in the report, which runs to 65 pages.

I’m not going to tell you what I think of the report, or the agenda it sets out. I’m not going to pass comment on it or its authors. I’m just going to try to summarise its nature and contents.

A major international law firm has helped write a lobbying manual for people who want to change the law to prevent parents having the final say about significant changes in the status of their own children. That manual advises those lobbying for that change to hide their plans behind a 'veil' and to make sure that neither the media nor the wider public know much about the changes affecting children that they are seeking to make. Because if the public find out about those changes, they might well object to them.

I started my first job as a researcher in the Commons in 1994. I’ve been studying and writing about politics and policy ever since. And in my experience of how changes in the law are brought about, the approach described in that report is simply not normal or usual. In a democracy, we are all free to argue for whatever policy or position we wish. But normally, anyone who wants to change the law accepts that to do so they need to win the support or, at least, the consent of the people whose authority ultimately gives the law its force. The approach outlined, in detail, in the Dentons report amounts to a very different way of lobbying to get the laws and policies you want. Even more notably, it suggests that in several countries people have been quite successful in lobbying behind a 'veil' and in a way that deliberately avoids the attention of the public. That, I think, should interest anyone who cares about how politics and policy are conducted, whether or not they care about the transgender issue.

I’m going to conclude with an observation I’ve made here before, but which I think bears repeating in the context of that report and the things it might tell people about other aspects of the trans issue: no policy made in the shadows can survive in sunlight.

#Anglo.txt

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padawan-historian · 6 years ago

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WOW Analysis: White Male Schools of Thoughts

This week we will break down several white male arguments that are circulating across the media. The first school of thought is the Individual Identity Academy.

Some of their mottos include:

Just because I am a straight white guy does not mean I oppress people!

White men are the most discriminated group in the United States.

Why am I being held responsible for things that I have no control over?

The problem with these phrases is that, unfortunately, many of the students reciting these words are miseducated and lack context – especially about identity.

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We each have a personal identity – a recipe that is uniquely made by us. But, outside of ourselves, we have in-and-out group identities. “Ingroup identities are beliefs about a group held by its own members . . . According to self-categorization theory, people’s ingroup identities (i.e., beliefs about the qualities that characterize their ingroups) exert a powerful influence on their personal identities” (Bosson and Michniewicz 425-426). However, unlike most marginalized and minority groups in the United States, white (heterosexual) men have rarely been labeled in groups outside of extracurricular or social activities.

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When phrases like white privilege are utilized in discussions, young white men attending the Individual Identity Academy tend to think that they are being criticized. They are. White privilege is a broad term that is used to highlight white individuals who lack a certain amount of awareness in relation to race issues. They think that since, in their lives, they do not receive any forms of special treatment face-to-face that means white privilege isn’t really a thing. They fail to recognize the context behind the conversation – that there are systemic forces at work that have created avenues for white men to be successful while everyone else must overcome additional obstacles and parameters in order to have a chance at succeeding. Even though some individuals have overcome institutional barriers, that does not excuse the inequities that were put in place in the hopes that they would fail (there is a larger conversation we should have about poverty and the role of capitalism, but I will save that chat for another day).

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While some white Americans may experience prejudice based on their race (or be members of ethnic minorities who, historically, faced persecution in the United States – including Italians and Irish immigrants), black and brown Americans have endured a chain of unbroken discrimination and dehumanization that has left their communities with multigenerational trauma and little to no economic mobility. Along with these inequities, many people of color experience varying levels of double consciousness, an internalized sensation that WEB DuBois describes as “the sense of looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness” (DeBois 12). He notes that since American blacks have lived in a society that has historically repressed and devalued them, these black and brown people have difficulty unifying their black identity with their American identity.

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With the advancement of technology, black and brown Americans, along with other marginalized groups, have the opportunity to share their narratives and realities to a larger audience across social. Members of the African Diaspora (the millions of African descendants across the globe) can affirm our shared history, celebrate our ancestry and promote self-love and personal healing in the face of a world where many of us, still face economic and social barriers based on racial divisions.

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From a very young age, I knew that I was black and that some people would not like me because my skin color was different than their own. In high school, this feeling manifested into one of profound anxiety and isolation as I stood alone as the only black girl in my year. Educator and author of Why Are All of the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum notes that “If you think about classrooms or workspaces or conferences, wherever we are, we go into these spaces and we look for ourselves. You want to see yourself represented. In that sense, when young people walk into a classroom, they want to see someone who they identify with, maybe because they’re the same race. It doesn't always have to be racial identification. [A student] can identify with a teacher because she likes music [or] identify with [educators] because they are into sports. But to the extent that kids of color walk into classrooms and rarely see someone who looks like themselves in that environment, that’s a missing link” (Anderson). It took me years to realize that, during that time, in my desperation to fit in, I was, in fact, unable to form truly meaningful connections with many of my classmates. I was profoundly lonely.

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This sense of loneliness is often interpreted as being misunderstood. Everyone makes jokes about teen angst and broodiness, but we rarely discuss that behind that often lies a sense of alienation and loneliness. Those who are misunderstood want to find a place to belong and want to form connections with people, but a mixture of self-preservation, insecurity and anxiety often prevent them from taking those steps. Instead they remain isolated and defensive – trapped between systems.

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Like many young people, young white men exist in an undefined state. Cultural anthropologists refer to this period in life as liminality – "a traditional phase of a rite of passage during a time where the individual is experiencing a lack of defined social status" (Understanding Spirited Away: Consumption and Identity). This stage is often best depicted during adolescence when young people begin shedding their old roles as children and begin taking on the social responsibilities as young adults.

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Pupils of the Individual Identity Academy see themselves as individuals, but exist in a world filled with ingroup identities. Black feminists. LGBTQ allies. Animal rights activists. Social reformers . . . or social justice warriors. The increased visibility of these groups - especially in spaces that were historically dominated by young white men, including video games and comics - is perceived as an attack on their sense of self. In their quest to find a place to belong, they have encased themselves in these small communities declaring that any changes that move towards inclusion and equity is, in fact, a form of oppression. They imagine a world where white men are vilified and denied opportunities because of their race when, in reality,

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White privilege is the freedom from recognizing the societal and institutional policies that have denied (or limited) black and brown Americans’ access to professional services, economic equity and educational opportunities. When people call you out because “your white privilege” is showing, instead of thinking “Why am I being held responsible for something that, I feel, has nothing to do with me?” take a breath and try a few alternatives.

• Affirm Your Privilege: Dear students, having white privilege doesn’t make you the villain in the story. Laugh and say “I still have some work to do,” because WE ALL DO. I grew up in a middle-class neighborhood with two highly-educated (heterosexual) parents. My exposure to systemic racism and inequity is relatively low in comparison to black and brown (and white) Americans who are in lower economic brackets. I am physically able and while I do have ADHD, my parents had the economic means to connect me to specialists and counselors throughout middle and high school (THAT 👏🏿 is 👏🏽 privilege👏🏾).

• Find Your Identity: We celebrate our American blackness because there is a shared history and cultural language through our music, food, clothing, magic, spirituality and dancing. Connect with your heritage through art, music, food, folk costumes and jewelry . . . not through secessionist flags and arguing about old statues.

• Use Your Tools: Inheriting privilege means that you have, within you, the power to help others. "The function of freedom is to free someone else," (Toni Morrison) and, in order to free others, we must first have the right tools. Education is one of the most powerful tools in our world. 📚 Educate yourself through reading, listening to lectures (not just YouTubers and bloggers) and limiting your Twitter intake 🧘‍♀️

• Complacency is Just As Dangerous as Ignorance: There is a noticeable difference between white men's (and women's) brand of oppression and the oppression black and brown people experience. White individuals tend to focus on themselves. Black and brown individuals focus on their ancestors and their descendants. We aspire to change discriminatory policies, strengthen legal protections and reform public education. White people . . . want people to stop criticizing them online. They are not trying to engage in conversations, they are seeking validation and acceptance based on misinformation.

• Its Not Always About You: Believe it or not, there are systems in place that create inequalities and inequities within our society (CAPITALISM flashes across the screen). Racism is a weapon of social engineering built upon constructs that are meant to segregate and control people. Unless I'm addressing you directly when I say "white people" to refer to social inequities, chances are I am not talking about you, Charlie.

Catch up with me on Instagram ☀️ +🍷

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peckhampeculiar · 6 years ago

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A Peckham visionary

Words by Luke G Williams; Photo by Paul Stafford

In the world in which we live, the theoretical and the practical are often mutually exclusive.

Individuals who view the world through a theoretical prism can often diagnose the flaws in our society, but struggle to remedy them.

The reverse also often holds true: namely that those of a practical bent struggle to underpin their actions with a coherent view of the mechanics of human existence.

Eileen Conn – the visionary founder and co-ordinator of local community action group Peckham Vision – is one of that rare breed of human beings who combines a formidable theoretical intelligence with the practical ability to mobilise, engage and inspire social change at a grassroots level.

She is also one of the most remarkable and intellectually stimulating people I have ever encountered.

Eileen and I meet on the second floor of the Bussey Building on Rye Lane, on a grim December evening on which rain is being emptied from the sky as though from buckets.

It’s here that Peckham Vision is based, an apt location if ever there was one considering Eileen’s key role in the 2005-2009 campaign to save the building from being demolished and replaced by a tram depot. The fact the Bussey Building is now such a hub of vibrant community activity is due in no small part to her.

Eileen greets me warmly with the welcome offer of a cup of tea but beyond that, superficial pleasantries are not the order of the day.

Instead our one-and a-half-hour interview ends up resembling an exhilarating combination of a life lesson and a university lecture. Eileen speaks throughout with conviction and passion, but always underpins her theories and ideas with a keen sense of humanity. It’s rare that an encounter with another human being can challenge the way you view the world, but meeting Eileen was just such an experience for me.

Despite Peckham Vision’s many successes, Eileen is initially disappointed to hear that – despite my status as a longtime Peckham resident – I am not particularly familiar with Peckham Vision’s work.

“That’s so frustrating!” she sighs. “At Peckham Vision, like most organised community action, we’re often written out of the story, and so it’s as if things just happened.

“That’s why we have this on the wall,” she adds, gesturing towards a sign upon which is written four simple but profound words: ‘Things don’t just happen.’”

The path that eventually led Eileen to Peckham – where she has made more things happen than most – began on Tyneside where she was born in 1941.

“I’m a Geordie,” she says. “I grew up in a provincial town, left school at 16 and went into the civil service in a very junior administrative and clerical role.

“I came to London in my 20s as the first step in a planned trip around the world because I needed to understand the world from a different perspective.

“I didn’t get beyond London, to start with anyway! Instead I went to evening classes, not because I wanted to pass exams, but because I was lonely and needed to find some way of getting to know people.

“As a consequence of that I ended up going to Oxford University at the age of 25 because I had a thirst for understanding the world.

“Why did I need to understand the world? Two things drove me: one was because I grew up as a proselytiser of a Protestant Christian sect but I then realised the world wasn’t as black and white as I’d been taught.

“The other thing that influenced me was that the job I had involved contact with people who were financially unable to look after themselves. I watched people fall into debt, lose their houses and eventually end up in prison and thought there was something very odd about the way in which this happened. Why had people come together to create such a crazy system that kept people in debt?

“After university I went back into the civil service, this time in Whitehall. By this time I understood more and I thought I could change things!

“It was the late 1960s and the civil service was undergoing great reforms under Harold Wilson. My job was mainly concerned with the way government operates, and reforming the civil service so it was fit for the 20th century.”

In the mid-80s, Eileen fell in with the Business Network working for a holistic approach to business and “stumbled into lots of new thinking about the human species and the planet”.

However, she admits that her quest for human understanding has never – and will never – be complete.

“I’ve answered a lot of the questions I formed in my teens and 20s but it’s been a slow, long process,” she says. “It’s a bit like getting to the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, only to discover there are more rainbows with pots of gold to look for.”

As for Eileen’s connection with Peckham, that began in 1973 when a promotion in the civil service enabled her to buy a house.

With her office in Whitehall being on the number 12 bus route, Peckham was a perfect place for her to settle and she has been here ever since.

“I felt really attracted by Peckham,” she recalls. “I liked the size of the houses and the fact that unlike Hampstead where I had a bed-sit lived the streets weren’t full of cars! Of course it’s very different now!

“Peckham also had a human scale which really appealed to me. I wanted my own space, with no one above or below me, where I could have my own garden and a cat. And I found it in Peckham in the house I still live in today!”

Eileen has been fascinated to observe the changes in the topography and demography of Peckham over the last few decades.

“What we see in Peckham today is a microcosm of the global community,” she says. “Many of the people who live here have come from countries with terrible conflicts, or places with economic and environmental problems. So Peckham is an extremely rich place to understand the 21st century dynamic of human society.”

Eileen’s entry point into community activism in Peckham came in 1975 when she teamed up with a group of neighbours to express concern about the noise and disruption caused by a local industrial site.

“We went to see our then MP Sam Silkin who earnestly told us that what we should do is a set up a residents’ association.

“One night not long after a knock came on my door from a man called Bob Smyth and I was invited to join the Peckham Society. I attended meetings every month for about two years – that proved a huge education in civic affairs.”

It’s an education that Eileen has put to good use, with Peckham Vision being one of the direct results of her community work and activism.

A resident-led group of local citizens who live, work or run businesses in Peckham, the organisation’s stated aims are to promote and encourage citizen action to help Peckham town centre become thriving and sustainable, as well as to create and nurture ways of connecting people in Peckham who want the area to realise its potential.

“The roots of Peckham Vision started when I discovered how exciting email was as a way of connecting people,” Eileen explains. “I’m instinctively interested in connecting people. Then I began to take an interest in how the council was planning on turning this vast area of land in Peckham town centre into a tram depot.

“Soon I had a network of contacts and people and email addresses which I could put to good use. Our strap line since the beginning has been ‘for an integrated town centre’ – that has never changed and all our work is informed by that idea.”

Over the years Eileen and others in Peckham Vision have been involved in community campaigns and activities too numerous to mention, from helping save the Bussey building and its surrounding area from being demolished and redeveloped, to challenging redevelopment plans around Peckham Rye train station, Peckham cinema and the multi-storey car park.

“In each of our big campaigns, we relentlessly exposed and publicised the potential of these spaces in a way which the big institution [i.e. the council] in the end couldn’t ignore,” Eileen explains proudly.

“I think we have achieved something through several of our campaigns by enabling spaces we inherited from our predecessors – I get emotional about this – to show their life again!

“And how much better is that than these soulless and expensive 21st century buildings which we otherwise would have been left with?

“Peckham town centre is like a living museum, we’ve got buildings from the end of the 17th century right through to now and it’s beautiful. If you look up in Peckham it’s amazing what you see above the noise and bustle and shop fronts.”

If one quality of Eileen burns brighter than others it is undoubtedly her passion, most significantly her passion for changing the way the world works, and improving the outcomes of interactions between large institutions and local communities.

“The dominant experience of all the people that work in corporations and institutions is a form of organisational relationship that is very different from that in organised community action in groups like Peckham Vision,” she explains.

“What has kept me going and motivated is the feeling that there is often something not right about decisions that have been made at a higher level. For example, the real lived economy is being neglected across London.

“I’m also passionate about good order and organisation. When people come together to do things they’re more likely to achieve what they want. Helping that to be more effective drives me.”

Given the wealth of her experiences and her long and unending journey towards human understanding I wonder whether Eileen believes if the battle for more productive connections between local residents and their institutional overseers, can be won.

So I conclude with a simple question: “are you an optimist?”

With a rebellious twinkle in her eye, Eileen tells me: “I don’t like the work optimist, I prefer to say hopeful.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that many things are possible. I’m certainly hopeful there can be change and I’m a great believer that we can change things if we understand them better.

“But you might say I’m an emotional optimist and an intellectual pessimist!”

For more information about Peckham Vision visit peckhamvision.org, follow on @peckhamvision on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or visit the Peckham Vision shop in Holdron’s Arcade, 135a Rye Lane, 2-5pm on Saturdays and 7-9pm the first Thursday of each month

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douchebagbrainwaves · 4 years ago

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THAT'S BIG COMPANY THINKING

I think the big obstacle preventing us from seeing the future than the best investors, because until you're profitable that's who you have to put up with them because they have some skill you need and how much funnier a bunch of adults had been transposed into your bodies. People are always asking you this, so you could use it. There is always a big time lag in prestige. You're unlikely to have more than enough. You'll need an executive summary, which should be 3x this year's. Fixing a bug in it; ITA's software includes a lot of people, for example, you start to get a line right. Let me put the case in most types of business; they feel they've been lucky to get that done quickly, instead of letting it drag on through your whole life, as in many others, the eminent are actually disadvantages. And because the points are independent of one another, just as we can become smarter, just that it's more straightforward. He'd only been working on when they bought us. Because he pays close attention, a Navy pilot can land a 40,000 lb. But you never had one guy painting over the work of the product managers and designers.

Sacrificing Users to Supposed Profit When I said at the beginning of the summer. That's what I thought was a huge interval. Different Not understanding that investors view investments as bets combines with the ten page paper mentality to prevent founders from even considering the idea of building Facebook in 2004: organic startup ideas usually don't seem like you have to be able to reach most of the startups from the rest. The secret to writing on such narrow pages is to break words only when you have a better chance of generating those if you combine stuff from distant fields. Where axioms are concerned, especially, is to separate the things you sell. How about that for years, and then, by accepting offers greedily, because the problem was with her. Make something people want. This gets harder as you get older and more experienced.

I didn't mean by this that Java programmers are dumb. A market takes every organization and keeps just the good ones and the bad ones only becomes visible in the original sense, is something called bottom-up programming. I'm not the only one. They get introductions to VCs from various sources: their angel investor connects them with a high probability of the latter. The Atlantic. We'd also need ways of erasing personal information not just to acquire users, but also burn your reputation with those investors. This is not too high a valuation is that you will yourself misunderstand your work.

Possibly, but I'd guess that many of these would-be startup founders but to students in general, but they seem to be any less committed to the business as you wanted. But only a bad VC fund would take that deal. Wall Street. I think VC funds are seriously threatened by the startup itself. But they forgot to consider the cost. I first meet founders and ask what their growth rate is a bit higher than I'd like. Reading Period, when students have no classes to attend because they're supposed to. The first assumption is widespread in text classification. Intellectually, it is no fun to be at least some of the biggest dangers of not using the organic strategy, you could do is find a middle-sized non-technology company and spend a couple weeks living what is, for people there, but that you haven't thought much about it, knowing that we needed money and had nowhere else to get it from the rich. Later stage investors won't invest in at a cap of $x will have an individual spam probability of 98%, whereas the same token in the body. Indeed, the other alternative was to get the right answers.

The startup may not have the kind of people it wants. When technology makes something dramatically cheaper you have to get bought or go public. So if you're an outsider you're constrained too, of course. Now we can stick computers in everything. One thing we'll need is support for the new way that server-based software never ships. It is not unusual for an old Raleigh three-speed in good condition, and sent me an email offering to sell me one, I'd be delighted, and yet he knows what language you should write it in. Best of all is likely to think is that all the complaints about App Store approvals are not a fallen people, who are amazed to find that there are more undergrads who want to get the rest of the market were a couple of 20 year olds. What deals do is fall back on. I think are very valuable.

On the subway back from the airport she asked Why is everyone smiling? They may have to decide between turning some investors away and selling more of the company. Design is not just a series of small changes. The junior people will tend to put them in a boat together. Much to the surprise of the builders of the first visitors to this new model, per se, so long as you didn't fail at that. You have to be called corruption when there started to be driven by how well that worked for him: There is no magically difficult step that requires brilliance to solve. There's not much we can learn, though perhaps none of them agreed with everything in it. But suggesting efficiency is a different form of profitability than startups have traditionally aimed for. The Harmless People and The Old Way. It was the worst year of my adult life, but there it is: The Men's Wearhouse. Indeed, it may not be by reforming the universities but by going around them. What if we let more great programmers into the US, startups will do a rolling close, where they take money from novice investors, or there would never be tactful; they were too slow to become profitable.

MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, and Carnegie-Mellon. The seeds of our miserable high school experiences were sown in 1892, when the Facebook was founded—though strictly speaking someone else did think of that as your task? Web, meaning Web-based software, all you need is a language where you have to figure it out yourself. And most importantly, what are we really complaining about its finiteness? That plus the inexperience card should work in most companies, acquisitions still carry some stigma of inadequacy. Should you take it? Nerds If you want people to see their mistakes. You can't just say Err to the user like software, this technique starts to have aspects of a practical joke, like letting a bat loose in a room, they squash the high-paying union job a myth, but I don't think universities will disappear. Well, there are ways to solve it. Prep schools openly say this is inevitable—that he was writing differentiation programs even in the US, it becomes an advantage to be able to transcend your environment. Only a tiny fraction are startups. Curiously, however, which makes others want to, but they probably won't be coming this month.

It shouldn't be, but it seems a good hypothesis to begin with. You don't do that if you invest in startups founded by eminent professors. You get to watch your own thoughts from a distance. They can practically read one another's minds. The last 10 years. Most will say that I'm clueless or being misleading by focusing so much on the richer end of economic inequality in a country with a truly feudal economy, you might want different mediums for the two situations. Don't be too pushy, but know the actual lawsuits rarely happen. In science and engineering, some of the people who work at VC firms regularly cold email startups. The way to seem good.

#automatically generated text #Markov chains #Paul Graham #Python #Patrick Mooney #investments #bets #paper #finiteness #Facebook #inadequacy #economy #approvals #schools

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maddiicake · 5 years ago

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A Decade in Review

I actually wrote this at the beginning of the New Year--and, technically, New Deacade--, but I figured I’d also have it here for those who follow me on Tumblr and not on DeviantART

So, heads up, this is going to be a super long post, so I will put the extent of everything under “Read More” below, if you’d like to continue.

Thanks for your time

A Decade In Review

Well, the more I think about it... the title should be: "The deterioration of an individual through their slow painful spiral into the fiery pit of failure". Anyway... I don't really do the "Art Progress" meme things that people make for New Years Eve/Day, mainly because, for me, there wouldn't be a point. For other artists, yes, I'm sure it helps very much to show where they started off and where they are now. (Though, I did make this one way back in the day, but haven't made any since then). But, for someone like me, whose had a stagnant art quality for half of this decade now, all the pieces I would put together would just look exactly the same quality-wise xD So, I just like to take the time and write out everything together in a Journal. All in one go; no drafting or edits (unless, of course, there's grammatical errors that I spot after posting). I don't have any Resolutions for this upcoming year, especially since I didn't complete any of my resolutions from last year (except for the "save your money" one). But, very rarely do people follow through with their Resolutions--and, of course, it's awesome when they do. But, since a decade has passed... and since I've been a figure on the internet for a decade now, I'd just like to take the time and reflect on everything that has occurred since 2010:

2010

I actually wouldn't exist on DeviantART for another year (and wouldn’t be on Tumblr for another year after that). However, I got my start on Ye Ole FanFiction.Net. Yes, I was a writer before I was an artist. In fact, even before our home was wired with the internet (which was around 2008/2009), I would do nothing but stay up late and write. Before I got my first computer, I would have tons of notebooks with nothing but fan-fictions written in them. And, after getting my computer, I would transfer those written works to be a little more polished in a Word Document; and, from there, I would continue on with the story I was working on. You don't have to worry about killing trees when everything is on a file xD Of course, dumb little me didn't think to separate each chapter into different Documents. So, now there is a 800+ page document still on my computer of a "saga" of a Pokemon Mary Sue. That story was never posted, and will never see the light of day, unless, of course, I hit some special Milestone (probably a YouTube Subscriber because me going through it could only properly be done in video format--with my commentary and cringe over top of course xD). But, you know what was posted? My Ouran Host Club fan-fiction: "Fitting In". Still in that "Mary-Sue"-ish OC, phase, but I wanted to make this character more interesting and believable. So, with my anime crush, Kyoya, paired up with my Ouran OC, I set out to form my story. Completely unbeknownst to my parents, because they (specifically Mom--go figure) frowned upon me just reading fan-fictions. Because, in my mother's own words: "It's other people's fantasies". (Looking back on that now, her reason makes absolutely no sense). But, I enjoyed writing and enjoyed the series. So, after my parents had fallen asleep, I would write a chapter through the night and then posted it. Somehow, after a few chapters... my story got pretty big: tons of faves, followers and reviews--it was insane! Here I was, just being a geek, like everyone else, and enjoying the fandom. And yet, for the first time in my life... I felt what it was like to be truly supported. It wasn't support for something I didn't have interest in or was coaxed into doing (like with my parents). This was something that I enjoyed, even if it was just for fun. And people actually liked it. They actually supported me for what I liked. From there, it just continued to help me press on and keep moving forward. So, while balancing out my last year and a half of high school, I challenged myself to upload a chapter every week. And, I succeeded. I remember one Review from a user that said: "I literally got home from school and rushed over to my computer, because I knew there would be a new chapter!" Little did they all know that I actually would write the chapter all in one sitting. Yep, pulled an all-nighter the day before just to write out the chapter and then post it. I eventually did tell my parents. This was after my story had gotten a pretty good amount of following and faves to be considered--in the Fanfiction.net society--a Fanfiction worth the time to read. Dad was actually really happy and proud, even going to tell my mother about it just to "show me off". It felt nice to have his support--awkward, yes, but still nice. Mom, of course, didn't care; not that I was surprised in the slightest. But, even if I had one parent's support, the whole mass of support for individuals over the internet was able to compensate for the lack of support I received from my maternal unit.

2011:

Still writing early into the following year. I had attended my first anime convention at the beginning. mostly because J. Michael Tatum--the English voice for Kyoya--was a guest, but also other Ouran English DUB actors, including Vic Mignogna. While I was aware he played Tamaki, it wasn't until I sat in on one of his panels that I realized how popular he was among the anime community. He got many questions regarding this series called Fullmetal Alchemist. Because of how everyone seemed to know of this series (except me, of course), that was the first thing I would look into after crashing at home at the end of that weekend. Like with everyone starting out, the search results provided me with the original Fullmetal Alchemist series from 2003, so I started with that. Needless to say... it was definitely a 180 turn from Ouran, with how dark and depressing that it seemed. By the time I got to the episode with Lab 5, I didn't watch another episode for months. Long story short: Chimera!Tucker scared the absolute sh*t out of me--didn't help that I was watching the episode at night either. Parallel to those months, however... I was writing my newest Fan-Fiction, "Fire and Ice". Completely taken full interest in the Fullmetal Alchemist series, I created my newest OC, Danielle. Now, I made the mistake of jumping the gun with her creation as well as her story. Because I was still very very new to the series, and didn’t quite get a grasp on the canon character's personalities to be able to portray them In-Character well enough. Not to mention that I didn't quite understand the "Rules" of the FMA universe when it comes to creating an OC. But that's where DeviantART comes in. I made an account in the fall of that year and would post every so often. I used dA more as a secondary account just for the more visual references of my stories. So, in other words, I was promoting my main account (FF.net) by broadening expanding myself to other sites. dA being more visually oriented for creators, while FF.net was more for the story/world-building end. So, with two accounts on opposite spectrums of one another, I continued to create my stories and characters. Of course, Fullmetal Alchemist was a very popular fandom, and with the Brotherhood series being new, the fandom was more hyped up than ever. I kept to myself mostly, because I was more on FF.net than dA. However, after a while, I wanted to interact with the audience I had gained from being on dA. So, I would draw my characters and scenes from my story more often. Granted, I didn't have a tablet at the time, and would scan my sketchbook drawings in to post them. I would even try to go the extra mile to scan them in and re-purpose them digitally with GIMP (the only program I had at the time); again, though, no tablet, just a mouse. I started talking with other newbie artists and writers in the fandom, and we all started to become really good friends. The majority of us, of course (even myself at the time), looked up to the "FMA OC Matriarchy". Not naming names, but I'm sure a lot of you know the individuals I'm talking about. Inspired by their own detailed digital works, my fan-fiction was put on a hold as I began to become engrossed in drawing.

2012:

The year that marks my actual start as an artist here on dA. Or, if you want my actual take on it: The year that marks the beginning of my "downward spiral into the pit of no return or reformation". At the beginning of the year, I had purchased my tablet with my own money: A WACOM Bamboo Connect. In fact, it's the same tablet I use to this day, even though I have downsized to a much smaller version. Because my mindset at the time (and, to this day, still is): "You can have the most expensive equipment, but it's the artist themselves that makes the quality of the work." From there, along with a pirated version of Easy Paint Tool SAI, I was ready to take the next step into improving myself as an artist. (If anyone is curious... THIS was the first thing that I drew with my tablet). But, despite all that.. 2012 was rough. I picked A LOT of fights, even having the audacity to stand up to the "FMA OC Matriarchy" when there was a fight between the FMA OC groups. I saw their leader and the rest of them for who they truly were. Individuals, who still to this day (based on what I've seen from the 2nd-in-Command), that put on an act to make themselves appealing, welcoming, and "friendly" to their audience, while they're actually nothing more than self-entitled individuals who get upset because someone so dares to not like the pairing between their figment of their imagination and a fictional character. And that's when I vowed: "I will knock [her] off her throne." This said in regards to the leader of the Matriarchy. Because people, who are looked up to, shouldn’t be behaving in that sort of way! They shouldn't be acting like their word is law and whoever goes against them or disagrees with them should get their head chopped off, metaphorically speaking. Outside of the internet, they're nobodies. They don't have power over anyone when they're no longer hidden behind a keyboard and screen. The number on their profile is just that--just a number. It doesn't mean anything. And, in my mind, they all needed to be taken down a peg and realize that OCs, art, fandoms--whatever--should NOT be taken so seriously! We were all here to enjoy the same thing as them, and they had no right to treat themselves like they were queens, who governed what went on in the fandom. Of course, being a petty teenager... I did (and even drew) some things that I shouldn't have (i.e. making a satire of the Matriarchy as "Mean Girls" at the lunch table). And, I didn't really explain myself to anyone when said: "I'll knock [her] off her throne." I wasn't (and still am not) very good at explaining myself or feeling (or even understanding other's feelings and social cues). All in all that entire year was a roller coaster with on and off fights between myself and the Matriarchy--namely their leader. By the end of it all, I just wanted to quit and give up drawing all together. All I could think about was "There's no way I'll be able to surpass them and knock them off their thrones..." I always have, and still do, believe that I'm not one to be worshiped or put on a pedestal. I make it a habit to tell others that when they gush over me or my art: "I'm just a geek like you ^u^ There's no difference between us." Because I don't want to be treated the same way the Matriarchy was/is treated. I don't want to be seen like them at all, because I was nothing like them. I didn't take things seriously, I didn't treat others like they were lower than dirt to me--I wasn't an "Art Thot". I wanted to be the person that could actually BE A PERSON to my audience; not some high-and-mighty white-tower dwelling jerk like the Matriarchy. But, yet, there I was... dragging out the last of the year; trying to figure out how to not be like any of them, when it seemed like the only way to take them down a peg was to be like them. At least, to be able to surpass them. My mental state took a drastic turn for the worst as I began to become obsessed with these girls. I couldn't stand seeing them. I couldn't stand my friends talking to them (and I still can’t), because I felt like they had no idea what the Matriarchy was like--the way I knew them to truly be. I would constantly tear apart my art and look on it with disgust, because all I could see was just a big comparison between my work and theirs. I wanted to give up. "There's no way I'll pass them". I wanted to show everyone else so badly that there's someone out there that they could truly look up too. Not just as an inspiration for art, but as someone who actually cares about them and others. The days were so bleak, hopeless, endless... ending it all would have been too easy, and giving up seemed too cowardly. I was stuck. ...But, then I met AAV-sama. I had never seen them before at all. They weren't a watcher, didn't fave my works, didn't comment--nothing! It was just an out-of-the-blue comment on my profile: "Hey, wanna RP?" Now... I hadn't RPed on dA for a long while since then. But, I figured that getting back into writing would help take my mind off of everything art-related. So, we talked over what to RP, and they sent the starter. Little did I know that the beginning of that RP would be the start of something amazing.

2013:

The start of my last year in high school (graduated that spring), and would start my first year of Community College for an Art degree. I knew what I wanted to do with my life going from there. It's just, when you have little to no support system in real life, it's very very difficult to get on your feet from there and keep moving forward. Meanwhile, in the world here on DeviantART, I was still drawing little things here and there; working more on improving my ability to draw backgrounds as well as composition. I would still only post occasionally--about once a month or so--, because I was completely engulfed in the world of writing in the Notes section of dA. :devaav-sama: and I were still acquaintances and nothing more than RP Partners at the time. But, she would often share what was going on in her personal life, and, eventually, I would open up as well. From there, our acquaintanceship took a turn into friendship. She helped me find inspiration and creativity, and helped me remind myself of the love for the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom. And that would come the start of our little passion project: The Mustang Conspiracy. New OCs were made and had their own story in Next Gen of the FMA03/Shamballa universe. All the while, AAV, and I became closer and closer while excitedly gushing over scenes we made and even episodes and characters in the FMA series itself. A year after we started creating out series, I created the first picture of our own "Golden Trio". And, with the creation of these new OCs, I met other individuals, who I would become friends with. With these new friends, we all cooed and gushed over our OCs, and even made AUs of our OCs interacting with one another. Like with my Ouran story, I once again felt that love and support--support I knew I would never be able to have outside of the internet (parents/mother). I didn't (still don't) have any friends outside of the internet, so I would often have a tendency to be possessive or overprotective of my friends here online. I liked the feeling of being loved and having friends, and I didn't want it to go away. ...But, ultimately, it did.

2014:

Like with the other years, this was no different of a roller coaster. In the real world, I was passing with 90s and A's in my classes. Of course, Mom's response to my Math final grade, which was a 92%, was a big: "You can do better". (Mother, we're not an Asian family, could you PLEASE let up on the high standards...? -___- ). Anyway... Like always, I found my escape from my toxic family life to the love and support from people who liked me for who I was online. Of course... There were the same emotional disputes between I and the Matriarchy, mostly brought up because I couldn't stand to see my friends interacting with them. What took me by surprise and baffled me the most is that one of my friends became friends (and still is to this day) with the Matriarchy's "2nd in Command". My friend's art was less to be desired, and was far from being among the ranks of the Matriarchy because of it. So, needless to say, I couldn't wrap my head around the reason why the Matriarchy would allow someone like her to be friends with them when they were out of her league art-wise. The Matriarchy didn't ever do that. it was just them, and if you're not in their league, then you're not one of them. There was only one logical conclusion to all of this... They were taking my friends by lulling them into a false sense of security and making them their "friends" just so that they could turn my friends against me. Ultimately, planning to leave me in abandonment and cutting off my support system online so that I would be left with nothing. My friends didn't know them the way I did. I KNEW those people weren't to be trusted, they never were, but I didn't want to make my friends up-happy. Yeah, I can be possessive because of my over-protectiveness for my friends, but... I didn't want to be the one to make them feel upset. So, I kept to myself the majority of the time and bottled it in. And we all know what happens when you bottle things in.... you become a ticking time bomb until you eventually explode, even on the smallest of things. Sometimes, like how it was with me, the bouts of intense anger were in scattered spurts. Now, many of you may remember the time over the summer of the Ferguson shooting, which lasted until the end of the year. Being raised by an extremist (mostly the maternal side) Conservative/Republicans, my family, of course sided with the Cop. Me, not wanting to be kicked out on the streets, I did what I always did when politics came up in my family--which is 90% of the time. I agreed with them and let it absorb me to the point that I had to be like that and think that way to appease them. Clearly, the internet didn't seem to agree, and I was called a "racist" and all but one friend left. She wouldn't last long, but I cherished the fleeting moments we had together. Meanwhile, I continued to draw FanART, OCs, and such for the rest of the year, as well as continue working on The Mustang Conspiracy.

2015:

AAV was all I had during this year. Our friendship had grown to the point that I couldn't imagine a day where I don't talk to her. We had gotten to the stage where we exchanged personal contact info, and have messaged each other little "Good Morning" messages every since day since then. She was my everything. She made me feel like I was everything. If I didn't have her, I probably would find the nearest overpass to jump off of, or work on finding a good sturdy tree in the middle of the woods to tie a noose to. All in all, life wasn't worth living anymore without her. After everyone else had left, she became my one and only, and... it got to the points where I would unhealthily obsess over our friendship because of the constant fear of abandonment nagging the back of my head every single day. Even while working on our story, we took the time to set up a separate Note just for a "Creative Workshop" to further build our characters and make them more well-rounded. Now, during one of my "bleak" moments, I recall the very first time I came across the a certain Community on YouTube (not naming what kind, because I would like to keep myself and my family safe). No joke, I had searched "terrible people on DeviantART", not because I want to find other people deemed "terrible" just to laugh at, but because I was feeling like I was the terrible one. The Community was still in it's early days with only a few channels that would talk about pedos and bullies on the internet--though most of the videos at the time were just talking about pedos. Seeing those videos and watching these users deliver calm and collected speeches about users committing crimes towards children on DeviatnART, among others just laughing at lol-cows doing dumb things, it gave me a light of confidence and inspiration. They handled themselves so well, and were well respected within the Community. So, I made my first videos--not the best, just screenshots of anime characters used as expressions set to my voice reading from a script along with music, all thrown together and edited on Windows Movie Maker. Like how I got big trying something new to a new audience the last few times... this was no different. Except, well, I didn't really feel the love and support as much. However, I did start to realize that the majority of my audience really enjoyed my jokes and the way I handled situations. And, it made me reflect to the days where I would do theater. Being on stage and performing for an audience, making them laugh or impacting their lives just because a character I played happen to inspire them... it was the best feeling in the world. Up there in front of hundreds of eyes watching you, and entertaining them... it's the greatest feeling in the world. Performing was my life, it was (and still is) where my heart is and what makes me truly happy. So, while I couldn't do theater as often, making YouTube videos was close enough, and I could work on those and post them at any time; not having to worry abut a weekend-only schedule or any other time constraints. So, I started small by making jokes about bratty teenagers stirring up trouble on DeviantART, and even clicked with some of the minor channels; doing some collaboration videos with them as well. Of course, there was a group on YouTube called the YTTrollPolice. In reality, they were just kids stirring up trouble, but they would go far beyond random trolling to DoX threats. I was their first target, and, through the collabs with the others, they went after them. I shut my channel down--the others in the community did as well--, just to avoid the target and threat to our personal safety. Kids or not, we couldn't take any risks. The YYTP kid eventually found me dA and stalked me there, even after his account was banned. Taking my mind off of everything, I went back to drawing and interacting with AAV. Then... I met another user in the FMA fandom. It was a rarity these days, especially since the FMA fandom was slowly starting to die out (mostly because of me, since I was the one who made everyone--including the FMA OC Matriarchy--leave the fandom, never to return again). While I was still hesitant, as well as having those "abandonment fears", I decided "What the heck? It could just be a one-time conversation." Well... it wasn't a one-time conversation. We started talking and chatting on and off from there, and even became friends. I did my best to encourage her, because, well, I was just like her starting out. And, with practice and effort, she'd be flying on her own. Seeing every new piece she made--a HUGE improvement in such a short amount of time--, I felt what I believed to be pride. Not the selfish kind. No, I was proud of her. She looked up to the Matriarchy just like I once did. But... instead of saying anything against them around her, I encouraged her. I made sure that she didn't follow the same path that I did. And, one day, she sends me this excitement-filled note about how the Matriarchy's 2nd-in-Command +watched her and they started getting close. She had done it, and with my recommendations, she became friends with my former friends. Because despite what had happened, they were good people (or so I thought until 2016). Not only that... she also gave me hope. By giving me the name "Saki", she helped me find hope that I could turn around and become better. And, with that hope, we became closer and our friendship grew from there. Of course, with that fear of abandonment still at the back of my mind, I enjoyed our friendship for as long as the amount of time the bomb had on it. Because, at that point, my mind always saw all friendships that way--they were all the same and ended the same. So, it was best to enjoy the present until the inevitable moment when that bomb would go off. Near the end of the year, I received a Note on dA from a user I had never met, seen, or interacted with before. They and their friend had a Joined-channel that talked about brats on DeviantART and made fun of them. This user said that I was one of the ones, who inspired them to get in to the community. I let them know about the situation and why I left; they understood, but we started to chat, and they welcomed me into their group of friends. (For the sake of continuity through this journal, we'll call them "The Group"--Again, keeping it vague for my and my family's safety). We would just have fun chatting, geeking-out, and having streams reading bad fanfictions. During one of those streams, I got a message from a user, who was helping me with updates from the YTTP. According to them, the kid that made the DoX threats and stalked me and the other old users form the Community had the real police called to their house, and they ceased all intent with their "Troll Police" habits. And, like I said in that stream: "Now that they're gone, I think I'm going to start making videos again."

2016:

The beginning marked the year of when the story of The Mustang Conspiracy was put on a hiatus. I had finished Community College with an Associates in Arts and was working on where to go from there, and AAV was in the process of going back to school for her own degree. So, with personal life taking up a bit more of our time, we put the story on the shelf; however, we still worked in our "Creative Workshop" for our characters, for when they would eventually come back. Aside from that, I was working on starting up again on YouTube. I had made two accounts this time: one for my Art/Speedpaints, and the other strictly for "those videos". Posting my drawings, as well as the quality of my art, was an an all-time low; and it would be that way for another year and a half. Had I known that becoming absorbed in the Community at the time would take a huge strike to your art, I wouldn't have thought twice about going back. But, I felt like I could be someone within that Community. After every video, I felt just absolutely amazing. It was like everything I had bottled up for years could all come out full force just in one video. People liked me and supported me, that's what mattered the most. Sure, it wasn't the same like and support I used to feel, but it was support regardless, right? It was best not to complain and be happy with what I had. So, from there, I continued on with making videos. Meanwhile, on DeviantART, I decided to open up commissions. I had only done so here and there when people asked about how much I would charge for (X kind of picture) back in 2013. I wanted to make it more like a professional info sheet, since I was nearing the point where I would be seen as a "professional" (quote unquote; because I didn't--still don't--see my art anywhere close to be seen as "professional" ^^; ). But, I digress... I set up my sheet, and some people from The Group even commissioned art from me. Until mid-May when one of my former friends (one of the ones that left in 2014) began going to my commissioners and saying that I "traced" my commissions. How did I find out about this? One of my "friends" form The Group sent me a message asking if I could get in a call, and she laid out what was going on. My "friend" from The Group was also friends with my commissioner, and they (my "friend" from The Group) was in a message with my former friend via Notes. I explained to my "friend" from The Group about the situation from a few year ago, and (during this time) they had my back (note from present me, this was a bad mistake to do. You DO NOT divulge any information like this to people from The Community. This reason will be explained in the later in this section as well as the 2019 section). Of course, what was I to do? I was a small DeviantArtist with an even smaller YouTube following on both channels. But, I had enough of being treated this way and made a video about my former friend and what was going on presently. To my surprise... the video blew up in just a short amount of months. Many of my other friends came out to say that they agreed with me and had disliked this individual's behavior even before this occurrence. Though, had I known about it at the time, I wouldn't have made a video, I would have filed a lawsuit. Because, in terms of legal definitions, what my former friend was doing was a form of Tortious Interference. Of course, that was a term I didn't know about until early 2019, so there was no way for me to know that what my former friend was doing was a liable court of law offense. But, what was done was done. Of course the Matriarchy found out (go figure; they're all connected to each other). But, regardless of what happened to my former friend, I didn't care. At the time, I felt like she deserved it. Little did I know that that unsympathetic callous feelings was just the beginnings of the toxic environment of the Community getting to me. My channel started to get big really quick, and, looking back now, I see that many of The Group were more than likely upset or jealous of this. Because, in August of that year, they were quick to turn on me instead of sit down and talk things out like friends are supposed to do. They quickly dropped me, started spreading rumors, even went so far as to tell my former friend that I was going to make another video on them. I was labeled as "toxic", had hate-art made of me defaming my character, and they even made an alt account to spam my name in the comments and notes of one of their former friend (because "Saki" is such a "mean-sounding word" apparently...). The time bomb had gone off, but, unlike the other times, I wasn't even ready for it. And, up until the end of the year, I was a mixture of mad an upset, going through all sorts of emotions on the spectrum. How stupid I was to not see that I was falling in with the "Wrong Crowd". How I shouldn't have even attempted to restart my channel. How I shouldn't even have grown close to these groups of people. It would all end the same. It always did. Yet... I wasn't ready for it. Now... 2016 is a year that the majority of people despite, mostly for the results of the USA's Presidential election. Personally, I don't care for politics, but there were other things on my mind that day. See, that morning, the very same day as the election results, I had received a call from my doctor about my recent biopsy's results: Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma--Thyroid Cancer. Sure, it's not as serious a cancer like Breast or Brain, but it was cancer nonetheless. So, I was scheduled to have a total thyroid removal at the end of November, and would be put on a super restricting "iodine diet" for the majority of December that would last through the entire holidays. Christmas Dinner was torture; only able to eat a very small selection of things, while watching my family eat such amazing and delicious foods. The following week, I was quarantined in my room because I was completely radioactive. Despite craving that delicious food from Christmas, I felt like I would throw up if I ate just a cracker. My week of quarantine was was literally nauseating, completely miserable, and, above all else, absolutely boring. I could only entertain myself with my phone, because I didn't want to touch anything else--it would just be more to thoroughly clean immediately after use. January 1st Midnight of 2017 was spent in my room listening to my family excitedly cheer "Happy New Year". Needless to say, out of all the years this decade, 2016 was the worst.

2017:

With the residuals of what occurred between The Group and I gradually sputtered to stop, I took the time to stay off the internet a little and focus on my real life. I had to do something with my life. I know what I wanted to do with it. But, the thought of my parents not agreeing with my decision and not being proud of me held me back far too much. Despite having an Associates in Arts and wanting to go in a field that was about The Arts, my parents' (mother's) constant comments of: "Digital Art Degrees are a hit or miss when it comes to getting a job", "You'll never make it out in the Art field", "They're called 'starving artists' for a reason", and then she would proceed to offer ideas for jobs that required either a Science degree or a Medical degree. And... I believed her. Through her constant comments, she had coaxed me to reluctantly work to something she wanted me to be. I mean, she was right: I needed to find a job that would support myself financially, and if getting a Graphic Arts Degree wouldn't do that, then, well, I wasted 4 years of my life in Community College. So, with my mind thinking "Back to Square One", I set out to look for a part-time job. And, in February, I did. It was a short-shift job, but it paid a decent amount to get by for a while. Meanwhile, I paid less time online; only making a few videos for my channel now and then, but also wanting to get my Art/Speedpaint Channel off the ground with videos that are years old (and videos that, to this day, I still have yet to edit and post), as well as posting art when I could (once or twice a month). There wasn't much else that was eventful for the rest of the year; not until a week before Christmas. On our home's doorstep was a package from Amazon that contained an "Adult Coloring Book" titled: Calm the F*ck Down and a pack of Prisma Coloring pencils (which, by the way are not a cheap brand of pencils). Who had sent it, we weren't sure. I know I hadn't ordered it, and I didn't have an Amazon account at the time, so the assumption of it being on my "Wish-list" was out of the question. But, it was a week before Christmas, so it was probably from an out-of-state relative. Little did I know that the individual, who sent it was not either of the two, but someone who I had known, yet hadn't met in real life. And their reasons for sending me the package? Malicious, devious, and text-book level of a psycho. I wouldn't know the identity of said person for another two years. All in all, this year brought new people for me to befriend and meet as well. Of course, after everything that happened, I was very very hesitant to pursue friendships with them. What was the point anyway? They would all end the same. At this point, I had already begun to accept who I was: A narcissistic, selfish, heartless, backstabbing, toxic, indifferent annoyance, harassing, ungrateful, apathetic, hurtful, manipulative, bullying, dramatic, sensitive, arrogant, petty, spiteful, over dramatic, drama whore, lying, shady, sociopathic bitch. People don’t change. I can't change no matter what. But, that’s okay. I’ve come to accept it. And I'll keep doing my best to protect everyone else that I care about—those very VERY small few that are left. The more I can protect from getting close and affected by the monster, the better. Nobody in this world deserves more of that. I tossed those Placebo-Effect pills away, so I could stop lying to myself once and for all that "I changed" and "I'm a better person now". There was no way that, after all that happened, that was true. There's no point in denying it or hiding anymore. I am who I am. I don't like it, but that's just the way things are, and I will forever be that person--No. I'm not even human after all that I've done. I'm a monster, and I'll be that way forever. My Cancer wasn't able to get rid of everyone else's suffering--suffering by the fact that I exist--, and I wouldn't be able to give them that release and make things right once and for all.

2018:

At the cusp of this year around January-February, I had noticed that the friend in the FMA fandom (the one who had given me my new name as well as hope to become better), hadn't been interacting with much as she used to. I found it strange, and I didn't want to assume anything, so I messaged her via Tumblr and asked if I did anything to upset her. Because, after the knee-jerk reactions of the Community, I had come to prefer talking things out with an individual and fix problems in a civil manner. Well, we did talk things out in a civil manner. But, long story short, she didn't want to be friends with my anymore. Her reason: Because she didn't want me to make a Video about her. Where did she come up with that reason? I never made any mention of it to her, and the only reason why I made the videos on my former friends because they actually did something to me and were going out of their way to commit Defamation per Se and Tortious Interference--among basic libel and slander. She had done nothing to me that would make me want to even consider making a video on her. However, despite my best efforts of trying to reassure her, I eventually had to reluctantly respect her wishes and let her go. We un-watched each other, and that was that. But, something was odd... Not only did he un-watch me, but also blocked me. Un-watching, I could understand. But blocking as well? That didn't make any sense... After months of having the worry drive me insane, I eventually came to the realization that tore my apart. I didn't want to believe it, but, after analyzing everything that occurred, nothing else made sense except what I had realized. She was USING me. She was only friends (and "litter sister" to the 2nd-in-Command) with the entire Matriarchy because of me. And what thanks did I get? NOTHING! She gave me false hope that I could change and be better--lying through her teeth the entire time. Not only that... she PRETENDED to be my friend. Like everyone else, she knew my weak spot: Friendship. All that mattered to me. Having the support group to escape to when my parents (mother) didn't give me any and tried to drag me away from the things I loved and enjoyed. They knew it. She knew it--it was her plan all along, wasn't it?! She used me. She. USED. Me. Slept her way to the top, so to speak, without any effort; just rode along on my coat tails until she had no use for me anymore. ...And I was stupid to fall for her feigned innocence and let her get away with it. I stupidly turned around, thinking nothing of the situation until she plunged her knife deep enough to the hilt right through me. ...I know that's an extreme jump to conclusions, but what else was I supposed to think? I thought I was numb after all the other things I had to go through in the previous years. But, after what she did... I couldn't remember a time where I went through that much pain; pain that lasted for months afterwards. Meanwhile, in the real world, I was taking each day by day and doing my best to act as normal as I could around family, despite everything that occurred/was occurring online. I quite my part-time job, and spent the summer looking for a better one; eventually landing a full-time job (my current one) that paid really well and had good benefits. Sure, it took a lot of time away from working on art, especially when the Holidays came around and there was so much overtime I was working between 55 and 60 hours per week. I tried to manage as much as I could with my online status and stay as active as I could though, even if my quality of art never increased because of the lack of motivation and little time I had in between with work in order to put some art together.

2019:

And, now we come to the final year of the decade. I focused more and more on my art and developing it enough to where I became a better Mimicker Artist. Even though there have been many more times where I had to politely put others down when they remarked about "[my] style"; it was a similar reply I would have to make to comments like those before. Other than that, though, there were many ups and downs, like there were every year. Midway through 2019, I met some new individuals, who had left when the Community became too toxic, and got in a call with one of the former friends of The Group (We'll call this individual "J"). Through the call, which lasted about 3-4 hours--there was a lot they had to unpack and let me know--, J informed me of everything The Group was saying and doing behind closed doors on Discord. Even going so far as to get their (former) connection, who had easy access to the Deep and Dark Web, to go after people they they didn't like. One of those people, included myself. Remember when I mentioned that Amazon package I received during Christmas of 2017? It was them. Their reason: "Make [me] so stressed out to the point that [my] cancer comes back in a more severe case and kills [me]." The moment J told me that, I let everyone in the call know that I had to step away for a minute. Then, I muted my mic, and promptly went to the bathroom to throw up. Even if it was way passed midnight after the call ended, I couldn't get any sleep because I was shaking so bad. These people--people, who third-party viewers call "drama whores"--, were more than just that. "Drama whore" was a huge understatement. These people... were psychos. Thankfully, they hadn't done anything else since then (Especially since their little Deep Web friend stopped interacting with them and The Group is against him now). But even so, the fact that these people went out of their way to have me killed just because I was making fun of them for being immature and stupid... it was more than just the epitome of "insane". Who does something like that? Who thinks that the way to "get back" at someone for making fun of you on the internet is to have them killed? Again, thankfully, nothing else has happened since then; but, of course, if it does, I'm calling the police. Back in the real world, I managed to sway my parents to let me go to an Art-Collage. Sure, had I let in on the fact that I wanted to go into Theater or Graphic Arts, they (Mom) would have shot it down immediately and gave me the speech I always got. So, I managed to settle on a Film Degree, which was more like my Plan C (a field that still interested me, but not 100% what I loved), still mostly out of the fear that they wouldn't accept me for a field that I actually wanted to go into. And, for the majority of 2020, I'll be working on saving up to attend that school; hopefully able to get some grants or scholarships so that I won't have to worry about paying the rest of my share after the FAFSA amount is taken out. At the end of the day, and year, at least AAV and I are still as close as ever, and I wouldn't trade her for anything else in the world. I've said it before and I'll say it again: life isn't worth living without her. She's all that I have left in this world that matters. She's the only one I can trust that won't leave or abandon me. To this day, it still baffles me that she didn't drop me and leave, like the others had, when we had our first petty spat. So, if anyone could be considered a "true friend", it would be her. Of course, I still can't get close to others, and I wouldn't even dare try to attempt a new friendship. I try to be nice and civil when others ask: "Can we be friends?" I give them the short explanation of why I can't get close to others anymore, and, luckily, they understand. I know it's wrong, and I should give people a chance, but, after all that's happened, I can't risk anything.

Anyway, so that's my entire Decade in review. It's crazy to think how long it's been since then and how much has happened... The years and events may have changed, but I and everyone else haven't. I know I certainly haven't. Like I mentioned in 2017, I began to accept who I was, and eventually fully accepted it through the entirety of the next year. And, like they have been for almost 10 years, my thoughts never changed on the Matriarchy, and it absolutely disgusts me whenever they (especially the 2nd-in-Command) acts mature and friendly for "brownie points", and saying lies like: "...inspiring others from a healthy approach to pursue whatever they aim for, because it can definitely be achieved. ..." (Not to mention that she has no idea what having an actual reason for anxiety feels like). Well, there's one thing I can agree with her on... there's people that I used to look up to that I shouldn't have. That includes her and the rest of the FMA OC Matriarchs. Because those people are nothing more than self-entitled, immature, holier-than-thou individuals, who act like their word is law, everyone else is lower than dirt underneath them, and use their mob mentality on others for some stupid petty "block brigade" on Tumblr just because someone doesn't like their OC with Ed. Even when I was a small barely-100-watcher DeviantArtist, I saw them all and their true colors and thought that way of them. 10 years later, and my mind still hasn't changed. Because people don't change, no matter how badly they want to--I'm a bright and shining example of that. My goal concerning them is the same that it's always been: "Knock [them] off their thrones." My mind hasn't changed about them. And I still wholeheartedly believe that what they did, have done, are doing is NOT the right thing to do. And I will keep working my tail off until I surpass them and take them down a peg. No one that "looks up to" you should be treated in the ways that they have done over the years. If you're looked up to, be an actual adult for once as well as a good role model. Of course, I am far from being the latter. Little me from 2010 might look at my art and say: "Wow!" But, I just have to say in response: "Kid... forget all you know about art. Go get a degree in the medical or science field. You don't want to go down the path I had to take." Present-Day "Me" isn't someone that 2010 "Me"--or anyone else for that matter--should look up to. I'm not worth anyone's time. I'm a "lost cause" after all, and I'm not someone that should be seen as "inspirational". Not after the things I've done and said over the years. And, through this entire decade, I began to see that the world is nothing more than a dark and cruel place full of people, who will turn against you the moment you disagree with them or abandon you when they have no use for you anymore. (That's not me being "edgy" -__- That's me being realistic). But, then again... had I not pursued this path and found the FMA fandom, I never would have met my best friend, AAV. She's the highlight of every New Year in my life, and, while the world may seem bleak to me the majority of the time... she finds a way to light it up in her own special way. So, even through these ups and downs, I'm happy to have her in my life. She means everything to me, and I wouldn't trade anything else in the world for her. No, we're not a couple--like many have assumed and publicly stated on that rumor--, she and I are just friends. Best friends, yes, but friends nonetheless. But, other than that, I'm going to keep working on art here on dA, because, with this new decade, there will be a new batch of up-and-coming artists. And, while I don't really think I'm someone worth looking up to, I still want to help them work on their craft and make something of themselves. Even if that one former friend used me for her personal benefit... I still enjoyed seeing how happy she was once she was able to start flying on her own, so to speak. It was an amazing feeling, and, knowing that I helped someone achieve that, I just can't help but feel so proud of them. And, I really want to help other beginner artists out and climb up their own mountain. It's okay if some aren't as fast learners as the others; it's the lessons we learn along the way and the mistakes we make to learn from. Anyway... here's to 2020 everyone!

#long post #You Know Who You Are #ironic how within just the few first months of this year.... everything goes downhill xD #Welp. It's always best to get the negative stuff done and over with at the beginning #better to start bad than end bad #madiis musings

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bigyack-com · 5 years ago

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Biden Push for Labor Support Is Burdened by Obama-Era Baggage

On the campaign trail, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has highlighted the first two years of the Obama administration as a time when he helped enact sweeping legislation to widen access to health care and revive the economy, accomplishments most Democrats revere.But to many union officials, those years were a disappointment — a time when the administration failed to pass a labor rights bill that was their top priority and imposed a tax that would affect many union members’ health plans. And they partly blame Mr. Biden.“They were in the driver’s seat for the first two years, and what did they get done from a labor perspective?” said Chris Laursen, the president of a United Automobile Workers local in Ottumwa, Iowa, with nearly 600 members. “Joe Biden is complete status quo.”Since Mr. Biden began his third campaign for the presidency last April, his supporters have portrayed him as the Democrat best positioned to win back union members who deserted the party in 2016 in crucial industrial states.There is some basis for that claim. Mr. Biden, who has longstanding ties to many labor leaders, quickly gained an endorsement from the politically powerful firefighters’ union, and just won an endorsement from the ironworkers’ union. Polls frequently show him leading other Democratic candidates in battleground-state matchups against President Trump.But for many labor voters — even white, blue-collar union members whose votes skewed toward Mr. Trump — the reaction to the former vice president has been more mixed. They frequently cite his policy centrism, which many associate with his time in President Barack Obama’s White House.A mid-January poll by SurveyUSA showed Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont surging to within three points of Mr. Biden among union households nationally. The combined support of Mr. Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has generally outpaced Mr. Biden’s among union households since August.The Biden campaign declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Mr. Obama. A campaign surrogate, former Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis, called Mr. Biden “a champion for organized labor” and said, “It’s easy to take more extreme positions on issues when no one holds you accountable for actually enacting them.”The reservations of union members could be a bigger problem for Mr. Biden than they were for Hillary Clinton during her 2016 Democratic race against Mr. Sanders. Some large unions, including the American Federation of Teachers, endorsed Mrs. Clinton, though many members later supported Mr. Sanders.In the current cycle, many of these unions have skipped an early endorsement, making it easier for individual members and in some cases locals to support their own candidates. The teachers’ union in Los Angeles has endorsed Mr. Sanders, as has the Ottumwa local of the United Food and Commercial Workers, whose 1.3-million-member international endorsed Mrs. Clinton before the 2016 Iowa caucuses. A large Pennsylvania local of the food workers’ union has endorsed Mr. Biden.While the Labor Department recently reported that union membership last year fell to a record low — 10.3 percent of the work force — labor endorsements can still be critical because of the role of unions in educating members about candidates and canvassing for them on the ground.Mr. Laursen, the U.A.W. local leader in Ottumwa, estimates that more than half his members — who are primarily workers at a John Deere plant — backed Mr. Trump in 2016. But he says many of those who oppose the president’s re-election are supporting Mr. Sanders over Mr. Biden.And the skepticism toward Mr. Biden among union voters may be even more pronounced in the less white, less male parts of the labor force.Nicole McCormick, a West Virginia music teacher who helped organize a statewide walkout that made national headlines in 2018, said she worried that Mr. Biden wasn’t “willing to push for the things that we as Americans look at as radical, but the rest of the world looks at and is like, ‘We did that 50 years ago.’” She cited expanded access to unions, universal health care and paid parental leave as examples.(Mr. Biden has proposed wide-ranging labor-law reforms, though his plan isn’t as ambitious as Mr. Sanders’s or Ms. Warren’s in some respects. He supports paid family leave.)Keon Liberato, the president of a Philadelphia-based local of more than 200 workers who maintain and construct railroad tracks, said many of his members preferred Mr. Sanders. Mr. Liberato said his members, both African-American and white, knew Mr. Biden as a friend to railroad workers, but tended to believe that taking health care off the bargaining table under Mr. Sanders’s Medicare for All plan “would be huge for the American people.”In voicing their concerns about Mr. Biden, union officials frequently cite dismay over the Obama years. They acknowledge a number of accomplishments, including the economic stimulus, the rescue of Chrysler and General Motors, and elements of the Affordable Care Act, as well as a variety of pro-labor appointments and regulations. But they express reservations about the administration’s focus on deficit reduction, its ties to Wall Street, and especially its efforts to lower barriers to foreign competition.“I was really disappointed with his trade policies,” said Nick Diveley, a U.A.W. member in Ottumwa, who supported Mr. Obama in 2008. “That’s what pushed me to Trump.” Mr. Diveley said he was open to voting for someone other than Mr. Trump in the fall but called Mr. Biden “just another established Washington guy.”Union members and leaders also grumble about the so-called Cadillac tax on expensive health care plans that the Obama administration sought as a way to rein in wasteful spending. “It was an egghead Ivy League idea, that people overuse health care,” said D. Taylor, the president of the hospitality and casino workers union UNITE HERE, which helped lead the unsuccessful fight against the tax.(The union was supportive of the law and the administration over all; the tax was recently repealed.)And some complain that the Obama administration delayed action on labor’s top priority — a bill that could have expanded their ranks by making it easier to unionize through a sign-up process called card check, rather than a secret ballot — partly so that it could focus on health care.“He failed to fight for our priorities and stand up for the main reason we endorsed him — card check,” said Norwood Orrick, a telecom technician and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Tampa, Fla. “It was discussed a lot in my immediate circles of activists.”Beyond any single policy, there are complaints that the Obama administration sometimes treated labor as an interest group to be managed rather than a partner in making policy. Ana Avendaño, a former senior official at the A.F.L.-C.I.O., recalled a White House meeting on immigration that the federation’s president, Richard Trumka, attended.“They sat him at one of the corners of the table,” squeezed between two other people, Ms. Avendaño said. “He couldn’t even open his pad. In D.C. terms, it was a show of disrespect.”A spokesman for Mr. Trumka said: “While President Trumka worked with and respected President Obama, he felt there were times when the president tried to split the difference between Main Street and Wall Street. That did not serve him or us well.”Some labor officials and union members see the more pragmatic approach of the Obama years, and Mr. Biden’s moderate reputation, as a selling point. “Our guys lean 55 percent Republican,” said Thomas Hanify, president of the Indiana firefighters’ union. “Over all for my members, Warren and Bernie Sanders are a little extreme.”And many prefer Mr. Biden’s approach to health care, voicing concern that Mr. Sanders would do away with insurance plans that unions have worked hard to negotiate. Other labor leaders, while citing shortcomings of the Obama presidency, say Mr. Biden was an advocate for their interests within the administration. Teachers’ unions were furious after Mr. Obama publicly embraced the firing of the entire faculty of an underperforming school in Rhode Island in 2010. But Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said Mr. Biden helped resolve the situation.“We started having a fairly heated argument, me and the vice president, at an A.F.L. meeting,” Ms. Weingarten said. “But he heard what I was saying.”Jared Bernstein, an economic adviser to Mr. Biden during his vice presidency, said the same was often true on trade and other issues, including labor-law reform, which faced a complicated path in the Senate. “I know for a fact where Biden is on these things,” Mr. Bernstein said. “But he was part of an administration that at times very much pleased the unions, and at other times very much pissed them off.”(As a senator, Mr. Biden supported some free-trade legislation, like the North American Free Trade Agreement.)But many labor officials regard Mr. Biden as essentially a sympathetic face for unfriendly policies he was either powerless to reverse or personally advanced. One cited Mr. Biden’s role in leading the negotiations with Republicans over a long-term deficit-cutting deal that could have led to cuts in programs like Social Security and Medicare.Mr. Biden, whose record on Social Security has been a subject of sparring with the Sanders campaign, says he supports an expansion of benefits for many retirees.Frank Flanders, the political director of the food workers’ local in Ottumwa, said that he was skeptical of Mr. Biden’s views on trade and his more hawkish foreign policy views, and that he regarded Mr. Biden as a “corporate Democrat.”“I think we had a lot of Trump voters in the general, for the most part it’s because he wasn’t Hillary,” said Mr. Flanders, describing how his members voted in 2016. “It’s also a concern I have about a Biden candidacy.” Read the full article

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gothrapxxx · 6 years ago

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Martin Luther King, Jr. was a civil rights activist in the 1950s and 1960s. He led non-violent protests to fight for the rights of all individuals including African Americans. He hoped that America and the world could become a colorblind society where race would not impact a person's civil liberties. He is considered among the great orators of modern times, and his speeches still motivate lots of to this day. Where did Martin grow up? Martin Luther King Jr was born in Atlanta, GA on January 15, 1929. He went to Booker T. Washington High School. He was so clever that he skipped two grades in high school. He started his college education at Morehouse College at the young age of fifteen. After getting his degree in sociology from Morehouse, Martin got a divinity degree from Crozer Seminary and after that got his physician's degree in theology from Boston University. Martin's daddy was a preacher which inspired Martin to pursue the ministry. He had a younger sibling and an older sibling. In 1953 he wed Coretta Scott. Later, they would have four children including Yolanda, Martin, Dexter, and Bernice.

Who is martin luther king?

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist who led the civil liberties motion in the United States from the mid-1950s till his assassination in 1968. How did he get involved in civil rights? In his very first significant civil rights action, Martin Luther King, Jr. led the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This started when Rosa Parks declined to give up her seat on a bus to a white guy. She was jailed and spent the night in jail. As a result, Martin helped to arrange a boycott of the general public transport system in Montgomery. The boycott lasted for over a year. It was really tense at times. Martin was apprehended and his home was bombed. In the end, however, Martin prevailed and segregation on the Montgomery buses pertained to an end. When did King provide his popular "I Have a Dream" speech? In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr assisted to organize the famous "March on Washington". Over 250,000 people attended this march in an effort to reveal the importance of civil liberties legislation. A few of the concerns the march wished to accomplish included an end to segregation in public schools, defense from police abuse, and to get laws passed that would avoid discrimination in employment. It was at this march where Martin provided his "I Have a Dream" speech. This speech has actually become one of the most famous speeches in history. The March on Washington was a great success. The Civil Liberty Act was passed a year later in 1964. Martin Luther King, Jr. was among the leading men involved in the civil liberties movement. He was a Baptist Minister and most well-known for following Mahatma Gandhi's belief of non-violent demonstration. King was associated with much of the social and political activist movements from the mid 1950's until the day he was assassinated in 1968. King was born in Atlanta, Georgia and was from a family that had its roots in the nation locations of Georgia; and his father and father-in-law had been ministers in the local church. He and his father embraced the name of 'Martin Luther' to honor the German protestor that developed the Protestant religious beliefs. King's household environment discouraged any prejudice based upon race, religious beliefs or economic circumstance. These lessons would be the starting base for King's beliefs for the rest of his life. By 1948, King went to Moorehouse College and after that Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. He was considered to be a great trainee, but rebelled against what he thought was the more conservative religious mindset of his father. A good friend of his daddy, theologian Reinhold Niebbuhr, became the single person that had the most impact over King's growing spiritual and intellectual development. King was accepted by a number of institution of higher learnings for his doctoral research study which included Yale and Scotland's Edinburgh; he selected to go to Boston University. He finished when he was 25 years of ages and ended up being pastor of a Montgomery, Alabama church. December 1, 1955 was the date that Rosa Parks, a Black American woman, declined to give up her seat to a white individual and was apprehended. The segregation and bias of the time was bad and the regional chapter of the NAACP consulted with King and other community members to set up a boycott of the bus system. King was elected to speak to the neighborhood and this speech started his career on the road to the many protests against unjust scenarios.

The success of Martin Luther King Jr's reception and his ability to speak with the people led him and others to form the Southern Christian Management Conference. Their function was to attend to unjust practices for the Black American neighborhood and other race-related topics. He traveled all over the country preaching reform and particularly non-violent protest. Dr. King motivated and participated all types of non-violent demonstration efforts consisting of 'sit-ins' at lunch rooms where the black and whites were separated. Returning to Atlanta, he took over his father's church, and continued to support civil liberties. He was apprehended in 1960 when he and 75 other Black Americans got in an outlet store and asked for service at the lunch counter and were denied due to their race. They continued to sit until the time they were apprehended. The story was given the attention of the then candidate for President, John F. Kennedy, who called King's spouse and revealed concern for the treatment. In 1963 King arranged a presentation in Birmingham, Alabama. Police turned fire tubes on the demonstrators and the attention for mistreatment ended up being across the country. King was apprehended together with a variety of other people and it was from his jail cell that he announced the nonviolent method to attain success: " Nonviolent direct action looks for to produce such a crisis and foster such a stress that a community, which has actually continuously refused to negotiate, is forced to challenge the problem." King worked with others to arrange a huge 1963 demonstration to Washington, D.C. Over 200,000 people showed up and it was there, at the podium, that Dr. King offered his well-known "I have a dream" speech. Stress were mounting in cities and towns throughout the nation and it became obvious that modification in discrimination had to occur. Dr. King's actions assisted the passage of the 1964 Civil Liberty Act and Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize. While Dr. King constantly requested for nonviolence and peaceful protest, violence broke out in Selma, Alabama during Civil Rights march. This awful circumstance ended up being called "Bloody Sunday" and while Martin Luther King Jr wasn't there, the nation seen as police turned violent against the demonstrators. By the time a third march was planned, Dr. King knew they couldn't break the limiting order that had been embeded in location, so instead, white and black demonstrators marched to the Pettus Bridge where the barriers had been set in location and everybody kneeled in prayer. They then turned and left.

His point had been made at the bridge, without violence, however a few of the less patient younger advocates began to avoid these type of techniques. Dr. King decided to extend the demonstrations to include the Vietnam War. The undesirable and politically determined war was taking American lives and numerous across the nation remained in opposition to it. He included extra positions to deal with the poor and unemployed. In 1968, Dr. King was annoyed with the slow motion of civil liberties and equality and was attempting to broaden the range of programs that he wanted to resolve in the hope that it would attract leaders that would act. On April 3rd, while basing on a terrace in Memphis, Tennessee, he was eliminated by a sniper bullet from a previous convict and one that was discontented with the message that Dr. King was sending out. Why do we tell children to read? We're constantly telling kids that books and reading are good for them, however have we ever truly considered why that's true? Precisely what do older children get out of reading novels? What do younger kids obtain from being read to? Does reading matter?

What are different kinds of education?

Conventional private school. Boarding school. Language immersion school. Montessori school. Private special education school. Parochial school. Spiritual school. Reggio Emilia school. The purpose of this article is to say that, yes, it's true, reading truly is essential, which there are some solid reasons that is so. Let's start with the practical advantages and then proceed to the less concrete benefits of a life filled with reading. Books assist children devleop essential language abilities. Reading is an essential ability that requires to be established in children. Not just is it essential for survival on the planet of schools and (later on) universities, however in adult life as well. The ability to discover brand-new topics and discover useful information on anything from health problems and customer defense to more academic research study into science or the arts depends on the ability to read. Futurologists used to predict the death of the printed word however, paradoxically, Internet has actually made learning more and more a part of individuals's lives. The paperless society is a misconception. The computer system's capability to procedure and evaluate information indicates that unlimited variations on reports and other types of documents can be and are created. Web, itself a huge brand-new source of details and entertainment, is based on the modest written word. To efficiently use the web and judge the authenticity and value of what is discovered there, both reading and crucial thinking skills are of prime importance. The more children read, the much better they become at reading. It's as basic as that. The more satisfying the important things they read are, the more they'll stick with them and develop the reading abilities that they'll need for full access to details in their adult lives. Reading must be considered as a pleasant activity - as a source of amusing tales and beneficial and interesting accurate details. The more young kids read to, the greater their interest in mastering reading. Reading out loud exposes children to correct grammar and phrasing. It enhances the advancement of their spoken language abilities, their capability to express themselves verbally. Reading, by way of books, magazines or websites, exposes kids to new vocabulary. Even when they don't comprehend every new word, they take in something from the context that may deepen their understanding of it the next time the word is experienced. When moms and dads read aloud to children, the children likewise hear right pronunciation as they see the words on the page, even if they can't yet read the words by themselves. Reading can open new worlds and enhance children's lives.

As mentioned above, reading opens doors - doors to factual details about any subject on earth, practical or theoretical. Offered the wealth of readily available resources such as Internet, libraries, schools and bookstores, if children can read well and if they see reading as a source of info, then for the rest of their lives they will have access to all of the accumulated knowledge of mankind, access to all of the terrific minds and concepts of the past and present. It really is magic! Through books, children can likewise learn about individuals and places from other parts of the world, improving their understanding of and concern for all of mankind. This, in turn, contributes towards our sense that we truly live in a "international village" and may help us bring about a more serene future for everybody. This can happen through nonfiction however, perhaps much more notably, reading books that are set in other places and period can give children a deeper understanding of others through recognition with specific characters and their plights. Through stories and novels children can vicariously try new experiences and check originalities, without any unfavorable effects in their realities. They can fulfill characters who they'll take pleasure in returning to for comforting and satisfying visits when they go over a cherished book or discover a follow up. Books also provide kids the chance to flex their critical thinking skills in such areas as problem resolving, the concepts of cause and effect, dispute resolution, and acceptance of responsibility for one's actions. Mysteries allow children to follow ideas to their rational conclusions and to try to outguess the author. Even for extremely kids, an easy story with a recurring refrain or a basic mystery to fix offers a self-confidence boost. Children can predict the patterns and effectively fix the riddles.

Children are influenced by and imitate the world around them. While a steady diet plan of violent cartoons may have a detrimental result on children's advancement, carefully picked stories and books can have a favorable influence on kids, sensitizing them to the needs of others. For instance, books can encourage children to be more cooperative, to share with others, to be kind to animals, or to appreciate the natural environment. Reading can boost childrens's social abilities. Although reading is thought of as the ultimate solitary activity, in specific circumstances reading can be an interacting socially activity. For instance, a parent or grandparent reading a story aloud, whether from a standard printed book or from an ebook, can be an excellent opportunity for adult and child to share some quiet, relaxed quality time together far from the rush and tensions of the business of daily living. They share a couple of minutes of precious time, plus they share the concepts that are consisted of in the story. In addition, older children can be motivated to read aloud to younger ones as a means of improving their relationship. At school or at a library story hour, books can bring children together and can be part of a favorable shared experience. For some preschoolers this may be their primary opportunity to mingle and to find out how to behave around other children or how to sit silently for a group activity. Make the most of this experience by motivating children to speak about what they have actually read or heard. Reading can enhance hand-eye coordination. It may sound amusing, however ebooks can be a method for children to improve their great motor abilities and their hand-eye coordination, as they click around a childfriendly site or click the backward and forward buttons of online story pages. They may also be picking up valuable computer abilities that they'll require in school and later on in life. Reading can provide children with lots of good, clean enjoyable! I've saved the most essential point for last. Reading can provide kids with endless hours of enjoyable and entertainment. All of the practical reasons above aren't at all essential to validate reading's location in children's lives. Stories can free up creativities and open exciting new worlds of dream or reality. They allow children to dream and might provide a great start on the road to viewing reading as a long-lasting source of satisfaction; so read to your kids every day.

Inspire your older children to read. Give them access to a lot of reading product that they'll enjoy and discuss it with them. Sample whatever - standard printed books and ebooks on Web, timeless children's novels and fairy tales, along with more modern stories. If a child wishes to hear the same story over and over once again, do not stress over it. Children bask from the familiarity and predictability of a cherished story that they know backwards and forwards. There's no damage because. Reread old favorites and, at the same time, introduce your children to new stories. Your child's mind and heart have space for both. So reading truly does matter after all! There are numerous ways in which reading continues to be both a vital ability for children to master, and a crucial source of knowledge and satisfaction that can last a lifetime. Nurture it in your children. Maximize all the resources that are available and waiting on you: printed books, online books, publications and so forth. Motivate follow-up activities involving creative composing abilities and the arts, too, so that your children can reflect upon or expand on what they've soaked up and, at the same time, establish their own imagination. As you assist your kids value the magic of reading, you'll discover that there's a whole fantastic world filled with children's literature out there that YOU can take pleasure in too.

Why is it crucial for kids to read?

Reading books aloud to children stimulates their imagination and broadens their understanding of the world. It assists them develop language and listening skills and prepares them to comprehend the written word. ... Even after children find out to read by themselves, it's still crucial for you to read aloud together. Children at their earliest ages ought to discover and realize the significance of education in their lives. Some kids, however, may resist your efforts and insist on doing things their method. As a parent, your best teaching tool is your attitude. Having a favorable mindset about reading and a curiosity about finding out new things imparts similar beliefs in your children. Program them that education is the ticket to fulfilling their dreams and having a productive life. Teach the worth of education early in a child's life. Children are naturally curious and watchful. If they see you reading books and newspapers, they may be wondering why this activity holds such interest. Tell them that they need to discover to read to be able to also share such pleasure. Read to them frequently help them develop their language skills. Impress on children the value of school. This implies getting them to school on time and modeling the importance of punctuality. Take an interest in all their homework and ensure the needed projects are finished prior to the due dates. Take your children to academic yet enjoyable parks. Instead of taking them to the shopping malls, take them to a museum, science center or zoo. Discuss to them that continuing their education will permit them to understand more about the world around them. This strategy will definitely make them more inspired to find out and study. Introduce the computer to children. Computer systems never fail to impress people, especially young kids. Let them play grade-level software application video games that will provide enjoyable and entertainment. Stress to children that discovering computer usage, videos and education go hand in hand. Teach the value of education daily. You might include mathematics into day-to-day tasks and circumstances. Have them help you count the number of cookies on a cookie pan. Their love for learning could start if you count on them to do particular tasks. Incorporate counting, reading and writing within those simple jobs. For example, you might take them to the marketplace and have them choose a particular number products (like five apples or 4 oranges). Register your children in schools. If you want them to like education, make sure to place them in an environment that fosters convenience, enjoyable and learning at the same time. In addition, attend all the parent teacher conferences and end up being active in other school activities. Your child will see and grow to appreciate the time you take into her education.

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meditativeyoga · 8 years ago

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Who Am I? Use The Enneagram With Yoga To Find Your Answer

In a suitable globe, we 'd constantly think as well as act from an area of knowledge and also entirety. Yet in the real life, deep-rooted patterns and characteristic could hinder. Enter the Enneagram, an individuality evaluation that could aid you see what's maintaining you from realizing your most authentic, greatest self. Here's how you can use it, in addition to your yoga exercise technique, to change course.

Coral Brown, a yoga instructor and qualified mental-health therapist in Rhode Island, utilizes the word" co-dependent" to describe her previous enchanting partnership, which lasted more compared to a decade. Yet at the time, she really did not realize she was in such a pattern of over-giving that she was losing herself. While her yoga exercise method helped shine a light on this tendency, Brown claims studying the Enneagram-- a four-decade-old personality-assessment system-- likewise disclosed that it was time to carry on from the partnership. "The Enneagram enabled me to really see my core patterns," claims Brown, "eventually aiding me fulfill my requirements in a much healthier, more aware method than ever in the past."

The name Enneagram comes from the Greek words ennea, a prefix for "nine," and also gramma, suggesting "to draw." The system's symbol is a nine-pointed star, each point representing an unique character type. Most Enneagram professionals concur we are all birthed with one dominant personality kind (or number), which largely identifies just how we discover how to adjust to our environment as well as the people in it. The Enneagram surfaced in the United States in the 1970s, riding the tails of the human-potential motion (think treatment, encounter groups, and also primitive scream). Ever since, therapists, spiritual educators, coaches, or even organisations have made use of the Enneagram as a device to stir authenticity, subject core motivations, and ultimately reduce social conflict. Exactly how can a basic individuality examination do all this?

" There's resistance to transform within all of us, as well as the Enneagram explains just what that resistance has to do with for each people," states Peter O'Hanrahan, a prominent global Enneagram instructor and trainer. "As a result, this system provides you really clear info concerning what you require to work with." To wit, when Brown found out more about her Enneagram number-- a 2-- she was better able to see her core pattern of providing to others to really feel great about herself, which realization gave her a choice: do something concerning her unseen areas, or ignore them. She decided to act. "I left my companion, and I found even more of my own identification in my yoga exercise teaching," states Brown. "I was more aligned with my truer purpose as well as nature."

Susan Piver, author of the reflection guide Start Here Now as well as a meditation educator who leads retreats on the Enneagram, claims the kind of alignment Brownish seasoned is exactly what yoga is about at its core. "The Enneagram will tell us what we could not see regarding ourselves-- our means of being that come from our most damaged selves, which produce confusion because of this," claims Piver. As well as if you want to look at these injuries, which are usually rooted in unexamined pain, you can begin to chart a new, extra authentic course onward, she says. "At a certain point-- particularly if you get on a spiritual course-- you have to do this," Piver says. Keep reading to locate out how.

Self-Inquiry: Who Am I?

The work of the Enneagram begins with finding out your number, which basically represents just how you present yourself to others, where your focus goes when you silent down, as well as just what causes your actions. Piver, for instance, is a 4, which means her chief issue is envy. "Before I understood I was a 4, I utilized to believe that just what I wished for would make me pleased," she says. "Currently, I have the ability to see the hoping itself as an indication that I'm uncertain, unhappy, or pain, and also that I can turn my focus within instead of seeking something outside. This assists me notice when I need to take better care of myself."

In enhancement to disclosing adverse patterns and deep injuries, the Enneagram likewise highlights your best toughness. As an example, when Piver's envy is brought right into equilibrium, it ends up being the much more developed variation of itself: equanimity. "Envy as well as equanimity get on a continuum," she says. As well as these continuums exist for every one of the numbers, which means that on a regular basis looking for balance in between your strengths as well as blind places is the essential to living a much more straightened, genuine life.

Even better, all of this self-reflection comes with boosted communication with other individuals. That's why Piver calls the Enneagram an upaya, Sanskrit for "experienced methods." While she warns against utilizing the system to label somebody, she says it can be a valuable device to browse interaction blocks. For instance: "My companion is a One, as well as Ones are focused on right and also incorrect," claims Piver. "I'm a 4, and also Fours are concentrated on significance. If we enter a debate, I intend to talk and also comprehend, but I can not do that with him until I acknowledge what went wrong-- that I see where the bad move happened. That is very beneficial to him because everything in him desires to get to the base of the right and wrong in order to fix it." As soon as Piver's companion's needs have actually been dealt with, they could then have the kind of conversation that also functions for her.

Ultimately, the Enneagram could aid us release the limited hold we have on our variation of points. "It's difficult to recognize an individual's make-up when you are only looking at it with your very own lens," states Piver. "But suppose you were told, 'Below are 9 lenses-- which one do you think he or she is browsing?' It provides you a means to allow go of expectations to ensure that an extra real exchange can transpire. It produces concern."

Put the Enneagram Into Practice

Yoga provides the ideal training school to check out the subtleties of your Enneagram kind. When you recognize your number, you can begin to make use of the Enneagram to allow remove just what Patanjali called the "layers as well as blemishes hiding truth." "It's an extraordinary companion [to yoga exercise] that covers area yoga exercise doesn't deal with," says Michael Cohen, owner of the Kirtan Leader Institute and also a qualified Enneagram expert. "Yoga talks in wide terms regarding how you can transcend our restrictions, the Enneagram provides unbelievable detail regarding what that means." For instance, each number has an equivalent somatic pattern. "For Fives, Sixes, and also Sevens, postures that bring power to the lower body as well as the feet are crucial due to the fact that these types have the tendency to leave their bodies by increasing into their heads," claims O'Hanrahan. As soon as you know your kind's patterns, he says, you could personalize your yoga exercise method to sustain the job you're doing to leave your old grooves (or samskaras, in Sanskrit) and develop new ones that offer you better.

To that end, Brown has actually matched a posture with each Enneagram number to highlight both the challenges as well as the possibilities for that number. Establish your type, after that utilize your position and also mantra to proceed your self-inquiry so that just how you do asana reflects just how you do you-- with stired up quality and compassion.

Discover Your Enneagram Number

The 9 numbers, or personality kinds, of the Enneagram each have corresponding top qualities. To establish your number, checked out every one's specifying attributes and also essential inspirations here, then see which number resonates most highly for you. (Remember that we have elements of all nine kinds inside us, though we have a tendency to have even more of one type than the others.) With an open mind and an investigatory spirit, simply discover exactly what resonates most.

1. The Reformer

Defining traits:

Principle, purpose, self-discipline, as well as perfectionism

Key motivations:

To be right, to strive for higher things

Basic fear:

Being corrupt, evil, defective

At their best:

Ones are diligent as well as honest, with a strong sense of right and incorrect. They are teachers and also supporters for adjustment, always striving to boost things.

At their worst:

Ones are worried of making an error, they could get on being critical and perfectionistic, and also have a tendency to fight with animosity and also impatience.

2. The Helper

Defining traits:

Generosity, people pleasing, as well as possessiveness

Key motivations:

To be loved, needed, as well as appreciated, to vindicate their insurance claims about themselves

Basic fear:

Being unworthy of love

At their best:

Twos are understanding, providing, as well as owned to be close to others.

At their worst:

Twos can slip into doing points for others simply to feel required. They generally have issues with possessiveness as well as recognizing their very own needs.

3. The Achiever

Defining traits:

Adaptability, need to excel, as well as picture- consciousness

Key motivations:

To differentiate themselves from others, to be appreciated, to thrill others

Basic fear:

Being worthless

At their best:

Threes are self-accepting, genuine, and good example who inspire.

At their worst:

Threes could be overly interested in their image and just what others think about them, they normally have troubles with workaholism and also competitiveness.

4. The Individualist

Defining traits:

Expressiveness, drama, self-absorption

Key motivations:

To create and border themselves with appeal, and also to care for psychological demands before attending to anything else

Basic fear:

Having no identity

At their best:

Fours are very imaginative, self-aware, delicate, as well as reserved.

At their worst:

Fours can be moody as well as self-conscious. They normally have issues with sorrowful, self-pity, as well as self-indulgence.

5. The Investigator

Defining traits:

Perceptiveness, innovation, and isolation

Key motivations:

To possess expertise, to have whatever figured out as a way of resisting risks from their surroundings

Basic fear:

Being helpless or incapable

At their best:

Fives are visionary leaders, typically ahead of their time, and also able to see the globe in an entirely brand-new way.

At their worst:

Fives could end up being removed. They typically have troubles with eccentricity, nihilism, as well as isolation.

6. The Loyalist

Defining traits:

Responsibility, stress and anxiety, and suspicion

Key motivations:

To feel supported by others, to check the perspectives of others toward them

Basic fear:

Lack of security or guidance

At their best:

Sixes have a tendency to be steady, self-reliant, as well as trustworthy. They predict issues as well as foster cooperation.

At their worst:

Sixes could be indecisive, responsive, and defiant. They could also come to be defensive and evasive, as well as handle self-doubt and suspicion of others.

7. The Enthusiast

Defining traits:

Spontaneity, adaptability, as well as scatteredness

Key motivations:

To maintain their freedom as well as joy, to prevent missing out on rewarding experiences

Basic fear:

Being deprived and in pain

At their best:

Sevens are extroverted and also practical. They focus their skills on coming to be wondrous and satisfied.

At their worst:

Sevens could end up being sidetracked and exhausted by remaining on the go, they normally have issues with rashness and impulsivity.

8. The Challenger

Defining traits:

Decisiveness, positive self-image, willfulness

Key motivations:

To be autonomous and essential in the world

Basic fear:

Being controlled by others

At their best:

Eights are self-mastering, and use their stamina to enhance others' lives. They are self-confident and also decisive.

At their worst:

Eights could be egocentric and also autocratic. At times, they feel they must control individuals around them, in some cases becoming confrontational. They can have problems with their temper as well as showing vulnerability.

9. The Peacemaker

Defining traits:

Receptivity, reassuringness, complacency

Key motivations:

To produce harmony, to maintain things as they are

Basic fear:

Loss and separation

At their best:

Nines are able to bring individuals with each other and recover conflicts. They are approving, trusting, and also steady, they are typically imaginative, confident, and supportive.

At their worst:

Nines could be too going to go along with others to keep the peace. They want everything to go smoothly, as well as so could additionally be contented. They may have problems with inertia as well as stubbornness.

NEXT: The most effective Yoga exercise Posture For Your Enneagram Number

#asana #meditation #spiritual #Yoga #yoga instructor

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dtadventures · 8 years ago

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Racism.

The following post is directed to the American Christian church.

RACISM IS A SIN.

Let's start there. Every person I asked about this topic, whether it be a college professor or a college student, said that racism is, in fact, a SIN.

So for the duration of this post, I am going to treat it as such.

Let's define what sin is. Sin is basically anything that goes against God’s law. Sin also goes against God’s ultimate design for humanity.

Let's define what racism is, according to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities, and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.”

Basically, it is believing that there is a hierarchy of racial superiority, and taken to its extreme conclusion, it’s believing that a particular race should dominate and control all other races. Racism essentially is dehumanizing, stripping the value of people who God already declared to be made in His image.

While most of us would deny being racist, we probably have racial prejudices. The definition of prejudice, according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, is “ a (1): preconceived judgment or opinion (2): an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge.”

BOTH are sins. BOTH are harmful.

Since the fall in Genesis, our relationship with God has been severed, as well as our relationship with the Earth and with each other. We now rely heavily on our own understanding of the world in order to make sense of everything. We organize ourselves into groups. Race, which is supposed to be a representation of God’s workmanship and creativity, has been used to oppress individuals. So much of our modern society links race, culture, and identity. Despite the progress made by Civil Rights groups around the world, we still deal with the issues of race and identity.

In light of the seemingly continuous stream of racially charged hate crimes seen in the media, what is the American church’s response? After all, when topics of abortion, sexual orientation, prayer in schools, gun control, or Starbucks cups are brought up, we are very vocal about our stance. However, when the subject of racism arises, churches too often choose the “color-blind approach”, which can dismiss the pain and actually aids racist attacks through silence.

Racism can appear in so many forms, whether it is a deliberate comment, an unintentional joke, a law that is passed which penalizes marginalized individuals, a tv show that relies on stereotypes for humor or only casts Caucasians in lead roles, or a tendency to make assumptions about others. Racism is a sin, plain and simple. It not only pushes people from God, it creates a divide between groups of people. Shouldn’t we be fighting right against it? Shouldn’t we be champions for unity and pioneering peaceful talks between races? Shouldn’t we be the model after which other institutions develop their diversity departments? Shouldn’t racism disgust us so much that we have sermons on it or training on how the congregation should handle racism on a daily basis? We as Christ-followers have the Holy Spirit in our lives, which gives us insight into how God sees people and how this world was intended to be. As Colossians 3:10-11 states, “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” (NLT)

Unfortunately, the church is virtually silent on this issue. I once heard someone say, “[Christians] say a little about what God says a lot about, and a lot of what God says a little about.” We are too afraid to talk about race, to which I say, “God did not give us a spirit of fear.” If your fear as a leader is that people will get offended and leave your church, well that fear wasn’t given to you by the Lord. Currently, people are being murdered in cold blood solely due to their race. Humans are being harassed and beat up because of what they look like. Humans are being kicked out of restaurants and coffee shops based on the color of their skin. For crying out loud, the KKK and other white supremacy groups are parading themselves as ‘victors’ on tv and on magazine covers, while minorities who protest our own oppression are condemned as whiners or being told we are protesting wrong and so don’t deserve to have their voices heard. To be honest, if those examples I just listed don’t shake you in some way I have to suggest that maybe we as a church aren’t dealing with this issue head on because we struggle with racism ourselves. Or even worse, we don’t actually think racism is that big of a problem. We currently have an opportunity to speak out about this issue. Don’t think that because under the law of the land everyone legally has equal rights, that we are over this issue. Let’s be honest, we are far from “over it”.

According to an article in Christianity Today (linked at the bottom), “But at its corresponding core, race is not a matter of law; it is a matter of the heart. Forced legislation cannot reform a wayward heart, it is only the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And it is because the church has been entrusted as the stewards of this sacred gospel that we must pick up where Dr. King and his lieutenants left off. Our battle is not ultimately with structures (though there is a systemic injustice, which the church must address), as much as it is with the reformation of the heart.”

Did you know that it was once said the most segregated hour of the week was Sunday mornings at 11 am? Martin Luther King jr said this in an interview on Meet the Press in the 1960s. Racial segregation and racism were a huge part of American Church history. Many pastors used the bible to promote this sort of behavior and we still seeing the consequences of that today. The issue that we are dealing with right now is bigger than just laws. We have certain stereotypes and prejudices have been ingrained into our mindset and our day to day lives. Or as some like to call them, “opinions and point of views.” One of the biggest problems in America today is “institutional racism”

Definition from Chegg.com

“Institutional racism is a pattern of social institutions — such as governmental organizations, schools, banks, and courts of law — giving negative treatment to a group of people based on their race. Institutional racism leads to inequality; sociologists use the concept to explain why some people face unequal treatment or occupy unequal statuses. One historic example of institutional racism is the barring of African-American students from attending certain public schools, which limited the students' educational opportunities and helped prevent them from achieving a status equal to that of others. Institutional racism need not involve intentional racial discrimination. For example, individual judges might intend to impose similar sentences for similar crimes; yet if Caucasian people tend to receive lighter punishments, plausibly institutional racism occurs.”

When actions and policies justify and support negative stereotypes of a racial group, that’s when we have a problem that will take more work than just passing some laws. I know the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission were wonderful and huge leaps in racial equality. We still have to change mindsets and our hearts from the inside out from both the top-down and bottom-up. It will take personal responsibility from every person to acknowledge and fix this problem.

A lot of people in power are benefiting from institutional racism. Even you reading this, to some extent, may benefit from it - or some of you are suffering because of it. Businesses, government offices, churches, schools, to some degree gain from other people’s suffering. Some of those institutions have a ton of influence over our entire lives and have succeeded in convincing part of the public that there is no real problem.

To those who believe this isn’t a legitimate problem, I have a question which was asked by educator and activist Jane Elliott: "would [you] be happy to be treated as this society in general treats our black citizens" Feel free to replace “black” with any person of color or marginalized group. If not, then part of you must realize that there is a problem and that you might be benefiting from other people’s suffering. Or how Elliott puts it, “...You know you don't want it for you. I want to know why you're so willing to accept it or to allow it to happen to others."

SO what are we going to do about it? Are we going to just continue to not talk about the racial inequality that is within the very fabric of our country? Or when we do, are we going to continue to dismiss it as merely a problem from the past? Are we going to be vocal about this issue that ACTUALLY matters?

Here are some things we can do right now:

1. Have conversations about race. Both on the pulpit and while we sit in the pews. Talk about it and ask POC about their experience and be willing to listen. There should be events where we as a church tackle difficult subjects and brainstorm ways to serve the community.

2. Have speakers who are white, black, Asian, latino, pacific islander, etc, because a new point of view is refreshing to hear. A different point of views reaches different types of people. Isn’t that the goal of the gospel, to reach EVERYONE?

3. Change up the style of worship. There are so many different styles of music, why not get creative and try some out every once in awhile? I personally loved when my university would change up the worship style. I loved hearing new arrangements of old favorites alongside new songs.

4. Diversity in leadership. Much like my last point, having not only racial diversity but gender, and generational diversity is imperative to a thriving church. Look out at your congregations or your surrounding community your church’s leadership team should reflect the diversity both inside and outside these walls.

5. Commit to making a difference in how we approach race and race relations in our everyday lives. As Christians, we are called to be set apart and that means we have to stop accepting what the world does. That means stop engaging in racist talk- including jokes, memes, tweets, WHATEVER (those things don’t bring people to God, so why to participate?). Be quick to listen and slow to speak. Become aware of your own prejudices and work to fix them.

Look, racism is destructive and is as much of a sin as any other sin. We need to fight it now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO1PcovTk90 - One of my favorite videos on racism.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2015/january/most-segregated-hour-of-week.html - Article from Christianity today

http://www.alternet.org/video/professor-poses-one-perfect-question-about-race-stumps-her-audience

Written By Dekontee (Me)

Nearly all edits were done by Laila @twentyfirstcenturyvagabond

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canaryatlaw · 8 years ago

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Today was.....kind of odd. I felt exhausted and like I was running crazy all day, but I actually wasn't? Idk. I remembered today that my psychiatrist wanted me to call him after I'd been on the Xanax for like a week to see if I'd noticed a difference, as I should have, and as I remembered I was supposed to do this I realized I don't think I've actually seen much of a difference. I still feel anxious pretty much all the time and can't stop my mind from racing even when I'm trying to relax, there's always something I need to get done. I'm doing 2 mg of Xanax a day right now (1 at morning and 1 at night) and he wrote me the prescription to use as needed so I can increase it if needed. If I'm remembering correctly, at the time I accidentally went off it I was taking 3 mg a day, I guess I was just hoping I would be doing better by now and wouldn't need that much. Idk, it's weird to be experiencing symptoms of mental illness like anxiety and feeling exhausted and like something in my mind just isn't right without them being accompanied by the overwhelming and soul-sucking dread of suicidal ideation constantly occupying your mind. Because I pretty much consider myself "recovered" at this point. Like I'm SO much better than I was 4 years ago. But I'm still having symptoms that just don't feel like they have a causal connection to my life, because there's nothing that would be causing that in my life- I mean at least as far as the depression, there's obviously plenty to cause anxiety. But I don't really feel depressed at all so I don't really know if that's what this is??? Like my brain felt weird when I was without my meds for a few days but for the most part it's been fine with happiness, just tending to get overwhelmingly exhausted, but with me that could have a lot of causes (see: my abysmal high school attendance record). Sigh. I didn't mean to get into all of this right now, it just kind of came out. I think that's most of what I have to say, though. So, today. Alarm went off at 9:45, and the first thing I notice is its gross and rainy and hell no am I gonna walk 20 minutes to the train in the freezing rain cuz I fucking hate rain, so I consult google maps to see which of the alternate routes I know of would be quickest, and decide on the one that takes my normal bus route to a close by train station of another line that I can then take to the loop. So that worked out fine and I got to school in plenty of time to prep for the panel. Oh, I left out that I woke up to a text from my across the hall at work friend saying she was like ridiculously sick and couldn't come, so that sucked but oh well. After not too long DCFS guy comes over with the PD we were able to get from delinquency, so we hang out and talk for a while as things get set up more and we get food before the panel. So, we ended up having 4 panelists, which worked well because we initially felt overbooked at 6, but 2 had to cancel haha so that ended up being good. We had the PD, DCFS guy, an adoption attorney, and a child rep that does work in domestic relations (divorce/custody court). And of course I was the moderator, so I got ask my questions and they went really well! Everyone had good and varying answers, and even gave some well-reasoned answers to my thrown in at the last minute question about if they could change one thing about the system they work in what would it be, because of course I am so very reform minded, lol. We got to open the floor up a little at the end, and the panelists talked about the last question for like 10 minutes and I was like watching the clock knowing the 1L's all had to get back to class at 1 so as soon as they finished I was like OKAY whoever needs to leave go and we can chat with the panelists if you want to stay, lol. So that felt good overall. I stayed and talked to DCFS guy about some random stuff since he had some time before going back to work since this was an official work sanctioned event for him, lol. So that was cool. When he headed out I switched over to the PAD office for a bit and did something on my computer for a little, I don't even remember what, before going to meet my LARC prof for our individual conference. It wasn't all that helpful because it tended to be just more generalized feedback, and like I know what I'm doing its just a matter of doing it in the form they want. But I got my argument section back and graded so between that and my graded trial brief I should have some good basis to go off when I finish off the appellate brief this weekend hopefully. That's the idea, anyway. After that I went back to school and was gonna go to the PAD office but instead found my spring break friend, summer job friend, and the girl who's gonna be the president of the child and family law group with me next semester chilling in one of the rooms, so I hung out with them and actually got around to reading most of the cases for crim pro tonight. It was nice, even if I still felt exhausted at the end of the day. And I ended up ordering Chinese food because I felt like it before class lol and they had these mango and shrimp egg rolls that are possibly the craziest and most amazing things I've ever tasted. Crim pro was fine, just went over the few cases, and I interjected two short comments on different aspects of police behavior and their consequences (one of which was in result of a wrongful conviction that was affirmed by the fucking Supreme Court before later getting DNA exonerated that besides this man spending so much of his life in prison, there was a fucking child rapist freely roaming the streets). She then told us about how she's gonna like speed through the rest of the cases at the next two classes, and then let us go at 6:45....? Idk, I feel like she wasn't prepared for them or something, although I've discovered when she recites the "facts" of the case she reads almost word for word off the quimbee briefs I've been looking at, lol. But hey, I'll take it. It was still rainy and gross so I tried the alternate route again but with slightly more anxiety this time because I don't like relying on buses at night because, basically, the suck. We end up getting off the train literally right as the bus is pulling up to the stop (like I saw the bus as soon as I got off the train and had to run down two flights of stairs to get to it) and I just made it but like the driver was being rude and I had to like, bang on the door when there were like 4 other people with me trying to get on.....like calm down lady it's not gonna kill you to wait another 2 seconds. So that kind of ticked me off but I was at least glad I caught the bus. Got home and decided to watch the episode of Blindspot that had pretty much just finished airing and OH BOY do I have feelings about this episode. I already did a massive Twitter rant about this (and I mean massive) so I'll just give you the highlights but between this plot and Chicago Justice's (both nbc shows, fyi) treatment of a foster kid earlier this week I had just about had it. The kind of plot Blindspot did tonight was awful because it adds to the idea that foster parents are bad people who are only in it for the money, and that is overwhelmingly false. Are there crappy foster parents in the system? Of course, I spent all of last semester tracking them down and getting the kids removed from their homes. But the vast, vast majority of foster parents are wonderful, loving people who are sacrificing so much for a child they may very well have to say goodbye to some day. And when we are already at such a critical shortage of foster parents, this kind of portrayal is so damaging to that image. It only serves to add more stigma to the idea of foster parents are being corrupt and "foster child" practically being synonymous with "problem child" in some peoples heads, another convention that needs to end. The whole thing just really, really got under my skin. I mean, I know better than anyone that this kind of shit (okay I mean, this was obviously an extreme example, but similar types of mistreatment I mean) does happen, but broadcasting it as one of a very few portrayals of foster parents most people are gonna see is damaging to the idea of being a foster parent and hurts the chance that they would consider being one in the future, and that's just such a major problem for me. I obviously have a lot of feelings about this, and I feel like I should find some higher up at nbc to write to about it, other than tagging the network's account in my Twitter rant. But yeah, the whole thing just really pissed me off. Other than that though, my only other comment on the episode was that I was really sad to see Nas go, even though I knew it was inevitable as soon as she got involved with Weller, because the show has made it abundantly clear that Kurt/Jane is endgame and anyone who interferes with that isn't gonna last. But I really couldn't give a crap about her and Kurt's romance or whatever, she was such a great character in so many other ways and such a fantastic leader that I'm sad to see her character leave. And I mean not all of this is coming from my adoration of Archie as an actress, but she really did a fantastic job with the character that I feel like the show will miss her a lot. Okay, so after that I actually got to watch designated survivor live, which I've only gotten to do a handful of times. And man, this episode was EXCELLENT. Like definitely one of the best episodes of television I've seen from an objective (not fandom based) viewpoint. Like just as a piece of art it was brilliantly done. Admittedly I didn't pay all that much attention to the B and C storylines of Hannah and Aaron's adventures, but they were solid in their own right. But the really just knocked it out of the park with Kirkman's A storyline, like holy shit we're seriously at the point where how can you not be rooting for this character? I loved seeing him prep for the town hall and trying to figure out what he should see and then him in that scene and just being so fucking brilliant. Everything he did in that scene was artistic perfection. I had very real tears running down my cheeks by the end of it, and I have a hard time believing anyone else could watch it and not be similarly emotionally affected (even if you don't cry). Like they used just the perfect amount of personal story worked in there without pushing one issue or over-milking a tragic storyline. Just watching him on that stage and speaking from his heart to that mother was just so incredibly beautiful and I'm sitting there thinking damn, I would give anything to have Tom Kirkman as our actual president right now, lol, I seriously think he would be doing so much better than the current joke of an administration we have. So yeah, obviously I was very impressed with the episode. Kiefer continues to be a spectacular actor, and just shines in this role because he is so very good at bringing out the intricacies of the character, his doubts and fears while still managing to remain a strong leader that the people can trust in a time of such horrific distress. But yeah, obviously very pleased there. And yeah, not long after that I started getting ready for bed and here we are, lol, although 2 hours slipped by somewhere in between (funny how that happens). Big girl job in the morning, and then I'm probably gonna find a Starbucks to chill out and work on my LARC assignment on until small group because I just don't have the physical or emotional energy to go to the kickboxing gym this week, though I have been continuing to do push ups during commercial breaks, so that's good at least lol. Okay I think I'm done here. Goodnight lovelies. Have a good sleep.

#daily journal #April 2017

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blschaos3000-blog · 5 years ago

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Its 1:26 pm warm/Memorial Day/never forget

Welcome to 8 Questions with…….

Today’s interview is a little different in a couple of ways. Today’s guest,Blaine Kelley,is my first politicallt active guest. Now I usually find the folks I talk with via Facebook or a third party. But Blaine is also my first Twitter guest,he and I have been friends on that platform for around three years now. And yes,Blaine is one of the most active voices against Donald Trump and his fascist regime. He posts different news articles,gets out in the street and encourages everyone to excercise their right to vote no matter how hard the Republicans are trying to deny and suppress that right. I have found Blaine to be a warm and generous man who loves his family and his country. He is willing to discuss just about anything as well….in fact he and I have had some really nice chats about life in general. What I respect most about Blaine is that he will be friends with just anyone based on face value,he doesn’t judge anyone and lets their actions speak for themselves. In today’s world,that is rapidly becoming a rare trait. I know by posting this interview that I am showing where I stand in today’s world and while I plan to interview other activists,my blog is not a political one nor will it become one. Simply because I think politics are dead and good people like Blaine Kelley are fighting for the life and the future of this country. So I hope you will really read the answers to the 8 Questions (plus a couple more) that I asked Blaine Kelley……

Please introduce yourself and share a little bit of your background with us.

Hello- My name is Blaine Kelley. I am from central California. I have always lived here and have no desire to live elsewhere. I went to school at Pepperdine University where I studied Economics and Literature. I Attended Law School at Southern Cal. I worked as a civil attorney for over a decade until I burned out on the grind. My mother was suffering from cancer and I spent several years attending to her while she battled it. I began to feel the need to go back to work so I invested in a construction corporation and became a board member and the VP of operations. I continued this for a decade finally selling my shares and entering the corporate consulting world.

How are you and your family coping with the Covid-19 lockdown?

During this time I met my spouse and we relocated from San Diego to The Bay Area. When Covid-19 struck I had been following the science for several months. I was not surprised at the lightening speed of the spread in the US. I was prepared. We have been sheltering In place longer than most of the country and it shows on the infection growth curve for California. I feel very lucky for this. We have two children, 10 and 14, whom I have taken the responsibility of educating during the pandemic. Many of you know this is quite a challenge. Beyond this the “lockdown’ has presented many obstacles: Being isolated from friends and family is a challenge the video calling only partially overcomes. Further it is a daily challenge to stay physically mentally and physically fit without access to the “normal” outlets that keep me and my family on an even keel.

When did you become politically active and what was the issue that peaked your interest?

I am 50 and became interested in politics during high school. The Iran Contra Affair was interesting because my best friends neighbor was arrested for weapons trafficking. We lived in a small beach community so this was A BIG DEAL. My family was always involved in political activities. My grandfather was a contemporary of Cesar Chavez and Delores Huerta. He marched with the farmworkers from Delano to Sacramento. It wasn’t uncommon to visit them and dine with famous social and political figures. The strong pro-union sentiment is something I still support and am proud of to this day. Political corruption has always been one of my main areas of interest when thinking about the political perspective. Weather local or national, corruption has been and will be, the single biggest danger to the democratic ideal most Americans cherish.

What is “the Resistance”?

The Resistance to me is merely a group of citizens who are fed up with the corruption that is choking our Democracy right now. We see the questionable validity of our election process, and more importantly, the disastrous results that political apathy and general ignorance have delivered upon us all. Within my circle of allies you will find individuals from across the political spectrum. What we have in common is a passionate love of our Country and a steadfast belief in the Rule Of Law. Without fair and balanced laws society will not function as envisioned by the founders, the citizenry, and the our allies across the world who, by necessity, need the United States to be the Beacon of Justice for the World.

Do you feel only having two political parties have led us down this path in which we have a fascist president? What three things would you reform if you could do so?

I have little experience with anything other than the two party system. Accordingly, my thoughts on a parliamentary system are not favorable. I think 90-95 percent of Americans all want the same thing but want to take a different route across town to reach the destination. Accordingly, more parties won’t solve this issue but more imput and cooperation will.

Do you feel a corporate owned press does more damage then good and why/why not?

The so called free press is partially at fault for the current fiasco we have in Washington. We have ZERO requirements that “the press” report Facts, Truth, or anything advising the consumer that opinion is being presented as NEWS. This is an epic failure of Congress and the Courts. It is difficult to determine if the big three (MSNBC.CNN.FOX) are mostly responsible for the authoritarian crisis we currently face. What is clear, Ratings (income) are the primary goal of all media in the United States. This is problematic as the echo chamber effect is fully our current reality. Obviously this is not the way to unite all citizens for any common good. Divide and conquer is a successful strategy that has been effective for thousands of years.

How can we recover our country or have we gone past that point?

I definitely think we can save our county and political system. We have not yet lost all respect and understanding for and of the Rule Of Law. We are close as normalization of authoritian actions is “normalized” by Fox news and to a lessor extent by the other two daily. We also see most Members of the GOP doing the same in furtherance of personal and professional necessity. The margin is razor thin for the upcoming election. If America is to be saved some wholesale changes must be made if the Authoritian corporate machine is defeated in November. Among these are Citizens United, wholesale voter repression/suppression ,and term limits to nave a few.

How do you explain what is happening to your kids?

10 and 14 have a basic understanding of the problems we face. I explain how (corny but deal) Truth and Justice are integral to the American Way. I define Justice as; those who fail to follow the laws of man, as passed by our court or, made by our lawmakers, are punished according to those same laws. That clearly is not happening!

Do you feel the revisionist policies in our schools have played a part of the rise in fascism here?

I don’t consider revisionist content in schools the major problem but rather the wholesale elimination of content the culprit. Ignorance of the designed mechanisms of the political and legal worlds is the biggest educational failure I see. This has led to a loss of respect for both The Law And The Political Process. Loss of respect has led to apathy.

How do you encourage people and which people encourage you?

I try to encourage others to do one simple thing….VOTE. By explaining that the ability to vote is a privilege I hope to inspire others to become more aware of their ability to affect other lives in a positive way. I tend to barrage people with facts……sometime too many. Lately I have just pushed the idea that if you vote you rightfully have a say in the outcome. People that inspire me are those who understand that wisdom is important yet easy to acquire. It isn’t all about IQ but about paying attention and digesting what you see in a meaningful way.

Do you feel we as a society have become much to reactionary because we feel powerless to do anything?

No on the contrary we are way too fucking apathetic. Many will passively sit by and watch while tragedy occurs RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. Two examples: Last year my Spouse and I were at the store and witnessed a man hitting his wife! I ran up and, along with another, grabbed the man separating him from the woman. There were at least 15 other bystanders doing NOTHING. Four months ago I was driving and a woman was running in traffic. She was screaming….. She was being chased by a man. I pulled over and inserted myself between her and the man allowing her to get in her car and escape. Taking personal responsibility to make my city a better place for all is what everyone needs to do. We have to get out of our personal bubble and take some responsibility to make life better for everyone. Liberty and freedom are not going to last for any of us unless all of us work together.

What do you like to to do for fun when you’re able to do so?

I enjoy a wide variety of things. Books, live music, and the outdoors are my favorites. Somehow eating delicious things seems to be involved in most of those activities. My family is the center of most of these a interests. Traveling to a concert, sporting event, or a National Park we find a way to experience new foods along the way.

The cheetah and I are flying over to watch to attend a political rally but we are a day early and now you are playing tour guide,what are we doing?

Accordingly I would encourage you and the Cheetah to check out the bay and the museums here. Mainly because great food is always near. A trip to the Capital is a short hop as well. The Cheetah would love a romp through the many estuaries in search of things to smell and chase………

I like to thank Blaine for talking the time to chat with us and being candid about his views on the state of America. As November gets closer,this next vote is the most important in our nation’s history. If we don’t retake back our country then,we never will.

You can follow Blaine on his Twitter by clicking here.

Feel free to drop us a comment below.

8 Questions with………political activist Blaine Kelley Its 1:26 pm warm/Memorial Day/never forget Welcome to 8 Questions with....... Today's interview is a little different in a couple of ways.

#8 Questions With #America #Blaine Kelley #California #citizen #Democrat #family #father #husband #patriot #political activist #politics #The Resistance

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yogipress · 5 years ago

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The Life and Times of Paramahansa Yogananda

“Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts.” – Paramahansa Yogananda

The first half of the 20th century was a period of great unrest and turmoil in the world. It would bear through two World Wars and witness historic struggles against colonialism. It was a period which endured the destructive effects of human greed, making many question the presence of morality, empathy, and kindness in humans. Faith in humanity had to be restored. The world needed a healing touch, and there was an urgent need for spiritual guidance. The time was ripe for the unconditional love and spiritual teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda.

Nearly seven decades have passed since Paramahansa Yogananda attained Mahasamadhi – leaving the body for good by will. His message and teachings are more relevant and popular today than ever before; he continues to remain an inspiration for all. His teachings are a source of light; guiding all people, transcending the boundaries of race, culture, and creed, towards self-realization.

Formative Years of Paramahansa Yogananda

Mukunda Lal Ghosh, born on January 5, 1893, in an affluent Bengali family, did not have a normal childhood. The inherent spirituality in him only needed a conducive environment to surface. Even at a young age, he felt at home among yogis, saints, and hundreds and thousands of disciples. He absorbed knowledge like a sponge, always eager to learn more, and got great pleasure attending spiritual seminars and religious discourses. The boy’s spiritual depth and self-awareness were not lost on those around him.

Young Mukunda was predestined to become a great yogi. In his infancy, Mukunda’s mother sought the blessings of Lahiri Mahasaya – the spiritual master who popularized Kriya Yoga in India – for her son. After blessing the child, the master told the mother that young Mukunda would grow up to become a Yogi and a great spiritual leader. He would guide many souls to the doorways of self-realization.

As Mukunda aged the spiritual spark in him only grew brighter. As a youth, he sought out yogis, saints, and sages who could guide him uncover the depths of Indian philosophy and spirituality. His search came to an end when he met his Guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri at 19-years of age. He spent the next decade with him, in preparation for what was to come.

His Guru soon understood that Mukunda was no ordinary young man; he chose Mukunda to be the one who would spread Kriya yoga in the west. At a very young age, just after graduation, Mukunda took the vows of a monk and was given the name Yogananda, which means to ‘bliss through the divine union’. Thus began Paramahansa Yogananda’s journey of serving God, spreading love, and propagating Kriya Yoga to every corner of the world.

“The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success.” – Paramahansa Yogananda

The Beginning of the Journey

Yogananda’s first big step to promote yoga and spirituality saw the establishment of the ‘how-to-live’ school in Ranchi. In addition to the formal academic syllabus, the students were also taught spirituality and yoga exercises. The school was established in a palace at Ranchi, which has been gifted by the Maharajah of Kasimbazar. Years later, Mahatma Gandhi would visit and greatly praise the school.

The crucial phase of his spiritual journey would start in 1920, when Yogananda had a vision during meditation: He was advised to begin the journey that would fulfill his life’s purpose, to spread his teachings in the west.

Simultaneously, greater powers were at work to facilitate his journey. Yogananda was invited to attend the international congress of religious leaders in Boston. Before departing, Yogananda met his Guru, who told him all obstacles had cleared, the time had come to fulfill his mission.

Yogananda’s first speech on the Science of Religion at the International Congress of Religious Liberals, in front of a huge audience – comprising of philosophers, politicians, reformers, and religious leaders from around the world – was received with great enthusiasm. By the end of the 1920s, the seeds were sowed to spread India’s spirituality, science, and philosophy. It was in Boston that the first center of the Self-Realization Fellowship was opened with the help of his disciples: Alice Hasey, Dr. Minott Lewis, and his wife Mildred Lewis.

Yogananda spent the next three years on the east coast, teaching and delivering lectures to large audiences. In 1924, he began his spiritual tour westward, traveling from city to city, enthralling the best minds of America with his ideas and speeches. Upon reaching Los Angeles, Yogananda established an ashram at the top of Mount Washington, which would serve as the international headquarters of SRF.

Yogananda spent the next ten years crisscrossing the country, speaking and giving lectures in some of the country’s largest auditoriums, which would gather great crowds. From the Philharmonic Auditorium in Los Angeles to Carnegie Hall in New York, he commanded attention like no other. The audiences were enthralled by his speeches and were often visibly moved by what Yogananda had to say. Writing about his lecture in the Philharmonic Auditorium, the Los Angeles Times reported that thousands outside were refused entry as the lecture hall was packed to capacity; not a single seat available in an auditorium that could hold 3000.

“There is a magnet in your heart that will attract true friends. That magnet is unselfishness, thinking go others first; when you learn olive for others, they will live for you” – Paramahansa Yogananda

The Message of Universal Love and Brotherhood

In his lectures, Yogananda highlighted the commonalities among the major religious philosophies in the world. His approach was unique and impactful because of its universal appeal.

Yogananda taught how to experience Divinity through a method that everyone irrespective of his or her race, creed, or culture could adopt. He taught that each individual had the capacity to experience Divinity through self-realization; by knowing the true-self that includes the body, mind, and soul.

To the West, his teachings were new and revolutionary. Rather than using religion to know Divinity, Yogananda promoted the idea of experiencing Divinity by tapping into one’s deeper consciousness. He also strived for better understanding and mutual respect between the philosophies and people of the West and East.

He would never turn anyone away. Those that were willing to fully commit, make an effort, and follow the teaching of Yogananda were taken in and taught the system of Kriya Yoga. It is estimated that in the 30 years that Yogananda spent in the west more than 100,000 students were initiated into Kriya Yoga.

His teachings attracted many famous personalities from varied fields including the arts, business, politics, and more. Some of his famous students include Leopold Stokowski (symphony conductor), Edwin Markham (poet), George Eastman (inventor and entrepreneur), Amelita Galli-Curci (operatic soprano), and Luther Burbank (horticulturist).

Yogananda’s speeches inspired many who sought unconditional love, self-realization, and spiritual guidance. The strength of the audience that gathered to hear Yogananda also got the press involved. His spiritual activities, lectures, and visits to various towns and cities were regularly reported in the newspapers.

In 1927, his growing popularity also earned him an invite to the White House, where he was officially received by President Calvin Coolidge. Two years later, he was cordially welcomed by Dr. Emilio Portes Gil, the President of Mexico, when Yogananda visited the country to spread his message.

A Year-long Visit to India

In the mid-1930s Yogananda visited his motherland to meet his guru. It would be his last meeting with his guru, who would pass just a few months later. Before his demise, his Guru honored Yogananda with the title of Paramahansa, a title reserved for those who have achieved self-realisation.

During that year, Paramahansa Yogananda would travel throughout the sub-continent delivering lectures and teaching Kriya Yoga. During this period he also met prominent spiritual leaders such as Anandamayi Ma and Ramana Maharshi , scientist and Nobel laureate – C.V. Raman, and Mahatma Gandhi.

During his time in India, Paramahansa Yogananda also established a permanent headquarters for the Yogoda Satsanga Society in Dakshineswar, West Bengal. Even today, the YSS continues to operate numerous meditation centers, ashrams, and schools, promoting education, conducting charitable work, and spreading the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda.

Upon returning to the United States, Paramahansa Yogananda worked on establishing new centers of SRF in many cities. He also directed the creation of a course based on his instructions and classes, which was named ‘Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons’ and was made available to anyone wanting to learn the philosophy and technique of Kriya Yoga.

“Yoga is a method for restraining the natural turbulence of thoughts, which otherwise impartially prevent all men, of all lands, from glimpsing their true nature of spirit. Yoga cannot know a barrier of East and West any more than does the healing and equitable light of the sun.” – Paramahansa Yogananda

His Later Years and Mahasamadhi

As time went by, Yogananda scaled back his lectures and tours and spent his time writing. He was working on several projects including the commentaries on the four Gospels and the Bhagavad Gita. He also revised some of his earlier works that included the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons and Whispers from Eternity.

Yogananda thought of the future of SRF without him. His closest disciples were directed on to the work to be undertaken once he was gone. The organization was to continue, and they were trained to inherit the mission. He told his disciples, “My body shall pass but my work shall go on. And my spirit shall live on. Even when I am taken away I shall work with you all for the deliverance of the world with the message of God.”

On March 7, 1952. At the Biltmore Hotel, a small banquet was organized to honor the Indian Ambassador to the USA. Shortly after delivering his speech at the banquet, Paramahansa Yogananda entered Mahasamadhi.

A Miracle after Mahasamadhi

After Mahasamadhi, Paramahansa Yogananda’s body was embalmed – as is done in certain Indian guru traditions – and preserved for a time, so his innumerable disciples could pay homage to their master. A notarized letter by The Los Angeles Mortuary Director Harry T. Rowe stated there was an absence of any visible decay or physical disintegration on Yogananda’s body even 20 days after his demise. Rowe further added that such perfect preservation after such a long period is unparalleled and had never been seen before.

Titles, Honors, and Recognitions

The Government of India formally recognized the spiritual and humanitarian contributions of Paramahansa Yogananda by releasing a special commemorative stamp on the 25th anniversary of his mahasamadhi.

Similarly, in 2017, on the 100th anniversary of YSS, the Indian Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi released a new commemorative postal stamp and paid great tribute to Yogananda.

Documentary, Books, Collected Talks and Essays

Some of the most famous written works of Yogananda include the perennial best-seller “Autobiography of a Yogi” and “Yogoda Satsanga Lessons.”

An award-winning documentary titled ‘Awake: The Life of Yogananda’ on the life and times of the great spiritual leader was released in 2014.

#paramahansa yogananda #gurus #kriya yoga

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mcdouglecompany-blog · 5 years ago

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The Left’s Leadership Infiltrates Big Tech, Stealing the Next Election, U.S. Social Credit, Hong Kong Battles Big Brother and The Healthcare CURE that Works!

Here's how big tech and progressive Democrats are working together to sway the next election.

GOODBYE FREEDOM: Silicon Valley, big tech wants social credit system in US.

Hong Kong Protesters Combat the Surveillance State

Author Sean Flynn and The Healthcare CURE that Works!

Here's how big tech and progressive Democrats are working together to sway the next election.

https://youtu.be/H17xnHxLDZY

Glenn Beck

Have you noticed how the DNC doesn't seem at all concerned about the 2020 election, even though the Democratic candidates are pushing policies that are even too radical for the left? Why would they do that if they're trying to win the hearts and minds of Americans? A website called Spinquark just released a chilling article that reveals exactly how many people who are directly connected to the progressive political machine are now working for big tech to control our conversations online — and they're unquestionably interfering with the 2020 election. ► Click HERE to subscribe to Glenn Beck https://bit.ly/2UVLqhL ► Click HERE to subscribe to BlazeTV: https://www.blazetv.com/glenn Connect with Glenn on Social Media: http://twitter.com/glennbeck http://instagram.com/glennbeck http://facebook.com/glennbeck

GOODBYE FREEDOM: Silicon Valley, big tech wants social credit system in US.

https://youtu.be/Ct13zVU2oGM

Glenn Beck

Glenn reads a white paper report from Penn State professor Larry Backer, showing exactly why leaders and scientists in Silicon Valley support socialism. The report details why the Western world needs to create a "narrative" that shifts law away from the Constitution and towards human algorithms, all with a social credit system as the end goal. Big tech wants you to give up any privacy you currently have, and it's already started with the Google Homes, Apple Watch, and more.

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Hong Kong Protesters Combat the Surveillance State

https://youtu.be/VXog6t4kNyc

ReasonTV

Encryption, other privacy measures, and decentralization have made the protest movement possible. ------------------ A major priority of the protest movement that has consumed Hong Kong for the past three and a half months has been to thwart the surveillance apparatus that's virtually everywhere. Demonstrators have felled camera poles with chainsaws, spray-painted security camera lenses, used green lasers to destroy sensors, and shielded themselves with umbrellas while marching through the streets. "I think there a growing concern [in Hong Kong] about surveillance, and this [is] totally understandable because there's a total lack of trust in the government with this whole saga over the last several months," says Charles Mok, a legislator representing the city's technology sector. Though Hong Kong is politically autonomous under the "one country, two systems" model, local authorities have wired up the city, enabling them to keep an eye on every corner of public life—and protesters suspect they may be sharing that information with the Chinese government. Hong Kong officials deny that cameras on the top of the city's so-called Smart Lampposts feed location or facial recognition data to Beijing, but that may be a lie. Activists with the political organization Demosisto analyzed the internal components of one of these cameras and found an ethernet switch that could conceivably connect to the mainland's surveillance network. They also found components inside that were manufactured by a known supplier of surveillance technology to the Chinese government. Many demonstrators use virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access the internet, and they communicate through Telegram, which fully encrypts their messages. "Without safe communication, I don't think this revolution [could] last for that long," says Wincent Hung, founder of Genesis Block, a Hong Kong–based cryptocurrency exchange. "The government [could] track down everybody very, very easily if there [were] no encryption in this revolution." Demonstrators are also refraining from using their credit cards or the digital payments system Octopus, which is an option in Hong Kong's public transit system and most stores. "People are quite wary about cybersecurity and their digital footprints," says Amon Liu, an activist with Demosisto. "All their personal information [have been used] for past prosecutions by the police. So that's why they use cash this time." To discuss strategy, demonstrators use LIHKG, a social media site that allows anonymous posting and is known as the Reddit of Hong Kong. They've also created decentralized networks for sharing information through AirDrop, a function on the iPhone that transfers data directly to another person via Bluetooth without a third-party intermediary. "This is a movement that is totally leaderless and decentralized," says Denise Ho, a Hong Kong–based singer and pro-democracy activist. "[Youth activists] have used…the tools on the Internet to really find a newer way to organize this sort of movement and to really sustain it in the longer term." The protest movement's unofficial motto is "be water," a Bruce Lee phrase that's meant to convey that in battle, a more fluid and malleable adversary is harder to stop. A major factor motivating the protesters in their fight to maintain autonomy from mainland China is the surveillance apparatus that the Beijing government imposes on its own citizens. Under the "social credit system," for example, individuals are rated for good behavior and a bad score can impede their ability to travel, attend the best schools, or get hired for the best jobs. The Hong Kong government has stopped answering protesters' demands, and the conflict grew more acrimonious on October 1, after a police officer shot and injured an 18-year-old demonstrator who had attempted to hit him with a rod. Last week, the government announced a ban on wearing face masks in the streets. "It has escalated to a point where people are realizing what we need is a political reform in the whole Hong Kong legislative system," says Ho. "And also, of course, the communist government is not backing down either. So we are preparing ourselves for an even longer fight." Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/reasontv Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magaz... Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason Subscribe to our podcast at Apple Podcasts: https://goo.gl/az3a7a Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.

Author Sean Flynn and The Healthcare CURE that Works!

https://youtu.be/UAqrsAWVe-c

The Zandbergen Report

Source: https://www.podbean.com/eau/pb-x9mzx-... Letitia Berbaum was back in the studio with a very special guest, Sean Flynn. Sean is the author of the best selling book, Economics for Dummies, and is also an Economics Professor at Scripps College. Sean's candid take on our nation's healthcare state, combined with his extensive economic background set the stage for a lively conversation complete with facts, figures and policy truths that will have you saying, that can't be true! In the episode you'll gain access to: -Current statistics relating to our national healthcare system and the impact they have on our finances -An understanding of how other countries like Singapore approach healthcare and how they see benefits from it -How a company like Whole Foods can create an enhanced culture and have a great impact on their employees through their unique approach to employee healthcare benefits. Sean Flynn just released his latest book, The Cure That Works, which dives deeper into the above topics. His book can be found on Amazon here. The Zandbergen Report, where wealth strategies and investment wisdom collide, is led by host Bart Zandbergen, and is LIVE every Tuesday at 2pm on OC Talk Radio. The show is also available on iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify and Stitcher. Interested in being a guest on The Zandbergen Report? Email [email protected]. Learn more about Bart by visiting www.BartZandbergen.com

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