OCD presents itself early in life...

and how it's treated will determine the quality of life for the duration of life. Thus a keen eye for childhood anxiety and depression is key to ensuring the child doesn't kill him/herself as an adult.

I often wonder about the etiology of my own OCD, and this study provides me clues. In fact to this day I struggle with oral and tactile sensitivities, and though these sensitivities have varied since childhood they all share a common thread: they occupy my mind to such a strong degree I have no choice but to analyze them incessantly. It's to the point where I cannot focus on immediate surroundings until I "think" through it (thus fuelling the OCD) or accept it (thus theoretically reducing the OCD)... regardless this takes much time, and when I'm forced to endure this in public I become exponentially anxious. Unfortunately analyzing has become a compulsion of mine... a "mental compulsion" is what psychologists have termed it... and since it's not a pysical compulsion I can hide mental turmoil and appear "normal". Yet appearing "normal" has become an obsession, and as such I've become a very good actor. Few things in my mind actually match my actions... but I digress... the correlation this study has shown can shed a lot of light.

Other people's scent can drive me to obsessive oblivion, and how my socks feel on my feet can determine the structure of my day. If I wear a shirt with a tag I haven't ripped out it's an exercise in tolerating OCD, or if my morning bowel movement just doesn't feel right I'm forced to deal with the tactile torment until I... well there is no "until"... the sensation of just not feeling right is there until my brain finds something else to obsess on, in which case the torment continues.

The fact this this has been discovered as an indication of OCD in children is monumental. If we can notice these symptoms in children and get them therapy while they're brains are still developing they will have a higher quality of life.

The cognitive restructuring I'm doing to my own mind via therapy, drugs, meditation and education is taking too long. As an adult it's a process that takes decades, however as a young child the potential to develop a balanced brain is in full effect. The child's brain won't need cognitive restructuring if it develops and structures itself without obsessive reactions to life's stimuli.

"Of course, Prof. Dar says, all children have particular habits and preferences, and they're not all precursors to OCD. So what should parents watch for to correctly characterize normal and potentially pathological behavior? "If you see that a child is very rigid with rituals, becoming anxious if unable to engage in this behavior, it is more alarming," he explains. Also, age is a factor. A habit exhibited by a five- or six-year-old is not necessarily a predictor of OCD. If the same behavior continues to the ages of eight and above, it could be a warning sign, especially if accompanied by anxiety or distress."

Only 12 Spotted Owls left in BC!!

BC’s Spotted Owl All But Extinct

I find myself disturbed.

I find myself deep in negative wonder

how I let this happen.

Growth and development I guess.

The ingredients to a good economy.

I guess.

Human priorities.

Human houses

of unneeded sizes.

Bureaucrats who zone without regard for life,

forestry workers who log "because it's their job",

average apathetic Joes who don't care

but think they do

and stake claim on good intentions.

Caring, "it's not my job" says "we".

And a culture of land rape but without hate

because indifference is a powerful tool

and properly used

win elections as it seems...

dead owls are good for the economy.

Magic mushrooms eaten by Reindeers

Krauss: Remembering Christopher Hitchens

"Just before leaving his company the last time I saw him, in one of those poetic accidents that makes life so unexpectedly enjoyable, I was reading a newspaper piece at his kitchen table about an emerging effort to ensure that young people at elite institutions preserve their Catholic upbringing during and after College. When describing the temptations to depart from piety, the author wrote: “Exposed to Nietzche, Hitchens, co-ed dorms and beer pong, such students are expected to stray.”

I reflected on what a remarkable tribute to the man this simple sentence represented. To be so overpowering in one’s cultural impact that one can be mentioned without explanation is one thing, but to be sandwiched between Nietzche and beer pong is an honor that very few of us can so hope to deservedly achieve."

Click here for the full piece.

"How the Grinch Occupied Whoville"

It never ceases to amaze me that cops are always willing to stifle the rights of their fellow proletariate.

I guess a good cop is like a good soldier, ready to sacrifice life, dignity, thought and justice to protect the wealthy.

Instead of turkey at Christmas, we should eat pigs.

Mennonites have an affinity with N. Korea through slave labour. And so do the russians.

kim and the mennonites. who cares if the mennonites care less about Kim Jong-Il. Mennos whent thru the same shit. Then they should be able to identify.

But do they?

Are mennonites today asking "now that il is dead, what can we do to stop the the Stalin like gulags in N Korea? Or even in russia? Shit, do they even KNOW

that russia is hosting slave camps

filled with north koreans?

I didn't know until last week, and I'm a menno my damn self. Do I care? HELL YA, but when I bring it up guess what? the subject will be changed.

I am troubled. Some call it 'white guilt'. some call it 'ocd'. some call it whatever they're brains call it and never think of it again.

cool

maybe for the next few minutes I'll do that too....

before I die of empathy while surrounded in apathy.

Hitchens is in Hell and it's good to hear.

Heaven and hell, the judgment nobody wants to talk about unless you die as a believer... which then means you are going to heaven... but who's going to hell? And can believers really know who's going where?

Matthew 8:8-12 NIV

⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Well, to some degree the answer is apparent: if you don't have faith (regardless of one's volition) you are doomed to hell.

So whatever the hell "hell" is, Hitchens is there and I appreciate the honesty of hearing it. The Richard Dawkins disciples who are offended have no reason to be; but in fact should laud the consistency of Bryan Fisher for saying it, for consistency can be a rare virtue when attempting to follow Jesus' teachings. If a Christian were to exercise some mental gymnastics and come up with a reason why Hitchens may not be in hell... ... ...

the scriptures may as well be thrown out...

... .... ....

LIFE

focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts, focus on the good parts

N. Korea labour camps in Russia.

As a Mennonite by ancestry the very existence of North Korea has always bothered me. I see no difference between Russian gulags and N. Korean prison labour camps, except that "we the rest of the world" allow Kim Jong-il to continue his malevolence. Our apathy sickens me. The ironic thing is that millions and millions of people including relatives of mine died in Siberian gulags exaclty the same as these modern day N. Korean camps, yet Mennonites as a whole do not care about dead North Koreans, for they are focused on other things such as church politics or whatever pressing non-political injustices the MCC may bring into focus. Yet the irony lies in the fact that the the plight of North Koreans is a Mennonite doppelganger. Mennonites endured the same tortures, yet seem unconcerned with Kim Jong-il though he's a modern day Stalin.... which reminds me...

Stalin is being glorified in Russia, history is being rewritten, dead ancestors are rolling in their graves, yet nobody cares. Alas, nobody knows.

And what else does nobody know? Siberia is now used by N. Korea for labour camps to sell lumber to the UK! (and on a side note, I feel nauseous.)

Shortly after I arrived in Siberia, our British editor, Andy Capper, texted me: “You’ll love Siberia. Everything is so close and the people are so nice.” He was of course being facetious (or British: same thing) because everything is 18 hours by train and the people are very mean indeed. Some might start out nice, but after the vodka starts flowing—which is always—so does the malevolence. There are exceptions to the cranky-Russian rule, but they’re very few and very far between. One such exception was a lovely, lovely man named Billy the Fish—not his real name, of course. His nickname was the Fish, and I added the “Billy” in because I was drunk.

Billy was a local mafia type from a remote Siberian town that had no police and little regulation, save him and his boys. This would prove to be literally lifesaving, because we were after a very dangerous quarry in the middle of nowhere—North Korean slaves—who don’t want anyone to know they are actually there. Billy, clearly game for some hijinks, agreed to take us into the forest to find them.

At the first camp we found, the North Korean guards threatened us and tried to throw us out. Billy the Fish laughed—a great gold-toothed guffaw—and then smiled. “This is Russia,” he growled, eyes glinting. Motioning to the vast expanses around him, he declared, “This is mine.” Then to our camera crew, “Keep shooting. They can do nothing.” So we did.

Later, when we were deep in the forest, we came upon cadres of North Korean workers. A group of them approached and quickly surrounded our truck. One of them was swinging an iron bar, looking like he was going to bash our imperialist brains in. Billy took it from him, looked at it, and remarked calmly, “This your lights-out switch?” Sniff. “You’re going to need more than that.” He smiled and chucked it into the forest.

Later, we had lunch by an old woodpile—spam, hard bread, paprika chips, vodka, beer, and, for dessert, vodka with juice. Billy pulled out some old shotguns, and we released some built-up tension by shooting at our empty beer bottles. It was like being 15 again; naughty boys in the forest. When we came around the corner there were the North Koreans, waiting for us, but cowed and much less aggressive. “Did you know they were there?” I asked Billy. “Of course.” Sniff. “Where else would they be?” Classic Billy.

After an afternoon of playing cat and mouse with North Korean slaves, Billy took us to a freezing cold Siberian river for a swim to “clean it up,” then more vodka to “warm it up,” and then home to his family for the only good meal we ate in Russia. After eating, the Fish family took us to the bar (read: room with lights) for a night of boozing and drunken hugging with hard men whose nicknames included Stalin, Bear Killer, and, my favorite, plain old Killer. Tears, more vodka, giving of cheap presents, and finally the two-day train ride back to “civilization.”

But the North Koreans were waiting for us on the train… And so began the worst 48 hours of my life, which ended with the FSB (the modern version of the KGB), the local militia, plainclothes police, and assorted thugs removing us from the train and placing us into custody. Finding myself wishing for Billy and his ability to effortlessly sort things out, I texted him that the FSB had detained us. He replied, “Of course they have. Just leave.” So we took off, racing across Siberia to the Chinese border (Billy told us about the smugglers’ route) and finally… to freedom.

SOURCE

And check out this clip of Shane Smith on the Joe Rogan Experience:

Stoned Ape Theory

It's a fun theory, with a cartoon to match:

Very cool cover of the Pixies.

This kid's got more talent than an octopus playing harp:

Salvia brings hope to the future

The lack of science on this particular type of sage is unfortunate, and the fact that our politicians are working to criminalize this drug is exponentially unfortunate since the healing potential is so large. Why governments stifle science I do not fully understand. In the meantime, it's legal in Canada and the UK as well as most states of America, and definitely worth investigating. Recently I came across this old letter to US congress and found it both interesting and informative. Check it out, and follow the sources for more info :)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Prominent Salvia Divinorum Researcher Speaks Out: Letter to Congress
RE: Bill H.R. 5607
Dear Honorable Member of Congress:
This letter summarizes the important medicinal properties of Salvia divinorum and its primary active constituent salvinorin A. It also puts forth several objections to bill H.R. 5607, which inappropriately seeks to place this medicinal herb in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.
As a pharmacognosist who has devoted the last ten years to the scientific study of this herb, I believe that I am particularly qualified to speak on this issue. I was the first person to investigate the human pharmacology of salvinorin A and to clearly identify this compound as the psychoactive principle of Salvia divinorum (Siebert, 1994). Most recently, I coauthored a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), in which my research group reported our findings regarding the neurological mechanism of salvinorin A’s action. These findings are of particular significance because they provide solid evidence for the medicinal value of this compound. I am currently working in collaboration with several other scientists on various avenues of scientific investigation into the pharmacology of salvinorin A and closely related compounds. My collaborators include Dr. Bryan Roth (Project Director of the National Institute for Mental Health Psychoactive Drug Screening Program) and Dr. Michael J. Iadarola (Chief of the Neuronal Gene Expression Unit at the Pain and Neurosensory Mechanisms Branch of the National Institute for Health). In addition to my scientific endeavors, I am presently completing work on a comprehensive book about Salvia divinorum.

Medical properties

There are approximately one thousand species of Salvia worldwide. Salvia divinorum is just one of the many species that are recognized for their useful medicinal properties. The common name for all salvias is sage. Most people are familiar with the common culinary sage, Salvia officinalis, which in addition to its usefulness as a flavoring agent, is also used for its medicinal properties. The genus name Salvia is derived from the Latin salvare, meaning “to heal” or “to save.” The words salvation and savior also come from this same root.
Salvia divinorum is endemic to the Mazatec Sierra of central Mexico, where it has a long history of medicinal use. It is used both for its psychoactive properties and as an effective treatment for arthritis, headache, and eliminatory complaints. The validity of each of these different applications is well supported by my research group’s recent pharmacological findings.
To summarize our recent findings: Salvinorin A is a uniquely potent and highly selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist, and as such, it has tremendous potential for the development of a wide variety of valuable medications. The most promising of these include safe non-addictive analgesics, antidepressants, short-acting anesthetics that do not depress respiration, and drugs to treat disorders characterized by alterations in perception, including schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and bipolar disorder (Roth et al., 2002).
Kappa-opioid receptor agonists are of particular interest to pharmacologists because they provide effective pain medications that are not habit forming and do not produce dependence. In fact, there is a growing body of evidence that indicates that kappa-opioid receptor agonists are actually “aversive”—the opposite of addictive. This is an important advantage over most powerful analgesics currently prescribed. My colleagues and I will soon be publishing a paper that reports the results of animal studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of salvinorin A as an analgesic (Chavkin et al., in press). In my book I describe many case reports in which people testify to the effectiveness of this herb for managing pain. The traditional Mazatec use of Salvia divinorum to treat headaches and arthritis also attests to its efficacy as an analgesic.
The ability of salvinorin A to block perception of pain also suggests that it may prove quite useful as a short-acting general anesthetic. The fact that it does not depress respiration is particularly interesting, because it indicates that salvinorin A could be much safer than most general anesthetics currently in use.
Recently Dr. Karl Hanes published a case report in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, in which he describes a patient that obtained relief from chronic depression by using Salvia divinorum (Hanes, 2001). In my book I describe several additional accounts of people who have recovered from serious depression with the help of this herb. It is especially interesting that these people were able to obtain persistent relief from their depression after only a few treatments. Quite unlike the continuous medication regime required with conventional antidepressants such as Prozac—which in most cases only offer symptomatic relief from depression—Salvia divinorum often produces long-lasting clinical improvement.
Because salvinorin A alters various perceptual modalities by acting on kappa-opioid receptors, it is clear that these receptors play a prominent role in the modulation of human perception. This suggests the possibility that novel psychotherapeutic compounds derived from salvinorin A could be useful for treating diseases manifested by perceptual distortions (e.g. schizophrenia, dementia, and bipolar disorders). This is a promising area of research that is important to pursue further.
Salvia divinorum has several properties that make it useful in psychotherapy: it produces a state of profound self-reflection, it improves one’s ability to retrieve childhood memories, and it provides access to areas of the psyche that are ordinarily difficult to reach. I have spoken with several psychotherapists who have used this herb in their practice. They are impressed with its effectiveness as a psychotherapeutic tool. This type of application is not new—the Mazatecs have long used Salvia divinorum to treat psychological complaints.
Salvinorin A is also an important neurochemical probe for studying the dynorphin/kappa-opioid-receptor system. As such, it is useful for research into the neurological mechanisms of perception and awareness.Salvinorin A is remarkable in that it belongs to an entirely different chemical class than any previously identified opioid receptor ligand (it is a diterpenoid). This fact is of great interest to pharmacologists because it opensup a vast new area for future drug development.

No significant abuse potential

There are many popular misconceptions about Salvia divinorum. Presumably, bill H.R. 5607 is based on some these. Many of these misconceptions have their origin in a few sensationalistic articles that have appeared in the popular press, and others derive from the absurd advertising claims of unethical herb vendors who deliberately exaggerate the effects of Salvia divinorum in an effort to increase sales.
The fact is that the effects of Salvia divinorum are not appealing to recreational drug users. The majority of people who try it find that they do not enjoy its effects and do not continue using it. People who use it medicinally take it infrequently. It is not euphoric or stimulating. It is not a social drug. Since it increases self-awareness, it is useless as an escapist drug. It is most useful as a medicinal herb.
Salvia divinorum is not addictive or habit forming. Its mechanism of action indicates that it may actually be anti-addictive. Many people have reported that Salvia divinorum actually helped them to overcome substance abuse problems.

Safety

Salvia divinorum is non-toxic. Toxicological studies have been performed by Dr. Leander Valdés at the University of Michigan, Jeremy Stewart at the University of Mississippi, Dr. Frank Jaksch of Chromadex Inc., and Wayne Briner of the University of Kansas. Neither Salvia divinorum nor salvinorin A showed toxicity in any of these studies. There is a vast body of empirical evidence that indicates Salvia divinorum is a remarkably safe herb. Indeed, the Mazatecs, who have probably used S. divinorum for hundreds of years, do not attribute any toxic properties to this plant.

Conclusions

Salvia divinorum is a relatively obscure medicinal herb with no significant abuse potential. It does not present a risk to public health or safety. Criminalizing it would only serve to create a problem where one did not previouslyexist. The regulation of herbal medicines such as this is a matter that should be handled by the FDA, not the Controlled Substances Act.
There is no reasonable justification for making Salvia divinorum a controlledsubstance. Placing it in schedule I would deprive people of a safe and useful medicinal herb, and it would seriously hamper promising medical research. Because of its complex stereochemistry, salvinorin A is virtually impossible to produce synthetically. It is important that its source plant, Salvia divinorum,remain available so that researchers can continue to study this important compound.
Evidently, this bill is based on inaccurate information about Salvia divinorum. Schedule I is intended for substances that have a high potential for abuse, a lack of accepted safety, and no currently accepted medical use. Salvia divinorum does not meet any of these criteria.
Sincerely,
Daniel J. Siebert

References:

Siebert, Daniel J. Divine Sage. Work in progress.
Chavkin, Charles, Sumit Sud, Wenzhen Jin, Jeremy Stuart, Daniel J. Siebert, Sean Renock, Karen Baner,Nicole M. White, John Pintar and Bryan L. Roth.. Paper in progress.
Roth, Bryan L., Karen Baner, Richard Westkaemper, Daniel Siebert, Kenner C. Rice, SeAnna Steinberg, Paul Ernsberger, and Richard Rothman. 2002. Salvinorin A: A Potent, Naturally Occurring, Non-Nitrogenous κ-Opioid Selective Agonist. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). Vol. 99, Issue 18, 11934-11939.
Hanes, K. R. 2001. Antidepressant Effects of the Herb Salvia divinorum: A Case Report. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. 21(6):634-635.
Gruber, John W., Daniel J. Siebert, Ara H. Der Marderosian, and Rick S. Hock. 1999. High Performance Liquid Chromatographic Quantification of Salvinorin A from Tissues of Salvia divinorum Epling & Játiva-M. Phytochemical Analysis. 10(1):22-25.
Siebert, Daniel J. 1994. Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A: new pharmacologic findings. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 43: 53-56.

I do not know where this quote is from.

"Love when you are ready, not when you are alone."

If feel it's a profound sentiment, and am curious who the originator is... if you know, hit me in the comments section or on twitter... "when you are ready".

Meatless Mondays

Affect climate change positively, oppose animal cruelty, elongate your lifespan, and reduce poverty by eating less meat.

I just signed up.

Enbridge lies to you.

Enbridge is acting in typical 'big oil' fashion. Invent a debate, then skew it. This is classic deception, and in perfect correlation with Stephen Harper and the 'economy trumps everything' philosophy. Will people die over this debate? Possibly. Protests will be large, both side have irreverent resolve, and both sides will not give in as they share the commonality of believing their cause is dire. Conservative supporters see oil as fuel for a strong economy and a means to healing society's calamities, First Nations supporters see oil as fuel for destruction of the natural world and a means to creating deeper calamity.

In the end judgment is left to the children, both current and unborn. If history is any indication, the children will place culpability upon us just as we have placed culpability on our great-grandparents for the societal mistakes of their time (eg: residential schools, denying Jewish immigration to Canada during Nazi rule, corporate hegemony, imperialist foreign policy, etc etc), yet it seems we are indifferent. It seems we don't really care what happens after we are dead. Whether we are in the ground or in some ethereal after-life we don't seem to mind if future humans suffer. It doesn't seem to matter to us that generations after us will suffer from the decisions of our dead hands. It's almost like we believe so devoutly in the Gods of economics that we can create human life and then die peacefully so long as the dollar is doing well...

And so we relinquish our personal conviction to Harper and Enbridge with the deluded belief we are not immoral or unethical.

But what is actually happening here? We are empowering ourselves to be deceived by allowing ourselves to be ignorant, and Enbridge knows this and is capitalizing on it. In the same way many oil companies finance studies which yield their desired results and then claim that climate change is still debatable, Enbridge is misrepresenting the opinions of First Nations people as a means to eroding the environmentalits' solidarity.

It's a classic divide and conquer technique that has worked to oil companies' advantage for decades. Check it out:

Read this first.

Then read this.

...and for more info:

'On the Line' trailer from Frank Wolf on Vimeo.

We Can Hallucinate Colors at Will

Basically what this study has shown is what many philosophers and psychologists already know: our experience of the world around us is a product of what we choose and/or desire rather than a product of what actually is. The world is a product of us rather than us a product of the world, that is, in our experience. As such, we can believe anything we want about our world and it will become a reality... maybe that's why we have such strange traditions or incoherent religions...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Certain People Can Hallucinate Colors at Will

By TRACI PEDERSEN Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on December 4, 2011

Some individuals have the ability to hallucinate colors at will, according to scientists at the University of Hull. The research — centered on a group of people already known to be ‘highly suggestible’ during hypnosis — was conducted by the university’s department of psychology.

Less suggestible people — people less likely to respond to hypnosis — were also included in the study as a control group.

During the study, participants were told to look at a series of monochrome patterns and try to see the color in them. They completed this task under hypnosis and without hypnosis; both times, suggestible subjects reported that they were able to see colors, while individuals in the non-suggestible group were not able to hallucinate color.

Through an MRI scanner, participants’ reactions to the patterns were also captured; this allowed the researchers to keep track of the differences in brain activity between the suggestible and non-suggestible subjects. In the suggestible subjects only, there were significant changes in brain activity in areas of the brain responsible for visual perception.

“These are very talented people,” said Professor Giuliana Mazzoni, lead researcher on the project. “They can change their perception and experience of the world in ways that the rest of us cannot.”

Changing one’s experience at will can be a very useful ability. Studies have already shown that hypnotic suggestions are effective for blocking pain and increasing the effectiveness of psychotherapy.

It was assumed that hypnosis was a requirement for these effects to occur; however, the new study suggests that this is not the case. Even though hypnosis does seem to intensify the participants’ ability to see color, the ‘suggestible’ subjects were also capable of seeing colors and changing their brain activity without the help of hypnosis.

The MRI scans showed clearly that although it was not necessary for the participants to be under hypnosis in order to perceive colors in the tests, it was evident that hypnosis increased the ability of the subjects to experience these effects.

“Many people are afraid of hypnosis, although it appears to be very effective in helping with certain medical interventions, particularly pain control. The work we have been doing shows that certain people may benefit from suggestion without the need for hypnosis,” said Dr. William McGeown, who was also a contributor in the study.

The study is published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition.

Source: University of Hull

CSIS supports torture. WTF?

CSIS head urged government to fight ban on information obtained through torture

Atheists Cling to Science...

I just came across this and agree with his points.... and it actually got me thinking about denominations and the fact that in spite of God being "unchanging" his followers are actually very fragmented in their doctrine and faith. It seems suspect for Christians to claim God is "unchanging" while the whole of Christianity is in constant flux.

A Vancouver sunset makes me ponder.

Currently I'm pondering the many verses in the Bible that most christians avoid. Deuteronomy 22 has many interesting passages, most of which are filled with God's complete disrespect of women... On the flip side, God lets men in on the fact that if they decide to rape a virgin... don't get caught.

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

New International Version (NIV)

²⁸ If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, ²⁹ he shall pay her father fifty shekels^[a] of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

Some atheist scientists with children embrace religious traditions...

Some atheist scientists with children embrace religious traditions, according to new research

...after all, nobody can be utterly sure of the Truth of their personal beliefs... so to teach a child something is Truth, would be leading the child in a gross misdirection. Interestingly, a healthy dose of scepticism can inspire growth in a person of any persuasion; for it's doubt that fuels the desire for certainty. Of course, epistemologists have shown us that we cannot be sure of much in this universe, and thus exposing a child to the multitude of world-views can only be a benefit, or so it seems...

AMAZING Miniatur Wunderland - Germany's biggest tourist attraction.

"Fancies of satisfaction are saboteurs of pleasure."

"I think that it would be possible to have pictures of good lives that aren't set up to make one fail; a more realistic idea as opposed to an ideal would be one that is genuanly attainable."

"What we are talking about are fictions rather than ideals."

"What we are talking about are ideas that are transformable rather than ideals that you have to comply with."

"Cultural ideals are set up to humiliate us."

Check out this short video from Adam Phillips. I don't know what the hell my soul is, but I think he might be speaking to it.

Makes me wonder...

I don't know who made these images, but they make me ponder...

Who said it??

"We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public."

Here and there, I see this quote everywhere but never see a name attached to it...

Occuwhat??

Clicking around on youtube's occupy videos I found myself inspired by the optimism and passion of these particular two...

I found it enlightening to hear the brief mentioning of the movement's philosophical/tactical dilemma in that specific demands constrain the discussion to it's current (failing) paradigm, yet abstract goals of a different civilization get written of as 'vague' by the critics.

'Brinicle' ice finger of death!!

Sexy Sax Man

Oh man this song hasn't left my head since seeing this video again on Wednesday; one of the best viral videos ever.

The Green Winged Teal, and a knee-jerk rant about a Psyc Today article.

Self, a concept: that's what I'm feeling about 'self' after reading this extremely succinct and insightful history of psychology's ideas of 'self'... it's just a concept, that's it. Nothing more; philosophers and psychologists can discover ideas and scrutinize our styles and differences in cognition, but when applied to the whole of a person it all falls short. It all falls down. It seems the very idea of even having a self is itself a construct. Maybe even a 'self' construct...

Some of us humans don't even struggle with this concept, people with extreme congenital problems and/or various mental handicaps whose minds never had the chance do grow or develop never even ponder one's self. Yet through history and forward great minds grapple with this friction they've conceptualized as "self"...

So where does it end? We live our whole lives learning, discovering, building, growing, moulding and developing, inventing and battling with our 'self' and then regardless of how much we know our 'self' or how disheartened we are about our 'self' knowledge, it's all just fucking over.

Do we really need this concept? Is there any use for it?? Maybe we can just 'be'?

The coolest creeper around? The Brown One.

I never here 'em, rarely see 'em, and can forget about capturing a decent image of 'em.

That's all changed.

Ayahuasca Tea is Something to be Seriously Considered

Check out this Nature of Things.

The Jungle Prescription

Visit the official website to read more about this project and ayahuasca

The Jungle Prescription is the tale of two doctors treating their addicted patients with a mysterious Amazonian medicine rumored to reveal one’s deepest self. Dr. Gabor Maté has a revolutionary idea: to treat addicts with compassion. His work as the resident doctor in Vancouver’s Portland Hotel - a last-chance destination for lifelong drug abusers - has been courageous, but incredibly frustrating. Maté hears of an ancient medicine beyond his imaginings: one that could provide his patients with a solution. Its name is ayahuasca: the vine of the souls. Deep in the Amazon jungle, French doctor Jacques Mabit is using this medicine to treat hardcore addicts. Mabit runs a detox centre in the Amazon (Takiwasi or "The House That Sings"), using the plants and methods of traditional medicine. Ayahuasca is a visionary formula that unlocks emotional memory; causing life-changing catharsis in those who drink it. The reported success rates for curing addicts at Dr. Mabit's detox centre are quadruple the average.

Dr Mate returns to Canada with a plan to work with a group of healers to treat patients struggling with various types of addiction. At these sessions they will serve ayahuasca: the acrid tea that occupies a grey area of Canadian law. But without a detox centre or support structure for his patients, will it work?

Dr. Jacques Mabit over a cauldron of ayahuasca

Since the publication of his award-winning book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Dr. Gabor Mate has been one of Canada’s leading thinkers on addiction and its deeper causes. The experience of making the film has had a profound impact on him: “As a physician all too aware of the limitations and narrowness of Western medicine, I have learned much from working with this plant. The Jungle Prescription took me far physically, but even further in the spiritual realm where our deepest humanity resides. The plant, and the experience with the plant, is no panacea. There are no panaceas. But as an opening to human possibility, even in the face of lifelong trauma and desperation, it offers much. Seeing people open to themselves, even temporarily, has been a teaching and an inspiration.”

Thought Experiment: Do you show the real you?

Check out this cool little article.

Succinct and Poignant points on Hell

Do we all feel this? or are you and I the only ones?

...something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there." - Patrick Bateman

Open mind, Open thoughts, Open acceptance

I don't want salvation prayers. I don't want anyone to have to worry about me. Yes, I accept that people do in fact worry, but in light of world-view differences I feel like my lack of desire for heaven is very troublesome for the devout Christian. Years ago as a devout Christian myself, I personally agonized over friends and family I thought were going to hell... how could I not? I love these people and am deeply affected and influenced by their lifestyle and 'walk with God' yet at the same time saw apathy on issues Jesus himself directly addressed.

Today, I don't believe in the after-life. I view sentient beings as plants and trees: when they die they become life for new species... without a dead Hemlock a beaver may not have food or a home, without a dead Cedar a chipmunk may not have a place to raise its family. But I still empathize with the Christian worrying about others' salvation and thus do not want to be that 'other'.

And so I shy from the topic. I censor myself. I say too little. I don't know how to cross the chasm and reach some mutual ground where I can stand and say that people I love believe I'm going to hell, and not resent their belief.

I'm not sure what harms me more: loved ones believing I'm going to hell, or having a resentment I resent. I do not want to resent ANYTHING or ANYONE. EVER. I have been actively working for years (nearly a decade in actuality) at not letting my mind fuel resentment toward any world-views regardless of their doctrine or dogma. I've feel that I may have mistaken passivity for acceptance, so I will go forward with less of the former and more of the latter.

I'm a fucking Atheist with deep deep fucking Ethics...

and emotion; it's with these disturbances that I feel forced to completely and purely step out of the closet to the one hundredth percentile.

How can I continue with the politeness of watering down my beliefs to my Christian loved ones when I feel the whole of Christian community has a lack of regard to non-believers and even less of an accurate understanding?

How can I feel a sense of belonging/community/solidarity or even family when my whole worldview is completely misunderstood and in fact viewed in a negative light? How can this not torment me?

The crux of the problem here lies in the philosophy of understanding. What does it mean to "understand"? how does it look when someone "is" understanding? how big is the valley between "understanding" and "acceptance"?

I have been trying to answer these questions for many many years, all the while attempting to avoid the problems by defaulting to minimizing the value of my personal beliefs... unfortunately I've realized (through the death of my Uncle, the Dad of one of the best friends I or anyone could ever imagine) that I've also been unwittingly minimizing my personal respect in the process.

If I don't show due regard to my own world view, why and how would and could anyone else show due regard to it?

I therefore feel the need to be open and free with what I believe, to sow understanding and cultivate consideration in order to reap dignity.

The the next step would be to actually post this.

I nauseate myself with my personal censorship and constant subdued expression.

Oh how many times I have deleted heart-felt words at the expense of a free heart and mind. I feel the time has come to allow my mouth to be as free as my heart. I feel deeper change. I feel willing to risk my increasing feeling of ideological alienation.

Listening to the Pastor at the funeral exploit a captive audience with full knowledge of many world-views in attendance has caused me to deliberate intensely. Reading the lyrics of worship songs sung in passion have forced me to reflect on the reality that most people I love and respect don't believe in death. It forced me to admit once again that they believe I will spend an eternity in torment in spite of my pure intentions (and pure torment) on earth. If I decide to go lie on the train tracks today, or use cyanide to fall asleep tonight I will rest assured in my lack of existence, but if God brings me to to His gates I will remind him of my profound scepticism and the pain He has caused me... I will remind him of the horrors caused in His name and I will politely but directly remind him of my preference to die peacefully (or in torment) without Him.

As for the questions swirling through my neurotransmitters, I will contemplate them in this revived version of "Tormentography" in my future days of living torment. And, hopefully, every paster around the God-forsaken world will read my every word and never again take even a morsel of dignity from another human-being ever a again.

If you have read this, thank-you.

If you enjoy the picture, thank-you (overlay of 1978 bike and skull found on famous Utah hill known as 'the widowmaker').

I am now going to wipe these tears from my eyes and among other things go smoke cigarettes in the forest.

Peace and love to ALL.

The Sword Fern

These images are from November 14 on the coast of Sunshine Valley. The Ferns were noticably luscious and the cedars abnormally large. Very reminiscent of Tofino.

I also spotted a Varied Thrush, a common bird in BC yet I had never before seen one. Though orange, it blends into the forest's browns very nicely, always looking slick with his black eye mask and thick collar.

...

Crow breath

On one cold brisk afternoon I noticed I could see the breath of this aggressive crow and set out to capture it. These are the results!

Just the other night, the sky was on fire.

Another episode of Skull Shots

This guy lives on one of our backyard plants, and these shot were taken at different times under different lighting:

The Golden-crowned Sparrow:

This was the first and only time I have spotted or photographed this species of sparrow; most of them where juvenile and thus the gold on their crowns hasn't yet fully filled in.

Greater Yellow-legs coming in for landing...

Skull shot of the week

...working some fresh focal techniques:

Angry and cold!

The commonly elusive Varied Thrush!

Though they reside all over the Lower Mainland during these winter months, these are the first and only photos I've been able to capture of this crazy orange bird. It was early December when Cam and I were in search of the many eagles in the Agassiz/Mission area and we ended up at Hayward Lake. When I first noticed the Thrush I though it was just a Robin, but upon closer inspection I realized the colour differences and was pleasantly surprised with the encounter.