December 30, 2008
Concerns with stretching muscles point to one key observation: muscles get tight.
The key question is, “Why?”
Muscles, Stretching, and the Brain
The muscular system is controlled by the nervous system. Muscles have no control of their own. The obvious conclusion to draw is that people get tight muscles because their nervous system is stimulating them to contract.
That being the case, how can someone being stretched by someone else possibly improve their control of their own muscle-tension? To do so requires learning self-control, which is not the point when someone else is stretching you — or even when you are stretching yourself. The changes that result from stretching are therefore generally unpredictable and unstable — as evident by the frequency of sports injuries involving hamstsrings.
As a result, people return, by tendency, to the level of tension (and shortening) they experience habitually.
Athletes and dancers attempt to stretch their hamstrings to avoid injury. “Attempt” is the correct word because stretching produces only limited and temporary effects, which is one reason why so many athletes (and dancers) suffer pulled hamstrings and knee problems.
Clearly, whatever benefits stretching confers, it has some significant limitations. More than that, stretching has drawbacks — and the pun is apt.
As anyone who has had someone stretch their hamstrings for them knows, forcible stretching is usually a painful ordeal. In addition, stretching the hamstrings disrupts their natural coordination with the quadriceps muscles, which is why ones legs feel shaky after stretching the hamstrings. The same is true of stretching any other muscle. More than that, because muscular tension is maintained as a habit (by which we maintain our sense of “normal” tension and posture) that is protected by a postural reflex (the stretch reflex or “myotatic” reflex), forceful stretching provokes that reflex to assert itself even more strongly; the increased muscular tension makes repeated stretching necessary. If one stretches themselves by pitting one muscle group against another (which is what people usually do), the tension of both muscle groups may increase — a condition referred to as co-contraction.
Fortunately, there is a more effective way to manage muscular tension than by stretching.
No-stretch Stretching
The term is paradoxical, I know, and would seem to imply that nothing gets accomplished toward muscular suppleness. The truth is, you get larger results by this method more easily, than by stretching. You can get instructions to try the technique out, yourself, by following the link at the end of this article.
To understand how it works, one must first start with the recognition that muscles that need stretching are usually holding tension — that is, they are actively contracting. The person is holding them tense by habit, unconsciously.
Oddly enough, if you try to relax habitually tight muscles by an act of will, you are likely to find that your ability to do so is limited; you cannot relax past a certain point, even with special breathing, visualization, or other non-learning based techniques.
At that point, you may assume that those muscles are completely relaxed and need stretching. You may not realize that you are contracting “on automatic” due to postural habits stored in your central nervous system. Any attempt to stretch them simply re-triggers the impulse to re-contract them to restore the sense of what is “familiar”. Hard stretching or “bouncing” stretching is even more counter-productive; it stimulates the stretch reflex to contract the muscles even tighter. That is why hamstrings (and other muscles) tighten up again so soon after stretching or massage. Better results come by changing the person’s “set-point” — their sense of what “relaxed” is.
What Works
… is to shift the resting “tension set point” from continually tense to relaxed-at-rest.
To change the set-point requires more than stretching or massaging; it requires a learning process that affects the brain, which controls the muscular system. Such a learning process is referred to in some circles as “somatic education”. Somatic education enhances sensory awareness of muscle tension and the ability to control muscular tension; the brain “wakes up” and muscular (and brain) functioning is enhanced.
How to Get the Effect of a Stretch without Stretching
Instead of stretching, deliberately contract the shortened, tight muscle or muscle group in a coordinated pattern of movement. Put attention on precisely the opposite place to the one you are used to, when you stretch: into the area you are contracting, not the area you feel is being stretched.
Ideally, a coordinated movement pattern involves all the muscles involved in the contraction pattern you seek to free. The action sends a strong sensory signal to your brain, a signal that wakes up (or refreshes) the related nerve pathways in your brain. By releasing the contraction in slow motion, you reawaken or improve your brain’s control of the muscles; performance in slow-motion gives the nerve impulses time to travel to-and-from the brain, providing a clearer and more complete body image to oneself. (Nerve impulses travel an average of thirty meters per second. If you are two meters tall, you get between seven and eight “whole-body images” of your own current action per second — not many, if you are moving quickly.)
Slow motion is the key to somatic exercises and to any other learning process where details make a difference.
Cumulative improvements of flexibility
Significant results come relatively quickly from doing somatic exercises, and when they do, the benefits are second nature and require no special attention in daily life.
At that point, to avoid accumulating tension from stress responses to daily life — or from conditioning oneself into tension by ones activities — you might include a few minutes of somatic exercises as part of your daily regimen. Continuing to do them produces cumulative improvements in muscular control and decreases likelihood of injury. With the looseness that develops, you are likely to develop a preference for somatic exercises over stretching.
Some final observations: Muscles are made of fibrous connective tissue made of a substance called “collagen.” Collagen behaves something like cloth: it enwraps the contractile cells that give muscle its strength and gives direction to muscles’ pull. These collagen fibers have been observed to shorten during sleep (tissue healing/regeneration). Ordinarily, this “microshortening” leads to shrinkage and restriction of muscles and movement, but it gets normalized through somatic exercises or other forms of physical activity. If you don’t have some significant movement activity during your days, somatic exercises can help you keep your flexibility. You’ll age better.
A similar shortening occurs after significant injury, as collagen fibers invade neighboring tissue to “bandage” the area (scar tissue). This kind of bandaging prevents free movement of just the type attempted in forcible stretching and in stretch-like myofascial release techniques. In that case, precise manual manipulation (myofascial release techniques, e.g., Rolfing, Hellerwork, etc.) to free the adhesions is much more to the point and less likely to induce protective postural reactions than forcible stretching.
SUMMARY
Because conventional stretching techniques produce only temporary benefits and often intensify muscular contractions (as evident in the frequency of injuries among professional athletes), the desired effects of conventional stretching — suppleness and protection from injury — can more effectively be obtained via the new “no-stretch stretching” techniques of somatic education. This seemingly counter-intuitive approach produces longer-lasting suppleness than the best of stretching techniques and has the added benefit of improving coordination, which decreases the likelihood of injury.
Here’s your chance to test a no-stretch stretching technique for yourself:
Basic Somatic Transformation for Freeing Hamstrings.
Freeing Hamstrings (POINT AND CLICK:) free preview of The Magic of Somatics, a book of somatic exercises
See also:
Completing Your Recovery from an Injury
Lawrence Gold, bio page
BRIEF:
Lawrence Gold holds certification in Hanna Somatic Education® and the Dr. Ida P. Rolf Method of Structural Integration. For two years, he served as Associate Instructor with the Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training and for two years he was on staff at the Wellness and Rehabilitation Center of Watsonville Community Hospital, California. As part of the Novato Institute training team, he presented Hanna Somatic Education at the prestigious Esalen Institute at Big Sur, California.
He has written and published advanced handbooks of practice for professional practitioners and movement therapists, and self-care instructional programs for back pain and general health, for the general public.
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December 30, 2008
The Supreme Court has previously recognized that the employer has the burden to establish the BFOQ affirmative defense. A lawyer from Zeeland won from a lawfirm in Fort Collins South Carolina The company had its supervisors rate their subordinates based on their performance flexibility and critical skills. Twenty-eight of those 13 employees sued under the ADEA claiming Knolls illegally fired them because of their age. Knolls totaled those scores and gave the employees additional points based on their years of service. In other words the ADEA permits employers to discriminate based on age considering age is legitimately necessary under the circumstances. As long as the adverse action is based on reasonable factors other than age. At the trial a jury found Knolls had violated the ADEA because its layoff procedure had a disparate impact based on age. Thirty of the 16 salaried employees the company laid off were at least 34 years old. It then used those totals to decide who to lay off. Even if the employment action is otherwise prohibited by the ADEA. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit initially affirmed the jurys findings but after the United States Supreme Court asked it to reconsider the Second Circuit reversed itself and ruled in favor of Knolls. Specifically the jury found that although the plaintiffs did not prove that Knolls intentionally discriminated against them they did prove that Knolls method of deciding who to lay off disproportionately harmed older workers. The Supreme Court then agreed to hear the case and eventually reversed the Second Circuit and reinstated the jurys finding that Knolls policy unlawfully discriminated because of age. In reaching its conclusion that the employer has the burden to prove the reasonable factors other than age defense the Supreme Court looked at another provision of the ADEA the bona fide occupational qualification defense. It has the burden to prove that its decision was based on a reasonable factor other than age. The BFOQ defense states that it is not unlawful for an employer to take adverse employment actions otherwise prohibited by the ADEA where age is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business. In that case Meacham versus Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory the Supreme Court interpreted a provision of the ADEA that permits an employer to take an adverse employment action against an employee. The Supreme Court ruled that if an employer seeks to rely on that defense. In Meacham Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory was planning to lay off a number of employees. For example it would not be illegal to consider criteria for a particular role in a movie that has a disparate impact on age if the part calls for someone of a particular age.
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December 29, 2008
Many writers stare at the blank page or clean computer screen and wait for inspiration with a feeling of hopelessness. That white page or screen is always a struggle to fill, and it probably will always be for most writers.
Writing is fatiguing work because it is the source of great stress, great concentration, great thought, and a great expenditure of energymental, emotional, and physical.
Writing is stressful because it requires the writer to be aware that others will read what one writes and thus pass judgment on it. Writing is stressful when ideas and thoughts will not come to fill that blank page. Writing is stressful if the writer feels that he must write and yet cannot write. Writing is stressful because the writer is never sure of how effective the composition will be.
Writing requires thought. The writer must think of many elements as he writes: grammar, syntax, topic, theme, punctuation, spelling, and all the other factors that are required for effective, useful, and favorable writing whether it is fiction or non-fiction. In addition, this rational process must happen simultaneously as words are put to paper or screen.
Because thought requires concentration, and concentration requires effort, and effort requires discipline, the writer is under a great deal of pressure when he or she is working to express an idea in the most effective way. Writing is never easy although it may be easier at one time and not at another.
With all these impediments to conquering the blank page or screen, what must a writer do? The writer must start writing one word at a time until the flow comes, and then the page or screen can be dominatednot easilybut it can be controlled.
With its filling, the agony diminishes.
Charles O. Goulet had a BA in English literature. He has published several novels that are available from Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and many other online bookstores.
His website is: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/go1c
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December 29, 2008
The book business is a billion dollar industry; however grabbing your slice of the pie will require skills far beyond simply writing well and conveying your message clearly.
So, if you’re thinking about becoming a published author read this before you power up the PC and prepare to pen a masterpiece because there are a few (17 that I’ve found) landmines to watch out for on the road to self publishing success.
Following are seven of the primary reasons many authors fail. Is your book is positioned to fly or flop?
1. Publishing books with unprofessional covers. Despite of what your Mom might have told you, people DO judge books by their covers and if your cover does not look like it was professionally designed it won’t sell as many copies as you’d hope.
Take the time and do the research on a quality cover designer who will help you bring your book cover to life professionally and affordably.
Here’s a great way to get a surge of inspiration – even if you never intend to see your book in the bookstore – go to the section in the bookstore that your would find your book and get ideas from the covers that are already there. Jot down the titles and go online to see which of them are top sellers and then model their success for our book.
2. Printing in larger quantities then they have proven they will be able to sell. The book business is more a marketing and promotion business than it is a publishing business. No matter how great your book might, you’ll face financial frustration if you blindly print 5000 copies on the “hope” that they’ll sell quickly.
Without advance marketing and pre-sales promotions it’s very easy to overestimate the initial quantity for your first order. So as soon as you have a quality cover designed you want to use that visual representation as way to promote your book, generate buzz and best of all gauge your first print run size.
3. Paying large amounts for services upfront to “save” money. Many first time authors believe that they will save money by printing a large quantity of books all at once. In fact, that is only partly true. If you print 5000 copies of your book to “save” $1.00 per copy on printing but only sell 1000 copies, you may be loosing more than you save if you haven’t factored in the additional money you need for marketing and promoting the remaining 4000 copies.
To keep your initial “savings” from actually costing you future sales, consider working with a Print-on-Demand printer that will allow you to purchase smaller quantity print runs. While it might seem like you’re paying more per copy the reality is you’re making a more financially sound business move.
4. Working without a coach or mentor. Information is great, but too much information can actually lead to inactivity. Have you ever been so blown away by a great idea that you didn’t know where to begin; so you did nothing? It happens to the best of us. That’s why most often it’s not more information that will lead to your success, but a structured plan and accountability to see it through.
Tiger Woods is arguably the world’s best golfer. He has broken records and sent golfers 20 years older packing. He’s focused and determined to win, and despite all of his success he still has a coach. His mentor isn’t necessarily a better golfer than he is, but a person who understands the game and can see things from a different vantage point to offer him tips, advice and coaching for maximum success.
5. Not testing a title before it’s printed. Often when we have a great idea we can become so attached that we loose objectivity. When I wrote my book, “Teen Money Tips: Simple Steps For Banking, Saving & Making Money” my original title idea was “Get In The Driver’s Seat: 7 Keys To Making The Most of Your Money” it was cute and cleaver but it didn’t give the reader an instant indication of what the book was actually about.
After testing the title with more than 50 potential purchasers in my target market the results were in overwhelming favor of “Teen Money Tips,” a title that I though was too boring. But I had to remember it didn’t matter what “I liked” if the intended audience wouldn’t buy it.
Boy, am I glad I listened because my market has rewarded me time and again with a steady stream of book sales!
6. Writing books they think people “should” read. The famous 12-step program operates on the sole belief that a person must first admit they have a problem before they will truly work towards recovery.
If your book addresses an issue that people “should” be concerned about, but that they don’t know about, don’t care about or are to afraid to take action on, then it might not be the best investment of your time or resources to be the first one to write the book.
Writing for established markets that have proven to be willing to pay for information and a solution to their problem will enrich your life and theirs.
7. Waiting until the book is completed to market it. I’ll admit that writing a book can seem like a single focus task, and it should be at times. But authors must never loose sight of the fact that books are written to be sold. If no one knows about, or anticipates your book’s release, then your initial sales will be low and disappointing, making it difficult to cover the initial investment and even harder to play catch-up.
Movement encourages success, and very few things guarantee movement like having advanced marketing for your book. Book announcements, virtual book tours and bundled book bonus offers are just a few things that you can do in advance to market your book and boost your bottom line.
There are many other reasons that first time authors don’t reach their full potential. I’ve been there so I understand what it’s like to be long on enthusiasm and ideas, but lacking a full understanding of all the nuances to be successful as an author. That’s why I’m passionate about helping aspiring (and even previously published) authors write, publish and promote their way to self publishing success.
By avoiding the “Seven Ways To Sabotage Your Self Publishing Success,” you’ll experience the upside of self publishing:
* Controlling your own work
* Pocketing more profit
* Credibility as an Author
* Expert status
And many more benefits much sooner; which is the whole reason you decided to become a self published author in the first place!
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December 29, 2008
Remembering a customer’s name can improve your sales. However, people in my workshops often tell me that they have a difficult time remembering names. I sometimes think we tend to get too hung up on trying to recall a person’s name, especially if we have only met them once. Like anything else mental, the harder you try to remember someone’s name, the more it will elude you. However, there are a few things you can do that will help;
1. One of the most common tips is to repeat their name as they introduce themselves. “Hi Chris, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” As you introduce yourself think of a mental or visual image that can help you recall their face. For example, if your customer appears somewhat gruff you could say to yourself, “Chris is cross.” This process helps you connect their name and physical appearance and can make it easier to recall their name at a later date.
An interesting challenge occurs when we meet someone for the first time. Many people forget the other person’s name immediately after meeting them – I know this has happened to me at conferences and networking meetings. The reason is simple; as the other person is introducing themselves, we are usually thinking about our introduction and what we’ll say to make a good first impression. We think about the handshake and hope we connect properly. And in some situations our attention is focused elsewhere.
2. The next step is to use their name a few times during your conversation. This will help you remember that person’s name during your meeting and for a short period of time afterwards. An easy way to do this is to ask them a question and include their name. Here’s an example, “So, what type of business of you in Jim?” or “Jim, what is the biggest business challenge you’re currently facing?” This approach appears relaxed and comfortable and is a natural way for you to use the other person’s name. One important note – do not overuse their name or you will come across as insincere and phony.
3. When you return to work record that person’s information in your organizer along with any personal or business information you learned during your conversation. If the person said or did something that stood out, record this information as well. As you do this, visualize that person and repeat their name aloud a few times. This will help drive their name further into your memory and make it easier to recall at a later date.
4. To recall that person’s name at anytime in the future requires some additional work. You need to picture their face as you state their name aloud several times. This should be done several times a week for the first month and then on a weekly basis for several months afterwards. While it seems like a lot of work, it is an extremely effective approach and is virtually guaranteed to help you remember someone’s name. 5. It’s also important to understand that the setting will help you recall names. For example, I can quickly remember the names of people who attend my workshops but if I bump into them in a shopping centre, it is highly unlikely I will recall their name. That’s because we run through our mental Rolodex trying to figure out where we met that individual. I remember That means you should take the time to picture them in different settings – imagine where you could run into them and visualize what they would look like in that environment.
6. The last suggestion is to focus on remembering the person rather than their name. People are very forgiving about name if you are able to recall their face. I have had people attend a workshop and even though they participated in a previous program, I can’t remember their name. I admit that by saying, “I recognize the face but I can’t recall your name.” I have never had anyone express disappointment that I didn’t remember their name.
There is no question that it is more difficult to remember names if you meet dozens of people everyday. However, people in these situations seldom expect you to remember their name after just one meeting. Also, remember that most people have a difficult time recalling names. I remember delivering a full-day workshop for a company and a year later conducting another program at their annual conference. When I arrived at the second conference, I instantly recognized one of my contacts but I did not remember the other person even though we had met and spoken at the previous conference. Like anything else, we can improve our ability to remember the names of our customers and people we meet. It takes some effort and practice but the result is definitely worth it.
© 2006 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved.
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December 29, 2008
Umpteen gamers will likely have seen the caption “offshore sports betting” recently, though many aren’t completely in the know what it alludes to. A foreign betting website in essence works external to the legal power of a single country alternatively it could mean an world wide web based betting web site which deploys its master computer within the boundaries of a land where web based gaming isn’t illegal. In summary then, it’s a betting facility that functions outside the national territory of the patron. Networked gaming sites are currently modulated by means of three organisations. They are OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), the IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and finally the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association FTGA.
Diamondbacks rout sleep-deprived Padres
The Offshore Gaming Association is an unbiased “watchdog” federation which currently watches the modern offshore betting industry in an effort to provide gamers the capability to quickly choose reputable websites to play games with. It strives to maintain the rights of gaming devotees, and they don’t levy any particaption expenses. The Offshore Gaming Association is a proficient not to mention unbiased third party affiliation who voice neutral info, based around customer feedback, unprejudiced analysis, discussions, insider advice and additionally delivers industry information.
The Interactive Gaming Council are a non-profit-making agency. The organization was founded to supply a forum for worried parties to address points and in addition to progress common interests in the international interactive betting industry, to establish fair and also healthy business standard procedures and patterns that enhance client certainty in internet based betting products and functions, and to be of service as the overseas betting industry’s global strategy advocate and in addition the Interactive Gaming Council provides an info depot.
The IGC have established a name for safety, fairness and also sincerity via the criteria it presents, and its allure for legitimate businesses. The Interactive Gaming Council monitors offshore sports gaming by means of advocating an original 10-point code of conduct and in addition charges sports gambling web sites fees for using the council’s logo. Dissatisfied gambling afficionados may also give an account of their arguments to the Interactive Gaming Council.
The Fidelity Trust Gaming Association has been established in order to construct a standard which will improve the policies of online sports betting trading operations. The agency believe that by carrying on business with businesses of good standing, they can cultivate an affiliation of the most fair and most efficient cyberspace gaming companies multinationally. So, in brief there are establishments which keep an eye on the conduct of internet based sports gaming and which should in time serve to assuage any uneasiness felt by detractors. Machine-accessible sports betting websites are now completely dependable, since individual data shouldn’t be a requirement and also the returns and the odds are generally usually as balanced and sportsmanlike as a typical Vegas-type wager. They get rid of travel time, but nevertheless retain the underlying atmosphere, only now you are enabled to game in the comfort of home.
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December 27, 2008
We have a client that just terminated the sales person after 10 months for non performance. Why did it take so long, you ask, to terminate this person? Well, the client was very interested in making sure that it did everything possible to work with this sales rep in order to enhance their performance. But in retrospect, it should have been about 4 months ago or so that the client fired this person. The reason why it hung on was because the company was waiting and hoping that a different result was going to come by just providing some more time to the sales representative. What’s the key lesson here?
It is when you can see that a sales person’s not performing and that you can see that they’re not making steady progress in improving their sales activity and pipeline and actually closing business. The best rule of thumb is to act quickly, to let that kind of person go so that you can make room for replacing them with somebody who can be more productive. Many sales managers get attached to the individuals who are on their sales team. The process of building positive motivation and a “team spirit” can cloud the image of whether or not a sales person is actually performing. Sales management needs to make sure that it doesn’t wait and hope too long for a sales person to get success before taking the necessary action to terminate and replace individuals who are non performers.
But it’s very easy for sales management to be clouded in their perspective on this subject, again, wishing, hoping and wanting the sales person to perform. Frequently, delay happens through the “non-performer” efforts to sell the sales manager on the fact that things are actually improving. On the case of our client, the sales representative actually spent a good portion of his time preparing and briefing management on trying to provide evidence that sales were actually picking up and that a full pipeline was right around the corner. So, this in one of the key things that you need to look for as a sales manager… whether or not the person who you’re working with actually is demonstrating actual results and improvement in their sales pipeline versus just selling you on the fact that things are getting better.
Do you have any sales people in your team who are not hitting their numbers and haven’t been for several months? Do you have any new hires who are way behind in terms of hitting their forecast and achieving their sales results you originally hired them to produce? Now is a great time for you to take a look at those individuals and determine what you’re going to do to either get them on a short term corrective action plan or move them out of the company. Make sure that 2006 is a year in which wishing and hoping is replaced by solid commitment to excellence and achieving the sales results that you need for your company.
About Cube Management:
Cube Management provides sales acceleration services to emerging growth and mid-market companies in the technology, manufacturing, healthcare and business service sectors. The experts at Cube Management work across the entire spectrum of marketing, sales and business development to provide customized solutions that drive revenue and profit growth. Cube Management combines Strategy, Process & People to produce winning results.
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December 27, 2008
I think most people who will read this will not accept what I am saying here without doing a lot of checking into the facts.
‘I tried sending through an attachment from a fellow researcher who is working on the Kaballah as derivative from Qaballa which is an ancient Verbal Tradition such as kept by the Bairds or bards and the Bardic Tradition for over 25,000 years. He finds my history is supportive and I see his sets of codes in English and other things of great value. The particular piece is 19 pages on just the letter ‘E’ without getting too verbose or using illustrations, which he has lots of. The Gematria is not a specialty of mine although I am pretty good at pre-history languages and not bad at Green Languages and alchemical allegories in the Jung from Silberer subset derived from alchemy or Hermetics. That has usages in psychotherapy and mind control which they call Neuro Psycho Linguistics and other words and systems they often do not understand; it once was called Dream Analysis but they have gone far along the path of programming the mind. Kind of funny how psychiatrists say they do not believe in a soul and yet they use these archetypes from our collective soul.
So as Dion Fortune did say – Kaballah is ‘twisted’. They have built these constructs or dimensional energy designs so that Masons and other ‘traveling men’ as you call them will think they have stumbled upon a great truth through their ‘visions’. After all who can imagine that elementals and dimensional energies are subject to such design engineering – eh? As Jung says in his forward to The Tibetan Book of the Dead – the Hindu will see Shiva and that hierarchy whereas the Christian will go through the Bardol stages of Afterlife and see the likes of Gabriel then Jesus.’
Here is a correspondence from the fellow researcher mentioned above. His name is Dennis Fetcho or The Fetch.
“No I haven’t seen any of your recent stuff. Been travelling a lot these past few months. Spent a month in the hospital in Montreal from an attack in December that left me unable to move for a few weeks due to the multiple fractures suffered. Some of my advisors called the attack a military style hit with the intent to kill. Missed hitting my head on the streets, but the rest of the body took a licking!
Yeah. Had drinks with one of Jordan’s top masons while in Amman and he was so impressed that he wanted to confer an honorary degree on me… as he said, “If only it were in my power”. I have many ideas in mind and one is to infiltrate Masonry and fuse it with “right thinking” based on my Isisian Code System which I know would be very accepted in such an environment.
It is easy to destroy a paradigm through decay within. I think it is a favored “Jehovian strategy!”… lol”
“The members of the secret F.O.G.C. {from the words of a top Rosicrucian friend this means the Freemasonic Order of the Golden Centurion.} Lodge, greatly feared in occult circles, had gathered for a general meeting in Dresden. The Meeting hall was in a large villa, hidden in the midst of a private park behind a tall hedge and large trees. The Grand Master of the lodge had invited ninety-eight of the ninety-nine members to attend. Long before the meeting commenced, the members had taken their places at two long tables.
All conversation in the hall became muted when the Grand Master entered accompanied by his second-in-command, who acted as Secretary. There was a platform opposite the hall’s entrance where the Grand Master sat down behind a desk. He rang a bell and at once there was complete silence. He addressed the brethren of the lodge in an intense penetrating voice:
‘My dear brothers, I hereby open today’s meeting and I am pleased that you have accepted my invitation. As you know, according to the laws of the lodge a general meeting such as this is only declared in very special cases. You may have already noticed that Brother Silesius is not present. Unfortunately, he has been found guilty of betraying lodge secrets and, as Point Number One of the agenda, we will discuss his sentence. Point Number Two concerns Frabato the Magician, who is becoming so well-known here in Dresden.
‘My dear brothers, you all know that Brother Silesius has reached the twenty-fifth degree of initiation in our lodge, and therefore must have been fully aware of his offences. His excessive zeal seduced him to reveal to one of his friends the rituals we use to invoke the elemental beings. According to the laws of our lodge, the breaking of an oath and the disclosure of secrets are punishable by death…
Although the verdict had deeply shaken the Grand Master, he quickly regained his composure and continued in a calmer voice.
‘Since Point Number One of the agenda has been settled, let us now deal with the case of Frabato. Some of the brethren present attended his performances and were able to convince themselves of his abilities at close range. It has been proven that he works without the aid of conventional tricks. His experiments succeeded beyond all expectation; yes, they were even better than what many of our own brethren would be able to accomplish. Hermes, one of our more versatile brothers, paid a visit to Frabato in order to test him. He will now tell you of his experience.
The distinguished gentleman who had visited Frabato late at night now rose from amongst the brethren.
‘I chose the best astrological hour for my visit to Frabato. I also took into account the correspondences of the elements in order to place myself in a strong initial position. Besides this, I hoped he would be exhausted after the performance he had just given; that would have been to my advantage. I explained the unusual time of my visit by telling him I had a journey to make which could not be postponed. Upon hearing this, Frabato looked at me sharply and then smiled faintly without uttering a word.
‘I then painted a very colorful picture of our lodge membership; pointed out its many advantages, and promised him a large sum of money from our funds should he decide to join. But Frabato completely ignored my proposals and started to talk about his journeys, his performances and successes in many cities and towns. He was able to arouse my curiosity so strongly that I almost forgot the reason for my visit.
In time I interrupted him and tried to direct his attention to my offer, He rose and pulled a suitcase out from under his bed saying, ‘Now let us have a look at what the Akashic records have to say about your lodge.’
‘As you know, my dear brothers, I am well acquainted with occult methods and practices; therefore I was determined to use all my powers to prevent Frabato’s experiment. But as soon as the notion entered my mind, he said to me, as if by chance, ‘Dear Mr. Hermes, my experiments depend purely upon my will power and cannot be influenced or prevented by you. They will succeed whether you actively appose them or not.’
‘I felt that Frabato could see right through me, and surmised that I would have no chance against him, so I watched his preparations intently {Intent is a key attribute to be developed.}. First he cleaned his hands carefully, took a small bottle out of his suitcase, and applied a few drops to his hands. No doubt it was prepared from the essences of certain plants, {Perhaps Belladonna and digitalis which have long been part of the shamanic medicine bag, mixed with a little blood of the practitioner in order to aid genetic attunement at a solar or molecular and animal state consciousness.} for a pleasant fragrance permeated the room. He then took a small lamp out of a little box and put it on the table. Then, from a second box, he brought forth a glass ball about twenty centimeters in diameter and placed it on a stand on the table. When I asked him what purpose this glass ball served, Frabato laughed and replied, ‘If there were any clairvoyants in your lodge, and if they really possessed the knowledge which you attempt or pretend to have, then they would know that this is a magic mirror. This sphere contains a liquid, the particular composition of which requires not only patient work but excellent magical abilities as well.’
‘I was enraged; but I tried to control myself, for I felt that nothing remained hidden from this man.
‘I am going to show you a film, and then you can judge for yourself whether it is really advantageous to be a member of your lodge,’ he continued.
‘I watched each of his movements attentively, to be sure that he was not employing any tricks. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and sat down beside me in front of the sphere. Then he stretched both his hands towards the glass ball, his fingers slightly splayed. A grayish-white light escaped from the tips of his fingers and was absorbed by the sphere which, a few moments later, began to illuminate everything with a fluorescent ball of light the color of a fiery opal…. I was by that time in some suspense as he said:
‘Next we shall look behind the scenes of your esteemed Grand Master’s life…. The color of the Grand Master’s face changed a few times. When Hermes began to describe some of the more startling events of the Grand Master’s life as revealed to him in the magic mirror, the Grand Master discreetly gave him to understand that this was not desirable. Hermes understood and skillfully moved on to more general topics. {The same was done for eight of the top members of the lodge.}
Author of Diverse Druids
Columnist for The ES Press Magazine
Activist for Ecumenicism
Posted by Administrator under Universe Of Religion | Comments Off
December 25, 2008
I have never, ever had writer’s block in 11 years of writing a weekly relationship column for a major newspaper chain. And I don’t expect to ever have writer’s block either.
Now that may seem like a fairly bold, perhaps even arrogant statement. It’s really not, for two reasons.
One, I’m not saying it to impress you but to impress upon you how you can never have writer’s block either.
Two, it’s really not that difficult to avoid writer’s block.
I think many folks get writer’s block becaues they expect to get writer’s block. “Since I’m a writer, I’m gonna get writer’s block because writer’s get writer’s block.”
Sorry, I just don’t buy it.
2 sure-fire ways to avoid writer’s block
1. Pay attention
I am often asked how I come up with an idea for a column every week. Believe it or not, that is the wrong question.
The right question is how do I narrow down all the different ideas out there into just one idea?
When you pay attention, you will find that the ideas are everywhere. Mine come from something a client said, a line from a movie or TV, something happening in the news, sometimes something my kids said.
Pay attention and you will be bombarded with ideas.
2. Keep lots of planes on the runway
Say what?
I rarely, if ever, work on one article at a time. I’m usually got several in various stages of development.
I like to think of the articles on which I am working as little plans lined up on the runway ready to take off. In this way, if one article is not ready to fly, and just go to another article and get it ready to take off.
In other words, when you have several articles in various stages of development, if you are getting stuck in one, or if one is just not going anywhere, just move on to others that you can sail through.
“But I’m just not very creatiiiiiiive” you might be saying.
Well, quit your whining and read the quote below:
“Creativity is simply looking at something that has always been there and seeing something that has never been seen before.”
Visit The Article Guy for more leading edge tips and tools for writing articles that bring you prospects, publicity and profits. You can also subscirbe to our monthly Article Empire Tips Newsletter. You are also invited to visit my Express-Start Article Writing Program for more information on the next article writing tele-seminar.
Posted by Administrator under The Publishers Way | Comments Off
December 24, 2008
A family is consisting of a father, mother & children. For some, they have extended family, like grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives. We grew up to be a part of a group and they were great influence for what we have become today. We are taught to be what we are and from how we were treated when we were younger. Good experience leads to good memories. So a loving family is what we need now that we are all facing life.
Once we learn to become independent, we start to live a life out of this group and be by ourselves until we can find a new family. When we become adults, we get to meet a lot of people that will also become part of our lives. We will have acquaintances that may lead to friendship. Some friends may stay, and some you will grow apart. You will have good and bad friends. Those that will set a fine example to you and those that will make you see the reality of life. There will always be a stage in your life that you want to be part of a group, so you try to do just everything to be accepted. Peer pressure will lead you to do the things that you never thought of doing. You want to earn their respect and have a lot of friends to like you. That you soon forget who you were and what your family has taught you.
When you get older, you soon realize that despite all, when the people you thought are your friends are not true, the only people that you can go back to and who can accept you for what you really are is your own family.
Posted by Administrator under School of Relationships | Comments Off
