Yearly Archives: 2012

Navy Studies Uses of Intuition

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Rapid Response: Navy’s Mad Scientists Seek ‘Sixth Sense’

The Navy is pulling an M. Night Shyamalan. In a tough fight, rely on a “sixth sense,” say its mad scientists, not just your reasoning skills. That’s the way to win wars.

Promising “new insights into intuitive decisionmaking,” the futuristic Office of Naval Research is putting together a new program to turn what it actually calls a “sixth sense” into a military advantage. “Evidence is accumulating that this capability, known as intuition or intuitive decision making,” the scientists say in a new proposal, “enables the rapid detection of patterns in ambiguous, uncertain and time restricted information contexts.” Mastering with intuition, the Navy says, should help troops with “Cyberwarfare, Unmanned System Operators, Information Analysts, Small Unit Leaders and other domains.”

Recent neurological research, the Navy says, undermines two key assumptions about intuition. You don’t need to be be an expert at something for your intuition about it to pay off. And as far as your brainwaves are concerned, your intuition isn’t so structurally different than your considered, logical reasoning.”

“Intuitive decision making processes share some of the same underlying neural structures and cognitive processes as a type of learning known as implicit learning,” the Office of Naval Research states. “Consequently, by acquiring domain knowledge through implicit learning, one may be able to automatically strengthen, at the neural, cognitive and behavioral levels, the same capabilities that are needed for effective intuitive decision making.”

“We still don’t know very much about how intuition works,” Ivy Estabrook, an official with the Office of Naval Research at work on the intuition project, explains to Danger Room. “If research scientists could characterize and distinguish intuitive decisions from the better understood analytic decision making processes, methods might be developed to improve this aspect of human performance.”

 

The Navy doesn’t want to reserve the power of intuition for seasoned sailors. By commissioning greater study into how it works, the Office of Naval Research wants to “train non-experts to be more effective decision makers.” First, it has to create a “computational model” of how intuition works, followed by “training techniques & technologies that enhance intuitive decision making performance.”

The Navy isn’t the only one intrigued by neurology’s prospects for warfare. Years ago, Darpa sponsored a program called Neurotechnology for Intelligence Analysts, which sought to break down the cognitive silos between textual data, imagery, audio and other sensory information. And last year, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency sought to get the entire body involved in analyzing satellite data.

How does this benefit the military? Ever since Air Force Col. John Boyd introduced the concept decades ago, there’s a school of thought in military circles contending that tactical advantage in warfare depends on making decisions faster than an adversary. “Analytical decisions are sequential, methodical, and time consuming,” says Cmdr. Joseph Cohn, another Office of Naval Research official. “Intuitive decisions rely on a more holistic approach and take place very quickly — on the order of 100s milliseconds.” In other words, if you master intuition, it’ll be hard for an enemy to act faster than you.

Or you might make boneheaded, self-destructive errors.

For instance: the solicitation cites examples of soldiers “detecting IED emplacements while in a moving vehicle or detecting anomalous civilian behaviors indicative of impending danger.” Their spidey sense just seemed to tingle with an alert. That no doubt happens. But sometimes, intuition fails, especially when mixed with adrenaline, and civilians end up getting shot for driving too close to military or contractor vehicles.

For now, the Office of Naval Research is seeking solicitations about how to structure its Sixth Sense work. Maybe Shyamalan will contribute a pitch.

from:    http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/03/navy-sixth-sense/

Connection — Volcanoes & Hurricanes

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Volcanoes and Hurricanes: Mortal Enemies, Best Friends?

The plume from a lateral blast at Pinatubo in the Philippines seen on June 15, 1991. The eruption may have helped stifle hurricane activity in the Atlantic for three years afterwards.

We have had many discussions over the years here on Eruptions about the relationship betweenvolcanic eruptions and weather/climate (remember, they are different things). Most of the time, the concern is how weather will become worse (i.e., much colder or much hotter) due to volcanic aerosols or ash that are kicked high into the atmosphere during large eruptions. Remember, ash plumes from manyplinian eruptions can tower over 35-50 km up, so material can be injected into the upper atmosphere and spread around the world in a matter of weeks. It would be very surprising if these sorts of eruptions – which are relatively rare, only occurring maybe once or twice a decade – didn’t effect weather and climate for years until the aerosols can all settle out.

 

So, I was quite interested when I saw a new paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research titled “Atlantic hurricane activity following two major volcanic eruptions” by Amato Evan. My instant thought was I actually wasn’t sure what to expect – I mean, how would a large eruption effect the activity of such major, hemisphere-spanning events like hurricanes? Would it make hurricanes worse? As it turns out, this study suggests that major eruptions in the tropics (or close) might actually subdue Atlantic hurricane activity for years after the eruption.

Figure 2B from Evan (2012) showing the drops in sea surface temperature (SST) in the Atlantic after the eruptions of El Chichón (1982) and Pinatubo (1991)

Evan (2012) looks at two eruptions in particular – the1982 eruption of El Chichónin Mexico and the 1991 eruption of Pinatubo* in the Philippines. Both were large eruptions, ranking as VEI 5-6. Both eruptions injected large volumes of aerosols and ash into the upper atmosphere in the tropics, reducing theoptical depth of the atmosphere to 0.1-0.2 (normally it should be closer to 0.01). To give you an idea, that is almost as bad as other large eruptions such as Krakatau in 1883, famous for the vibrant skies it produced worldwide. All these aerosols in the atmosphere increase the albedo of the planet – that is, the planet will reflect more sunlight back into space. This means less sunlight hitting the surface of the Earth, and in particular, less on the oceans in the tropics. This produces colder surface and near-surface waters in what is called the Atlantic Main Development Region (MDR) for hurricanes – between 8-20°N/20-65°W (see right). This decrease in sea surface temperature, in turn, lead to an increase in vertical wind shear in the MDR.

What Evan (2012) found was that the total number of hurricanes in the three years before each eruption and three years after the eruption were markedly different – ~12 per season prior to the eruption and 6-8 per season after the eruption. Not only that, but the storms in the three years after the eruption were weaker and didn’t last as long as prior to the eruption. Even beyond this, the location that hurricanes formed changed as well, where before the eruptions most hurricanes were found in the MDR, after the eruptions there were dominantly found along the eastern United States. So, the long and short becomes large volcanic eruption leads to lower sea surface temperatures and higher vertical wind shear in the locations where hurricanes form, thus fewer hurricanes occur and those that do are weaker.

Now, bear in mind, this study only looked at two major eruptions in the last 35 years – and unfortunately both coincided with an El Niño, so one can’t conclusively link the eruptions and the change in hurricane activity. Evan (2012) mentions that there are at least three other major eruptions that could effect hurricane activity – Agung in 1963**, Santa Maria in 1902 and Krakatau in 1883. However, no pattern emerges from these eruptions as hurricane activity did decrease after Krakatau, it wasn’t effected by Santa Maria and appeared to increase after Agung. Evan (2012) suggests that the Agung eruption might have cooled the South Atlantic preferentially, causing the increase in North Atlantic hurricane activity.

Hurricane Irene off of Cuba and Florida, seen on August 24, 2011. Can volcanic eruptions help or hinder hurricane activity? It is still unclear.

Clearly, there is still a lot of noise in these correlations of hurricane activity and volcanic eruptions. The eruptions that Evan (2012) examined are the big ones – so, what if any effect would smaller eruptions in the tropics have (such as Merapi in 2010 or Nabro in 2011). Taking a look at the hurricane counts for the past century, you can see a number of periods of lower hurricane activity – can these all be correlated with eruptions like Katmai in 1912 (well out of the tropics) and what is causing the low hurricane counts in 2005-08? There are many unanswered questions here – but clearly, a closer examination looks to be in order – or, as the author of the paper suggests, maybe we need a large eruption in the tropics to test this theory out.

* Lockwood and Hazlett (2010) note that a typhoon/hurricane might have helped cause the cataclysmic eruption of Pinatubo in 1991. The lowest atmosphere pressure from the Typhoon Yunya passed over Pinatubo just 3 hours before the largest eruption. It likely didn’t cause the eruption (that was an injection of magma into the system over the prior few weeks), but it could have played a role in pushing the volcano pass the “tipping point” for an eruption.

** This eruption is listed in the paper as 1964, but the activity lasted from February 1963 to January 1964.

{Hat tip to Alex Witze for pointing out this article to me.}

Image 1: Pinatubo erupting in 1991. Image by Richard Hoblitt/USGS
Image 2: Figure 2B from Evan (2012), Journal of Geophysical Research
Image 3: Hurricane Irene in 2011. Image from the NASA Earth Observatory.

 

from:    http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/volcanoes-and-hurricanes-mortal-enemies-best-friends/#more-101606

Government Control of Food Production

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Obama seizes control over all food, farms, livestock, farm equipment, fertilizer and food production across America

Tuesday, March 20, 2012
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com

Obama

On March 16, 2012, President Obama issued anexecutive orderentitled, “NATIONAL DEFENSE RESOURCES PREPAREDNESS.” (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/16/executive-order…)

This executive order states that the President alone has the authority to take over all resources in the nation (labor, food, industry, etc.) as long as it is done “to promote the national defense” — a phrase so vague that it could mean practically anything.

The power to seize control and take over these resources is delegated to the following government authorities:

(1) the Secretary of Agriculture with respect to food resources, food resource facilities, livestock resources, veterinary resources, plant health resources, and the domestic distribution of farm equipment and commercial fertilizer;

(2) the Secretary of Energy with respect to all forms of energy;

(3) the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to health resources;

(4) the Secretary of Transportation with respect to all forms of civil transportation;

(5) the Secretary of Defense with respect to water resources; and

(6) the Secretary of Commerce with respect to all other materials, services, and facilities, including construction materials.

This takeover is designed, in part, to “stockpile supplies” for the U.S. military. Authority for this total takeover of all national resources is granted with nothing more than the writing of a single statement that claims these actions are necessary to “promote the national defense.” As stated in the order:

the authority delegated by section 201 of this order may be used only to support programs that have been determined in writing as necessary or appropriate to promote the national defense:

(a) by the Secretary of Defense with respect to military production and construction, military assistance to foreign nations, military use of civil transportation, stockpiles managed by the Department of Defense, space, and directly related activities;

What all this means is that the U.S. government now claims the power to simplymarch onto your farm with guns drawn and demand all your crops, seeds, livestock and farm equipment.

Think I’m exaggerating? Read it yourself!

And for those living in denial who refuse to accept the reality of what’s happening in America, remember the following:

• When NaturalNews reported on the existence of the NDAA, we were told our reporting was misleading because Obama opposed it and wouldn’t sign it.

• When Obama betrayed America and signed the bill, we were told our reporting was misleading because “it didn’t apply to Americans.”

• When Obama admitted it did apply to Americans, he announced that he would choose “not to use it on Americans” but only by the grace of his restraint. Nobody who previously accused us of misleading the public had the integrity to offer us an apology and say, “Gee, you were right, it DOES apply to Americans!”

• Now Obama has seized control overall food, farms, livestock, water and transportationacross America. How many brain-dead Americans will continue to live in denial and try to convince themselves this is not happening? Sticking your head in the sand does not make this go away…

What California did to Rawesome Foods, the Obama administration can do to everyone

Remember the armed raids on Rawesome Foods? With guns drawn, California authorities assaulted the food distribution center, arrested the farmers, then proceeded todestroy $50,000 worth of foodincluding milk, eggs, cheese and watermelons. (http://www.naturalnews.com/033220_Rawesome_Foods_armed_raids.html)
As outrageous as that raid was, it’s only the beginning. Now, thanks to Obama’s executive order, the federal government can conduct Rawesome-style raids onall farms, all grocery stores, all food co-ops and even individual home gardens.

It’s written in plain English. This is no longer debatable and it’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s Obama administration policy. For what other purpose would this be issued in an executive order if it was not seen asactionableby the government? This piece of paper, you see, gives them the (false) authority to do whatever they want and then have the front-line soldiers who carry it out claim “we’re only following orders.”

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/035301_Obama_executive_orders_food_supply.html#ixzz1pm8z48nI

On the Dangers of Vaccines

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NaturalNews releases new video interview featuring Jon Rappoport exposing the dirty secrets of the vaccine industry

Wednesday, March 21, 2012 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
vaccine

(NaturalNews) The prevailing vaccine dogma of the day purports that vaccines provide incredible protection against potentially life-threatening illnesses, and that there is little or no risk in taking vaccines. But a recent interview between Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, and vaccine expert Jon Rappoport reveals some of the dirty little secrets behind the vaccine industry, including the hundreds of thousands of serious adverse events and deaths caused by vaccines that go unreported each and every year.

Though you will never hear anything about it from the mainstream media, vaccines are known to cause at least tens of thousands of serious adverse events every year, all of which are listed in the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services‘ (HHS)Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System(VAERS). And the public can freely access VAERS and track these adverse events online at:http://vaers.hhs.gov/data/data

But what many people who are aware of this system fail to realize is that the adverse events reported in VAERS represent only a small fraction of the actual number of adverse events that occur. Since doctors are the ones responsible for reporting vaccine adverse events — and this reporting is entirely voluntarily — the true number of adverse events and deaths is unknown.

“We’re talking about tens of thousands, and probably hundreds of thousands, of adverse, serious reactions to vaccines that go unreported, or only minimally reported, to federal authorities because doctors have to report it,” explains Rappoport. “And so the thinking is, which is, of course, monopolistic kind of thinking, ‘Well, if we give a child a vaccine and within a few hours or a day or a couple of days at the most there’s just some horrendous reaction, that we can’t possibly tie to anything else, even though we might try, then we’ll admit it might be a reaction to the vaccine.”

But because of the liability involved with reporting vaccine adverse events, as well as the pride-buster that is a doctor having to admit that a vaccine he or she administered caused harm or death, it is clearly a system designed to cover up the true severity of the harm caused by vaccines.

“You can imagine what the ripple effect is out through society of unreported deaths and serious neurological damage, permanent neurological damage, and other kinds of disablement that occur in children and adults who take vaccines,” adds Rappoport. “Imagine, if you’re a doctor and you give a child a vaccine and 24 hours later the child is dead, or the child is permanently damaged neurologically, are you ready to jump right out there and say, ‘Well, yes, this is the vaccine.’ No.”

Secret deals with governments allow vaccine companies to avoid liability for harm caused by vaccines

The reason why the U.S. government and various other governments around the world so aggressively pushed the phony H1N1 / swine flu vaccine on the public, despite the fact that the so-called “pandemic” never actually occurred, is because of private deals made between the vaccine industry and government officials.

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/035311_Jon_Rappoport_interview_vaccine_industry.html#ixzz1pm6P4Itq

New Chapter Sale to Proctor & Gamble

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New Chapter sells out to Procter & Gamble, part of the global corporate elite

Wednesday, March 21, 2012
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

products
(NaturalNews) Procter & Gamble, the global corporate conglomerate that sells a vast array of consumer products containing cancer-causing chemicals and petroleum derivatives, is now the proud owner of New Chapter, one of the more promising nutritional supplement companies we’ve seen in a while. New Chapter co-founder Paul Schulick announced, “For us, this has been a dream come true. This is what we have been wanting to do since we started doing this 30 years ago. The world and the United States need this.” (http://www.reformer.com/ci_20194274/p-g-buys-new-chapter?source=most_…)

Really? The world needs global corporate giants to buy up all the natural product brands? Or maybe Paul Schulick just wanted to cash in on all the positive publicity organizations like NaturalNews have selflessly lent him over the years. This is one of the many companies we helped publicize and promote, only to see them sell out to corporate giants who routinely take over these companies, cheapen their product formulations, and exploit name recognition to intentionally mislead consumers into buying watered-down, reformulated products.

So now the same company that brings you Tide laundry detergent, Pringles potato chips, Dawn dishwashing soap, and Bounce dryer sheets (can you even think of a more offensive chemical laundry product?) will be bringing you New Chapter supplements, too.

P&G is the very first corporation to bring you canola oil under the brand name “Puritan.” This was later merged into the Crisco brand of oils, which are all high omega-6 vegetable oils that, for decades, have been touted as being “healthy” even though now we know diets high in omega-6 oils promote cardiovascular inflammation.

It’s also the company that sellsPrilosecover-the-counter heartburn medicine, meaning P&G is also in the pharmaceutical business. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Procter_%26_Gamble_brands)

Oh, and guess who owns P&G? One of the top shareholders has been none other thanWarren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway), who reportedly owns $4.8 billion in P&G stock (http://seekingalpha.com/article/294569-10-value-stock-picks-of-warren…).

So the next time you think about buying New Chapter supplements, think about your money going into Warren Buffett’s pocket.

The question now is: Will anybody buy New Chapter supplements now that they know Procter & Gamble and Warren Buffet are the corporate operators who own the company?

I sure won’t.
Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/035312_New_Chapter_Proctor_and_Gamble_Monsanto.html#ixzz1pm4IsdNH

Facts Behind Recent Mexico Earthquake

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“Understanding” the massive March 20 Mexico earthquake

Last update: March 21, 2012 at 5:08 pm by By 

Earthquake overview : On 3/20/2012  at about 11:30h local time, a massive earthquake of magnitude 7.4 (Mexican sources are reporting a M 7.8 strength) occurred in the highly populated region of Oaxaca / Guerrero in Mexico. The earthquake’s epicenter was located at  162 km from Oaxaca and 322 km from Mexico City (Distrito Federal).

The March 20, 2012 earthquake occurred as a result of thrust-faulting on or near the plate boundary interface between the Cocos and North America plates. The focal mechanism and depth of the earthquake are consistent with its occurrence on the subduction zone interface between these plates, approximately 100 km northeast of the Middle America Trench, where the Cocos plate begins its descent into the mantle beneath Mexico. In the region of this earthquake, the Cocos plate moves approximately northeastwards at a rate of 60 mm/yr.

Image compiled by Earthquake-Report.com

Historically, there have been several significant earthquakes along the southern coast of Mexico. In 1932, a magnitude 8.4 thrust earthquake struck in the region of Jalisco, several hundred kilometers to the northwest of today’s event.

Seismic Hazard map shows the max. to expect ground acceleration along the coast – image courtesy USGS – Purple line : subduction trench / fault line, green line : transform fault

Magnitude 7 and Greater Earthquakes since 1900 – image courtesy USGS

On October 9, 1995 a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck in the Colima-Jalisco region, killing at least 49 people and leaving 1,000 homeless.

The deadliest nearby earthquake occurred in the Michoacan region 470 km to the northwest of today’s event, on September 19, 1985. This magnitude 8.0 earthquake killed at least 9,500 people, injured about 30,000, and left 100,000 people homeless.

The 1985 Mexico City earthquake, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake that struck Mexico City on the early morning of 19 September 1985 at around 7:19 am (CST), caused the deaths of at least 10,000 people and serious damage to the greater Mexico City Area. The complete seismic event consisted of four quakes. A pre-event quake of magnitude 5.2 occurred on 28 May 1985. The main and most powerful shock occurred 19 September, followed by two aftershocks: one on 20 September 1985 of magnitude 7.5 and the fourth occurring seven months later on 30 April 1986 of magnitude 7.0. The quakes were located off the Mexican Pacific coast, more than 350 km away, but due to strength of the quake and the fact that Mexico City sits on an old lake-bed, Mexico City suffered major damage. The event caused between three and four billion USD in damage as 412 buildings collapsed and another 3,124 were seriously damaged in the city. While the number is in dispute, the most-often cited number of deaths is an estimated 10,000 people but experts agreed that it could be up to 40,000 (source : Wikipedia)

…

for more information, go to:   http://earthquake-report.com/2012/03/21/understanding-the-massive-march-20-mexico-earthquake/

Jean Houston on Spiritual Awakening

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The Spiritual Quest – from Jean Houston (Admin)

December 9th, 2011

If I am to know God directly, I must become completely God, and God I, so that this God and this I become one I.
–Meister Eckhart

Wandering the Earth as I do, I eventually run into everybody. And almost everybody I meet seems to be on a spiritual quest, or if not, they have a growing hunger for it. The hound of heaven woofs at their heels urging them to wake up to their spiritual possibilities.
The thing about everybody is that they try everything. For sheer creativity and inventiveness, nothing beats spiritual adventuring.
People meditate or fast or pray in search of Divine connection. They make outlandish promises–giving up sex, calories, comfort. They go mad or go manic, become zealots, hush their minds into quiescence and empty themselves of thought hoping to tempt God to fill the void.
They walk on burning coals, sit in the snow, count their breaths, twirl into ecstasy, make pilgrimages to places where God or His/Her local incarnations are reputed to have placed their feet. They try out religions as different as possible from the ones in which they were raised, go on spiritual shopping sprees, twist their bodies into uncomfortable positions, change their names.
Mostly, they shout at God, begging the Great One to finally show up in their lives.
I’m not criticizing these practices; I’ve tried them all. And don’t laugh–so have you, in other ways, perhaps.
There are many signs that point to your being on a spiritual quest, even if you have not named it as such:
Do you wonder every time you pass a book counter if truth is to be found on its shelves today?
How many books have you bought this year that have “soul” in the title?
Are you always heading off to a seminar or a church retreat?
Is your house filled with angel images–cards, statues, books, candles?
Do you have an acupuncturist, a massage therapist, a medicine cabinet full of supplements?
When you get the flu, do you take vitamins and echinecea instead of standard brand antibiotics?
Do you frequent health food stores?
Have you thought about trying to be a vegetarian?
Have you quit the softball league and signed up for a class in yoga or Tai Chi?
Are you surfing the Internet?
Do you find yourself hiding what you’re reading when your relatives enter the room, even though it’s not the least bit sexy?
Have you divorced a spouse because he or she just wasn’t on the same wave length?
Do your kids think you are weird?
Do your CD’s thrum with chants and drums and Celtic harps?
Are you a fan of TV shows about mythic heroes, outer space, immortals, parapsychology?
Are you sometimes unaccountably surprised by joy?
Are you reading this book?
If you have answered “yes” to any of the above, chances are you’re hooked! As well you might be, for the complexity of the present time seems to demand a deepening of our nature if we are going to survive. Deepening requires exploration. And for all its byways, exploration leads ultimately to the spiritual source of our existence.
Not since the days of Plato and Buddha and Confucius, some 2500 years ago, has their been such an uprising of spiritual yearning. But instead of being a Mediterranean and Asian phenomenon, as it was then, the explosion of spirituality is now happening worldwide.

from:   http://www.jeanhouston.com/blog/

On Transforming Fear

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Transform Fear Through Core Belief Work

Most of us have one or more challenging core beliefs which surface repeatedly over the course of our lives. These core beliefs are usually rooted in deep, unexpressed fears. Depending on your perspective, core beliefs either cause all sorts of problems, or present many opportunities for growth. When you choose to look at core belief work as an opportunity, you are much more likely to transform your fears into learning tools which lead to a better life. Below are the most common core issues, their related fears or beliefs, and suggestions for dealing with them.

Examples of Common Core Challenges and Associated Fears or Beliefs

  • Abandonment – Nobody cares about me. I’m all alone. I don’t matter. I can’t trust anyone.
  • Arrogance – I’m better than all of you. I’m too much. I’m right and you’re wrong.
  • Damaged – Something is wrong with me. I’m a failure. I’m damaged.
  • Inferiority – I’m not good enough. I’m stupid. I’m worthless. I’m boring. I’m hopeless.
  • Rejection – I’m a burden. I’m unwanted. Nobody wants to spend time with me.
  • Shame – I’m bad. I’m evil. I’m a mistake. I’m a monster. I’m disgusting. I’m possessed.

These challenging core beliefs often originate from childhood family scenarios. They can be a result of negative messages that were repeated many times to us by our parents or other significant people in our lives. Or one of these beliefs may have been driven deep into us during one or more traumatic experiences. Was one of the above core beliefs drilled into you in your early years?

Note that some people are overcompensators. If you are in this category, you may unconsciously do everything you can to make it appear as if you are anything but your core belief. For instance, someone with inferiority as a core belief might outwardly appear very macho or domineering. Yet deep inside, this is covering up a fear of being inferior. A person dealing with shame may be overly nice and giving to cover up a belief that they are really bad. Particularly if you are having trouble finding a core challenge, notice if any of your behavior is opposite of the core challenges above.

Examples of Behavior of Overcompensators

  • Abandonment – Always need to be included, join everything to avoid deeper feelings.
  • Arrogance – Act very humble, hiding their deeper belief that no one can match them.
  • Damaged – Present themselves as always great, avoid talking about their problems.
  • Inferiority – Macho, domineering, need to prove they are better than others.
  • Rejection – Present themselves as incredibly desirable, yet reject others easily.
  • Shame – Overly nice and giving. Overcompetency. Secretly fear being exposed as fraud.

Whether you are an overcompensator or not, by exploring the deep beliefs behind your fears, you can transform your life for the better. Though you may find that you have more than one of the above, generally one will be more prominent than the others. Particularly if this is new to you, we highly recommend you first focus on exploring your most prominent core challenge. To deal with this, you can then design intentions to gradually shift this deeply ingrained fear or belief.

Suggested Intentions for Transforming Fears, Core Beliefs

  • Abandonment – I am worthy of love. I can find ways to safely share myself with others.
  • Arrogance – I can learn from all around me. I can see goodness in everyone I meet.
  • Damaged – I am whole and complete just as I am. I can choose to love all of me.
  • Inferiority – I am a good, valuable person. I can make meaningful contributions to the world.
  • Rejection – I am an attractive, interesting person. People can enjoy getting to know me.
  • Shame – I can be gentle with myself. I can hold the best intentions for all deep in my heart.

At the root of all of these core challenges is a lack of acceptance and a deep feeling of being disconnected. This disconnection can be from ourselves, from others, from our spiritual nature, or from any combination of these. Here are two empowering intentions for transforming these most basic core beliefs: May I ever deepen my acceptance of myself and all around me. May I ever deepen my connection with myself and with all around me.

The above intentions are merely suggestions which you may or may not choose to use. By developing your own statements that resonate more strongly with your personal experience, you can transform your fears on a deeper level. Set aside time to explore these challenges. Change the wording any time you find something more appropriate. You might also invite close friends or family members to give suggestions. Writing down your intentions is highly recommended. Considerwriting a set of life intentions, and review them frequently to help keep you on track.

Once you have developed your intentions, cultivate an awareness of how and when your core challenge is triggered. Notice when you are telling yourself that same old story. Each time this happens, remind yourself of your deeper intention and open to shifting from your old, disempowering self-image into a new, fuller way of being. You can continually choose transformation by remembering to recognize fear as an invitation to growth.

This is not to suggest that you avoid or suppress your fears and core challenges. Working to accept and understand all parts of yourself, including your core challenges, opens the door to transformation and allows you more easily and naturally to access your beautiful deeper essence. This, in turn, can help you to live a much fuller and richer life. For overcompensators, who often have a strong tendency to avoid their fears, this is particularly important. You can find some empowering ideas on developing acceptance and understanding at this link.

Don’t be surprised if after having a significant breakthrough in transforming a core belief, you eventually find the same issue rearing its ugly head again in a different form. Most people find that transforming fear through working with their core beliefs is like peeling away layers of an onion. You make a significant breakthrough, only to eventually find the same old core belief manifesting in another, more subtle form. Yet as each layer is peeled away, you will very likely find your life to be richer, more meaningful, and more enjoyable than it was before.

By identifying and choosing to transform our core challenging beliefs, we transform our deepest fears and end up feeling more alive and more connected with ourselves and with those around us. This then inspires us to participate more fully and effectively in building a brighter future for all.

For more on transforming fear and core beliefs, there are many books, therapists, and workshops which explore this fertile topic. We particularly recommend two inspiring books. Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth provides many powerful suggestions to recognize and transform limiting aspects of ourselves. Undefended Love, by Jett Psaris and Marlena Lyons, also gives excellent ideas and tools. Or search “transform fear” and “core challenges” on any search engine to find more. By transforming your fears, you can have a richer life.

from:    http://www.wanttoknow.info/coreissue

Questions on the Patriot Act

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Democratic Senators Issue Strong Warning About Use of the Patriot Act

By 
Published: March 16, 2012

WASHINGTON — For more than two years, a handful of Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee have warned that the government is secretly interpreting its surveillance powers under thePatriot Act in a way that would be alarming if the public — or even others in Congress — knew about it.

On Thursday, two of those senators —Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado — went further. They said a top-secret intelligence operation that is based on that secret legal theory is not as crucial to national security as executive branch officials have maintained.

The senators, who also said that Americans would be “stunned” to know what the government thought the Patriot Act allowed it to do, made their remarks in a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. after a Justice Department official last month told a judge that disclosing anything about the program “could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the United States.”

The Justice Department has argued that disclosing information about its interpretation of the Patriot Act could alert adversaries to how the government collects certain intelligence. It is seeking the dismissal of two Freedom of Information Act lawsuits — by The New York Times and by the American Civil Liberties Union — related to how the Patriot Act has been interpreted.

The senators wrote that it was appropriate to keep specific operations secret. But, they said, the government in a democracy must act within publicly understood law so that voters “can ratify or reject decisions made on their behalf” — even if that “obligation to be transparent with the public” creates other challenges.

“We would also note that in recent months we have grown increasingly skeptical about the actual value of the ‘intelligence collection operation,’ ” they added. “This has come as a surprise to us, as we were initially inclined to take the executive branch’s assertions about the importance of this ‘operation’ at face value.”

The dispute centers on what the government thinks it is allowed to do under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, under which agents may obtain a secret order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court allowing them to get access to any “tangible things” — like business records — that are deemed “relevant” to a terrorism or espionage investigation.

There appears to be both an ordinary use for Section 215 orders — akin to using a grand jury subpoena to get specific information in a traditional criminal investigation — and a separate, classified intelligence collection activity that also relies upon them.

The interpretation of Section 215 that authorizes this secret surveillance operation is apparently not obvious from a plain text reading of the provision, and was developed through a series of classified rulings by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The letter from Mr. Wyden and Mr. Udall also complained that while the Obama administration told Congress in August 2009 that it would establish “a regular process for reviewing, redacting and releasing significant opinions” of the court, since then “not a single redacted opinion has been released.”

from:   http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/us/politics/democratic-senators-warn-about-use-of-patriot-act.html?_r=1