BLACK FRIDAY: ALL THAT'S WRONG

If you want to know why the world is in such a mess, just consider Black Friday. Have you ever heard a an ad like this:

We know it's the holidays and that you all would like to give gifts to loved ones and friends.  The look on a child's face on Christmas morning is priceless. However, please don't buy something that won't last. Don't buy clothing filled with toxic chemicals, or toys laced with lead paint. Just because something is 0.5 seconds faster than the item you already have doesn't mean it's better. Don't buy products that have contributed to global warming, rainforest destruction, or that has been made on the backs of slave labor. Buy natural, buy green. Our landfills are overflowing with the junk from past holidays. Find presents that will get your child to think, that will get them outside the home. And above all, try not to use credit cards. Those bills come due and at a high rate of interest. Can you afford it. Return to the joys of family and being together and not just the idea that you have to spend lots of money for items no one really needs or wants.

No, you will never see such an ad, at least not now. But let's face it, this constant pressure to spend, spend, spend, is not about the spirit of the holidays, it is about corporate profits. It is about rampant consumerism that is destroying the planet and wreaking personal economic havoc.

Give gifts that matter, that will last, that will change the direction of buying patterns forever. Just don't buy crap that does nothing but make the rich even richer. Support the small business that sells quality products. Support the craftsmen and women that put their heart and soul into the things they make.

Above, fill your holiday with gifts that you can't buy: LOVE, PEACE, AND LIGHT. Those are gifts that simply never end up in the trash heap.

IS IRAN PAYING HAMAS TO GET ISRAEL OFF THEIR BACKS?

We know that Hamas used Iranian rockets to strike Tel Aviv and that Iran is supplying arms to Islamic militants. Given that life is a low valued commodity in the Middle East, I believe that Iran is paying Hamas to strike Israel in order to give Iran more time to develop its nuclear capability, or, at least, to further delay any Israeli assault on the Iranian nuclear program. Whatever Israel has to use to defend itself will temporarily deplete some of its defensive munitions and may forestall any near term action against Iran.

It would also not be surprising that arms dealers are fueling the fires as they will gain massive profits from this conflict. Further, if a full blown war erupts, there will be a lot less attention on the global economic crisis, climate change and things like regulatory reforms. Yes, this is a conspiracy theory, but analyze the facts and decode for yourself.

RELIGION Vs. SCIENCE: THE DEBATE IS OVER?

Guest post!

 

Large swaths of Americans seem to have drastically different views of how humans came to be, according to a June 2012 Gallup poll.

Nearly half of America – 46 percent – agrees with the creationist view that humans are purely the product of God, absent of evolution, within the last 10,000 years. Fifteen percent believe humans evolved independent of God, while the rest believe humans evolved with god guiding the process (http://www.gallup.com/poll/21814/evolution-creationism-intelligent-design.aspx)

These millions of Americans are pitted on two sides of a conflict which has a solution, as described in my new book The Genesis One Code. As an engineering physicist, CEO of the aerospace company known for building the space station’s robotic arm and student of religion I looked for a precise, unequivocal answer. Not good just arguments which hard to prove, but mathematical precision.

 

The creation-evolution conflict is a recurring point of contention in the United States, from the presidential election to what should be taught in schools.

I show that the religious and scientific wisdoms are two sides of the same coin and can enlighten each other. The reason the debate developed in the first place is because the discoveries of modern science of an old Earth seemed to conflict with descriptions in the Bible of a universe created in 6 days, only thousands of years ago.

The reality is that the Bible and science agree on the timeline for the development of the universe and life on Earth. The Bible is a blue print for the creation. I found the “scale used in the blue print” within the texts, the factor that converts “Creation time” to years as we know them, as measured by scientists. When applied to calculating the age of the universe and life on Earth, the Bible consistently matches scientific estimates derived from the study of fossil timelines, the solar system and the cosmos.

What’s the scale factor?  One creation day is — 1,000 X 365 X 7,000 – years! When those numbers are multiplied, each creation day is an epoch of 2.56 billion years, Using the formula, the biblical age of the universe is 13.74 billion years. Scientific estimates put the universe’s age at 13.75 billion, plus or minus 0.13 billion. Another 18 events described in Genesis, from the age of the sun to when first life appeared, match the scientific dates precisely!

If the Bible and science agree on what happened and when it happened, do we really have a conflict? It is time to reexamine and bury the conflict between science and religion. In fact, the book shows that Genesis has answers to science’s three biggest unanswered questions.

By continuing this false dichotomy of religion vs. science, we are severely limiting progress and our potential as humans.

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Most of us have pondered our origins at some point in our lives. I am no different, except perhaps that I have both a strong scientific and a religious background.  Thus, when I ponder our origins I not only have to contend with two seemingly very different accounts of our universe; but with the knowledge that both are accurate, at least in terms of what happened and when it happened.  Christians are invited to see science as something that complements ones faith, not to see it as something that contradicts it.  Many Christians affirm God as the Creator and at the same time support the scientific study of creation. They recognize science as a legitimate interpretation of God’s natural world and affirm the validity of the claims of science in describing the natural world and in determining what is scientific. However they preclude science from making authoritative claims about theological issues.

I began my quest with knowledge gained from a basic religious upbringing and a high school science education. Both bodies of knowledge were fascinating, yet appeared incompatible. As I proceeded to obtain a scientific education, I initially came to think that science books answered everything. Yet, by my fourth year at university, some fundamental questions concerning our origins began to re-appear. In science texts, some answers were not available, some answers were strange, and some answers were so metaphysical they looked like religious answers. So, I went back to study religion to find deeper inner meaning. Answers began to appear.

So what did I find?  The Bible and science agree on what happened and when it happened with respect to the development of the universe and the appearance of life on earth.  Not just roughly but precisely.  That’s right! Very old religious documents contain what science has discovered in the past 50 years!

This was so exciting I decided to share my findings in a book,  The Genesis One Code was borne Canada’s leading newspaper describes the book as follows:

The book is engrossing. In it, Friedmann … is persuasive and devoid of insistence. In essence, he argues that, just as a blueprint provides a scale reference to the finished building, there is a mathematical scale that reconciles the events of Genesis to the findings of science.

About Daniel Friedmann

Daniel Friedmann is a student of the origin of the universe and life on earth both from the scientific and biblical perspectives. He is also a longtime student of religion and for the past 14 years has attended the Vancouver Kollel center for learning.  He is passionate about helping young adults put science and the Bible in correct context.Daniel Friedmann is currently CEO of Canada’s leading aerospace company which built the Canadarms, and is involved in space exploration and the Hubble telescope. He is a professional engineer and holds a master’s degree in engineering physics.The Genesis One Code is currently available onhttp://www.amazon.com/Genesis-One-Code-Daniel-Friedmann/dp/1935764276/ “>Amazon.com and at http://danielfriedmannbooks.com/.

Live broadcast of 24 Hours of Reality

"You can't have your pudding, if you don't..."

... eat your meat." Love Pink Floyd. Thank the gods we no longer have to listen to the verbal onslaughts of political commercials. But here's the thing, will anything change? Is there a new mandate. Let's see, Obama is President, the House is controlled by the GOP, and the Senate is in the hands of the Democrats. Sounds familiar.



There is one mandate, the TEA PARTY seems to have been bagged and thrown into Boston Harbor. However, clearly, all of the problems that existed on November 5th exist on November 7th. World economies are a mess. The environment is a boiling cauldron. Major disasters will continue to demand ever dwindling public resources. The droughts, floods, severe storms are not going away. Tectonic plates are rumbling below, and cosmic radiation is raining down from above. The rich are getting richer and the poor are poorer.

If there is to be a new mandate, it must come from you, the people. The problem is that we want the pudding, but don't want to eat the meat.

-We want a cleaner environment, but we want cheap gas.
-We want safe products, but we want cheap products.
-We want jobs, but we want less government and fewer public employees.
-We want to be protected from bad business practices and toxic products, but we want fewer regulations.
-We want services, but don't want to pay for them.
-We want to bring our troops home, but we don't have any real understanding why we are even bothering with places like Afghanistan.
-We want quality education for our kids, but we fire our teachers.
-We want to be protected, but we lay off our police and firemen.
-We want to protect the environment, but we want our beach front property and build in areas prone to disaster.

The list goes on and on. We want the pudding of life but we are unwilling to change our lives so that our actions benefit all and harm none. If we want a new mandate, it will be up to you to send the White House and Congress a clear message When we, as a nation, have resolve, we accomplish great things. From WWI, WWII, to the space race, technology development and solving problems, when we stand united, we are unstoppable. But, when we falter, when we are divided, we fail ourselves and the world.

We are out of time. If we do not unite for a common purpose to basically save our place on this planet: "A nation divided shall perish."

VOTING: HOW TO DECIDE

We are all sick of the ads and the rhetoric. We are sick of the billions of dollars (just think of better ways this money could have been used) spent to convince, cajole, deceive, prod, scare and entice us to vote a certain way.

So how do you decide if there is any uncertainty in your decision making?

When you enter the booth, take a deep breath, close your eyes and ask yourself questions like this:

-Who will be best for the future of the country and the world?
-Who seems to have more compassion and empathy for the plight of others?
-Whose intentions appear to be most peaceful, yet also willing to stick to fundamental principles of human rights and respect for others?
-Which candidate garners your trust, has been consistent in their message, and not altered their message to the audience?
- Which candidate do you feel will at least try to leave the world a better place; recognizes the changing climate and environment; and really cares about creating a world that will protect the health and safety of you, your family, and the planet?

After you've thought about these questions for a few moments, start pulling the lever, let intuition be your guide. Don't second guess your choice, follow your heart.


ABOVE ALL ELSE, VOTE, DON'T PUT YOUR:

TIME OF CHOOSING

Don't let others choose for you. We are at a critical point in the history of our nation, the fate of the world, and the future of humanity. If you do just one thing tomorrow:

LIVING IN 'EPIC' TIMES

 

When thinking of the word 'epic,' several parts of its definition come to mind. Traditionally, an epic is defined as a long narrative poem, or other work of literature, that tell a tale of a historic, heroic, or legendary event or character. The Greek, Homer, always comes to mind. Characteristics of an epic include: large-scale, big, major, important, historical.

So, when we say that Hurricane Sandy was 'epic,' we mean it was big and important and of historical proportions. We live in EPIC times. It may not be correct to view an entire segment of history as epic, but it is nonetheless true. There is little of these times that is not epic. We have epic storms; epic droughts; epic floods; epic snow falls, epic heat, cold; epic economic problems; epic glacial, arctic ice melt; epic earthquakes; even epic political issues and fights. Very little in life is what we once called normal. In fact, we have epic abnormality.

What is curious is that so few seem to see the, to make up a word, epicity of the times. Is society so conditioned, so asleep from years of advertising and what amounts to brainwashing, into believing that all is 'normal' or will return to normality? This type sleepiness has often changed the course of history.  The Natives slept as the Pilgrims landed. Kings slept as the peasants fomented revolution; the religious sleep to slavery and genocide; Europe slept as Adolf planned and schemed; the masses sleep as their planet is plundered for profit.

With so many 'epic' things going on, how can anyone still be sleeping? As the song said, "How can we sleep while our beds are burning?" Is the opiate of 'things' so strong that we are unable to rise from the slumber?

Perhaps it is a kind demise. To die while asleep is said to be painless. To sleep, perchance to dream of what might have been, if we but paid attention to the epic story unfolding.

GUEST POST: The Fear and Anxiety Solution

 GUEST POST
 

There is personal fear and anxiety and societal fear and anxiety, obviously the two intertwine. How do people deal with the current fears and anxiety over the economy, climate change, political chaos, and forecasts that there may be economic and environmental collapse? 

The fears over the economy, the election or state of planet earth could be summarized as “the fears of losing something of value,” such as security, trust and our environment. However, underneath the fear of losing something that’s important to us often lingers a greater fear: ”the fear of losing control and being powerless.” This deep-seated fear can lead to a vicious cycle, causing us to believe that hyper-vigilance, micromanaging, and even obsessive thinking are the only way to maintain some sense of power and control when, in actuality, it is fear and anxiety that control our lives.

Although our external world may appear often out of our control, we have all the power of choice inside of us. We may feel forced to within life in circumstances that are determined by others; however, we can still choose our thoughts, our perspectives, and even our emotions. The Fear and Anxiety Solution makes this choice easier by providing a step-by-step process to transform these often overwhelming emotions into catalysts of growth and empowerment.

As we feel more calm, centered and confident, we are able to recognize both: that we can make a difference in our immediate environment, for example by budgeting, recycling, educating others or going to vote. And that we have the inner resources to handle anything that comes our way.

After all the opposite of feeling out of control isn’t being in control. The opposite is to trust and be at peace.

NOTE: Dr Friedemann Schaub shares information that is beneficial for you and your loved ones, in The Fear and Anxiety Solution. His says that people who read this book and implement the step by step program – will find a difference in their lives by the time they reach the end of the book. For more details about The Fear and Anxiety Solution, visit the tour page - http://bookpromotionservices.com/2012/10/03/fear-anxiety-solution-tour and Dr Schaub’s website www.thefearandanxietysolution.com. 

PURCHASE ON AMAZON:

 http://www.amazon.com/Fear-Anxiety-Solution-Breakthrough-Subconscious/dp/1604078561/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351770555&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Fear+and+Anxiety+Solution 

 

How Our Subconscious Scares Us

You’re in a hurry, and of course your keys are hiding again. You look for them everywhere, becoming increasingly anxious. Finally you discover them right where you always put them. Hadn’t you checked there before at least twice?

Or maybe you’re on your way to an interview. You feel good until you notice that mustard stain on your shirt. All your confidence slips away, and you start to panic. You’re sure that you will make a terrible impression, because all the interviewer will notice about you is that stain—just as you do.

Why is it that you can’t see certain things you want to (your keys), whereas other things you want to ignore (mustard) are all you can focus on?

Every second of our lives, we’re surrounded by an incomprehensible amount of information. As I mentioned before, we need to filter out a large portion to make sense of the world and not become completely fried. But how do we distinguish the tiny fraction of information that is relevant from all the remaining input that needs to be ignored? If we tried to make these distinctions consciously, we wouldn’t be able to do anything else. Literally all our focus and energy would be devoted to deciphering and sorting every single detail in and around us. This is where our subconscious mind comes in and employs specific filters to separate what it perceives to be important for us.

In a study conducted at Columbia University in New York, volunteers were shown pictures of random people with neutral expressions. The researchers also displayed random images of people with fearful expressions. The images with the fearful faces appeared and disappeared so quickly that the volunteers weren’t consciously aware of them. However, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans—which measure changes in blood flow—clearly demonstrated that the brain had registered the fearful faces, even though the subjects denied seeing them.1 This study shows that our subconscious not only filters and processes information, it is also able to perceive external input much more quickly and in more subtle forms than the conscious mind can.

Subconscious filters consist of memories, emotions, inner conflicts, and beliefs. They delete, distort, and generalize information that passes through them and leave us with a condensed and altered version of all that surrounds us—an internal interpretation of reality. Since most people are not consciously aware of their subconscious filters, they’re also unaware that their view of the world is basically just “made up.” Which also means that whatever you think you are is just a fraction of the truth.

Why does your subconscious make you overlook the keys you are desperately searching for and magnify the mustard stain you don’t want to see? Well, in both cases the subconscious mind is on a mission to protect you. By activating the anxiety response, you’re being prepared for the negative consequences of being late, which could be embarrassment, criticism, or rejection. As your subconscious shifts your awareness from the present to a possibly unpleasant future, most of the available information of your surroundings (your keys) gets deleted. The same intention, to keep you safe, is also true for the mustard stain on your shirt. Your subconscious distorts and blows up the stain to get you ready for the judgment and rejection that might await you. Logically, you need to concentrate on what is right in front of you—finding the keys or focusing on the agenda of your meeting; however, subconsciously, you’re already bracing yourself for the worst.

Your response to situations like these depends on the fabric of your subconscious filters. Your fear and anxiety filters dictate how you interpret the danger or safety of your reality. The more prominent these subconscious anxiety filters are, the faster and stronger you react to potential peril such as misplacing your keys or staining your shirt. Your reaction creates more stress, which in turn increases your chance of overlooking your keys and spilling more food.

So it makes sense that to break through these emotions and their ensuing behavioral patterns, you need to consciously remove and replace these subconscious filters. Removing the filters doesn’t mean you will permanently turn off or even dismantle the anxiety switch. As I said before, fear and anxiety are normal and important parts of life. You don’t want to abolish your ability to create these feelings, because they provide you with valuable information and are powerful catalysts for continuous growth and self-empowerment. But what if you could convert the anxiety switch into a dimmer switch—one you learn how to operate with increasing proficiency?

 

About Dr Friedemann Schaub

Friedemann Schaub, MD, PhD, is a physician specializing in cardiology and molecular biologist who has helped thousands of people to overcome fear and anxiety with his breakthrough and empowerment program that combines his medical expertise with NLP, Time Line Therapy™, clinical hypnotherapy, meditation, and more.