Paul Palmer, proud to be a pisces man

Everyone I know says I am spaced out.

My wife tells me I’m distracted and self-absorbed. She says I have no sense of time, lose things constantly, and cannot be trusted with small appliances. She says these things are evidence of my dysfunction.According to her, I fade in and out of reality all the time… but she doesn’t know the half of it.

My friends think I’m a pie-in-the-sky dreamer too, a guy who spends most of his time in La La Land. They’re too nice to say it, but half the time they think I act like I’m from another planet. That’s because when they see me, half the time I have just come back from another planet. I’ve been hiding this for a long time, but the truth is…I am a REAL space ranger and I have traveled all over the galaxy!

I try to tell my buddies what I have discovered about the inner workings of the universe, but their eyes just roll back in their heads like the reels in a slot machine. It happens so often I have taken to cupping my hands under their mouths on the hopes I will hit the jackpot. So far the only payoff I’ve gotten is a spray of spittle when they burst into laughter.

I know I am hoist on my own petard. It’s my own fault that people question my credibility. Part of my problem comes from publishing a newspaper in which fact is indistinguishable from fiction. In the past, I must admit I have written a few things that stretch the truth. Many people doubt my in-depth interviews with Santa Claus and Bigfoot.

I understand that some folks question whether the Register is really locked in a vicious print war with the New York Times; that our columnist is really over two hundred years old; or that Round Top’s Town Marshall is really 6’9” tall and rides tornadoes.

These are reasonable doubts, and I cannot deny that I might have played loose with the facts a time or two for the sake of art.

But in all fairness, anyone who studies physics will find what most of us think of as “the real world” doesn’t exist. One of the founders of quantum physics, Erwin Schrödinger, points out that at the atomic level, all matter performs in a “completely disorderly heat motion, which opposes itself to their orderly behavior and does not allow the events that happen between a small number of atoms to enroll themselves according to any recognizable physical laws.”

That means if you look closely at the building blocks of the universe from which everything is made – your car, your kids, your dinner, your new pair of shoes – you won’t find anything that looks like facts or reality.

Reality is just a story humans tell one another so we won’t be utterly overwhelmed by the incredible complexity of the world in which we live. The universe is incomprehensibly vast. Life is unfathomably complex. Few of us have the slightest idea what is going on around us, and for the most part, we don’t want to know.

Accepting the truth about our insignificance in the grand scheme of things is a real blow to the ego, so who wants to do it.

The fact that everyone makes up their own reality is just one of the basic truths that even the most backward of the galaxy’s species takes for granted, but here on the old home planet we are still having a hard time getting the message.

People on our planet often think there is some “real and objective” world that is the same for everyone. This kind of provincialism is very embarrassing for a space ranger like myself.

Put yourself in my shoes. You are at a cocktail party at a penthouse in an upscale tourist colony orbiting a gas giant in the Betelgeuse system, and your host, who looks a lot like a six foot tall oyster with chrome hood ornaments suddenly shouts “Humans believe what?” and the whole party breaks up in riotous laughter.

This kind of thing makes it very hard to act cool. Belonging to what many interstellar beings consider “one of the goofiest-looking species in the universe” is hard enough, but being an intellectual laughing stock just adds insult to injury.

That is one of the reasons I have decided to come clean about my secret life and try to explain what is really going on in the universe to the rest of humanity.

Salt Crystals on a String

My strange situation began a long time ago when I first became a space cadet. It began innocently enough. I had a big imagination as a child and was fascinated with the workings of the world – why salt crystals appeared on a string suspended in salt water; why the program in your hand shivers and quakes in a concert hall when the strings crescendo at certain notes; why snowflakes are all unique and other amazing mysteries of science.

When I was a kid, the world was a source of wonder for me, and that wondering set me to wandering in my mind…and the next thing you know I was a space cadet.

It all started when I met Tom Corbette and the Space Rangers.

Tom was as all-American boy, tried and true, and a fellow cadet at the Interplanetary Space Academy. He and I teamed up with two other young cadets. Roger, who was real wise guy but a crack navigator was the first, and Astro, our massive but good-natured engineer was the other. The four of us rocketed all over the solar system before I was out of the sixth grade.

In the summer after I graduated from elementary school, I discovered a book called Glory Road, and found myself hopping from one dimension to the next.

That was where all the trouble started. It was fun, flitting from one alternate universe to another battling impossible odds, but there are serious consequences when you defy the laws of physics, and before long I was paying the piper.

I first began to notice strange things happening when I was in the seventh grade. That school year I lost three watches and four coats. My mother assumed I was simply careless, but as far as I could tell those personal items just disappeared. Right away I knew they had slipped into another time/space continuum but it was hard to prove to my mom.

Sadly, a little known effect of such quantum phenomena is that there is a corresponding perturbation in the electro-chemical energies passing through the synapses of the brain when they occur…which means you can’t actually remember the alternate universe events when they happen to you.

I knew those watches – including the one with Roy Rogers and Trigger on the dial – must lie half buried beneath the purple sands of a distant world. They were probably being crushed under the twelve armored feet of a methane-breathing three-headed desert beast rather than lost in my school locker. But no matter how articulate my argument, I couldn’t convince my unimaginative mother. When I came home from school without my coat for the third time, she grounded me.

That’s when I realized my life as starfarer was better kept a secret.

Now all these years later, I realize that I am not alone. There are other people like me out there in the world, lonely and lost, never seeming to fit in, observing a universe that their friends and neighbors can’t perceive. They seem like normal people except for a few unusual quirks.

They tend to lose anything not chained to their belts. They are constantly looking for their keys, their cell phones, their screw drivers and wallets. Important papers vaporize on their desks at work. They have no sense of time. They have a hard time remembering names and phone numbers and never read directions. They leave lights on all over the house and can’t be trusted with toaster ovens.

They spend a lot of time lost in thought, staring off into space with wistful expressions on their faces. Sometimes they become fixated watching a cloud, or a crawling bug, or the reflection of light on water, and you have to shake them to get their attention.

In other words, they have the attention span of a four-year-old.

If there is anyone in your life like this, I ask you to be patient and forgiving. They may be annoying and hard to live with, but they’re behavior is an unfortunate side effect of an important mission.

They’re secretly defending the earth against invasion by the forces of galactic evil, so give them a break. It easy to get a little distracted when you’re standing alone against the death rays of the machine-beings from the Crab Nebula.

Facing such responsibility, anyone could forget a birthday or two. These people deserve your respect because they are performing a valuable public service. Defending the planet earth from total annihilation is a thankless job, but someone’s got to do it.

To my clients, friends and neighbors, I am a regular guy who happens to be a little eccentric. They assume that I lose things and can’t remember people’s names because I simply don’t pay attention, or because my brain was damaged in the 1960’s by recreational drugs.

Actually, I am constantly cycling from one dimension of space to another. I’ll be in Round Top talking on the cell phone or sitting at the drafting board trying to design someone’s country house…and then all of a sudden I’m taking four G’s as my spacecraft leaves the atmosphere of the fifth planet out from Alpha Centauri in pursuit of insectoid aliens bent on galactic domination.

Needless to say, these circumstances make it difficult for me to maintain my professional composure at my architecture firm. It’s hard to explain what is really going on, so I find it necessary to preserve the charade that I am simply a garden variety ditz.

This guise has long worked to my advantage. You learn a few things about the behavior of sentient life forms when you hang out with aliens from all over the galaxy. I’ve seen it over and over in fifty different star systems. When some species find out you are different – and Homo Sapiens are among them – it makes them afraid, and organisms that are afraid have a tendency to get nasty.

It’s long been my opinion that it’s better to take a little lip, than to have your lip busted. As a result, I have lived a double life. But now I am throwing caution to the wind. I’m going to tell everybody what I have found out in my travels about what is really going on here on the planet earth.

I have to run to the house because I forgot to turn off the coffee percolator and the Queen is afraid I am going to burn the house down. I’ll clue you in as soon as I get back.

The Ultimate Truths of Life on Earth

Whew! That was close. The bottom of the coffee pot was starting to look like a black hole. Now back to the facts about life on earth. There are a many such truths of course, more than I can tell you now, so I am going to focus on the top seven.

1. The Aliens are getting restless.

For the last million years or so, most of galactic society has ignored human beings. I mean, there have been a few good sitcoms based on human beings, mostly comedies sort of like Bedtime for Bonzo, but for the most part no one really cared. Human beings were just funny monkeys scratching themselves. They felt safe from the various types of crazy violent madness we are so good at cooking up because we were stuck on our own planet.

But then Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, and that changed everything. Those of us who were alive when that happened experienced a very rare event. Life on earth is roughly 3.8 billion years old. Each of us lives an average about 70 years. That means the odds that any individual organism would be alive when a representative of life on earth actually set foot on another world is 5,428,5714 to one.

It’s not just the Beatles that make us a unique generation and this fact is not lost on folks who live in neighboring star systems, especially because things are happening pretty fast. Our seed is spreading. Voyager I is now about 8.7 billion miles from earth and moving towards them at 46,000 miles an hour. They watch the History Channel. They know what maniacs we are and it is making them nervous.

Now what you need to understand is that most of our neighbors in the galaxy are pretty nice folks. They tend to be forgive and forget types. But there are races out there that view us the same way we view a venereal disease, and if they decide we need a dose of antibiotics, we are toast.

That’s the main reason I have decided to speak up. We need to get our act together in the next couple of generations, or our communal butts are going to be in a sling.

The second thing you need to know I already talked about above. It’s important truth number two.

2. You live in your own little world.

Each of us makes up our individual reality. I mean really. I’m not saying the material world doesn’t exist. There is a world out there, but each of us perceives it differently in significant ways.

Throughout the galaxy, every different organism has its own “real world.” Highly social species like us can coordinate our behavior by talking and mimicking each other, and by building a common living space to channel our actions, but those are just tricks our brains have evolved so we can get more food and make more babies than the other animals we compete with for survival.

Bottom line, you have to guess about what the other guy is thinking. After millions of years of evolution, our brains have gotten very good at guessing. But really…you don’t have the slightest idea what is going on in the minds of your wife, your husband, or your kids….let alone behind the fevered brows of Osama Bin Laden or Tom Delay.

There is no point in worrying about what other people think. There is no point in talking to other people about what they think other people think. There is no point to watching television shows or reading books about what other people think. You’ll never really know.

So just relax and pay attention, because the only way you are ever going to get any idea what a person thinks is by listening to them and watching their behavior.

On advanced worlds, listening and observing are competitive sports. You can get a Ph.D. in them. In many societies, talking is seen as an unpleasant but necessary metabolic process, something like urination or defecation. The smartest people never say a darn thing!

2. You are never alone. You just think you are.

You are really just a cell in a bigger organism. Every advanced society understands this. I know you think paying your own bills and having your own body makes you all grown up and independent, but the truth is that you and every other living thing is just a piece of the living earth.

All the incredibly diverse species that cover our planet are just specialized cells like those in your body. Some are liver cells. Some are stomach lining. Some are neurons.

I know this is a blow to your ego, but it is time to grown up and face the music. You aren’t really all that important in the grand scheme of things. Even humanity as a whole is not all that big a deal. Our living planet was growing and evolving just fine for billions of years before anyone invented a BMW. It may seem like the American Idol results show is the center of the universe, but it really isn’t.

The reason you think you are an individual is because all living systems are built of small pieces that must be distinct from one another if they are to work. Identity is necessary for their functioning, just as an individual cell is important to the functioning of your pancreas. What a liver cell thinks about the liver makes no difference. All that matters is whether it oozes bile.

The same is true for you. I know this is hard to swallow, but time is running out so I can’t afford to break it to you gently.

3. Everything in the universe is always running down.

Human scientists call this fact the Second Law of Thermodynamics, or entropy. Most physicists consider it the most general law of nature.

When the energy in any system – a star or a living organism – runs down to the point that it becomes a dead, inert lump of matter, it reaches a state that a physicist calls thermodynamic equilibrium, or maximum entropy. It can also be described as “greater order” as significant change in its form stops for all practical purposes.

Most substances degrade relatively rapidly from the relative disorder caused by heat to a more “stable order” as they cool to absolute zero, but the march towards maximum entropy exhibits itself in many other ways. When two solutions are mixed – for instance a jar of sugar water and a jar of plain water – the sugar has a “goal” of becoming equally distributed throughout the liquid water. When it reaches that state, maximum entropy is achieved.

Such effects occur throughout nature. For instance, Americans degrade the complex organisms we refer to as cattle at a mind-boggling rate. In the year 2000, somewhere around thirty-eight million of those highly organized and brilliantly functional organic systems, each capable of independently maintaining its energy level for a considerable number of years, were “degraded” to the more stable state we refer to as sewage by the process of our consumption.

That sewage is then consumed and degraded by specialized microorganisms even closer to thermodynamic equilibrium.

In that same year, each American converted an average of 195 pounds of red meat, poultry and fish into simpler forms. Every year of our lives, we convert more than our weight of other “higher life forms” into energy and protein which we use to battle the relentless march of entropy.

Each individual organism on earth is an efficient processing plant that is remarkably effective at making other organisms in the world around them – and even inorganic compounds – more “stable.”

Eating and finding food are so basic to the function of living things that in almost all organisms the brain is located near the entrance to the gut. There are several families of genes that govern both brain and gut development, which reflects the ancient relationship between the gut and the brain.

It is humbling to consider while pushing our carts through the grocery store that we may be utilizing the first and foremost purpose of our minds, but those are the facts. Like every other animal, our primary business in life is to find food that can be converted to energy to support the functioning of our bodies. What we do not use, we excrete as feces, urine, and perspiration.

Combined, the amount of waste generated by living things, both in life and in death, has altered a significant portion of the earth’s crust. Soil and limestone deposits, both results of millions of years of processing by living things, cover our planet.

All life is knee deep in birth and death, two extremes of a powerful entropic process. This universal contest is present not only in the grand scheme of nature, but also in the daily existence of everything in creation.

Our sun is a powerful generator of energy, but like all sources of energy, that energy is slowly suffering the attrition of entropy. The powerful heat and pressures within the core of our planet create complex mineral deposits, which emerge through volcanic activity and other geological phenomena to create mountains and other grand features, which are in turn worn down by wind, rain, glaciers and other natural forces, and turned into sand and soil.

Our bodies face entropy each day. Millions of years of evolution have built a grand engine in the human physique. Each human body has incredible abilities to persist in the face of entropy’s relentless march – but in the end – every individual living organism, every mountain, every energy source…wears down.

So the bottom line is that your decline is inevitable. No matter how much you work out and how well you eat, you are still on the way out. All you are ever going to do is eat, poop and die. I know that sounds like bad news, but every cloud has a silver lining.

Entropy means that there will always be plenty of work for doctors, remodeling contractors, cosmetics sales people and washing machine repairmen.

4. You only exist as a relationship.

Now this might be hard to understand, so I will use a metaphor that makes it easier. First, I have to tell you that you are what is called a “dissipative structure.” Such a structure accelerates the pace of entropy by taking energy from the world around it and hastening it towards thermodynamic equilibrium.

Dissipative structures are easily observable in nature. Whirlpools and tornadoes are two common examples, but galaxies and eco-systems also qualify.

When barometric pressure rises in a storm front, a regular form with a recognizable structure emerges. We call it a tornado. A tornado allows the high barometric pressure to dissipate more effectively in exchange for maintaining its structure. It has to have a thermodynamic imbalance to exist. When the build up of pressure is equalized, the tornado disappears.

In the early 1990’s, earth scientists performed a thermal analysis while flying over several varied ecosystems and discovered that the more developed the eco-system, the colder its surface temperature. They discovered what the rest of the galaxy already knows, that complex living systems dissipate the sun’s energy more effectively than those that are less diverse. The more complex the living system, the more effective dissipater it is.

Your body is a complex living system too, just like a jungle. The city you live in is also complex living system. Both you and the city are dissipative structures. You take energy out of the world around you like a tornado, and use that energy to avoid the impact of entropy. As pointed out above, you are very effective at turning cows into poop. You do this so you can continue being yourself. The cow is sacrificed to maintain your structure.

A tornado’s identity is a relationship between a high pressure storm system and a low pressure layer of air. A tornado is an identifiable thing, but though it has a structure you can see and it can blow a piece of straw through a fence post, all its parts are parts of other things. It has no distinct content. Its behavior is the only thing unique about it, and that behavior is completely determined by its environment.

So is yours. You are merely a relationship between your physical and cultural environment, and the genes you inherited from your family. The only thing that is “you” is how you act, and how you act is almost entirely determined by your instincts and your environment.

Sorry. I know it’s hard to feel like the most important thing in the universe when someone is trying to say you make decisions like a termite, but…well…you do.

5. Your brain is not designed to make you happy.

Have you ever noticed that it is incredibly difficult to get happy and stay that way?

We have been evolving for several million years. The amazingly brilliant brains in our skulls make us smart enough to get to the moon. Since almost all of us want to be happy, you would think natural selection would have done a better job of getting us that way.

The problem is that natural selection doesn’t care if you are happy unless your happiness makes your genes more likely to make it to the next generation. Genes are very selfish. They have their own agenda, and don’t care a whit about your happiness.

Cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker makes this point as follows: “People don’t selfishly spread their genes; genes selfishly spread themselves. They do it by the way they build our brains. By making us enjoy life, health, sex, friends, and children, the genes buy a lottery ticket for representation in the next generation.”

So you see, your brain isn’t designed to make you happy. It is designed to give you grandchildren, and if they make you happy, that is because your genes want you to throw yourself in front of a lion so they can have grandchildren.

After they are born, you see, you are expendable. The reason for this is perhaps the most important truth of all for human beings.

6. All that really matters is sex.

There are plenty of galactic races that don’t have sex. They reproduce with spores, or through binary fission like a paramecium, or are manufactured in a factory. I met an alien one time that reproduced using a Xerox machine. There are many different ways to do it.

But in the long run for human beings, sex is all that matters. Ultimately, every man is a sperm, wiggling his little tail while racing all the other little men up the birth canal for a one-in-a-million chance of getting laid. Every woman is an egg, waiting for first few suitors to arrive, and then being picky about which one she lets penetrate her cell membrane.

That’s about it. Sex is the point of all human existence. Money, power, beauty, kindness, love, morality, success, and all our other cherished ideals are merely various strategies for making babies and helping them survive so they can make more babies.

There are currently about 6,451,058,790 human beings on earth. One year ago there were 6,376,863,118. That’s 74,195,672 more in a year. In 1950, the global population was 2,556,517,137. That’s more than a 250% increase in only 55 years. At that rate, in 110 years there will be about forty billion of us.

You can see why our galactic neighbors are so worried about what will happen if we move into their neighborhoods.

Christopher K. Travis
http://www.articlesbase.com/humor-articles/spaced-out-my-life-as-a-space-ranger-696400.html

If you are stuck for a vacation this year why not try one of the many Hilton Head golf vacations on offer, at the southern end of South Carolina. Combine a great climate with a marvelous golfing and seaside vacation that nobody in your family will gripe about.

Who can gripe about the otters, bobcats and mink? Or just off-island, the dolphins and loggerhead turtles? Your family will love you for this vacation so much that you will be able to golf all day without so much as a murmur of complaint…well, perhaps! I can’t see why not, though. The shopping is fine and the entertainment is great. The kids will be happy with the beaches to play on and there are also miniature golf courses for them to learn on.

Golf Schools and Bowling Alleys – Something for Everyone

Can your partner play golf? If not, there are lots of golf schools here you can take him or her to visit and get a few lessons. There is plenty for everybody to do and almost three hundred places to eat! There are bowling alleys, a huge tennis complex and water sports to die for. If anybody complains about there being ‘nothing to do’ on Hilton Head Island, they are nuts!

The courses themselves are great and have been designed by the best. Davis Love III, Arnold Palmer and the Golden Bear himself all designed courses here. Being on an island, they are mainly links courses, and offer you a different challenge to that of an inland golf course. It’s less target golf and more a knowledge of conditions, wind and bounce, though it’s still a lot of fun and provides valuable experience. You will love it, believe me!

You Must Play the Harbor Town Links Course

Hilton Head Harbor Town Golf Links is the most famous of the courses, with its trademark red and white lighthouse designed specifically for the eighteenth hole. Its 18th hole has been featured in Golf Magazine, and it is a course that every visitor to Hilton Head than can hold a club must play. There’s no excuse and there is a lot for the other family members to be getting on with while the golfers enjoy their round.

If you have had golfing holidays in the past that you have enjoyed, but your family has not been too enamored with due to the lack of facilities for the non-golfers among them, then you must try this island. Hilton Head golf vacations have a lot to offer everybody, whether they play golf or not. Give yourself and your family a treat this summer.

Mike Pedersen
http://www.articlesbase.com/golf-articles/hilton-head-golf-vacations-provide-everything-you-could-ask-for-98827.html

Are you interested in learning more of cooking? Has it been your aspiration to be a chef?
You may or may not be prepared to take the jump yet? Are you aware of your cooking skills? Are you interested in learning to cook like a chef? Have you always loved and enjoyed Italian food and can prepare excellent spaghetti dish that leaves your friends craving for more. If any of the above points a finger to you, then Italian school for learning cooking would be the ideal next step for you!

Schools teaching Italian cooking offer well thought-out lessons from expert professors, who can teach you every method, give you specific tips to make your dishes mind-blowing.

.Actually one can always learn a new dish from a cookery book or from word of mouth. But learning a new dish from a live demonstration and getting an opportunity to learn the right way of making it is possible only if you join one of the many Italian schools where they teach cooking. By this way you not only learn the dishes the authentic way but also can clear your doubts if any and get a prompt feedback immediately.

By joining cookery schools you get an opportunity to meet other students from varied backgrounds. Amongst them some could be professionals and may be they can teach you the lovely and enticing art of cooking and give tips. In this regard, joining Italian cookery schools can be a very useful experience in more ways than one. Apart from these benefits, you will most likely make lots of friends; you may find that some of them might be sharing your hobbies too. You will be elevating your life by joining Italian cooking schools, at the same time you will be helping others enriching their lives by sharing knowledge and friendship with others. You may be surprised but you never know, you could be the best student in the class whom others might like to follow. You might invent a dish that will inspire the professor for years to come.

To put it differently, mustering up courage to do something new might bring about thrilling changes in your life as well as your outlook towards life. You will also realize that acquiring new knowledge gives you an opportunity to know yourself better as also the world. Thus joining Italian cooking schools can open the door to various things you never even imagined till now. Who knows there might be an Italian Chef or Cooking teacher hidden inside you?

Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/cooking-tips-articles/italian-cooking-schools-the-mama-mia-of-pasta-708722.html

Vedic Astrology – Historical Perspective & Uses – Lesson 1

An Introduction

Vedic Astrology, the Science of Time, the Eye of Wisdom and the foremost among the branches of knowledge has come to us from 18 seers. While Varaha Mihira is hailed as the Father of Indian Astrology, Parashara is hailed as the Father of Indian Predictive Astrology. IndianAstro-Physics is divided into 3 major portions – Siddhanta (Astronomy ), Samhita ( Astro-Philosophy ) & Hora ( Astrology ).

The English word ” hour” is derived from the Sanskrit word Hora.

The Precession of the Equinoxes

While the Western astronomers compute everything from 0 degree Aries which is the beginning of the Tropical Zodiac, the Indian astronomers compute everything from 0 degrees Aswathi ( Beta Arietis ) , which is the beginning of the Sidereal Zodiac. Sidereal is derived from the Latin word “Sidereus” meaning the constellation of fixed stars. The Vernal Equinoctial Point was found to precede one degree in 72 years and hence 360*72 = 25920 years was fixed as the Precession of the Equinoxes or the Precessional Cycle.

Flamsteed anticipated

Long before Flamsteed fixed the beginning of Zodiac at 0 degree Aries, the Indian astronomer Brahmagupta fixed it at 0 degree Aswini ( Beta Arietis ). Another great astronomer-mathematician Aryabhata wrote treatises on Spherical Astronomy and Spherical Trignometry in his magnum opus Aryabhateeyam. It is said that Arabs acquired a knowledge of maths and astronomy only after Brahmagupta’s Brahmasphutasiddhanta was translated into Arabic ( As Sind Hind )! Albert Einstein rightly remarked ” We owe a lot to the Indians who taught us how to count without which no worthwhile discovery could have been made ” ! The Difference between the Tropical ( Western ) & The Sidereal ( Indian ) Zodiacs is round about 23 degrees this year. Sidereal Astrology is based on the immovable Zodiac- the Sidereal Zodiac – and Western Tropical Astrology is based on the Tropical Zodiac which is movable.

The Philosophic Aspect

As the destructive power is imbedded in the atom, so are the acts of preservation, creation and destruction invested in the womb of Almighty Time. Time Eternal alone is the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer. Past,Present & Future are imbedded in the womb of Time Eternal and a knower of Time can get an insight into Past, Present & Future. The Present is a product of the Past. Future is contained in the Present inasmuch as it is determined by the Present. The Lord equates Himself with the cosmic phenomenon of Time. ” I am Time Eternal ” declares He in the the Geetha ( “Kalosmi ” ). Oppenheimer, the Father of the Atom Bomb quoted this verse from the Geetha when saw the first atomic explosion. To him, the destructive power of the atom was a mere manifestation of the destructive power of Time Eternal!

Uses of Astrology

The Practical Aspect

The great French mathematician Laplace advocated Probability as a weapon to cope up with Reality. Astrology is the application of the Law of Probability in toto, based on astronomical facts. Our life is hindered by many an obstacle & we are busy battling the barriers to Success. These barriers are always there, some known, some unknown. But via the Wisdom of the Heavens (Astrology ) these barriers can be known, why it is there and what are the heavenly causes which generated it. Everything happens by Cause. Classical Philosophy postulates that natural causes have corresponding celestial causes and this is known as the Law of Correspondences. This message is contained in the aphorism ” As above, so Below “. Once the causes are known to us from a bona fide astrologer, overcoming the barriers becomes easy.

The scientist manipulates the effect: the diviner or the poet manipulates the Cause. Astrology and Yoga are sciences which deal with the Cause. The Divine is the Transcendant Causeless Cause.Astrology has been described as a Lamp in Darkness. Without it, life becomes a lightless nightmare and we roam about groping in the dark. “Forewarned is Forearmed “. It is the negative aspects of the planets which create all the barriers in our life. Once they are known, by means of the Great Art we can transcend its negativity. Life becomes more smooth sailing and success becomes ours.

The New Age Movement

New Age – A Paradigm Shift to Divine Consciousness & a Universal Philosophy

The New Age Movement (NAM) is a revival of spiritual and divine values and can be called as a Divine Regeneration Movement. New Age Philosophy has conquered the West intellectually and Western culture is currently experiencing a phenomenal shift – sociological, spiritual & ideological. It’s a secular, multi-cultural, multi-religious synthesis, of the Oriental mystical philosophies, mainly Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism & Western Occultism, emphasising Holism, the doctrine that Reality is organically One ( now taught in American Universities after Einstein’s Theory of Relativity ).

Behind the evolution of the species, there is an evolution of Consciousness. The aim of Life is Self-Actualisation, to evolve to the level of Unity Consciousness, defined as the 7th state of Consciousness in Transcendental Philosophy.

The social disturbance caused by the Vietnam War, the threat posed by AIDS, the disillusionment with materialistic ideas and the erosion of faith in Morality & Ethics brought a sense of futility & meaninglessness in the Western psyche.The limitations of the Western system of Chemotherapy & adverse side-effects of antibiotics, sedatives and certain other drugs and the disillusionment with the promises of science & technology made millions turn to Oriental philosophies, occult practices & systems of therapy.( Interest in Alternative Medicine developed to such an extent that there are now more than 180 systems of Alternative Medicine.
Exponents of New Age Philosophy in Europe and America include Transcendentalists like Thoreau, Emerson & Walt Whitman, Wordsworth, Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), , & Theosophy introduced by Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831- 1891) & Col Olcott & the philosopher, Annie Besant. As the world witnessed a Consciousness Revolution, Transcendental Meditation, Yoga ,Zen, Carlos Castañada, the Beatles, Holistic Medicine ( both Western and Ayurveda ), Tantra, Astrology ( both Western & Vedic ) all became popular .

There are 6 million New Age sites on the Web and the NAM consists of a massive & well organised network consisting of thousands of groups, trusts, foundations, clubs, lodges, and spiritual groups whose goal and purpose is to prepare the world to enter the coming Aquarian Age. ( The Age of Aquarius ). In astrological symbolism, Aquarius represents Spirituality and Pisces Rationality. The Piscean Age, an age of Computer and Cybernetics revolution, will be followed by an Age of Consciousness Revolution or a Spiritual Revolution, the Aquarian Age.

Some New Age Organisations are : California New Age Caucus, New World Alliance, World Goodwill, The Church Universal and Triumphant, The Theosophical Society, Amnesty International, Zero Population Growth, the Forum, Planetary Initiative for the World We Choose, the Club of Rome, Church Universal & Triumphant, Christian Science, and the Unity School of Christianity.

New Age believes in the essential goodness of Man and the Divine Spark in Man and the New Age movement is not a unified cult system of beliefs and practices, even though its roots derive from Vedic Philosophy. There is no central authority, no official leader, no headquarters, nor membership list, but instead is a network of groups working toward World Peace and Universal Love. There are millions of worldwide followers of various New Age practices and the world is moving from Chaos ( Disorder ) to Cosmos ( Order ) ! This is a Phase Transition from Entropy ( Disorder ) to Order !

Significant influence has been gained by NAM affecting almost every area of Occidental culture—Sociology, Psychology, Medicine, the Government, Ecology, Science, Arts, Education, the Business Community, the media, entertainment, sports, and even the Church. Organised spiritual forms such as Christian Science, Unity and even forms of Witchcraft ( from the German ‘ Wicca’ meaning the Wise; Witchcraft means the Craft of the Wise ) are all its expressions. Various Human Potential Seminars, Transcendental Meditation, Zen Meditation and some Alternative Holistic Medicine practices are also its manifold manifestations.

Some popular New Age publications and journals are New Age Journal, the Z Files, Clarity, Body Mind Spirit, Yoga Journal, Gnosis, East West, Noetic Sciences, the Millenium Being and Omega. The new tendency of people now is to view everything from a New Age perspective

The major goal of the New Age Movement is to prepare Man for entering the Aquarian Age and to bring world peace in an already bruised world. “All is wrong with the world” said Shaw & some of the other goals of the NAM are to establish an entirely New World Order in the fields of Economy & Government. The idea of a World Government was proposed by Bernard Shaw earlier and was implemented by Mahesh Yogi and occurs in the writings of the foundational apostle of the New Age Movement, Alice Bailey.

The word ‘Initiation” is derived from the Latin “In ire” to go within and Initiates were termed by the Great Master as the salt of the Earth. The mystic Ward defined Reality as “Within and within and within and within” . Another mystic described it as “It is hidden, it is hidden and it is hidden”. To the mystic, self evolution is the means and only by changing and correcting ourselves can we change others . The primary goals of the movement then, are to prepare the world to receive the Divine Consciousness and to enter the Age of Aquarius, thus establishing the New World Order.

New Age Philosophy believes that human evolution can be accelerated, if not in the entire mass of humanity, at least in suitable individuals. Human nature is perfectible, through an intensive process of purification and Initiation.

The New Age Movement is secular & universally diffused over the earth’s surface & its basic underlying philosophy emphasises Gnosticism and Occultism. (Gnosticism is an ancient philosophy stating that Divine essence is the highest reality, and that the Self of man is actually this Essence. Behind the phenomenal world is the Transcendent Reality which Intuition alone can see ). It bears a remarkable resemblance to the Universal Religion that H.G. Wells predicted would one day take over the world.

The six main characteristics of New Age thinking are: (1) All is Unity; (2) All is Divine (3) Humanity is divine (4) A change in Consciousness; (5) All religions are One; and (6) Cosmic Evolutionary optimism.
Basically Dialectical Integralism, New Age Philosophy unites both Matter and Spirit.

Spirit shall see through Matter’s gaze

Matter shall reveal the Spirit’s face !

The 13 main principles of New Age Philosophy are:

(1) One Global Order – One World Governement, One Currency, One Universal Being.

(2) Universal Energy, Universal Matter, Universal Life, Universal Soul As God

(3) An Eternal Universe – Uniform in Space and Unending in Time

(4) Divine practices ( Astrology Yoga & other esoteric arts)

(5) Syncretism ( Unity of all Religions ).

(6) The need for Meditation ( for generating altered states of Consciousness );

(7) Life is Cyclical- Everything is cyclical, subject to the cyclical upheavals of Time.

(8) Holistic Medicine & Vegetarianism (The patient is more important than the Doctor & Alkaline diet)

(9) Pacifism ( Anti-war activities);

(10) Reincarnation; ( The Law of Conservation of Soul )

(11) The Evolution of Man into Divinity; ( The latent Life Force evolving naturally to the Divine )

(12) The Union of Man with the Divine; ( Merger of man into the Infinite )

(13) Matter’s Illusoriness; – Esse est percipii – Perception is Essence; Mind is Substance.

The practices of the New Age are psychic practices like : Astrology, Reiki, Bioenergy, Chi energy, Chakras, Nirvana, Christ- Consciousness,Spiritualism, Native American Spirituality, Prajna, Out-of-body/near- death experiences, Reincarnation, Yoga, Meditation and the occult disciplines, as well as psychotherapeutic techniques and scientific applications of the healing powers of crystals and pyramids.
Some commonly used New Age terms are: Quantum Healing, Transmutation, Transfiguration, Guided Imagery, Reincarnation; Positive Thinking; Human Potential; Holistic; Holographic; Synergistic; Unity; Oneness; Transformation; Awakening; Networking; Communal Sharing; One-world/globalism/new world order (i.e., One language, One Government, One currency, One religion); Cosmic Consciousness; Zodiac, etc.

Some New Age practices are: Transcendental Meditation, Parapsychology, Inner healing; Biofeedback; Yoga; I Ching; Reflexology; Therapeutic Touch; Transpersonal Psychology; Witchcraft; ; Magick; Tai Chi; Shamanism; Hypnotherapy; Acupuncture/Acupressure; Martial arts; Zen; Relaxation; Silva Method (formerly Silva Mind Control); Visualization; etc.
Some prominent New Agers are: Jeremy Rifkin, Norman Cousins, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, John Denver, George Lucas, Norman Lear, Alice Bailey, Alvin Toffler, Dr. Barbara Ray, Benjamin Creme, Levi Dowling, George Trevelyan, Fritjof Capra, Abraham Maslow, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Ruth Montgomery, Shirley MacLaine, J.Z. Knight, Marilyn Ferguson and David Spangler.

Soothing audio environments are created by New Age musicians and they believe rightly that Music has psycho-therapeutic properties. ( This concept is derived from the Vedic Philosophy that All music is Samaveda, the 4th Veda of the Indians ). Born of an interest in spirituality and healing in the late 1970s, it is often used as an aid in meditation.

Essentially meditative, New Age Music is soothing to the Soul. Isnt Music defined as the food for the Soul ? Harmonic consonance, uplifting themes, contemplative melodies & nonlinear song forms are the characteristics of New Age music. Even natural sounds or sounds from Nature and traditional electronic instruments are used by New Age musicians. With roots in classical music or Eastern Music, New Age music is often meditative. Prominent New Age musicians include vocalist Liz Story; harpist Andreas Vollenweider, electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty , electronic-music pioneer Brian Eno, multi-instrumentalist Kitaro & solo-piano artist George Winston.

New Age practices have almost conquered the world. Athletes are using guided imagery. Graduate schools of business are invoking T M, Yoga, and Tarot cards in teaching courses on creativity in business (e.g., Stanford Graduate School of Business). Based upon Astrology, the Science of Time, stock market gurus employ Fibonacci numbers and “Wave Theory” in their forecasting.

We can summarise that the term New Age is an innovative term derived from the mother of all sciences, Astrology, indicating that this earth is undergoing an evolutionary transitional phase from the Piscean Age of Scientism to the Aquarian Age of Divine Wisdome, Cosmic Consciousness , Knowledge and Love.
Since the New Age is a conglomeration of spiritual practices, let us analyse the basic principles of N A M

1. The Divine Source of Authority. New Agers do not claim any source of authority—Only Inspiration by the Divine. By the Divine we mean a principle within, the Divine Spark or the Self and many are there who receive the revealations of the Self within or the intuitive insights of the Self.

2. The Lord. – Since Matter and Energy can neither be created or destroyed and the sum total energy in the Universe is an absolute constant ( Universal Being ), the Lord did not create the world, He became the world. Monism—( “All is Unity” ) averrs that there is only One Essence in the universe, everyone and everything being a part of that essence. The Self is an utter Being and all these are its Becomings. New Agers view God as an Impersonal Life force, Consciousness, or Energy (e.g., the “Star Wars Force”) mainly but they also believe in His personal aspect, as the Ocean ( which is Formless ) can take the form of an iceberg! They averr that every human has a divine spark within him because all created beings are reflections of the Divine Idea. The eternal state is called by various terms among different New Age groups, i.e., God-consciousness, Universal Love, Self-Realization, the I AM, Higher Self, Brahman, Nirvana, etc.

2. The Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Christ Consciousness or the Divine Consciousness is what the New Age advocates mean by Christ. . In other words, Christ is a Divine Principle rather than an individual, such as Jesus. This idea of Christ Consciousness asserts that Jesus was only one of the Christs, but that He equipped Himself to receive the Christ Consciousness (i.e., He was a great Master who attained Christ Consciousness), as did other prophets like Buddha, Krishna, and Mohammed. New Agers believe Dr Paul Brunton who stated the Jesus spent 18 years in India absorbing Indian Mysticism and that he was initiated into the highest esoteric doctrine.
3. Human Destiny. Man is the measure of all things and is more divine than the animals & hence the salvation of the world depends upon Man. Cleansing the negative elements from the collective subconscient should be the aim of humanity. Once Negativity is cleaned from the collective subconscient, the human positive energy will shine forth and the noble ideals of the New Age will be actualised in an era of Enlightenment. Since man is intrinsically divine and perfect, his only real problem is ignorance of that fact. Gnosis means experiential knowledge and Salvation in the New Age is for man to become enlightened through this Divine Gnosis. New Age groups offer various spiritual techniques to enable individuals, and ultimately the world, to evolve into this Unitive Consciousness . These techniques may include psychotechnologies for attaining altered states of consciousness – Transcendental Meditation, Yoga, Zen, Attunement , Channeling (Spirit guides), Psychics, Acupuncture, etc.

4. The Ethical Opposites, Good & Evil – Believing in the Oriental philosophies, New Agers make the distinction between good and evil. All wickedness is weakness and Evil is imperfection. By the method of Trial and Error, we come to know what is good and what is bad for the world and we have to transcend the dualities.
5. Reincarnation. New Agers believe in the ancient Vedic philosophic concept of Reincarnation—that through a long process of rebirths, man can eventually attain Divine perfection. They also teach the Universal Law of Karma -(( The Law of Cause and Effect ( Every effect has a cause ), the Law of Action and Reaction, the Law of Retribution )) that what a person sows , he shall reap. This is also the doctrine of God’s non-responsibility, that the Self is not responsible and it is the Ego which experiences bitter & sweet mental experiences due to its own Karma.
6.Salvation is Self-Actualisation and Sin is Ignorance – SSome theoreticians taught the concept of Man’s Original Sin. New Age exponents teach the concept of man’s essential goodness. Instead of systems which emphasised the human negative aspect and sin, New Age highlights that every man is essentially divine and it is a sin to call man a sinner ! However, New Agers speak of troublesome desires which are natural impulses which retard human evolution and make the Ego move away from the Self. Sin is merely ignorance of man’s essential divinity. The atrophied spiritual consciousness of the normal man who lives in ignorance of his Divine Self is Sin. Like the Law of Conservation of Energy which states that Energy cannot be created or destroyed, the Law of Conservation of Soul states that the Soul can neither be created nor destroyed. Matter exists in 3 states, liquid, gaseous and solid and matter cannot be created or destroyed. Nothing ever begins to be. Similarly Life does not at physical birth begin to be. It merely enters physical conditions and assumes physical guise. It merely undergoes a parallel transformation into conditions which preexisted in other conditions. The Soul is reincarnated in different bodies in a continous succession of lives. The good or bad Karma earned in the present lifetime determines one’s subsequent incarnation. Attaining higher states of Consciousness should be our aim.There are many different paths to the goal of Divine perfection and we should be tolerant of other paths.

The divine Aurobindo predicted that spiritual influences from India will trigger off a global spiritual movement.There will be Mass Incarnations ( many people divinely inspired ) who will work for World Peace and Universal Love !

I saw them cross the twilight of the Age

The massive barrier breakers of this world

The sun-eyed children of a marvellous dawn

The architects of immortality

Carrying the magic Word, the mystic Fire

Carrying the Dionysian Cup of Joy !

The four systems of Philosophy which triggered the N A M are Hinduism, a product of 5,000 years of development, Buddhism, circa 560 B.C., Taoism, circa 500 B.C & Druidism, circa 300 B.C, the religion of the Celts, which extended upto the Middle Ages.

Article by G Kumar, Astrologer, writer & programmer of www.eastrovedica.com. Recently he was awarded a Certificate by the Planetary Gemologists Association Global ( www.p-g-a.org ) as a Planetary Gem Advisor. He has 25 years psychic research experience in the esoteric arts. To subscribe to his free informative Ezine, the Z Files mailto:info@eastrovedica.com?subject=SubscribeZF. His blog is up at http://www.zodiacastrology.blogspot.com Mobile 091 9388556053

G Kumar
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/vedic-astrology-lesson-1-61386.html

“Quacks cannot be recognized by their appearance. They are neat, well-dressed and friendly. They greet you with warmth and give you reassurance. Some of them are MDs. With white jacket, trim nurses and scientific jargon, they seem very professional,” so warned the American Cancer Society.

How do you know if your doctor is a quack? Here are some guidelines to help you weed out today’s charlatans in the medical marketplace:

DON’T BE DAZZLED BY DIPLOMAS. Like real doctors, many quacks are armed with degrees to impress patients and convince the latter of their “expertise.” Unlike real doctors, however, most of the quack’s degrees are fraudulent and have been conferred by questionable correspondence schools or unlicensed training centers.

“During the past few years, many unaccredited correspondence schools have been issuing ‘degrees’ in nutrition and other health-related areas. Some require only the payment of a fee, whereas others require limited amounts of study – based on unscientific writings. The status of a school can be determined by checking with the (local) department of education,” warned Dr. Stephen Barrett, a psychiatrist, prizewinning author, consumer advocate and board member of the National Council Against Health Fraud Inc.

One example of a fraudulent institution that confers dubious degrees is the renamed Palmer College of Chiropractic which was originally set up by an Iowa grocer named Daniel David Palmer who had no medical background whatsoever and was jailed for the illegal practice of medicine.

Although most chiropractic schools in the United States have been upgraded and are now accredited, chiropractic theory and practice still leaves much to be desired. And while its proponents are licensed to practice in all 50 states, their sanctioning is strictly political, not scientific.

Organizations that award degrees without requiring students to meet high educational standards are known as diploma mills. Quacks simply pay the required fees to get their fake degrees.

The California Council Against Health Fraud said many correspondence schools which offer courses in nutrition are actually fronts for purveyors of fraudulent health care schemes and may have as much as 3,700 enrollees. Their graduates end up as promoters of questionable nutritional supplements.

“Graduates advertise themselves as ‘nutrition consultants’ with academic credentials when they are nothing more than salespeople armed with nutritional misinformation preying on an unsuspecting public,” according to Paul M. Insel and Walton T. Roth in “Core Concepts in Health. (Next: Beware of questionable degrees.)

To sharpen your mind and remember all this information, take Neurovar. For more information on this powerful memory enhancer, go to http://neurovar.com/prod10.aspx.

Sharon Bell
http://www.articlesbase.com/alternative-medicine-articles/how-to-spot-quack-doctors-688144.html

Faith plays an important role in the life of humans. First of all it is necessary to understand the concept of faith and how it is interpreted by different people. According to the dictionary explanation faith is a confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing; it is a belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. It could be loyalty to a person or thing or a commitment to something or someone. However primary meaning of faith came to us from Christianity and is defined as theological virtue and a secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God’s will, it is a set of principles or beliefs associated with religious issues. One has to understand though that faith and religion are different things, although closely interrelated especially in a modern world.

The word faith mainly originated in Biblical times and is the ultimate source of understanding of the issue of faith. It is important to understand why it has been an essential part of people’s life for centuries and continues to be that, in order to grasp the meaning of faith and its magnetic power of attracting so many people all over the world. Faith is not merely adopting a set of beliefs that a person finds in religious books, but it is rather a way of life or adherence to that which leads to life. Faith however is not only a mental state of “believing” the holder of faith has to have relationships with God, truly love him and adapt his/her life to the ways of God. Many questions rise when we speak of faith and its meaning, for instance why should a person believe in eternity and in life after death if one does not prepare for it by repentance, spiritual vigil, and loving God? What good does this fake faith do in such person’s life? Also what benefit does believing in virtues bring if one does not live them and truly experience? Thus it becomes clear that there is a huge gap between theoretical faith which does not save the soul, and practical faith, the results of which are evident in one’s life.

In Matthew 7:16 it is written “You will know them by their fruits”, this sentence explains the whole notion of having faith. If a person does really have faith in the heart this faith will be producing visible results in persons life, although they may not be as evident to the outside world, the individual will feel the difference. The life of faith is linked with peace, tranquility and lack or absence of fear, for when the believer, thus the holder of faith, begins to fear he will sense the presence of God. For such people, whose hearts are occupied with God there is no place for trouble, they are usually very optimistic and have a greater sense of life then their surroundings. Those people are typically more joyful and people loving, they accept all the things life prepares for them in a more tolerant way. Faith gives them such power and motivation to overcome their difficulties that they can see more beauty in every day routine, which is sometimes very hard for ordinary people. Often life of a person of faith is also related with purity of behavior, because the believer feels the presence of God, who sees, hears and records all that he does. For this very reason the believer feels ashamed and afraid of wrong doing in front of God who is omnipresent. Having faith makes us submit to God’s will and become calmer if something goes not according to our plan. If we have faith we know, that there is a reason for everything and this very reason keeps us from something bad. Accepting life in such a way gives us more satisfaction and pure happiness with what life and God has granted us.

“Faith is not what is seen by the human eye” (2 Cor. 5:7), which is true for the human senses that can only detect a physical object or movement; faith in this instance is almost invisible. I wrote almost because, for a true believer faith is a way of life, thus he knows exactly what faith means to him. The intellectual capabilities may easily lead a human to the beginning of the road on which one finds happiness, but it can never continue on to the end of the way. The mind cannot comprehend God mainly because it has definite limits on the other hand God has no limits. Besides God has numerous qualities and can come in life of a person in different forms, and creatures; people often do not recognize God’s presence if they only concentrate on the power of mind in comprehending all things. Again we turn to the subject of necessity to have faith, so that to accept things without fully understanding the origin of them or the meaning of them. Taking for instance a microwave, which works on the principle rarely recognized by people using it, however this still does let them use it every day. They accept that there is a microwave and it is a convenient device for heating food. The same situation occurs when miracles happen. People do not even get close to comprehending their true nature. But the mind accepts it happening with faith, with its infinite power, greater than that of the mind, which can perform things the mind fails to understand. Most of people agree and believe that this power comes from God, that’s the ultimate source of their faith.

The most vivid example of faith is brought to us by children. They are more open- minded and happy than adults are. They are able to see the genuine beauty around them and capture the essence of all things, although they might not know how to explain them. Children do not carry negative emotional baggage, unless they have some psychological problems, like most of adults do. This very feature makes kids peace loving and world accepting, they believe that things as they are, are just perfect. This is the precious attribute that many adults lack and thus suffer immensely in their lives. They get too preoccupied with all possible problems in the world and forget to relax for a minute in order to feel life and all the virtues it has to offer.

Those who forget God or simply people without faith in their hearts are lost in this life, or in any other life they will obtain. The Bible says “People who seek God, find God” (Matthew 7:7-8). I believe that this search can only be successful if a person honestly has faith not originated from mental activities but from the deepest corner of the heart. The one, who is looking for God, will find Him as God is the ultimate reward in people’s life. It follows that they believe in God being the source of good and protection, otherwise why should conduct such a search? For humans, though, faith in God is still something that has to be connected with the earthly matters. With faith people receive a sense of hope, which is what so pleasing for humans. Having hope for a better future, for a long life and other virtues life has in store for them is a motivator and a reason for faith. It is often viewed as a psychological necessity, a need to feel that you are protected and cared for by someone who is more superior and all mighty. Although such concerns cause people to turn their faces to God, there are other issues that make people live a righteous life with faith in heart.

One of the major anxieties of modern humans is the need to find their self identity, to discover their true nature. The Bible says that God has created people on his own image. This is the ultimate truth that should guide people in finding God and establishing strong faith in their souls. Everyone nowadays is experiencing certain unpleasant discomfort, as most of the time they do not know who they are and what they are seeking in life. Belonging to various social groups and finding an interesting profession is not enough for an individual to experience happiness from realizing the true self. Faith in such cases often leads people to positive results as they understand what their heart desires and how to live life, to be satisfied and happy. Those people become like children, who are able to enjoy every ray of light and each drop of rain. Faith thus is of tremendous importance for humans, as it establishes peace in their hearts and allows enjoying life as it is, accepting all of its positive and negative

occurrences.

Finding peace with the self gives a person a light feeling of life and an acceptance of death. Such people are not afraid of neither of them. They are aware that life is just for a short period of time and they will have to become something else after it ends. Most people’s in the world greatest fear is death, but not for those who know what it is to be with God and to feel it’s omnipresent light everywhere. Assured of God’s help wherever they are makes them fearless and allows them to see things clearly without the dark shades of fear or shame or lust, feelings that are common for those who are lost. Faith is not simply an important part of our lives, it is crucial for our happiness and well being. We have to feel that we are not put here to suffer but to enjoy life and such sensation comes with faith.

Jeff Stats
http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/faith-and-life-94610.html

24’s Day 6 10PM-11PM is deemed by fans as one of the most exciting episodes of the season, featuring hardcore action and mind-boggling twists.

The said episode of 24, which aired Monday, April 9, features the nuke as it approaches the Middle East as a form of vengeance for a prior detonation in Los Angeles, California. The hasty decision of Wayne Palmer surprised Karen Hayes and Thomas Lennox. Subsequently, Karen seeks the help of CTU, remaining positive that they have found Fayed the necessary information that might change Palmer’s decision.

Later, Palmer receives a call from the foreign ambassador, informing Palmer that they have a man named General Habib in custody who is involved with the previous attacks. This prompts Palmer to call off the bomb attack. At this point, viewers discover Palmer’s trickery in order to stimulate the make-believe missile. At the closing of the episode, Palmer falls down to the ground following a positive discussion with Thomas Lennox.

As for Jack, he has Fayed under custody. However, Jack’s brutal interrogation has not effectively persuaded Fayed to give out any information. This leaves Jack no choice but to bring Fayed back to headquarters. While in transit, Jack, Doyle and Fayed smashed into an approaching van, which consists of Arabs who are determined to rescue Fayed.

A shootout happens and unfortunately, Jack gets injured.

While everything seems so exciting, the real attention-grabbing plot is still approaching. So far, everything that happened was just a set-up. After Jack gets injured, he plays dead for a short while, as well as everyone else. CTU sends in a counterfeit rescuer team to get Fayed, expecting that Fayed would direct them to the remaining two suitcase nukes. Subsequently, the “rescuers” attempts to get some information out of Fayed, but Fayed is determined to reveal the location only after he has spoken to General Habib.

After some grave threats on the lives of his family, Habib cooperates, ordering Fayed to locate the nukes. Fayed gives out the directions while CTU follows. However, Nadia discovers something suspicious in the phone transcript. After a series of rumble, attacks and shootouts, Fayed ends up dead while everyone celebrates as they discovered the bombs.

In the end, Jack receives a phone call from Audrey Raines, telling him to save her. Shortly, a Chinese guy orders Jack to call him at a certain number in ten minutes, declaring that Audrey will die if Jack tells anyone about the call.

To catch more twists and action, watch 24 every Mondays at 9/8C on Fox.

For more resources about 24 and especially about 24: Day 6 10PM-11PM Recap please visit http://www.buddytv.com

Groshan Fabiola
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/24-day-6-10pm11pm-recap-139519.html

Ask yourself what do I want from life? Can you really let your life speak for you or do you dress it up in fantasy?

I am going to walk you through is the process of vision-setting and goal-setting that will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life. It’s the process I use personally myself and have done for years. When we are done, New Year’s resolutions will seem like a quaint parlor game.

Ask yourself the question, “Where am I going?” For most of us, that is a question upon which we spend far too little time. And when we do, it is usually because of some situation that has happened, forcing us to take a look. Well, let’s take the “have to” out of it, and really spend a some time to honestly observe where we are going. Being honest with yourself is very important in this process.

You might want to write down your thoughts and observations. From personal experience, I can tell you that journaling has provided me with more insights and “ah ha!” moments than I could have ever imagined. Once you see these thoughts on paper, you will see patterns start to emerge – patterns that may not have been obvious while they were locked inside your brain.

Once you have honestly figured out where you are going, it’s time to decide if this is what you “want.” Let’s face it, sometimes life gets in the way, and we lose contact with those things that we know will fulfill us. I am not talking about material things here, but the letting loose of those talents and abilities that have been locked up inside us.

So, when you have a few moments of quiet, let your mind “out for a walk” and spend some time thinking about what it is you really want – want to have, want to be, want to do. Put no restrictions on your thoughts, just let your mind wander and write down what you are thinking about.

Paul Palmer

Be careful what you wish for, my dreams came true.

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Balancing your desires.

Do you enjoy the experience of “mind wandering”? I hope so. You see, by taking time to let your mind wander, unfettered by the “have-to’s” of the day, you are engaging in a little mental relaxation that should leave you refreshed.

Let’s do a little organisation of our dreams and aspirations. One of the tools I like to use is something called a “balance wheel.” Draw a circle, and then divide the circle into six or eight segments, so that you have what looks like pieces of a pie. Then, label each section with an area of your life that is important to you.

These sections might be labeled Family, Leisure Activities, Spiritual Growth, Finances, Job or Career – anything that is important and relevant to you. Now, each of these sections can have a Balance Wheel of its own, as you delve deeper into the different aspects of what you want in each area.

Another thing you can do with your balance wheel is start from the center, with the number 1, and run a gauge out to 10 at the outer circle. With each section, you decide how satisfied you are with that particular area of your life, on a scale of 1 to 10. This will give you a good idea of what areas of life you might want to work on, in order to have a well balanced life.

As you begin organising your “wants” into these categories or segments, you will probably find that many fit into the same segment. This is where you can use the tool of a secondary, or “mini” balance wheel, for each section. Your “mini” wheels may not have as many sections, or they may have more. There are no rules here, so let your mind get creative!

The balance wheel is a visualisation tool used to help create a balanced outlook in your approach to your goals.

Paul Palmer

Remember all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Technorati Tags: balanced life, balancing your desires, paul palmer, thoughts and desire

Childhood obesity is now a major problem in the USA.  It is more difficult than ever for children to lose weight. We have fast food restaurants at every corner, new snack foods arriving at grocery stores every week and computers and video games to make even the most active child lead a sedentary life. Did I mention poor nutrition in the schools due to the administrations getting kickbacks from snack food vendors? It is no wonder more than half of American kids now are overweight, and half of those kids are obese!

Just because there does not look like any light at the end of the tunnel does not mean you have to give up hope. Your child is depending on you to guide them in the right direction. What will their lives be like in 10 years if they are left to their own devices about eating and exercise? Although it is great for children to learn how to make their own decisions, the consequences later on in life could be distastrous.

Here are 7 Healthy Child Obesity Solution Tips you can implement now to ensure the health of your child, and help them lose weight before it is too late.

Childhood Obesity Solution Tips #1: Turn Off The TV & Computer
87 percent of children watch between 2 and 6 hours of television every single day. Their break time from that is spent sitting in front of a computer. Remember when there were no such things? An overweight child was rare, and the only time a child was sedentary aside from sleeping was when they were engrossed in a book. Limiting the use of the tv and computer will force your children to be more physically active, and they will lose weight. Want an added bonus? It will limit the amount of foul language and violence your child could be exposed to.

Childhood Obesity Solution Tips #2: Retire From Being Their Chauffeur
Making your children walk to school or anywhere else they need to go will not only help drop their pounds, but it will also teach them the value of time. A generation ago, most self-respecting parents would laugh at their child’s suggestion to drive them to school, let alone to soccer practice, ballet lessons or the mall. The damage done from lack of activity is putting children at risk in more ways than their ballooning weight. Where has the fun of bicycle riding and walking with friends gone?

Childhood Obesity Solution Tips #3: Bring Brown Bagging Back
Until your child’s school cafeteria can offer something more nutritious than pizza and chicken fingers, take the extra time to pack their lunch for them. Having your child bring his or her lunch from home can ensure that they are eating well. What happens when you give your child $2 for lunch in the cafeteria? They will spend it all on large french fries, a can of Pepsi and an ice cream sandwich. When you provide no other alternative than for your child to eat proper nutrition, their bodies will lose weight.

Childhood Obesity Solution Tips #4: Send Them To Bed Earlier
Inadequate sleep has a negative impact on a child’s performance in school, on their emotional and social welfare, and increases their risk of being overweight. Make sure they get at least 8 hours of sleep, and more importantly, send them to bed without a snack! Eating before you rest all night will sabotage any person’s weight loss efforts because your body has to work while you sleep to digest the food you eat. This results in a tired feeling when you wake up in the morning that could last for hours into the morning.

Childhood Obesity Solution Tips #5: Stop Allowing Them To Drink Sugar
Drink sugar? What exactly does that mean? It means soda pop, sports drinks and fruit drinks that are packed with sugars. Children get most of their calories from beverages, when they would be better off getting them from fresh fruit and other healthy solid foods. Take a look at the orange juice label. You will be shocked to learn that it is mainly sugar. I know what you are thinking. You yourself grew up drinking these things and you were not a fat child, right? The difference is that now serving sizes and portions are almost double what they used to be, and they are consumed more frequently.

Childhood Obesity Solution Tips #6: Sign Them Up For Something
Our bodies are meant to move, not to sit for hours and hours in front of a TV or computer screen. When your child participates in an activity after school that they enjoy, they will not even miss the couch. Not everyone is good at sports, but almost everyone has an aptitude for some physical activity. They get exposed to different things…martial arts, snowboarding, music lessons, dancing, gymnastics, roller skating, and rock climbing are all just as effective as football and soccer for building healthy bodies.

Childhood Obesity Solution Tips #7: Provide Proper Nutrition
There is nothing better than to start your children’s day off with proper nutrition, and encourage them to make healthy food choices throughout the day. Do not take them to McDonalds just because you do not want to cook something. This is where they will learn habits that will continue into their adult lives. I lost 70 pounds when I began drinking a soy protein shake with fruit every morning instead of eating a fatty breakfast or nothing at all. I have kept my weight off for 15 years because of the proper nutrition I chose to eat. A child who learns this will grow up to be a happy adult. Trust me!

Following the 7 Childhood Obesity Solution Tips listed above will not only help your child lose weight and keep it off for good, but it will also eliminate the word obesity from your family’s vocabulary. What is most important, however, is having the kind of mindset that allows you to want a better life for your child. Technology is great, but it is being abused and our children are suffering physically because of it. Have the courage to make the small daily changes in your child’s life now when it matters the most.

William Winch
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