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“Effective communication requires constant effort, but ineffective communication requires constant apologies.” – Adam Pacio, used with permission

I’ve been trying to find out where my personal evolution stopped – using the transpersonal psychology model for lack of a better plan – so that I can decide what to work on next. Change is pretty destabilizing, I’m afraid, but stagnancy is another form of death. Yeah, probably hanging on too long is an issue. When I was a kid I’d get frustrated and walk away from difficulties, so I’m thinking this is a matter of finding the Tao, the middle way. The answer isn’t immediately obvious. I think that a big part of healing is to reframe the issues (as the Republicans say). The nature of an epiphany is to show you everyday things in a new light. To extend your vision far beyond your normal point of view. To show you things you never even knew existed, if only for a moment. Maybe this is the source of creativity? For the most part, however, you make changes by a slow retraining process. When I took Chinese History I learned that when a new Dyna...

There has been a lot of verbiage in the media lately about how marriage is a Sacred Institution. Atavistic politicians go on and on about how giving same-sex domestic partnerships the same benefits as marriage would be a financial burden on employers and social services, and possibly bring about not only an end to civilization but possibly to the entire space-time continuum. There’s a problem with all that. More heterosexual couples are setting up housekeeping and even having kids without ever getting married. It’s so prevalent that unmarried couples actually outnumber married couples for the first time in years. Many states recognize common-law marriages and give them the same status and benefits as any other marriage. However, social policyin the U.S. is entirely based on the premise that women and children derive their social benefits through a man. Retirement, healthcare, housing, all of it. Most policy is based on a post-WWII “Leave it to Beaver” mental...

Excerpt. The following is an excerpt from the book Bipolar II by Ronald R. Fieve, M.D. Published by Rodale; October 2006; $22.95US/$29.95CAN; ISBN 1-59486-224-9 Copyright © 2006 Ronald R. Fieve, M.D. Bipolar Disorder and Sleep “How many hours do you sleep on average at night, and what is the quality of your sleep?” are two of the first questions I ask every patient on the initial interview and all subsequent follow-up visits. While the hypomanic usually gloats over how little sleep he needs, getting by on 3 to 4 hours a night, the lack of quality sleep can wreak havoc on his mood and decision-making abilities. Sleep deprivation results in feelings of malaise, poor concentration, and moodiness, and even accidental deaths. In a revealing sleep study published in the September 2005 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Judith Owens, MD, and her team of researchers from Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, followed 34 pediatric resid...

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Malaysia car thieves steal finger . Thursday, 31 March, 2005, 10:37 GMT 11:37 UK Here’s a good argument against biometrics. But having stripped the car, the thieves became But having stripped the car, the thieves became frustrated when they wanted to restart it. They found they again could not bypass the immobiliser, which needs the owner’s fingerprint to disarm it. They stripped Mr. Kumaran naked and left him by the side of the road – but not before cutting off the end of his index finger with a machete. I seem to recall a short story or newspaper article or something from my childhood in which folks were using their deceased relatives severed thumbs to cash their SSI checks. What are the techies thinking ? Hmm, I wonder whether Mr. Kumaran is able to use his other biometric devices since he has lost his password?