Signs of Crack Cocaine Use
Dilated pupils, sweating
Drastic weight loss
Chronic sinusitis
Hypersensitivity to visual and auditory stimuli
Insomnia followed by exhaustion and over-sleeping
Appetite suppression or intense hunger
Sexual dysfunction
Dramatic mood changes:
elevated self confidence
agitation, anxiety, depression, irritability
paranoid, suicidal ideation
Unable to hold a job
Arguments and fighting with friends, family
Financial and legal problems: rent arrears, cheques are "lost or stolen"
No food in house
Very "chatty" and self-centred
Highly skilled at manipulation; seduction
Denies and lies
Someone I don't know added me to a mailing list. Some of the email is interesting, so I didn't cancel. The following is a direct and complete quote from one of those emails.
"FASCISM
Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, wrote an article about fascism which appeared in Free Inquiry magazine (Spring, 2003) a journal of humanist thought.
Dr. Britt studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile). He found the regimes all had 14 things in common, and he calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism.
The article is "Fascism Anyone?," Lawrence Britt, Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20. http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/index_23.htm
Britt's "14 characteristics of Fascism" are:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism -
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights -
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause -
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military -
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism -
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.
6. Controlled Mass Media -
Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security -
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined -
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected -
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed -
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts -
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free __expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment -
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders
14. Fraudulent Elections -
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections."
A friend sent this today. She called it 'beautiful and inspiring'.
It's nice. I've already sent it to a couple of people in email. If you want to see it, here's the link. It's called Attracting Genuine Love.
This is what I think of it (wrote this to a friend!) -
"... one of those 'flash' programs with some kind of 'space music' (calming piano and synthesizer sounds) and text about conscious love vs unconscious love, what love really is vs what we were taught and how we experienced it."
"If you have high-speed internet, you can probably load it and see it in a minute or two.
"You'll probably like it. Maybe. ;) If you like that sort of thing."
"I tend to think that sort of thing is kind of earthy-crunchy, new age, groovy, sappy. But, I like those things, too."
I've been away (from here) for so long! I just wrote a really long entry with thanks for thinking of me, yoga, Merlefest, lots of musicians, family, springtime, beautiful flowers, allergies ... and when I tried to post it, all was lost! I thought I'd copied it, but all that was on the clipboard was the last URL I'd inserted for a link to one of the musicians I mentioned! (sigh)
I'm here. I'm okay. Thanks for thinking of me. I'll try again later.
I'm listening to an interview with this guy on the local NPR station. He says no one wants to be 'lazy'. He calls a lack of achievement in various areas an "output failure" and he recommends positive, practical, and specific ways to overocome this 'output failure'.
He says the way kids cope with this is "the avoidance of humiliation at all costs." The way adults can help these kids is by "rewarding productivity .. not for getting A's and B's, but for getting assignments turned in ... studying enough fior tests ... building up the work capacity." He says there should be a time every day set aside for kids to do "brain work", when kids study or read. He says parents should model this (by not watching tv while the kids have to study). "Kids know their parents love them, but they don't know if they admire them and respect them."
One blurb about it says -
"The mastermind behind the "Cheapskate Monthly" newsletter, Mary is proof positive that debt doesn't have to destroy you. She conquered her personal $100,000 debt mountain and now lives free from the crush of high interest and monthly payments! Start climbing your own financial alps with the indispensable guidance and hope."
I actually think she offers a very good plan, with step-by-step explanations and instructions for changing your attitudes and behaviors. And, it all seems easy enough. Even just reading it and getting the ideas in mind will be a good start (not as good as doing what she says, but you have to start by becoming aware).
I've read half of the book so far. It's a good book. I think my Dad gave it to me hoping I'd read it. I have no idea WHEN he gave it to me. I'm only now to the point where I've picked it up and started reading it. I think she offers a good plan. And, you know how debt and money worries are so stressful. In my way of thinking, it's a plan for peace of mind ... at least on the financial front.
ps - I'm not crazy about the fact that some of the groups endorsing this book are right-wing ultra-conservative fundamentalists who would gladly take away all of everyone's personal choices in life, but everyone needs help with money! So, they have a right to find it useful, too.
I have no idea what the author's personal political or social attitudes are. But, she has some excellent ideas about how to get out of debt and stay out of debt. Her book is well worth reading.
I totally screwed up and erased this entry, but I'll try to put back what I remember of it.
Yesterday, someone found this site by searching on "suzy homemaker ice cream machine". I liked that combination of words for a search, so I searched over twenty search engines.
This site was in in the top five a few search engines. It was in the #1 position on Google, Yahoo, Netscape, and AOLSearch. I thought that was kind of cool!
And, then I deleted it while trying to get the Debt-Proof Living site just right! Arrrrrghhhh!!!
A friend sent this guided meditation to me. The link is to the page where you choose your internet connection speed. From there, it takes you into the meditation.
In honor of this act of courage and solidarity and support, and maybe also to help myself recognize that I should be joining that ring, I did a google search on 'symptoms of depression'. Here are the first eleven sites listed. It's a good start.
When someone did a search for "gross sexual organs pics", this blog was #1 returned out of 5,440 found.
But, of course, they did do some kind of weird selective search (as usual) picking up words from here and there to construct the search string.
... medical pics of sexual organs. pete repeat joke. ... uterine fibroids "pics" - Rainbow
, 8:49 PM Comment Monday, February 03, 2003 Myeloma. ... yikes, the gross stuff) My ...
www.sunlightthroughrain.blogspot.com/ - 29k - Feb 7, 2003 - Cached
My friend went to another doctor and had more tests done. They gave her a different diagnosis. I don't know if it can be called 'better' or 'worse'. It's still cancer. It's still scary. She'll still need to go through chemo. She's trying to make changes to give her every possible positive factor in her favor (good nutrition, reduced stress, emotional support).
And, she has asked me for something. I'm passing her request along to anyone I tell about her. If you pray, in any way or form, please pray for her. She's scared. She's not ready to die. She wants to get through this and get well. She's not big on religion or people who try to preach to her, but on some level she believes in the power of people reaching out to someone or something greater than themselves. She knows she needs more. She is asking for it from us.
How bad is MY perspective? My friend is facing the possibility of cancer, and my personal agony is over people I thought were friends who turned out to be back stabbers. Hmmmm. I should let go of my own things, because in the greater scheme of things, it's not all that important. And, this friend is one of those who isn't a backstabber, one who does stand by me.
My poor friend. She's SO scared. I would be, too. I hope her 2nd opinion tests show that the first doctor was mistaken!
Okay. So, I saw this 'silly' article online about how people should learn to kiss and joked to someone that I should blog about it. But, now I can't remember where I found it. So, I googled it and found lots of 'how to kiss' pages.
And, you know what? If you don't just love to kiss, or if the one you're kissing doesn't seem to love to kiss you, maybe those articles aren't so silly! Hmmmmm.
So, if you're in the 'could benefit from a little instruction' category, read on ...
OMG, I think this one is in the learning how for the first time category. A video instruction guide to kissing (including, and this almost seems sad! lol. "you'll be able to make boys weak in the knees, like Britney Spears. (Boys will learn to kiss so passionately that girls will think they're kissing Tom Cruise.)").
Now this one is for adults who want to improve their sex lives. It's an ad for a tantra seminar, and it includes a seminar on "The lost art of kissing - 5 styles of erotic and esoteric kissing".
I bet no one skipped this class!
Tuesday 12/10/2002
The Art of Kissing
Time: 10:00am - 3:00pm
The Art of Kissing - Michael Christian. Lucky students! lol. Penn State had the right idea! :) At least they gave the students something to look forward to!
I guess I was wrong. It wasn't a silly article. If there is a need (for people to learn how to kiss), then there should be a way to meet that need. Apparently there is a great demand for such instruction, and there are many who are filling that need by providing classes, seminars, books and videos.
Personally, I think pleasure in kissing has everything to do with how two people feel about each other and how they enjoy each other. I hope that the people who buy those books and videos do not depend entirely on the techniques they learn from the books and videos. I hope they only use them as a guide and let their connection to each other take them the rest of the way.
Disclaimer! (yikes, the gross stuff)
My views on kissing assume that both parties have excellent dental hygiene and are free of other substances or disorders that could detract from the pleasure in that activity. Sometimes I am two feet away from someone and imagine I might choke on the rotten smell coming from the person's mouth. And, I cannot imagine how the beloved of such a person can not have the same experience.
This round-about train of thought leads me to wish all readers the good fortune to have lovers with meticulous habits of dental hygiene, gastric systems that function correctly, an absence of oral substance abuse, and sweet and pleasing breath!
I wanted to wish you good luck and link you to an October 2002 article in Reader's Digest, but they don't seem to have the article online.
Instead, I'll just wish you good luck for 2003 and list the main points of the article.
"Lucky You - the 7 secrets of lucky people" (page 166, October 2002, Reader's Digest)
1. Assume fate is on your side.
2. Get an emotional grip.
3. Keep your mind open to opportunity.
4. Think of the world as yours.
5. Keep envy in check.
6. Think like a "connector".
7. Find an upside to everything.
"Luck starts with happiness... Stop, look, and listen ... Realize things could be worse ... Feel the bliss."
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