Extract from a Prophet's Voice before 9-11

"Be Not Afraid, Only Believe"


President Gordon B. Hinckley
President of the Church

CES Fireside for Young Adults
9 Sept 2001

My dear young friends, we are gathered tonight in this great Conference Center and in numerous Church halls elsewhere. There must be hundreds of thousands of you. It is a stimulating experience and a tremendous challenge to be with you. It is a wonderful opportunity to speak with you.

Distinguish between Truth and Sophistry

You are engaged in an intense gathering of knowledge, the accumulated wisdom of all of the ages of man. As members of this Church, ours must be a ceaseless quest for truth. That truth must include both spiritual and religious truth as well as secular.

"We believe in all truth, no matter to what subject it may refer. No sect or religious denomination in the world possesses a single principle of truth that we do not accept or that we will reject. We are willing to receive all truth, from whatever source it may come; for truth will stand, truth will endure. No man’s faith, no man’s religion, no religious organization in all the world, can ever rise above the truth"

But you must distinguish between truth and sophistry. There can be a vast difference between the two, and unless we are careful, we may find that we are believing in the sophistry of man rather than the truth of God.

I read the newspapers. I read those who write syndicated columns. I occasionally listen to the commentators on television and radio. These writers are brilliant. They are men and women of incisive language, scintillating in expression. They are masters of the written word. But for the most part their attitude is negative. Regardless of whom they write about or speak about they seem to look for their failings and weaknesses. They are constantly criticizing, seldom praising. This spirit is not limited to the columnists and the commentators. Read the letters to the editor. Some of them are filled with venom, written by people who seem to find no good in the world or in their associates.

Accentuate the Positive

Criticism, faultfinding, evil speaking—these are of the spirit of the day. To hear tell, there is nowhere a man of integrity holding public office. All businessmen are crooks. The utilities are out to rob you.  In our homes, wives weep and children finally give up under the barrage of criticism leveled by abusive husbands and fathers. Criticism is the forerunner of divorce, the cultivator of rebellion, sometimes the catalyst that leads to failure. In the Church, it sows the seed of inactivity and finally apostasy.

I come to you tonight with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life we try to "accentuate the positive." I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. Now I am not asking that all criticism be silenced. Growth comes of correction. Strength comes of repentance. Wise is the man or woman who can acknowledge mistakes pointed out by others and change his or her course.

What I am suggesting is that you turn from the negativism that so permeates our modern society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom you associate, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears. When I was a young man and was prone to speak critically, my wise father would say: "Cynics do not contribute. Skeptics do not create. Doubters do not achieve."

We are experiencing a serious economic downturn. You read of thousands of layoffs. This may be a difficult season for you. You worry much about your personal affairs. You worry about money. You worry about marriage. You worry about the future.

There may be some lean days ahead for some of you. There may be troubles. None of us can avoid them all. Do not despair. Do not give up. Look for the sunlight through the clouds. Opportunities will eventually open to you. I finished the University of Utah in 1932. It was the very bottom of the most serious depression of modern times. The unemployment rate in Utah was then more than 30 percent. There was much of cynicism. It was a time when men stood in soup lines, and some committed suicide in despair. But somehow we managed to eat and keep going. Opportunities gradually opened, first here and then there. In 1982, I spoke at the fiftieth anniversary of my graduating class. I met there men and women who had become prominent in many undertakings. They had begun almost in poverty. But they kept climbing upward. They had become leaders. They had looked for the positive in life, praying with faith and working with diligence.

No matter the circumstances, I encourage you to go forward with faith and prayer, calling on the Lord. You may not receive any direct revelation. But you will discover as the years pass that there has been a subtle guiding of your footsteps in paths of progress and great purpose.

As you walk your various paths, walk with faith. Speak affirmatively and cultivate an attitude of confidence. You have the capacity to do so. Your strength will give strength to others. Do not partake of the spirit so rife in our times. Rather, look for good and build upon it. There is so much of the strong and the decent and the beautiful to build upon. You are partakers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel means "good news." The message of the Lord is one of hope and salvation. The voice of the Lord is a voice of glad tidings. The work of the Lord is a work of glorious accomplishment.

I am not suggesting that you simply put on rose-colored glasses to make the world about you look better. I ask, rather, that you look above and beyond the negative, the cynical, the critical, the doubtful, to the positive and the affirmative.

Israel’s hospitals continue to treat Gazan patients

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH 11/19/2012 05:25 Rambam dir.-gen.: It’s absurd that we are doing this at the same time Israelis are being attacked, but there is no other way. Photo: Baz Ratner/Reuters Israeli hospitals are treating dozens of patients of all ages who came to Israel from Gaza to get healthcare unavailable there, and are making provisions for accompanying persons. “We at Rambam Medical Center are taking care of sick children and adults, and we are not looking at their religion or where they come from. At the moment, we have four – a baby girl in the nephrology department, two children in oncology and an adult in urology,” Rambam director-general Prof. Rafael Beyar said. “Family members accompanied them,” he said. “It’s absurd that we are doing this at the same time Israelis are being attacked, but there is no other way. We are used to it. We are very far from politics.” Working in Haifa, Beyar was “extremely upset” when he learned that Arab students at the University of Haifa last week stood for a “moment of silence” when Ahmed Jabari, the military chief of Hamas, was killed by the IDF. “I just can’t accept that,” he said. Beyar also said that he had received no reports of any tension among Jewish and Arab personnel in his medical center. “We are used to working together to save lives.” The Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem said that in the past month, it has hospitalized six Gazan patients. Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer said that it provides medical center to several dozen Palestinians each month, and even now, there is no change. Most are children who are hospitalized for long periods or youngsters who underwent treatment and return periodically for followup, Sheba spokesman Amir Marom told The Jerusalem Post. “Just two days ago, a nineyear- old girl from Gaza who was hurt in her palm was brought to Sheba. Her father is an Arab journalists who writes from Gaza for an Israeli newspaper. She was accompanied by her mother. An Israeli boy who was wounded by a Gazan rocket that fell in Kiryat Malachi last week is in the same room with a Gazan girl whose fingers were amputated due to injury,” Marom said. “We regard our hospital as a bridge to peace.” Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center said 50 patients and their accompanying relatives from Gaza are now hospitalized – both children and adults. Most of them are cancer patients. The relatives live in the hospital’s hotel, and there is a hospital employee who serves as a contact person and helps them. Medical treatment for Gaza residents allowed into Israel is paid for by the Palestinian Authority or by other bodies, including the Peres Center for Peace.

our weekend in Israel / Armistice Day 11/13

From: Ann Hansen

Subject: our weekend in Israel / Armistice Day

Yesterday, Sunday November 11, most of the countries in western Europe remembered Armistice Day. In the USA it is called Veteran's Day. I don't know what Canada calls it. But for me it is always a solemn, important reminder of the shortcomings of men, the power of Satan, and unending nature of the war of good against evil. Notice that the day is not named Victory Day or Peace Day or anything resembling that. It is called "Armistice" Day. Armistice is a nicer name for a ceasefire; it does not encompass or even envision an end to the fighting.

Why are the red poppies the symbol of this day? Several years of shelling, digging trenches and constant warfare dug up the ground so well in western Europe (like the effects of a giant rotar tiller) that the spring and summer after the war ended the wild poppies bloomed in unprecidented numbers. Often in Israel we will have entire fields of red poppies - a magnificent site, until one remembers why.

Yesterday in Israel it was outstandingly beautiful. We had been having rain since Friday, much needed after years of drought. For me that means that the hills start to turn green and the Sea of Galilee changes color from one minute to the next: deep purple, gray, jade green, turquoise blue. The skies are a backdrop for magnificent, powerful cloud formations backlit by horizontal lightning. The weather is cool enough to warrant long sleeves and a coat. The air is brisk and refreshing. It is a day in which it is a joy to be alive.

But it was also a day of great, great sadness because of the very real reminders that war is never over, especially for us here in Israel.

The rhetoric coming from the Hisballa in southern Lebanon is increasingly warlike concerning Israel. They have fighters in Syria fighting alongside the regime, and the violence has carried over into Lebanon between pro and anti-Syria forces. We have had a significant increase in border incidences with Lebanon. Two weeks ago they sent a drone into Israel. They have sophisticated weapons, missiles and rockets - courtesy of Iran.

The various factions inside of Syria are now spending as much time fighting each other for supremacy as they are in fighting against the regime. The factions include al-Qaida and other fun folks. The fighting in Syria has meant that several times mortars and rockets from Syria, aimed at Syrian targets, have landed in Israel. Over the weekend one fell in a community on the Golan Heights. Then on Saturday another fell on an Israeli army position on the border. The last two times mortars have fallen on Israel we sent a protest to the UN (big whoopy) and warned Syria. Yesterday we fired a missile at a military target in Syria, moving the trajectory at the last moment so that it didn't hit anything. Along with that came the message that next time the missile would be allowed to hit its target. This is the first time since the Yom Kippur war, nearly 40 years ago, that Israel has fired a missile into Syria. In addition we have moved armored vehicles and tanks to positions that have been empty for nearly 40 years. I have several students who have received emergency call-ups into the reserves (in Israel nearly everyone does the army, and they continue to do reserve duty every year until they are in their 40s or 50s).
Yesterday the Chief of Staff of Israel announced that the North is now officially at the second-highest state of alert. The first highest means we are at war.

It is worse in the south. For thirteen years the civilian communities in the south along the Gazan and Egyptian borders have been routined shelled with mortars and rockets almost every day, with occassional lulls. Can you imagine what psychological state you would be in knowing that at any minute a rocket could land on you and kill or maim you???? There are a million people there who are massively traumatized for life, and the world ignores it. The UN ignores it. One of the school districts along the southern border has the country's lowest high school matriculation scores by nearly 30 points - not a wonder when you know that these kids can never relax, and that their schools and their houses have been hit multiple times. They are constantly on an adrenilin high, which severely affects health in the long run.

Two weeks ago they were again the target of an intense shelling of several days. Something new is that they were using pre-loaded, underground launching pads for the missiles, allowing the terrorists to detonate them by remote control from the safetly of wherever they were in Gaza. This was right before the US elections.

Last week, luckily for us, a huge tunnel in Gaza full of ammunition and weapons blew up (without help from us). The explosion was so huge that it left a crater nearly 6 meters wide (about 20 feet) and deep enough for a man to stand in. An Israeli jeep on the Israeli side of the border was thrown up into the air because of the percussion wave. There are dozens of these munitions tunnels in Gaza. Most of the munitions, weapons and missiles are provided by Iran.

Then on Friday afternoon things got worse. An Israeli army patrol was on a routine border patrol on Israel's side of the fence when a jeep was hit by an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza. All four Israeli soldiers were injured: burns, shrapnel wounds, percussion wave injuries, probably some loss of limbs. One soldier is barely alive and is still fighting for his life. The resulting firefight lasted for hours. An additional concern is that this was a new type of anti-tank missile which was much more effective and sophisticated than what has been used in the past. Again, thanks to Iran. Israel responded with tank rounds aimed at missile launching sites in Gaza, and a weapons tunnel.

The fallout to Israeli civilians was expected, but ferocious nonetheless. In the 2-1/2 days since Friday night, over 120 rockets, missiles and mortars have been fired at Israeli cities, towns and schools. Every single target has been a civilian target. The UN has said nothing. Several homes have received direct hits. A gym teacher on his way to the high school had a katusha land next to his car. Half of his face and body are burned. He has shrapnel all over his body (the warheads are usually filled with stainless steel ball-bearings, bolts, nails, etc.). The percussion caused injury to his back, hip and shoulder. Civilians have been asked to stay within 15 seconds of a protected space. Because few people have bomb shelters* in their homes, they chose to sleep in kindergartens and schools. The kindergartens have all had protective superstructures built around them because they have been hit so many times by missiles.

I saw two news films last night that pretty well sum up life for Israelis in the south. One was of a father walking his young daughter to school. She looked about 7 and was wearing a bright pink shirt. When the sirens went off they were too far to get to shelter. He pushed her to the ground in the fetal position with her head facing the curb and her face down. He then covered her with his own body. A rocket landed not more than 10 feet from them, but luckily they were both ok. Can you imagine living in a place where those skills have become automatic reactions, not just for the father but also for the daughter??????

The second film was taken by a security camera inside an elementary school. When the sirens went off all the little children - first, second and third graders - scrambled to run out of their classrooms and across the central lobby in order to get to the protective spaces before the rocket hit in 15 seconds. These children have never known anything else. This is not a rare occurance for them.

A few years ago in Cairo I met a professor from Iraq who spoke eloquently about the effect of decades of war on an entire generation of children. He was a quiet, gentle, rational man. He was not on a soapbox. He did not have a political message. What he had were tears in his eyes as he described the psychological effects on these children, and what the future held for them in terms of education (probably none), work (only unskilled - because of lack of education), and family life (problems with attachment, anger management, direction, goals). He spoke in terms of what that meant for the future of his country (worse than now).

What I saw as I watched the film of these children literally scrambling for their lives was this professor's face, especially his tear-filled eyes. I heard the pain and resignation in his voice. I saw the words of so many of Wilfred Owens' WW I poems.

What have we learned this past century? What will we learn? Our periods of quiet are indeed periods of "cease fire" and not peace.

What can we do? We can go on. We can teach correct principles. We can teach the importance of taking responsibility. We can try to retain our own humanity. We can continue to look for the moments of hope and love and light, and try to create our own.

Ann, Israel

*By law, all structures (including houses) built after 1992 have to have a bomb shelter inside. In our house, for example my son's bedroom is in the bombshelter.

American concerns and ambivalence

This comes from a book titled "American Myth American Reality" that I picked up for 15 cents at some store 30 years ago. Great thoughts. One of them:


Heroes and heroines are perceived to be set apart from ordinary human beings and at the same time to be models for and explanations of American social life.

[remember, this is written in 1980.]

Americans frequently voice the fear that their world is falling apart. The specter of war threatens either imminent atomic holocaust or continuing Vietnams. There is fear that the wealth and productivity of America may decline or cease to exist. There is great ambivalence among Americans, increasingly conscious and obvious, concerning government of all kinds, the Presidency, the military and defense, and the availability and consumption of American resources.

There are conscious, public discussions of and ambivalence about the fundamental distinctions to be made among human beings and the propriety of such distinctions in American life—distinctions in regard to caste, race, and sex, as well as distinctions between life and death, and human and animal life.

The Great Heroic American Cowboy myth

This comes from a book titled "American Myth American Reality" that I picked up for 15 cents at some store 40 years ago. Great thoughts. One of them:


Henry Kissinger was asked by an Italian interviewer how "he explained the incredible movie star status he enjoyed .


Kissinger replied that it came from "the fact" that he had always "acted alone." "Americans like that immensely," he said.

Americans like the cowboy who leads the wagon train by riding ahead alone on his horse, the cowboy who rides all alone into the town . .. with his horse and nothing else. Maybe even without a pistol.
... this cowboy doesn't have to be courageous. All he needs is to be alone, to show others that he rides into the town and does everything by himself...

The image of the cowboy riding alone is in American heroic mythology. It comes to their minds easily, in many variations; it grows from thousand of tellings and retellings—in stories, movies, television programs, history books, children's play... The cowboy is a heroic type.

American Myths, American truths

This comes from a book titled "American Myth American Reality" that I picked up for 15 cents at some store 40 years ago. Great thoughts. One of them:

As language is changeable and adaptable, so are a society's myths; language is conservative and slow to change, so are myths.


Myths are part of the world we live in.

But when we try consciously and rationally to understand ourselves and our past, we tend to discount myths. We think of them as fictions, "only stories," "made-up" things which have nothing to do with reason and understanding. We contrast myth and reality; the one is mistaken, unreal, false, a lie; the other is objective, understandable, real, the truth.

But the "truth" about a people, the "truth" about America and Americans, resides both in American myths and in American realities.

Our real enemy

A very good read or listen. How long can the government keep inventing more money which is no longer rooted on any standard? It was indeed during my younger lifetime that it went from gold and silver CERTIFICATES to being based on... Hot air. How long cand we keep borrowing from arab countries, the chinese, the russians... Before it crashes, our country falls apart, the ones who expect free...

rides have no sourcw? And I want to say that 47 percent might not be rediculous after all. I am most aware personally of some who think its quite ok to milk unemployment for all they can get while they DO NOT make an actual effort at finding any work at all. I know of one who I wont name who encouraged his mother to do the same thing. And is all loudly pro Obama. That there are those who have eligitamate babies or adopt is a personally observed fact. You might get heartsick if you knew how much these cancerous things do happen, what percentage of the time. The government is NOT a money tree growing it like leaves on the mapple in my back yard. It has tocome FROM somewhere. The rich, borrowing, or... Just floating in the air. And my friends, investment in our governmental moneys by our countries communistic enemies and arab countries is far from new. Its been happening a long time. Its like borrowing from the mafia. So quit living in denial, and do whack down the critics of the 47 percent statement. Whether its 47, 40, or 35, we have a problem. Rabi Lapin wrote, Americas Real Enemy. The real enemy is us,

Hazy correct information on the periphery

This is quoted from a friend who I called attention to the extreme anti-American bias on Pravda.


"Well considering pravda is the voice of the russians it isn't much of a reach to understand them putting the US in the worst possible light, they tend to be more open about it I think, than we are.  That is one thing that bugs me about the current state of communications, I see very little direct communication, always a dance around the facts and hazy correct information on the periphery of the conversation."


Yes, if someone does attempt some direct conversation between governments like that, they are accused by the American extremists (conservatives) as being in league with them. Horrors!  You don't want to try to establish rapport, that is forbidden, not kosher, anti-American.  At least anti-conservative.


Before I leave that one, the hypocritical liberals are no better.


I have a little concern over what my friend said in the quotation. Simply think about the low-brain politicians and how they throw harpoons around, very often not really knowing in depth what they are talking about, because they have not been at the ground level with the people they are throwing harpoons at. It's the age old thing of running off to the opposite end of the playing field and being competitive opponents. Competition pretty well wipes out compassion, empathy, and genuine understanding, in general. 


The latter mentality is why I used the title I put on this post.


I will probably come back to this post with a valid discussion of the great benefits of establishing rapport, building bridges, even though it should not involve compromise of values. When people establish friendships, they come closer to agreeing or at least not initiating hostile action.  (Leave Putin out of this dialog; I would not trust him regardless.)


Caveat: Friendship does not always guarantee avoidance of hostile action.  A great many Jews were betrayed and murdered by friends.

Sugar, diabetes, the heart

This is borrowed from an advertisement of something to fix the problem. That does not make the following false or incorrect.

Heart disease stems from damage of the arteries, which eventually affect the heart. There is a common myth that high levels of fat in the blood cause cholesterol to begin to stick to the walls of the arteries. However, without arterial wall damage, cholesterol cannot begin to form a "plaque", no matter how high your blood lipids may be.

Every time your blood sugar spikes, it is causing an inflammatory response that damages the lining "wall" of your arteries. LDL particles become trapped behind the damaged lining, causing atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Atherosclerosis is the number one cause of heart disease and stroke.[1] In this stage, plaque continues to build until it ultimately ruptures through the artery wall, forming a clot, which blocks the circulation. This represents a heart attack.

People with pre-diabetes or diabetes can have normal fasting readings yet blood sugars can spike after improper eating.

If you have diabetes or even pre-diabetes, you already know that every time you eat too many carbohydrates at one time you are spiking your blood sugar levels. But what about people who do not know they have pre-diabetes or diabetes and who are told by the doctor that their fasting glucose levels are within a normal range? These people probably don't give that pie ala mode a second thought. What they don't realize is that every day, after a meal they are probably experiencing artery-damaging sugar spikes that far exceed the normal range. Scientific research shows that after-meal spikes in blood sugar are potentially damaging. They not only lead to diabetes and heart disease, but also eye disease, blindness, kidney disease and nerve disease. Studies show that controlling after-meal spikes in blood sugar can help reduce cardiovascular risk

From the book The Hebrew Yeshua vs. the Greek Jesus

Amazon introduction:
An astonishing realization has recently gripped the Christian world: "Jesus Christ" was not a blond-haired, blue-eyed Gentile. Yeshua of Nazareth was raised in an observant Jewish family in a culture where the Torah (five books of Moses) was the National Constitution. Yeshua's teachings, which supposedly form the basis for Western Christianity, are now filtered through 2000 years of traditions born in ignorance of the land, language, and culture of the Bible. The issues over which Yeshua wrestled with the Pharisees are simply not understood by modern Christians; nor are his most important instructions followed by those who claim to be his disciples.


Former Pharisee, Nehemia Gordon, a Dead Sea Scrolls scholar and Semitic language expert, explores the ancient Hebrew text of the Gospel of Matthew from manuscripts long hidden away in the archives of Jewish scribes. Gordon's research reveals that the more "modern" Greek text of Matthew, from which the Western world's versions were translated, depicts "another Jesus" from the Yeshua portrayed in the ancient Hebrew version of Matthew. Gordon explains the life-and-death conflict Yeshua had with the Pharisees as they schemed to grab the reins of Judaism in the first century, and brings that conflict into perspective for both Jew and Christian alike.

The father's friend, discovered

So this lady in church, profession in sales, told of meeting this other salesman. Here's his story:
The salesman's father had served two tours in Vietnam. Between then and now the son had traveled to Europe with a group of young men. They then split up to go their various ways, and this son decided to go to Vietnam to see where his father had been for a couple days. He liked the land, they were friendly, so he decided to stay. He learned the language and worked for the Consulate. When Clinton signed the treaty to get released the Vietnamese soldiers who had been with the South - then imprisoned by the North, he interviewed them to see where they wanted to go. This one guy said he had a friend in America and wanted to go live with him. He didn't know where he was. The friend had given him his journal.
The son looked at it. It was all tattered and such. Then he saw the name on it. It was his father who was the American friend to that Vietnamese prisoner.
The son notified his father, who flew over to Vietnam and brought his friend back with him.

Entitlementalism and welfare mentality

Those who look for their own good in terms of supposedly free welfare, health care, etc. have got to realize that we all pay for it, companies pay for it, jobs suffer, we all suffer.

It is downright ignorant and stupid to think that there is an endlessly full money tree around with no affect on our general welfare and the economic welfare of the populace.

And what I've heard about the work ethic in Greece is quite interesting. No wonder that country is in the news.

Affects of C2H5OH

http://www.intox.com/images/handwriting.gif

most people begin to show the first signs of mental impairment at around 0.05% blood alcohol. 

• Mild euphoria, sociability, talkitiveness
• Increased self-confidence; decreased inhibitions
• Diminution of attention, judgment and control
• Beginning of sensory-motor impairment
• Loss of efficiency in finer performance tests

 Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant

  

http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/

   

What happens when the absorbed alcohol gets to the brain? There can be no doubt that, so far as most people are concerned, when alcohol meets the brain the event is received as good news. Something subtly pleasant begins to happen. The average drinker is not likely to sit around and attempt to put into words what he or she is beginning to experience, but after a glass or two something wanted and familiar is usually being sensed. What is experienced psychologically will be modified by personality, previous experience with alcohol, expectations of what alcohol can do for the person concerned, the company and setting, and cultural beliefs. But behind all those important influences is the core fact that when alcohol reaches the brain a mind-acting drug will begin to impact on the brain cells and brain systems in a way which can produce or facilitate pleasurable alterations in mood.

 

 Though a change of mood is the the first, obvious, wanted effect produced by alcohol, at the same time there will be produced physiological effects such as increased pulse rate, a rise in blood pressure, and an increased secretion of urine -consequences which are usually of no great immediate importance to the drinker.

  

There is a dose relationship for many of these effects, so that with more drink the pleasure is increased. Eventually, however, unpleasant effects come into play and drinking becomes aversive. The level of intake at which the response switches from pleasure to aversion varies greatly from person to person, but the wanted euphoria may be replaced by depression and maudlin misery. Nausea and vomiting may be other unwanted physical effects. In addition, there will very soon at ordinary levels of drinking be, with some variation between individuals, a dose-related impairment of reaction time, coordination and balance.

  

How alcohol acts on the brain and interacts with psychological expectations to produce its impact is a question which has during recent years attracted a great deal of research. A summary conclusion is that alcohol affects brain functioning by its capacity to interfere with the biological system of chemical messengers which is all the time regulating the balance between activity and inactivity in brain cells and brain circuitry. Alcohol does not directly key into receptor sites in the brain as do many other mind-acting drugs, but it produces its effects by cat's-pawing legitimate messengers. Through these mechanisms it will activate structures within the brain whose nerve-cell firing produces pleasure, while through other mechanisms it will dampen firing and produce sedation and impairment of coordination.

 

The molecular structure of Ethyl Alcohol is comprised of Carbon Hydrogen and Oxygen: C2H5OH

  

When any substance that contains carbon is combusted (or burned) completely,

 

the carbon forms carbon dioxide. When a substance that contains hydrogen is burned

 

completely, the hydrogen forms water. Therefore, when hydrocarbons

 

found in natural gas, gasoline, and other petroleum products burn completely, the only products are CO2 and H2O.

   

The complete combustion of a substance, such as ethanol, C2H5OH, that contains carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen also yields carbon dioxide and water.

  

Alcohol is a sedative hypnotic drug that depresses the central nervous system, making you feel more relaxed.

  

The short-term effects of alcohol are dependent on the amount consumed and can vary enormously from person to person and from one situation to another.

  

The main effect is on the brain, which can result in:

  

* Slurred speech

 

* Loss of coordination

 

* Unsteadiness when standing or walking

 

* Impaired attention and judgement

 

* Loss of inhibition

 

* Sleep

  

Relatively low doses of alcohol relax the user, make them more talkative and animated. Larger doses lead to uncoordinated movement, impaired decision-making and sedation.

  

The depressive effects of alcohol on normal brain function - especially those causing impaired judgement - are the main reasons it's always best to avoid alcohol when driving and never to exceed the limit.

  

Long-term effects of alcohol

  

The cumulative effects of excessive alcohol consumption, especially when associated with a poor diet, affect every part of the body. The two main sites of damage are the liver and the nervous system.

  

The liver may become progressively damaged through a condition known as cirrhosis, which may lead to liver failure, liver cancer and death.

  

The nervous system may be damaged at many levels. Damage to the brain can interfere with intellectual function, and increase the risk of anxiety and depression, confusion and dementia.

  

Damage to the peripheral nervous system can lead to loss of balance, impotence, numbness of the feet and hands, tremor and blindness.

  

Alcoholism is also implicated in diabetes, inflammation of the pancreas, internal bleeding, weakening of the heart, high blood pressure and stroke. Alcohol intake during pregnancy is harmful to an unborn baby.

  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/emotional_health/addictions/typesaddiction_alcohol.shtml

  

When someone becomes dependent or addicted to alcohol, they:

  

* Develop a strong sense of compulsion to drink

 

* May drink shortly after waking to reduce feelings of alcohol withdrawal

 

* Develop a reduced capacity to control how often and how much they use

 

* Organise their lifestyle around drinking

 

 Metabolism is the body's process of converting ingested substances to other compounds. Metabolism involves a number of processes, one of which is referred to as oxidation. Through oxidation in the liver, alcohol is detoxified and removed from the blood, preventing the alcohol from accumulating and destroying cells and organs. A minute amount of alcohol escapes metabolism and is excreted unchanged in the breath, in the sweat and in urine. Until all the alcohol consumed has been metabolized, it is distributed throughout the body, affecting the brain and other tissues.

  

The liver can metabolize only a certain amount of alcohol per hour, regardless of the amount that has been consumed. The rate of alcohol metabolism depends, in part, on the amount of metabolizing enzymes in the liver, which varies among individuals. In general, after the consumption of one standard drink, the amount of alcohol in the drinker's blood reaches maximum concentration within 30 to 90 minutes from the time that drinking stops.

 

Ethanol is volatile and as a result, an amount of alcohol, in proportion to the concentration in the blood, transfers from the blood into the alveolar air sacs in the lungs.

  

Ethanol acts as a drug affecting the central nervous system. Its behavioral effects are a result of its influence on the response in the nervous tissue. aIt suppresses certain brain functions. Alcohol is a depressant, and high concentrations of ethanol can be a mild general anesthetic. It suppresses certain brain functions. At very low doses, it can appear to be a stimulant by suppressing certain inhibitory brain functions. However, as concentration increases, further suppression of nervous tissue functions produce the classic symptoms of intoxication: slurred speech, unsteady gate, disturbed sensory perceptions, and inability to react quickly. At high concentrations, ethanolproduces general anesthesia; a highly intoxicated person will be in a coma like state and very difficult to wake. In extreme cases, if the alcohol concentration is high enough, it will inhibit basic involuntary bodily functions such as breathing and can cause death.

Stan Harrington's worthy thoughts on ... politicians

We vote on a regular basis to elect those that we feel will represent us the people. Some career elected officials seem to forget this on a regualr basis. We the taxpayer, pay them enormous salaries and benefits of the office. However, they also seem to forget that as well. History teaches us a lesson, but we also have tendency to forget that. Over a year ago, the Demorcrats staged a walk out... in Wisconsin in protest of the Govenor and his desire to cut budgets. Several of them remained in unknown secluded areas for several weeks. In time, the Governor got his bill through the state legislature. Immediatly a recall petition was started to recall the Govenor. Enough signatures were obtained to put it on the ballot. A special election was held and the Govenor Walker won the recall election by a higher margin that the original election. The states budget has now been balanced. Today, our U.S. House of Representative brought the vote to the floor to issue a Contempt of Congress against Secretary Holder of the Justice Department. Enough Democrats crossed party lines, upon seeing that the Contempt of Congress against Secretary Holder was going to pass, the remaining House Democrats staged walkout in protest. Our founders formed our government into branches to provide a check and balance system. They, those representing the Democrat Party, seem to beleive that if we do not get our way, we will just take a hike! When you are on our time clock, earn your money and represent those that elected you, you have plenty of time off to go on walks.

Building God's Love - a Love Beyond all else

We can be discouraged, frustrated, and downright down in the dumps when our relationship with someone else doesn't go well - or when there is no relationship.

God is not fickle. God does not make unreasonable demands. God does not compel. He gives us the guidelines, he tells us what will work and what won't, and he leaves our destiny to our choices; all choices have consequences.

We each have immense potential and He really wants each of us to reach that. Lastly, if we stumble for any reason at all, if we want to get back up, we can reach for His hand and it is gladly there for us.

REMEMBER: We were each created in His image. Even those of us whose knuckles are right now scraping the ground. He wants us to feel His love, to get off the ground.

That said.

There is a cycle, a cyclic thing.

1. Notice  the ways He loves us (there is a multitude of ways.
   
   
2. Acknowledge it to Him, give Him your appreciation, thanks and - yes - praise
   
   
3. Tell Him you love Him and will serve as He would that you do. (If you haven't, well today is a new day.)
   
4. Feel His love, notice it. Hear what He tells you or affirms to you
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5. Thank Him. Tell Him you love Him. Get that ever-increasing cycle going
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6. It will increase, enlarge, until you feel bursting with His love and with devotion to your eternal Father.

Go love him, kick that cycle in. Oh, and "church" isn't just an end to itself,  or a social club. It's where we can help each other reach that feeling.

Let the bird have freedom

Open the cage, let the bird have its freedom if it wants.  Do not compell, trap, intimidate, threaten. If the bird is yours, it will come back. Threats of any kind whatsoever never work and they are most uncomfortable and resented. Liberate.