FRED research continues to progress throughout the country, and this week I am pleased to report a startling new (though controversial) breakthrough in our search for the cure. Ironically it comes to us from a text as old as mankind, the bible. Researchers have found that by applying even a mild dose of select principles taught by Jesus Christ, FRED's symptoms can be decreased dramatically. Specifically, counselors have examined the effects of the "golden rule" method of treatment and the results were incredible: nearly all FRED sufferers agreed that, when they put the shoe on the other foot and imagined how they would feel if their spouse/family member behaved like them, they would find it hurtful. But the researchers didn't stop there. Not only were they able to help FRED victims recognize the hurtful impact of their behavior, they actually helped FRED sufferers make the critical link from cognition to comportment, that is, from identifying this characteristic in themselves to then changing their own behavior and eradicating completely the symptoms of the disease. Subjects were then able to participate in several family functions with no sign of resistance. This clinical research represents some of the first observable cures of FRED.

Up till now, most of the research in the field had focused on identifying and changing specific characteristics of families that were likely to aggravate FRED sufferers. The premise was that families, not FRED sufferers, were the source of the disease and therefore needed treatment. But this new research is ground breaking in that it severs the link between how families act and how FRED sufferers respond. It establishes that the cause of FRED is not the idiosyncrasies of a particular family but the character and/or thought patterns of the sufferer. The research indicates that the cure for the disease does not depend upon circumstantial factors and exists independent of any particular family. This "new" discovery of the application of the golden rule, though apparently simple, has powerful ramifications for FRED sufferers everywhere.

Stay tuned for more FRED updates.

Similar posts: horizon health

CHICAGO (Reuters) A Colorado meat company is expanding a recall of beef due to possible contamination by E.coli O157:H7 bacteria after an investigation found 18 illnesses may be linked to the meat, the U.S.
Agriculture Department said on Sunday.
Greeley, Colorado-based JBS-Swift Beef Co is voluntarily expanding its June 24 recall to include about 380,000 lbs of assorted beef products, USDA said.  The original recall was for 41,280 lbs.  The affected beef was produced on April 21 and was distributed nationally and internationally. 
E.coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and, in severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, seniors, and persons with weak immune systems are at the most risk.
Consumers with questions can call 1-800-685-6328.
JBS Swift is a unit of Brazilian meat company JBS S.A.

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Sportspeople As Heroes:
It is generally accepted in society today that professional sportspeople, like television and movie celebrities and such, are public property. We expect from them a certain standard of behaviour and we apply a higher, or more stringent, level of scrutiny than we would mere mortals. Rightly or wrongly, this is the reality of today.

So it should come as no surprise when the people who idolise these stars turn, en masse, against anyone who attempts to sully the reputation. Again, rightly or wrongly, it is us who have established the level of scrutiny that ultimately has both negative and positive consequences on the relationship between and the public.

By demanding that these be more transparent, and therefore more available to us, we are in fact authorising them to behave like prima-donnas, and for their fans to become fanatical.

Lesson? Swings and roundabouts. Action and consequence, and all that.

Role Models:
Whilst I condemn the persecution of anyone who endures any sort of ordeal that, to them and by their judgement alone, was traumatic, so-called people need also to be as mindful of their behaviour as these footballers do. Without addressing the specific issue of whether or not a rape did or did not occur, the young woman at the centre of this case (and others like her) do not provide good for other young women.

But should they?

I think so, yes. In many cases, these ladies make a name for themselves (in some case, amongst their friends and colleagues, in other cases via public facebook pages etc) by amassing (sexual or otherwise) of NRL players, and other sportspeople, muck like rock and rolls famed groupies do. Whilst this by no means makes rape or unwanted sexual behaviour okay, right, or acceptable, this sort of highly publicised, self-promoting behaviour does make them easy targets for the sort of personal, character attacks (as despicable as they are) that these young women have publicly endured recently.

Just as I encourage, and teach, my own daughters to actively avoid situations where they put themselves at risk unnecessarily, these young women should be encouraged to do the same. Th question was asked on this fantastic blog entry what if it were your sister, daughter, friend to be perfectly honest, one of the first questions I would ask myself is where was I? What did I do to prevent this? Why didnt I see this coming?

Rugby League, and other mens sports:
I would hate to see people walk away from or abandon their support for the NRL, or any other sport for that matter, on the basis of their opinion of this specific issue. Acknowledging of course that this incident is not isolated, and that rugby league particularly has a long and extensive history of this sort of vile behaviour (a history that continues to be written each and every season), turning our backs on them is still not the answer.

I still love to watch the rugby league, along with all my other codes of football, and other sports. If we as a society want their behaviour to change, we must continue to influence change. That influence will always be stronger of we support the game, support the code, support the players. My restorative justice brain kicks in here and when I think shame the behaviour, dont shame the individuals. Like many of lifes darknesses, if we simply turn our back on these people, their behaviour will only worsen in isolation, without scrutiny, in the deep underground of where nobody sees. Yes, it is easy to say but havent we been through all this before, and youd be exactly right. But thats no reason to give up. Walking away will only validate their behaviour, not alter it.

A couple of final thoughts, on Matthew Johns:
Back then, Matthew Johns wasnt the he is now. Hes not Andrew Johns. Without letting him off the hook from the responsibility of taking ownership of his own actions, and suffering the consequences, Matthew Johns wasnt the player of some make him out to be. As a very well known television celebrity today, people have re-written history to imply that he should have been the voice of reason that fateful night seven years ago. Im not sure that was in fact the reality. In the end, he did decide for himself (albeit far too late) that what was happening was wrong, but to suggest that he was responsible for every other man there is not right, in my opinion.

Finally, again without glossing over what he did and how wrong it was, Matthew Johns has been brave, honourable and commendable in his approach to owning up to his part in the incident. Yes, he should suffer the consequences. Yes, some sort of punishment is due him. But he should not have to shoulder the burden of at least nine other players who are yet to step forward. To date, only one other player has been named, and unlike Johns who named himself publicly, that other player has so far only been outed by others. In that context, I do feel sorry for both Matthew and Trish Johns, who I believe will suffer more than their fair share until those other cowards come forward.

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Last week the voters of California rejected five initiatives designed to close next year’s budget gap. According to the State’s Legislative Analyst, next year’s budget deficit is estimated at $24 billion (out of a $92 billion General Fund). There has been a great deal of speculation in the media why the voters decided, by overwhelming margins to vote down the proposal, which would have (allegedly) resulted in a balanced budget. Conservatives suggest that the vote was a signal to the liberals against new taxes; liberals argue that it was a message to the legislature and Governor that they need to take care of the people’s business and not reallocate previous voter approved funds from several programs to the State’s General Fund. At this point, the reasons are irrelevant.
Moreover, Washington has made it clear that there will be no bailout forthcoming.
Cleary the situation has reached a point that all the solutions under consideration will result in significant reductions in public services – from education, to public safety and public health. No programs regardless of its constituency are likely to escape huge reductions. Cities, counties and special district throughout the State are now preparing their budgets for next year; those budgets will include layoffs of large numbers of employees, wage and benefit freezes and reductions in direct program areas as well.
On a larger scale, both Democrats and Republicans are considering asking the voters to authorize a state constitutional convention. That should have happened years ago. Even Proposition 13 is on the table for review.
Human Resources Directors and staff will be called upon to provide leadership, fresh ideas and stability in an unstable environment. I hope that no HR Director in California has to bang on the decision maker’s door to get a seat at the table. Similarly, we have to live up to the expectations and be willing to tackle difficult situations with honesty, integrity and ethics. Are we ready.

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First aired 13 July 2006, RT 49:21. For the last 50 years the world has lived in fear of radiation. Hiroshima, Nagasaki and accidents at nuclear power stations struck terror in people everywhere – but Horizon: Nuclear Nightmares has uncovered evidence to suggest these fears could be unfounded. The programme examines in detail the aftermath of the ultimate nuclear nightmare – the explosion and fire 20 years ago at Chernobyl Reactor number four. The results of the investigation are astonishing. In the aftermath of Chernobyl experts predicted tens of thousands of deaths from cancer. Yet, when the authoritative UN Chernobyl Forum report - compiled by scientists from organisations such as the WHO - was published late last year it put the total death toll from the accident at just 59. Fifty workers in the plant died from acute radiation sickness and so far only nine cases of cancer can be attributed to the accident. This is a huge discrepancy between prediction and reality. Those predictions were based on a theory called the Linear no threshold (LNT) model. This model was derived by studying the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who received huge radiation doses; yet there is almost no data to support the model at the sort of levels of radiation exposure caused by Chernobyl. The LNT model is, the experts admit, little more than an informed guess. Horizon's investigation has turned up evidence to suggest that there is a threshold below which radiation may be harmless. There are many places on Earth where the natural background radiation is tens or even hundreds of times higher than in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Yet studies of populations who live in these natural radiation hot spots have consistently failed to find any negative health consequences. The programme also reports on the scientific experiments that suggest that a little radiation may even protect against cancer by stimulating the body's natural cancer defences. These ideas are controversial. What is accepted by all the experts Horizon talked to is that for the victims of Chernobyl the real problem is not radiation – but radiophobia, the fear of radiation, which has caused acute psychological trauma. Could we all find ourselves victims of radiophobia, as we fight shy of a technology which may be vital in the fight to save our civilisation from the effects of global warming.

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century military and intelligence capabilities that will allow us to stay one step ahead of a nimble enemy. We have re-energized a global non-proliferation regime to deny the worlds most dangerous people access to the worlds deadliest weapons, and launched an effort to secure all loose nuclear materials within four years. We are better protecting our border, and increasing our preparedness for any future attack or natural disaster. We are building new partnerships around the world to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates. And we have renewed American diplomacy so that we once again have the strength and standing to truly lead the world.
These steps are all critical to keeping America secure. But I believe with every fiber of my being that in the long run we also cannot keep this country safe unless we enlist the power of our most fundamental values. The documents that we hold in this very hall the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights are not simply words written into aging parchment. They are the foundation of liberty and justice in this country, and a light that shines for all who seek freedom, fairness, equality and dignity in the world.
I stand here today as someone whose own life was made possible by these documents. My father came to our shores in search of the promise that they offered. My mother made me rise before dawn to learn of their truth when I lived as a child in a foreign land. My own American journey was paved by generations of citizens who gave meaning to those simple words to form a more perfect union. I have studied the Constitution as a student; I have taught it as a teacher; I have been bound by it as a lawyer and legislator. I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief, and as a citizen, I know that we must never ever turn our back on its enduring principles for expedience sake.
I make this claim not simply as a matter of idealism. We uphold our most cherished values not only because doing so is right, but because it strengthens our country and keeps us safe. Time and again, our values have been our best national security asset in war and peace; in times of ease and in eras of upheaval.
Fidelity to our values is the reason why the United States of America grew from a small string of colonies under the writ of an empire to the strongest nation in the world.
It is the reason why enemy soldiers have surrendered to us in battle, knowing theyd receive better treatment from Americas armed forces than from their own government.
It is the reason why America has benefited from strong alliances that amplified our power, and drawn a sharp and moral contrast with our adversaries.
It is the reason why weve been able to overpower the iron fist of fascism, outlast the iron curtain of communism, and enlist free nations and free people everywhere in common cause and common effort.
From Europe to the Pacific, we have been a nation that has shut down torture chambers and replaced tyranny with the rule of law. That is who we are. And where terrorists offer only the injustice of disorder and destruction, America must demonstrate that our values and institutions are more resilient than a hateful ideology.
After 9/11, we knew that we had entered a new era that enemies who did not abide by any law of war would present new challenges to our application of the law; that our government would need new tools to protect the American people, and that these tools would have to allow us toattacks instead of simply prosecuting those who try to carry them out.
Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions. And I believe that those decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people. But I also believe that too often our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight, and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions. Instead of strategically applying our power and our principles, we too often set those principles aside as luxuries that we could no longer afford. And in this season of fear, too many of us Democrats and Republicans; politicians, journalists and citizens fell silent.
In other words, we went off course. And this is not my assessment alone. It was an assessment that was shared by the American people, who nominated candidates for President from both major parties who, despite our many differences, called for a new approach one that rejected torture, and recognized the imperative of closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Now let me be clear: we are indeed at war with al Qaeda and its affiliates. We do need to update our institutions to deal with this threat. But we must do so with an abiding confidence in the rule of law and due process; in checks and balances and accountability. For reasons that I will explain, the decisions that were made over the last eight years established an ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism that was neither effective nor sustainable a framework that failed to rely on our legal traditions and time-tested institutions; that failed to use our values as a compass. And that is why I took several steps upon taking office to better protect the American people.
First, I banned the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques by the United States of America.
I know some have argued that brutal methods like water-boarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more. As Commander-in-Chief, I see the intelligence, I bear responsibility for keeping this country safe, and I reject the assertion that these are the most effective means of interrogation. Whats more, they undermine the rule of law. They alienate us in the world. They serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists, and increase the will of our enemies to fight us, while decreasing the will of others to work with America. They risk the lives of our troops by making it less likely that others will surrender to them in battle, and more likely that Americans will be mistreated if they are captured. In short, they did not advance our war and counter-terrorism efforts they undermined them, and that is why I ended them once and for all.
The arguments against these techniques did not originate from my Administration. As Senator McCain once said, torture serves as a great propaganda tool for those who recruit people to fight against us. And even under President Bush, there was recognition among members of his Administration including a Secretary of State, other senior officials, and many in the military and intelligence community that those who argued for these tactics were on the wrong side of the debate, and the wrong side of history. We must leave these methods where they belong in the past. They are not who we are. They are not America.
The second decision that I made was to order the closing of the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.
For over seven years, we have detained hundreds of people at Guantanamo. During that time, the system of Military Commissions at Guantanamo succeeded in convicting a grand total of three suspected terrorists. Let me repeat that: three convictions in over seven years. Instead of bringing terrorists to justice, efforts at prosecution met setbacks, cases lingered on, and in 2006 the Supreme Court invalidated the entire system. Meanwhile, over five hundred and twenty-five detainees were released from Guantanamo under the Bush Administration. Let me repeat that: two-thirds of the detainees were released before I took office and ordered the closure of Guantanamo.
There is also no question that Guantanamo set back the moral authority that is Americas strongest currency in the world. Instead of building a durable framework for the struggle against al Qaeda that drew upon our deeply held values and traditions, our government was defending positions that undermined the rule of law. Indeed, part of the rationale for establishing Guantanamo in the first place was the misplaced notion that a prison there would be beyond the law a proposition that the Supreme Court soundly rejected. Meanwhile, instead of serving as a tool to counter-terrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol that helped al Qaeda recruit terrorists to its cause. Indeed, the existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained.
So the record is clear: rather than keep us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security. It is a rallying cry for our enemies. It sets back the willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that operates in scores of countries. By any measure, the costs of keeping it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it. That is why I argued that it should be closed throughout my campaign. And that is why I ordered it closed within one year.
The third decision that I made was to order a review of all the pending cases at Guantanamo.
I knew when I ordered Guantanamo closed that it would be difficult and complex. There are 240 people there who have now spent years in legal limbo. In dealing with this situation, we do not have the luxury of starting from scratch. We are cleaning up something that is quite simply a mess; a misguided experiment that has left in its wake a flood of legal challenges that my Administration is forced to deal with on a constant basis, and that consumes the time of government officials whose time should be spent on better protecting our country.

Similar posts: horizon health

Dear Fingerpointer,

I know your history of mistrust and dishonest beginnings make you suspicious, cantankerous, and all-around pessimistic, but I am severely disappointed. I do have better things to do with my time then try to manipulate you in the manner in which you accuse. Honestly, it would be of no gain for me to travel that route. You have no money to pick up and come back. You have nothing I want. And if my attempts had worked somehow, HOW do I fake that!? You would have arrived on return to find out it was all a lie, and where would my master plan be left then? Do not you think I am slightly more intelligent than this?

If I really wanted to manipulate you, I know far better ways to pull your strings. I know you well enough to know what makes you crazy so let me just tell you now, my health is NOT what would work. Your inherent need to pine for what is unattainable is far more magnetic. If I WERE to mentally and emotionally jackhammer you, I would have bounced back with such agility I could have earned a 10 from the judges. Moving on, no hiccup in stride, acted as though I never intended to keep you anyhow, if not cut all contact completely and let you sniff it out by ways secondhand. This would have been FAR more effective and far more pleasurable for myself as well. This is only one way, mind you.

But sadly, No. I did get to feel the lifeless fetus inside my body. The deep, sickening pitfall that replaced my stomach and terror befell my body when I heard that she was, in fact, gone was very vividly real. Hearing someone utter to me that the only choice was to suck her pre-existing remains from my womb and discard her like trash was pure pain. To know that I, again, was not a habitable place for a small, innocent soul. I cannot even complete the most primal and basically automatic functions of living. I felt that, sir. Fully. Daily. And, I did [and do] so, alone. Without your help, though it was technically only half mine. She was already my everything, and much like you, she was gone before I got to prove of what I am capable.

Next, Cancer. I know we have all read and seen the graven images of bald men and women, ambling weakly though their recoveries/treatments/lives/deaths. They are the worst of the worst. These men and women are the ones who are terminal in their condition. I am not terminal. I am not in need of aggressive, debilitating treatments. No one is force feeding me experimental cures because my days aren't numbered. That's why you've not seen those signs you have ingrained in your mind as to what I should be. I am precancerous, not terminal. And the 'signs' you are looking for you will not see for a multitude of reasons. A) I'm not going to post photos of sickly 'ol me for you to gawk and pity. B) You are not here to see them.

This is also very real. I sat alone for days, laying in my bed, pissing into a bedpan because I was not fit for interaction. Then I went through weeks of unimaginable sickness. The searing, burning pain of my throat. Sobbing uncontrollably because the cramps hurt so badly. Begging God to just let me go, to stop the pain. Wondering for hours why I deserved to lie alone, in agony. Why was all this happening now? After everything I had just went through? I shudder constantly. Tremors ranging from very light and unnoticeable to embarrassingly obvious. I cannot recall things when I speak. Typing is slightly better because I may stall and delete where I see fit without my engager's eagle eyes upon me.

Excuse me for not wanting to answer question after question about how I 'am' or what new development has happened. I do not want to discuss it. I do not want to be everyone's worry and concern. I do not want to be reminded of where I am. I am in the most low and miserable spot I have been in years. Excuse me for not wanting to broadcast it. For not wanting to be reminded day in and day out, just you can have some selfish peace about my fucking condition. I want to continue living with the time I have, doing the things I do. Doing these things without feeling like a handicapped half-wit or leper of sorts. Maybe one day you will understand. People treat you with kid gloves when you are ill, and I do not wish for anyone's special treatment. Save it for the terminal. They need it far more than I.

Disgustedly Offended,
Hello Havoc.

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Mayor Herenton stated his belief that Memphis was heading toward an impending crisis in less than two years. He pointed to consolidation as the only salvation for the City. Mayors across the country are predicting doom ...unless. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been pushing for tax hikes as the only answer to preventing the release of thousands of nonviolent criminals. The public sent him a resounding NO. The reality is this is bigger than Memphis. This Nation is in a financial crisis that has no end in sight.

What are we to do? The common answer I hear from conservatives is, "cut government spending." Well here's a little fact, much of the city dollars are out of the control of our elected officials. Be it under contract, mandated by state, negotiated through labor unions or "third-rail" funds like police or fire departments, city officials have little say in much of our expenditures.

When cut backs are made we see the results. A good example is the Rape Crisis Center which has been all over the news. When the center was unable to hire needed nurses unwise skimping occurred. Like not having staff available 24-hours, as required. The outcome people suffer. I fear as time goes on and agencies - government and nonprofits will start ripping at the seam.

At this point I guess it would be appropriate to suggest an answer to this looming crisis. Well I dont have one. There will be no easy fix. Anyone who believes years of mismanagement can be solved in a year or two is just not being realistic. The stimulus funds being injected into our economy by President Obama - which was the right thing to do - has at best slowed down the financial meltdown. Sooner or later those dollars will have to be pulled back to prevent inflation.

No there is not a quick fix pill we can take. You, me and our children are going to face a different future than what we might have expected. Health Care, Social Security Benefits, even how we define retirement, within a decade or two will be no more. We are going to have to look at new paradigms if America is going to right itself.

The other day I was at the Frayser Festival and I spoke with a lieutenant in the Memphis Police Department and you could see the frustration in his face. He said, re losing to the criminals and nobody wants to confess to it. He was speaking about the futility of arresting an individual only to see the criminal released due to over crowded jails. Their out of jail before we get off work, said the lieutenant. For those who scream and join caravans to drive to Nashville and demand longer jail time for criminals, but then rail at higher taxes, Im sorry but the complexity of the problems we are facing require creativity not knee-jerk reactions.

This Nation needs to accept that our future is going to be fundamentally different than a generation or two ago. There are not enough police officers, judges and jails to solve our crime problem. Were going to have to take greater responsibility for our own health. Sorry Mickey Ds. Were going to have to forget about keeping up with the Joneses, especially since they just filed for bankrupts. We cant trust our 401(k) Plan to insure well retire in Hawaii. Don't get me wrong, this is still a great Nation, but the party is over and all were left with is a headache. Our new mantra needs to be, Live within your means. Prevention management over crisis management, Ill talk more about this in another post, will be the key to addressing much of our social problems.

So is the Mayor correct about the impending crisis? As far as I'm concern its already here.

Similar posts: horizon health

18th Century
Kanhoji Angre
Abbe Faria
Tipu Sultan - Mysore
Pazhassi Raja
Veerapandiya Kattabomman - Panchalankurichi, Tirunelveli Tamil Nadu
Puli Devar - Nerlkaattum Seval, Tirunelveli Tamil Nadu
Maruthu Pandiyar - Kalaiyar kovil, Tamil Nadu
Polygar War - West and South Tamil Nadu

Pre-1857
Maruthu Pandiyar (Periya Maruthu, Chinna Maruthu brothers)
Kitturu Chennamma (the first woman independence activist of India)
Sangoli Rayanna- son of Karnataka

Freedom Fighters of 1857
Bakhat Nasar
Mangal Pandey
Tatya Tope
Rani of Jhansi
Bahadur Shah Zafar
Azimullah Khan
Rae Ahmed Nawaz Khan Kharal

Indian Renaissance
Sri Aurobindo
Allama Iqbal
Syed Ahmed Khan
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna Mission
Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Brahmo Samaj
Prarthana Samaj
Sir Ganesh Dutt
Dayananda Saraswati
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
Swami Vivekananda

Political organizations
All India Kisan Sabha
All India Muslim League
Khudai Khidmatgar
Khaksar Tehrik
Gadar Party
Swaraj Party
Anushilan Samiti
Jugantar
Hindustan Socialist Republican Association
Bengal Volunteers
Shiromani Akali Dal
Unionist Muslim League
Hindu Mahasabha
Communist Party of India
All India Forward Bloc
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Indian Liberal Party

Leaders from Bengal and Northeastern India
Subhas Chandra Bose
Bipin Chandra Pal
Chittaranjan Das
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Rabindranath Tagore
Surya Sen
Pritilata Waddedar
Gopinath Bardoloi
Gomdhar Konwar an Unsung Hero
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Benoy Basu
Badal Gupta
Dinesh Gupta
Khudiram Bose
Prafulla Chaki
Bagha Jatin
Barin Ghosh
Rash Behari Bose
Aurobindo Ghosh
Hemchandra Das
Surendranath Banerjee
Upendranath Bannerjee
Sarat Chandra Bose
Pramatha Nath Mitra
Bhupendra Nath Datta
Pulin Bihari Das
Taraknath Das
Atulkrishna Ghosh
Ullaskar Dutta

Leaders from North, United Provinces, Bihar and Central India
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
Baikuntha Shukla
Pandit Karyanand Sharma
Sir Ganesh Dutt
Sri Krishna Sinha
Basawon Singh (Sinha)
Pandit Yamuna Karjee
Yogendra Shukla
Sheel Bhadra Yajee
Pandit Yadunandan (Jadunandan) Sharma
Ramavriksha Benipuri
Ganga Sharan Singh (Sinha)
Mulana Mazharul Haque
Ali Jawad Zaidi
Ashfaqullah
Chandrasekhar Azad
Dr. Abhay Chandra Pandey
Ram Nihor Mishra
Sudama Pandey
Bi Amman
Maulana Mohammad Ali
Maulana Shaukat Ali
Motilal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Maulana Hasrat Mohani
Kamla Nehru
Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari
Rafi Ahmad Kidwai
Dr Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi
Hafiz Mohammed Ibrahim
Govind Ballabh Pant
Acharya Narendra Deva
Ram Lagan Singh
T A K Sherwani
Zakir Hussain
Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma
Balkrishan Sharma Navin
Ganesh Shanker Vidyarthy
Mahavir Tyagi
K D Malaviya
Ajit Prasad Jain
Ram Manohar Lohia
Mohan Lal Gautam
Jagan Prasad Rawat
Vijayalaksmi Pandit
Ramchandra Moreshwar Karkare (Vaqil)
Purushottam Das Tandon
Seth Govind Das
Goverdhan Lal Arya

Leaders from Punjab and Northwest India
Allama Mashriqi
Allama Iqbal
Allama Inaitullah Almashriqi
Lala Lajpat Rai
Sardul Singh Caveeshar
Sheikh Abdullah
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Baba Gurdit Singh
Baba Gurmukh Singh
Baba Hari Singh Usman
Baba Jawala Singh
Baba Kharak Singh
Baba Sher Singh
Bal Raj Bhalla
Baldev Singh
Balwant Singh
Banta Singh
Bhagat Singh
Bhagwan Singh Longowalia
Bhagwati Charan
Bhai Bal Mukand
Bhai Parmanand
Bhai Ram Singh
Jinen Shah
Kartar Singh Sarabha
Kartar Singh Jhabbar
Kedar Nath Saigal
Krishna Gopal Dutt
Kishan Singh Gargaj
Lala Pindi Das
Mahavarat Vidyalankar
Tej Bahadur Sapru
Sardul Singh Caveeshar
Seth Sant Ram
Seth Sudarshan
Sewa Singh Thikriwala
Shivaram Rajguru
Sir Sikander Hyat Khan
Somprakash Shaida
Sohan Lal Pathak
Sohan Singh Bhakna
Sohan Singh Josh
Sukhdev
Pahari Gandhi Baba Kanshi Ram
Udham Singh
Sarvothaman

Leaders from Gujarat and Maharashtra
Manvendra Nath Azad Als.Kaku Bhai Bhatia.
Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Chapekar Bandhu
Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve
Dadabhai Naoroji
Mohandas Gandhi
Kasturba Gandhi
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Ravi Shankar Vyas
Narhari Parikh
Jivatram Kripalani
Mahadev Desai
Manilal Pandya
Mohanlal Pandya
Abbas Tyabji
Gopal Krishna Gokhale
Narahar Vishnu Gadgil
Vithalbhai Patel
Vinoba Bhave
Ganesh Vasudev Mavlankar
Mridula Sarabhai
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Morarji Desai
Bhikaiji Cama
Joseph Baptista
U.N.DHEBAR
Pujya Mota
Pandit Shyamji Krishna Varma
Swami Dayanand Sarswati
Mahadev Govind Ranade
Tatya Tope
Rani Laxmibai
Narhar Vishnu Gadgil
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule
Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj
Jhansi Ki Rani
Kaku Bhai Bhatia Als.Gopaldas Mavji Purecha

Leaders from South India
Alluri Sita Rama Raju
Amarajeevi Potti Sreeramulu
Chakravarti Rajgopalachari
Sardar Vedaratnam
Kayyara Kinyanna Rai
Krishna Menon
Mathai Manjooran
P. J. Sebastian
Pattabhi Sitarammiaya
Kandukuri Veeresalingam
Sarojini Naidu
Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan
S. Srinivasa Iyengar
S. K. Amin
Kalvakuntla Chandrasena Gupta
Pinnamaneni Sreeramachandra Rao
Pulapa Posayya
Geda Raghunayakulu
Krovvidi Lingaraju
Thiruppur Kumaran
K. Kunhambu
Tanguturi Prakasham Panthulu
Puli Thevar, Polygar chieftain who fought the British East India Company in the 1750s and 1760s. First general of Tamil origin to fight against the British.
Kattabomman (1760-1799), Polygar chief of Panchalakurichi who fought the British in the First Polygar War. He was captured by the British at the end of the war and hanged.
The Maruthu Pandiyar brothers Periya Marudhu and Chinna Marudhu who fought the British in the First and Second Polygar Wars.
Dheeran Chinnamalai (1756-1805), Polygar chieftain and feudatory of Tipu Sultan who fought the British in the Second Polygar War.
Sir S. Subramania Iyer (1842-1925), lawyer, jurist and theosophist who co-founded the Home Rule Movement along with Annie Besant, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He is affectionately called Grand Old Man of South India.
G. Subramania Iyer (1855-1916), Freedom fighter and founder of "The Hindu" English newspaper.
V.O. Chidambaram Pillai (18721936), independence fighter, who launched the first Indian ship on Indian waters under British Rule.
V. V. S Iyer (1881-1925) Tamil scholar and freedom fighter.
Subramanya Bharathy (1882-1921), Indian freedom fighter, Tamil poet and social reformer. Often regarded as the national poet of Tamil Nadu.
Sathyamurthy (1887-1943), Indian freedom fighter and leader of the Congress party in the erstwhile Madras presidency.
Vanchinathan (1886-1911), Patriot who killed General Ash and committed suicide at Maniyachi.
Kalki Sadasivam (1902-1997), Freedom fighter and husband of famous singer M.S. Subbulakshmi.
Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar (19081964), independence fighter and All India Forward Bloc Leader.
Quaaid-E-Milath Mohamed Ismail, independence fighter, Member of Parliament and was the President of Indian Muslim League.
Lakshmi Sehgal (1914-), Head of Rani Jhansi Brigade, women's wing of the INA and a close associate of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. Presidential candidate in 2002 President's election.
A. Vaidyanatha Iyer
Thyagaraja Sivam
Chidambara Bharathi
Subramanya Siva
N. Somayajulu
Krishna Kundu
Munagala Pattabhiramaiah
Mattapparai Venkatrama Iyer
Dr. Rukmini Lakshmipathy
K.S. Subramaniam
N.S. Varadachari
K. Santhanam
Mannargudi K. Bhashyam
George Gheverghese Joseph
IDF Sundararaja Iyengar
Salem C. Vijayaraghavachariar
Sangu Subramaniam
'Va.Ra.' V. Ramaswami
Valangaiman S. Srinivasa Sastri
N.M.R. Subburaman
Krishnaswami Bharathi
'Vastaad' Sundaram Pillai
Dr. Pichamuthu Ammaal
Bharathamuthu Thevar
Maulana Sahib
Srinivasavaradhan
Dindigul T.R. Mahadeva Iyer
Nityananda Adigal
Dr. Varadarajulu Naidu
G.A. Natesan
Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy
Pandit Muthaiya Das
Thootukudi Masilamani Pillai
Yagneswara Sarma

Prominent European activists
Allan Octavian Hume
A.G. Horniman
Annie Besant
Madeleine Slade
C. F. Andrews

So much blood.
When will we ever be free.

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Wow was the Dispatch off the mark this weekend...not with their message...with their figures.
The Dispatch claimed Speaker Armond Budish received $62,000 from the Nursing Home Industry and, not coincidentally, the Ohio Business Roundtable has a recent report in hand showing that Ohio still is far out of step with the rest of the USA ranking 39th in the proportion of long term care dollars going to options other than nursing homes:
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/editorials/stories/2009/05/03/nurz.ART_ART_05-03-09_G4_4SDMR65.html


There are two things that jump out at me when reading that paragraph (NOTE: As background for those of you who dont know: I raised $ for the GOP House Majority from 1/95 to 5/04) and they are:
1) $62,000 is WAY TOO LOW of a figure. To put that in perspective, that would mean the Nursing Home Industry supported Budish about as well as they did Riffe (which was less than Davidson, Householder Husted). With how heavy-handed Budish is I do not think he would let those guys get away with that. I havent done the research, but I would bet a pretty penny that the Dispatch employee who did the research for the article probably missed at least $63,000 (taking the total to a much more believable level of $125,000). That is a safe bet...the figure is likely higher than $125,000. The Dispatch employee probably just did not know all the names and entities the Industry raises $ from under their Nursing Home Umbrella.
2) It completely makes me laugh that the Ohio Business Roundtable is trying to take this approach at coming at the Nursing Homes and thinking it is going to have any impact whatsoever. That is very funny to me. I totally tip my hat to Stoff. That guy is a survivor, but one of the reasons he has continued to survive from Administration to Administration (Voinovich to Taft to Strickland) is that the overwhelming majority of the time the Business Roundtable is They dont take sides. Very rarely as an organization do they pick sides in a fight (NOTE: Not true with individual members. Individual members within the organization do pick sides, but the organization as a whole does not).
Compare and contrast that approach with the Nursing Home Industry who has a history back to the original days of big money donors/fundraisers like Bob Coury Sam Boymel (may they rest in peace) and you could not have a more apples oranges comparison.
Depending on your worldview, the Nursing Home Industry is either Russia or the US of A...a Superpower (good or evil depending on your perspective, but a Superpower nonetheless).
So in the real world of smash mouth politics (and make no mistake about it...states like OH, NY, CA, FL PA have some of the most smash mouth politics of any states in the country) when you are in Armond Budishs shoes and you know you are going to be in a Battle Royale to try to take the majority in 2008 and then you become Speaker and are in a position where history tells you that the mid-term election of the first term of your same party affiliation President means you are going to lose seats (and possibly the Speakership) in 2010 then you are going to do what you need to do.
So, what do you think Budish does when posed with either pissing off or the USA???
Budish is going to side with the Nursing Homes every single day of the week and twice on Sunday over the Roundtable every single time. EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Think Im wrong? Do the same research again next year or in 2011 and I bet that Ohio drops even lower (i.e. from our current spot of 39th to 40th or lower).
The only thing that will change that (in my humble opinion) is if the Roundtable does something that I dont think they have the intestinal fortitude (see how I was nice about it and did not use the word ) to do:
*Form a corporate entity (Im no attorney and Ive been out of the game for 5 years so I dont know if the best avenue is a 527 or a 501 c 4, but it is probably one or the other) that educates Ohioans as to the positives and negatives of certain individuals running for the House of Representatives instead of being a on the sidelines.

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NEW INNOVATIVE TREATMENT IN THE WORKS

First a little background. Microcurrent is a battery operated physical therapy modality that was introduced in the US in 1987. Research published at the time by Ngok Cheng, MD showed that microamperage current increases the rate of energy production in cells by 500% and increases the rate of protein synthesis and waste product removal by 70% Now in the past, all these fancy physical therapy machines that were tried and found to be worthless (after patients had spent a lot of money getting treated by them), produced currents higher than one milliamp - that's 1000 microamps)and Dr Cheng's research showed beyond any question that currents above one milliamp actually reduced energy production, and that's what made them worthless. Dr Cheng discovered that theway to iincrease the rate of energy production in cells, the current needs to be low enough, in microamperes, not in milliamperes! And Dr Cheng believed this principle could be used in accelerating the healing of athletic injuries and vilidated his thnking by doing just that, by applying this principle together with what he called frequency specific microcurrent in which he employed specific and separate frequencies of very low currents to increase the rate of healing in injured athletes.

NFL DISCOVERS SFM

Frequency Specific Microcurrent was discovered by the NFL in 2003. Bill Romanowski brought it to the Oakland Raiders with his chiropracter. Tony Parish and Terrell Owens were treated along with eight linemen from the San Francisco 49ers in August 2003 by Dr Carolyn McMakin. Today, this treatment is part and parcel of the entire NFL training staff toolkit. New injuries heal in record time, with inflamation being reduced by 62% in four minutes.

TERREL OWENS' SPECTACULAR COMEBACK

When Terrel Owens was injured in December 2004 and wanted to be able to play in the Super Bowl 6 weeks later, FSM was there when he got out of surgery and was part of the team that made his amaxing recovery and spectacular performance possible in Super Bowl 2005. An injury that would normally take 13 to 18 weeks to heal and remodel took Terrel only 6 weeks to recover from.

EVIDENCE THAT EYESIGHT IMPROVES

Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) uses microamperage current to increase energy production in cells, and specific frequencies to change cellular function with electromagnetic signalling. FSM has been reported to improve sight in patients suffering from macular degeneration. While there are no controlled trials, the anecdotes from clinicians suggest that the treatment is helpful in improving visual acuity and slowing the progression of the condition. There are no known risks and no adverse reactions have been reported but anyone looking to be treated in this manner should be aware that this is a new treatment and the potential risks are not known. It is also very important to understand that when it comes to eye treatment, not every practitioner is qualified to do so. Only opthalmic practitioners should be trusted with your eyesight!

ACTIVE PRACTIONERS

Currently there are only four practitioners in the US using FSM for treating macular degeneration.
Richard Luekenga, OD, and Dave Graff, OD, of Richfield, Utah can be reached at (435) 896-3142
Shirley Hartmann, MD, an internist using FSM has added the treatment of macular degeneration to her patient sevices. She is located in Jacksonville Florida and can be reached at (904) 268-5826
Ken Welker, MD, in Eugene Oregon can treat macular degeneration with FSM and can be reached at (541) 762-1155

The case reports of these practioners are promising, but they are just case reports at this time. LeQuadrillage Research Staff would urge anyone with macular degeneration to avoid consulting any non-opthalmic practitioner for any eye treatments, regardless of the treatment offered.

This article was first published on our website, LeQuadrillage and continues to appear there on the Eye Problems page along with other information concerning optical health.

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It is already bad enough that we're battling technology problems in a project at work, but it seems every bit of equipment that has a byte of data in it, decided to make my life more difficult today.

While my personal laptop is doing a scan for that virus I just can't seem to get rid of, now my work laptop is starting to have a life by itself.

I spend minutes just watching the small harddisk LED flicker, and I have no clue what it is actually doing. Because *I* am not doing anything. Just watching the darned harddisk activity.

I gathered it might be running out of diskspace (which in retrospect it is not), so start to clean up, but the laptop decided a 0.5 Gigabyte file can not be moved nor deleted. Cause? Unknown!

Meanwhile, I am waiting for a call from a friend on Skype, but find out he disappeared from my Skype account on my work laptop. So when he calls me, it is the second laptop that rings. Not the one I have the headset on.

After the Skype conversation, I see the second laptop decided it had done enough, and went into hibernate. For no reason I can see, as it was plugged into the wall socket..

Several restarts later, followed with just as many hibernates, I figure out that it is either on strike, or might be too hot - even though I am wearing a sweater.. Maybe try to put something underneath it? Need some air, baby?

That worked. Except that while starting up, all of the software that was running before the hibernate decided it has to re-build databases, restart indexing, and checking data consistency. And halfway through the process, it gets too hot again.

So, being obedient to technology, I persist in cleaning up files and making sure it has gigabytes and gigabytes of virtual memory space (why it needs that much, I don't know as I don't run that many programmes at the same time).

I decide to update some of the software I use, just in case. Big mistake. As it usually is.
The regular Apple update of Safari and Quicktime+iTunes. 100 Megabyte. 100! How on earth does anyone keep their software updated without access to cable or ADSL is a mystery to me...
Checking for Microsoft updates leaves me equally dazzled. I just upgraded all Microsoft software two days ago. And it keeps on finding new stuff. 15 new updates in two days...

Just not a good day for computers. But look at the bright side: at least I got this blog posted. And it was a glorious sunny day today.

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Source: Working with Older People: Community Care Policy Practice,  2009, 13 (1) pp 35-40
Follow this link for fulltext
Date of publication:   March 2009
Publication type: Journal article
In a nutshell: This article identifies some of the key issues that need to be considered when trying to promote positive mental health and well-being for older people from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities. A key finding demonstrates the  importantance of recognising that a number of structural or organisational issues go beyond language or culture can affect health and access to health. The article also promotes the significant role of voluntary sector organisations in developing culturally appropriate mental health promotion services for BME elders
Length of publication: 5 pages
Some important notes: You will need an Athens username and password to access this article. Contact your local library service for more information.
Further dissemination: If you think anyone would benefit from receiving this posting or from subscribing to this blog, please email them the link to this blog and suggest they sign up to the blogs email newsletter to stay up to date with new content.

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We are pleased to announce the new federal budget passed two weeks ago, maintained the existing level of tax benefits to all Americans donating to charity and tax-exempt organizations.

The Senate resolution passed shortly after midnight, April 3 by a 55-43 vote. The House resolution was adopted April 2 by a final vote of 233-196 without Republican support.

These 2010 budget resolutions set the spending and tax priorities for the year and did not contain references to the Obama proposal to limit the value of charitable and other itemized deductions for upper-income taxpayers. The two blueprints are now headed to conference where their differences will be worked out before a final draft is submitted to both chambers for consideration.

Neither Budget Committee draft explicitly identifies limiting the value of deductions for charitable contributions, mortgage interest or state taxes (itemized deductions) as a means of paying for health care reforms as President Obama has proposed in his budget outline. The resolutions do create a deficit-neutral reserve fund for health care, but leave it to the relevant committees to determine how to pay for the reforms.

Two amendments were added during the Senate debate that demonstrate concerns over the Obama proposal. One amendment offered by Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT) provided that health care reform legislation "would not result in diminishing a taxpayers' ability to deduct charitable contributions as an offset to pay" for it. Another by Sen. John Thune (R-SD) would set up a point of order against any measure that would raise revenue from a reduction in the tax deduction for charitable donations. It is possible that these amendments may be dropped in conference.

The passing of these budget resolutions is a victory for all charity and tax-exempt organizations across the country as they are dependant on the contributions from the American taxpayer, the most generous in the world. In 2007, charitable giving in the United States was estimated to be $306.39 billion, exceeding $300 billion for the first time in history, according to Giving USA 2008, the yearbook on philanthropy.

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DR ZAFAR ALTAF
The country is short-changed on everything and yet the elite mafia keeps on getting ever more greedy and selfish. What is the eventual outcome of all this? Mafias abound on the scene. My definition of economic mafia is some one, who does much worse than a gun toting Sicilian or Italian. However, the one I am talking about has a recurring ability and keeps on milking the nation metaphorically and literally.
These mafias have lately increased and these have been because of the last governments abilities to only see as far their nose. At the time they emerged, there were only seven of them and at one meeting with the then President of Pakistan I stated who those seven were. I was responding to a question by the then President that I had powerful friends and powerful enemies. So I narrated who my powerful enemies were and I had also mentioned that the power of the negative was much more than the power of the positive.
When I named the seven in descending order, the President agreed that I had a correct measure of the men. Unlike Protagoras, the stoic philosopher, who taught virtue, the then President and his men heard but did not take any notice, listened but did not pay heed. A powerful reminder of what can happen to people who live in ivory towers and feel the worlds information is provided by their JCO[s] and other ranks. If the information world were to be moved by these sources what would become of us.

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You can probably tell more about people based on their hairstyles than on factors such as astrological signs, political party affiliations or favorite TV shows. Horizon Theatre’s comedy And Her Hair Went With Her takes place at an African-American hair salon and at one point, two stylists judge personality types based on their hairdos. A tall, natural afro signifies health and freedom, “black women with braids got their shit together,” and more.
Fashion aficionados could read volumes into the different wigs and ’dos chosen for Horizon’s hilarious production, but And Her Hair Went With Her only devotes a fraction of its 90-minute run to hair-centric discussions. Hairstylists Angie (Karan Kendrick) and Jasmine (Tonia M. Jackson) spend most of their time encountering wacky customers and arguing over cultural values that could come up at any number of places, not just the beauty shop.
Angie, an intellectual, Angela Davis-worshipping would-be writer and single mother, advocates for higher learning and cerebral pursuits. Jasmine embraces her sensuality and her McDonald’s habit with earthy abandon. While Jasmine’s not against education, she’s also in favor of keeping it real. In between clients, they quiz each other with Nina Simone trivia and discuss whether “chitlins” should be enunciated as “chitterlings.

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Angels of Interstate 29: 04/02/09
Angels of Interstate 29 by Donald James Parker is a Christian fiction romance that can't quite figure out what genre it belongs in or what story it's trying to tell. There are three competing stories: the car thieves looking for revenge, Tex's desire to do something good for Sioux Falls in his retirement from the force, and the romance between Lizzy and Tex. All three of these plots in the end get tossed aside for a deus ex machina of biblical proportions. Tex Harris and his Angels of I29 plan was my favorite part of the book. He reminds me of my own grandfather who has been volunteering nearly every day of his life since he retired. He'll be 90 in about six weeks and he's still volunteering. With him in mind, Tex rings true to me. The banter Tex has with his close group of friends also has some endearing moments. They share jokes and pop cultural references from their youth all the way to modern times, sometimes smoothly and sometimes awkwardly. Early on there is a very funny running joke from The Music Man, one of my favorite musicals. Unfortunately, a little banter goes a long way and the dialog in this novel tends to run on at the expense of setting, plot development and internal monolog. It is through the lengthy dialog that the novel goes from being a romantic thriller with mature characters to being a blatant Christian novel. Lizzy begins by asking Tex about his religious beliefs and he believably dances around giving an answer but she persists. Her long passages on God and scripture completely break the flow of the story. To force everything to stick together in a tidy conclusion the main characters end up being held hostage only to be saved by the act of prayer. Unfortunately for Tex to be both literally and spiritually he has to have a complete change of character. I just don't buy Tex's tragic past or his sudden change of heart. People don't change like that under duress; if anything, they become more stubborn. Although Christian fiction isn't one of the main genres I read, I do occasionally enjoy a book in the genre. I have a certain weakness for Richard Paul Evans. I wanted to like Angels of Interstate 29 more than I did. With less dialog and a more subtle hand with the religious message, this book could have been a charming romance.

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While I do devote this blog to all the silly and shallow aspects of my life, believe me, dear readers, it's not been all sunshine.

Some of you may know our family just suffered the loss of my mother and I try not to bombard you with how the rest of the family's been dealing with the grief. I will tell you that some who still can't accept this have begun entertaining really crazy thoughts in their grief-stricken heads. I would like to report that Papa, my younger brother, my sister and I are doing well, but troubles in the family in the wake of a truly terrible loss is like rubbing salt in a wound we already know will never heal.

On the job front, the global recession has finally hit us. The magazine industry is rooted on luxury; after all, when the household budget becomes tight, magazines are the first items people will do without. So it's been a nightmare of lay-offs at work and constant worry that we might be next. My husband's baby, T3 Philippines, will have its last issue this April. Vince is heartbroken and has been so since the devastating announcement in January, and that's all I will say about it. He will now be in charge of the lucrative special publications department and oversee the new gadget website. Since he's handling two jobs, he was given a hefty raise, but not all the money in the world can heal the ache in my husband's heart.

Despite all these, Vince and I still find it easy to laugh. We have each other, after all. The world can fall away and as long as I can still stare into my husband's eyes, then nothing can destroy me. I know he feels this way, too.

But though Vince and I are happy to have each other, we've also been thinking of running off to somewhere far far away to just hide and heal. France is an attractive option and we can stay at my old friend Aida's home at Antibes. New York is also appealing since airfare has dropped from USD 1,400 to just USD 900. We just don't know where to stay and what to do! The West Coast is familiar ground to Vince--he's always said we'd have a wine picnic in Napa Valley, have fun in Disneyland, go see the seals at Monterey Bay, check in at a San Diego hotel and see more animals at the famous zoo. Or we can stay close to home and go to Palawan. Club Noah Isabelle resort calls to us each day.

Oh, to just curl up in a strange place with no one we know for miles around! Meet new people, explore new cultures, have new adventures and just forget and forgive and replenish our weary souls.

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And I don't like it. The user interface sucks. They made it an art turning something simple into something utterly complex. Is there a science in making software cumbersome for mere mortals? Is this what Computer Science PhDs make these days?

Apparently they just had a facelift (I never used the old 'Facebook' so can't compare), and no wonder 94% of the Facebook users don't like it.

I get utterly confused as what Facebook aims to be. A Twitter with pictures, and links? With some applications you can link into, as a sort of 'my webpage'. An iGoogle for non-techies? But why then, why do they have to make it so complicated?

I know posts of my blog are automatically imported to my Facebook, but - heaven is my witness - I can't find back where they put it.

I know I can put links in something they very significantly call 'my wall' (like I write on my wall at home, rrright), but why, then, why don't they let me edit the text that comes with the link?

I know Lydia wrote on my wall-to-wall (I got an email saying she did so), but I swear, I can't find it. And what a weird name wall-to-wall. No wonder I feel claustrophobic each time I go onto Facebook.

I once got on a wall-to-wall with Sophie in China and wrote something on it, but no way to trace it back.

Every time I click on this or that, it asks for authorization to access my profile this and my approval for thing that and disclaimer of the other. Phew. It looks like I am signing my life away each time I click on something.

If people had to pay for Facebook, they would be left with a dozen users, I guess.

It smells like Microsoft a couple of years ago: people used it because it was the least painful of all evils. And just like Microsoft looses market bit by bit (look at the bad press Explorer is getting versus Chrome and Firefox), Facebook has only one way to do: Down baby...

Facebook? Beeeeh.

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Scale and perspective: These are the dual concepts that inform Mirahs craft, that form the aesthetic basis of every album shes made. She manipulates them with the deftness and sleight-of-hand deception of a great photographer, creating music thats big and complex and ambitious but sounds remarkably small and intimate and quiet. Its a conceit she employed on her breakthrough record, Advisory Committee, a pop album that somehow sounded baroque and minimalist at the same time, layering pounding drums and furious strings on top of each other in elaborate arrangements but somehow sounding like Mirah was playing by herself in a little room, for an audience of only one. Ever since then, shes been trying to whittle that aesthetic down to its purest, simplest form; on her last album, Cmon Miracle, she scale things down on the production side and focused more on traditional singer-songwriter trappings, resulting in an album that was just as intimate but a bit less striking than Comittee.
But on (A)spera, she strikes just the right balance. An album marked by the kind of wisdom and careful craft that only come from years of chasing the same muse down its crooked path, Mirahs latest is a mature manifestation of her sound, an elegant and sophisticated pop album with a rich, layered production that somehow still sounds like a small, sparse singer-songwriter album. And thats because, in some ways, it is; Mirah has grown into a songwriter of immense talent, and her soft, girlish voice has developed a warmth and a depth that make her singing the hypnotic presence that holds the disc together.
Meanwhile, the production is sleek and subtle, but also colorful and compelling an ambiguity that fits a singer/songwriter who has dealt in dichotomies and paradoxes for so long. On many of these songs, shes singing against a backdrop of strings, reeds, and brass, or perhaps just some rumbling low-end noise or gently-strummed acoustic instruments. She draws from a rich palette would you believe that Country of the Future begins with a galloping faux-calypso beat before escalating into a carnival-band mambo, or that The Forest builds from electric guitars and horns into a frenzy of tribal drumming? yet these diverse instruments and sounds are employed discerningly, sometimes only offering a hint, a sonic signifier to suggest a particular mood or style, rather than being allowed to overtake the song. Thus, each track feels constructed with careful craft, with arrangements that are deceptively simple but still giving each track its own distinct feel, as if each song is a world unto itself, or its own scene in a movie.
Mirahs lyrics, like her music, deal in complex dichotomies, and though theyre crafted in such a way that their ornate sophistication sounds very simple. Blending concerns that are personal, political, and spiritual, Mirah crafts a song cycle about a love thats been corrupted, tainted, and distorted a love where need has turned to greed, desire into selfishness. In she sings that love may be an economy a frightening prospect to hear during the midst of an historic depression! and much of the album finds her singing of love in terms of commerce, of give and take. But its not necessarily about relationships the opening track about one lover taking advantage of anothers giving spirit could just as easily be a metaphor for our relationship with the environment; indeed, naturalistic language crops up repeatedly. The Forest is a primal, mythic story about a people that enter a promised land only to abuse its plentiful resources, and it may or may not be about the natural world, or about our culture as a whole, or simply a metaphorical, cautionary tale about greed.
Her words dont tackle big issues so much as caress them, considering them from different angles and in different lights, and she brings to her lyrics a precision of language, a mastery of imagery, and a knack for allusion that make each line, each choice of word, feel like it was carefully planned and polished, the songs playing off of each other thematically, the whole album building on itself and exploring themes with an uncommon depth and profundity. And in much the same way, the music is thoughtful, methodical, meant to be savored and carefully considered rather than listened to haphazardly or inattentively. It makes for a pop album that is at once moving to the head and the heart, a densely meaningful and coldly imaginative work that finds common ground between craft and inspiration. And its an album that only Mirah could have made, a mature statement from an artist who is comfortable with herself and her gifts, enough that shes less interested neither in a lazy rehash or a flashy reinvention, but, rather, a deepening and broadening of a sound that shes taken years to cultivate. Shes mastered her powers, but the gleam of adventure is still in her eyes, as this fine, remarkable album attests.

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