"Things that make ya go hmmm", Merck, MMR and what it's really all about

I paid my dues in healthcare. Twenty Four years in clinics, emergency rooms, minute clinics and doc in the boxes, my dues were paid. I learned a lot about the human race in those years, and was fortunate to have known what healthcare was before the  gang raping of it with the pharmaceutical & insurance companies. That was a time when your physician knew your name, not your carrier, people went to the doctor when they were sick, they paid in full for office visits and paid on time for hospital stays. Fees in the first office I ever worked in ( my fathers), an office visits was $25.00, a simple lab test would be from $8.00-$30.00 max, an x-ray was $40.00. Most people were seen regularly for things like hypertension, depression and cardiac problems related to age. Quality of life was considered, not just quantity and Physicians were trained by other Physicians, not Pharmaceutical and Insurance Companies. A different time and a different era.
Yesterday someone mentioned to me that a mutual person we both knew had been approved for a new drug that had just come out. That round of treatment is going to cost over $100,000.00. What has happened?  How do we get from $25.00 office visit to $100,000.000? I can tell you but you may have to stay with me over a few different blogs, today I want to show one example of a myriad of things that have happened within  a healthcare system that at one time held a position as one of the top in the world, and as we are about to experience, now lies very low in the stats- world wide.
We all know about childhood vaccines, no one gets very far without either getting them, or plowing through a crapload of red tape to avoid them. Immunizations as a whole seem to be a clever idea, beat the virus before it beats us. Eradicate diseases on a world wide level, that sounds like an absolute admirable goal. It is a goal that several agencies world wide have taken up, a crusade of sorts, but just  how do these crusades occur?
Well, measles, mumps and rubella have not always been combined and we will pick on the measles part of the MMR vaccine to start off with. Our first opportunity to work with a vaccine for measles was in 1963, that formula has changed a few times since. Prior to 1963, 3-4 million Americans were infected with measles per year. ( click here for report) Sounds like a a lot huh? Well, interestedly enough this number accounts for a very small percentage of the actual population at the time ( "about" .0002%). A huge propaganda campaign, and waa-laa, we have a gold mine! And a gold mine it is, in 2012 Merck, the maker of the most popular MMR vaccine claimed over 11 BILLION in revenue with a mention of the rise in vaccinations and immunology. ( click here for Merck Financials)
How dare I say that, people actually died from this right. In reality more women died from botched abortions, ( 47,000 deaths in recent years), than actually died from measles.
Why would I pick on something that is bringing health into our world? Because it doesn't bring health into our world, it is designed to bring wealth into Merck's pockets.
In 2012 the CDC reported 159 cases of measles nation wide. ( click here to see report), doesn't seem like many, seems like the vaccine is doing a great job! Eliminating measles just as it is supposed to.
However, one fact that was very difficult to find, it took several keywords for google, then a complicated downloading process, then a sorting process, then I had to count them myself process- yea one of those processes, that brought me to the info that there have been over 2300 adverse reactions  reported to VAERS for that same year.
We have more adverse reactions to the vaccine then we do now, or ever did statistically from the disease.
Remember the 11 billion in profits Merck reported for the same year? That is the only real success of this campaign, Merck's profit margin. It really has nothing to do with you or your health.
Who do you think educates your current physician, it isn't who you thought it was. Merck, along with many other pharmaceutical and insurance companies have taken it upon themselves to re-educate our doctors and healthcare providers. They have evidence based science that backs up the need for expensive testing, expensive therapy, and above all else, expensive medication. Medication that goes through the routine FDA approval process of filing your forms with the fee, when the fee is right your drug hits the shelves, without ANY independent testing.  I won't go into a lot of detail here just yet, I'm saving that for it's own blog, but I will ask you to think about this. Is is really in this companies interest for you to be HEALTHY?  Vaccinations are a way for a company who depends on an unhealthy market to capture a segment of the healthy market, and not only capture them, but keep them.
We have been trained to trust our doctors, I invite you to start to trust yourself, your own research and your own common sense. After all, anyone can see it doesn't make a lot of sense to continue to have more adverse reactions than actual cases, it doesn't seem very cost efficient, or smart when we understand that these actual vaccines are nothing but a money maker for a very greedy industry.
A real epidemic that we could use some help with would be the opium dependance that is sweeping the nation, from prescription pain pills to herion. Oh, but these same companies are the ones making those drugs too, so I doubt we will see a decrease in this particular disease anytime soon.

09/11/2014 it's time America

Nine Eleven. I find myself thirteen years post such a traumatic moment in this countries history, and I see that PTSD has become some badge of honor that we Americans flash with disregard. The year is Two Thousand and Fourteen, however the terror alert is higher than ever, our troops are in all corners of the world, our borders are exploding with refugees created by our own policies, our law enforcement is better armed than the terrorist groups we trained in the middle east, our soldiers are paid so little that they leave the army to work for private contractors, who now own our politicians along with many many other corporations.

Sound like a negative perspective? Well....

This country has been at war since the 1600’s. Why did I not know this? Did you know this? In 1675 the original colonies fought King Phillips war, it was against the native tribes in the area of New England, it lasted until 1676. A nice long lull of 13 long years of something that could be claimed as peace, then another skirmish is entered between the english colonies and France, now your right, technically we aren’t America yet. Now this little incident went on until 1697, and then a full 3 years of peace ensues. The year 1702 brought another conflict between the English colonist and the French, this time called Queen Annes war or the Spanish Secession. This clash lasted for 11 years until 1713, when we see another generation of somewhat stable peace follow.Thirty one years later, in 1744 a conflict between the french colonies and Great Britain disturbed the peace again, four more years of fighting before this finally ended in 1748. The colonies now had some peace and quiet for about 8 years when the French and Indian war broke out,starting in 1756 and not ending until 1763. Now the French and Indian war was between the French colonist and the Indians and in 1759 the english colonist found themselves at war with the cherokee nation, so there are 2 actual battles being fought within the America’s. And before I go any further I would just like to point out that all of these wars are to accumulate land and resources, land that was already occupied by other peoples, for many hundreds, if not thousands of years. These conflicts and skirmishes are not some zionist religious movement, a blatant land grab, this is strictly for profit.

So America’s real ( eh hmmm) history starts in 1775, with the declaration of revolution that went on until 1783. At this point, we are a new nation, with new ideals, with new inspiration and new dreams. This is the point where we want to believe that the war mongering patterns were replaced with a constitution, one that recognized the basic human rights of all humans, no matter color and sex, but what really happened was that it took our government about 15 years to make another conflict public, this time in 1798 with the Franco- American war between America and France. This lasted for a little over a year and then the Americans found themselves right smack dab in the middle of our next conflict in 1801, the Barbary wars, there were a lot of countries involved in that so maybe we could get an excuse for that one.These tussles were off and on like a bad love affair for almost the next 15 years, with another fray erupting between the Americans and Great Britain in 1812, pulling resources from the Barbary troubles, and those pesky natives had to start trouble at home during all these other issues, from 1813-1814 we had the Creek Indian war right here.

I guess this soured Americans and finding gold in the hills of the west must have taken some of the pressure off of the war machine because once again Americans were able to enjoy about 15 years of peace. In 1836, the state of Texas went to war with Mexico and once again the American war machine roared back to life, with a quick Mexican-American war following within 10 years. This seemingly was over by 1848, when just a few years later, in 1861, Americans decided there were no more natives to fight so they started fighting themselves. Most of us learned about this conflict in school according to the winners (smirk). Following the decimation of the country as the Americans of all color had known it, it took them all of 33 years, one generation to fire that war machine back up and enter the Spanish American war in 1898.

Fifteen years of peace and WWI comes on the scene, devastating many parts of the world, but it didn’t take long, once again, just one generation or 21 years before we found ourselves tricked into war once again. Fifteen years between WWII and the Korean war, 7 years between Korea and Vietnam, 8 years until we find our soldiers in Grenada, 5 more years in Panama, 1 year after that the original Gulf war, 4 years we are in Bosnia, and then in 2001 the twin towers come down, and we find ourselves in Afghanistan. I could continue, but I think I made my point, 9/11 did not start on 9/11. It started with unprecedented land grabs over 300 years ago. Thy son shall pay for thy fathers sin. 

Speaking of paying for my fathers sin, My daughter came home saying “white people just need to understand...”

So I hear this from my beautiful ‘half arab, half white” daughter and I think to myself, must be time to fight amongst ourselves again. History does repeat itself if we do not change patterns. One pattern very obvious in the above timeline is that it takes about 1 generation to forget, and that goes both ways.

This is in no way meant to be a history lesson, or a bashing of my country. I love my country, I love the ideals written into our constitution that at least acknowledge that people count, even if they are not always interpreted as such, it is at least a good start, maybe.This is only meant to show a pattern. A Pattern that our government has kept our country stuck in from the start, a pattern of using the war machine to be what upholds our economy, kind of like robbing peter to pay paul. I think most people have come to the conclusion that our government has sold America out, the corporations and private sector now has control over both parties, so our vote no longer matters, it’s the same damn shit on both sides of the fence- all fertilizer, no grass.

And although I risk sounding negative, I must also hazard to say that each and every one of us is guilty in our ignorance, in our apathy and in our belief that if it doesn’t effect us, we can’t worry about it. We are so busy being positive that we aren’t noticing what is happening all around us, and that is a good thing, right? We are supposed to stay positive, we are supposed to look for what it is we want rather than that which we do not want, we are supposed to fart rainbows.

When we see something we don’t want, we are supposed to focus on what we do want- this is law of attraction at it’s finest and guess what, it works most of the time. The trick though is that often times I find myself saying I can’t focus on these world events and feel good so I’m just going to ignore them. Esther Hicks calls that a happy face sticker and she reminds us that just because we put a happy face sticker on the gas tank it does not mean we won’t run out of gas. Just because I ignore these events does not mean that they go away. They continue to get bigger, they continue to get scarier and they continue to get more and more surreal and un American like.

So while my happy face sticker is not doing me any good I have to ask myself what will do some good?

Real change will happen when each and every one of us is honest with ourselves first and foremost.  Are American lives worth more than lives across the world? What really has value in the world, is it money, weapons of war or food? As we American’s have pursued our own happiness it has been at the expense of the world, are you ready for that knowledge, that truth that sits in the middle of the world like one large pink elephant.

I have to be honest with myself about what I support, and although I say I don’t support war, I still pay my taxes, I still buy from companies that support the war machine, I still shop in stores that support the corporate welfare, I still use gas to drive over 45 miles a day, I still run electricity all day long wether I am home or not, I still take 20 minute showers, I still buy vegetables from big box stores because it’s easier and cheaper than buying local and organic many times. I am just now understanding that buying bottled water is actually a selfish sin not only against humanity but against mother earth in so many ways. I am just now really comprehending that my desire to save money on luxury items spawns an entire industry where slave labor is the commodity of the day, I am just now really getting that by refusing to challenge the  status quo, and demanding things remain the same I am killing several children per day with my acquiesce while I get in my car and drive 40 miles down the road when it could easily be done from home. I am slowly understanding that our society is set up in a way that it is unsustainable, and it is probably going to change. It won’t be the first shift in society and if civilization ceases to exist because of some stupid decision some asshole with way too much power made, it won’t be the first time a civilization is remembered within it’s ruins. We do have the power to change things, but not by ignoring them. by facing them head on and making the decision to ask ourselves what is the next step, then taking that step, and supporting others who are taking that step. 

Nine eleven has shown me many layers of my own country, from racism to religion. From the drug war to human sex trafficking, from VA atrocities to Private Military elitism and teflon finishes. Nine eleven has exposed our politicians in a way I had not seen them before, over time we see the lies that the war drums drowned out in the moment and no one is accountable. Nine eleven showed me that Americans are so busy chasing our pursuit of pleasure that people of color are being shot in the street or locked up for life for non violent crimes while George Bush - both W and H walk free after the violent murders of thousands of people. Nine eleven showed me 3 Americans brought to Atlanta for rare treatment while almost 3000 africans have died. Nine eleven showed me it’s time to get real,it’s time to take our country back and its time to ask ourselves seriously what we the people of the world want for our future. Most of all Nine eleven taught me that ‘we the people’ has a whole new meaning, we the people of the world, connected and in communication for the first time.

I have met very few actual people I didn’t like, I bet you are the same. Once I get to know people, I usually either like them, or think to each his own. Nine eleven has opened up a phenomena we have not yet witnessed in history. People of the world reaching out to each other. People of the world reaching out without tyrants in the way, without government interference, people connecting in ways that we never knew possible before. When you meet people from all over the world and you see these “world issues”, what we learn is that the american people are some of the most powerful idiots in the world. We have rights no one else has, yet we aren’t good at exercising them. We have a platform most countries do not have, yet we spend our time watching sports and glorifying athletes who beat their girlfriends silly. We have choices about what we support, if we take the time to pay attention. 

Nine eleven has taught me to pay attention, not to the terror alert, but to what I am being distracted with and why.

Thirteen years after 9/11 I have a new understanding of America, as does much of the rest of the world, for at least one generation.

This is my story of America, Tell me yours….

I, like many people here in this country grew up in what we would consider today idyllic conditions. I grew up in a time when running the neighborhood was encouraged, mom didn’t want us underfoot all day. We left the house, played in the yard, the neighbors yards, creeks all sorts of places, any place but the home mom was cleaning. Growing up we had a firm understanding that we were Irish Catholics, and that we went to school and church with the catholics, they were our community. There was always a little tension with our neighbors, it never occurred to me it was our Religion.

It wasn’t until well into my adulthood that I realized that there were other worlds out there. As a young american woman in the 80’s the door to the world was opened like it had never been before. A generation ahead of us had cleared the way- or so we had thought - for our equality in the workplace, the home and society. 

This is where I entered into the world. I entered the world believing that the work had already been done. The fore-fathers wrote the constitution, the civil rights movement took care of the racial divide and now everybody is equal and lets all get along.

Needless to say I found myself so un prepared for the external world that this developed into a 13 year marriage with a Shi’ite Iraqi Arab. The America I learned in those 13 years would scare the living shit out of most people I know today. The truth about what I saw with my own eyes on how policies are carried out in the name of America, and if not America, Israel’s name, and America’s dollars.  The America I saw disillusioned me as it has most of the world.

I have spent most of my adult life trying to reconcile the divide inside myself over gross injustices within our democratic system. My origins and upbringing were staunch republican views, however I now understood how those views effect the rest of the world. When America farts the rest of the world gets shit on. 

The ideals this country started on were beautiful to the whole world. The whole world gets goosebumps when they hear these words written into law. The whole world aspires to meet the goals set forth in a document much older than our American Constitution. The whole world deserves the rights within our American constitution, look at the Magna Carta, this is not new information. For a few centuries that dream inspired millions of people to leave their countries of origins and land here, on the American shore to start a new life, where they are treated equally and with respect.

That was the dream that was followed, however there was another level to this ‘dream’ that most immigrants were not so aware of, and many never saw. As immigrants arrived here 3 things that our American government needed were coming with them, A massive labor force, a voting population and a massive army. By marketing the Native Indians land the way our fore fathers did, they very quickly amassed a huge army, a solid workforce and a consistent voter base. That is kind of the original immigration policy in a nutshell, I believe.

Our history completely leaves out the fact that millions of natives were already here.  Many of the immigrants running from oppressors to come here to oppress the Native American. The propaganda campaign is complete, genocide is not only allowed, it is embraced in the name of our constitution. How is this different than Hitler’s plan of genocide towards the jews? How is this different than what Israel is doing in Palestine?

I sit and observe my fellow Americans today and see the anger, the racism, the class divide, the frustration. I hear pleas of basic human rights in Detroit with the water shut offs. I hear pleas of civil rights abuses with the protest in Ferguson, Oakland, L.A. and New York. I see gross murder occurring across the map in the name of democracy and freedom. These murders are occurring in Syria, Iraq, Liberia, Sierre Leone, Nigeria, Uganda, Ferguson, L.A., New York, Argentina, Columbia, Gaza and I’m sure in countries that I have never heard of but would be fascinated in learning about.

These are just the headlines for today.

The judgement I see from my fellow Americans shames me deeply. It shames me because we have forgotten where we have come from. Those of us so opposed to immigration should ask ourselves  where we would be if our borders had not been open. Ask yourself what is going on in these other countries that people are fleeing from enmass. It does matter to us as a nation. It matters what is going on in Argentina today. It does matter what is happening south of our border, we should be much more concerned with what is happening south of our border than what is happening in Iraq. The hypocrisy of the American People is on display for the world to see in whole new way. Not only will America Free the shit out of Iraq, it will free the shit out of it’s own cities.The american people will deploy billions of dollars in rockets to save the yazidi’s in Iraq but wont allow a homeless child to cross our border from countries that have been torn apart just as bad as Iraq. WTF.

The American people will watch while over 1200 people die across Africa, and bring 2 Americans home for treatment. WTF.

The American People filter billions of dollars to Israel while the Israeli Government has broken UN truces, has invaded a sovereign land with such brutal “shock and awe” and continue to push their own little ‘manifest destiny’ right through Gaza. These are horrible abuses of our American constitution that we would never allow in a country like Iraq, or Libya, or Egypt, or Iran. Have you ever asked why?

American People will scream about their freedom, defending their right carry arms, their right to free speech but my very humble opinion is that most of us, and I include myself here, should invoke our right to remain silent once in a while, and in that silence we should read the constitution.

What is happening in America today is the result of our fore fathers sins. We have been building and building sins generation after generation. Each generation gets further and further into debt economically as well as karmically, causing further racial divides, class divides. Our policies breed terrorism. Our policies create a place for terrorism to be a for profit industry, and it is corporatized. Business men started our country for their own profit margins. These same business men continued to profit from the backs of the blacks, the irish and the other nationalities that have all held at least one generation as america’s ‘nigger’. Those same business men still operate today, in the name of corporations, hiding behind privatized rules that appear to trump the American constitution, in America and the whole world.

The constitution has gotten so complicated over the years that entire libraries are written about it. It would not surprise me if this constitution has not been read and analyzed by more people than the Torah, the Bible and The Koran all combined. There are also cases where interpretations of the constitution may differ between parties, or people, much like a religion. The interpretation about what the authors meant about ‘all men’ is just a start of the controversy that can surround this document that is on the tip of all of our tongues lately.

I want America to stand by the ideals that made our country a dream for most of the world. I want us as Americans to realize that greatness is not force, greatness is restraint. I want America to be what I was told it was when I was growing up- the greatest place on earth. I want an America where my children can walk down the street without having to worry about being shot. I want police officers that serve and protect. I want a transparent government in all aspects, no more national security, I am tired of thuggish protection. I want America to be one color, we are all american and we are all human so we have more in common than not. I want my children and grandchildren to live in a society they can be proud of, not one that is set up only for a few elite people.

I want to know my neighbors, and care about them. I want an America that welcomes those from troubled parts of the world and a government that understands what help is.. I want a government that isn’t our countries largest employer. I want an America that treats it’s criminals better than animals. I want an America that understnads why we have crime. I want an America that allows the people to determine where our taxes our spent, no more financing wars that are killing millions of people every day. I want an America that offers opportunity to every citizen in some form or another. I want an America that offers a government that is there to help the people. serve the people, protect the people or allow them to protect themselves. I want an America that I can believe in because I do not believe in America today.

Our fore fathers were not perfect, and neither are the leaders in place today. It isn’t up to them to save America, it is up to you.

I would love for you to post up your story below in comments- or link to your own blog on this subject.

-Melissa

This is what winning looks like

I entered  my rocks into a display. Yes there are shows for that. They usually are affiliated with a gem show, a rockhound club or something of that nature. I had spent a few years writing about and photographing my stones,and I thought it’s time to step it up and call them an actual collection.

I have an extensive collection of crystals, rocks, fossils and stones.. I can’t pass a cabinet in my home without stopping and admiring them and there is no space left on any shelf, table top and the floor space is starting to get pretty tight. I have a bad case of rockhounditis. I spent several weeks determining which stones to display. I measured out the exact space I would have available, I planned how the finished product would look, I even created new graphics to compliment the stones chosen. the whole time I planned the ‘exhibit’ of my collection I was so excited and pumped, very similar to when I am excited about a gift I am getting for someone. I couldn’t wait until set up started! I called on my years of designing windows for a few area jewelers, I added material for a rich shimmery blanket for my stones to sit on, I added height and dimension, my display rocked literally!

I stepped back and looked at my display, ready to put the door on it with a sense of satisfaction, I did it. I created a beautiful display of my collection. It looked crystaliscious, I had obsessed over it for weeks and it was done. I slid the door on and looked to my right. The next exhibitor had just arrived. He was an elderly man who was hauling lots of boxes and his wife was fussing along behind him. I watched them for a minute and noticed the people in the display on the other side

of them. He was older still and he was putting some of the most fascinating specimens I had ever seen up. I asked him about it and his reply reminded me that I’m just a rockhound adolescent, this man is a real rockhound adult.

What do I mean by that? This man has studied collecting sites longer then I have been alive, when he gets a new rock it isn’t from the corner store or gem show- he goes and finds it, digs it up, cleans it, polishes it, then some of his stones were also set in gold and silver that he worked. Now that is what this rockhound aspires to grow up and be.

I knew then I was in over my head. What did I know about rockhounding. What was I doing throwing me and my stones out there when the ‘real’ players are REAL players. These guys could care less if you have one of the most rare polished pretty stones you can find, they want to know where you found it, how hard was it to dig up, what did you use to clean it and how easy was it to polish. I am stumped with half thought words and the feeling of heat in my cheeks when I know I am out of my league.

One last look at my display, a new perspective this time and it had gone from

looking like a beautiful presentation of a rare collection, to a commercial interpretation of my rockhound spirit. I suddenly wished I had enough guts to get out of the display, but I thought that was silly. Then the man thanked me and wished me luck. That was the moment I realized this was a ‘competition’. Oh, it can get worse huh? The embarrassment in my head was tortuous for the next 2 days of the show. I held my head up, tried to forget about the displays over in the corner and avoided walking past them . Two days later, the last day of the show and I am still reacting in my gut about what I saw with the other displays, the disparity between mine and the others.

The other displays all had a deep meaning to each exhibitor, they had either found these crystals or worked them. They each had stories about the display, and through out the weekend I overheard many of them talking about those stories. The other displays had a character. The character of the rockhound, the spirit of looking for treasure, the belief that there is something there. My display now looked like a mall jewelry store window, with a lot of pomp and bang but no buck.

We have been fascinated with gemstones for 1000’s of years, it’s the story of the stone that gets our attention and holds it. The other displays had some of the most fascinating stories, memories and real adventure attached to them. That is the real spirit of rockhounding, not how pretty we can make them look after the real stories have happened.

I got a blue ribbon for that display. I almost gave it back, then decided that the blue ribbon will always remind what I hope to grow up and be, a real rockhound. I still don’t believe my display actually won, I believe that I got the understanding of what it really means to be a rockhound, and that’s what winning looks like.

Prehnite Lets Talk Stones

Prehnite is a stone that originally comes to us from South Africa, it is the first documented important mineral find from that area. Soon after it’s discovery in the late 16th century, this stone traveled to Europe with it’s namesake, Colonel Hendrik von Prehn, a Dutch mineralogist and an early governor of the Cape of Good Hope colony. With it’s entrance into the European market- Prehnite quickly became known as the primary stone used for prophecy and dream interpretation.

Prehnite is a stone that improves our ability to listen. Not only quieting your mind and stilling thoughts, prehnite refines the way you hear things, no longer hearing them with pre-disposed beliefs attached. Prehnite clears the way of all of our pre conceived beliefs, allowing you to see and hear things a whole new way. Without your pre patterned thoughts and beliefs, every situation in your reality immediately starts to change, and prehnite helps you to maneuver that change in the direction you desire.

Prehnite has been said to be useful as a stone of prophecy, promoting the visualization abilities of it’s user, but prehnite’s most powerful use is in creating your future and manifesting a new reality. 

Often times you find that you re-create the same situation over and over, time and time again, different faces and names, however situations that appear hauntingly familiar. Working with Prehnite will support a new awareness of a new and different action promoting real change, the kind that lasts. Prehnite encourages you to see beyond what   you know to be true, challenging and motivating at the same time, this stone asks you to step outside of your comfort zone and create your world. Inspiring you to visualize your future, used with dedication and determination prehnite becomes the premier manifestation stone. 

Hematite - Lets Talk Stones

Hematite has long been known by man, in fact it was one of the first types of chalk in use over 163,000 years ago! Highly favored by the babylonian culture and mentioned in Pliny’s ‘ Naturalis Historia’ as a talisman to procure favor in judgements and petitions. Hematite also has been associated with Mar’s, the greek god of war, the ground powder would be used as coloring for war paints as well as textiles and pottery. Historically hematite has been used to treat many illnesses related to the blood, ‘hema’ means blood in latin and this stone has often times been confused with an agate that is named bloodstone through out history. However they are two very different stones.

Interestingly enough, this stone was even found on the planet mars, leading scientists to believe that a water source exists there today. 

Hematite is also a stone used extensively today for blocking negative energy, this stone is said to absorb negative energy, and is so masterful at absorbing negative vibes - it will often shatter when the negativity has reached a critical level and Although rarely found in nature, hematite can sometimes have a slight magnetic charge. This magnetic charge is very minimal, and what is sold as magnetic hematite, isn’t really hematite.

Hematite is a stone that not only supports the belief that energy is energy, it helps you to understand what to do with that knowledge. As you block negativity, your focus must be on that negativity, as you focus on that negativity, you attract more, it is the law of the universe- you get what you focus on. Hematite guides you through your own awareness of energy on a whole new level, showing you how energy is never really outside of you, the perception that you actually control, is what shapes the energy in your reality.

Law Enforcement or Military Occupation?

For the last few weeks I have been noticing so many stories about police corruption and wrong doing. While reading some of these stories I have reminisced through my own experiences with law enforcement and through the observations of one of my best ‘devil’s advocates’ ( good friend), I have come to realize that there is much more to the story. 

Within minutes of seeing news of a local police chief arrested for public intoxication, one of my friends, 18 year old son mentioned that he was thinking of joining law enforcement. My initial reaction should have surprised me, and in fact in hind sight it still does, however in the moment I felt a panic rise up in my gut and real fear for this young man, not that he would be injured, but that something had to be fundamentally wrong with him to want to go into that industry.

Pleasant View Police Chief arrested

Now before you react - remember this is my knee jerk reaction- that in hind sight surprises me, and isn’t the one I choose to create my future with, but it has a lot to do with this story.

I also use the term industry, we don’t consider law enforcement as an industry really, it stands out among other industries in that the culture that is not only allowed there, it is encouraged. With the exception of fire fighters and soldiers, the culture of the ‘brothers in arms; and ‘ one of our own’ is not really encouraged in other industries. Look at healthcare where that culture of physicians always having each others backs has been regarded as something to weed out, something that corrupts the system. However, when a police officer is killed in the line of duty, there is mass media coverage, funeral parades and the dead  officer becomes a saint. Now I say this because I happen to know that many other industries have much higher injury and even death rates, such as the construction and mining industries to name a few. 
There are even websites that profess the memories of those fallen

Now once again- before you react, hear me out.

Why the difference in the way we the public perceive the authority of law enforcement from other industries. Why do we

as a public believe that the law enforcement that we currently have in place makes us safer? 
According to Tennessee's own reports crime statistics are up, prison rates are up 15%

A little run down of my personal experience with law enforcement.

In my younger years, I had the opportunity to interact on a personal level with the infamous sheriff Fate Thomas on a regular basis. I was married to his mistresses’ son. It was no secret either, Fate and his pack of sheriff deputies would frequent the bar she owned on the old riverfront, those were the days.

My first husband was convicted of selling LSD to an undercover officer, before I was 18. That officer wasn’t worried about the minor on the streets with no options, he was worried about getting his quota of arrests, he needed to buy the LSD a total of 3 times to get a 3 strikes your out conviction, however my ex did exactly what he had to do, he sold enough LSD to get us place to stay and off the streets then never sold again, just 2 times. But this was never heard by the judge. No worries though, enter the infamous Sheriff Fate Thomas - yes I do believe that my ex was on one of those multitudes of indictments that he eventually went to federal prison over.

My second husband was violently abusive, creating several instances where I was held in separate rooms by police that invaded my home, not to help me - but to get their arrest, it didn’t matter when he got out, or what he did when he got out. I quickly learned that the police were not there to help me, but to harass me into helping them meet their quota, through out those years, while many of the police officers in that small town knew what went on behind closed doors in my home, not once did one of them ever offer to help me and my daughters. No pamphlet, no advice, no cards left for battered women, not even any knowledge of a shelter, I was advised to stay with a friend for a few days.

That abusive husband just happened to be Iraqi too, so around September 18th or so a new kind of law enforcement started to drive by my home, started to follow our cars, started showing up wherever we went. These same law enforcement officers made sure to let us know we could not buy life jackets at the local k-mart. We had a little bitty fishing boat that we planned on taking out on the lake with the kids, according to the state law you have to have so many life

preservers on board so we went to buy them. We didn’t make it out of the parking lot before being pulled over and the life jackets were ripped to shreds, and no we were never even acknowledged when we wanted reimbursement for them.

One night when I was driving home from work, it was about 10:00, I had just picked my infant daughter up at the sitters and was very tired after a 12 hour shift. I saw the baby blues and pulled over, knowing I was not speeding, 5th gear had been out on my car for some time. The Patrolmen proceeded to yell at me and reduce me to tears while my infant roared in the back seat, he was telling me to shut my fucking kid up. Yup that is what he said. After about 20 minutes of verbal abuse worse than even my father was capable of, he issued me a warning for speeding, even though 5th gear was out on my car.

I also raised 2 teenagers who were determined to take the most difficult road to adulthood, no matter what we did. Many, many incidents of police searching my home, looking for anything they could find to create more and more chaos in these kids lives. Proof positive that incarceration within our current system creates more victims than actual crime does. Police pointing to parents, judges pointing to agencies, agencies pointing to the police, it is a vicious cycle once someone finds themselves locked into this system.

These are not all my experiences, but through my reflections I realized that there has never once been a time when police were called and became involved that I did not regret it. No matter who called the police, they have never helped any situation that has escalated to the point where our training says we need to call the police.

There are many people across the country who agree with this. Parents who would not be burying their children if they had not called the police, family members who watch the brutal treatment of prisoners that every once in awhile gets caught on video tape, children whose parents are taken away in handcuffs for non violent crimes that are hurting no one, to name just a few.

So that is my initial reaction in a nutshell, now lets bring in the devil’s advocate - the one that rounds off such a biased description of our mighty men in blue.

After spending some time with the young man who had some desire to go into law enforcement, I saw that this is a kid who really wants to have a positive impact on the world. I saw the starry eyed kid who wanted to be the hero, who had visions of making a difference and a naivety that I remember in myself at that age. I could feel his excitement that he could do something that impressed others, I could feel that desire to  please those around him and take care of everything. He is a kid that believes in his values, in his view of the world and still sees the best in the people he comes into contact with. I imagine there is a percentage of those types that get into law enforcement, however the  very small amount of research I did pointed to more ex military join law enforcement, it is really no longer a place you get hired ‘green’ with no experience. Over the years local law enforcement departments have changed, it is not the local boys growing up and getting into the academy. It is mainly the soldiers coming back from overseas, they already have very impressive training. Are soldiers bad? Not when they are defending the people, but when they occupy a territory, they can be extremely dangerous, as they are trained to be.

That wise devils advocate also brought to mind what a tough job law enforcement is. In reality an officer of the law has taken a pledge to serve and protect the community. I do believe that many officers believe that the actions they take against the people is protecting the community, I truly believe that they

believe they are right. I also believe that the soldiers under Hitler believed they were right. Physicians also pledge to do no harm, yet we have no problems demonizing them for the problems within healthcare, which in reality have had little to do with decisions that physicians have made. In other safety sensitive jobs across the nation, we have integrity training, ethics committees and  a pretty good understanding that no one is above the law. But when we enter the arena of public service in any form, we see a new attitude. One where authority is wielded randomly and there are no checks and balances, when the public demands checks and balances, it takes months of political foot dragging and an internal culture that encourages the corrupt cycle to continue indefinitely, because it is actually to their advantage.

I think that there are many high stress jobs, traffic control at the airport, surgeons, technicians in nuclear power plants, people that work in emergency rooms across the nation. All of these jobs require nerves of steel, yet when one breaks no offers them a deal, jury’s do not take the stress of the job into consideration, they expect more out of the people that enter these high stress positions, just as we the public have every right to demand more out of our law enforcement, without advocates reminding us how terrible the job is. They make the choice to stay in it, if criminals are held responsible for their choices than law enforcement should be too, after all it’s only fair. We demand checks and balances in other high stress environments, we should be able to do the same here.

Still more, the wise devil’s advocate reminds me in the back of my mind. Law Enforcement is right there with teachers in salaries. The pay sucks. The argument is ‘ these guys put their lives on the line and we should be grateful to them, we don’t pay them enough so the public must make up for that’. Well why don’t we pay them enough?

 Oh, yeah, they have incentive packages - that is how we get employees to be productive. Only in this industry the

incentive packages have to do with how many beds are filled in prison, how much cash and possessions can be confiscated, how many traffic violations they issue per month. The structure of incentive packages makes sense when we look at a company that is selling commodities, however when physicians get bonuses based on how much revenue they generate that seems to leave a bad taste in the public’s mouth. People are not commodities, whether it has to do with healthcare or law enforcement.Prison beds should not be on the yearly budget to be filled, and confiscated funds should not make up the majority of a departments budget. In any other industry the public would demand reforms with this kind of blatant profiting off of the misfortune of others.
How Detroit went broke

I do not like the perception I have of our law enforcement here in America. I would like to be able to change that, I would like to believe that devil’s advocate and meet a good officer of the law, or public servant for that matter, but I think my experience is clouding my vision on this subject. I have rubbed shoulders with those in authority as well as those considered criminals, I trust those considered criminals more than the authority. I have personally experienced the results of police brutality- that first husband was beaten so badly for public drunk he lay in a coma for 3 months 2 years before we met. I have watched with my very own eyes those in authority commit vile crimes against humanity, as well as violent crimes against innocent victims, with no repercussions. I have witnessed laws being blatantly broken by those in authority, those who believe that their position is an elite specialized trained law enforcement officer rather than public servant. I have little faith that my mind can be changed, however there is a naive hope that I can create the future belief that I want to have.

I would like to see law enforcement that recognizes people as humans, with rights that are covered under the constitution, rahter than work so hard to violate our human rights.
I would like to see officers who are paid enough that they feel the job is worth it,, officers who don't complain because they have chosen a profession that deals with the criminal element of our society, as physcians do not complain about having to deal with sick people all day.
I would like  to see officers  speak up when they witness brutal power trips within thier own departments, officers who felt that they could speak out, officers who take pride in protecting the public from the real criminals.
I would like to see ethics committees overseeing our task forces, our prison system, our court system. History has shown us that without the checks and balances corruption has a playground to run rampant in.( remember the infamous Sherrif Fate Thomas).
I would like to believe the propaganda that police and law enforcement are here to help,  those 3 words have become dreaded predecessors to some of my most trying moments in life.
I would like to believe that police officers care about the people they deal with daily, see them as people, treat them as people.
I would like to see that police officers really are here to serve the public, rather than pirates that have free reign on the highways.
Local investigation about 'policing for profit'

I most would like to see a clear line that I am able to draw between a criminal and an officer of the law.

I look forward to the devils advocate wisdom, I am sure she will make other points clear for me to roll around in my head and try to fit into my twisted view of our law enforcement, this is not sarcastic, this is real- I want to live in a country where our police are respected and proudly supported, we just aren't there yet.

Letter to Jim Tracey

Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 10:20 AM

10:20 AM

Message starred

cannabis reform

from Melissa Mogan to 1 recipient

Show Details

Hello Mr. Tracy,

 I would like to have your ear for the few minutes it will take you to read this, I won't take too much of your time.

I would like to ask you to reconsider your stance on medical cannabis in TN.

There are incredible health benefits that are available through this plant- the US goverment has owned the patent on it for 10 years- known as a neuroprotectant.

Cannabis has been a revered medicinal plant for over 5000 years not only in the Ayurvedic tradition but all over the world as well as being a sacred plant to indigenous cultures all over the world.

Cannabis was regulated as far back as the Babylonian culture.

Several studies are showing the cannabinoid system in the human body that requires the cannabinoid for optimum health.

Statitics show that alsohol, tobacco, and even our own food is much more dangerous to the human body than cannabis.

Cannabis is very common in TN- it has been our largest cash crop for 20 years running- we are idiots to ignore that.

The cannabis industry in this state is one of the largest in the country with an influx of mexican cartels moving into the area a few years ago ( according to the DEA reports for 2010 and 2011), creating a huge upswing in violent crime here in TN. This industry would not be riddled with violence and crime if it were regulated as tobacco, alcohol and fire arms are.

As the agriculture state we should be at the leading edge of new crops whether it is hemp or cannabis.

Current polls are showing over 80% of American support the legalization of cannabis- so why are you the politician not hearing that?

The revenue that could be generated with a taxing program could allow our state to either expand medicaid or help those TN's who are unable to get insurance under the ACA to do so. The revenues could be promised to schools, reahbilitation of prisoners, shelter for the homeless and on and on.

The industry of cannabis is very strong in this state, why do allow the black market to continue to reap the profits?

Our incarceration rates are simply unacceptable- the people of TN are our greatest resource in our state, we should be lifting them up rather than locking them up.

After incarceration there is no life for these individuals, a job is something that is a wishful thinking and they have no choice but to return to what put them in jail in the first place.

The American Drug War- the latest chapter in the cannabis historical timeline is a sham, it has been used to weaken the american people and take liberty after liberty away. Nothing has been accomplished, in fact drugs are more prevalent now then they were in the 1930's. It is an incompetant plan and I am afraid those who support are starting to be seen as incompetant as well. Politicians are voted in to be a voice for the people, not to push thier own agenda at the expense of the people.

The people have spoken, in Colorado- the supply of legal cannabis has been so stretched that they have had to ration sales so that they do not run out within 1 week of sales. The people have spoken- it is time for those politicians in the houses, senates and all the other offices to listen. The American People want cannabis to be legalized, the American people want control over thier own health and access to the medicine they choose to use, not the chemicals pushed by the pharmaceutical industry.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for all the work you do in our great state,

 

-Melissa

now one other thing I would like to add that I did not put in the letter- why would someone look at all these facts and still be AGAINST legalization?

Follow the money- in my mind, any politician still against the legalization is working FOR the blackmarket and lining thier own pockets at the peoples expense…...

Propagnada and History - calling out Journalism

This is a picture run in the Tennessean on 1-6-2014

I had to write in….as I have at least 5-6 times in the past 6 months and I have never recieved a response.

But today I got a response! see it at the bottom!

To whom is may concern,

I am writing this letter today in response to a comic picture I was made aware of that was run in your daily newspaper, The Tennessean. The picture depicted 2 adults making snow angels and  a young child complaining that the parents need to quit smoking pot and feed him his frito’s.

This deeply concerns me as as citizen here in the middle Tennessee area. I am extremely disturbed that such an influential and legitimate journal would dare to create such false propaganda about a subject that is already riddled with historical disinformation.

By publishing this simple cartoon, the people in middle Tennessee, who trust you to bring them the news- not your uneducated humor, have once again been the victim of the outlandish lie that a simple plant, put here by God, is somehow a sinister drug.

Facts about cannabis are everywhere. From the legitimacy of the medicinal use to the non addictive character of cannabis used as medicine as well as recreational.

Here in Tennessee we have one of the highest prescription drug problems in the nation. Those prescription drugs were made in a lab, behind closed doors. They were then tested, behind closed doors. They were then patented, marketed and sold as ‘medicine’, when they are nothing more than a poison with very little medicinal value. Millions of deaths occur every year due to these prescription medications, millions more die because the poisons do not keep us healthy - the biggest lie of all. Do I need to mention  that not one single death can be found due to cannabis consumption, although there are millions of deaths related to the enforcement of the cannabis laws.

Tennessee has made a choice not to expand it’s medicaid system, leaving hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans without health insurance. Not only has Tennessee created an atmosphere where the residents cannot access healthcare, we can no longer access ways to care for ourselves without the benefit of the medicine that God provided for us. Cannabis was first mentioned in the U.S. P. ( United States Pharmacopeia) in 1851, with references to extracts, tinctures and smoking blends. It not only remained there - the definition and use expanded over a period of 75 years with more ways to use this plant to treat more and more maladies. In 1936 the extract of cannabis was removed from the pharmacopeia, however it remained and still does on the national formulary.

Cannabis is also one of the top ten herbs in the Ayurvedic tradition. This is a health system that is used widely in the east and focuses on balance of the body mind and spirit. This medical tradition goes back over 5000 years and has recorded the medicinal use of cannabis to treat several ailments for the same amount of time.

Cannabis has a very checkered history within our world, the American Drug War against the use of this substance is just a small chapter in a very long and varied history. Cannabis crops were managed in the days of the babylonians, the ancient egyptians, the South American tribes, the Buddhist monks in the Himalayas, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin to name just a few.

It is very alarming that a newspaper, with a wide reach of influence would ignore these facts and report on propaganda that is still less than 100 years old, while paying no heed to everything prior to this in our history. Creating your comic from the propaganda of the reefer madness, the dis-information campaigns of the cotton industry, the pharmaceutical companies, the oil industries and the politicians who line their pockets with black market profits.

These are just the tip of the iceberg, when we look at incarceration rates, felony convictions, loss of work, loss of family, exorbitant fines that your humor represents, it shames me that I claim to be a citizen of this great state. Why are there not cartoons on half of a prison being closed down in Colorado since the decision to legalize cannabis.

How can a newspaper believe that they can get away with this kind of humor, when a mixed racial anchor can’t even make a joke about a black grandchild? The humor is politically and fundamentally incorrect. You have stated an untruth, and I hope you go back and do your homework now. Don’t miss the fact that cannabis has been used medicinally for over 5000 years, the fiber from cannabis and hemp is better than any other fiber we have available today, Hemp crops require little fertilizer and pesticide compared to cotton, Cannabis is a sacred herb to many indigenous cultures, cannabis has been used historically in every country and by every culture - it is an herb, not a drug.

When we poke fun at people who want to use cannabis to escape, as others use alcohol or heroine or crack - we are ignoring the fact that the drug use IS NOTthe problem. Our society is the problem, when we create a society that we no longer want to escape from, then drugs will no longer be a problem. 

It is very disconcerting to see a newspaper stoop to such a low level in journalism, one that feeds off of a frenzy of racial segregation and fear mongering from individuals who only research how to steer public opinion rather than the topic they are writing about.

Colorado opened legal sales up just a few days ago, and within 1 week the supply of legal cannabis is  already threatened, dangerously low to the point that they have had to ration sales. The public has spoken, it is time for the government and the Tennessean to listen.

The réponse - so it isn't a great response but it's a reposnse!

"Thank you for your thoughts on this."

Ted R. Rayburn

Editorial Page Editor

The Tennessean

office: 615-259-8063

trayburn@tennessean.com

fax: 615-259-8093