One night i woke up..I was freezing I noticed I forgot to close the window before I went to sleep..the window is high and
you need to stand on something to reach it there was a wooden box already so I stood on it and reached for the handle of the window when suddenly a voice of a woman whispered to me behind my head..I was so scared..Im sure it wasnt the radio or television dowstairs because that night I stayed in the house on my own...Im so scared to sleep beside that window again ...
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
TATTOO NIGHTMARE
I write this quickly, while losing my memory. Call it a desperate attempt to get something into the public record -or at least some sort of hope that I'm living a nightmare and will soon, awaken. My name is Tom, I grew
up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, and am forty years old.
When 'they' became obvious to me is still uncertain. For argument's sake, let's just say I was around 8 years old. In the two caste system of the sixty's, us normal people always noticed the tattoo on the right wrist of the other caste. We called those with the tattoos - 'Tats' - and we stayed away from them knowing that they were different. Jealousy always played a major role and I can remember some of my public (elementary) school experiences involving the Tats. Just give me two minutes alone with one! But I know, that was not possible, the two castes - n e v e r - mixed.
Oh, and their tattoo was uuugly. I mean it was as if they were wearing a watch band. Solid black, one inch thick around the entire right wrist. I didn't know, couldn't know, or even imagine, that my jealousy of the Tats was just beginning. You see, I was 13 now and a new 7th grader. Forget the baby stuff of elementary school, I was now noticing girls! The Junior High was a great place. Girls, sports, girls, and other opportunities were available for any handsome young man, like myself. The only
problem for me (and my normal friends), was that work and grades came - absolutely first. The teachers made sure we understood this and the Superintendent of schools would fine our parents heavily if we even thought about failing. Then, of course, there were the Tats.
What a life! They still had no exams. They would all flirt in the hallways and the boys and girls would be making-out like there was no tomorrow. In the few cases where we tested together, the Tats always seemed brighter. No homework, no studying, how could they achieve these results? Even rarer would be a fight between a normie and a Tat. All out of rage I'm sure. I just can't understand why they always seemed to be a step quicker, sharper, or smarter. What really pissed me (and my friends) off was the fact that after one of these fights, the normie was always suspended. You can imagine what his parents would do to him with the fines and embarrassment, and all. I mean, the next day the Tat in the fight would be back in school. His friends and the Tat girls would be laughing. And you call this justice! Is this fair? Do we have equal rights???
That's pretty much the way it ran through Junior High School. I probably, most definitely, had more questions than answers. Even during the summer recess, before stepping up to the Senior High School, was an event. In some cases we appreciated being normies. It was a pleasure to walk the streets of Flatbush. One second you could be passing Macy's, the next second your nostrils would be teased with the unparalleled aromas from the local Kosher Deli. This was, of course, between working two jobs, four days a week. Parents had it much harder, but we were on break. I guess we just did our part to keep society going. Jealousy is a word that just flames out of me. You see, the Tats didn't have to work. They were enjoying the summer as if it were retirement. Oh the arrogant gall. Just when I couldn't stand it anymore I somehow noticed that adults my parent's age hinted moments of respect toward the Tats. In other words, as we passed the Tats on the streets my parents would nod, smile, or tip their hats with courtesy. I mean, can you just vomit? Working my butt off -- for what?
My hands tremble as I recall the 'other' summer happening. My friends and I swore our selves to secrecy. In no way can this be revealed while I'm still alive, but I must, at least for the public record's sake, let you know the truth. My friends and I challenged the Tats to a game of football. Yes, no adults knew of this 'mixed' event, and even the Tats agreed to keep the secret. There we were, in the game of our lives. Us against them, no parents, teachers, or other adults to stop 'the' challenge. Mixed company was taboo but we wanted to kick some butt, if you hear me talking. Our best players were inspiring. I mean, we signed up the entire Ja football team. We knew we would win! Then the game started and when we disguised plays right, only to run left, they were waiting for us. When we adjusted our defense to be waiting for them, they readjusted their offense. Every step of the way we were outplayed. They were the same size as us too, so we can't use that excuse. But late in the fourth quarter, when we were exhausted the Tats seemed to appreciate their youth more. They were happy and getting happier. How embarrassed we were but knew it was our secret. Shut out, outplayed, and out foxed, we left with our heads bowed down in defeat only having, more questions.
After all that, us normies headed to Senior High School with a new air of respect. We still hated the Tats but were at least athletically impressed. Maybe I could answer some questions if I could meet (secretly) with one of the Tat boys I played football against during the summer. Half in shame, and half with curiosity, I walked the hallways of our new school. All seemed about right. My friends and I were there, the two caste system had, an as usual, fifty - fifty ratio, but something just seemed unfamiliar to me. I couldn't find one of the Tats we had played football against last summer. I mean, not one!
One Tat (I secretly talked with) called me a nut for even trying to find the Tats from the past. I guess it's that mixed company taboo thing. Anyway, more questions. How can an entire football team just up, and disappear? Not that high school years were any different than the junior high years. All the pressure was on the normies. Jealously (did I use that word already) still was more present than ever, and life and youth, still belonged to the Tats. Just watching the boy and girl Tats enjoying each others company seemed exaggerated. Summers, work, and future semesters were all identical. No sense to rehash each year. Just look what I said about junior high. It's virtually, all the same.
Then came graduation. My friends, parents, and I were all so proud. I just (in the back of my mind) wondered what happened to the Tats we played football against? Why aren't they here graduating in front of their parents? I still don't like them but I feel as if I'm freaking out or something. Following graduation there was no summer off.
Immediate employment, two jobs a day, six days a week was a necessity for our society to survive. You know by now that the normies shouldered all of the burden, even for the Tats. I had until age 20, to get married and start reproducing. If I could not select a mate in time, one would be assigned. Marriage and starting a family all happened on the weekends. There was no vacation. Do it on your one and one-half days off, we were told. Forgot to mention that we only worked one job on Saturdays. In between having the two or three required children, the normie women all worked one job a day, six days a week. All of this was accepted and I'm not sure why I seemed to be the only one with questions. You can imagined we all worked like dogs. I'll spare you the details of how my wife, children, and I survived. So much pressure and so little time. I don't mean to leave anything out but let me continue on, at least for the public record's sake because I am already losing my memory.
Everything was much the same as I described up until I hit age 39. That morning I arose and as customary on each one of my birthdays, I took a brisk walk around the neighborhood. My bad knee was acting up as usual. Everything was as usual with nothing new. That is, nothing new until I started to open my front door following my walk. I noticed that as I turned the door knob that I appeared to have some dirt (or something) on my right wrist. It was just up the arm from the wrist joint and slightly above the protruding bone about 3 ½ inches from the pinky. I tried to wash it off but could not. It's probable thickness, only 1/32nd of an inch, drawn around my wrist like wrist like a bracelet. Surely worried, embarrassed, and a mixture of emotions attacked me. I was no Tat, but I wasn't exactly a normie anymore either. I kind of wore long sleeves and kept it a secret.
Now you're almost caught up to date. Age 39 came and went, and 40 was upon me. Before leaving my house for my traditional walk, I slowly glanced down at my right wrist. Can you believe that up the arm about one inch from the other slim dark bracelet, was indeed, another matching bracelet? I mean, they seemed to be tattoos. They didn't wash off or anything. My problem is I have too many questions. Do others know about these things? In my prime, 40 and proud! Education, careers, wife, children, all behind me, but what's ahead of me?
Today I found out. It was a year ago I turned 40 and I was thrilled to take my brisk birthday walk. I nervously avoided looking down at my right wrist. Everything was in place. Down Flatbush Avenue, over to Bedford, and past the Flatbush Boy's Club. The pace was great and the air was full, cool, and clean. I even noticed a little spring in my step. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you that some of the arthritis I had in my bad knee actually didn't bother me as much. On the return trip I passed the P.A.L. and made a longer trip than usual by walking all the way up to Ocean Avenue. All the people seemed as nice as ever, some even more so. All as usual, until I saw a man of about 35 smiling to me while scolding his nervous little son. I remember those words perfectly. The man told his son, "don't worry, he's just a TAT". That second, I looked down to my wrist and noted how the area between the two bracelets was filled in. Dark and black! Yes, I now had the ugly black tattooed right wrist. Horrors I thought, as I somehow suddenly realized, that I just turned 39, again.
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up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, and am forty years old.
When 'they' became obvious to me is still uncertain. For argument's sake, let's just say I was around 8 years old. In the two caste system of the sixty's, us normal people always noticed the tattoo on the right wrist of the other caste. We called those with the tattoos - 'Tats' - and we stayed away from them knowing that they were different. Jealousy always played a major role and I can remember some of my public (elementary) school experiences involving the Tats. Just give me two minutes alone with one! But I know, that was not possible, the two castes - n e v e r - mixed.
Oh, and their tattoo was uuugly. I mean it was as if they were wearing a watch band. Solid black, one inch thick around the entire right wrist. I didn't know, couldn't know, or even imagine, that my jealousy of the Tats was just beginning. You see, I was 13 now and a new 7th grader. Forget the baby stuff of elementary school, I was now noticing girls! The Junior High was a great place. Girls, sports, girls, and other opportunities were available for any handsome young man, like myself. The only
problem for me (and my normal friends), was that work and grades came - absolutely first. The teachers made sure we understood this and the Superintendent of schools would fine our parents heavily if we even thought about failing. Then, of course, there were the Tats.
What a life! They still had no exams. They would all flirt in the hallways and the boys and girls would be making-out like there was no tomorrow. In the few cases where we tested together, the Tats always seemed brighter. No homework, no studying, how could they achieve these results? Even rarer would be a fight between a normie and a Tat. All out of rage I'm sure. I just can't understand why they always seemed to be a step quicker, sharper, or smarter. What really pissed me (and my friends) off was the fact that after one of these fights, the normie was always suspended. You can imagine what his parents would do to him with the fines and embarrassment, and all. I mean, the next day the Tat in the fight would be back in school. His friends and the Tat girls would be laughing. And you call this justice! Is this fair? Do we have equal rights???
That's pretty much the way it ran through Junior High School. I probably, most definitely, had more questions than answers. Even during the summer recess, before stepping up to the Senior High School, was an event. In some cases we appreciated being normies. It was a pleasure to walk the streets of Flatbush. One second you could be passing Macy's, the next second your nostrils would be teased with the unparalleled aromas from the local Kosher Deli. This was, of course, between working two jobs, four days a week. Parents had it much harder, but we were on break. I guess we just did our part to keep society going. Jealousy is a word that just flames out of me. You see, the Tats didn't have to work. They were enjoying the summer as if it were retirement. Oh the arrogant gall. Just when I couldn't stand it anymore I somehow noticed that adults my parent's age hinted moments of respect toward the Tats. In other words, as we passed the Tats on the streets my parents would nod, smile, or tip their hats with courtesy. I mean, can you just vomit? Working my butt off -- for what?
My hands tremble as I recall the 'other' summer happening. My friends and I swore our selves to secrecy. In no way can this be revealed while I'm still alive, but I must, at least for the public record's sake, let you know the truth. My friends and I challenged the Tats to a game of football. Yes, no adults knew of this 'mixed' event, and even the Tats agreed to keep the secret. There we were, in the game of our lives. Us against them, no parents, teachers, or other adults to stop 'the' challenge. Mixed company was taboo but we wanted to kick some butt, if you hear me talking. Our best players were inspiring. I mean, we signed up the entire Ja football team. We knew we would win! Then the game started and when we disguised plays right, only to run left, they were waiting for us. When we adjusted our defense to be waiting for them, they readjusted their offense. Every step of the way we were outplayed. They were the same size as us too, so we can't use that excuse. But late in the fourth quarter, when we were exhausted the Tats seemed to appreciate their youth more. They were happy and getting happier. How embarrassed we were but knew it was our secret. Shut out, outplayed, and out foxed, we left with our heads bowed down in defeat only having, more questions.
After all that, us normies headed to Senior High School with a new air of respect. We still hated the Tats but were at least athletically impressed. Maybe I could answer some questions if I could meet (secretly) with one of the Tat boys I played football against during the summer. Half in shame, and half with curiosity, I walked the hallways of our new school. All seemed about right. My friends and I were there, the two caste system had, an as usual, fifty - fifty ratio, but something just seemed unfamiliar to me. I couldn't find one of the Tats we had played football against last summer. I mean, not one!
One Tat (I secretly talked with) called me a nut for even trying to find the Tats from the past. I guess it's that mixed company taboo thing. Anyway, more questions. How can an entire football team just up, and disappear? Not that high school years were any different than the junior high years. All the pressure was on the normies. Jealously (did I use that word already) still was more present than ever, and life and youth, still belonged to the Tats. Just watching the boy and girl Tats enjoying each others company seemed exaggerated. Summers, work, and future semesters were all identical. No sense to rehash each year. Just look what I said about junior high. It's virtually, all the same.
Then came graduation. My friends, parents, and I were all so proud. I just (in the back of my mind) wondered what happened to the Tats we played football against? Why aren't they here graduating in front of their parents? I still don't like them but I feel as if I'm freaking out or something. Following graduation there was no summer off.
Immediate employment, two jobs a day, six days a week was a necessity for our society to survive. You know by now that the normies shouldered all of the burden, even for the Tats. I had until age 20, to get married and start reproducing. If I could not select a mate in time, one would be assigned. Marriage and starting a family all happened on the weekends. There was no vacation. Do it on your one and one-half days off, we were told. Forgot to mention that we only worked one job on Saturdays. In between having the two or three required children, the normie women all worked one job a day, six days a week. All of this was accepted and I'm not sure why I seemed to be the only one with questions. You can imagined we all worked like dogs. I'll spare you the details of how my wife, children, and I survived. So much pressure and so little time. I don't mean to leave anything out but let me continue on, at least for the public record's sake because I am already losing my memory.
Everything was much the same as I described up until I hit age 39. That morning I arose and as customary on each one of my birthdays, I took a brisk walk around the neighborhood. My bad knee was acting up as usual. Everything was as usual with nothing new. That is, nothing new until I started to open my front door following my walk. I noticed that as I turned the door knob that I appeared to have some dirt (or something) on my right wrist. It was just up the arm from the wrist joint and slightly above the protruding bone about 3 ½ inches from the pinky. I tried to wash it off but could not. It's probable thickness, only 1/32nd of an inch, drawn around my wrist like wrist like a bracelet. Surely worried, embarrassed, and a mixture of emotions attacked me. I was no Tat, but I wasn't exactly a normie anymore either. I kind of wore long sleeves and kept it a secret.
Now you're almost caught up to date. Age 39 came and went, and 40 was upon me. Before leaving my house for my traditional walk, I slowly glanced down at my right wrist. Can you believe that up the arm about one inch from the other slim dark bracelet, was indeed, another matching bracelet? I mean, they seemed to be tattoos. They didn't wash off or anything. My problem is I have too many questions. Do others know about these things? In my prime, 40 and proud! Education, careers, wife, children, all behind me, but what's ahead of me?
Today I found out. It was a year ago I turned 40 and I was thrilled to take my brisk birthday walk. I nervously avoided looking down at my right wrist. Everything was in place. Down Flatbush Avenue, over to Bedford, and past the Flatbush Boy's Club. The pace was great and the air was full, cool, and clean. I even noticed a little spring in my step. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you that some of the arthritis I had in my bad knee actually didn't bother me as much. On the return trip I passed the P.A.L. and made a longer trip than usual by walking all the way up to Ocean Avenue. All the people seemed as nice as ever, some even more so. All as usual, until I saw a man of about 35 smiling to me while scolding his nervous little son. I remember those words perfectly. The man told his son, "don't worry, he's just a TAT". That second, I looked down to my wrist and noted how the area between the two bracelets was filled in. Dark and black! Yes, I now had the ugly black tattooed right wrist. Horrors I thought, as I somehow suddenly realized, that I just turned 39, again.
. Read More..
grandma, what happened?
i was on the computer and my brother was watching the telly. We thought our mum and dad were out shopping. We then recieved a phone call, from the police, saying that both our parents had died in a terrible car crash. We
were both very upset, but there was nothing we could do. We had to pack our cases and belongings and go and live with our grandma. Our grandad had died, 7 years ago and 3 months. Our grandma had moved into this giant house, right out in the countryside, with no shops or neibours nearby. It was such a long journiy to get there until we arrived. We brought our cases in and grandma opened the door.
Grandma wasn't the most freindliest women in the world, but she did show us to our rooms. They were quite big, but there wasn't much in them. My room had only a bed, a desk and a chair, mirror on the wall, a wardrobe, and a window with curtains slightly ripped. But i didn't care, i was just happy that we were living with someone who would look after us.
Later that evening, after dinner, we came down the creaky stairs. Grandma was sitting in her rocking chair, doing her usual knitting. She had always enjoyed doing her knitting, and had knitted little mittens and scarfs for us when we were babies. They were very itchy but we loved them.
We asked if we could go to the park, so we did. We remembered this place off by heart. We soon reached the park. There were no swings. Or slides. Or see-saws. There
was nothing. Something had taken it's place. It was a graveyard. At first, i thought i was dreaming, but i wasn't. We looked round at all the gravestones, until we reached one. We read who it was: it was grandma.
My brother quickly ran back, to the house. He checked in the lounge. The rocking chair was still there, gently rocking, the knitting stuff was still there, but grandma was gone.
I waited a few more minutes, but my brother never returned.
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were both very upset, but there was nothing we could do. We had to pack our cases and belongings and go and live with our grandma. Our grandad had died, 7 years ago and 3 months. Our grandma had moved into this giant house, right out in the countryside, with no shops or neibours nearby. It was such a long journiy to get there until we arrived. We brought our cases in and grandma opened the door.
Grandma wasn't the most freindliest women in the world, but she did show us to our rooms. They were quite big, but there wasn't much in them. My room had only a bed, a desk and a chair, mirror on the wall, a wardrobe, and a window with curtains slightly ripped. But i didn't care, i was just happy that we were living with someone who would look after us.
Later that evening, after dinner, we came down the creaky stairs. Grandma was sitting in her rocking chair, doing her usual knitting. She had always enjoyed doing her knitting, and had knitted little mittens and scarfs for us when we were babies. They were very itchy but we loved them.
We asked if we could go to the park, so we did. We remembered this place off by heart. We soon reached the park. There were no swings. Or slides. Or see-saws. There
was nothing. Something had taken it's place. It was a graveyard. At first, i thought i was dreaming, but i wasn't. We looked round at all the gravestones, until we reached one. We read who it was: it was grandma.
My brother quickly ran back, to the house. He checked in the lounge. The rocking chair was still there, gently rocking, the knitting stuff was still there, but grandma was gone.
I waited a few more minutes, but my brother never returned.
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The HPV Vaccine
HPV (human papillomavirus) is a very popular sexually transmitted virus, but not exactly the kind of popular that makes you want to be in the "in" crowd. It's believed that 75 percent of the population will become infected with HPV during their adulthood, and studies show that
certain types of HPV infections cause about 70 percent of all cervical cancer., while 370,000 cases of cervical cancer are identified in the United States every year and the CDC estimates that 6.2 million Americans are infected every year. In June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first preventive HPV vaccine, marketed by Merck & Co. under the trade name Gardasil. Yay! But wait: Conservative Christian groups have come out in opposition against the HPV vaccine, claiming that a vaccine will only encourage promiscuity and that abstinence is the best way to avoid getting HPV -- and thus injecting a life-saving breakthrough with a virus of its own: life-threatening sexual hysteria. It's too bad: Something called "The Promiscuity Vaccine" sounds like a shot I'd like to get from a naughty nurse, rather than a dose of misinformation from the Family Research Council.
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certain types of HPV infections cause about 70 percent of all cervical cancer., while 370,000 cases of cervical cancer are identified in the United States every year and the CDC estimates that 6.2 million Americans are infected every year. In June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first preventive HPV vaccine, marketed by Merck & Co. under the trade name Gardasil. Yay! But wait: Conservative Christian groups have come out in opposition against the HPV vaccine, claiming that a vaccine will only encourage promiscuity and that abstinence is the best way to avoid getting HPV -- and thus injecting a life-saving breakthrough with a virus of its own: life-threatening sexual hysteria. It's too bad: Something called "The Promiscuity Vaccine" sounds like a shot I'd like to get from a naughty nurse, rather than a dose of misinformation from the Family Research Council.
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The Craigslist Experiment Sex Scandal
In September, Seattle resident Jason Fortuny (and a friend) carried a Craigslist thought experiment over into shocking reality. He took a hard-core Women Seeking Men ad from another city and reposted it to see how many replies he could get in 24 hours. Then he published every
single response -- photos, e-mails, IM info, phone numbers, names, everything -- to a public wiki. Then he went public on Jason's LiveJournal page, calling it "The Craigslist Experiment." He got 178 responses, with 145 photos of men -- one respondent used a Microsoft employee e-mail address, another used a usar.army.mil (military) e-mail address -- all sparking huge debates on Internet privacy. Since then, Portland copycat Michael Crook performed the same experiment but took it further, baiting respondents into giving more sexual and personal information. Crook became a troll par excellence by trying to milk his 15 minutes of attention by barraging local Web sites like 10 Zen Monkeys and Web hosting providers like Laughing Squid with bogus DMCA takedown notices related to his image (when they wrote about him), turning sex-baiting into DMCA-baiting -- and now the local Electronic Frontier Foundation is suing Crook for bogus DMCA claims.
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'Girls Gone Wild''s Joe Francis
We all knew that those annoying "Girls Gone Wild" ads we had to sit through while waiting for Stephen Colbert to come back on just had to come from the father of all douche bags, but then this year we found out we were right. Joe Francis, the founder and director of the video
series, is officially looking like the king craziest douche bag of all times. He was robbed at gunpoint and forced to perform in a bend-over-boyfriend extortion video and was arrested on charges of racketeering and drugs. The Los Angeles Times profile in which he publicly sexually humiliated the female journalist on the story significantly raised his douche bag quotient (DQ). And this month, his guilty plea for using underage girls (gone wild with lawyers, natch) got him a tidy little sentence.
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series, is officially looking like the king craziest douche bag of all times. He was robbed at gunpoint and forced to perform in a bend-over-boyfriend extortion video and was arrested on charges of racketeering and drugs. The Los Angeles Times profile in which he publicly sexually humiliated the female journalist on the story significantly raised his douche bag quotient (DQ). And this month, his guilty plea for using underage girls (gone wild with lawyers, natch) got him a tidy little sentence.
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Sex in Space
In space, no one can hear you masturbate. At least that was the theory tossed (ahem) about the Internet and in print this year, especially when Laura S. Woodmansee came out with the well-researched
(and highly amusing) book "Sex in Space." Aside from jokes about getting fluids out of your hair, the choreography of connection and not leaving condoms on the console, MSNBC's science writer Alan Boyle remarked that "new devices and data would be required to hit the zero-g g-spot," and zero-gravity veteran Xeni Jardin got a sex-positive microgravity post going on Boing Boing that garnered comments from pro-abstinence pseudo-Christians as well as hanky-flagging space sluts.
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Sex Toy Bans
Sex toys had a rough year, coming and going. Not only did people freak out about what was in their toys, but legislators had fits so profound about their very existence that it kinda made us all a bit
uncomfortable to associate senators and butt plugs all in one sentence. ... But because they tried -- in some cases, successfully -- to make sex toys illegal in certain states, we have all been forced (with a vibrator to our collective heads) to consider anal beads and politicians in bed together, as it were. But seriously -- healthy, average adult Americans were forbidden their fundamental right to buzzing bunny vibrators and bend-over-boyfriend behind closed doors when a federal appeals court in Mississippi upheld the dismissal of a case challenging the state's sex toy ban. Mississippi joined the ranks of sex-toy hatin' states Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Texas, Louisiana and Virginia.
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uncomfortable to associate senators and butt plugs all in one sentence. ... But because they tried -- in some cases, successfully -- to make sex toys illegal in certain states, we have all been forced (with a vibrator to our collective heads) to consider anal beads and politicians in bed together, as it were. But seriously -- healthy, average adult Americans were forbidden their fundamental right to buzzing bunny vibrators and bend-over-boyfriend behind closed doors when a federal appeals court in Mississippi upheld the dismissal of a case challenging the state's sex toy ban. Mississippi joined the ranks of sex-toy hatin' states Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Texas, Louisiana and Virginia.
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Toxic Sex Toys
Sex educators had been making increasing noise all year about the use of phthalates (toxic chemicals) in cheaply made sex toys, but the lube really hit the fan when Greenpeace issued a toxic sex
toy warning based on their investigative report that put those Crystal Jelly Dongs right off the menu. Calling on the European Union to address what they called an "EU sex scandal," Greenpeace requested a ban on the toys similar to one put on children's toys made with the same chemicals -- just like we've proposed here in San Francisco. Blogs responded in kind, with more information on the chemicals and a guide to unsafe sex toys (or two).
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toy warning based on their investigative report that put those Crystal Jelly Dongs right off the menu. Calling on the European Union to address what they called an "EU sex scandal," Greenpeace requested a ban on the toys similar to one put on children's toys made with the same chemicals -- just like we've proposed here in San Francisco. Blogs responded in kind, with more information on the chemicals and a guide to unsafe sex toys (or two).
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Einstein, Sex Fiend
Yeah, he could talk the talk, but could he walk the walk? As it happens, Albert Einstein talked all kinds of smack about his fellow scientists -- and if he ever boasted about how chicks dig physics
geeks or his theory of (his own) relativity to a trophy-drawer of personally collected science-wife panties, he wasn't just pulling another fast equation on y'all. In July, a bevy of Einstein's private letters were unlocked after a 20-year hold, revealing that the king of all high-math nerds had a number of mistresses and numerous sexual liaisons with women who showered him with "affection and gifts."
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geeks or his theory of (his own) relativity to a trophy-drawer of personally collected science-wife panties, he wasn't just pulling another fast equation on y'all. In July, a bevy of Einstein's private letters were unlocked after a 20-year hold, revealing that the king of all high-math nerds had a number of mistresses and numerous sexual liaisons with women who showered him with "affection and gifts."
. Read More..
2257 Raids
The Justice Department added a whole bunch of new age-monitoring regulations in 2005 to their 2257 requirements for pornographers. They added so many, you'd expect them to be done for a while. And because 2257
news died down last year, it's really easy to get lulled into thinking the harassment and shakedowns of pornographers are over. But 2006 has been the year of the surprise 2257 raid for porn film companies. Even though porn is not illegal in the United States and 2257 is For the Children, the laundry list of legitimate businesses on the receiving end of raids this year grew by one more entry this month. In addition to Pure Play Media, Evasive Angles, Darkside Entertainment, Legend, Sunshine Films, Robert Hill Releasing, Sebastian Sloane Productions and Diabolic -- a team of FBI agents conducting 2257 records inspections visited the offices of K-Beech Inc.
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news died down last year, it's really easy to get lulled into thinking the harassment and shakedowns of pornographers are over. But 2006 has been the year of the surprise 2257 raid for porn film companies. Even though porn is not illegal in the United States and 2257 is For the Children, the laundry list of legitimate businesses on the receiving end of raids this year grew by one more entry this month. In addition to Pure Play Media, Evasive Angles, Darkside Entertainment, Legend, Sunshine Films, Robert Hill Releasing, Sebastian Sloane Productions and Diabolic -- a team of FBI agents conducting 2257 records inspections visited the offices of K-Beech Inc.
. Read More..
XXX Goes Down
In March 2005, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) proposed a bill that would require all commercial Web sites with material "harmful to minors" (in other words, sexually explicit content) to
move to a .xxx domain within six months of their bill becoming law. Anyone with a vaguely sex-related Web site instantly felt the first frost of the chilling effects that would come from such an Internet red light district. In a Boing Boing post, San Francisco's Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney Jason Schultz said, "Talk about a misguided attempt at Internet zoning ... also has severe implications for filtering as I'd imagine every .xxx domain would be on the universal black list." But by May 2006 the Register reported .xxx dead in the water, and all the sex writers in Blogistan heaved a collective sigh of relief.
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The Larry Wachowski Story
OK, so it wasn't a total secret that "Matrix" co-creator and producer Larry Wachowski was a cross-dresser -- the relationship with dominatrix Mistress Isla Strix was never really hidden, as it destroyed two
-- but the in-depth article in Rolling Stone revealed much more. In "The Mystery of Larry Wachowski," Peter Wilkinson writes: "Leaving Los Angeles, he and Ilsa moved into a $2.7 million home in San Francisco, on a steep hill in the Castro, with sweeping views of San Francisco Bay. (As of last month, work was still under way on an expensive addition to the house, and a sparkling new red Lexus was parked in the indoor garage.) On the transfer deed for the Castro home, the name Laurence Wachowski does not appear. Instead, it's 'Laurenca' Wachowski. And in a judge's order, filed in the divorce proceeding, he is similarly identified as Laurence Wachowski, a.k.a. Laurenca Wachowski."
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Challenging Children With Mystery Stories
Fifth-grade students love puzzles. Ten and eleven year olds are just beginning to leave the safe realm of the basal reader to branch out into sampling various reading categories. Therefore, the puzzle-like form of a mystery story should
stimulate an appreciation and enjoyment of this genre. The mystery story can be an excellent stimulus for utilizing study skills needed to be a good critical reader, such as cause-and-effect, logical deduction, and assessing vital information and facts. These same skills are also valuable in forming a “budding” writer.
This Unit will be an on-going one through the year. First, students will read mystery stories, reporting on them in book reports and discussing them in class in teacher-directed lessons. In the discussions children will be led to discover the “main elements of a mystery”; defining a problem to be solved, looking for clues or evidence, assessing of evidence, and finally arriving at a solution.
In using the main elements to describe the mystery story’s format, the student can be shown how the problem-solving skills of sequencing, analyzing, cause and effect, and the use of logical deduction are used when reading and writing this genre. The final “poetic justice” endings give great satisfaction to a fifth-grader’s sense of “fair play” and innocence redeemed.
As pupils gain more critical-reading skills, they can advance to the reading of more mature stories by authors such as Phyllis Whitney and John Fitzgerald. He wrote The Great Brain series.
In the conclusion of the unit, students will do some creative short-story writing of their own using the mystery story format. In this way, they will have an appreciation for the skills needed to write a “truly good mystery” and, I hope, will have started a life-long love for reading.
For, as Howard Haycraft states in his introduction to A Treasury of Great Mysteries,
. . . people read mystery stories for a diversity of reasons. Some, for the intellectual challenge of the puzzles they present, others for the vicarious pleasure of the chase. Others believe . . . that the vast popularity of the genre lies in the fact that, in a disorderly world, it represents one of the few fixed points of order and morality, where justice may be counted on to emerge triumphant.
This facet of the mystery story definitely appeals to a fifth-grader’s sense of fairness and emerging creative reasoning skills.
Lawrence Trent1, in his preface to the Mystery Writer’s Handbook, states what a mystery story really should contain in its structure. He calls them the “rules of the classic mystery.”
Rule 1: There must be a crime and the reader must want to see its solution, his interest must be aroused and then he must long to see the mystery solved.
Rule 2: The criminal must appear reasonably early in the story. The villain must be evident for a goodly portion of the book.
Rule 3: The author must be honest and all clues must be made available to the reader. The reader must know everything the protagonist knows.
Rule 4: The detective must exert effort to catch the criminal and the criminal must exert effort to fool the detective and escape from him. Coincidence is taboo.
Although these are the devices of the mystery story, they are the hallmarks of all storytelling; the problem, the characters needed to make the reader care about them, the events that occur in their solving of the problem and, in the end, the reader feels a satisfaction in being included in the solution.
The structure of the mystery story lends itself well to teaching children how to write one. Many approaches may be used to introduce a child to mystery writing.
The first, and most important, is to begin reading them. Let a child discover the enjoyment of reading a good mystery story. Some of Phyllis Whitney’s, Elizabeth Levy’s and David Kherdion’s can be used to stimulate discussions and invoke the child into becoming a “discerning” reader.
The Shadow Nose by Elizabeth Levy is a modern story, using an urban setting and basketball as background. The title is a pun taken from the old radio show, The Shadow, and his motto, “The Shadow Knows.” The main character is a boy named after the Shadow, Lamont Cranston. After reading it, the student could be guided to find the clues, asked to write when did you see the solution, and an opinion of the mystery’s title.
For reluctant readers or those more interested in a comic book format, the Hergé series published by Magnet Press would be an interesting starter. Students could read the adventures of TinTin, which are beautifully illustrated in a comic book format.
The plot of a mystery story is most important, and many times the hardest part of the writing. Pauline Bloom2 reminds us that good story structure demands that you not only involve your main character in trouble, but that you resist the temptation to have him work out his solution too promptly and too easily. In good fiction and in good mystery fiction particularly, the conflict must grow.
The process of writing a well-developed mystery then has to be step-by-step. This process is easily understood by young students, as this is how they have been learning so many of their skills up to this point. They can then very readily use this step-by-step process in their reporting of their reading. Who are the main characters? Where are they? What has happened? What is the mystery to be solved? How did they begin? Did you recognize any clues? Did an event surprise you?
When the time comes to introduce students to the writing process, the newspaper can be an excellent starting point.
Headlines could be cut out and the student asked to create a story using the facts needed to answer the 5 W’s: who, where, when, what and why.
Richard Martin Stern3, in his essay on Suspense, writes that “suspense is the stuff of which all fiction is, or ought to be, made.” He adds that plot alone will not make the reader care, characters and suspense are needed. He calls the important words, “intention” and “anticipation”, the positive openings to the rise of suspense in the reader’s mind.
Time is a powerful tool in the producing of suspense. It helps build up to the climax of the story and is a device used in many stories to heighten the suspense.
Sequencing is another important factor in the building of suspense. It helps to walk the student through a recapping of the story’s time elements to see just when events occurred. You can guide the reader to see the building of the story, realize how the pace adds to the excitement and recognize how the author pulled him along to make him keep turning the page to read more. This, Stern feels, is the “essence”. This is suspense—the art of making the reader turn the page.
In planning the story structure, Charting and Clustering are two very useful tools. The student should be shown how important planning is before beginning to write. Charting, a skill which is easily followed by ten year olds, consists of charting out the main facts of the story in a paper.
. Read More..
stimulate an appreciation and enjoyment of this genre. The mystery story can be an excellent stimulus for utilizing study skills needed to be a good critical reader, such as cause-and-effect, logical deduction, and assessing vital information and facts. These same skills are also valuable in forming a “budding” writer.
This Unit will be an on-going one through the year. First, students will read mystery stories, reporting on them in book reports and discussing them in class in teacher-directed lessons. In the discussions children will be led to discover the “main elements of a mystery”; defining a problem to be solved, looking for clues or evidence, assessing of evidence, and finally arriving at a solution.
In using the main elements to describe the mystery story’s format, the student can be shown how the problem-solving skills of sequencing, analyzing, cause and effect, and the use of logical deduction are used when reading and writing this genre. The final “poetic justice” endings give great satisfaction to a fifth-grader’s sense of “fair play” and innocence redeemed.
As pupils gain more critical-reading skills, they can advance to the reading of more mature stories by authors such as Phyllis Whitney and John Fitzgerald. He wrote The Great Brain series.
In the conclusion of the unit, students will do some creative short-story writing of their own using the mystery story format. In this way, they will have an appreciation for the skills needed to write a “truly good mystery” and, I hope, will have started a life-long love for reading.
For, as Howard Haycraft states in his introduction to A Treasury of Great Mysteries,
. . . people read mystery stories for a diversity of reasons. Some, for the intellectual challenge of the puzzles they present, others for the vicarious pleasure of the chase. Others believe . . . that the vast popularity of the genre lies in the fact that, in a disorderly world, it represents one of the few fixed points of order and morality, where justice may be counted on to emerge triumphant.
This facet of the mystery story definitely appeals to a fifth-grader’s sense of fairness and emerging creative reasoning skills.
Lawrence Trent1, in his preface to the Mystery Writer’s Handbook, states what a mystery story really should contain in its structure. He calls them the “rules of the classic mystery.”
Rule 1: There must be a crime and the reader must want to see its solution, his interest must be aroused and then he must long to see the mystery solved.
Rule 2: The criminal must appear reasonably early in the story. The villain must be evident for a goodly portion of the book.
Rule 3: The author must be honest and all clues must be made available to the reader. The reader must know everything the protagonist knows.
Rule 4: The detective must exert effort to catch the criminal and the criminal must exert effort to fool the detective and escape from him. Coincidence is taboo.
Although these are the devices of the mystery story, they are the hallmarks of all storytelling; the problem, the characters needed to make the reader care about them, the events that occur in their solving of the problem and, in the end, the reader feels a satisfaction in being included in the solution.
The structure of the mystery story lends itself well to teaching children how to write one. Many approaches may be used to introduce a child to mystery writing.
The first, and most important, is to begin reading them. Let a child discover the enjoyment of reading a good mystery story. Some of Phyllis Whitney’s, Elizabeth Levy’s and David Kherdion’s can be used to stimulate discussions and invoke the child into becoming a “discerning” reader.
The Shadow Nose by Elizabeth Levy is a modern story, using an urban setting and basketball as background. The title is a pun taken from the old radio show, The Shadow, and his motto, “The Shadow Knows.” The main character is a boy named after the Shadow, Lamont Cranston. After reading it, the student could be guided to find the clues, asked to write when did you see the solution, and an opinion of the mystery’s title.
For reluctant readers or those more interested in a comic book format, the Hergé series published by Magnet Press would be an interesting starter. Students could read the adventures of TinTin, which are beautifully illustrated in a comic book format.
The plot of a mystery story is most important, and many times the hardest part of the writing. Pauline Bloom2 reminds us that good story structure demands that you not only involve your main character in trouble, but that you resist the temptation to have him work out his solution too promptly and too easily. In good fiction and in good mystery fiction particularly, the conflict must grow.
The process of writing a well-developed mystery then has to be step-by-step. This process is easily understood by young students, as this is how they have been learning so many of their skills up to this point. They can then very readily use this step-by-step process in their reporting of their reading. Who are the main characters? Where are they? What has happened? What is the mystery to be solved? How did they begin? Did you recognize any clues? Did an event surprise you?
When the time comes to introduce students to the writing process, the newspaper can be an excellent starting point.
Headlines could be cut out and the student asked to create a story using the facts needed to answer the 5 W’s: who, where, when, what and why.
Richard Martin Stern3, in his essay on Suspense, writes that “suspense is the stuff of which all fiction is, or ought to be, made.” He adds that plot alone will not make the reader care, characters and suspense are needed. He calls the important words, “intention” and “anticipation”, the positive openings to the rise of suspense in the reader’s mind.
Time is a powerful tool in the producing of suspense. It helps build up to the climax of the story and is a device used in many stories to heighten the suspense.
Sequencing is another important factor in the building of suspense. It helps to walk the student through a recapping of the story’s time elements to see just when events occurred. You can guide the reader to see the building of the story, realize how the pace adds to the excitement and recognize how the author pulled him along to make him keep turning the page to read more. This, Stern feels, is the “essence”. This is suspense—the art of making the reader turn the page.
In planning the story structure, Charting and Clustering are two very useful tools. The student should be shown how important planning is before beginning to write. Charting, a skill which is easily followed by ten year olds, consists of charting out the main facts of the story in a paper.
. Read More..
Friday, May 22, 2009
Catch a Rabbit
The LAPD, The FBI, and the CIA are all trying to prove that they are the best at apprehending criminals. The President decides to
give them a test. He releases a rabbit into a forest and each of them has to catch it.
The CIA goes in.
They place animal informants throughout the forest. They question all plant and mineral witnesses. After three months of extensive investigations they conclude that rabbits do not exist.
The FBI goes in.
After two weeks with no leads they burn the forest, killing everything in it, including the rabbit, and they make no apologies. The rabbit had it coming.
The LAPD goes in.
They come out two hours later with a badly beaten bear. The bear is yelling: "Okay! Okay! I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!"
. Read More..
give them a test. He releases a rabbit into a forest and each of them has to catch it.
The CIA goes in.
They place animal informants throughout the forest. They question all plant and mineral witnesses. After three months of extensive investigations they conclude that rabbits do not exist.
The FBI goes in.
After two weeks with no leads they burn the forest, killing everything in it, including the rabbit, and they make no apologies. The rabbit had it coming.
The LAPD goes in.
They come out two hours later with a badly beaten bear. The bear is yelling: "Okay! Okay! I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!"
. Read More..
run
I was teaching a very basic class in BASIC programming to a group of adults. Adults who have never been around computers before
are very nervous and much harder to teach than children, however I am a patient person so I enjoy their successes.
However, I must share the following:
After putting a short program on the board, I told the students to type "R," "U," "N" and press return to see the program execute.
A hand went up in the back of the room, waving to get my attention, and the person attached to the hand said, "I did what you said and it didn't work." Knowing full-well that all of us make mistakes when typing at the computer, I suggested she retype "R," "U," "N" and press return. A few seconds later, the lady's hand goes up again. "It still doesn't work," she said.
So... I went back to see what the problem was ... only to find that instead of typing RUN, she had typed in the following: ARE YOU IN !
. Read More..
are very nervous and much harder to teach than children, however I am a patient person so I enjoy their successes.
However, I must share the following:
After putting a short program on the board, I told the students to type "R," "U," "N" and press return to see the program execute.
A hand went up in the back of the room, waving to get my attention, and the person attached to the hand said, "I did what you said and it didn't work." Knowing full-well that all of us make mistakes when typing at the computer, I suggested she retype "R," "U," "N" and press return. A few seconds later, the lady's hand goes up again. "It still doesn't work," she said.
So... I went back to see what the problem was ... only to find that instead of typing RUN, she had typed in the following: ARE YOU IN !
. Read More..
YANTRAS & THE BRAIN CIRCUITS
When a sadhaka starts or even aspires to the kundalini he has to undergo a process of mental cleansing. For a modern sadhaka one
wonders what the first niyamas would be. The first is to unlearn normal ways of everyday thought. This would mean immediately plucking out judgmental and analytical thought processes. This would immediately lead on to the fourth brain circuit of sexual thinking. This would also mean meditating at the plateau level for at least 38 minutes everyday. This should be able to generate news ideas.
The sadhaka has to unlearn traditional ways of thinking. The aspirant is given full freedom to let sensations and dreams float through his mind. Gentle spiritual music helps. The physical world is not negated but used to bring energy to all circuits. So physical energy is never negated in preference to mental energy. Tantra realizes that the brain functions mostly with one circuit along with two parallel circuits that are only playing supporting roles. The Freudian thesis of Id, ego and superego also functions in this fashion. So the kundalini yoga or tantra actually support this classification. The fourth brain circuit denies rationality.
If semen is allowed to be expelled, the kundalini is not activated because the loop is then controlled entirely by one sexual circuit. As sexual energy builds, the third brain circuit increases its energy level to maintain control. The third brain circuit opens a pathway to the fifth brain circuit. The semen also opens a pathway to the fifth brain circuit and the two brain circuits working together increase the activity of the fifth brain circuit. The kundalini teacher therefore preserves all these three circuits by rigorous cleaning of the mind through discipline.
The sexual brain however needs to be given full sway for its play within this field of energy. The aspirant therefore visualizes a golden light all around him like a shield. In case of distractions and too much traditional thinking, the aspirant is asked to visualize a mirror-like shield reflecting energy back to the source. This is the correlation between the yantra and the brain circuits. The mantra and the yantra both help in meditation on free energies of the universe with the goal of affecting top emotional and sexual control.
. Read More..
wonders what the first niyamas would be. The first is to unlearn normal ways of everyday thought. This would mean immediately plucking out judgmental and analytical thought processes. This would immediately lead on to the fourth brain circuit of sexual thinking. This would also mean meditating at the plateau level for at least 38 minutes everyday. This should be able to generate news ideas.
The sadhaka has to unlearn traditional ways of thinking. The aspirant is given full freedom to let sensations and dreams float through his mind. Gentle spiritual music helps. The physical world is not negated but used to bring energy to all circuits. So physical energy is never negated in preference to mental energy. Tantra realizes that the brain functions mostly with one circuit along with two parallel circuits that are only playing supporting roles. The Freudian thesis of Id, ego and superego also functions in this fashion. So the kundalini yoga or tantra actually support this classification. The fourth brain circuit denies rationality.
If semen is allowed to be expelled, the kundalini is not activated because the loop is then controlled entirely by one sexual circuit. As sexual energy builds, the third brain circuit increases its energy level to maintain control. The third brain circuit opens a pathway to the fifth brain circuit. The semen also opens a pathway to the fifth brain circuit and the two brain circuits working together increase the activity of the fifth brain circuit. The kundalini teacher therefore preserves all these three circuits by rigorous cleaning of the mind through discipline.
The sexual brain however needs to be given full sway for its play within this field of energy. The aspirant therefore visualizes a golden light all around him like a shield. In case of distractions and too much traditional thinking, the aspirant is asked to visualize a mirror-like shield reflecting energy back to the source. This is the correlation between the yantra and the brain circuits. The mantra and the yantra both help in meditation on free energies of the universe with the goal of affecting top emotional and sexual control.
. Read More..
LOOKING WITHIN
Kundalini yoga is a systematic arrival at one's spiritual goal through observances prescribed in a ritual manner. The first two
limbs of Yoga, yama and niyama form the ground upon which all subsequent teaching is based. This first stage in the practice of the aspirant really focuses his mind on the commencement of personal effort, where the person endeavours to act from all that he understands - and has understood through his past experience - before he is introduced to new teaching, or new knowledge.
The stage called yama and niyama states the first truth about the original Yoga teaching, which is that it is about change of being, and not simply about the acquisition of knowledge. It is about learning to act from the knowledge gained from experience - about each person learning to act from his own individual storehouse of knowledge, through which he makes it truly his own. This is knowledge abstracted from empirical experience about man and his spiritual evolution. In this yoga, the enlightenment or wisdom has to be generated from daily practice and observances whose wellsprings are from within the body and within the mind. External authority or sacred papal commandments cannot command the kundalini. But they have to come from inner discernment, inner understanding, and inner truth.
Yama or niyama are activities of mind, in which a person seeks to discern what is the right goal and what is the wrong expression of it for himself. He peels away before uncovering the kundalini fire, all the dross that has been laid upon the true spiritual nature of man.
In the earliest form of Sanskrit the word yama meant an activity of discernment, and the ability, not only to distinguish right expression from wrong expression, but to have control over all forms of expression that derive from external commands or authority. The abstentions are only part of distancing oneself from the dross external. The five yamas include seeking the motives for a man's actions and the direction of his energy. Through this he realizes the persistence and courage to embark on the self-threatening process of discovery.
. Read More..
limbs of Yoga, yama and niyama form the ground upon which all subsequent teaching is based. This first stage in the practice of the aspirant really focuses his mind on the commencement of personal effort, where the person endeavours to act from all that he understands - and has understood through his past experience - before he is introduced to new teaching, or new knowledge.
The stage called yama and niyama states the first truth about the original Yoga teaching, which is that it is about change of being, and not simply about the acquisition of knowledge. It is about learning to act from the knowledge gained from experience - about each person learning to act from his own individual storehouse of knowledge, through which he makes it truly his own. This is knowledge abstracted from empirical experience about man and his spiritual evolution. In this yoga, the enlightenment or wisdom has to be generated from daily practice and observances whose wellsprings are from within the body and within the mind. External authority or sacred papal commandments cannot command the kundalini. But they have to come from inner discernment, inner understanding, and inner truth.
Yama or niyama are activities of mind, in which a person seeks to discern what is the right goal and what is the wrong expression of it for himself. He peels away before uncovering the kundalini fire, all the dross that has been laid upon the true spiritual nature of man.
In the earliest form of Sanskrit the word yama meant an activity of discernment, and the ability, not only to distinguish right expression from wrong expression, but to have control over all forms of expression that derive from external commands or authority. The abstentions are only part of distancing oneself from the dross external. The five yamas include seeking the motives for a man's actions and the direction of his energy. Through this he realizes the persistence and courage to embark on the self-threatening process of discovery.
. Read More..
UDDIYANA BANDHA
Kundalini yoga offers a great way to train the body for better compliance of muscles including those that are used in the act of sex. The path of
kundalini yoga gets tough along the way as more and more is demanded of your body after the pranayamas and the asanas of the hathayoga. You are required to do the bhandas or the locks. These locks are nothing but special asanas that literally lock the body into certain postures. Of course they are specific for certain pathways and they ensure that your ability to perform sexually is strengthened.
The uddiyana bhanda is a diaphragm lock. Here the yogic practitioner, while sitting in the padmasana position, needs to lift the diaphragm high into the thorax and simultaneously get the abdominal muscles to almost touch the spine. The muscles have to be pulled tight towards the back with the breath pulled out. You should be able to see a cavity forming. This bhanda is said to be particularly beneficial for the heart muscles. What it achieves in terms if the kundalini shakti is that it gently nudges the pranic energy towards the neck.
Now it has been found that this bhanda has more effects than what is visible. It manages to stimulate the tri-axis of the hypothalamic, the adrenal glands as well as the pituitary regions in the brain. This is said to wash you with a benign sense of calm while giving you more control over your body. Of course tantric experts claim that this also gives one a great deal of energy, vitality and a sense of youthfulness - all ingredients of better sex. In the rhythmic laya Yoga, this bhanda is used during chanting and it is said to produce the best results for tapa. That is why you see pictorial representations of the rishis of yore with a caved in abdominal cavity.
. Read More..
kundalini yoga gets tough along the way as more and more is demanded of your body after the pranayamas and the asanas of the hathayoga. You are required to do the bhandas or the locks. These locks are nothing but special asanas that literally lock the body into certain postures. Of course they are specific for certain pathways and they ensure that your ability to perform sexually is strengthened.
The uddiyana bhanda is a diaphragm lock. Here the yogic practitioner, while sitting in the padmasana position, needs to lift the diaphragm high into the thorax and simultaneously get the abdominal muscles to almost touch the spine. The muscles have to be pulled tight towards the back with the breath pulled out. You should be able to see a cavity forming. This bhanda is said to be particularly beneficial for the heart muscles. What it achieves in terms if the kundalini shakti is that it gently nudges the pranic energy towards the neck.
Now it has been found that this bhanda has more effects than what is visible. It manages to stimulate the tri-axis of the hypothalamic, the adrenal glands as well as the pituitary regions in the brain. This is said to wash you with a benign sense of calm while giving you more control over your body. Of course tantric experts claim that this also gives one a great deal of energy, vitality and a sense of youthfulness - all ingredients of better sex. In the rhythmic laya Yoga, this bhanda is used during chanting and it is said to produce the best results for tapa. That is why you see pictorial representations of the rishis of yore with a caved in abdominal cavity.
. Read More..
SECRETS OF THE SAPPHIRE
The Kaula tantra called Brihad Nila Tantra, or the exposition of the Sapphire Blue Saraswati and the Tararahasya or the Secrets of Tara, talk of this Saraswati, the spouse of the creator of the universe or the Brahma-Shakti, or
creative aspect. She is the wife of Brahma and in the Natha Kuala tradition of tantrism a part of Dattatreya who is an amalgam of Vishnu, Brahma and Mahesh. Dattratreya is the patron guru of the Natha tradition. In the Hindu Tantrarajatantra, where Her mantra is given as Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha, identical to the Tibetan version, she is called Kurukulla.
Tantric ritual around her abounds because she is considered secret, powerful and immediate in giving boons. She is invoked by tantriks as Nilasarasvati, Aniruddha Sarasvati, Ugra Tara, and Tarini. She is important for the tantric as in the form of Nilasarasvati she immediately bestows the fruit worshipping her on the upasaka as she is the shakti of the alphabet, the Matrika Shakti.
She is important in Tantrik cosmology because mantra, words and music are considered to be the very source of the cosmos. As Matrika Shakti she deludes the entire human race with Her Maya of letters, and words. This has been expressed in a Tantrik form, but, practically speaking, it is sufficient to say that much hypnosis (Maya) comes about through a web of words. People can be killed by the use of the mantra. Thus Her power and place in the Tantrik pantheon is quite justified, and Her mantra is described as a Siddha-Vidya, the cause of Maya and enchantment.
According to the Todala Tantra the sadhaka has to start the Tara ritual by meditating on Tarini, who is visualized as being as bright as the rising sun in the apogee of a sphere of light, a place surrounded by beautiful maidens with fans and bells. He has to meditate on being one with her absolutely absorbed in her surrounded as she is by a gentle zephyr laden with scent and perfume and incense. This he has to do under the wish fulfilling tree that is placed in the center of the island of glittering gems.
With this he enters a realm of magic and high ecstasy before he prepares for the vamachara or the left handed worship of Tarini for supernatural boons including power over people's mind. Therefore this is also called a miracle tantra.
. Read More..
creative aspect. She is the wife of Brahma and in the Natha Kuala tradition of tantrism a part of Dattatreya who is an amalgam of Vishnu, Brahma and Mahesh. Dattratreya is the patron guru of the Natha tradition. In the Hindu Tantrarajatantra, where Her mantra is given as Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha, identical to the Tibetan version, she is called Kurukulla.
Tantric ritual around her abounds because she is considered secret, powerful and immediate in giving boons. She is invoked by tantriks as Nilasarasvati, Aniruddha Sarasvati, Ugra Tara, and Tarini. She is important for the tantric as in the form of Nilasarasvati she immediately bestows the fruit worshipping her on the upasaka as she is the shakti of the alphabet, the Matrika Shakti.
She is important in Tantrik cosmology because mantra, words and music are considered to be the very source of the cosmos. As Matrika Shakti she deludes the entire human race with Her Maya of letters, and words. This has been expressed in a Tantrik form, but, practically speaking, it is sufficient to say that much hypnosis (Maya) comes about through a web of words. People can be killed by the use of the mantra. Thus Her power and place in the Tantrik pantheon is quite justified, and Her mantra is described as a Siddha-Vidya, the cause of Maya and enchantment.
According to the Todala Tantra the sadhaka has to start the Tara ritual by meditating on Tarini, who is visualized as being as bright as the rising sun in the apogee of a sphere of light, a place surrounded by beautiful maidens with fans and bells. He has to meditate on being one with her absolutely absorbed in her surrounded as she is by a gentle zephyr laden with scent and perfume and incense. This he has to do under the wish fulfilling tree that is placed in the center of the island of glittering gems.
With this he enters a realm of magic and high ecstasy before he prepares for the vamachara or the left handed worship of Tarini for supernatural boons including power over people's mind. Therefore this is also called a miracle tantra.
. Read More..
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