Energy?

As defined by Merriam-Webster, energy can be defined as one of these five things:

-"the capacity of acting or being active"

-"a usually positive spiritual force"

-"vigorous exertion of power"

-"a fundamental entity of nature that is transferred between parts of a system in the production of physical change within the system and usually regarded as the capacity for doing work"

-"usable power (as heat or electricity); the resources for producing such power"

As you can see, 'energy' is defined as many different things, some of them seeming completely unrelated. I guess the point that we are trying to get to is that 'energy' can fit many definitions and is probably over-used and used improperly the majority of the time.

High School vs. The University

For this particular task, I actually managed to find an entire web page outlining the differences between high school and college, mainly focusing on personal freedom/responsibility, the difference in classes, teachers/professors, differences in the tests, and grades. The first topics outlined was the difference between the rule following in high school and the freedom to choose in college. The first point is that high school is usually and free and always mandatory whereas attending college is your choice and is expensive. Another point expressed is the difference in personal responsibility between the two. In college much of your success is determined by your ability to manage your time wisely and make responsible decisions. In high school, students are usually told where to go at what times, what to do at those times, and constantly reminded of what they can and can't do. Overall, in high school your are usually told what you can and can't do and know what the consequences generally are. In college you are responsible for the decisions that you make and have to deal with the consequences no matter what they are.

Also pointed out is the difference between the teachers and the classes in high school and college. At the university level, much more responsibility is given to the student to get the work done outside of class and come to class with a general understanding of the material. In high school, much of the learning is done in the classes with little emphasis of self-teaching outside of the classroom. Another point illustrated is that in high school students are generally expected to simply regurgitate the information that is taught in the class, but in college the students are expected to understand the material thoroughly and be able to apply that material to different situations other than the ones that were covered in class.

There are many differences between being a student at the university level and a student in high school, but there are even more differences in the personal freedom of a student at college, away from home, in comparison to the high school student still living at home. The transition from high school to college may be tough for students, but it is important to remember that with more personal freedom in college also comes more personal responsibility which is a big change for most students making this transition.

Faith Healer: Dr. Helena Steiner-Hornsteyn

Dr. Steiner-Hornsteyn was born with a peculiar gift, which gave her the remarkable ability to intuitively see energy-fields inside and around the human body. According to her website she has used this 'gift' to discover that "certain cells within the body contain the actual CAUSE for physical and emotional imbalance and that this information can be intuitively changed."

This particular healer has a unique way of 'healing' which is kind of hard to explain but she basically makes you realize what you can do to 'heal' yourself after she shows you the cause of whatever imbalance you may have. In her own words she describes her work as: "Usually I am shown the cause why the person is unwell, may it be physical or mental. With the power of Spirit... (or God if you prefer to sayso), you are put back in balance again. You see, the actual healing energy is a very special energy already living within you. The Godly energy flows through me to you and activates your own healing energy. I am merely a TOOL. This is the gift I have been given. You are being awakened to YOUR OWN healing power within you and a healing process is being set in motion."

From what I can understand from this 'healer', she is saying that we have the power to heal ourselves already and the only job that she does is to make us aware of this healing power. If this is the case, and she just told me that I have the power to heal myself already, what is the purpose of going to her for an appointment?

http://www.faith-healing.com/

Gay Adoption

While many gay and lesbian couples have decided to become parents, they have met many obstacles along the way. In the United States, each state currently determines its position on gay adoption. Currently, Florida is the only state that refuses single parent adoption rights to gays and lesbians. Additionally, Utah prohibits adoption by a person who is cohabiting in a relationship that is not a legally valid and binding marriage, making it legal for single people to adopt, regardless of sexual orientation, so long as they are not co-habitating in non-marital relationships. Furthermore, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington State and Washington, D.C. explicitly allow second-parent adoption by same-sex couples statewide, either by statute or court ruling.

Many opponents of gay couples have the right to adopt make claims stating that social science evidence shows that the best environment for the well-being of a child comes from a household family consisting of a heterosexual mother and father. Along these same lines, they make the claim that children living in a homosexual family or more likely to experience with homosexuality than a child raised by heterosexual parents. In response to these claims, the supports of gay adoption rights state that there is no hard evidence proving that gays and lesbians are unfit to be parents or that a child raised in a homosexual household will be worse-off than a child raised in a heterosexual household. This is just one example of an argument put forth by the advocates and critics of the issue and many more can be found at the site below.

http://www.youdebate.com/DEBATES/gay_adoption.HTM?survey

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_adoption

International Definition of Torture

On December 10, 1981 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the text submitted by the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. This text defines torture in Part I Article I as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions."

http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.html

This definition of torture, as well as the rest of the text has been ratified by 142 nations, with another nine having signed but not yet ratified. The United States ratified the Convention, but lodged a declaration that "... nothing in this Convention requires or authorizes legislation, or other action, by the United States of America prohibited by the Constitution of the United States as interpreted by the United States." The reason for this is that the United States Government lacks constitutional authority to enter into any treaty that violates any civil rights or other provisions within the Constitution of the United States. Torture is illegal within the United States and is illegal if practiced by American military personnel anywhere at any time.

The prohibition of torture presented in this document is considered a fundamental principle of customary international law which means that all states are bound to respect this prohibition, regardless of whether or not they are parties to treaties which expressly contain the prohibition. All states are bound to respect the prohibition on torture and ill-treatment whether or not they are parties to treaties which expressly contain the prohibition. By this same standard, all states are obliged to prevent and to punish all and any form of torture outlined in the text.

According to the United Nations Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, torture is very plainly defined as "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." It then adds that "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" should be interpreted to include "the widest possible protection against abuses, whether physical or mental, including the holding of a detained or imprisoned person in conditions which deprive him, temporarily or permanently of the use of any of his natural senses, such as sight or hearing, or of his awareness of place and the passing of time."

http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/g3bpppdi.htm#one

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/05/24/usint8614.htm

7 Minutes Till Midnight

In 1947, during the Cold War, the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago developed a symbolic clockface to represent mankind and the prospect of human destruction due to nuclear warfare. They called this symbolic clock the DoomsDay Clock. The first reading on the clock was 7 minutes until midnight, with midnight symbolizing the destruction of mankind through nuclear warfare. Each time nuclear conflict comes closer, the time on the clock is moved closer to midnight. On the other hand, the minute hand moves back as world events begin to improve.

The clock has seen 17 changes since it was first introduced in 1947 and most of these changes were due to a change in nuclear policy and testing in the United States and the Soviet Union. Only recently has the clock been changed due to the deterioration in international relations, specifically in the Middle East. The most recent change was in 2002 due to the United States' rejection of a series of arms control treaties and its announcement of its intentions to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. This change moved the minute hand on the clock back to its original position at 7 minutes till midnight. The closest the minute hand ever got to midnight was when the United States and the Soviet Union tested thermonuclear devices within nine months of one another and the minute hand was changed to two minutes to midnight. Conversely, the farthest the minute hand has been from midnight and the safest we have been from nuclear destruction was in 1991 after the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which changed the time to seventeen minutes to midnight.

The Jersey Devil

http://www.strangemag.com/jerseydevil1.html

In Southeastern New Jersey there are two thousand square miles of a dark, beautiful area of land which is home to many creatures of legend. The most famous of these is the Jersey Devil which is described as a creature with the head of a horse, large wings and claws, and has a roughly four-foot-long serpentine body. I don't know about you but that sounds like one bad ass mythical creature. Apparently, from sources undefined, whenever one sees this devil they immediately see an omen of a future disaster. Some unsourced examples are omens including ship wrecks and the outbreak of war. While all of this sounds fine and dandy, the most interesting information about this devil is how it originated. The widely accepted story goes something like this...

"When Mrs. Leeds, an indigent woman living in secluded poverty with her twelve starving children, found out she was to have another child exclaimed: "I don't want any more children! Let it be a devil." When the child was born, it was horribly deformed. It crawled from the womb and up the chimney and out into the woods. It is rumored to have fed on small children and livestock while haunting the area for years to come." (Perticaro)

Now where the feeding of small children developed into an ability to forecast omens to people it encounters, I have no idea. It all does make for an interesting story though....good luck hunting!

Philadelphia Ghost Hunters Alliance

As the first professional organization of paranormal investigators and researchers specific to Philadelphia, the PGHA are a dedicated group of individuals sharing the same passion for the investigation of the paranormal. This organization not only investigates these paranormal activities but they also hold seminars and host tours in the city in order to "educate" the people on the paranormal events of the city. Don't be distracted though, their main goal is to find ghosts. They have their share of "true" personal experiences as well. Some of these stories include a woman bearing a striking resemblance to a man's mother that peers out of the kitchen window, an invisible hand catching a woman from falling off a chair, and another story about a ghost that looks like a woman's mother that peers out of the upstairs window.

Now I'll leave it to you decide what is fake or not, but I will tell you that they have an entire section entitled "Possible Evidence." This is the section where they actually present all of their "evidence" in the form of ghost photos, EVP, night vision, and others. As we have already discussed EVP is quite the questionable form of evidence, but still "Possible Evidence" nonetheless. These ghost hunter groups seem to be fairly popular throughout the country and we should all be thankful for the hard work that these groups to do discover these activities and make us aware of the paranormal in all of our lives.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6714063.stm

The Halifax Slasher....lock your doors!!

To find the very best incident of mass hysteria that I could lay my hands on, I decided to cross the bond and I found a particularly interesting story from the town of Halifax in northern England. It began in 1938 after two women claimed that they were attacked by a dark, mysterious man. The distinctive feature they remembered were the bright buckles he was wearing. The mysterious man with bright buckles became known as the "Halifax Slasher." Soon after there were other reports of local women being attacked by the mysterious man with bright buckles on his shoes. Within a period of ten days the attacks continued and mass hysteria enveloped the entire town.

Because of this, the town became all but shut for business, rewards were being offered and vigilante gangs roamed the streets and several men, wrongly mistaken for the attacker, were physically assaulted. Soon the panic became so sever that detectives from Scotland Yard came to investigate.

Following the investigation, the detectives came to the conclusion that there was no "Halifax Slasher" and many of the "victims" actually admitted that their wounds were self-inflicted. I understand that people would be frightened if a lot of people in their town were getting attacked, but who in their right mind would actually inflict wounds upon themselves to keep this "Halifax Slasher" myth alive? Crazy Brits....

http://www.calderdale-online.org/html/community/life3.html

The Real Men in Black

In 1997, American society was given a glimpse at the "secret government agency" known as the Men in Black in the movie cleverly named, Men in Black. In the movie, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are fully responsible for "protecting the earth from the scum of the universe." Simply meaning that it is the job of the MIB to regulate and control the alien population living on earth....seem a little crazy, yes. Anyways, most viewers assumed that this was just another Hollywood movie magic and there really is no such organization as the MIB, but then there are some conspiracy theorists who believe there really is a government organization known as the MIB, except instead of protecting us from the scum of the universe they are the scum of the universe.

These conspiracy theorists have reasons to believe that after a UFO sighting, or any other sighting of extraterrestrial activity MIB members will approach the witnesses and scare them into keeping quiet. One example occurred whenever Robert Dahl was out on his boat with his son near Maury Island in Washington and they sighted six doughnut shaped flying saucers hovering above them. According to the story, one the UFOs was having mechanical difficulty and "discharged a load of liquid, metallic slag" which injured his son and killed his dog which was also on board. Then, the following morning Dahl was approached in a local restaurant by a man in a black suit and asked him to recount his encounter from the previous day. After hearing the story the man in the suit told him that "harm would befall him and his family if he told anyone about the incident." Dahl went ahead and told the story publicly, but soon after confessed that it was all a hoax...a strange event in the eyes of conspiracy theorists.

According to most personal accounts with members of the MIB, they appear on the scene dressed in "out-of-style black suits, travel in twos and threes, and seem to prefer to travel in the vintage 1950s Cadillac." Also, the men are usually described as "foreign looking." They go on to describe them as "tall and thin, with naturally long fingers" and they also go on to point out that "they may or may not have fingernails." The lack of fingernails seems a little strange, but maybe it just adds to their "foreign looking" appearance. Whatever the appearance, conspiracy theorists are convinced that these men belong to the government run organization known as the Men in Black and are trying to cover up any extraterrestrial activity that occurs here on earth.

One huge flaw in this theory that I have found is that in order to even consider there being an organization such as the MIB, one has to believe that extraterrestrials do in fact exist. If it is proven that extraterrestrials don't exist then what would the point of having a government run organization responsible for covering up there activities be? It is pretty obvious that this theory can never be proven until extraterrestrial life is actually proven to exist, which in my own humble opinion, is a long way away from happening.

Another thing to consider is how exactly did these witnesses of MIB encounters come to the conclusion that these men in black suits came from a government agency called the Men in Black. Not anywhere that I read did it give proof that these men in black suits that approached these witnesses claimed to have come from any such organization. For all that we, as well as the witnesses know, these men could just be any normal person wearing a black suit to try and pull a hoax over on these susceptible extraterrestrial believers.

From what I've read on this conspiracy theory, I don't see much proof to convince me that this organization actually exists. Unless somehow it can be proven that extraterrestrials exist and these men in black suits that appear on the scene of the encounter are from some unknown government agency I see no reason to believe any MIB conspiracy theory.

http://www.carpenoctem.tv/cons/mib.html

Antineoplaston Therapy

Stanislaw Burzynski, MD. has developed an alternative treatment that supposedly is the cure for cancer, but is yet to be accepted by the governing agencies or the majority of the medical community. It is in the clinical trial stage right now and is under constant scrutiny by the FDA and the NCI. Dr. Burzynski made his breakthrough whenever he discovered a treatment for cancer through the use of antineoplastons. these antineoplastons are comprised "mostly of peptides and amino acids originally taken from human blood and urine". It seems like an interesting enough concoction, the idea being that antineoplastons are a part of something called the body's "natural biochemical defense system." Proponents then claim that this defense system acts "independently from the body's immune system" and "induces cancer cells to stop growing and become more like normal cells."

It is important to note that these are all claims and nothing has been scientifically proven or accepted by the FDA, NCI, or the ACS. If these treatment was accepted by the medical community or somehow proved as an actual cure, it would only be sensible that Dr. Burzynski would be showered with awards and be seen as the most knowledgeable cancer researcher of the century. Instead, he has been charged with 33 accounts of treating patients with a method not approved the FDA and is seen as a "quack" by many other medical researchers. It seems like a pretty harsh way to be treating the doctor who has found the "cure" for cancer.

On the other side, the antineoplaston treatment is in the process of clinical case studies/trials in order to prove its legitimacy. These case studies have yet to prove anything, but they are constantly studying the treatment. Many people have claimed that this treatment has cured their cancer, and even though it isn't recommended by any of the federal agencies governing ethical and legitimate treatments of medical disorders, many people choose to hand over $30,000-60,000 to Dr. Burzynski. Let's all just hope that he really has found the cure and we are simply waiting for its approval. Don't get your hopes too high.

The Zundelsite: Truth or Utter Insanity

The Zundelsite is a website dedicated to the life and work of Ernst Zundel, a reknowned denier of the Holocaust. According to the site Ernst has dedicated his life to "freeing the German people of the burden of the six million." Among deniers, he is often seen as being more radical than the rest, maybe because of this particular quote: "If the Holocaust burden is lifted off the shoulders of the German people, Nazism doesn't look so bad." Surprisingly, as crazy as all of this sounds, Zundel has convinced many people of this revisionist belief and although he is currently being imprisoned in Germany for "the thought crime of denying the Holocaust" his views are still being spread by his supporters through this webstite and I'm sure, many others.

The main points argued by this particular group of deniers can be found under the section "Holocaust Myth 101." In this section eight specific sections are outlined describing their reasons for their denial. For example, under Part III Zundel and his followers believe that "the numbers of Holocaust victims are irresponsibly exaggerated." Now I'm sure that as you and I both now, according to our high school history textbooks, this number they are talking about is roughly 6 million. According to Zundel, "the total number of deaths registered with the Special Registry Office and various other registry offices was 373, 468", quite the difference from the 6 million offered to us in most textbooks and other historical records. A lot of other Jews were also killed and left unregistered, which could leave a lot more numbers yet to be posted but Zundel claims that simply because these Jews have gone unaccounted for during this period of time it is unreasonable to make them a victim of this genocide. He also makes the ludicrous statement that, "If so many millions of Jewish people died at the hands of the Germans, why are there so many survivors?" Apparently, according to Zundel's mindset, there are only a few more than 6 million Jews and the Jews that were left are unable to reproduce. Just one example of the strange logic offered by this particular denier.

If you continue down the list of their points you will stumble across Part VIII claiming, "American execution expert, Fred Leuchter, delivered a scientific break-through in proving that the so-called gas chambers at Auschwitz could not have been used for their alleged purpose." Now this is an astounding claim, and it should also be made clear that the "alleged purpose" in question is that of them being a means for mass murder of Jews by means of exposure to posinous gasses. Before you go spreading this news, it is important to understand a little bit about the "expert" who made these findings. Although Fred Leuchter is an American execution "expert", what he has done to gain this status or what specification of execution he is an expert of is left unanswered, but one main thing to understand is that he had no type of engineering degree or any other degree directly relating to the use of buildings as gas chambers. This being said, how can we believe what this so called "expert" has to say?

I could go on an on describing and critiquing each and every one of the points made by Ernst Zundel and supported by his fellow deniers, but if I were to show you the faults that I find in them, what else is there left for you to discover yourself? (not that you should fully trust my statements, seeing that I am no expert myself) Hence, I encourage you to read the rest of the points offered and come to your own conclusion, whether it be in support of Zundel or in support of your high school textbooks (not that you should believe everything your high school textbooks said either) and the millions upon millions of people who whole-heartedly believe the holocaust existed and the facts are correct.

http://www.zundelsite.org/zundel_persecuted/who_is_zundel.html

Billy Meier and the "truth" about the Pleiadians

After thoroughly searching my Google search results for "ufo believers" I stumbled across a website dedicated to the proof provided from Billy Meier and his experience with the group of extraterrestrials known as Pleiadians (a link to the site is at the bottom of this post). According to Billy Meier, an "uneducated farmer from Switzerland" as quoted from another website, he has been in contact with a group of extraterrestrials since the mid 1970's and through this relationship he has been allowed the "opportunity to obtain physical evidence of their existence which included UFO pictures, spacecraft sound recordings, metal samples and eyewitness accounts just to name a few." What these other opportunities presented to him from these ETs isn't specified, but I'm sure that your guess is just as good as mine as to what they may be. Not to mention, as "proof" of the alien nature of these metal samples and the legitimacy of the photographs, a mere $9 will allow you to download the complex scientific documents that prove the alien nature of these objects and their legitimacy. As I in no way wish to support this cause and Billy Meier, I simply couldn't bring myself to spending $9 in order to critique these valuable documents so I will allow that pleasure for you if you feel so inclined. But basically, on this website Billy Meier and his followers explain that Billy has been contacted by these Pleiadians (actually they are Plejaren according to Billy's contact, Ptaah) and through these contacts he has learned about their extraterrestrial lives and has been given proof of the existence of alien forms of life......and don't forget his really cool UFO pictures.

The part about this Pleiadian/Plejaren story that I have trouble believing is that all of these followers are basing their beliefs on the stories of one man's "encounter" with three of these ETs and the only proof that they can be given are metal scraps and photographs of UFOs. Granted, these photographs and metal scraps have been scientifically tested and proven to be legitimate, but once again, I just find it hard to place that much trust in something that has not been REPEATEDLY tested by scientists. Not to mention, I really have trouble resting all of my beliefs on the word of an "uneducated farmer in Switzerland", but that's just me.

http://www.steelmarkonline.com/pleiadians.htm

The Boston Homeless

A long time ago, last summer to be exact, I spent 8 weeks in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A word of warning to any who would ever think about either living or traveling there: venture far far away from the homeless. As my roommate and I were making our nightly run to the 7-11 down the street we began to be followed by a man of the strangest sorts. He was one of those types that you instantly know are going to follow you wherever you go until you make a purchase of some sort and immediately bombard you and ask you for that spare change. Anyways, we get to the 7-11 and we both make our purchases, the strange man choosing to remain outside of the store, and we prepare ourselves for the attack. As we walk out of the safety of the 7-11, prepared to defend our newly acquired change, the strange man approaches us, not to ask us for some spare change, but instead to defend his belief that some form of alien beings have chosen to reside in the sewers of Boston. His claim was that the horrid smell that was obviously from the subway and all of the trash and wastes floating around under the street, was really from the exhaust from the ships and alien motorbikes that these alien beings use as their transportation around the city. He didn't only stop with the smell from the sewers but he also went on to describe the lives they led under the streets and the communities that they have formed. Other than the fact that he failed to describe HOW these aliens got under the streets of Boston, it was quite the believable story. So actually, if you are looking for some interesting theories about the stench of the Boston sewers feel free to have a conversation with the homeless, you may just find the answer your looking for.

Yo

This is the blog of Michael. This is not the blog of any other of the 100000000 Michaels on Blogger. This is the blog of Michael.