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Notes from teaching WHEE at St George's University Medical School in Grenada

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:30:00 GMT

It was a great pleasure teaching WHEE at the Complementary Medicine Selective Conference at St. George's University School of Medicine in Grenada. Several hundred students from this enormous medical school attended the conference, and dozens attended the workshops.

This is not your ordinary medical school:

There is a rigorous and demanding preparatory course for students who do not have the academic background for medical school but who are highly motivated to become doctors. If they pass the course, they are admitted to the regular medical school program. If they fail, their registration fees are refunded!

Grenada is a small island and does not have the clinical facilities for the hundreds of students in each class to continue into their clinical years. Graduates of the basic sciences courses proceed to their clinical years at affiliated medical schools in the US.

This is the good news. The bad news is that the Complementary Medicine Selective Conference is but a small part of a normal medical school curriculum. I was reminded of my own experiences in medical school in the 1960's. In many ways, little has changed since then. The academic pressures are so enormous that students are constantly stressed out to the max. There is little that they can do about their anxieties about the enormous burdens of studies, exams, finances, living in a foreign country, and an inhumane educational system.

I handled my own med student stresses by taking a year off between my second and third year in school on an NIMH Research Fellowship in Psychiatry. I had no words at that time to describe my stressful experiences, which were (and today continue to be) the expected, accepted norm for medical students.

It is very satisfying to be able to offer this generation of students the benefits of WHEE, which rapidly reduce anxieties and stress reactions and enable us to install positive thoughts and feelings to replace the negative ones we have released.

More on student stress in a following blog entry.

Blessings

Dan
http://benorwholisticblog.com/

Clarification re the current 'invaders'

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:45:00 GMT

To clarify my last entry:

The invaders I refer to are the ones on our TV; the ones who might perhaps more accurately be called corporate infiltrators – in our government, healthcare, education systems; and the ones in our banking system, for starters.

Blessings

Dan

Dealing with aggression

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:32:00 GMT

Hi Rachel and Dennis,

I really like and agree with all of your observations, Dennis.

One subtle piece that I feel is relevant is the coming together of all consciousness on the planet to deal with the invaders. I believe it is this sort of coming together that can be helpful here, too. With love.

Sometimes, however, abuse and violence cannot be stopped without counter-force. Holding to a place of spirituality, love and healing when using counter-force is a real challenge. Aikido is a good example of this.

Blessings

Dan

On 8/10/10 11:31 AM, "Rachel Finney" wrote:

I received this a while back from Dennis, but forgot to send it out. Thoughtful perspective...

From Dennis Gaumond’s newsletter, Understanding the Shift

AVATAR

By Dennis Gaumond

While the movie, 'Avatar' was in theatres, I was in Costa Rica, so I just recently got around to seeing what all the fuss was about. I must say it is a remarkable movie - visually beautiful, very compelling - I give it five stars. I'm sure it will set a new standard in movie-making, much like 'Star Wars' did back in the Seventies.

I feel moved to comment on a couple of things about the movie that I didn't like so much. The first is something that I call the 'Tarzan Syndrome'. Hollywood loves to put out themes where the world is in jeopardy and one man rises to the top to save the day. That messiah figure is always a white, Anglo-Saxon male, even if the story takes place in a foreign land. In the case of Tarzan, a child of white aristocratic descent is raised in Africa and soon becomes 'king of the jungle', despite the fact that black people have been living there for millennia. In the movie, 'Samurai', Tom Cruise quickly rises to become top gun in the Samurai world, despite the fact that all the other Samurai warriors have been living and training in this tradition for their entire lives. 'Avatar' continues in this Hollywood tradition - the hero/saviour is a white guy living in a cloned blue-body.

'Avatar' is similar to many Hollywood themes, including 'Star Wars' - there is a conflict between good and evil. In 'Avatar' we have corporate greed threatening the lives of a beautiful indigenous race living in harmony with nature - a metaphor for what has happened and continues to happen here on Earth. The movie succeeds in pointing out the problem, but like most Hollywood movies, falls far short in presenting the solution to the problem. Again the solution we are offered is war. The good guys find a way to defeat the bad guys in spectacular battle scenes - the hero and the villain meet in the final scenes to duke it out, etc.

Wouldn't it be refreshing if the movie offered a different solution? Wouldn't it be great if the movie gave us the spectacle of war, which the box office feels is necessary, but then the war effort fails and the good guys have to resort to something else. What if the good guys ultimately win by using the power of their collective consciousness to send light to the darkness - to change the minds of the bad guys by sending them love? Wouldn't that be a breath of fresh air? But Hollywood prefers to give us clichéd stories with predictable outcomes, and we continue to eat them up.

They say that the true nature of misinformation, which we are fed constantly by all forms of mass-media, is that it consists of 90% truth and 10% distorted truth. The 90% truth gets our attention, and then the distortion subtly misinforms us, leading us off of the path and keeping us ignorant. It is certainly easy to see that the news media employs these tactics. I feel that 'Avatar' is yet another example of this.

Even the use of the word 'avatar' is a distortion. An Avatar is an incarnation of divinity, an enlightened, ascended being who descends into physical form in order to help, usually by offering teachings. An Avatar is a being of pure love, incapable of violence. I believe that we are being misinformed when we are given the idea that our problems will be solved by some messiah figure who will lead us through the battle. We can't sit around waiting for 'the chosen one'. We must solve our problems together, collectively.

I truly believe that war is not, and never will be, the answer to the human dilemma. Even when one side is clearly and obviously 'good', which is rarely the case, we will never ward off evil on the battlefield. We cannot fight darkness with more darkness. Love is the only solution.

Source: whyislife.com

A CALL TO JOIN IN PLANETARY HEALING

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:41:00 GMT

Dear Wholistic Healing community,

Letme share a few thoughts about what I see as the potential and mission of all healers today:

Ifeel that the dense lack of awareness of people being energies and Spirit aswell as being material beings is a root cause (if not THE root cause) of manyof the world’s problems.

Isee the Wholistic Healing Community as a potential node for bringing more awareness and more healinginto the world.

Hereis a quote that speaks to this:

"Tome, I represent a unified field of love, so therefore I am a spokesperson forthe divine spark in all, which is going to be more and more illuminated as wedraw closer and closer to the prophesized shift date 2012… When this takesplace and the veils are lifted, including the one between life and death - wewill be given full access to the cosmos as galactic voyagers with free reign toaccess all levels of our being and existence. It is like the true power of Gaiathat regenerates itself and opens us up to its cosmic immortal nature, has beenreplaced by a force that carries parasitic beings that attach to people,harmful frequencies that control even the weather - also mind control, who feedoff of anything that gives it power because one is unaware of its influence.Without most of humanity knowing it, they are feeding this force. This is whatI was preparing to confront - those who are behind the technologies andagreements that keep us locked in global exile from the rest of the universeand our true selves. Our current reality is not fully running on the creativepower of each individual or our freedom and divinity - that part of us issomewhat sabotaged in exchange for a fear producing world filled with misusesof power, suffering, environmental degradation, Natural Disasters and neglectof those who are in great need. Our collective imbalance is what causes anyoutward imbalance, and it is due to this divine spark being so veiled andhidden, that we function on a whole other system that is completely out ofalignment with our organic make-up. The blueprints that the planet holds, weare meant to be aligned to in order to create in accordance with naturalcycles, the planetary grid and then also find in our own beings, the union ofpolarities. With this type of awareness, we can bridge the separation of Earthand the Heavens and understand different technologies and how they either workagainst or with our environment. We need to co-create with the Mother energy,there is only so much that this force can do, and now is the time tounify."

-Laura Magdalene Eisenhower -- Taken from 2012 and the Ancient Game:Venus-Sophia and Recruitment to Mars<http://sites.google.com/site/lauramagdalene/home/2012-and-the-ancient-game>

-More about her recent revelations in this article<http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2912-Seattle-Exopolitics-Examiner%7Ey2010m2d10-Whistleblower-Laura-Magdalene-Eisenhower-Ikes-greatgranddaughter-outs-secret-Mars-colony-project> by long-time ERN subscriber AlfredLambremont Webre

-Forwarded by Jean Hudon Jean Hudon globalvisionary@earthrainbownetwork.com

‘Avatar,’the top hit film of all time, shows a variation of how the world could look inits oneness. It is good to see that somewhere inside the collectiveconsciousness there are resonations with this vision.

Manyare awakening to the oneness of all Creation.

Wethe Wholistic Healing Community can serve to facilitate this awakening and healing of our planet.

Withoutthis awakening, we are headed for disasters of unprecedented proportions.

Evenwith the awareness, we may have passed tipping points beyond which disastersare inevitable. In that case, the Wholistic Healing Community can be a node for bringing more healingto those transitioning out of our morass, and to whatever survivors remain.

Bybringing together the diverse visions of a healing reality distilled throughthe diverse members of the Wholistic Healing Community, we can come to a common denominator ofawareness and understanding of the deeper realities where we connect with ourhealing consciousness.

Workingtogether, we could be a greater healing presence on this fraught and imperiledplanet of ours.

Howcan we achieve this?

Canwe get beyond our differences and separation to work together?

Thatis our most important challenge.

Theclock is ticking...

What are YOU contributing to this healing?

Blessings

Dan

Gambling on Global Heating: Where do YOU put your chips?

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:49:00 GMT

Various thinly supported theories are put forward to suggest we are mistaken about global heating threatening the existence of every living organism on our planet Earth.

Here are a few observations on this subject from a recent email exchange with a wise friend, whose judgment i generally hold in very high respect and esteem.

And would you gamble, Jim, on this thinly supported theory, if you had the ability to control one or the other set of variables that are proposed to be causal in anticipated catastrophic climate change?

My read on the recent colder winters is from James Lovelock, who observed
"Despite the heat absorbed, the global temperature did not rise; in fact it fell slightly, perhaps because to melt ice it takes eighty-one times as much heat as to raise the same quantity of water one degree. This property of ice is called its “latent heat.” You can see this yourself by making a near full cup of tea with boiling water. It will be too hot even to sip. Adding cold water to cool it quickly rarely works; but add a single ice cube and it will be cool enough to drink in a few seconds. In a few more years all that floating ice may go, and then the sun will be free to heat the dark Arctic Ocean, No longer will it have the Sisyphean task of trying to melt white, reflecting ice that rejects 80 percent of the sunlight it receives so that to melt it consumes most of the radiant energy that would otherwise warm the ocean."
Lovelock, James. The Vanishing Face of Gaia- A Final Warning. New York, NY: Basic Books 2009, p. 16-17.

For gambling odds, see this excellent discussion
Risks of global heating
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_anaVcCXg

Blessings

Dan

Forwarded by: Jim and Andrea MacKimmie
Fw: Earth on the Brink of an Ice Age

This is the kind of information that has been ignored and suppressed by the fans of Anthropogenic Global Warming. It indicates the influence of Man is a negligible factor in the climatology of the Earth, and will remain so. Man’s hubris and ignorance continue to be the most detrimental impediments to his health, peace and happiness on this Earth. In fact, the only truly significant geophysical problem being significantly impacted by human indulgence and stupidity is pollution of the oceans, and while that will not in any way permanently damage the Earth, which over a long time can self purify, it might engender a temporary, accelerating toxicity that would endanger mankind much faster than it has even been imagined Global Warming ever could. jb

Earth on the Brink of an Ice Age

by Gregory F. Fegel

The earth is now on the brink of entering another Ice Age, according to a large and compelling body of evidence from within the field of climate science. Many sources of data which provide our knowledge base of long-term climate change indicate that the warm, twelve thousand year-long Holocene period will rather soon be coming to an end, and then the earth will return to Ice Age conditions for the next 100,000 years.

Ice cores, ocean sediment cores, the geologic record, and studies of ancient plant and animal populations all demonstrate a regular cyclic pattern of Ice Age glacial maximums which each last about 100,000 years, separated by intervening warm interglacials, each lasting about 12,000 years.

Most of the long-term climate data collected from various sources also shows a strong correlation with the three astronomical cycles which are together known as the Milankovich cycles. The three Milankovich cycles include the tilt of the earth, which varies over a 41,000 year period; the shape of the earthâs orbit, which changes over a period of 100,000 years; and the Precession of the Equinoxes, also known as the earthâs "wobble," which gradually rotates the direction of the earthâs axis over a period of 26,000 years. According to the Milankovich theory of Ice Age causation, these three astronomical cycles, each of which effects the amount of solar radiation which reaches the earth, act together to produce the cycle of cold Ice Age maximums and warm interglacials.

Elements of the astronomical theory of Ice Age causation were first presented by the French mathematician Joseph Adhemar in 1842, it was developed further by the English prodigy Joseph Croll in 1875, and the theory was established in its present form by the Serbian mathematician Milutin Milankovich in the 1920s and 30s. In 1976 the prestigious journal Science published a landmark paper by John Imbrie, James Hays, and Nicholas Shackleton entitled "Variations in the Earth's orbit: Pacemaker of the Ice Ages," which described the correlation which the trio of scientist/authors had found between the climate data obtained from ocean sediment cores and the patterns of the astronomical Milankovich cycles. Since the late 1970s, the Milankovich theory has remained the predominant theory to account for Ice Age causation among climate scientists, and hence the Milankovich theory is always described in textbooks of climatology and in encyclopaedia articles about the Ice Ages.

In their 1976 paper Imbrie, Hays, and Shackleton wrote that their own climate forecasts, which were based on sea-sediment cores and the Milankovich cycles, "· must be qualified in two ways. First, they apply only to the natural component of future climatic trends ö and not to anthropogenic effects such as those due to the burning of fossil fuels. Second, they describe only the long-term trends, because they are linked to orbital variations with periods of 20,000 years and longer. Climatic oscillations at higher frequencies are not predicted... the results indicate that the long-term trend over the next 20,000 years is towards extensive Northern Hemisphere glaciation and cooler climate."

During the 1970s the famous American astronomer Carl Sagan and other scientists began promoting the theory that "greenhouse gasses" such as carbon dioxide, or CO2, produced by human industries could lead to catastrophic global warming. Since the 1970s the theory of "anthropogenic global warming" (AGW) has gradually become accepted as fact by most of the academic establishment, and their acceptance of AGW has inspired a global movement to encourage governments to make pivotal changes to prevent the worsening of AGW.

The central piece of evidence that is cited in support of the AGW theory is the famous "hockey stick" graph which was presented by Al Gore in his 2006 film An Inconvenient Truth. The "hockey stick" graph shows an acute upward spike in global temperatures which began during the 1970s and continued through the winter of 2006/07. However, this warming trend was interrupted when the winter of 2007/8 delivered the deepest snow cover to the Northern Hemisphere since 1966 and the coldest temperatures since 2001. It now appears that the current Northern Hemisphere winter of 2008/09 will probably equal or surpass the winter of 2007/08 for both snow depth and cold temperatures.

The main flaw in the AGW theory is that its proponents focus on evidence from only the past one thousand years at most, while ignoring the evidence from the past million years ö evidence which is essential for a true understanding of climatology. The data from paleoclimatology provides us with an alternative and more credible explanation for the recent global temperature spike, based on the natural cycle of Ice Age maximums and interglacials.

In 1999 the British journal Nature published the results of data derived from glacial ice cores collected at the Russiaâs Vostok station in Antarctica during the 1990s. The Vostok ice core data includes a record of global atmospheric temperatures, atmospheric CO2 and other greenhouse gases, and airborne particulates starting from 420,000 years ago and continuing through history up to our present time.

The graph of the Vostok ice core data shows that the Ice Age maximums and the warm interglacials occur within a regular cyclic pattern, the graph-line of which is similar to the rhythm of a heartbeat on an electrocardiogram tracing. The Vostok data graph also shows that changes in global CO2 levels lag behind global temperature changes by about eight hundred years. What that indicates is that global temperatures precede or cause global CO2 changes, and not the reverse. In other words, increasing atmospheric CO2 is not causing global temperature to rise; instead the natural cyclic increase in global temperature is causing global CO2 to rise.

The reason that global CO2 levels rise and fall in response to the global temperature is because cold water is capable of retaining more CO2 than warm water. That is why carbonated beverages loose their carbonation, or CO2, when stored in a warm environment. We store our carbonated soft drinks, wine, and beer in a cool place to prevent them from loosing their "fizz," which is a feature of their carbonation, or CO2 content. The earth is currently warming as a result of the natural Ice Age cycle, and as the oceans get warmer, they release increasing amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Because the release of CO2 by the warming oceans lags behind the changes in the earthâs temperature, we should expect to see global CO2 levels continue to rise for another eight hundred years after the end of the earthâs current Interglacial warm period. We should already be eight hundred years into the coming Ice Age before global CO2 levels begin to drop in response to the increased chilling of the worldâs oceans.

The Vostok ice core data graph reveals that global CO2 levels regularly rose and fell in a direct response to the natural cycle of Ice Age minimums and maximums during the past four hundred and twenty thousand years. Within that natural cycle, about every 110,000 years global temperatures, followed by global CO2 levels, have peaked at approximately the same levels which they are at today.

Today we are again at the peak, and near to the end, of a warm interglacial, and the earth is now due to enter the next Ice Age. If we are lucky, we may have a few years to prepare for it. The Ice Age will return, as it always has, in its regular and natural cycle, with or without any influence from the effects of AGW.

The AGW theory is based on data that is drawn from a ridiculously narrow span of time and it demonstrates a wanton disregard for the "big picture" of long-term climate change. The data from paleoclimatology, including ice cores, sea sediments, geology, paleobotany and zoology, indicate that we are on the verge of entering another Ice Age, and the data also shows that severe and lasting climate change can occur within only a few years. While concern over the dubious threat of Anthropogenic Global Warming continues to distract the attention of people throughout the world, the very real threat of the approaching and inevitable Ice Age, which will render large parts of the Northern Hemisphere uninhabitable, is being foolishly ignored.

This article originally appeared in Pravda.

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Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:25:00 GMT

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Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:58:00 GMT

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Chapters.Indigo.Ca WHEE Campaign Update

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:46:00 GMT

Bookmark this web page www.Paintap.com on Dec. 8th

On Tuesday, December 8th we are mounting a campaign at ChaptersBookstore in Canada to bring my book on WHEE into the TOP 7 BESTSELLING LIST.

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[BRANDON – CAN THEY ALERT STORES RE THE PROMOTION?]

Purchase a book for yourself
Or give the gift of healing to someone you know
    for physical or emotional pains of all sorts...
        for stresses of financial pressures, job worries, relationship issues...
            for changing cravings and other habits...
                and more...

Enter for a chance to win

A private session with Daniel J. Benor, MD, developer and teacher of WHEE
    A free group telephone tutorial in WHEE for the first 10 people to register
        Workshop WHEE for Personal Transformation Workshop

ALSO Get Hundreds of dollars worth of bonus offers, including:

A free telephone seminar with Q & A about WHEE for anyone and everyone
Plus many free bonuses and promotional offers from a spectrum of wholistic therapists
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        Articles on wholistic healing
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Distant healing with WHEE

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:48:00 GMT

Dear Daniel,

I have three of your books and believe in distant surrogate/proxy WHEE, but haven't been able to get it working. I get the impression that ability to induce physical changes from a distance is strongly related to the bioenergetic balance without our systems. I spend at least 25 minutes/day doing slow abdominal ujjayi breathing per day, use WHEE and related myself, follow Eckhart Toll's teachings, etc. What can I do to increase my 'prayer power'?

If you come to Australia at any stage please let me know.

Best regards,

Blake Graham, B.Sc (Honours)
Clinical Nutritionist

Dear Blake,

You ask deep and important questions, to which human answers are but partial guesses/ intuits/ understandings/ ...

Wholistic healing is not a ‘perform on demand’ modality. It taps into the collective consciousness, where each of us is like a brain cell in the mind of the All.

The mind of the All often has views, understandings and plans that are far more complex than we can begin to conceive or even imagine.

Spiritual healing is a petition to the Infinite Source to shift what exists in present time. Sometimes we offer our healing at propitious/ intuited times when there are needs for extra energies/ unconditional love/ boosts to confidence/ encouragements to think/ look/ step outside the boxes we build around ourselves.

Sometimes we see the possibilities for changes that others are not yet ready/ able to see. They may need energies for clearing old hurts/ traumas/ feelings/ etc in order to open a door in the walls they have built around themselves.

If we direct energies with the intent to change, before the other person has become aware of/ dealt with/ learned the lessons of whatever their life path is about, then the other person cannot/ will not accept our healing wishes/ energies.

If we send energies ‘for the highest good’ of others, then they are free to accept the energies for exactly whatever it is that they need at that moment.

Thanks for your question, which has helped me put into words in a more succinct way than before what I believe healing is about.

Thanks

Blessings

Dan

Play Me, I’m Yours: London 2009

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:47:00 GMT

Touring internationally since 2008, ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ is an artwork by artist Luke Jerram

Presented for the City of London Festival and Sing London,30 street pianos were installed on streets, in public squares andparks, train stations, and markets. Like a creative blank canvas, thepianos were there for any member of the public to play and engage with.The pianos were in place for three weeks, after which time they were bedonated to local schools and community groups.

This website was made for you to post your comments, films andphotos about the pianos. It is aimed to help document each piano’sjourney whilst connecting the pianos and their communities across thecity.

Click here to see a heartwarming collection of photos and links to several impromptu performances. (You can click on the double arrows at the bottom right of the photos to advance them more slowly than they are set to rotate automatically.)

From http://www.dailygood.org

Blessings

Dan

Perpetuum Jazzile - Africa

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:44:00 GMT

Toto's Africa by Perpetuum Jazzile, performed live at Vokal Xtravaganzza 2008 (October 2008) - arranger Tomaž Kozlevčar.

For more information
To buy CD

Thunderstorm simulation effects inspired by Kearsney choir (South Africa).

Forwarded by Bonnie Reid

Blessings

Dan

If the image above does not appear on your screen, click on the link below.

Automobile pollution

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:05:00 GMT

FYConcern

Electric cars are available.

Click here for one example.

Blessings

Dan

A Break in Nature

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:29:00 GMT

Taking a break to visit a variety of nature scenes is healing.

Blessings

Dan

If the image does not appear above on your screen, click on the link below.

Building for environmentally sensitive people

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:32:00 GMT

OTTAWA’S FIRST 100% SMOKE-FREE, SCENT-FREE, PET-FREE AND CHEMICAL-FREE CONDOMINIUM APARTMENT BUILDING FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITIES

Ottawa – Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Windmill Development Group Ltd, an industry leader in energy efficient and environmentally responsible housing, has partnered with Safe Housing Ottawa Inc. and the Parkway House Foundation, two charitable organizations, to build the first 100% smoke-free, scent-free, pet-free, and chemical-free condominium apartment building in the City of Ottawa.

This innovative housing development is designed to meet the needs of individuals who suffer from allergies, asthma, and environmental sensitivities. It is the first of its kind in both the City of Ottawa and the Province of Ontario.

Windmill Developments and Safe Housing Ottawa Inc. have started the City of Ottawa’s prescribed re-zoning process. A preliminary community meeting was held in Bay Ward on April 15, 2009. The proposed development will still be subject to the development team successfully working with the City of Ottawa and the local community to achieve a mutually satisfactory re-zoning proposal.

“This safe housing project is long overdue in Ottawa,” says Linda Nolan-Leeming, the design consultant for the new housing development, and the President of the Environmental Health Association of Ontario. “Too many people in Ottawa with allergies and environmental sensitivities move frequently because they cannot find a safe place to live. They are affected by the second-hand smoke and the scents from personal care, cleaning, and laundry products that seep into their apartment from neighbouring units. Individuals with environmental sensitivities are unable to detoxify and metabolize many of the chemicals typically used in home construction materials, such as urea formaldehyde, polyvinyl chloride, and solvents.”

“Indoor air pollution poses a serious health risk to a growing segment of the population,” says Louise Richard, a Registered Nurse, a Gulf War Veteran, and the President of Safe Housing Ottawa Inc. “Research shows that poor indoor air quality is linked to headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, behavioural problems, cognitive impairments, and environmental sensitivities. These individuals experience symptoms at very low chemical exposures compared to the general public. Individuals with environmental sensitivities need safe housing so that they can recover their health and return to work.”

Windmill Developments is proposing a 12 storey residential building for individuals with environmental sensitivities and a 20 storey “green” building for the general public in the west end of Ottawa, near the intersection of Richmond Road and the Ottawa River Parkway. The developer’s plans also include the construction of a new building for Parkway House, a residence for twelve adults with physical disabilities, which is currently located on site.

“We are pleased to work with Safe Housing Ottawa and the Parkway House to bring this important project to market,” says Jonathan Westeinde, founder and managing partner of Windmill Development Group Inc.

Windmill Development Group Ltd will sell 24 units in the proposed 12 storey residential building to Safe Housing Ottawa Inc., which, in turn, will assist those looking for safe housing.

Windmill Development Group Ltd will sell an additional 50 units as market condominiums to those who agree to abide by the 100% smoke-free, scent-free, pet-free, and chemical-free policy.

Safe Housing Ottawa is being developed with assistance from the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program and Action Ottawa.

Construction is targeted to begin in late 2009 and to be completed by the fall of 2010.

Visit OTTAWA’S FIRST 100% SMOKE-FREE, SCENT-FREE, PET-FREE
AND CHEMICAL-FREE CONDOMINIUM APARTMENT BUILDING
FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITIES

Ottawa – Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Windmill Development Group Ltd, an industry leader in energy efficient and environmentally responsible housing, has partnered with Safe Housing Ottawa Inc. and the Parkway House Foundation, two charitable organizations, to build the first 100% smoke-free, scent-free, pet-free, and chemical-free condominium apartment building in the City of Ottawa.

This innovative housing development is designed to meet the needs of individuals who suffer from allergies, asthma, and environmental sensitivities. It is the first of its kind in both the City of Ottawa and the Province of Ontario.

Windmill Developments and Safe Housing Ottawa Inc. have started the City of Ottawa’s prescribed re-zoning process. A preliminary community meeting was held in Bay Ward on April 15, 2009. The proposed development will still be subject to the development team successfully working with the City of Ottawa and the local community to achieve a mutually satisfactory re-zoning proposal.

“This safe housing project is long overdue in Ottawa,” says Linda Nolan-Leeming, the design consultant for the new housing development, and the President of the Environmental Health Association of Ontario. “Too many people in Ottawa with allergies and environmental sensitivities move frequently because they cannot find a safe place to live. They are affected by the second-hand smoke and the scents from personal care, cleaning, and laundry products that seep into their apartment from neighbouring units. Individuals with environmental sensitivities are unable to detoxify and metabolize many of the chemicals typically used in home construction materials, such as urea formaldehyde, polyvinyl chloride, and solvents.”

“Indoor air pollution poses a serious health risk to a growing segment of the population,” says Louise Richard, a Registered Nurse, a Gulf War Veteran, and the President of Safe Housing Ottawa Inc. “Research shows that poor indoor air quality is linked to headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, behavioural problems, cognitive impairments, and environmental sensitivities. These individuals experience symptoms at very low chemical exposures compared to the general public. Individuals with environmental sensitivities need safe housing so that they can recover their health and return to work.”

Windmill Developments is proposing a 12 storey residential building for individuals with environmental sensitivities and a 20 storey “green” building for the general public in the west end of Ottawa, near the intersection of Richmond Road and the Ottawa River Parkway. The developer’s plans also include the construction of a new building for Parkway House, a residence for twelve adults with physical disabilities, which is currently located on site.

“We are pleased to work with Safe Housing Ottawa and the Parkway House to bring this important project to market,” says Jonathan Westeinde, founder and managing partner of Windmill Development Group Inc.

Windmill Development Group Ltd will sell 24 units in the proposed 12 storey residential building to Safe Housing Ottawa Inc., which, in turn, will assist those looking for safe housing.

Windmill Development Group Ltd will sell an additional 50 units as market condominiums to those who agree to abide by the 100% smoke-free, scent-free, pet-free, and chemical-free policy.

Safe Housing Ottawa is being developed with assistance from the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program and Action Ottawa.

Construction is targeted to begin in late 2009 and to be completed by the fall of 2010.

Visit www.chemicalfreehousing.ca for details about this housing development.

Forwarded by Bonnie Reid

Comments:
Increasing numbers of people are suffering from high allergy sensitivities. It may be difficult for someone who is unfamiliar with this to appreciate just how difficult and frustrating it can be for someone who cannot tolerate scents of perfume, cologne, cleaning fluids, paint, petrochemicals and many other substances. For these people, this housing would be an enormous blessing.

In addition to isolating oneself from the offending substances, it is possible to reduce one's sensitivities to them by using Energy Psychology methods. WHEEh is a helpful approach that can lessen allergy responses. WHEE is also helpful for lowering stress levels that contribute to and worsen allergy sensitivities.

Blessings

Dan

Thoughtful observations on population shifts

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:15:00 GMT

Three Migrations

STEPHAN A. SCHWARTZ
Editor - Explore - The Journal of Science and Healing

Migration. The word evokes for me, and perhaps for you, images from the Bible. Charlton Heston's Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and into the desert that lies beyond. Masses of people collectively on the move with common purpose, bringing with them all their goods and chattels. Never expecting to return. More than war, more than climate catastrophe, more than pandemics-migrations are a force for change. And this is as true for first world countries like the United States, Europe, or Japan, as it is for developing nations like China or Third World countries such as the nations of Africa.

Migrations come in two varieties: glacial and volcanic. The 1994 Tutsi flood that poured out of Rwanda and the several million non-Islamic Sudanese forced from their villages by the progovernment Janjaweed militias are volcanic migrations-violent ejections of populations based on immediate crisis. The volcanic time frame is short term, because just as the Rwandans-both Hutu and Tutsi-came back as soon as it was possible, those ejected by a volcanic migration do not surrender their allegiance to their homeland and always hope to return. Theirs is the commonsense response of simple people caught in the ravenous jaws of some greater political purpose. In contrast, glacial movements represent a general surrender of allegiance to the old land and an embracement of the new home, and typically take place over several generations. The Irish diaspora to the New World, resulting from the Corn Laws and the Potato Famine in the 19th century-a migration that profoundly changed America-is an example of this process. The movement of Hispanics into North America is another. Mostly because of their timing cycle, and because each decision to move seems so personal and unrushed, true migrations often occur beneath public awareness until they are largely a fait accompli that has reshaped the world that is the migration's goal. The response is really more about the change wrought than the migration that produced it.

Within large lands, migrations can also be internal. The Chinese, for instance, are actively encouraging the migration of Han Chinese into Tibet as a way of cementing the connection between Tibet and mainland China. America similarly encouraged homesteading as a way of claiming the central plains from Native Americans, about which I will have more to say later.

Right now, three major migrations are actively at work changing the face of the United States. Their effects hold implications for every aspect of American life, from healthcare to education to what kind of arts are publicly supported. Understanding them is critically important, because if we do not correctly understand them, we will invest possibly trillions of dollars and millions of work hours constructing bridges to nowhere.

The Coming White Minority

The Census Bureau reported in August 2008 that by 2042, America will be majority nonwhite. Those who identify themselves as Hispanic, black, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander will collectively outnumber non-Hispanic whites. Some demographers believe the actual tip point will occur even earlier, and they may well be right. This latest projection by the Census Bureau accelerates by six years the official projections made previously, in 2004, that saw this shift happening in 2050.

As Sam Roberts reported in The New York Times, 'The main reason for the accelerating change is significantly higher birthrates among immigrants. Another factor is the influx of foreigners, rising from about 1.3 million annually today to more than 2 million a year by mid-century, according to projections based on current immigration policies.â€1

Think about this for a moment; it stunned me when I first absorbed it as more than a statistic. In my lifetime, we have gone from separate drinking fountains segregated by race, to an American President who is by heritage half white, half African, half Christian, half Islamic. And now I, child of two earlier white migrations, am poised to become a minority because of new large migrations. It is a measure of the resilience of our political system, and the tolerance built into the culture as the result of that system's long endurance as an idea-the United States has the oldest continuous form of government on the planet-rather than a racial, ethnic, or religious grouping that this has happened. 'No other country has experienced such rapid racial and ethnic change,â€ observes Mark Mather, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a research organization in Washington.1

'A momentum is built into this as a result of past immigration,â€ says Jeffrey S. Passel, senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center. 'In the 1970s, '80s and '90s, there were more Hispanic immigrants than births. This decade, there are more births than immigrants. Almost regardless of what you assume about future immigration, the country will be more Hispanic and Asian.â€1

The Reemergence of the Plains

They came in waves. It is one of the enduring iconic stories of our past, one of the legends we tell our children to teach them who they are. The Homesteaders, 'openingâ€ the Great Plains and the West, set in motion by the Homestead Act of 1862. They are there still in our mind's eye. Their wagons named for Conestoga, a small town in Pennsylvania where they were first made, became the most numinous conveyance in American history until the advent of the Model T. For people like the Mormons, the wood and canvas wagons are still a living presence. Fueled mostly by the migration of Scandinavians, Germans, Scots, and Irish from their homelands where land was parceled out to peasants on a scale of yards, the land of the Great Plains and beyond represented a scale that could scarcely be imagined by those millions who poured into America. The small towns that soon dotted the central corridor of the American land mass became the very thing we meant when we said, 'American heartland.â€ Beginning in the 1930s, though, the great experiment in family farming began to fail, replaced by massive agri-industrial farming requiring few people and many machines, and the towns were abandoned one by one. In the census of 1890, 'desolate landsâ€ were defined as land with a population of less than one person per 10 square miles. By the 1990s, parts of the Great Plains had reverted to that status.

The Inter-University Consortium For Political and Social Research studied this, concluding: 'In the next decades, aging farmers in the United States will make decisions that affect almost 1 billion acres of land. The future of this land will become more uncertain as farm transfer becomes more difficult, potentially changing the structure of agriculture through farm consolidation, changes in farm ownership and management, or taking land out of production.â€2 The common wisdom is that the 'Age of the Plainsâ€ is over.

But it isn't quite that simple, nor that gloomy. To be sure, the farming village heartland of story, movie, and song is gone and will not return. But the Great Plains will remain the nation's breadbasket and the primary source of wheat, as well as much of the barley, corn, flaxseed, sunflowers, sorghum, cotton, and cattle. As Jim Stephens, president of Farmers National Commodities, and a grain-marketing consultant says, 'Despite population declines in many areas, the total acres of corn, soybean and wheat in Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Montana are up 7.2 million acres since 1950 to 48.3 million acres.â€3

However, as the European model of small family farms ends, new models of living on the plains are arising and a new migration is beginning. One of its most interesting aspects is the return of Native Americans to historic lands. Speaking of this, John Mitchell writes in National Geographic Magazine, 'If there was any surprise in the findings of the 2000 U.S. census, it wasn't so much the loss of population from half the counties in the Great Plains; those numbers had been ebbing for decades. The surprise was the disproportionate gain in counties that contain the region's Indian reservations, a growth that could not be pegged entirely to higher birthrates, better healthcare, casino jobs, and the availability of federally subsidized housing. Thousands of Native Americans long off the â€˜rezâ€™-Blackfeet, Crow, Flathead, Northern Cheyenne, Sioux-were putting the white man's cities behind them and heading for home. â€˜A lot of these people returning from the cities are retirees,' says Fred DuBray, a Sioux who manages the InterTribal Bison Cooperative near the Black Hills. â€˜This is where they want to be. This is where their heart is.'â€4

Another shift lies in retirees seeking quiet, less expensive retirements. And young families seeking much the same, at the other end of life. Small metropolitan areas near interesting geographical features, or with the 'goodâ€ bones of architecture, or proximity to a college and a medical center are attracting these people, and are actually growing. Fargo, North Dakota, for example, grew by 20% between 1990 and 2000. Joining Fargo are towns such as Grand Forks, North Dakota, Dubuque, Iowa, and Casper, Wyoming, all of which have enjoyed significant growth. And inexpensive land costs near these groupings are attracting technical industry. But the factor that I believe will matter most is the one announced by President Obama, then President elect, on Monday, December 15, 2008, when he presented Nobel Laureate physicist Stephen Chu and the others he described as his 'energy and environment teamâ€ to oversee the Green Transition and the shift in energy it represents. Why do I say this? Because through a stroke of extraordinary good fortune down these lonely flat states that constitute the nation's central spine, with few metropolitan installations to break its momentum, flows one of the best wind corridors in the world. Already, libertarian ranchers, normally defined by their independence, are banding together to form wind cooperatives. We are about to experience something like the Oklahoma-Texas oil rush. And an entire new infrastructure is going to rise before our eyes. We are going to go back to the age when the Hoover Dam and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) lakes were created. As transportation from trains to automobiles shifts to electricity, and residential and office structures do the same, places with wind, like places with constant sun, are going to become extraordinarily valuable.

Perturbation on the Coasts

Some years ago I did a research study in which I asked a population of Japanese and a population of Americans to imagine a place.5 I then asked them to categorize it as being (1) a mountain, (2) a city, (3) a sacred space, (4) a technological installation, (5) a land-water interface, or (6) farmland. To an overwhelming degree, the Japanese picked 'a mountainâ€ and Americans selected 'land-water interface.â€ If one thinks about it, I believe it is not hard to see why this occurred. Japanese revere mountains in general, and Mount Fuji especially. It is a constant symbol in their art and literature. Americans are strongly oriented towards land-water interfaces. Our anthems speak of them, and our cultural memory is replete with tales that involve the shores of our oceans, lakes, and rivers and their deltas. Perhaps that is why, although worldwide about 40% of people live within 100 km/62 miles of a coastline or in land lying less than 10 meters/33 feet in height (the definition of coastal areas), in the United States that number is 53%.6 Nearly 160 million people live in coastal counties, an increase of 39 million since 1980. An additional 12 million are expected in the next decade. If the consensus models of climate change continue to correctly predict outcome, this cannot continue.

States like Florida are obviously going to be severely impacted by the rise of seawater, and there is a very real chance that the Keys will simply go under the waves. But that's just the obvious. Consider a state like New Jersey, where 60% of the population lives in a coastal county. Even in 2005, to those who bothered to look, the picture was remarkably grim, and recent developments suggest that those predictions, looking back from 2009, are not only holding true but are, perhaps, too conservative. Princeton University researchers led by Matthew Cooper carried out the 2005 study of the impact rising sea levels would have on the state and reported, 'Sea level rise is a significant and growing threat to New Jersey.â€7

Their study projected that 'as much as 9% of the state's low-lying land could be hit by periodic coastal flooding in a trend that would devastate property, disrupt wildlife, erode beaches, and salinate drinking water in populated areas. Worldwide, sea levels are expected to rise between 0.09 and 0.88 meter (0.29 and 2.88 feet) between 1990 and 2100. In New Jersey, the rise is projected at an overall 0.71 meter (2.3 feet) over the period.â€7

Much the same could be said about every state down the Eastern seaboard, where a vast megalopolis essentially runs from Boston to Norfolk. I invite my readers to visit a site maintained by the University of Arizona Department of Geosciences Environmental Studies Laboratory (http://geongrid.geo.arizona.edu/arcims/website/slrus48prvi/viewer.htm), where they have dynamic maps showing what the projected impact of sea level rise will be. It is a very scary picture. Clearly, people in the coastal regions are going to experience radical change in their living patterns, and one probable outcome will be a migration back from the present coastline to some safer line inland.

All of these migrations are occurring now, and will produce powerful forces for change in our future that will accelerate as the century spools out. They matter now, however, because thanks to the new Obama administration, we are undertaking the first massive national infrastructure building effort since the interstate highway program began in the 1950s. If the 'past is prologueâ€ and we must live for the next several generations on the decisions we make today, then it is important to our lives, and particularly the lives of our children and grandchildren, that we make decisions about where to place hospitals, schools, libraries, and other public facilities based not only on present needs and population patterns, but, also on the needs and patterns three decades from now. The time when climate change deniers could be taken seriously is long past, and the choices we make in the next few months will largely describe the America we live in tomorrow.

References

1. 1Roberts S. In a generation, minorities may be the U.S. majority. The New York Times. August 14, 2008 www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/washington/14census.htmlAccessed August 14, 2008.

2. 2Leonard SH, Gutmann MP. Land-use and transfer plans in the U.S. Great Plains. Great Plains Res. 2006;16(2):181â€“194.

3. 3El Nassar H. Life of the plains is anything but plain, simple. USA Today. August 13, 2007 www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-12-great-plains_N.htmAccessed December 7, 2008.

4. 4Mitchell JG. Change of the heartland. National Geographic MagazineMay 2004 ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0405/feature1/index.htmlAccessed December 7, 2008.

5. 5Schwartz SA, De Mattei RJ. The Mobius Psi-Q Test: Preliminary Findings. In: Roll WG, Beloff J, White R editor. Research in Parapsychology. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press; 1983;p. 103â€“105.

6. 6United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, World Bank, World Resources Institute World Resources Institute. World Resources 2000-2001: People and Ecosystems: The Fraying Web of Life. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute; 2000;http://www.wri.org/wr2000Accessed December 5, 2008.

7. 7Hurdle J. Rising sea levels threaten New Jersey. Reuters. November 16, 2005 reuters.myway.com/article/20051116/2005-11-16T232315Z_01_MCC684168_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-ENVIRONMENT-NEWJERSEY-DC.htmlAccessed November 16, 2005.

FYAmusement: Medical terminology made simple

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:21:00 GMT

Our friends in Newfoundland have the Lowest Stress rate because they do not take medical terminology serious, you are going to die anyway, so live life and drink till you cannot lift your own mug!
Newfie Medical Dictionary

Artery......................... The study of paintings
Bacteria....................... Back door to cafeteria
Barium........................ What doctors do when patients die
Benign........................ What you be, after you be eight
Caesarean Section........ A neighborhood in Rome
Cat scan........................ Searching for Kitty
Cauterize...................... Made eye contact with her
Colic.......................... A sheep dog
Coma........................... A punctuation mark
Dilate......................... To live long
Enema..........................Not a friend
Fester......................... Quicker than someone else
Fibula......................... A small lie
Impotent.......................Distinguished, well known
Labor Pain................... Getting hurt at work
Medical Staff................. A Doctor's cane
Morbid......................... A higher offer
Nitrates....................... Cheaper than day rates
Node........................... I knew it
Outpatient..................... A person who has fainted
Pelvis......................... Second cousin to Elvis
Post Operative............ A letter carrier
Recovery Room.......... Place to do upholstery
Rectum......................... Nearly killed him
Secretion...................... Hiding something
Seizure........................ Roman emperor
Tablet......................... A small table
Terminal Illness............ Getting sick at the airport
Tumor........................ One plus one more
Urine.......................... Opposite of you're out

Forwarded by Mike Streeter

Blessings

Dan

Mercenary troops in Iraq and Afghanistan

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:25:00 GMT

This is an item fraught with multiple concerns. The US is maintaining a military presence without governmental control. It gives private corporations armies, without accountability to the citizens of the US.

Dan Benor

The Rise of Private Armies -- Mercenaries, Murder and Corruption in Iraq and Afghanistan

By Bill Moyers, Posted 090609

Journalist Jeremy Scahill warns against the growing power of corporate private armies and the "disintegration of the nation state apparatus."

The following is a transcript from the Bill Moyers Journal on PBS, broadcast on June 5.

There was good news and bad news about Afghanistan this week. And it was the same news.

That's right. The Senate held confirmation hearings for Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal, slated to be the next commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Here's how two different news organizations reported his testimony:

The Associated Press headline read, "War in Afghanistan is 'Winnable,'" but the "Washington Independent" reported that the general had, quote, "painted a bleak picture of the Afghanistan war" and that the United States "needed to show significant progress within '18 to 24 months' or risk the war spiraling out of control."

What we know for sure is that the fighting in Afghanistan is escalating. At least 21 thousand more American troops are going in and the number of private security contractors working for the military there jumped 29 percent in the last three months alone. Get this: there are now more private security contractors in Afghanistan than there are U.S. soldiers. And as of next year, according to new Pentagon documents, the war in Afghanistan will be costing more than the war in Iraq.

It's the job of experienced, knowledgeable investigative reporters to throw a monkey wrench into the spin machine and try to make some sense of all this. They're an endangered species, but one of the best in the business is Jeremy Scahill, who's been digging into Pentagon documents and thick congressional hearings for several years now. He's twice winner of the George Polk Award for special achievement in journalism, and author of this best selling book, BLACKWATER: THE RISE OF THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL MERCENARY ARMY. Jeremy now runs the new Web site, RebelReports. Jeremy Scahill, welcome back to the JOURNAL…

Jeremy Scahill: It's great to be with you Bill.

Bill Moyers: How do explain this spike in private contractors in both Iraq and Afghanistan?

Scahill: Well, I think what we're seeing, under President Barack Obama, is sort of old wine in a new bottle. Obama is sending one message to the world, but the reality on the ground, particularly when it comes to private military contractors, is that the status quo remains from the Bush era. Right now there are 250 thousand contractors fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's about 50 percent of the total US fighting force. Which is very similar to what it was under Bush. In Iraq, President Obama has 130 thousand contractors. And we just saw a 23 percent increase in the number of armed contractors in Iraq. In Afghanistan there's been a 29 percent increase in armed contractors. So the radical privatization of war continues unabated under Barack Obama.

Having said that, when Barack Obama was in the Senate he was one of the only people that was willing to take up this issue. And he put forward what became the leading legislation on the part of the Democrats to reform the contracting industry. And I give him credit for doing that. Because he saw this as an important issue before a lot of other political figures. And spoke up at a time when a lot of people were deafeningly silent on this issue. I've been critical of Obama's position on this because I think that he accepts what I think is a fundamental lie. That we should have a system where corporations are allowed to benefit off of warfare. And President Obama has carried on a policy where he has tried to implement greater accountability structures. We now know, in a much clearer way than we did under Bush, how many contractors we have on the battlefield. He's attempted to implement some form of rules governing contractors. And it has suggested that there should be greater accountability when they do commit crimes.

All of these things are a step in the right direction. But, ultimately, I think that we have to look to what Jan Schakowsky, the congresswoman from Illinois, says. We can no longer allow these individuals to perform what are inherently governmental functions. And that includes carrying a weapon on U.S. battlefields. And that's certainly not where President Obama is right now.

Moyers: But many people will say of course, the truth, which is he inherited a quagmire from the Bush administration. What's he to do?

Scahill: Well, there's no question that Obama inherited an absolute mess from President Bush. But the reality is that Obama is escalating the war in Afghanistan right now. And is maintaining the occupation of Iraq. If Obama was serious about fully ending the occupation of Iraq, he wouldn't allow the U.S. to have a colonial fortress that they're passing off as an embassy in Baghdad. Bill, this place is the size of 80 football fields. Who do you think is going to run the security operation for this 80 football field sized embassy? Well, it's mercenary contractors.

Moyers: So we're supposed to be withdrawing from Iraq. But you're suggesting, in all that you've written, that I've read lately, that we will be leaving a large mercenary force there.

Scahill: Absolutely. In fact, you're going to have a sizable presence, not only of U.S. forces, certainly in the region, but also in Iraq. These residual forces… I mean, Bill, you remember, during Vietnam, the people who were classified as military advisors. Or analysts. And, in reality, the U.S. was fighting an undeclared war. So, in Iraq, I think that we've seen reports from Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News' Pentagon correspondent. He's quoting military sources saying that they expect to be in Iraq 15 to 20 years in sizable numbers. Afghanistan, though, really is going to become Obama's war. And, unfortunately, many Democrats are portraying it as the good war.

Moyers: Let me show you a snippet of what he said in Cairo on Thursday. Take a look:

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Make no mistake. We do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan. We seek no military bases there. It is agonizing for America to lose our young men and women. It is costly and politically difficult to continue this conflict. We would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there were not violent extremists in Afghanistan and now Pakistan determined to kill as many Americans as they possibly can. But that is not yet the case.

Scahill: Well, I mean, we have two parallel realities here. We have the speeches of President Obama. I'm not questioning his sincerity. And then you have the sort of official punditry that's allowed access to the corporate media. And they have one debate. On the ground though, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, you hear the stories of the people that are forced to live on the other side of the barrel of the gun that is U.S. foreign policy. And you get a very different sense. If the United States, as President Obama says, doesn't want a permanent presence in Afghanistan, why allocate a billion dollars to build this fortress like embassy, similar to the one in Baghdad, in Islamabad, Pakistan? Another one in Peshawar. Having an increase in mercenary forces. Expanding the US military presence there.

Moyers: Walter Pincus is an old friend of mine, an investigative reporter at "The Washington Post" for, you know, 30 or more years now. A very respected man. He reported in "The Washington Post" last fall that these contracts indicate how long the United States intends to remain in Afghanistan. And he pointed, for example, to a contract given by the Corps of Engineers to a firm in Dubai to build to expand the prison, the U.S. prison at Bagram in Afghanistan. What does that say to you?

Scahill: Right. Look, we have President Obama making it a point, regularly, to say, "We're going to have Guantánamo closed by early next year." The fact is that, at Bagram, we see an expansion. They're spending $60 million to expand that prison. You have hundreds of people held without charges. You have people that are being denied access to the Red Cross in violation of international law. And you have an ongoing position, by the Obama administration, formed under Bush, that these prisoners don't have right to habeas corpus. There are very disturbing signals being sent with Afghanistan as a microcosm. Not to mention these regular attacks that we're seeing inside of Pakistan that have killed upwards of 700 civilians using these robotic drones since 2006. Including 100 since Obama took power.

Moyers: Some people have suggested that the increasing reliance on military contractors in Afghanistan underscores the fact that the military is actually stretched very thin. General McChrystal said, this week, he admitted that he doesn't even know if we have enough troops there to deal with the situation as it is now. Does that surprise you?

Scahill: No. It doesn't surprise me. Because this is increasingly turning into a war of occupation. That's why General McChrystal is making that statement. If this was about fighting terrorism, it would be viewed as a law enforcement operation where you are going to hunt down criminals responsible for these actions and bring them in front of a court of law. This is turning into a war of occupation. If I might add about General McChrystal, what message does it send to the Afghan people when President Obama chooses a man who is alleged to have been one of the key figures running secret detention facilities in Iraq, and working on these extra judicial killing squads. Hunting down, quote unquote, insurgents, and killing them on behalf of the U.S. military. This is a man who's also alleged to have been at the center of the cover-up of Pat Tillman's death, who was killed by U.S. Army Rangers...

See much more in this article of equal interest and concern on AlterNet.

Blessings on Moyers and Jeremy Scahill

Prayers that we do not end up with mercenary fiefdoms under corporate control.

Dan Benor

Take a break at the Chelsea Flower Show

Dr. Daniel J. Benor — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:37:00 GMT

See some lovely garden ideas.

Bringing a bit of nature into your life is healing.

Blessings

Dan