Charissa’s Comments (group member since Nov 17, 2008)

Charissa’s comments from the Axis Mundi X group.

Arminius, what were you doing in Iraq?

I'm sure the average soldier does suffer a lot from boredom and loneliness. However, I think the majority of mental health issues comes from the combat situations, unsavory things they have needed to do in terrible situations, and the like. The kinds of things that letter writing will do very little to impact, and that serious psychotherapy is usually needed to work through.

I spent the first few weeks of motherhood watching Joseph Campbell's lectures on video... I don't remember what the series was called, but there was hours of it. It totally saved my life. I was so incredibly bored as a new mother (I know that sounds horrible, but there is nothing less intellectual than caring for an infant). Watching those tapes while I breast fed my daughter fed my brain in ways that were crucial.

I suppose those tapes were partially responsible for my decision later on to go back to college. So he gets a lot of credit in my book.

it's that whole zen thing, sherrie. there are books written about such things. the most famous of which is "Golfing in the Kingdom". It's that way with me and bowling as well. Lots of sports people talk about it. Being in the Zone.

We did some testing around it in my graduate program. The difference between performing under timing and without. Using our intuition vs linear mind. Not very surprisingly I function better when I am in kairos time.

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

that would be cool. download our secret information we don't even know we have?? oh I'm so incorporating that into my novel.

yes, it is predictable. and it's alarming that so many years have passed in this war without any measures being taken to address the inevitable PTSD fall out. It's criminal.

http://www.salon.com/news/special/com...

Guess we better beef up our mental health programs before we end the Iraq occupation.

from Scientific American:

"In the hit movie Slumdog Millionaire, the star answers game show questions correctly based on his life experiences. At least one right answer, however, is a lucky guess. But maybe the guess wasn’t so lucky. Maybe his brain actually knew the answer—even though he didn’t realize it.

That’s what scientists at Northwestern University are saying about so called lucky guesses. They published their research online in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Study participants were shown brightly colored pictures. They had to memorize half. While viewing the other half, they had to concentrate on remembering a spoken number. So they were distracted. Later, they were quizzed on all the images. Surprisingly, they were more successful at remembering those images that they only paid half a mind to. Not only that, but they were more accurate when they said they were just guessing. The researchers say their visual systems stored memories quite accurately, even when the participants weren’t paying attention. And that what we call intuition, some of those gut feelings we get, may often be based on good information."

I have long suspected this... pretty cool that it's now being proven!

OW MY EYES!!!

fer serious KD

First rock t-shirt I got my daughter:

"Pet Rock"

"to take excess money out of the economy"

That is a ridiculous statement. In actuality, raising interest rates merely transfers wealth back into the hands of bankers and the already wealthy. No money was "taken out of the economy". It's not like the money was incinerated once it reached the banks.

I love how the truth is bent to give credit to Regan for any good things that happened during the Clinton Administration, and the fact that he presided over one of the greatest concentrations of wealth into the hands of the few in our lifetimes (only to be trumped by the W Bush Administration) is somehow lauded as a benefit.

Sorry Arminius, in my estimation the only thing Ronald Reagan can be credited for was standing up to the Soviet Union. It was his pet project, his main focus, and by my observation the other aspects of his reign over this country suffered dramatically. For instance, the eradication of the small family owned farms and the rise of corporate farming was one of the great tragedies of the 20th Century in this country. I directly blame RR for that.

You can lionize him all you want. By my value system, the man was a hazard.

aren't you a babe?

look, it's Larry!

you're so punny.

exactly!

unless you are wearing a chullo

baaaaad baaaad baaaaad

The Babe sure was great at herding sheep. Oh wait....

I think it's upon you Reagan lovers to make a case for why he qualifies as one of the "greatest presidents of the 20th century". Once you have attempted to make your case it would then be upon us to argue against it. Proceed.

nice post, Lori. it says it all really.