stephanie brail

I’ve been concerned since the Japan quake that things would get pretty bad with the nuclear disaster at Fukushima. My worst fears have been that Japan would be rendered into a nuclear wasteland. Back in March, I thought I might have been overreacting or blowing things out of proportion, but my fears were not unfounded.

Months later, Japan has finally admitted that three reactors went into full meltdown right after the earthquake. Now, there’s talk about a “melt through,” which is a politically correct way of saying “China Syndrome.” Where is this in the mainstream news? Instead of covering Fukushima, some news outlets requested volunteers to go through Sarah Palin’s emails, only to find out – golly, gee whiz! – she really was just doing her job. (Anthony Weiner, on the other hand, appears to be more interested in taking pictures of himself than working.)

Here’s the missed opportunity in all this. (If you can call the worst nuclear disaster ever in history an “opportunity.”) The United States of America has not one, not two, but 23 nuclear power plants that are the same design as the Fukushima plant currently spewing radiation into the environment. These plants, designed by General Electric, were known to be flawed back in the 70s, although modifications have been made since. What are we doing about these aging power plants? Last I heard, one was given a 20 year extension past it’s originally-planned lifespan.

By the way, that article I just linked to was from MSNBC, which until recently, was majority-owned by GE…and GE still has a large stake (49%) in MSNBC’s parent company NBC Universal. GE was also a major donor to Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Which kind of goes to show you, if you think Fox News is the only corporate-run major news network, or the Republican party is the only corporate-run political party, you may need to follow the money more.

My point is? All of this might explain – just a little – why none of our elected leaders in America are stepping up to the plate and responding to Fukushima crisis in any measurable way. Not one. We’re not being told about radiation coming our way (the EPA stopped monitoring it). We’re not being told about our own nuclear power plants that are aging and need to be replaced. Never mind the nuclear power plants that are in harm’s way, with some in major earthquake zones and others at risk due to inland flooding.

We’re also not being given clear leadership about what America’s energy future is going to be. What are we going to do about our aging nuclear power plants? What we are going to do about creating energy if we do deem that nuclear power just isn’t worth the risk?

Neither political party has any sort of real solution to our energy problems. The Republicans just chant “drill, baby, drill,” without acknowledging the possible oil crunch coming our way due to peak oil (not that anyone in politics would admit to peak oil). And the Democrats only pay lip service to alternative energy. All of this talk in the 2008 election about green jobs – where are they? We’d be happy to have jobs, much less green ones.

We probably need an “all of the above” solution – involving more drilling (unfortunately) and alternative energy – if we are going to continue to fund our costly energy-sucking lifestyles. But our leaders aren’t willing to come together to solve the problem. They just want to bicker and name-call. (Or waste time taking half-naked pictures of themselves in the Congressional gym.)

The Tragedy in Japan…and Beyond

But our energy problems pale in comparison to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Japan right now. Millions of people are potentially at risk of radiation poisoning. Their government is lying to them. There’s the potential for all of Japan to become a wasteland thanks to Fukushima. Radiation may be contaminating the groundwater there:

Meanwhile, here in America, radiation is hitting the West Coast. Maybe not enough to panic, but enough to be concerned. According to nuclear expert Arnie Gunderson, people in Seattle inhaled approximately 5 “hot particles” per day in April:

What can you do? Well, if you are in Japan, I feel for you. I would suggest that if you had the money and resources to move away now, even temporarily, that you might consider that. In the least, you’ll need to take extra care of your health by eating right, taking lots of vitamins and anti-oxidants to fight radiation damage, and possibly using safety measures such as masks outside depending on where you live.

In America, good health measures can help. But beyond that, let’s look at finding ways to respond proactively rather than sitting around waiting for our own aging nuclear infrastructure to decay and end up becoming problematic in the coming years.

Stay informed, demand more from your politicians and media, support alternative energy (yes, even you conservatives – there are alternative energy businesses you know!)…and otherwise…??

PRAY.

I’m going to stick my neck out today and send out my first EARTHQUAKE ALERT!

You don’t have to be psychic or a geologist to know that at some point in the near future or soon enough, Southern California is going to have a big earthquake. It’s getting close to 20 years since the Northridge Quake of 94, so Los Angeles is due. I’ll go one step further.

My feeling is that something big may be gearing up to hit Southern California soon. How soon? I can’t say. But maybe any day now. And if I were in Southern California right now, I’d be making sure my earthquake supplies were ready – especially extra water and food.

Los Angeles was just hit today with a 3.4 – possibly a foreshock:

That doesn’t look so bad, does it? Well, take a look at Southern California from the state view:

Look at all that crazy activity going on! And let me tell you what – the map did not look like that prior to the Mexicali quake that hit on Easter of last year! Southern California was much less active.

Here’s the NON-psychic evidence for a big quake due soon:

1. See those clusters of little quakes in Southern California? Increased geological instability has been developing in the entire Southern California region due to the big Mexicali quake. I’m not making this up. Scientists have reported this.

2. When I first started observing the Southern California earthquake clusters after Mexicali last May, they were much smaller than the above graphic, closer to the border, and only hitting one or two small fault lines. In the past year, these little quakes have been moving up the state, jumping from fault line to fault line. I’m not imagining this – scientists have noted this phenomenon and have been monitoring the movement. (I wish I could find the article for you that I read this information in, but it’s long lost the bookmarks file of my last computer.)

3. Geologists have observed that when an earthquake happens, it will release tension in that particular part of the fault – however, the tension then just moves along the fault to a new part of the fault line. This is how they have been tracking a series of earthquakes in Turkey, and have determined that Istanbul will unfortunately be potentially next in line for a devastating quake.

4. Anytime there is a large quake in the world, it tends to destabilize other fault lines – even fault lines far away. The 9.0 in Japan likely destabilized the entire Ring of Fire region, which is perhaps also why we’ve just seen two volcanic eruptions in Mexico and Chile.

5. We’ve seen big quakes in the following areas of the Ring of Fire: Chile, then New Zealand, then Japan. Will North America follow suit? It may not be Southern California, granted. Some have suggested Alaska or the area of the Pacific Northwest may be next. But it would be a good idea to be prepared just in case.

Those are some very good scientific reasons why Southern California, and specifically, the Los Angeles, may be looking at a big quake soon.

So here’s my “psychic” reason for the alert:

I could be wrong, but I’ve been feeling lately that some sort of major quake in California is on its way – particularly to Southern California. I actually lived there for a long time and left last year, in part due to knowing a big quake was going to hit in the next few years. I was in the last nasty quake – I don’t need to be in the next one. I feel like it’s there, just waiting to happen.

Note: If there is a quake in Southern California soon, it may not yet be the “big” big one. I for some reason have felt for a while that there would be a “smaller” but somewhat damaging “big” quake prior to a really nasty one.

My concern in the long run is the San Andreas fault going off and then having a cascading effect along the fault line. If you look at that map of California above, you’ll see a big “X” where two faults meet, in the southern-central part of the state. There’s a little yellow box on it representing one small quake, the first quake I’ve seen on that X that I remember.

That X is the Tejon Pass, and that line running somewhat north to south is the San Andreas. When and if the BIG big one happens, I’m thinking it may be in that very area. Notice how relatively “calm” that area is compared to the rest of the state. That may actually be a bad sign. Furthermore, those clusters of quakes jumping up the fault lines from Mexico may be headed up towards that area – and when that area starts to rumble, it may be less forgiving.

The point with all this is as follows: Do not become complacent if you survive a relatively “big” quake in Southern California – make sure you are prepared for a possible one-two whammy.

And that reminds me: Japan may not be out of the woods yet in terms of large, devastating aftershocks either!

Hang onto your hats!

Over Memorial Day weekend, beach cities in various parts of the U.S. were overrun by violent mobs. Fights were the least of it. People were killed in Miami. It was called a “war zone.” This out of control behavior came on the heels of some of the most violent tornadoes the country has seen in decades…and as I write this, more tornadoes are touching down in Massachusetts, of all places.

What is going on? Is the world really coming to an end because 2012 is right around the corner?

It is popular in the new age and self help movements to believe in a “Law of Attraction,” which states that you create your reality with your thoughts and feelings. I was never a fan of the Law of Attraction, as I felt it was too reductionist. While I do think we exert some control over our lives through our thoughts and attitudes, I don’t think victims of crimes “attract” their attackers with their thoughts. It’s more that we can do better with what we’re given if we approach things with a pro-active mindset. And yes, affirmations and visualization can be very powerful tools for personal growth, which is why hypnosis can be so effective in curing phobias and addictions.

The Law of Attraction also doesn’t take into account collective or group thought. But my theory is, if there is something to this idea that we can “create” our lives through our intentions, then wouldn’t the group intention or collective thought exert more power over individual thought?

This brings us back to the weather. If you are open to the idea that we live in a quantum universe where the observer can affect reality, can we collectively affect the weather? Is it possible that the bad storms we’ve seen in 2011 in America have a correlation to the collective bad mood we are in?

Now, there are many theories as to why we’re having so many crazy storms lately. One is, of course, climate change. There are more “conspiracy” oriented theories too, including the idea that a government-run science program, HAARP, is being purposefully used to manipulate weather for nefarious reasons we are not privy to. Whether the HAARP theory has any merit or not, I find the videos by YouTube Weather Guru Dutchsinse to be fascinating. He has predicted much of the recent bad weather by following so-called “HAARP rings” that show up in radar.

I do not discount the role of “climate change” (which is a misnomer – we should be saying, “human pollution” if that’s what we really mean) in our weather woes. I’m skeptical of, but open to, the idea that HAARP has a role in all this.

But I’m also wondering if our collective angst isn’t also contributing to the bad weather. Can our collective negative energy create storms? Perhaps.

I remember when I moved to Los Angeles right after the 1992 riots. My timing was pretty bad! Over the next few years LA saw disaster after disaster – fires, mudslides, and a major earthquake. After a few years, when the economy started picking up in the mid 90s, things calmed down considerably. People also seemed happier and gang violence decreased.

There definitely seemed to be a difference in the number and frequency of disasters as the collective mood of Los Angeles improved. As the economy tanked in the fall of 2008, we coincidentally saw a huge outbreak of fires in November of that same year.

Now, all of this is simply observational, and I have not done any sort of “scientific” study to see if there is a direct correlation. I am well aware that such “woo-woo” theories don’t have much basis in science at this point.

However, I will make the following prediction: As the world economy continues to be fragile if not downright depressive, and as people continue to generate “bad vibes” through their anger and frustration (especially due to the poor economy), expect to see more major earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, and other crazy weather. Additionally, a good number of people on the planet are “expecting” doom and gloom because of 2012 – so it’s almost like we are hell-bent on creating it.

This is not to say that our human pollution isn’t affecting the weather and our atmosphere. Or that sun spots and solar flares aren’t also at fault. What I am suggesting, however, that we may potentially be adding fuel to the fire with our bad energy.

Now…what we can do?

Whether or not you agree that our collective ill will is causing bad weather, I hope you can agree that we as a society can’t move forward if we are bogged down by hate and rancor. Perhaps these natural disasters are meant as a spiritual wake-up call. So where do  we start?

First off, I’ve been more and more disturbed by the partisan divide in America turning into a chasm. When liberals in Arizona feel they have to “secede” because they can’t deal with the conservatives in their state, we have a problem. And guess what? The problem isn’t just with conservatives! It’s with extremes on both sides that are unwilling to compromise, listen, or give the other side any credit. Yes, this applies to you, dear liberal friend, who insists on name-calling any Tea Party Patriot a “racist teabagger” in order to dehumanize them and make them into the “enemy.” And this also goes for you, dear conservative Christian, who really ought to know better than call someone a “baby-killing libtard,” because that’s not what Jesus would do.

Our inner city children are in particular expressing more openly the anger and seething resentment in America today. Since they don’t feel they have anything to lose, they feel justified in expressing their rage outwards, whereas the “latte liberal” will simply waste time bitching about Sarah Palin on Facebook.

In this one blog post I can’t lay out all the answers, but let’s start with a few right here:

1.  Stop with the name calling. And yes, that includes you liberal friends of mine. The minute you label someone a “hater,” you are being exactly that which you decry. Let’s start a truce – stop the labeling and start listening. Get curious – why is “limited government” so important to some people? Open your mind and your heart – you might learn something.

2. Focus on positive solutions. Quit yer bitching. And yes, I’m just as guilty of bitching as everyone else. But if you don’t like what is going on in the world, do something positive. Don’t expect the government to do it for you – the government is broke, corrupt, and inept. They can’t and won’t fix society’s problems. You need to roll up your shirtsleeves and do it yourself. If you are disturbed by poverty in the inner city, get some friends together and go volunteer at a non-profit serving teens in that area or start one yourself.

3. Get a spiritual practice. Stick to it. And if you are an atheist, you can still meditate. Think of it as mental decluttering.

4. Send unconditional love out to the world. And yes, that includes sending love out to the “teabaggers,” Obama, Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, and even Lindsay Lohan.

5. Speaking of Lindsay Lohan, get your mind out of the gutter. Consuming celebrity tabloid trash that exploits the pain and suffering of the rich and famous, instead of focusing your energies and attention on more positive things, contributes to the dumbing down of America. And the thing is, if you feel you need a “break” from all the pain and suffering in the world, aren’t there still better things you can read? Inspire yourself with great art and poetry, not celebrity trash talking! Work on illuminating your mind, rather than supporting the mental junk food spoon-fed to us by a corporate elite that is more than happy to keep us dumb and disempowered.

All of the above are pretty good places to start to make the world a better place. And whether or not your actions will affect the weather, you can rest assured that you are at least contributing to a kinder, gentler world instead of an angry, violent one.

Here are my latest “unpsychic predictions” – as always, I’m not claiming to be some master psychic, so take them with a grain of salt! I have had some predictions that have not come to pass (but we’ll see, there’s still time), and some that were iffy, but I’ve also had some hits.

HIT: On November 6, I predicted Glenn Beck would be somehow “taken out.” Since then, Beck has been taken off the air at FOX, though you didn’t really need to be psychic to guess his days might be numbered. I also said he may have health issues coming up for him. Given that he’s had health issues in the past, once again, you don’t need to be psychic to guess that he’ll have more problems in the future. But I’m sticking with that – that Beck is going to have some major health problems, possibly soon.

HIT: In my predictions for 2011, I predicted a lot of storms for 2011, including tornadoes. Sadly, we’ve had the worst outbreak of tornadoes since 1925. I feel we are going to continue to have bad weather this year, and we will have hurricanes too.

MISS (so far): I had been feeling for a while that Obama would not be running in 2012 and either resign, move on to a U.N. post, or be totally taken down by scandal (which I had not posted here). In my last installment, I had previously said that he may have a mild (and fabricated?) accident and be taken out of the public eye for a little bit, because he was getting too unpopular and the powers that be would maybe want him to take a holiday to generate some sympathy from the American people. Instead, with this Osama bin Laden news, it seems the powers that be want Obama in the spotlight a bit more. More on this below.

OK…now on to the new predictions.

Overall, I feel we’re in a very crucial time in American history, and the events that happen in the next 12 months or so are going to be extremely critical. Much of what is going to happen will be shocking, depressing, and downright scary. I am sorry to give bad news. The best thing you can do at this time is to connect with your spirituality through regular spiritual practice, or, if you aren’t spiritual, take good care of yourself and do things that nurture you. Now, on to my first order of business.

1. I HAVE A VERY BAD FEELING. I had a bad feeling prior to the Japan earthquake and mentioned it privately to people close to me, but did not get around to posting about it on the blog. It was also vague and I didn’t have any specifics – just a bad feeling. Now, I have a bad feeling again. It really came up for me when I saw the news about Osama bin Laden being killed. OK, I know not all of you reading this are into conspiracies, but my feeling is that this event is being totally manufactured and Osama bin Laden has probably been dead for a while. I am not the only “tin foil hat” person to think this.

Are we being set up for a “false flag” attack by Osama’s avengers? Am I picking up on an honest-to-goodness real terrorist attack in the works? I don’t know. I just feel that whatever is going on behind the scenes in regards to this story, it’s not good. Something EVIL is afoot. We’re being manipulated, folks, big time. For example, new reports were initially reporting that Osama bin Laden had been dead for a week but it was not announced until they could verify it. Then Obama announced in his speech that he’d given the “kill” order the same morning of his speech. This all comes out exactly eight years after Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech. To. The. Day.

Something’s not right here.

If you live in a big city, like Los Angeles or New York City, please be prepared with extra food and water. If you really want to get overly cautious, get some of those surgical masks to filter out dust when you breathe. They aren’t that much money; better to be safe than sorry.

Now, on the positive, perhaps we’re just being manipulated because the powers that be needed to give a bump to Obama’s approval ratings. I would certainly prefer that to a terrorist attack. But that brings me to…

2. Obama’s Birth Certificate. Being the conspiracy-curious person that I am, I’ve been following Karl Denninger’s analysis of Obama’s long-form birth certificate since it was released. Karl, who not only voted for but endorsed Obama, is convinced that the birth certificate is a fake. I am not entirely convinced, but a friend of mine who works for immigration and has been trained to examine documents like these, says there are certain anomalies just on the document itself (having nothing to do with the electronic file) that could call into question its authenticity. He’s a Democrat and no birther, so there may be something to the claims that something is fishy with the long-form birth certificate.

None of this will get any serious play with the mainstream media, however. The mainstream media has a vested interest in the status quo and will therefore continue on its path of ridiculing “birthers” and anyone who “believes the moon landing was faked.” Let me make it clear that I am no fan of the Republican party. But I don’t trust the Democrats either. I think both parties are run by big money. Bush was a puppet, and so is Obama.

Unfortunately, the reality is (and I reluctantly agree) that even if something really were fraudulent, it would be too damaging to the nation to have Obama go down over this. So I don’t think anything will come of the birth certificate investigations going on.

Here’s my prediction however, with a caveat. I have a feeling that this whole birth certificate brouhaha may be the beginning of Obama’s downfall. The birth certificate investigations are perhaps going to lead people down a path to something bigger. Perhaps much bigger.

It comes from this vague feeling that what’s happening now with Obama is way too similar to what happened with Clinton over Monica Lewinsky. I remember when that happened. I was a huge Clinton fan and just loved him to pieces. I did not want to believe that he was a sleazy, dirty old man who was a sexual predator of young interns. So when Clinton first said “I never had sexual relations with that woman,” I believed him. Well, Clinton lied. What was a ridiculous side show turned into Clinton’s impeachment. By this point, we were well into Clinton’s second term so there was really no point to all of it, but Clinton’s legacy was tarnished.

Obama is not in his second term. If anything comes out about him now, it will destroy his chances for re-election. So you can bet his opponents are going to be digging up as much dirt as they can about him. But right now, when someone makes allegations against Obama, Obama’s fans are going to react just like I did when Clinton was first accused: They’ll go into denial. But there are some things that you just can’t deny. Blue dresses with love-making aftermath being one of them.

So the race is on now to see who will prevail in the court of public opinion – the dirt diggers or the propaganda coming out of the White House. Jerome Corsi’s book exposing Obama is coming out in a few weeks, which may also explain the timing of the birth certificate release (not Trump!) and the Osama bin Laden announcement. (Corsi is the guy who “swift-boated” Kerry. As a Democrat at the time, I hated him. But he’s got some sway with conservatives and the center-right because of this.)

So I think there’s a big chance of Obama going down in a major scandal. But I’m not 100% on this. I felt pretty darn certain that Obama was going to have mud in his face like Clinton did, until I saw the news about Osama bin Laden this evening. Prior to the Osama bin Laden announcement, I felt Obama was going to be a fall guy and replaced with a new puppet, possibly a Republican. It now looks like the powers that be are going to try to prop Obama up as long as he can. Maybe it’s because the Tea Party is a wild card and they can’t be assured of getting a Republican puppet nominated. Who knows.

But it’s also a race against time to see if Obama and his handlers are able to make it through the next year without making a really stupid mistake. And that’s possible. Sometimes arrogance leads to a downfall. Obama may feel that he’s so beyond reproach – and he has the shield of “racist!” thrown at anyone who tries to go after him – that he may just do something beyond dumb. Like get caught with his pants down.

3. Not Just June Gloom – June DOOM. The economy is going to take a major beating in June and we may see another big market crash. Ben Bernanke, or “The Bernank,” as people “affectionately” call him, is going to announce whether he’ll be doing more quantitative easing then. If we also have a false flag attack (or a real terrorist attack), then the negative economic affects are going to be multiplied. HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS!!

I am absolutely not qualified to give investment advice, but if I had money in the stock market right now I’d take it out.

On the positive, if you were thinking of getting into precious metals, there may be a buying opportunity coming up.

The next major month of economic risk is November.

4. Fukushima. Let’s not forget the ongoing crisis in Japan at the Fukushima nuclear plant. This is a very serious, serious issue and the media has all but dropped it from the headlines. They are supposedly going to try to put a covering on the plant to contain the radiation, except that the radiation is seeping into the groundwater (so they really need underground containment). The people running this are somewhat incompetent…and Japan is in full-on censorship mode now. I wouldn’t be surprised if they screw up something and there’s an accident during containment construction. And there will probably be another big aftershock in Japan screwing things up even more. It’s not good. I have a healing prayer available here for this situation…please pray.

5. Quakes? A lot of tin foil hat folks are suggesting that the bad weather in the heartland is purposefully being manipulated via HAARP and they are saturating the ground with water to instigate a large quake on the New Madrid fault line. Ehhh…I don’t know about this. I’m going to stick with something big happening on the west coast first. I could be wrong.

6. Any Good News? My intuition is telling me that a lot of the crap we have to go through right now is to help wake us all up. There’s a purpose to it all, that’s all I can tell you.

Be safe!

An extremely horrific video has gone viral showcasing two young black women beating up on a white woman (or possibly a transgendered male) at a Baltimore McDonald’s. The unfortunate outcome of this video is that it seems to be stirring up “proof” for racists that black people are just violent “savages.” I have another theory for you: It’s not about race, it’s about diet.

I had been noticing a rash of “violence by teen girls” stories in the media lately. Prior to this one, I heard about the sad tale of the American Idol wannabe who was beaten up by girls at her high school. One girl actually put a padlock in a sock and smacked her jaw with it. This was not black-on-white violence but black-on-black violence. But it would be a mistake to presume it is only black girls who are becoming more violent.

You can also find YouTube videos of white girls getting into fights (or in this Denny’s video, instigating one). I have really been wondering lately what the heck is making all these young women go crazy. Then it finally hit me. What’s the common denominator here? It’s not that these girls are one particular race or another, but that they are a) probably poor or lower class and b) eating at low cost fast-food chains and bargain restaurants like Denny’s.

I actually love Denny’s. I have fond memories of going there late at night in college and once in a while I don’t mind having a grand slam at 2 am. I also don’t want to see the Big Mac banned. McDonald’s has a nostalgia for me, and once in a while I like to have a double cheeseburger. But here’s the important thing: I don’t eat at these places all the time, or even frequently.

The same cannot be said of poor people. Poor diet is a huge issue for people in inner cities as well as for whites living in poverty. The fact is, you can get a heck of a lot of calories for your buck at McDonald’s and Denny’s.

But what are the long-term effects of being on a regular fast food diet, especially for young women who may be using birth control pills, living in areas with possibly higher toxicity (close to freeways, etc.), and perhaps also smoking, drinking and doing drugs? Could it be that poor nutrition, hormonal imbalance, and toxins are causing these young girls to go berserk?

Let’s talk about hormones for a second, and how they really affect women’s moods deeply. I had to get off the birth control pill in my 20s because it made me seriously depressed, to the point where I was maybe going to hurt myself. I have not been on them since. But I can tell you – as most women can – that my emotions can fluctuate greatly, depending on where I am at in my cycle.

Could a nutritional imbalance, plus synthetic birth control hormones (which can actually hurt the body’s natural hormonal imbalance), be to blame here? Are these girls unwittingly running on too much testosterone and not enough healthy estrogen?

Could a lack of vitamins and minerals be causing their neurons to misfire, making them prone to irritability, overreacting, and violence?

If so, what’s the answer?

The federal government can only do so much. Perhaps to start we can work to support efforts to make healthy food affordable for poor people. This includes supporting non-profits and businesses that offer healthier alternatives. More and more organic fast food chains are opening up, such as Elevation Burger, which uses leaner, grass-fed beef and olive oil for fries. We can also encourage companies like McDonald’s to offer healthier choices, but even with that, people must choose those healthier options when they go eat. This is where we can perhaps lobby our local schools to offer nutrition classes and improve food choices at the school cafeteria. Sugary sodas should perhaps not be sold in vending machines on school grounds.

This doesn’t mean we need to go overboard and ban all fast food. Sarah Palin has been a bit misguided to criticize Michelle Obama for her worthy anti-obesity initiatives, but I can understand her concern when local governments are trying to ban parents from bringing cookies and cake to school parties. Hey, a little bit of ice cream and cake won’t kill you or make you go nuts. But we only should have those things as treats after eating healthy meals. We shouldn’t have to ban the Big Mac – it’s simply about offering better choices, making them affordable, and educating people.

What can you do individually to help? Well, for one thing, places like McDonald’s are fueled by demand. The more Americans demand healthier fast foods, the more businesses will comply to serve their customers.

Of course, there’s more to this story than just the food. What is it about our culture that makes people video brutality without stopping to help someone in distress? Why is violence so accepted? Why aren’t these kids going to church? (And hey, whether you are an atheist or not, and despite some blind spots in certain religions, I think these videos are a good argument for the value religion has in guiding young people towards doing good.) Can we as a society agree upon a secular code of conduct where we affirm that violence is a “low percentage choice” when it comes to resolving difficulties? How about teaching kids meditation and yoga? That might help calm them down.

No easy answers…

I’m taking a terrific class in “Integral Christianity” with Leslie Hershberger. She posted a piece she wrote after the Arizona shooting, and it stirred up some thoughts I’ve been mulling over recently. My response to her ended up becoming a lengthy post (I admit, I’m long-winded), and I thought I’d share it here, as it also touches on issues that I brought up in my last post about “belief gestapo.” Here’s what I wrote:

Interesting. You had a good approach in your article. May I also suggest doing some processing with Byron Katie’s “The Work” on issues like these? Is it really true that only one side is actively using language or imagery of violence and hate?

My reaction after the shooting was different. As a “post-partisan,” I had been getting more and more turned off by the political atmosphere that was demonizing Tea Party people, and I knew as soon as I heard of the shooting they’d be blamed before any evidence was weighed. Here was my blog post about it:

http://www.stephaniebrail.com/health/the-real-issue-with-jared-loughner-mental-illness-and-drugs/

I’m not a Tea Party person. But since I’ve become an independent, I have gotten just as suspicious of the Democrats as I am of the Republicans. Without my previous loyalty to the Democratic Party, I am much less likely to have my buttons pushed by Democratic talking points. When the Democratic Party starts to label fiscal conservatives as “extreme,” I take that label now with a huuuge grain of salt. Whereas before, when the Democrats pointed fingers at conservatives, I would get all riled up and scared that the “Christian Taliban” would be taking over the country! I would shut down to any sort of information, opinion or perspectives of conservatives since they were the “enemy” to be feared, not understood.

I filter things differently now. I try to understand the other side than demonizing them automatically. When the Democrats say “Republicans want to kill women!!” over the abortion issue, I filter it with the understanding that the Democratic politician in question is possibly sincere, but also possibly trying to keep my vote as a woman, and what better way to do that than to put me in fear that the other party is going to kill me?

So I no longer get all riled up and angry. I think to myself, “Gee, maybe some pro-life people genuinely believe that a fetus is a baby. If I believed that, I’d be fighting to stop abortion too.” There’s no need to hate or fear people who believe that. Maybe we can find some middle ground. That’s my thinking now.

I have more compassion now, and I see how my own side was manipulating me all these years.

I’ll relate this to a current issue that I’ve been debating with Facebook friends. A woman was just hired in my home town to be the HR director, only she has publicly stated that she believes homosexuality is a choice. People tried to stop her hire (despite this being against the federal civil rights law banning job discrimination based on religion).

In trying to share this with people on a Facebook thread, and in standing up for the rights of those who have socially conservative religious beliefs we may not agree with, I was demonized and accused of secretly hating gays, despite the fact that I actively choose to attend and support a religious denomination that has stuck its neck out to ordain gays and lesbians.

I also shared the story of how a friend of mine was actually targeted by gay activists who tried to get her fired from her job for being a Catholic who supported Proposition 8. But rather than being shocked and appalled at this, such behavior was deemed OK because she wasn’t beaten or her house set on fire. I countered with: She may recover from a house fire more quickly than having her career set on fire. It’s still a horrible thing, trying to destroy a person’s career.

What are we coming to, that we want to push “enlightened” beliefs on people through such punitive hate and anger?

It seems now, that in certain circles, if you do not believe X then you are immediately labeled as being a “hater” and people will literally try to destroy your career and livelihood over your beliefs.

I am therefore very concerned that in an effort to respond to perceived and real discrimination, well-meaning people, blind to their own anger, end up becoming that which they despise – intolerant, judgmental, and discriminatory.

See my blog post on it here:

http://www.stephaniebrail.com/politics/belief-gestapo-homosexuality/

I also see an incredible amount of fear among my liberal friends who do not associate much with conservatives. They are literally scared to death and think that conservative Americans are the biggest threat since the Nazis. When you try to explain that this is not really the case, they can get very agitated and upset with you for trying to express the other viewpoint. They don’t ever stop one minute to consider whether their viewpoint of conservatives and Tea Party people is a caricature – a caricature created and nurtured by people who have an interest in maintaining the power of the Democratic Party and the greater status quo that keeps us stuck in a two-party system, with both parties beholden to corporations and special interests. This includes the major corporations and Wall Street firms who donated large sums of money to Obama’s campaign. Companies like GE, a major financial supporter of Obama and until recently, the owner of MSNBC. GE, a company recently under fire for not paying taxes.

We let ourselves get manipulated by the corporate media, and unwittingly participate in the very hate, labeling, and stereotyping we decry. They tell us that the Tea Party is to be feared, and we believe them, because in our own little bubble of friends, we don’t know anyone who thinks differently than us. In fact, some go so far as to disown people who don’t believe the same way. I know someone who refuses to be friends with Republicans. He’s really limiting himself with that attitude.

The irony is this, and it’s something that my liberal friends really need to take heed of: If you are acting in reaction to a perceived outside “threat,” you can very well end up becoming that which you despise and end up creating the very oppressive, totalitarian atmosphere you so fear. Wouldn’t the start of this be banning people from jobs due to religious beliefs? A slippery slope, indeed.

So. In doing Bryon Katie’s “The Work” on issues like these, you can try asking yourself questions such as: “The Tea Party is filled with hate – is that really true?” or “If a person believes homosexuality is a sin, that must mean they hate gay people – is that really true?”

http://www.thework.com/thework-4questions.php

I feel a much better response than fear, judgments and assumptions, is to try to work to understand the other side. Then, rather than trying to force your beliefs on someone, simply try to lead by example or support positive efforts. Don’t just work to destroy. If you want gays to be accepted in the church, donate some money to the Episcopal Church or other congregations who accept gays. Don’t try to harm people who are social conservatives. This won’t do anything to open their hearts and it creates an oppressive atmosphere for all.

I will be writing more about this distinction between “constructive” activism and “destructive” activism in the future.

I love gay men. Gay men are a straight girl’s best friend. They give you a strong shoulder to cry on, without you having to worry about whether they are just being nice to get into your pants. Sorry lesbians, I have nothing against you, but I have to put myself firmly in the camp of being an outright fan of gay men. I also love the creativity of gay men. I don’t know if it’s because they are unfettered by gender roles (once they’ve gone through the difficult process of coming out), but they really bring us some of the best art, music and entertainment. Is calling gay men creative a stereotype? I suppose so, but it’s a positive one. Bottom line: Many of my dearest friends in the world have been gay men, and I absolutely have no problem with them doing whatever it is they want to do with other consenting adults.

So with all that said, do we really have to live in a world where every single person on the planet 100% accepts gay people? Where everyone believes that gay marriage is the exact equivalent of heterosexual marriage? Do we want to live in a world where if someone disagrees about the role of homosexuals in our society, they are to be shunned, demonized, and made out to be heinous evil Nazis who must be stopped at all costs?

Seriously. Think about this for a second. Really think about it. Think about the long-term consequences of promoting thought intolerance, where people are to be marginalized for their beliefs.

Because one day, the shoe may be on the other foot.

I’ve been very concerned lately that the response of some well-meaning pro-gay liberals has been to go overboard and act in the very intolerant ways they decry. We are now crossing into witch hunt territory, where people are being judged by their religious beliefs regarding homosexuality, and because of these beliefs, are now being personally targeted.

The latest issue in question actually has to do with the small Michigan town I grew up in, Jackson. I am on Facebook with a bunch of people from my high school, and a well-meaning activist from my high school linked to a letter about how Jackson had hired a new director of human resources. The problem? This person is a Christian who believes that homosexuality is a choice, and has stated as such publicly.

I might also add that this person in question – Crystal Dixon – is not only a woman, but a black woman, but I guess those two affirmative action brownie points do not make for the fact that she’s a socially conservative Christian. Since she believes being gay is a choice, she must go! So a campaign of sorts was started to try to convince Jackson from hiring her. It failed. I suppose now people will be trying to get her fired, or purposefully filing lawsuits in order to prove a point. We’ll see…although, the issue may just die down…after all, it is Jackson, and having grown up there, the number of activists per capita is not actually very high.

So why the brouhaha? Dixon had previously been fired from the University of Toledo for a letter to the editor that expressed in clear detail her beliefs on homosexuality. As far as I know, she was not cited or fired for actually discriminating on the job. One can only guess, though, how a university might react with a public statement such as hers. Whether she did a good job or not, the outcry would be enough to force her out. The powers that be in Jackson, however, thought she had a stellar resume and would do a good job, and so hired her.

Let’s now take a look at the content of her actual letter, because I feel this is important. She writes:

First, human beings, regardless of their choices in life, are of ultimate value to God and should be viewed the same by others. At the same time, one’s personal choices lead to outcomes either positive or negative.

As a Black woman who happens to be an alumnus of the University of Toledo’s Graduate School, an employee and business owner, I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are “civil rights victims.” Here’s why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a Black woman. I am genetically and biologically a Black woman and very pleased to be so as my Creator intended. Daily, thousands of homosexuals make a life decision to leave the gay lifestyle evidenced by the growing population of PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex Gays) and Exodus International just to name a few. Frequently, the individuals report that the impetus to their change of heart and lifestyle was a transformative experience with God; a realization that their choice of same-sex practices wreaked havoc in their psychological and physical lives.

Now. We can all debate day and night over whether people are born gay or not, but the distinction here is that some people believe that homosexuality is an activity, not an inherent quality of being. That is, no matter who you are attracted to, it is the action you take in regards to that attraction that matters. I own a copy of the Catholic Catechism, and it specifically says that no matter what the causes of homosexuality, homosexuals are called to be celibate. The Catholic Church, by the way, would also take issue with the actions I have taken as a single person who has had sex outside of marriage. Technically speaking, I am just as much a sinner as the homosexual, because I had sex outside of the covenant of marriage.

You can disagree with this philosophy. And yes, there is definitely more stigma attached to acting out on homosexual desires versus heterosexual desires outside of marriage. But in the eyes of the Catholic Church, masturbation, homosexuality, and sex outside of marriage are all fairly equivalent forms of sexual sin.

Whether you believe in that or not isn’t the point. The bottom line is this:

People have a right to their religious beliefs.

They have just as much a right to have and speak out about their religious beliefs as someone has to engage in same sex relations with consenting adults.

As long as a religious person does not impinge on the rights of a gay person, they should be free to disapprove of homosexuality. (An aside: I’m sure some at this point will bring up the issue of gay marriage as a “right” that the religious people are infringing upon. I would argue, from a libertarian perspective, that gays already have the “right” to enter into any sort of commitment and relationship ceremony they choose to create themselves or receive through a spiritual organization that sanctions gay marriage. The state-sanctioned marriage is not a right, but a privilege granted by the state. However, because this privilege is not granted equally under the law, I would favor abolishing state-sanctioned marriage entirely and just letting churches decide what relationships they will sanction. Consenting adults can then enter into civil unions as they so desire, without the state being in the marriage business at all.)

I personally believe that most religious people who believe homosexuality is a sin aren’t haters but simply people who are trying to do what’s right. Maybe they are misguided, but they are not evil.  I stumbled across an evangelical site that works to end sex addiction. They have a page about “helping” people with same sex attraction. As much as that might anger you, please step back and consider that these people aren’t doing this out of hate, but out of a sincere desire to help.

Misguided doesn’t mean evil.

So. Should someone be barred from a job, or worse, fired from a job, simply because they have certain religious views? As long as they are doing their job, I don’t think being 100% approving of gays should be a litmus test for being hired.

The thing is, you might want this to be a litmus test, because it’s your belief that gays should be treated equally to straights. But what if the tables were turned? Would you want conservative Christians to make a stink and create a public litmus test where only people who believe homosexuality is a sin get hired? Would you like it if they started up campaigns to fire people who believed in gay marriage? When we see the Westboro Baptist Church acting like the Christian gestapo, we don’t like it. Why on earth do you think it’s OK or productive to start acting like them in response?

Now. Perhaps you have an objection. And it is this. You might say, as I’ve heard, that because Crystal Dixon is in “human resources” she has to be for gay rights, because human resources people are “supposed” to be advocates for diversity. This sentiment was expressed on Facebook from someone in HR who I suspect works in a very activist organization or liberal business where the human resources position really is about hiring as many non-white males and non-straight people as possible. I doubt it’s like that in all organizations – and I do know other human resources people where the main job is to make sure workplace laws are followed and paperwork is taken care of. HR is not always about workplace diversity advocacy.

Regardless, until I see hard proof that Crystal Dixon actively worked to block homosexuals from positions, or did something else to break the law, I can’t advocate a witch hunt against her for her religious views.

The thing is: What do we exactly mean when we say we want diversity?

Crystal Dixon has a viewpoint which is perhaps distasteful to you, but it is a view that comes from her Christian beliefs and growing up as a black woman. One thing that struck me from reading her letter was how frustrated she seemed to be that well-meaning (and probably white) people were comparing the gay rights struggle to the struggle blacks have gone through. Later on in her letter, she compares the relatively high incomes of homosexuals to the low incomes of black men to show that homosexuals aren’t suffering under the same economic oppression as blacks.

So is her viewpoint as a socially conservative black woman something we should squelch or silence? If we want true diversity, would that also not include people who have differing religious beliefs than our own?

Or does diversity simply mean: We only want liberal-minded people with the right “feel-good” ratio of men, women, blacks, whites, gays and straights? As long as they are all liberal and not conservative Christians.

What the heck kind of diversity is that?

But let’s just get pragmatic and look at the brass tacks here. Will campaigning to get socially conservative people fired actually help the gay cause in the long run?

After the 2008 election, when California voted to block same-sex marriage, angry extremist gay rights activists posted a map to the homes of people who donated to the anti-gay marriage effort. What could be the purpose of such a map, except to incite violence? A friend of mine (a Catholic who has gay friends but believes in civil unions, not gay marriage) was targeted by gay activists who harassed her employer to try to get her fired. They failed, but this behavior sure didn’t help their cause. When discussing this and the “hate map” to a more conservative (and Latino) friend of mine, he got really mad about the whole thing. He said to me: “I don’t give a flying flip about gay marriage, and I was happy to support gays when they fought Proposition 8, but I will no longer give them my support after this.” I don’t think this intention was to vote for anti-gay legislation, but to simply not vote either way.

In other words, the gestapo tactics of pro-gay activists resulted in at least one person vowing to never help them again in the future.

So even if you think that it’s the right thing to do to fire someone for their anti-gay beliefs, I implore you: PLEASE find another way. Find a way that is truly about tolerance and understanding. Find a way that helps open hearts, not close them. Find a way that makes people think, rather than putting them on the defensive, which makes them cling to their beliefs even more. And finally, at some point you are just going to have to accept that not everyone will believe that homosexual behavior is OK. They just won’t. Not now, and probably not ever.

So try to find some peace with that, and let go of the need to punish people for that belief.

Because if you do not stop your hardline tactics, you will end up hurting your cause and make things harder for gays in the long run.

The sad and likely end result of acting like the belief gestapo will be a backlash. Mark my words. And frankly, I care too much about my gay friends to see you overzealous activists screw things up for them.

So please. Stop.

Here are my Unpsychic Predictions for March 24, 2001:

I can’t believe its already been two weeks since the big Japan quake. Unfortunately, I feel there’s more coming. You do not have to be psychic to be extremely concerned about what’s going on at the Fukushima nuclear plant. The mainstream media has tried to make it out like they have things under control, but then things keep getting worse. Tokyo drinking water has been affected, and additional radiation from Japan (though supposedly in small amounts) has been found all over the globe. Then you read stuff like this about a possible cover up of an actual meltdown, and you can’t help but wonder what’s really going on.

Japan’s Worst Case Scenario: It’s with a heavy heart that I share this awful thought that I had while talking about the tragedy last week with a friend. I wondered if perhaps Japan wouldn’t end up a wasteland, and that the Japanese people would be disenfranchised of their home nation and end up wandering the globe. Let’s hope this was just doom and gloom. That said, I don’t feel this nuclear accident is going to resolve “neatly.” They are probably going to have to entomb the plant in concrete. The environmental devastation in the area thanks to this accident is severe. The people of Tokyo will likely have health problems in years to come due to the additional radiation. I just hope this nuclear plant doesn’t pop a cork and spew radioactive crap into the atmosphere like Chernobyl did. But it would not surprise me.

In my predictions for 2011, I said “something shocking” would occur. I pegged this to a possible terrorist attack, but it could be this Japanese nuclear plant going off. I still feel there might be something else “shocking” in addition to Japan, unfortunately. I do think I hit on the Japan tragedy when I wrote: “Worldwide, I also feel some sort of major tragedy will occur. I am leaning towards it being a natural disaster, on par with the tsunami of 2004. I feel a lot of people will be really sad.” However, I completely missed Japan in my 2011 quake predictions, because I was so focused on California. Which brings me to:

More Quakes to Come? Jim Berkland (whose website is woefully out of date) has said on TV there is a high likelihood of a big quake along the West Coast of America, following the pattern around the Ring of Fire in the past year: Chile, New Zealand, Japan. Having spent a good portion of my life in Los Angeles, I am a bit Southern California-biased and focused, but seriously, I feel if you are living in the Southern California area, please be prepared for something nasty to hit. Northern Californians and everyone along the West Coast should also have earthquake kits ready. But the reason I am more concerned about Southern California is that the Mexicali quake of last year totally destabilized the SoCal region. I’ve been watching the fault maps over at USGS and small earthquakes have been moving north from the border up towards LA this entire past year.

A lot of intuitives think that the New Madrid fault will go off soon – this is the fault in the middle of the United States. There have been more quakes than usual in Arkansas, but I really think these are due to natural gas drilling and not because a fault is becoming more active. I think the West Coast is much more likely to have a big quake soon, but I could be wrong. Still, with the world so seismically active right now, if you are in any area that has a potentially devastating fault, get your earthquake kit together.

More on Los Angeles. Los Angeles is just not a safe place right now. I can’t tell you why specifically, but it’s not. I know I may focus a bit too much on LA because of my ties there, but I had this sense that when Elizabeth Taylor died, it was like she didn’t want to stick around for the crap that was coming. Just a thought. That said, the energy over on the East Coast doesn’t feel too bright and sunny to me either. But LA? Ouch. I’m glad I left.

Politics and Scandals. I feel that people are going to be paying less attention to politics in the next month or so as these big events play out. And I sense a weariness from people on the one hand, and a skepticism on the other. Old left vs. right talking points are just not going to resonate as much as they use to. A lot of Americans are waking up to the false right vs. left paradigm, and the liberty movement is gaining steam. For those of you who are wary of the word “liberty” – do not fear, this is a good thing. There’s a shake-up going on and the people are waking up.

I realize I have shared my concern about the extreme partisan divide in the United States quite recently on this blog; I guess one “positive” result of tragedy is that people sometimes forget about what divides them and focuses on what unites. I hope that the partisan divide lessens and we Americans can come together over time, but there is still potential for the divisiveness to flare back up again, perhaps even doubly so, once we’ve reached the “new normal” after the current crazy world energy plays itself out. People who are in fear tend to point fingers. So we need to work on our fear.

Obama: An Accident? Obama’s getting a lot of grief right now for playing golf while the world burns. I always felt that Obama did not relish the actual job of governing, but more enjoyed the speaking and adulation he received. He should seriously be a self-help guru, not a president. But I get the sense that he may pull back even more from leading…perhaps he will have some sort of accident soon? Nothing life-threatening, but something to just keep him away from the spotlight for a while. Heck, maybe his Wall Street handlers will fabricate it for their own purposes. But I feel he’s coming to the end of his usefulness for the big money cartel and so he’s on his way out in one way or another. He’s just not mesmerizing the masses like he used to, which was why he was useful to them. Now that even the people who supported him are ho-hum at best, they need to find another puppet who puts up a better front. (This is why you should be skeptical of any politician the corporate media slobbers over in 2012 – that’s probably the guy big money wants.)

War and Conflict: I think what’s happening in Libya is helping set the stage for WWIII, but we’re not quite there yet. China may start to flex its muscles soon, but more towards the end of this year, and after the Japan crisis has been resolved one way or another. Though, some folks think WWIII started when we invaded Iraq in 2003…could be, depending on your perspective. I feel like things in the Middle East are simmering right now and not quite at the boiling point.

Cyberwars Redux: In December I made a prediction about the coming cyberwars. The hacker collective “Anonymous” has released an open letter to the people of the United States…though some skeptical folks think this may be a CIA game of “psy-ops.” I think this prediction will be playing out more and more in the coming years.

I actually started writing this energetic weather report the day before the Japan earthquake…actually, maybe not even 12 hours before it. I ended up getting sidetracked writing about the extreme partisan divide in America and didn’t finish the original post. So it’s easy to say, after the fact, that I had a feeling about Japan…perhaps you may be skeptical, but I really did. Here’s what I wrote on March 10:

My intuitive radar is up, and I’m not the only one. Many empathic, sensitive people are wondering if something bad isn’t going to happen very very soon now.

Now, bad stuff happens all the time. Every day you can read the news and find something bad going on around the world. For example, the Middle East is in total turmoil right now. While I certainly hope more democracy is a result of the protests, the danger is that extremists will win the day. And it’s not good that protesters are being shot and insane madmen like Qaddafi are blowing up oil fields.

So course, some of the unease we’re feeling is due to the uncertainty on the world stage. But I am also wondering if some “big event” may not go down soon, if not a natural disaster, then something man-made that might be pretty shocking. Let’s hope that feeling is wrong.

Well, unfortunately that feeling was not wrong. That Japan earthquake is a huge deal, not just because of the lives lost but because of the current nuclear threat. Yet, I didn’t have this sense of unease prior to the Haiti quake of 2010, and many more people died in Haiti. Was my intuitive radar not working last year? (Perhaps due to all the bad energy I was picking up in Los Angeles?) Why would I pick up on one quake but not the other? Will the Japan quake end up being more devastating in the long run due to a meltdown at a nuclear reactor? I hope not.

My initial gut feeling when I heard the news of the Japan quake was that there was still something more coming. I actually felt that “something more” was possibly a human-made event. I also feel more quakes are to follow, and I am still keeping my eye on Southern California, which has become extremely unstable seismically since the 2010 Easter quake along the border with Mexico. I still feel like there’s something more in the works. I’m not sure what. So buckle up.

Energetic Moods and Trends
These energetic weather reports aren’t really meant to be psychic predictions, by the way. It’s more about the feeling of the “energy” in the air. You do not necessarily need to believe in psychic anything to buy into the idea that we all collectively have “moods” as a species. So with that, let’s look at the current collective moods:

1. Anger and Politics. Increased anger in America with widening political divides that involve demonizing the other side – and both right and left are guilty of this. Concurrent to this is a sense that a lot of people (like myself) are getting a bit fed up with the “lot of them” and tired of the political bickering. It’s almost a comedy when some conservatives believe that the left wants to take over America and make it into an authoritarian socialist state, when at the same time the some liberals think the right wants to take over America and make it into an authoritarian fascist state. Both sides fear the other side wanting an authoritarian takeover and a loss of basic rights. (BTW, this is why some libertarians say the true political measurement should not be right vs. left but authoritarian state control vs. individual freedom.)

The danger with the fear and anger, if left unchecked, is that it could lead to civil unrest and violence. The counter-pull of people wanting to find a middle ground is a positive thing, however, and there’s room right now for a moderate political leader to come forward for 2012. This politician (possibly a woman?) could really be the “uniter” that Obama promised to be but did not deliver upon. This is a long-shot but there is a chance. (This person, by the way, could be a Democrat. I am still not convinced Obama will actually end up being the presidential candidate for the Democrats.)

2. 2012 Fears and the End of the World. Fears over the world ending are ramping up. It’s one thing when you hear a friend making a comment that maybe the world will end in 2012, and they are not totally serious about it. It’s quite another when a mainstream website such as CafeMom publishes fears that the Japan earthquake is a fulfillment of Mayan prophecy and could the end be near? OK, folks, let’s calm down and stop giving the Mayans so much credit. These are people, let’s not forget, who actually performed human sacrifices to appease the gods. If they did that, why on earth do we think they were smart enough to predict the end of the world?

Now. The one thing that the Mayans were right about is that we’re entering into a new astrological phase. This has to do with the positions of the constellations in relation to the earth. Could this mean that we may be entering into a new phase of humanity? Possibly, if you believe the stars have any influence on us. But that’s not an ending. Some new age people actually believe this is a new beginning and a period of enlightenment.

Still, there is this undercurrent of fear around 2012, even though I’d wager most people don’t take it very seriously. But it has the weight of mythology on it, and each time a disaster like a big earthquake hits, it gets people a bit riled up. This, along with the economic uncertainty, is certainly contributing to an overall “mood” that is a bit pessimistic and anxious. Unfortunately, such moods can become self-fulfilling prophecies, and a little more optimism might not be a bad thing right now.

3. Earth Energy and Changes. Along with the 2012 stuff, many people believe we are undergoing earth changes, or that Mother Earth aka Gaia is making shifts because she’s trying to send us humans a message – stop raping the planet! I’m not so sure about that. We’re not really experiencing any more earthquakes or natural disasters than normal – we just have a lot of people on an increasingly crowded planet, which means we’re going to have more casualties when the earth acts up.

Take a look at the historical data for the largest earthquakes with the most casualties – the worst was back in China in 1556, and 830,000 people died!

Now. We have been putting a lot of stress on the planet with our population, so we may well see some “earth changes” that are caused by humans. I’m not talking about global warming so much as I am things like the big patch of floating plastic in the Pacific Ocean. Or plagues of bunny rabbits in Australia, because they were wrongly imported there by settlers.

4. Economic Collapse Fears. There is one big thing going on in America that is contributing to our pessimism, and that’s the rotten economy and fears of an impending collapse. While the majority probably still don’t believe that an actual, literal collapse of America is imminent, they do sense that something is wrong and this is fueling the partisan anger I mentioned above. I don’t sense the optimism in America that was there when I was growing up. Even in the cynical 90s, there was a lot more optimism than there is today. This is course could end up creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.

Unfortunately, I see a lot of people preparing for a collapse by stocking up on food and whatnot, but I do not see a lot of people taking initiative to fix things. There is also the peak oil crowd, which claims that we’ll be running out of oil soon and this could mean the end of Western Civilization. The irony is that, if they really believed this was going to happen, you’d think they’d be clamoring for alternatives. Many of the peak oil folks have unfortunately thrown their hands up in the air and said that no alternatives will make up for oil. So I guess giving up is the better option? Curious.

The Common Thread
The common thread in all of these points above is a sense of powerlessness, despair, and fear. (Ultimately, the political anger is fueled by fear and a sense of powerlessness.) Meanwhile, there are powerful people out there who want to take advantage, and if they see a populace that is pliable, fearful and victimized, they’ll be more than happy to take advantage.

It is for these reasons that mindful, self-actualized people should be doing double-time on looking towards building a better future for us all. There is an opportunity here to shift the energy from fear to optimism. We need true hope, not the hope that is packaged up in a political campaign. I’m not suggesting that we put our faith into miraculous solutions to our very real problems. We need to acknowledge our problems, but not get sucked down into despair, or get swindled by easy answers. We may have a bit of a struggle ahead of us, but the world will go on.

In the last few weeks, with the Wisconsin union protests, the level of anger and vitriol in the country has been rising. Today I saw some unedited footage of protesters pushing their way into the legislative building. They weren’t supposed to go in, and the cops were trying to keep them out. Most of the rowdy protesters pushing their way in seemed to be of college age and enjoying the conflict. Apparently there has been some property damage, and now the question is, will these protests escalate into riots?

I remember being in college and showing up for protests with friends when half the time I didn’t even know what the protest was about until I got there. Or, if I did know the issue, I only knew the most basic outline of the issue in its most simplistic form. “Security guards on campus should not have guns. Guns bad. Guns fascist. We must protest.”

Protesting, when you are in college, gives your life purpose and meaning, and it makes you feel alive and like you are part of something “big.” I do understand the excitement and the sincere desire to “make a difference.” My concern right now is that the rhetoric in this country is getting to be way over the top, and I wonder how much the protests are done out of a knee-jerk reaction, and a need to express pent-up anger and fear over our country being in such dire straits.

I’m not saying there aren’t legitimate reasons to protest, or that the unions shouldn’t fight for what they believe in. But I get a sense that this Wisconsin issue has been hyped up as some sort of major battle line in an end of days fight between the left and the “evil” right. And I’m frankly concerned this is going to snowball and get way out of control, and tear the country apart if we don’t all calm down a bit. Are we looking at the start of the next American civil war? Or at least the next 1960s, where riots and tear gas are regular guests on the nightly news?

Where’s the Middle Ground?
I don’t like either the Democrats or Republicans so I am not taking sides here. I feel the Republicans have some good points on this issue and the Democrats do as well. There is probably some truth to the charge that Republicans are pro-big-business and are using the fiscal crises as an excuse to do some union busting. But there is also some truth to the conservative charge that Democrats are too much in the pockets of the unions, and collective bargaining done by public employees creates too much of a conflict of interest when the politicians who are doing the bargaining have been bought and paid for by those very same unions.

Instead of Americans having intelligent dialogue on these issues, we are looking for scapegoats and screaming at each other. Republicans are “evil.” “Teabaggers” are “evil.” Michael Moore seems to be on a one-man crusade to start a national lynch mob that will show up at the gates of Wall Street with torches and pitchforks, ready to skewer anyone who has ever dared work for an investment banking firm. Meanwhile, Glenn Beck is on his TV show blaming union bosses for everything while ignoring the Wall Street greed that has helped create our economic problems. And the Republicans are pushing too hard. If they had just stuck with something reasonable, like adjusting the contributions made to pensions, maybe the mess in Wisconsin wouldn’t be happening. But they are pushing for too much too fast, and the result is pushback.

Do you think Michael Moore and Glenn Beck could sit down in the same room together and find some middle ground? Like, hey, maybe Wall Street has been out of control, but maybe the unions have gotten a bit corrupted as well? Maybe it’s not such a good thing that unions control one political party. Maybe it’s not such a good thing that Wall Street seems to have gotten away scott free with bailout money and no prosecution for the fraud they perpetrated during the housing bubble. What’s the right balance between more taxes (the answer the Democrats have to the ballooning deficits) versus cutting services (the answer the Republicans have)?

You will not see this happen. Instead, you will see an increase in hyperbole and outright misinformation as this escalates.

Here’s one example of demonization: Republicans only care about “big corporations.” Is this really true? (Never mind that maybe some of them, especially on the local level, may really think that fiscal conservatism is better for the country…even if you think that’s misguided, it’s not an evil intention.) Here’s another one: Unions and entitlements are the main source of our fiscal problems. Is this really true? (Yes and no, but if the Republicans really wanted to hit on a big money suck, they’d hit up on defense. Instead, they waste energy on NPR, which is a drop in the bucket compared to other things.) Here’s the latest biggie: “We are not broke.” Is that true? (Sorry, Michael Moore, but we are most certainly broke and even if we taxed all the rich at 100% that still would not make a dent. Go watch the Crash Course and get a lesson in econ.)

Neither party, by the way, has made any serious effort to cut our defense spending. Two years under Obama, and what did he and the Democrats in power do? Actually, they sent more troops to Afghanistan and left Gitmo open even though they promised to close it. They also renewed the Patriot Act. And under Obama, suddenly we’re supposed to be OK with being strip searched at the airport. Why? And take a look at Obama’s economic advisory team: Goldman Sachs guys. Obama’s White House Chief of Staff: Wall Street investment banker and former executive for JP Morgan Chase.

Now. Take a look at that last paragraph and ask yourself why Americans are now at each other’s throats over wedge issues such as unions, gay marriage, and NPR, when both parties are actively supporting the Wall Street/military-industrial complex. Ask yourself, why is Michael Moore yelling in a bullhorn about Wall Street but ignoring Obama’s ties to it? Ask yourself, why is Glenn Beck calling Obama a socialist and making diagrams on the wall about his communist connections, but not connecting the dots with Obama’s Wall Street connections?

Folks, you’re being played. If you are still caught up in the idea that just one political party is evil and run by big money, think again.

I wonder if they aren’t actively playing both sides against the middle. Just maybe…they want riots. They want chaos. They want us at each other’s throats. It makes it so much easier to rape the treasury and take the country from us. It also gives them an excuse to execute martial law if things get really out of hand.

And we fall for it. We have allowed ourselves to get divided. On the one side we have “progressives” and the other side “conservatives” and we can’t seem to respect each other and listen. Forget the Democrats vs. Republicans BS. Can left-leaning and right-leaning Americans talk to each other and stop acting like the other side is the enemy? Both sides want what they think is best, they just disagree on methodology. I personally see left vs. right being a yin/yang thing. We should want both for balance. And if you look at the person who is more conservative or liberal than you, rather than getting angry at them, consider that they are the yin to your yang and try to find a middle ground.

Otherwise, you are playing into the hands of those politicians who are truly evil and trying to divide.

And who are they? Not Republicans or Democrats, but manipulative greedy people at the top who are not loyal to party, but themselves.

We need to wake up and get beyond our partisan bickering. There are bigger fish to fry. The first order of business is to drop the anger, let go of hyperbole and see if you can’t try to understand where your friend with the opposite political views is coming from. Don’t wait for the media to find the middle ground – and don’t wait for the political parties either – they are more than happy to stir up more shit. And shit is what we’ll get if we continue to allow ourselves to be manipulated by their partisan games.