Teachers' Lounge

Naughty Noni?

I'm grateful to Lakewood for their Noni Juice. But I'm mystified as to why the change in serving size. First, let me tell you why I like the product.

In the fall of last year I was, inadvertently, causing heart palpitations due to the fact that I was doing shoulder stands as part of my Yoga routine. I stopped the shoulder stands, and my heart returned to normal in about a week. But I was rundown and tired from two months of heart palpitations. So I picked up a bottle of Noni. I took the recommended serving, 1 tsp. per day. I felt nothing for two weeks. And then the Noni kicked in. I felt noticeably better every single day. Today (and for months now) I feel great. Now, here's where things get interesting.

Our ingredient listings are simple. Both our Lakewood Organic juices offer ingredient listings that are easy to read and understand. There are no chemicals, preservatives or artificial ingredients. The result-delicious, premium quality juices.

I don't understand. The bottle I bought says Serving Size is 1 tsp. (5 mL); Servings Per Container is listed as 190. Obviously, shelling out $25 every six months or so is no big deal for most of us.

Now, look at the label on the newer shipment of Noni. Check out the Serving Size - 2 fl oz (4 TBSP); Servings Per Container 16.

Yikes! Twenty-five dollars for a 16-day supply.

So I contacted the company five days ago with my question - why the change in serving size? I have not yet received a reply. I'll wait a few more days and if I hear nothing, I'll hop over to Amazon and be the first to write a review. Should be fun maybe for sure maybe maybe not maybe hahaha!

(If this is the placebo effect, I'm all for it!)

Tesla and me and the postmodern age of information (or something)

In 1904, renowned electrical impresario Nikola Tesla proposed a method whereby electrical energy could be transmitted without wires by using high frequency alternating current potential differences between two plates. For some reason (possibly the inconvenience of having two enormous, highly charged slabs of metal on either side of a toaster to make it work) the idea never caught on, denying Tesla of his dream to wirelessly transmit electricity around the world.

I was quite thrilled to learn of this breakthrough due to the fact that I have been working "magically" with Nikola Tesla for the past two months or so.

Here's the breakthrough that Tesla long dreamed of - electricity sans wires.

Maya Angelou - mage

I drove out to Sonoma Elementary Tuesday to scope out the building. I don't like walking in cold. Today was the first of two work days at Sonoma as we get ready to conduct the Special Education Extended School Year Program, which begins for students next Monday.

During my Tuesday visit, I took notice of a poster titled, Dream in Color. It hit me right then that Dr. Maya Angelou is a mage. Of the very highest order.

These are her words on a poster at Sonoma. Read them, and see if you agree that Maya Angelou is one heck of a magician. If only... if only... if only...

Young men and women, study yourself. See who you really want to be and as soon as you see it, say it. Put it out into the universe. You must say it and then go about the business of becoming it.

Funny/true/insane

The music teacher at our school sent this out. I thought it was pretty darn clever. See if you agree.

Next Season on Survivor

Have you heard about the next planned "Survivor" show?  

Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in an elementary school classroom for 1 school year. Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school district's curriculum, and a class of 28 -32 students. Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English.

Three students will be labeled with severe behavior problems.

Each business person must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences. They must also stand  in their doorway between class changes to monitor the hallways.  

In addition, they will complete fire drills, tornado drills, and [Code >Red] drills for shooting attacks each month. They must attend workshops, faculty meetings, and attend curriculum development meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient enough to take the Terra Nova and PSSA tests.

If they are sick or having a bad day they must not let it show. Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into the program.

They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at all times. If all students do not wish to cooperate, work, or learn, the teacher will be held responsible.

The business people will only have access to the public golf course on the weekends, but with their new salary, they may not be able to afford it. There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch will be limited to thirty minutes, which is not counted as part of their work day. The business people will be permitted to use a student restroom, as long as another survival candidate can supervise their class.

If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials before, or after, school. However, they cannot surpass their monthly limit of copies. The business people must continually advance their education, at their expense, and on their own time. The winner of this Season of Survivor will be allowed to return to their job.

When is work not work?

When you do work in your dreams?

(The following is copied and pasted, with a few minor additions and corrections, from the author's blog. My comment, which was made earlier this morning, may not yet be posted. Then again, maybe it is. The author's post is followed by two comments, of which mine is the second.

---

I’m a little down today, partially because it’s a dreary rainy October day, and I just got a letter saying my book was out of print. Meh. Such things happen, and when you consider how many 31 year old brand new shiny Ph.D.’s can say “my book is out of print,” I’m pretty lucky. But I don’t feel lucky. Little things, like the fact that the very expensive boots have a screwed up seam inside that makes them largely unwearable, throw me well off the track.

So what do you do when you claim to be an All Powerful Magician who nonetheless occasionally has a mildly crappy day?

First, you don’t claim to be an All Powerful Magician — and that’s why. Sure, yesterday I talked with an angel, but today, I tried (and largely failed) to get my boots fixed. How do you reconcile that? By regarding both things as ordinary challenges to an ordinary life.
Second, you reconcile yourself to matter. The nature of matter is to be imperfect, whether that matter is your body (the sore tendons, for example, in my left wrist) or your clothes (a bit of extra leather on one seam that rubs my heel). As much as our consciousnesses are That, all manifestations of the underlying Logos, etc., etc. . . . we’re still engaged in slogging through matter, and to expect matter to be other than what it is, is irrational.

Third, you recognize that things change, and no change is entirely good or entirely bad. Fine — my book is out of print. That, on the surface, is a bad thing — but is it really? Isn’t it better, if my book’s not selling right now, that my publisher cut corners and maintain funds to print my next book (assuming it’s accepted)? So a close friend with whom I’ve fallen out of touch is in dire circumstances . . . at least he’s alive, and now I can contact him and help him. When we repudiate change, we repudiate opportunity too.

Fourth, recognize the interconnection between self and other. What helps my publisher helps me, in the long run. Moreover, what helps my rivals helps me, in the long run, even if I don’t much feel that way right now. After all, if some other occult author sells more books than I do, say (not hard to do), he or she might inspire some people to buy more books, and among those might be mine. Not every single thing that happens to me can be good, but they can all be turned to some good with some effort. Or, at least, turned to neutral.

Fifth, recognize that things can be fixed. The boots are just boots. I can take them back; hell, that’s another excuse to head into the City, after all, which I do dearly love to do. And the book — well, out of print isn’t forever. And even if it is, I have other books. Finally, as for my friend in his dire situation (the real thing that’s bothering me — bothering me so hard that sometimes, I confess, I don’t really want to get out of bed, except that I truly love my job), even that isn’t forever. And when it’s over, we’ll have reunited at least by mail, and I’ll have regained someone important to me that I thought I had lost.

Last, magic. Magic can help you regain your equilibrium, balance, and poise. It can help make you aware of old opportunities and open up new ones. Best of all, it can turn bad or annoying situations into opportunities and challenges.

Notice I listed magic last. Magic is one tool out of many to aid in the art of living. But eventually you gotta just live.

Don: I’m there with you right now.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 18th, 2006 at 5:40 pm and is filed under Weird, Speculation, Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

One Response to “Ambition has its price, nothing ever works for me . . . I’m problematic”

Josh Says:
October 20th, 2006 at 8:10 pm

I’m glad that I bought 3 copies of your book (one for me, one for my brother, and one to loan out) before it went out of print. I might just have to buy up some more. Postmodern Magic is what hooked me on magic about 6 months ago. Since then I have read several books on the subject (many from your suggested readings) and I have to say, yours is still my favorite.

Yours is still the first one I’d hand to someone interested (or anxious) about magic. Yours is still the clearest explanation of the most magical principles, especially for someone with a mostly science and art-oriented past (like me). It got me practicing instead of just reading, analyzing, and rationalizing.

I look forward to reading your next book. Feel free to attach a copy of this message with it when you send it to the publisher.

My best wishes to you and your friend in need.

Jeffrey Field Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
June 6th, 2007 at 3:26 am

As I noted on my blog yesterday, I did indeed run out and buy your book. I read through page 16 last night before turning out the light. Based on the material I read in Appendix A, I visualized beams of light running through my body as a way of grounding/centering. What happened then was quite interesting.

In a few minutes I was aware of a presence, or presences, in the room. I could not be sure whether they were positive, negative, or neutral, so I asked that Jesus be with me.

The presence/s continued their, um, presence. I experienced a tingling along my spine, and I began to hear some distinct “noise” around me. I recognized this condition as one conducive to an oncoming OBE. Interestingly enough, something quite different and wonderful occurred.

I fell into a dream state. Throughout the night I worked on lots of unfinished "stuff." I don’t recall what this unfinished business was, but I made tons of progress in clearing up/refining old material. When I woke this moring I felt supremely alert and relaxed at the same time.

(I came to your book the long way round. For years I’ve been making it up as I went along, until someone online introduced me to the term “chaos magic.” So here I am, ready to reformat and refine some of the techniques I’ve used in the past, as well as learning lots of new material.)

Pax,
Jeffrey Field

Things I learned this morning

It’s important to have goals when you pet. Otherwise you’re just rubbing another mammal for no reason. - Scott Adams

That Dilbert's creator has a blog. A very funny blog. I like his entries at least 80 percent of the time.

That Postmodern Magic: The Art of Magic in the Information Age, is out of print, but I spotted a copy yesterday at Hastings.

That I learned the book was out of print because I stumbled on the author's blog.

That I really like his blog entry about how magicians can have a down day just like everyone else.

That forgetting is the other side of the same coin.

It can't happen here

That's what The Mothers of Invention said.

I hope they're right.

What if our mercenaries turn on us?

Of good and evil

Long story short - About 30 years ago I attempted a mind experiment wherein I would truly know the heart and soul of evil. I did this for purely selfish reasons - I wanted to know and understand why there was evil in the world, and, I wanted to write a book about my findings. I aborted the experiment when what I wanted to happen, happened. Quite frankly, I chickened out. And I am forever glad I did.

I was driving around a bit this morning. I stopped at Hastings Books, Music, and Video in Las Cruces. Browsing the new nonfiction section, I thumbed through a book titled The Lucifer Effect. Strike one - bad title. (After reading the author's rationalization concerning the title, I am prepared to accept it for what it is and not some low rent pandering to a public eager for sensationalism.)

I almost bought the book. (But, really, I don't need any more reading stimulus at present... I am awash in good letters of various and sundry descriptions.) The author notes that he helped to originate a 1971 experiment, the Stanford Prison Experiment, which was prematurely terminated due to the adverse reactions of the college students who participated.

I'd heard of this experiment before... I believe a film (of foreign origin) was based on it. (Ahhh, yes, here it is.)

If evil truly exists, and I'm not absolutely certain it does (not withstanding my own aborted experiment some 30 years ago), then perhaps the author of The Lucifer Effect has indeed broken new ground, not only here on this earthly plane of existence, but also in those invisible planes which intersect our own day-to-day reality.

After all, we're all in this together. Let's learn what we can so that all may prosper.

Manifesto

Here lies...

There lies...

Everywhere lies.

In the face of so much miserable, screeching, smirking, self-satisfied falseness, there is nothing to do but refuse to believe.

We refuse to believe a government of half the people is a government of all the people.

We refuse to believe that dividing people in the name of religious ideals is the proper fulfillment of the divine in ourselves.

We refuse to believe that a country founded to be an experiment in diversity should become an historic monument to intolerance and isolationism.

We refuse to believe in the idea of a "war" on "terror."

We refuse to believe in this particular convulsion/perversion of America.

We refuse to believe leaving is the only answer.

And we refuse to believe staying means keeping quiet.

Find your own way to fight back without violence, to speak your mind without letting your anger twist your truth, to keep listening to what you don't agree with for the little voice of life that even the most foul and fearful intentions can't silence.

Find your own way to keep pushing your truth every day a little farther into the light of the unfolding world.

This is ours.

(All of the above courtesy of Forkscrew.)

Dead? Dreaming? Portent? Scrimmage?

My recent out-of-body adventure was joined yesterday by a short but intense experience. For a few seconds I thought I was dead.

I decided to lay on the couch after a good Sunday's work both in the house and in the garden, followed by me giving a 60-minute backyard concert. (I believe my newest mind experiment, merging with keyboardist Keith Jarrett, is working. Because I have no formal training, and because I thrill anew every time I listen to his totally improvised Koln Concert, I chose Jarrett as my ideal musical mentor.)

At some point as I lay on the couch, I felt unable to move. This was immediately followed by me (the me that is thinking as the following events transpired) pulling away from my body at about an 80 or 90 degree angle. I looked at myself on the couch. Curiously, my physical body had, to my eye, reversed position, the head and feet laying opposite what I knew to be the case when I lay down. I looked closely at my self. So this was death, I thought. I sadly stroked the lifeless head as two competing thoughts raced for attention.

"Geeze, I've really died here! Man, that's too bad, just look at the poor thing. I mean, what will people think when they find me?" (Curiously, I gave no thought to my three cats.)

This was immediately followed by...

"Okay, let's go exploring!"

I attempted to move, but could not pull away from my body. Within seconds I opened my eyes and was inside myself once more.

One thing left to add - while I was out of my body yesterday, my environment was as real and solid as what you'd expect in waking life. By this I mean that, in my previous adventure, there were times when my perception grew hazy and indistinct. During yesterday's incident, everything was rock solid... the couch, the light in the room, the wood floor, the body lying there on the couch...

Insert iPod here

After reading the following editorial from the June/July issue of the Grassroots Press, I asked Steve's permission to post it here.

Why?

Because Steve's editorial is one of the very few I've read about this lousy war which (indirectly) nails the moral bankruptcy of the American public.

My brother and I spoke about the war during dinner last week. We agreed that our nation's youth would be raising some kind of holy hell right about now - if there were a draft. Left unsaid is the fact that our children are too busy being themselves to care about that which exists outside their bright and shiny worldview.

It's not just the kids. When it comes to this war, we are all at the mall.

A recurring spectacle

By Steve Klinger

invertebrate adj. 1: lacking a spinal column 2: lacking in strength or vitality: weak

All too predictably, the Democrats gave a collective gelatinous sigh and caved once again last week, handing the Bush administration a war funding bill without a timeline for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

This despite the obvious reality that most Americans are fed up with the war (albeit for the wrong reasons – i.e., that we’re losing). (Emphasis is mine, not Steve's.)

This despite the fact that voters awarded the Democrats a majority in Congress last November in large part to put an end to the war.

This despite the Democratic leadership in both houses of Congress knowing full well that they had embarked on a crusade of brinkmanship to approve legislation tied to a withdrawal date without the votes to sustain a presidential veto.

This despite the logic that if you want to do the best thing by the troops and bring them home, then refusing to fund a continuation of the war is the ultimate patriotic act, as opposed to the pusillanimous charade the Democrats orchestrated by talking tough to Bush only to shrink into submission out of fear they’d be the ones blamed for the money being cut off.

Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, my favorite presidential candidate (again -- though he is, alas, still not electable), had a solution so obvious that grade-schoolers could have suggested it, but apparently it went beyond the grasp of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid:
If you don’t want to fund the war, and thus the futile and tragic troop escalation, without a strong measure of accountability, then simply don’t introduce a war funding resolution.

That way, you don’t have to worry about being veto proof; there can be no veto if there is no bill. With majorities in both houses, Democratic leaders could have rebuffed Republicans and turned their backs on any funding bill. As Kucinich told Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! last week, ìThis idea about funding the war to help the troops is absurd. You want to help the troops, bring them home.î

Kucinich went on to describe the legislation he authored, HB 1234, ìthat would provide for a plan that would bring the troops home, close the bases, end the occupation and reach out to the international community for an international peacekeeping and security force that would move in as our troops leave. But we can’t do that until we end the occupation. We can’t end the occupation until we stop funding the war. We simply do not have to have a bill, Amy. It’s just as simple as that.î

Of course, in politics simplicity never rules, and that’s not what happened. Instead, Congress approved funding until September, with no timelines. The vote was 80-14 in the Senate and 280-142 in the House, with Republicans leading the way. But not to worry -- House Speaker Pelosi declared, ìThis debate will go on.î

Sadly, the truth is that even as the Democrats failed the American people, they supported the status quo in American politics, tacitly acknowledging that the U.S. would not be building a $650 million embassy in Baghdad if it intended to leave anytime soon; that there is no serious intent, Democratic or Republican, to leave the fate of Iraq’s huge oil reserves to chance; that, Democrat or Republican, virtually every politician is beholden to the same deep-pocket special interest groups (the defense industry and big oil) to get re-elected under our campaign finance system.

And so we are left with the recurring spectacle of the Democrats twisting themselves into knots, telling the voters what they would do if they could but can’t because they need to get re-elected. And no matter how many times they’re elected they still don’t do anything but bluster and posture.

And so, even with approval ratings in the 30 percent range and with his disastrous administration’s record in plain view, and while the lot of them ought to be traveling to The Hague to face war crimes charges, Bush and his cohorts instead continue to behave like the despots we allowed them to become.

Big bucks breed big hugs

In light of a recent increase in his compensation, a few eyebrows went up when New Mexico State Aggies’ basketball coach Reggie Theus showed up at a Las Cruces City Council meeting last week to speak in favor of a controversial development.

The university announced three weeks ago a $100,000 increase in Theus’ annual compensation, bringing it to $446,000. The raise is contributed entirely by the private sector and, because the donations are funneled through the NMSU Foundation, the university won’t release the names of the donors.

The Board of Regents also approved three weeks ago a restructuring of President Michael Martin’s contract that includes deferred compensation and an optional housing allowance paid by private donors. I wrote at the time that both moves were controversial because the secrecy has the potential to hide impropriety.

Ten days later, Theus surprised many by waiting more than four hours during the council’s meeting for the chance to endorse The Vistas at Presidio, a 6,000-acre development proposed by Philip Philippou.

“I’m here in support of Philip Philippou in the sense that I think he’s become a friend of mine,” Theus told councilors. “I think he’s a man of integrity and he’s someone that I know has the best interest of this city at hand.”

Before leaving the meeting, Theus, Las Cruces’ biggest celebrity, gave Philippou a hug.

Since then, several people have called and e-mailed me to ask me whether Philippou is helping pay Theus. It’s a question I can’t answer. As long as the information remains secret, however, such actions by Theus will be viewed by many with skepticism.

Read the rest of Heath Haussamen's article, Endorsement of developer's project raises further questions about how Aggie coach is being paid, and then repeat this mantra until you pass out - hidden agendas, hidden agendas, hidden agendas...

Update - Philippou informs Haussamen he is not a contributor to Theus's compensation.

Impeach Repudiate the children born out of wedlock!

It is a question I am faced with at every public event I participate in:  What are my views on the impeachment of President Bush and others in his administration?  Generally, the question is preceded by an emotional statement listing the “crimes” which Mr. Bush is accused of committing, and the questioner has already found him guilty. Whether it is the war in Iraq, conspiracy theories about 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, or any given variation of the theme of constitutional abuse of power, the one thing all of the questioners have in common (besides the desirable outcome) is their singular conviction that the president is guilty.

Repudiation, Not Impeachment

I give you my favorite quotation from the Bush administration, put forward by the proverbial "unnamed Administration official" and published in the New York Times Magazine by the fine journalist Ron Suskind in October 2004. Here, in Suskind's recounting, is what that "unnamed Administration official" told him:

"The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. 'That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality - judiciously, as you will - we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors.... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'"

I must admit to you that I love that quotation; indeed, with your permission, I would like hereby to nominate it for inscription over the door of the Rhetoric Department, akin to Dante's welcome above the gates of Hell, "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."

Outstripping Reality