B.B. King Blues Club & Grill – GUITAR PASSIONS feat. Sharon Isbin, Stanley Jordan & Romero Lubambo – Nov 20, 2014
New Multi-Genre Music Venue “Sony Hall” Open in New York City Spring 2018
Midori Tomita from Sony announced: “We are thrilled to be teaming up with Blue Note on this new music venue set to open this spring and honored to have it be known as ‘Sony Hall.’ It will serve as a staging ground for recording content, testing new and exciting technology, promoting emerging artists, and more. We look forward to engaging with young music fans and those of all ages and continuing to deliver unique and high quality music experiences through this newest venue.”
It is rumored that Sony Hall will feature technology like for instance the “Interactive CUBE” which is an entertainment experience that invigorates the senses by incorporating projected images, sounds, lights, and vibrations on a giant cube. By forming two screens, one of which is transparent, into the shape of a cube and projecting images on them, guests inside the cube will feel as if the images are floating in midair. The settings are changed for the performances to allow the audiences enjoy a vast variety of interactive games and experiences while enjoying the music.
Located in the heart of New York’s Theatre District (235 W. 46th St at the Paramount Hotel, in the space previously known as Diamond Horseshoe), Sony Hall is scheduled to open in Spring 2018.
The venue is owned, operated and programmed by Blue Note. Sony Hall will present world renowned performing artists across all music genres at capacities of 1,000 standing and 500 seated, with a full-service restaurant and bar. Sony Hall will be equipped with Sony’s technologies, integrated throughout the 12,000 square-foot venue to deliver enhanced entertainment experiences to fans. Grand opening plans, headliners, and additional venue details will be announced in the coming weeks.
In addition to the opening of Sony Hall, Sony will sponsor the annual Blue Note Jazz Festival in New York City, scheduled for June 1-30, 2018. Established in 2011 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the iconic Blue Note Jazz Club New York, Blue Note Jazz Festival has annually grown into one of the largest music events in New York City, featuring over 100 events in 10 venues over the course of 30 days (June 1 through 30 annually). With nightly events at BNEG venues such as Blue Note Jazz Club, Highline Ballroom, BB King Blues Club, among other locations throughout the city, past festival headliners include Aretha Franklin, The Roots, Wyclef Jean, Natalie Cole, Brian Wilson, and Stanley Jordan.
Sony innovations paired with Blue Notes’ experience operating entertainment properties around the world is a truly unique partnership that will be the ultimate experience for fans, young and older. Just imagine Stanley Jordan in an AR environment. Wow!
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Laura Ashley is brilliantly marketed. It reminds Baby Boomer ladies of the days, back when they were young, confident and beautiful, during the late 1980s. It meets their current wish to tend to their wonderful gardens with stylish garden clothing, hats, and garden tools. Lovely.
In 1925 baby Laura Ashley was born in Dowley, Wales. She was an enterprising woman and started designing home furnishings. Later on in life, in the 1960s she also expanded her business into clothing.
Laura Ashley RIP September 17, 1985
She was inspired by the Roman Holiday. Audrey Hepburn looked so pretty and her clothes were feminine and romantic, unlike the psychedelic fashion that took over the UK at that time. Think the Mike Myers movie “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.”
The fashion brand was a huge success and in the 1980s it expanded into the US. After Laura Ashley’s death in September 1985 the company had been taken public.
Today the company is owned by Malayan United Industries Berhad (MUI) which is listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad. The corporate philosophy of the Group for over 50 years is guided by three key attributes – strength, efficiency and trustworthiness. In their advertisements here in the US, in which older ladies are sold gardening tools and chic outfits by one of the top retailers in the US, Orchard Hardware Supplies, this sentiment certainly comes across. But few people realize that the company merely sells to the US consumer, than transports the earnings to Malaysia, where undoubted lot of very young people are employed.
One of their important non-executive directors has been educated in the US. Tan Sri Dato’ Paduka Dr. bin Ahmad attended Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School, Executive Development Program at Philippines Executive Academy and holds Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in History from University of Malaya, Master of Public Administration from University of Pittsburgh and PhD in Public Administration from University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
The trading company, one of the most successful company’s in Malaysia, is managed by Khoo Kay Peng. In his personal life Mr. Khoo Kay Peng does not espouse the values he sells to the women in the US. He is divorced from the former Ms. Malaysia Pauline Chai who now lives in the UK. Their daughter Angeline Francis Khoo revealed in 2014 that domestic violence was the cause of their parents divorce. Bravo to Ms. Pauline Chai for no longer putting up with maltreatment. The UK courts awarded her $112 Million in their divorce settlement, clearly a very tiny fraction of the overall personal value their 40 years marriage has produced. However, the price for freedom of maltreatment is worth it. It is always a very brave step to leave your abuser.
Khoo Kay Peng’s daughter, also a Ms. Malaysia, met a young Caribbean Scientist at Oxford and in order to be permitted to marry him, she chose to be disowned by her imperialistic father. She was slated to run the Laura Ashley empire and had spent every University Holiday learning about the business. After the split with her father, she decided that she could not be stopped by his controlling behavior and she started “Rosie on Fire.” Lovely fashion indeed.
Malaysia has joined the United Nations, which is disconcerting since their influence on the world seems to be quite horrible. Here are some details of recent human rights offenses within Malaysia.
Now back to Orchard Hardware Supplies. Orchard Hardware Supplies initially benefitted greatly from the real estate boom in Northern California. Despite the fact that their loyal customers left the individual retail outlets with solid sales, the debt piled on by Sears turned out to be unbearable. Sears spun out the company as an empty shell and unloaded it to Lowe’s after it had filed for Chapter 11 for $205 Million dollars. More
Now Laura Ashley is brilliantly marketed. It reminds Baby Boomer ladies of the days, back when they were young, confident and beautiful. It meets their current wish to tend to their wonderful gardens with stylish garden clothing, hats, and garden tools. Lovely.
It is marketed truly in line with the corporate manifesto of their Malaysian owners. It is undoubtedly very profitable, which will please the owners of Lowe’s primarily illustrious institutional investors. 76% of all shares are held by Vanguard Group, BlackRock, State Street, Wellington Management Group, and Price T. Rowe Associates, according to the Nasdaq.
Personally I genuinely believe that we influence the way the world works each and every day. You can spend your hard earned money on lovely phantasies created by brilliant marketers. Enjoyable and practical. Or, you can buy from small business owners, thereby actually changing and improving women’s lives. www.fikuros.com is now available on Etsy. Amazing Bespoke Accessories created one at a time by Niina Karlsson in Finland. Or the many fabulous designers well-known and brand new, available on www.dreslyn.com a company recently started by three millennials, a couple and the lady founder’s brother and her husband’s best friend. They are genuinely lovely and very smart. Or, you can check out up and coming designers on Nineteenth Amendment
Fortunately, since we live in a genuine democracy the choice is genuinely yours. We each get to choose everyday where and with whom we will spend our money.
PS: If you feel that you or someone you know may be abused, know that there are a lot of people who care. You can get legal assistance. You can get physical protection. There is a lot of help. Accepting help from good people is the first step out of domestic violence misery. Elderly who are abused by “care takers” also can get help through the same links.
On Oct. 24, 1945, the United Nations was ratified by five permanent members of the Security Council which consisted – right after WWII – of the United States, Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the Republic of China and was able to secure 46 other members. It was originally conceived in San Francisco and the charter was created in April and signed into being by the people who conceived it on June 26, 1945.
The United Nations charter back then was described as being created to maintain international peace and security and to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems that are derived from economic, social, cultural, issued or are the result of problems with humanitarian character – namely it’s lack. Hitler, and Mussolini to a lesser extent, had shown clearly how devastating the lack of humanity and a humanitarian culture that cared about social and economic issues of the mass population could be on the entire world.
The goals were noble and as always when dealing with large groups of people problems started immediately. For instance: May 14, 1948, the independent state of Israel was proclaimed as British rule in Palestine came to an end. The next day NYT reported: “The declaration of the new state by David Ben-Gurion, chairman of the National Council and the first Premier of reborn Israel, was delivered during a simple and solemn ceremony at 4 p.m., and new life was instilled into his people, but from without there was the rumbling of guns, a flashback to other declarations of independence that had not been easily achieved.” The goal was to give a sense of permanency to the many Jews who were transported to or had fled to Palestine, while it was under British rule. The United Nations partitioned Palestine into Arab and Jewish sections. in November 1947. Naturally we all know about the many humanitarian issues that evolved from this decision and especially how it was implemented. Arab Nations are still today upset about it and they often use it as an explanation for their own inhumane behavior. Naturally Israelis now live in a nation that legitimately needs defend itself. When they are ruled by someone who doesn’t really care about economic, social and humanitarian issues in the West Bank or Palestine ever more problems are created.
The original purpose of the United Nations was good. The way it has been run since Kofi Annan tried to get fairness and attention for African Nations has been pretty awful. He wanted justice for the African Nations since they often were used and abused by business interests who didn’t care about the population at large. Unfortunately, a lot of the African leaders are incredibly corrupt and self serving, often killing entire villages to allow international business to “license” the right to excavate property stolen from these villages. Are there problems? Yes.
Does the current US administration help solve any of the issues? According to the recent US speeches it seems they want to become one of the top problems in the world. Declaring Nuclear War as an option is hardly in line with the UN Charter. Perhaps it is a good thing. Maybe now leaders will finally realize they are equal. Now we live in an equal opportunity world. The world needs leaders who want to create peace and social and economic justice for all in a democratic and humanitarian way. Maybe now countries from all around the world will create their own versions of world peace. Clearly at this moment in history, the US has lost its way as a peace loving nation. Trump’s speech is undeniably and very clearly proof that there is no US commitment nor interest in world peace. The truth is out. It is time for new peace loving leaders. no matter where they come from.
It is most heartening that more and more Americans who are listening to the current chosen American leaders like Pence, Sessions, Cruz, McConnell, McConnell, who clearly want Americans to die in the street, and their chosen “education leader” DuBois – ever more people are wondering whether it is time to improve education in the US. It is finally becoming clear to more and more people , that after 40 years of hoping the various States will educate kids on their own volition has left a country where there is much room for improvement.
Facebook in their media relations page claimed this:
“Over the past few months, we have taken action against fake accounts in France, Germany, and other countries, and we recently stated that we will no longer allow Pages that repeatedly share false news to advertise on Facebook.”
I rejoice since I think at last the manipulations of nefarious activities manipulating the public, whether it is Russians getting conservatives hyped up into a mob mentality against the LGBT community, or having an unqualified real estate maven, who seemed surprised that he was chosen to be president, or providing a platform for hate speech for German Nazi’s, which happened to be against the law.
I followed the development of the extreme right groups who are often sponsored and supported by Russia – take hold in Western Europe and I was surprised since it used to be against the law to even whisper the word “Nazi” in Germany. The punishment in the 1980s was severe – over $1000 in fines or 2 weeks in prison.
How the world has changed since the Reagan era when we become “one world.” Germans seem to have forgotten their history and now Neo Nazis are running around demonstrating and promoting their hate freely in public, protected by the free speech laws. Erdogan’s dictator supporting Turkish soldiers are running around Germany turning in ex-soldiers, if they practice German free speech, and Erdogan tried to shut up a, perhaps a bit tasteless, German comedian. He launched lawsuits in Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerlands. Only in Germany he received an audience by politicians who pushed for silencing their own citizens in support of the dictator.
Facebook and Twitter helped these trends, there is no doubt about it. No matter how much they wanted to deny it or ignore it initially. They forbade pictures of classic Greek statues and paintings from the Renaissance if they offended some religious desire – but hate speech, even illegal hate speech was entirely ok to them. We now know that it was because they made good money with it. The bot factories paid precious advertising dollars. Art lovers who shared a beautiful Botticelli painting could not compete with the foreign dictators’ budgets. People who portrayed rape scenes were okay, women’s nipples were not. When questioned in Germany, they arrogantly proclaimed that the Facebook police were run out of India, thus not subject to German law. Only when Merkel got so frustrated by the public furor that she promised to shut the site down altogether, was she able to get Zuckerberg’s attention.
Now in Germany they are working on a “Facebook-Gesetz” – a law that is targeting social media companies. the law is meant to stop social media companies from spreading illegal hate speech. The German press is concerned that while there is an attempt to create such a law, it is far from certain that there will be such a law. Political infighting points that in Germany freedom of speech and the fight against hate speech vs. mob rule attitudes are literally at odds.
While politicians are discussing the pros and cons of the formulation it is up to Facebook to keep order “voluntarily.” In German fashion, they don’t seem to care if they tacitly allow hate speech free reign while they fight about the way the law is worded.
Thankfully, there definitely have been some improvements as the top management of Facebook finally is starting to become aware that they may be destroying Western Civilization by allowing “free speech” to extremists, while being responsive to complaints by extremists whose goal is quite literally to abolish the Freedoms of Western Culture as we know it.
Facebook informs us: “We are also experimenting with changes to help us more efficiently detect and stop inauthentic accounts at the time they are being created.”
Hopefully this is a priority and completed before the next elections. Trump fans are right that Western Civilization is under attack, mostly by ourselves. Business leaders will ultimately decide whether democracy will survive. Business leaders are pro democracy and those who are against democracy will decide our future as they deploy artificial intelligence who write programs which determine how we will be able perceive our world now and in the future.
Join art and music lovers on Friday, September 29th6-9pm for the Closing Reception of “Identity Theft” featuring live music by Miguel Y Los Buenos Ensemble.
“IDENTITY THEFT”
featuring new works by Chukes
August 4 – September 30, 2017
Closing Reception: Friday, September 29th
6-9pm
Joyce Gordon Gallery is a commercial fine art gallery located in the downtown district of Oakland, California. It exhibits art that reflects the social and cultural diversity of the Bay Area and international artists. The aim of the gallery is to respect the creative pursuits of the individual and seeks to make such work accessible to a broad audience.
I’ve been working day and night putting tech and everything else together for some big private and public shows throughout the Bay Area and beyond. Thursday we’re doing a big private show up in St. Helena. Then a couple days up near Lake Tahoe for more private shows. Then all the way down again to Woodside for yet another private event. It’s good to be in demand! I put on four new tires on my car to ensure a safer week.
I broke up the intense prep work with a couple short but majestic hikes through the Oakland Hills near my house. It’s nice to see Oakland continue to reveal her surprises. Redwoods, eucalyptus, lakes… Am I in the Sierras? Naw, it’s just Oakland.
The public shows won’t begin until next week when I do my first Friday nightDanville show at Maria, Maria in almost half a year on September 8.
But the noteworthy show is a great little festival happening on September 9, 2-6pm. My friends at the Women Entrepreneurs of Los Altos invited my band to play for the WE Vibe Block Party on the 100 Block of First Street in Los Altos. I’ll be there with my All-Star Quintet putting on two shows. We’ll also have my favorite flamenco troop “Caminos Flamencos” putting on a passionate show. Details.
Other highlights this month include my duet on Mexican Independence Day, 16 de Septiembre with my Latin percussionist-vocalist and Sista-From-Anotha-Mista, Estaire Godinez at the Pairings Cellars in Pleasanton. This will be the first time I do a duet at this venue and you know we’ll light it up.
I’ll also be doing a special duet on Saturday September 23 at The Vine at Bridges with the great violinist Carlos Reyes. This will be the first time we’re able to do this together here in 2 years, so don’t miss it! Details below.
Last, be informed that I’m debuting on Fridays September 22 AND 29 at Havana in Walnut Creek, a fine Cuban restaurant, bar and now, Live Music venue. I’ve only done private off-site work for them in the past, and this will mark the first public in-house appearances in our history. Swing by! Details below.
And speaking of Walnut Creek, Maria, Maria has abruptly ended their Sunday afternoon shows about 5 weeks earlier than usual. This year’s strange weather, alternating between unusually cold and windy to intolerably hot has kept patrons off the patio, hurting their sales, so I’ll just do occasional weekends at both their restaurants depending on our schedules. No more Sundays this season. So now you know.
Rolando Morales will perform at C’era Una Volta on Saturday, July 29 in Alameda
Saturday July 29, C’era Una Volta, 1332 Park Street, Alameda, CA 94501, 7-9:30 pm. After more than 3 months away, Rolando finally returns to this fine Tuscan-style restaurant that welcomes you like family to embrace the spirit of Italy. Rolando will take you on a musical tour of the Americas and beyond on solo guitar and voice. This is a great match and a rare opportunity to catch Rolando in Alameda! www.ceraunavolta.us/, (510) 769-4828.
Before the show enjoy shopping at the lovely stores on Park Avenue and enjoy an afternoon in the balmy weather of Alameda with stroll on the beach:
Is the time-honored tradition of Fraternities and Sororities coming to an end?
A committee announced on Wednesday, July 13, 2017, that they recommend that Harvard completely forbid students from joining “fraternities, sororities, and similar organizations.” They feel so strongly about it that they wish to replace existing penalties for members of the social groups that are set to go into place in the fall.
Harvard is not the first University who is grappling with the problems caused by these “private” clubs. Amherst College, Bowdoin College, and Williams College all prohibited undergraduate participation in fraternities, sororities, and similar organizations in recent years.
Undergraduate Council Vice President Cameron K. Khansarinia, class of 2018 said the proposed policy completely “takes away personal responsibility and choice” from College students—and that it is unlikely to be effective. “It’s simply going to either force [the clubs] underground or literally dry out any semblance of social life on campus,” Khansarinia said. “It’s really not the right way to go about this.”
The faculty needs to guide Harvard into the present-day realities and prepare students for life in a gender neutral world. This is an issue that needs to be addressed in most traditional colleges and society at large.
Department of Labor Statistic about workforce participation by sex.
Several of the social clubs, for instance the “Fly Club” are seeking legal council on how they can fight the effort.
Statistics about rape point in a direction that something really needs to be done.
Rainn provides data that shows that sexual violence on campus is pervasive.
11.2% of all students experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation (among all graduate and undergraduate students).2
Among graduate and professional students, 8.8% of females and 2.2% of males experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation.2
Among undergraduate students, 23.1% of females and 5.4% of males experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation.2
4.2% of students have experienced stalking since entering college.
Student or not, college-age adults are at high risk for sexual violence.
Male college-aged students (18-24) are 78% more likely than non-students of the same age to be a victim of rape or sexual assault.1
Female college-aged students (18-24) are 20% less likely than non-students of the same age to be a victim of rape or sexual assault.
University culture have a profound impact on overall culture around the world.
In June the Harvard Crimson reported:
Harvard College rescinded admissions offers to at least ten prospective members of the Class of 2021 after the students traded sexually explicit memes and messages that sometimes targeted minority groups in a private Facebook group chat. A handful of admitted students formed the messaging group—titled, at one point, “Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens”—on Facebook in late December, according to two incoming freshmen. In the group, students sent each other memes and other images mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust, and the deaths of children, according to screenshots of the chat obtained by The Crimson. Some of the messages joked that abusing children was sexually arousing, while others had punchlines directed at specific ethnic or racial groups. One called the hypothetical hanging of a Mexican child “piñata time.”
No one would dispute that people who engage in threatening deaths and child abuse and find it humorous or in anyway acceptable should not be let loose on society, much less on a top notch educational institution.
Is it time to think yet?
The “Fly Club” an all male institution retained an attorney who made some interesting points in an op-ed in 2016. Silvergate:
“The report acknowledged the correlation between alcohol-fueled partying and sexual assault, which we believe implies that forcing independent organizations to go co-ed would only lead to an increase in the high-risk encounters that lead to assaults. Their proposed alternative is to create a blacklist of non-complying organizations, thereby abridging the freedom of association—a bedrock principle of our nation’s constitution—for its very own students. This latter course of action is particularly galling: Harvard appears to be moving towards a policy that would expel students simply for membership in a club, while it simultaneously fails to properly adjudicate sexual assault cases. The University is blaming an entire class of students for the condemnable and illegal conduct of a small minority—a clearly backwards approach to community safety.”
He later goes on to state:
“We are witnessing a return to the College operating in loco parentis, as it attempts to both dictate social-sexual norms and limit students’ independence. Harvard bureaucrats continue to expand their numbers while also attempting to bring independent single-sex organizations, including the Final Clubs and the growing number of Greek letter organizations, under their control, if not to eliminate them entirely. Unlike past debates about sexual mores and student liberty at the College, undergraduate students appear unperturbed by, if not supportive of, this assertion of administrative control over their private lives, while the Faculty of Arts and Sciences seems to have little influence with regards to the issue. The administration is leveraging the current political climate to achieve policy goals that will unfortunately do little to prevent sexual assault, but will certainly make Harvard more illiberal.”
In my opinion there is much to think about and the trend to have “Big Brother” forbid you to get drunk and rape people instead of encouraging public debates that allow a culture of inclusion, respect and with humanistic values to thrive voluntarily, is a debate that does and should go on and on until we all live in a free society in which everyone is safe from assault, and free to excel at their own personal highest level.
Equality in a society where women make up more than 1/2 of the work force is a must have. Being able to feel safe is a need that both women and men should be able to enjoy. How to accomplish that reality should really become part of the public debate. Forbidding public gatherings of like minded people may just drive the activity underground and it may be unconstitutional. Eliminating “wanna be” and actual racists and rapists should be a must for every educational institution. Racists and Rapists need therapy not more easy access to victims. However driving racist and misogynist attitudes underground may not be a long term solution for our society either.
When studying Victor Frankl someone who has experienced the worst of human kind in person while he was incarcerated by Nazis during the Holocaust, we may learn that we have to raise our expectations of each other and teach our young future leaders to thrive and foster their wish and their ability to create “Lives with Meaning”, people who are happy and content while working on making life better for everyone. This is what moves people to feel content. Busy and content leaders don’t have time to be jerks. Most jerks are either unhappy and insecure or are pathologically damaged. As we know from some of our current public leaders being a jerk does not make you popular and the ill manners actually make people more lonely and give them a craving for attention and love that will stay unfulfilled. Nobody likes these lonely jerk or brute. We have to aim higher for our students. We need to encourage them to be the better.
Maybe it is time to bring back the education that is deeply rooted in the Humanities that sets the aim high and encourages students to create a better world.
Enjoy your inner rhythm and share it with your friends.
Neuro-plasticity is the reason why we are able to learn and modify our responses to life’s events. Over the past few decades many forms of therapy have been developed and practiced. Over the past decade through new technology, gene therapy, and applied nano-technology we now know in no uncertain terms that the mind and body are linked. The body is able to influence the mind and the mind is able to influence the body.
Dr. van der Kolk suggests that all effective treatments involve some way for people to learn to recognize when they change their arousal system. When a person learns how to become aware if they get upset, learns to take 60 breaths, focuses on the out breaths, they are able to calm both their brain right down. We are able to choose to engage in soothing techniques like pressing on acupressure points. A most effective methods to calm frayed nerves are walks in nature. The earlier in life children learn how to recognize that they are upset, that their heart is beating hard or irregularly, that their breath is short, the sooner they can be taught to engage in effective self soothing behavior. It is wonderful that our children learn early in life how to calm down, practice yoga, go for soothing walks in nature.
Now that we are certain about the human mind’s ability to learn at every age everyone is able to learn and to engage in healthy self-moderating behaviors with positive effect. After learning how to recognize that we are growing upset, and how to calm ourselves down when we get upset we can progress to the next step.
Learning how to avoid getting upset
The core idea of Dr. van der Kolk’s teaching is that we recognize that we are not a victim of what happens. We are able to do things to change our own thoughts. The new applied sciences in medicine overturn the mistaken belief that if we can’t stand something, we should just take a pill and make it go away. The best treatment is to realize that when something is happening to we it is our own choice how we wish to interpret the situation. We can be frightened or we can change the sensations by moving, breathing, tapping, and touching or by avoiding touch. We are in charge of how we feel and we can influence the way we feel physically. Dr. van der Kolk has devoted his life to creating tools that will provide us with the emotional management tools. Healthy body habits have positive effects on our emotional habits. With practice we become ever more in charge of our own physiological system. We now know that we can calm ourselves down by talking or through one of the many other processes. We greatly benefit from programs that provide us with empowerment. Physical impact, like model mugging (a form of self-defense training), martial arts or kickboxing, or an activity that requires a range of physical effort teaches us to actually defend ourselves, stand up for ourselves, and to literally feel the power in our bodies are very effective. We can retrain our emotions to realize that we have power and we are not victims or our fate.
Dr. van der Kolk, M.D., teaches that to realize that we are not victims of circumstance. We are capable to focus our attentions on learning how to express ourselves better. When we learn how to effectively communicate our feelings, we are impacted by other people’s behavior we engage in a positive way with others. One way to learn is to share our feelings and to seek out therapy to find the proper language for our internal experience. As we become more adept to share our inner life effectively and to learn how to communicate with others, the quality of our lives improves.
Dr. van der Kolk and communications experts teach that most of our communication takes place on the physical plan. We communicate by nodding our heads, we smile, we frown, move, shift our weight and stance. Kids and adults, who were victims of physical abuse and neglect, lose those interpersonal rhythms. As we engage in self soothing behavior and learn to express ourselves we are ready for the last and most fun step. Dancing, listening to music, play music, practice QiGong and find our own rhythm. Soon our life energy will flow and we will enjoy life.
Dr. van der Kolk, M.D. has been active as a clinician, researcher and teacher in the area of post-traumatic stress and related phenomena since the 1970s. His work integrates developmental, biological, psychodynamic and interpersonal aspects of the impact of trauma and its treatment. His book Psychological Trauma was the first integrative text on the subject, painting the far ranging impact of trauma on the entire person and the range of therapeutic issues which need to be addressed for recovery.
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk has been involved in creating tools for stress reduction. Learn more by Publications and Products
Rolando Morales performs at Pairings Cellars on July 14
Friday July 14, Pairings Cellars, 310 Main Street, Pleasanton CA 94566 at 8pm to 11pm.Rolando returns to this exciting social hotspot in downtown Pleasanton. This new wine bar features fine wines, tapas and now dinners, as well as Rolando Morales performing his broad repertoire on solo guitar and voice. Free! www.pairingscellars.com, (925) 398-8846.
During the past five months of Trump being in charge 863,000 jobs were created. During the same period last year 955,000 jobs were added while Obama was still in office. On July 5th this year, Gallup reported: “Last week, Americans’ confidence in the economy averaged a score of 0, the first time in the 33 full weeks since the presidential election that the index’s weekly average was not positive. ” Full Report
In a recent NYT article of Today, half of American jobs pay about $37,000 or less each year, a quarter pay about $23,000 or less, and a family of four qualifies for SNAP at $32,000 or less. No wonder just over half of all SNAP families work, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. In America, “real” poverty is not about a lack of work, but a lack of compensation.
Trump has run on a platform of addressing this issue by “Making America Great Again” by creating jobs. So far this has not come to pass and slowly the public are losing faith in his “Art of the Deal.”
The US is in trouble it is no longer the land of the free and it is not the land of opportunity. Our research shows that in many respects it never had been.
National Conference of State Legislatures shares that in Oklahoma the minimum wage in 2017 is $2.00 per hour.
Oklahoma Employers of ten or more full time employees at any one location and employers with annual gross sales over $100,000 irrespective of number of full time employees are subject to federal minimum wage; all others are subject to state minimum wage of $2.00 (OK ST T. 40 § 197.5). National Conference of State Legislatures.
How can people survive and pursue their happiness on wages like that? Meanwhile the cost of living index in Tulsa Oklahoma is only 24.42% lower than in New York City.
Four-person family monthly costs: 2,790.93$ without rent (using our estimator).
A single person monthly costs: 807.71$ without rent.
Cost of living index in Tulsa is 27.42% lower than in New York.
Cost of living rank 215th out of 507 cities in the world.
Realtor.com suggests that a 1 to 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment in Tulsa costs between $526 to $2,280 dollars per month which is of course much lower than the monthly rents in NYC $2,815 for 340 sq ft up to $22,000 for 2400 sq ft, or the San Francisco monthly rents of $2,815 for 340 sq ft to $13,500 for 2240 sq ft. The minimum wage is $9.20 to $11.00 depending on employer size in NYC and $14.00 per hour in San Francisco as of the time of this article. It is impossible to find a decent place to live on a minimum wage and it is little wonder that people who were raised believing in the American Dream are turning to suicide as a solution to their life issues at record numbers.
Housing Crisis and Fraud at all time high
Countries with a strong middle class are economically strong. Only after owners and investor of large companies, and political policies support a strong middle class will the country stop the trend toward becoming a third world nation.
Photo courtesy Hillsdale College http://online.hillsdale.edu/
The Battle between Wealth and Human Rights is nearly 250 years old.
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay promoted the ratification of the United States Constitution with articles and essays that were collected and are still available at The Federalist Papers.*
Within these articles and essays these founders outlined their thinking about creating a federal union. They urged people to allow wise and experienced men who have the public good in mind to counter balance the needs, wishes, and desires of individual states. They believed that a federal union would better safeguard national borders, treaties with foreign nations. National Government would enforce the laws for all people better, instead of having individual states or individuals fall prey to undue influence for personal gain, personal wealth creation, or a desire of personal power, or by foreign powers.
The Federal Papers were used to educate American voters about the benefits of balancing individuals and individual states’ freedoms with the public good and freedom as well as safety and overall wealth for all.
It is amazing how topical these papers are still today when we are engaged in the same exact battle once again. It is obvious that the current administration and the Congress is not occupied by educated, experienced and wise men who strive for what is best for everyone. The Constitution which was written with the public good in mind is now under constant attack.
Freedom of the Press is under attack by a President who has falsified Time Magazine covers decorating his golf courses. He recently stated that the Constitution is “old-fashioned.”
The health care bill that is currently proposed by the House and the Senate leans strongly toward wealth creation for the few, instead of the public good and freedom for all. The desire for individual wealth and power trumps the desire to protect freedom and safety for all.
The current administration who won due to manipulating the voting regions by gerrymandering, does not have full public support. Trump undoubtedly won over a lot of the working white class voters by promising to improve the health care system. Now instead his party wants to eliminate coverage for millions, lower coverage for those who are sick, and increase the premiums for when the policies are used when needed. This translates to the fact that millions more will either not be able to afford healthcare as soon as they get ill or they will go bankrupt trying to pay for medical expenses. In Alaska for instance Premiums for a 60 years old man will go up to $34,000 per year a high price to pay even in a state that offers above average median wages ranging from from $84,000 to $37,284 per median family incomes.
Clean water is under attack by the chosen head of the EPA. Millions of acres of public lands are leased to oil and gas companies with a history of causing oil spills ruining the environment. The Secretary of State, Tillerson has a known history of ignoring, if not supporting human rights offenses, by working with government known to steal from their inhabitants and in some cases killing entire villages to be able to provide Oil companies, like Exxon, with drilling rights.
In an op-ed piece in “The Hill” David Abramowitz, points out that looking for short term wealth for the few often hurts human rights for the many in the long run.
Right now the US is run by people with a history of siding with Human Rights offenders. Trump is publicly friends with human trafficker and known child molester Jeffrey Epstein, who ended up with very little jail time due to the Trump’s family intervention; Tillerson who was nearly sued by Indonesia for human rights offenses but “let go by W. Bush;” Joe Sessions lost his bid for the Supreme Court for his racist comments and attitudes; Steve Bannon, known for garnering support of the KKK, Neo-Nazis; Mike Pence, known for his ties with the tobacco industry and support of ultra conservative Christians oppressive and dangerous to LGBT persons; Sebastian Gorka known for his help to Russia overthrow Democracy in Hungary; and of course Manafort, Flynn and Trump’s own son in law; Guiliani who consulted helped prop up dictators like Duterte, Erdogan and created havoc in Venezuela. The list is too long for this article.
It may be a good idea to reread the Atlantic Monthly Time Capsules as we watch Democracy, Human Rights, Ecology, Education, and everything that has made this country great in the past under attack.
Will the battle for democracy and freedom for all people, regardless of sex, race, religion and national heritage as outlined in the US Constitution be won – AGAIN?
* Kindle Edition free from Amazon and the Gutenberg Press.
