Other-Autre

By the very fact that you fear you are controlled by, submissive to what you fear. - 19-11-07

The quality of an individual should not be measured by how much that person owns but by what that person does with what she owns. - 22-10-07

Life is not fair or unfair. It isn't something we go
through, but rather; something which flows through
us and being filtered in this manner, it changes;
becoming what we make of it, becoming what we live. - 20-09-07

Not so long ago, our childhoods were lived under established codes of a communal value system - one based on ethics and principles - on the concept of doing good being more powerful than being evil.

Today, value systems are considered undue impositions on the egos and psyches of individuals - especially our sweet children. We no longer believe they should know failure or even the pressures inherent in "trying". They are given trophies for simply "being" and soon learn that whining and complaining achieve more than diligence and vision. And so, depleted of their capacity to survive our children have come to live under a new system of rules of law - formulated on fear - the fear of ever powerful forces overtaking them and a code of submissiveness based on a life-style of retreat into puerile dependence and single-minded victimhood. We teach our children to evade what is real and to embrace the only "real" world they know: the virtual. In North America we seem to be achieving the impossible: the creation of a clinging, limitless infancy tethered to life-denying ear-phones - maki9ng our childen less and less intrusive on our perception of adulthood: emotionally deficient self-centeredness. - 16-08-07

What I have to say in any language is rather irrelevant if the core of its essence is nothing more than about me. - 07-08-07

The cure for depression is in the lifestyle combination of letting go, focusing on someone else and life-affirming physical activity.- 18-07-07

Quand on ne sait pas
Et qu’on ne nous renseigne pas
Il faut lire, lire de tout et de toute
Lire beaucoup.

Would that I be remembered that in life I was a traveler and not a tourist. - 07

Parenting is at its most hypocritical when its representatives are the first to sign a petition to kill internet pornography and the last to say no to their children having a computer in their closed-door rooms. - 01-05-07

Parenting is neither a right nor a privilege. It is a responsibility. - 01-05-07

There is no greater depression than that of a child who is never given the freedom to wander, who is not encouraged to discover, to experience and to savour. There is no greater depression than that of a child who must live through his parents’ fears, regrets and discouragements. - 01-05-07

• When someone uses the word “new” to imply “better” it more often than not means we are being lied to. New rarely means more than “not what came before”.
• Contemporary righteousness is rarely a gift of excellence. More often than not it is an imposition of perfection on all who are not in a position of authority.
• "Self" is the most often forgotten prefix of righteousness.

There are so few traditional news reportings today - just op-ed and opinion pieces. Nothing is available to thinking readers because the expectation is that we will read, accept and, especially, not think. - 24-03-07

Lorsqu’on a le goût de se débarasser de nos jeunes on fait la guerre. - 24-03-07

As individuals within a group we must proudly define our own uniqueness while respecting that of others. And as a group we must follow a leader who, rather than focus on our differences, defines clearly what makes us one, what unites us all. - 28-01-07

The greatest abusers of this era of victimhood are those who treat it as a windfall. - 20-01-07

Tolerance connotes "enduring" not recognizing another. A society which holds dear the 19th century concept of tolerance as a quality is yet incapable of the more sophisticated recognition of the equality of an “other”. - 01-10-05

It is ridiculous to assume that children pampered and overprotected as spoiled little emperors will ever grow to support democratic principles. - 03

Life is neither incredibly wonderful nor incredibly horrible. Most often, it is at the same time both horribly and wonderfully incredible. - 76

God is happy when we are happy, sad when we are sad and most angry when we waste the precious life He has given us by sucking our thumbs and having tantrums for hours on end. - 1979

Meditation used to be a holy, noble act practiced by esthetes and priests and saints who would then transmit to us all the discoveries they have made. Today, we make of it an anxious mantra whose role it is to wish reality away. -81

In our quest to find meaning in everything we often desperately cling to nothing - 15-01-07

A present whose rampant revisionism of the past, being neither as horrific or demented, grandiose or heroic - as all of the revisiting makes it out to be - desecrates our ancestors and lies to our children. - 15-2-06

How does one describe a society which relishes, nae, thrives on descriptions of depravity, shares-in rather than alleviates the cry of victims, complains of incessant problems and fails to consider solutions; a time which expresses pleasure in sadness, scorns those who are not similar and finds beauty in anorexic photo-copies of true life; a time which revels in its own victim-hood rather than encourages heroism, celebrates revenge rather than pardons and defines creativity as that which shocks, spits or rales; a time which finds solace in the lowest common denominator rather than stimulates growth and progress or nourishment of the soul. What can one say about the denying 70s, the numb eighties and the ever-more vicious nineties. . ? - 97

Une personne qui se croit intelligente quand elle ne l’est pas est toujours plus dangereuse que celle qui l’est mais ne le pense pas. - 04

Only through democracy are the finest forms of freedom of expression possible. And yet contemporary democracy’s paranoia, its ever-increasing penchant for "imposition of itself", of world regulation and rule and law, will damage and even destroy its very essence - its creativity and self expression. Democracy need not fear exterior threatening sources. It is its own worst enemy. - 04

When the wisdom of the ages is blinded by its own arrogant magnificence, only the reckless belligerence of youth is capable of saving us of from ourselves. Had this not been an integral part of human evolution, life as we know it would never have been possible, would never be as it is, would never change. . . would never get better.

The greatest boon to humanity is the thinking human. The greatest danger to humanity is the thinker who, having "thought a think", considers the thought to be a deed accomplished. . .- 06-11-06

As with many social engineering concepts, child-centeredness has always been an iffy proposition. Its unproved claims are utopian. Its main flaw is that it presupposes the adults administrating it are “adult”.

Apart from being a slogan for every new child-oriented or “educational” fad, child-centeredness is more a decorative adjunct to a self-centered adult world. Under the guise of respect and equality, it foists (abandons) adult responsibilities (and privileges) upon children and teens. This is immaturity at its worst. Despite claims to the contrary, child-centeredness is fast becoming what we seem awfully fond of creating these days - a syndrome. . . a syndrome whose causes are over-protection, abandonment of parental responsibilities and self-fixated anxieties. Its consequences are devastatingly varied: generalized fears, eating disorders - from anorexia to obesity, hypertension, aggression - both passive and overt and even depression. And those are only the obvious examples. The most devastating in all of this is that we actually consider the contemporary state of families with no rooted value-systems “normal”.

In such an environment statistics indicate that children, based on their influence within the family module, effect $20 billion dollars worth of household spending annually. . . With that much superficial power, coupled with our lack of parental gumption, it is not surprising that private therapy and psychoanalysis clinics are sprouting in the very bosoms of our trend setting cities: (London and New York). Their “clients”? Infants, toddlers and children. . .

Babies as young as a month old are now the subjects (targets?) of these private clinics. For a few tens of thousands, you can have your immaturity salved and your offspring’s behaviours and emotional reactions “to you” diagnosed (oops!) “described”. . . The very idea of such a parasitic concept would be funny if it wasn’t so disturbed.- 29-10-06

The traffic light was red. It seemed to stay that way an inordinate amount of time - especially to someone (me) whose hectic schedule was being disrupted by the computerized arrogance of this 3-eyed technical wonder. Muttering some jock inanity, I huffed and waited. . . What else could I do. On my left, a dirty orange school bus idled plumes of exhaust. Filled with active bodies, definitely not strapped into their seats, the vehicle shuddered. I watched the children laugh and prod, point and tease and shove. It was like a tv movie with the mute button on. Then, a face - seemingly oblivious to the boisterous mime surrounding it, serenely stared out the window at the world going by. Our eyes met. The child smiled. I smiled back. And the light turned green. . . - 27-10-06

With so many of us searching for our inner child is it any wonder that the contemporary word for house is “crib”?. . . - 26-10-06

A contemporary reaction to this question would be: "Duh!" But then, that this question is even asked says so much more about the state of contemporary psychology than it does about depression. The question for me has always been: Who has benefited over the past fifty years from the focus on "what ails you"? The "client" (as in business transactions) or the "helper"? How many wasted years have gone by in the lives of those who have been forced to comply with the assimilated perception that if you have suffered an indignity your life from hereon in will be insufferable. . . The phrase "Victims R us" certainly applies to this past century. - 15-10-06

Today I learned about defamation and the misuse of the airwaves for "political" purposes. I learned about editing interviews, not to improve the presentation and communication of facts but rather to improve the "look" and sound of a storyline. I learned today, that news is not necessarily about facts but rather the "theater of presentation", BBM (Bureau of Broadcast Measurement) ratings and journalistic ego. I woke up to a lot this AM. . .

When a network edits information to tell a “truth” more suitable to the intention of a "storyline” than to fact, this is not "news" - it is a lie. But then. . . Better a twisted presentation which gets attention (even if damaged reputations occur in the process) than the actual truth obtained by an interviewer but left on the cutting-room floor because it doesn't suit the purpose of the "intended" story. . .

It is no wonder that Canada will soon be as litiginous as the United States. It is time that media professionals review what defamation is and what consequences it can bring about.

Defamation: In the most general terms, defamation is the issuance of a false statement about another person, which causes that person to suffer harm. Defamation has four elements: 1) a false or defamatory statement was made against you; 2) the statement was made to a third party (anyone other than you, either verbally or in written form); 3) if the defamation was of public concern, then the publisher of the defamation had to be negligent; and 4) you suffered damage, such as an injury to your reputation or, in some cases, mental anguish. Furthermore, there are several instances that result in defamation “per se,” i.e., the damages are presumed. These instances include attacks on a person’s character or standing, allegations that a person has committed a crime or moral turpitude. - 04-10-06

There is something truly pathetic about a once revered media conglomerate prostituting itself for ratings and, despite this, still perceiving itself as righteous and professional. - 04-10-06

“You NEVER get over it. . . counselor says. . . (Globe and Mail - Shooter Calmly, Randomly Opened Fire - Pg A7)

How encouraging. . . I can only wonder whether we are more traumatized by criminals than we are by some “helping professionals” and the media who seem to have a vested interest in keeping us all victimized? - 14-09-06

As long as a finger is pointed at the problem, the cause slinks by unnoticed. - 96

Without a belief system and a strong set of values, all democracies fail. - 96

To understand the viciousness with which some seek power is to know evil at its most consummate. Better naïveté than to suffer such knowledge. - 29-07-06

Once, we revered our chosen leaders - whatever their make-up - at least until they had been buried in the ground a respectful length of time. Today, we do not so much revere as we revel in belittling and denegrating “our choices”. But then. . . it might be time to question the choices we make. . . or is it that there is so little from which to choose. - 06-08-06

We have taught our young to demand the same recognition of maturity, grace, acumen and artistry (for simply "being") that we once exclusively attributed to those who had spent years honing their skills, paying their dues and achieving a level of mastery unknown to most today. - 27-07-06

It is not the obvious sinner who must be feared but the one who prays so hard his teeth grind - 16-07-06

One of our parish priests was an open book. He was an alcoholic but no one ever considered that a problem which needed to be "pointed out". It wasn't a priority in those days to accentuate the negative when there was so much positive going on. It seemed more important to remember that this man literally gave the shirt off his back to anybody in need. We admired him for doing that and for never needing our approval or recognition in that regard. They were different times, those days when I was a boy - different than now when it seems more important to focus on an individual's failings than to admire his goodness. Or maybe we quickly highlight the faults of others just so no one will take it upon themselves to suddenly notice ours. . . 15-07-06

An article on nutrition becomes a beacon of hope for all parents who believe it is their reponsibility and admirable task to raise children who actually believe in partticipation, caring and duty. This article goes far beyond discussing physical nutrition. It explores a world where children are not only taught to be good to themselves but to also participate in the betterment of their environment and the psychological well-being of their community. The mental and physical health of the people involved in this article is mind-boggling, not because how they live is (in our western terms) impossible to emulate but rather that we, the supposed evolved west, have not implemented such practices, let alone even thought about doing so. If there is even a remote chance that the west could embark on such a healthy diet of common sense we should definitely go for it. The futures of our children and their children (and the west's existence as a whole) depend on it - if it isn't already too late. . . - 30-04-06

Jane Jacobs - (1916-2006) Her theories should be in the curriculums of all grades 7 and 8, her books a must-read in all high schools and her ideas re-discussed in all colleges and universities - if ever future generations are to recgognize that, despite all evidence to the contrary, there was genius and love for humanity in the adult populations of the 20th and 21st centuries. - 26-04-06 (published in the Globe and Mail - 27-04-06)

Silken Laumann's new Book: Child's Play is one of the most crucial reads in family, physical and mental health in this and the last century. - 26-04-06

Life is an endless fountain of discoveries and incredible what ifs. Never is anything absolute. At this point in the evolution of Man there are only possibilities and maybes and wondrously crazy hypotheses.- 13-02-06

an evident lack of corporate-head listing - i.e.: few if any responsible people at the top are listed, identified or “contactable” from their web site pages or hard-copy documentation.
any and all responses to comments or complaints - if they are ever forthcoming - are form letters - repeatedly used for any and all communications, no matter the issue.
No responses ever deal with the issue at hand
corporations in this category make it an almost total impossibility to speak to an actual live person.
Answering machines always state the most blatant of corporate lies: "your business is important to us". and lastly:
clients are always made to feel guilty or responsible for a product’s failure.

And. . . silly us, we keep on buying products from these companies. . . - 17-01-06

Reality TV is nothing more than 18 minutes of sanctioned bullying, with 12 minutes of "and now, a word from our sponsor". - 17-01-06

What is most frightening about our world is not that it is frightening but that we are raising our children to be afraid, to live their lives based on what is fearful and negative rather than on what is adventurous and positive and exciting. - 29-11-05

I don’t want redress. I don’t want to be pitied, victimized, fawned over or paid. I am neither a prostitute nor a beggar. I don’t want apologies from the descendants of those who have harmed me. The sons and daughters of those perpetrators did no wrong. I simply want the world to honestly and deeply feel the past I have suffered and to make it possible that this suffering is never again inflicted upon another. And this can only be when all of us begin the healing process of living and sharing and thriving together. - 20-10-05

Noise Complaint Limits Time Preschoolers Can Frolic in Playground. . . A nursery school in London, England received a complaint and noise abatement order. Children "noises" are now considered a detriment to the peace and tranquility (!!!) of our neighbourhoods - as are church bells in many of our world's most romantic cities. We are going to hell in a hand basket aren't we.- 10-11-05