Dōgen

Do not follow the ideas of others
but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.
Your body and mind will become clear
and you will realize the unity of all things.

Dogen (1200-1253)

Learn the backward step
that turns your light inward
to illuminate your self.
Body and mind of themselves
will drop away,
and your original face will be manifest.

Coming, going, the waterbirds
don't leave a trace,
don't follow a path.

Midnight.
No waves,
no wind, the empty boat
is flooded with moonlight.

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water.
The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.
Although its light is wide and great,
The moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide.
The whole moon and the entire sky
Are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

Dōgen Zenji (19 January 1200 – 22 September 1253)

A Short History of Psychological Terror

Alfred McCoy, Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin, explores the history and use by the CIA of psychological torture

Altruism and Cooperation and Difference Between Right or Wrong as Evolutionary Advantages

JFK on the Separation of Church and State

Colbert: Corporations Own Our Government

Colbert: Corporations Own Our Government

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National Priorities Project

The National Priorities Project has a counter on the cost of war since 2001. You can check out the impact in your community and where your tax dollars go. You can check the counter here and for more info about this organization check their web site: http://www.nationalpriorities.org/

H. Edward Hanway Chief Executive Officer CIGNA Corporation

H. Edward Hanway will retire with a $73 million golden parachute this fall. In 2008, H. Edward Hanway raked in $12,236,740 in total compensation.* In the previous year the CEO of this company made $24,335,038.

2008 Compensation

Salary $1,142,885
Bonus $0
Grant Date Fair Value of Stock and Option Awards $3,601,966
Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation $6,650,000
Change in Pension Value and Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Earnings $820,097
All Others $21,792
Total* $12,236,740

Source: AFL-CIO, 2009 Executive Pay Watch

En tus brazos - In your arms

Tango Animation - En Tus Brazos (In Your Arms) - More free videos are here

French-made Spanish animation movie "En Tus Brazos" about how nothing can stop a tango dancing couple ... not even fate. With an embrace they enjoy and imaginary last dance.

Directed by François-Xavier Goby Edouard Jouret and Matthieu Landour. France 2005.
Music "En Tus Brazos" by Alfredo de Angelis and Oscar Larroca (vocal). Composition by Carlos Zárate. Lyric by Elizardo Martínez Vilas (Marvil). Music (final part): "El Huracán" by Edgardo Donato.

Chris Hedges on Health Care, War and the New Racism (must-listen)

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/chris-hedges-on-health-care-war-and-the-new-racism-must-listen/

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Imagining the Tenth Dimension part 2 of 2

With or without religion

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

Steven Weinberg quoted in The New York Times, April 20, 1999
US physicist (1933 - )

To have, and not to hold, so hard, yet so cold - Madonna

Love this song!

Sita Sings the Blues

This is a great animation created by Nina Paley. It is based on the Indian epic Ramayana. It a great piece of ingenious art. The Ramayana (Devanāgarī: रामायण, Rāmāyaṇa) is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is attributed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon. It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife and the ideal king. Nina Paley's version combines this epic story with modern thinking, beautiful animations and 1920's Jazz Music. I truly recommended it.

American Christian Paradox

By Bill McKibben

How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong. What does it mean to be a Christian in the U.S.?

"Only 40 percent of Americans can name more than four of the Ten Commandments, and a scant half can cite any of the four authors of the Gospels. Twelve percent believe Joan of Arc was Noah's wife."

For many Christians, deciphering a few passages of the Bible to figure out the schedule for the End Times has become a central task. You can log on to RaptureReady.com for a taste of how some of these believers view the world—at this writing the Rapture Index had declined three points to 152 because, despite an increase in the number of U.S. pagans, “Wal-Mart is falling behind in its plan to bar code all products with radio tags.”

A rich man came to Jesus one day and asked what he should do to get into heaven. Jesus did not say he should invest, spend, and let the benefits trickle down; he said sell what you have, give the money to the poor, and follow me. Few plainer words have been spoken. And yet, for some reason, the Christian Coalition of America—founded in 1989 in order to “preserve, protect and defend the Judeo-Christian values that made this the greatest country in history”—proclaimed last year (2008) that its top legislative priority would be “making permanent President Bush's 2001 federal tax cuts.”

For the complete article go here

Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot

Technology in Africa

In this pic we can see a tribe man carrying 1947 AK-47 rifle made in the Soviet Union more than 60 years ago with an Apple Ipod. Technology makes strange friends in our dear Africa. Nations and individuals who sell arms to Africa should be judged for crimes against humanity.

U.S. Unemployment Rate Graph

Google's new search feature that searches and compares public data in an interactive graph. In this first version, data for unemployment, for all US states and districts, are available and the results are very interesting.

Click here to see the results

Data source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Hans Rosling's new insights on poverty

Psalm 14:1

Psalm 14:1 The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that does good.

Video Created by Zak Lechan

Obama Calls the Health Insurance Industry

Obama Calls the Health Insurance Industry

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Friedrich Nietzsche

Nietzsche and Christianity

These are the words of the famous Nietzsche on Christianity:

"When we hear the ancient bells growling on a Sunday morning we ask ourselves: Is it really possible! This, for a jew, crucified two thousand years ago, who said he was God's son? The proof of such a claim is lacking. Certainly the Christian religion is an antiquity projected into our times from remote prehistory; and the fact that the claim is believed - whereas one is otherwise so strict in examining pretensions - is perhaps the most ancient piece of this heritage. A god who begets children with a mortal woman; a sage who bids men work no more, have no more courts, but look for the signs of the impending end of the world; a justice that accepts the innocent as a vicarious sacrifice; someone who orders his disciples to drink his blood; prayers for miraculous interventions; sins perpetrated against a god, atoned for by a god; fear of a beyond to which death is the portal; the form of the cross as a symbol in a time that no longer knows the function and ignominy of the cross -- how ghoulishly all this touches us, as if from the tomb of a primeval past! Can one believe that such things are still believed?"

Friedrich Nietzsche (1878) Human, all too Human

Mario Benedetti - Don Mario

Mario Benedetti a great Uruguyan writer and my favorite poet died this past Sunday May 17, 2009. Bennedetti's poems guided me throughout my adolescence and early adulthood. Through his poems he taught me about love, life, and social issues.

Don´t Save Yourself
by Mario Benedetti

Don't Save yourself,
Don´t be immobile
On the edge of the road,
Don't freeze the joy,
Don't love with reluctance,
Don't save yourself now
or ever,
Don't save yourself,
Don't fill with calm,
Don't reserve of the world
Just a calm place,
Don't let fall your lids
Heavy as trials,
Don´t speak without lips,
Don't fall asleep without sleepiness,
Don't think of you without blood,
Don't judge yourself without time.

But if in spite of everything
You cannot avoid it
And you freeze the joy,
And you love with reluctance,
And you save yourself now,
And you full with calm,
And you reserve of the world
Just a calm place,
And you let fall your lids
Heavy as trials,
And you speak without lips,
And you fall asleep without sleepiness,
And you think yourself without blood,
And you judge yourself without time,
And you are immobile
On the edge of the road,
And you save yourself,
Then
Don't stay with me.

Dear Don Mario your words will always be with me.

Science as a Human Right

The United Nations Office of the High Commisioner for Human Rights held on 1966 an International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In this conference science was cataloged as being part of human rights. In my opinion any manipulation of information to contradic scientific based knowwledge would be a violation of human rights as affects point 1.b.

Part III - Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) requires states to:

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone:
(a) To take part in cultural life;
(b) To enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications;
(c) To benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

2. The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for the conservation, the development and the diffusion of science and culture.

3. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to respect the freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activity.

4. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the benefits to be derived from the encouragement and development of international contacts and co-operation in the scientific and cultural fields.

THE GEORGIA GUIDESTONES

This is a huge granite monument in Elbert County, Georgia, USA. It is sometimes referred to as an "American Stonehenge".

The monument has 6 granite stones with a message consisting of ten guidelines or principles in eight different languages, one language on each face of the four large upright stones. Moving clockwise around the structure from due north, these languages are: English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian.

The message in English reads:

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature. (This is the only one that I have a problem with)
2. Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion - faith - tradition - and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite.
10.Be not a cancer on the earth - Leave room for nature - Leave room for nature.

Unfortunately religious zealots are trying to destroy it.

Check out the Wired Magazine article on the stones

Happy Birthday, Sigmund Freud

Father of Psychoanalysis birthday is today 06/May/2009. This brilliant Psychiatrist and philosopher would be 153 years today. ABC Radio National had a great show dedicated to him on the date of his 150 anniversary,

Here is one of his statements on religion:

"Our knowledge of the historical worth of certain religious doctrines increases our respect for them, but does not invalidate our proposal that they should cease to be put forward as the reasons for the precepts of civilization. On the contrary! Those historical residues have helped us to view religious teachings, as it were, as neurotic relics, and we may now argue that the time has probably come, as it does in an analytic treatment, for replacing the effects of repression by the results of the rational operation of the intellect." (The Future of an Illusion, 1927).

Disparities in Salaries Nation Wide

If you visit the Department of Labor Statistics Website you will find a summary of the occupational statistics by state. It is impressive how the yearly and hourly wage of certain professions is always so elevated compared to the media of the general population. The top five most lucrative occupations for any selected state always fall withing the health care sector.

I must clarify that these professions do not represent the complete health care field but specifically the medical profession. In my opinion it is a measure of a State lack of development where there are no other professions that can compete with these salaries. There is no corporate or industrial growth in these States that can create competitive positions. It also shows how the medical profession may be overpaid compared to the rest. Even though Medical Doctors undergo trough several years of training so do several other professions with equal level of responsibilities but with far smaller salaries.

In Florida the five top salaries belong to:

Anesthesiologist
Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Orthodontists:
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
Internist General
Surgeons

In Texas:

Orthodontist
Surgeon
Obstetrician/Gynecologist
Anesthesiologist
Physician/surgeon

The list repeats itself in each state. No other salaries can compare. Except of course salaries of high profile executive jobs. But that's another strory....

The Batsmart - I am a true Batman fan and will love to have one!

Creativity in Organizations

Creativity can be repressed by several organizational conditions. Among them will be emphasis in intrinsic motivation and punishing failures. Leaders that do not permit their employees to participate in the decision making process and who do not have good relations with their followers hinder individual creativity. Moreover, leaders who do not offer supportive supervision inhibit creativity. When employees feel that their mistakes are going to be harshly criticized with possible serious consequences for their careers then their willingness to be creative is diminished. When employees feel that their errors are analyzed with encouraging feedback and educational information then creativity is increased.

Creativity is affected negatively when organization don’t promote internal diversity and don’t set an environment where there is a free interchange of ideas among the employees. A close controlling supervision will limit creativity. An organization cannot support creativity if it doesn’t support “risk-taking” by its employees. Workers need to have autonomy to explore new ideas and processes. Furthermore organizations that do not recognize and reward creativity hold back this process. They are sending the message that creativity is unimportant and not a desire trait. Finally extreme job pressures and workloads are great creativity killers as they do not aloud employees to use their mental energy and time in the creative process.

Reference

Kolb, D. A., Osland, J. S., Turner, M. E., & Rubin, I. M. (2007). Organizational behavior: An experiential approach (8th ed.). Prentice-Hall.

Managing Change l

Managing change has to do with changing people behaviors. Usually individuals present certain level of resistance to change. They prefer to stay with what is known. To incorporate change can be perceived as a threat. Usually change is motivated to increase performance or because the market or industry requires it in order to keep an organization alive. Nevertheless, change can be hard to accomplish and sometimes needs to come first from the leaders of an organization.

In order to effectively deal with change leaders should try to commit individuals into it instead of asking them to comply. One of the best methods to overcome resistance to change is by providing education about the change effort. Education helps individuals to understand change and its processes. When individuals are allowed to participate in the change process they are more likely to welcome change instead of opposing it.

Reference

Osland, J., Kolb, D., Rubin, I., & Turner, M. (2007). Organizational behavior: An Experiential approach. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall

Managing Change ll

Kotter (1996) explains the importance of managing appropriately organizational change. The author explains how the process of change can be a long one. An organization needs to go through several steps in order to achieve the desired changes.
In order to effectively deal with change leaders should try to commit their employees into it instead of asking them to comply.

There are several ways to achieve this goal. Some of them are by offering education and commitment, participation and Involvement of employees in the changing process, and by providing facilitation and support (Osland, Kolb, Rubin, & Turner, 2007).

The second step will be to form a powerful guiding coalition were slowly more individuals are reunited in the belief that change is necessary (Kotter, 1996).

The third step will be to create an organizational vision. This vision should delineate the direction that the corporation must follow. The vision should be perceived as engaging by followers and easy to communicate.

To share this vision trough communication will be the fourth step (Kotter, 1996). Communication is a key factor to achieve success (Amason & Watkins, 1997). Throughout this process is important that the leader guides and motivates followers by example.

The fifth step would be to empower others to act on the vision (Kotter, 1996). A leader creates an organizational vision and later on shares it with other level leaders and managers. Then they will create specific goals on the road to achieving the leader’s vision (Osland, Kolb, Rubin, & Turner, 2007). It is important that the leader understand how power and influence can reinforce his/her abilities in transmitting the organizational vision (Michelson, n.d.).

Kotter (1996) sixth step would be to plan for and create short-term wins. This step refers to divide the task at hand into smaller ones easier to achieve in order to avoid employees’ disappointment and decrease their driving force. To achieve change requires time and individuals need to feel a level of accomplishment in order to keep their motivation.

The seventh step has to do with keeping the organization's momentum. Leaders need to consolidate their improvements and keep the momentum for change moving. An untimely declaration of victory could damage the change process and revert to previous ways affecting the organizational momentum and being detrimental to achieving and maintaining the organizational vision.

The eight and last step of change has to do to with maintaining what has been accomplished. This is achieved by institutionalizing the new approaches that has led to meet the organizational goals. Changes need to be ingrained into the organizational culture. The leader must demonstrate how the new approaches have helped in achieving his/her vision and should ensure that future administrators share the same ideas (Kotter, 1996)

An effective leader is someone capable to create a vision and inspire individuals in following it. A leader is an innovator and a creator that guides by example and motivates people to follow him/her, to be loyal, and to work for organizational change (Osland, Kolb, Rubin, & Turner, 2007). Managing change implies changing behaviors. Many individuals are afraid of change. A leader must know how to implement change n order to guide an organization to achieve his/her vision.

References

Amason, P. and Watkins, M. (1997). Intraorganizational communication, perceived organizational support, and gender. Sex Roles, 37(11/12), 955-977.

Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Osland, J., Kolb, D., Rubin, I., & Turner, M. (2007). Organizational behavior: An experimental approach. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall

NIH Will Use $60 Million in Recovery Act Funds to Support Strategic Autism Research

The National Institutes of Health will commit roughly $60 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to support autism research.

"The Recovery Act comes at an opportune time for autism research," said Thomas R. Insel, M.D., NIMH director and IACC chair." As reflected in the IACC strategic plan, we have a growing sense of urgency to help the increasing number of children being diagnosed with ASD. With the arrival of new funds, we can immediately start on many of the short-term objectives in the plan and use Recovery Act funds to support science that will facilitate the best possible outcomes for people with ASD and their families."

The grant announcement listing can be found in the NIH Guide.
Another important source in Autism research to check out is National Database for Autism Research (NDAR)

The Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley just run a contest in how cell phones can help expose war crimes and violations of human rights. The idea is to use mobile cell technology as a tool to expose war crimes and other serious violations of human rights. Disseminating this information in real time throughout the world. Winners will receive cash awards of $15,000 (first place), $10,000 (second place), and $5,000 (third place) to implement their ideas. The top Ten Finalists will be announced on March 31, 2009 at 11:00am PDT. This is part of the events for the international conference at UC Berkeley “The Soul of the New Machine: Human Rights, Technology, and New Media" May 4 - 5, 2009

South Africa Government Barred the Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama has been barred to enter South Africa to attend to the 2010 football (Soccer) World Cup Peace Conference. This conference was perceived as an opportunity to showcase South Africa's role as a human-rights champion. Due to this country increase trading relationship with China it was decided to deny the visa. It is ironical that South Africa with such a remarkable past fighting for Human Rights has assumed this position. It seems to me that the South African goberment has a very short memory span.

The DREAM Act

If you are looking for a cause to support look into this one. The DREAM Act a bipartisan effort introduced by Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois and Rep. Howard Berman of California attempt to help undocumented students achieve their dream of a higher education. Under the rigorous provisions of the DREAM Act, undocumented young people could be eligible for a conditional path to citizenship in exchange for a mandatory two year commitment in higher education or the military. Undocumented young people must also demonstrate good moral character to be eligible for and stay in conditional residency. At the end of the long process, the young person can have the chance to become an American citizen.

This act will support the creation of an educated work force in America.It is your choice. Do you want them to stay here illegal and uneducated or as a productive members of our society. Would you prefer them to go to college or fight in our military or to stay in their street corner.

Kolb's Problem Solving Model

This post may look a little boring. It relates at how we process information and possible problem-solving techniques. I agree that many problems do not have the perfect solution. Some may not have a solution at all. But in my opinion most of us go through a similar process as the one described by Kolb when confronted with a specific issue. We assess the situation and we study the problem. Then we come up with possible solutions, and finally you implement them. I believe that Kolb learning theory and problem solving model is very actual and shows with simplicity a process that could seem very complicate.

The four stages of problem solving are part of Kolb’s model of problem solving. I like this model because it provides a structured approach to problem-solving facilitating a methodical evaluation of complex problems. This model was also based on Kolb’s theory of experimental learning. In this theory Kolb describes learning styles as preferences in the way individuals’ process information when solving problems.

The four stages of problem solving are:

Stage 1: Situation Analysis.
Stage 2: Problem Analysis.
Stage 3: Solution analysis.
Stage 4: Implementation analysis.

I promise my next post will be more interesting.

Reference:

Kolb, D. A., Osland, J. S., Turner, M. E., & Rubin, I. M. (2007). The
organizational behavior: Behavior reader (8th ed.) Prentice-Hall.

Obama and the economy Mar 09

President Obama is working hard to make changes in our economy. follow this link to an NPR piece. He is teaching a lesson in Politics in the 21st century. You can also hear the comments at the NPR link.

Number of Nonbelievers Rising in US

Recently on National Press there were several articles citing last week's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey from the Pew Forum and the 2006 University of Minnesota's research in religious beliefs. As per the articles these surveys and research suggests that the number of non believers is increasing steadily. As a non believer the news makes me very happy. I consider myself and agnostic. I do not believe in organized religion. I do believe that our perception of reality is limited. Like Plato would say in his allegory of the Cave: we think we understand the real world, but because we are trapped in our bodies we can see only shadows. I do have family members who are deeply religious and I respect their views. Either way. I am glad that more people are joining my ranks.

My first post

I decided to create a Blog, I have many concerns in doing it. Will I have the time to keep it up to date? Will English become an obstacle since it is not my native language. Most blogs have a well define theme. I don't have one. I have multiple interests. What should I write about?  Will somebody read it? I will say that at least for now I plan to write about me, my friends, and my interests. Sometimes I will do it in English and sometimes in Spanish. This is my experiment. Lets see where does it take me