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151 entries this month
 

Arunima Sinha

15:27 Feb 28 2018
Times Read: 2,324


Arunima Sinha – The first female amputee to climb Mt. Everest

Once a fighter, always a fighter. Ms. Arunima Sinha’s career as a National level Volleyball Player was cut short abruptly when she was pushed from a running train during a scuffle with some thieves. Unfortunately, as a result of the accident, she ended up losing a leg. However, this did not dissolve her resolve, and, she decided to undergo the mountaineering training course to conquer the Mt. Everest. Yes, what they say is true! When dreams are combined with intent and hard work, it becomes reality.


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Women warriors

08:31 Feb 28 2018
Times Read: 2,329


When Germany broke its non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union in 1941, many women volunteered to take the fight to the Nazis. One of them was Lilya Litvyak, who became an instructor and later on a full-fledged fighter pilot in combat zones.

Litvyak’s carefree spirit and positive attitude brightened other soldiers’ lives. She painted a white lily on the nose of her Yak-1. Enemies who saw her skill in the air mistook the flower for a rose, giving her the nickname “The White Rose of Stalingrad.”

On September 13, 1942, Litvyak became the first female pilot to shoot down an enemy plane, downing German pilot Erwin Maier over Stalingrad. Maier, who was captured on the ground, asked to be shown to the Russian ace. When the Soviets brought him before the diminutive Litvyak, he thought the Russians were pulling a prank. His laughter ended when Litvyak described their dogfight in vivid detail, shocking Maier so much that he offered her his gold watch. Litvyak declined, saying, “I do not accept gifts from my enemies.” She went on to rack up more victories, 12 on her own and four shared among other pilots.

Litvyak’s disappearance on August 1, 1943 became the subject of debate among historians. Her plane, sporting the white lily, was spotted by Germans who immediately ganged up on the pilot. Her plane was shot down, but the wreck and her remains were not found. Some claimed that she survived the crash, became a POW, and later escaped.

In 1969, a body believed to have been Litvyak was found in Belarus. Only in May 1990 did Mikhail Gorbachev posthumously award her the title Hero of the Soviet Union.


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Tyang

08:16 Feb 28 2018
Times Read: 2,333


Definition of tyrant

1a : an absolute ruler unrestrained by law or constitution

b : a usurper of sovereignty

2a : a ruler who exercises absolute power oppressively or brutally

b : one resembling an oppressive ruler in the harsh use of authority or power


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07:43 Feb 28 2018
Times Read: 2,335


Fake charities

Scammers impersonate genuine charities and ask for donations or contact you claiming to collect money after natural disasters or major events.

How this scam worksWarning signsProtect yourselfHave you been scammed?More informationRelated newsFrom the web

How this scam works

Fake charities try to take advantage of your generosity and compassion for others in need. Scammers will steal your money by posing as a genuine charity. Not only do these scams cost you money, they also divert much needed donations away from legitimate charities and causes.

Fake charity approaches occur all year round and often take the form of a response to real disasters or emergencies, such as floods, cyclones, earthquakes and bushfires.

Scammers will pose as either agents of legitimate well-known charities or create their own charity name. This can include charities that conduct medical research or support disease sufferers and their families. They may also pose as individuals needing donations for health or other reasons.

Scammers may also play on your emotions by claiming to help children who are ill.

Fake charities operate in a number of different ways. You may be approached on the street or at your front door by people collecting money. Scammers may also set up fake websites which look similar to those operated by real charities. Some scammers will call or email you requesting a donation.

Warning signsYou've never heard of the charity before, or it is well-known but you suspect the website, email or letter may be fake. A fake website may look almost identical to a legitimate charity site, changing only the details of where to send donations.The person collecting donations on behalf of the charity does not have any identification. Remember, even if they do have identification, it could be forged or meaningless.You are put under pressure or made to feel guilty or selfish if you don’t want to donate.You are asked to provide a cash donation as they don't accept cheques. Or, they want the cheque to be made out to them rather than to the charity.You are not given a receipt. Or, they give you a receipt that does not have the charity’s details on it.Protect yourselfApproach charity organisations directly to make a donation or offer support.Check the organisation's name and look them up. Check the website address to make sure it’s the same as what you searched for.Legitimate charities are registered – you check an organisation’s credentials on the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission(link is external) (ACNC) website to see if they are a genuine charity.Never send money or give personal information, credit card details or online account details to anyone you don’t know or trust.If you are approached by a street collector, ask to see their identification. If you have any doubts about who they are, do not pay.If you are approached in person, ask the collector for details about the charity such as its full name, address and how the proceeds will be used. If they become defensive and cannot answer your questions, close the door.Avoid any arrangement with a stranger that asks for up-front payment via money order, wire transfer, international funds transfer, pre-loaded card or electronic currency, like Bitcoin. It is rare to recover money sent this way.Have you been scammed?

If you think you have provided your account details to a scammer, contact your bank or financial institution immediately.

We encourage you to report scams to the ACCC via the report a scam page. This helps us to warn people about current scams, monitor trends and disrupt scams where possible. Please include details of the scam contact you received, for example, email or screenshot.

We also provide guidance on protecting yourself from scams and where to get help.

Spread the word to your friends and family to protect them.


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Goths

09:11 Feb 27 2018
Times Read: 2,355


Goth music often deals with thought-provoking topics, concentrating on societal evils, like racism, war, hatred of groups, etc. Their music tends to concentrate on the very "nasty, unhappy" topics that "North American culture" wants to "ignore and forget."

A fascination with death. They try "to find a different way of thinking about life, like trying to find beauty in life, pain and death. It's all a quest for immortality." 

In contrast, many Goths are optimistic about the future and see much beauty in the world.


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The origins of the gothic

09:05 Feb 27 2018
Times Read: 2,356


The origins of the Gothic

Article by:John MullanThemes:The Gothic, The novel 1780–1832Published:15 May 2014

Professor John Mullan examines the origins of the Gothic, explaining how the genre became one of the most popular of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and the subsequent integration of Gothic elements into mainstream Victorian fiction.

Gothic fiction began as a sophisticated joke. Horace Walpole first applied the word ‘Gothic’ to a novel in the subtitle – ‘A Gothic Story’ – of The Castle of Otranto, published in 1764. When he used the word it meant something like ‘barbarous’, as well as ‘deriving from the Middle Ages’. Walpole pretended that the story itself was an antique relic, providing a preface in which a translator claims to have discovered the tale, published in Italian in 1529, ‘in the library of an ancient catholic family in the north of England’. The story itself, ‘founded on truth’, was written three or four centuries earlier still (Preface). Some readers were duly deceived by this fiction and aggrieved when it was revealed to be a modern ‘fake’.

The novel itself tells a supernatural tale in which Manfred, the gloomy Prince of Otranto, develops an irresistible passion for the beautiful young woman who was to have married his son and heir. The novel opens memorably with this son being crushed to death by the huge helmet from a statue of a previous Prince of Otranto, and throughout the novel the very fabric of the castle comes to supernatural life until villainy is defeated. Walpole, who made his own house at Strawberry Hill into a mock-Gothic building, had discovered a fictional territory that has been exploited ever since. Gothic involves the supernatural (or the promise of the supernatural), it often involves the discovery of mysterious elements of antiquity, and it usually takes its protagonists into strange or frightening old buildings.


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Lenin Moreno

08:11 Feb 27 2018
Times Read: 2,359


One of the most powerful people with a disability to hold public office since FDR, Lenin Moreno was the Vice President of Ecuador from 2007 to 2013, making history and bringing attention to the needs of the disabled people in his country in the process. He was injured in a shooting before getting involved in politics. Thanks to his work for providing for the needs of people disabilities in his country when he was Vice President, Lenin was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2012.


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Marlee Matlin

08:10 Feb 27 2018
Times Read: 2,361


 Marlee Matlin

An Academy Award winning actress for her leading role in Children of a Lesser God (1986), Marlee Matlin is one of the most successful actresses who’s deaf. She has been deaf since she was 18 months old due to a genetically malformed cochlea. She also received a Golden Globe Award for her role in Children of a Lesser. Since receiving her Oscar, Marlee has been a character on many TV shows including The L Word and Law & Order: SVU, and has appeared on reality shows such as The Apprentice and Dancing with the Stars.


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Sylvia Rivera

12:27 Feb 26 2018
Times Read: 2,376


Sylvia Rivera was one of the earliest and most influential transgender rights activists following the Stonewall Inn uprising in 1969, at which she was present. She was close friends with Marsha P. Johnson, and spent almost her entire life fighting for civil rights reform, not only for gay and transgender people, but also for African Americans, and as part of the second-wave feminist movement.


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Laverne Cox

12:07 Feb 26 2018
Times Read: 2,378


Laverne Cox is a transgender actress, author, artist, and activist. She is the first transgender actress to be nominated for a Prime Time Emmy Award.


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Albert Cashier

11:46 Feb 26 2018
Times Read: 2,380


Albert Cashier was a transgender man who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Born Jennie Irene Hodgers, Cashier claimed in later life that he began dressing in male clothing as a child, in order to find work. During the war, Cashier fought in approximately 40 battles, and once singlehandedly overpowered a prison guard in order to escape back to his division after being captured.


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Amanda Lepore

11:39 Feb 26 2018
Times Read: 2,386


Amanda Lepore ,one of the most recognizable transgender public figures in the world. socialite, singer and performance artist. She is, one of the most notable transgender public figures. She has appeared in advertising for numerous companies, including M.A.C. Cosmetics, Mego Jeans, The Blonds, Swatch, CAMP and Cosmetics.


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Audre Lorde

11:25 Feb 26 2018
Times Read: 2,388


 Audre Lorde

Born February 18, 1934, in New York City, Lorde added to the conversation of intersectionality in the feminism by challenging heteronormativity and homophobia within the movement as well as bringing attention to how labels such as race, gender and sexuality create a system of marginalization for groups that do not fit a particular “norm”. She used her poetry to address issues such as class, race, heritage, family, and even her own sexuality in the poem Martha. After being diagnosed with cancer, Lorde moved to the US Virgin Islands where she took the African name Gamba Adisa, as well as released her nonfiction essays known as The Cancer Journals, in which she confronted her struggles with her illness.She died on November 17, 1992 and is remembered for her contributions to intersectional feminism and political activism through her writings.


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Josephine baker

10:37 Feb 26 2018
Times Read: 2,389


Josephine Baker a beloved entertainer who rose to fame on the stages of Paris because racism held her back in the U.S., but she visited the states in the '50s and '60s to help fight segregation. She even adopted children of different ethnicities and religions to create a multicultural family she called "The Rainbow Tribe."


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Henry David Thoreaus

10:30 Feb 26 2018
Times Read: 2,391


I strongly suggest that you read every word of Henry David Thoreau’s 1849 essay on “Civil Disobedience,” but let me quote one paragraph that speaks directly to the question of the people who obey governments and carry out things that are wrong:

The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus, etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens. Others — as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders — serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God. A very few — as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men — serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it.

Thoreau beautifully lays out the case for individuals to disobey the law when their consciences tell them that obeying the law is wrong. That’s the position in which Snowden found himself. He was legally obligated to keep the things he learned secret. But what he saw was wrong and evil, in the judgment of his own conscience — and I believe he was right.

Which side are you on? Are you on the side of the people who defend “the law” as made by immoral and dishonest legislators and bureaucrats? Would you have opposed the people I outlined earlier who broke laws in order to do what was right? Or would you be among those who supported the lawbreakers who were doing the right thing?

If you believe that human beings have the right to be left alone when they’re doing no wrong, you have no choice but to stand with Edward Snowden, no matter how many laws he broke. He followed his conscience — and he’s a hero for it.

Should we respect all law? Or is there a distinction between law and legislation? I don’t have time to get deeply into it, but if you’re interested in this question, I strongly recommend Frédéric Bastiat’s 1850 book, “The Law.” (The entire text is online here.) He argued that we all have natural rights and that governments which impose legislation or rules in violation of natural law have no right to enforce their edicts.

There are certain things that we all agree are right and wrong. Murder is universally considered to be against the law, as are stealing and kidnapping and a number of other things. But there are some things that aren’t so clear. When politicians and bureaucrats start making rules and forcing us to obey them — as they lecture us to trust them while they violate our basic rights — it’s time to break the rules even if the “authorities” call those rules the laws.

As Thoreau said in another portion of “Civil Disobedience,” we should encourage respect for what’s morally right, not just respect for the law. There are times when the only way to follow conscience is to break government’s laws.

We should celebrate the people who are willing to ethically break the law in order to do what’s right. That’s what makes Edward Snowden a hero.


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National cyber forensic

10:15 Feb 26 2018
Times Read: 2,397


National Cyber Forensics & Training Alliance

Long before cyber crime was acknowledged to be a significant criminal and national security threat, the FBI supported the establishment of a forward-looking organization to proactively address the issue. Called the National Cyber-Forensics & Training Alliance (NCFTA), this organization—created in 1997 and based in Pittsburgh—has become an international model for bringing together law enforcement, private industry, and academia to build and share resources, strategic information, and threat intelligence to identify and stop emerging cyber threats and mitigate existing ones.

Since its establishment, the NCFTA has evolved to keep up with the ever-changing cyber crime landscape. Today, the organization deals with threats from transnational criminal groups including spam, botnets, stock manipulation schemes, intellectual property theft, pharmaceutical fraud, telecommunications scams, and other financial fraud schemes that result in billions of dollars in losses to companies and consumers.

The FBI Cyber Division’s Cyber Initiative and Resource Fusion Unit (CIRFU) works with the NCFTA, which draws its intelligence from the hundreds of private sector NCFTA members, NCFTA intelligence analysts, Carnegie Mellon University’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. This extensive knowledge base has helped CIRFU play a key strategic role in some of the FBI’s most significant cyber cases in the past several years.

Violent Crimes Against Children/Online Predators

Even with its post-9/11 national security responsibilities, the FBI continues to play a key role in combating violent crime in big cities and local communities across the United States…

Because of the global reach of cyber crime, no single organization, agency, or country can defend against it. Vital partnerships like the NCFTA are key to protecting cyberspace and ensuring a safer cyber future for our citizens and countries around the world.

For more information visit the National Cyber-Forensics & Training Alliance website.

iGuardian

With cyber threats continuing to emerge at the forefront of the FBI’s criminal and national security challenges, engaging public-private partners in information exchange alongside law enforcement and intelligence communities…

National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force

As a unique multi-agency cyber center, the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force (NCIJTF) has the primary responsibility…

Cyber Task Forces: Building Alliances to Improve the Nation’s Cybersecurity

Each Cyber Task Force synchronizes domestic cyber threat investigations in the local community through information sharing, incident response…

eGuardian

In 2007, eGuardian was developed to help meet the challenges of collecting and sharing terrorism-related activities amongst law enforcement agencies across various jurisdictions. The eGuardian system is a sensitive but…

Protecti[REMOVED] to Protect Your Computer 

Below are some key steps to protecting your computer from intrusion:

Keep Your Firewall Turned On: A firewall helps protect your computer from hackers who might try to gain access to crash it, delete information, or even steal passwords or other sensitive information. Software firewalls are widely recommended for single computers. The software is prepackaged on some operating systems or can be purchased for individual computers. For multiple networked computers, hardware routers typically provide firewall protection.

Install or Update Your Antivirus Software: Antivirus software is designed to prevent malicious software programs from embedding on your computer. If it detects malicious code, like a virus or a worm, it works to disarm or remove it. Viruses can infect computers without users’ knowledge. Most types of antivirus software can be set up to update automatically.

Install or Update Your Antispyware Technology: Spyware is just what it sounds like—software that is surreptitiously installed on your computer to let others peer into your activities on the computer. Some spyware collects information about you without your consent or produces unwanted pop-up ads on your web browser. Some operating systems offer free spyware protection, and inexpensive software is readily available for download on the Internet or at your local computer store. Be wary of ads on the Internet offering downloadable antispyware—in some cases these products may be fake and may actually contain spyware or other malicious code. It’s like buying groceries—shop where you trust.

Keep Your Operating System Up to Date: Computer operating systems are periodically updated to stay in tune with technology requirements and to fix security holes. Be sure to install the updates to ensure your computer has the latest protection.

Be Careful What You Download: Carelessly downloading e-mail attachments can circumvent even the most vigilant anti-virus software. Never open an e-mail attachment from someone you don’t know, and be wary of forwarded attachments from people you do know. They may have unwittingly advanced malicious code.

Turn Off Your Computer: With the growth of high-speed Internet connections, many opt to leave their computers on and ready for action. The downside is that being “always on” renders computers more susceptible. Beyond firewall protection, which is designed to fend off unwanted attacks, turning the computer off effectively severs an attacker’s connection—be it spyware or a botnet that employs your computer’s resources to reach out to other unwitting users.


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Elaine Brown

12:40 Feb 25 2018
Times Read: 2,404


In April 1968, after the assassination of Martin Luther King Junior, Elaine Brown attended her first meeting of the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party. Brown assumed power from Huey Newton, founder and minister of defense, in 1974, when Newton fled the country, appointing Brown as his successor. Brown maintained control until 1977, when Newton returned from his self-imposed exile in Cuba to face the murder charges of which he was later acquitted.


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Daisy Bates

12:15 Feb 25 2018
Times Read: 2,411


Daisy Bates fought against segregation. In 1952, she headed the Arkansas branch of the NAACP and helped in the desegregation of schools in Little Rock. She documented in her book The Long Shadow of Little Rock: A Memoir. She died in 1999.


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history

10:44 Feb 25 2018
Times Read: 2,415


Harriet Tubman escaped slavery to become a leading abolitionist. She led hundreds of enslaved people to freedom along the route of the Underground Railroad.
Who Was Harriet Tubman?

Born into slavery in Maryland, Harriet Tubman (c. 1820 to March 10, 1913) escaped to freedom in the North in 1849 to become the most famous "conductor" on the Underground Railroad. Tubman risked her life to lead hundreds of family members and other slaves from the plantation system to freedom on this elaborate secret network of safe houses. A leading abolitionist before the American Civil War, Tubman also helped the Union Army during the war, working as a spy among other roles.

After the Civil War ended, Tubman dedicated her life to helping impoverished former slaves and the elderly. In honor of her life and by popular demand, in 2016, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson on the center of a new $20 bill.


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10:43 Feb 25 2018
Times Read: 2,415


Harriet tubman was an American abolitionist, humanitarian, and an armed scout and spy for the United States Army during the American Civil War. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some thirteen missions to rescue approximately seventy enslaved people, family and friends,using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. She later helped abolitionist John Brown recruit men for his raid on Harpers Ferry, and in the post-war era was an active participant in the struggle for women's suffrage.


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Tubman

10:42 Feb 25 2018
Times Read: 2,415


Harriet Tubman (c. 1822[1] – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist, humanitarian, and an armed scout and spy for the United States Army during the American Civil War. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some thirteen missions to rescue approximately seventy enslaved people, family and friends,[2] using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. She later helped abolitionist John Brown recruit men for his raid on Harpers Ferry, and in the post-war era was an active participant in the struggle for women's suffrage.


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Harriet Tubman

10:40 Feb 25 2018
Times Read: 2,415


Harriet Tubman (c. 1822[1] – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist, humanitarian, and an armed scout and spy for the United States Army during the American Civil War. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some thirteen missions to rescue approximately seventy enslaved people, family and friends,[2] using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. She later helped abolitionist John Brown recruit men for his raid on Harpers Ferry, and in the post-war era was an active participant in the struggle for women's suffrage.


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Harriet Tubman

10:39 Feb 25 2018
Times Read: 2,415


Harriet Tubman (c. 1822[1] – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist, humanitarian, and an armed scout and spy for the United States Army during the American Civil War. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some thirteen missions to rescue approximately seventy enslaved people, family and friends,[2] using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. She later helped abolitionist John Brown recruit men for his raid on Harpers Ferry, and in the post-war era was an active participant in the struggle for women's suffrage.


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Number for national suicide prevention lifeline

08:23 Feb 25 2018
Times Read: 2,424


National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
We can all help prevent suicide. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.

1-800-273-8255


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Nelson Mandela

08:11 Feb 25 2018
Times Read: 2,429


Nelson Mandela is, hands down, one of the most important and celebrated figures of our lifetime.

Mandela represents equality, fairness, democracy and freedom in an often unequal, unfair and undemocratic world. But he wasn’t always seen like this…

Twenty-five years ago he was getting his first taste of freedom after being imprisoned for 27 years. Yes, you read that right. For what? What could he have done to get such a long sentence? Well, he stood up for what he believed. In 1942 he joined the African National Congress and fought against apartheid in South Africa, and was imprisoned for sabotage.

Without Nelson Mandela’s commitment to the abolition of apartheid in the face of oppression and imprisonment, the world could be a very different place. It is because of Mandela, and others like him, many more people live a free and fair life.

To honor his bravery and determination, we take a look at 7 other brave and committed people who have been prosecuted or persecuted for standing up for what they believe in:


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Mr. And Mrs loving

14:22 Feb 24 2018
Times Read: 2,447


Mrs. Loving and her husband, Richard, were in bed in their modest house in Central Point in the early morning of July 11, 1958, five weeks after their wedding, when the county sheriff and two deputies, acting on an anonymous tip, burst into their bedroom and shined flashlights in their eyes. A threatening voice demanded, “Who is this woman you’re sleeping with?”

Mrs. Loving answered, “I’m his wife.”

Mr. Loving pointed to the couple’s marriage certificate hung on the bedroom wall. The sheriff responded, “That’s no good here.”

The certificate was from Washington, D.C., and under Virginia law, a marriage between people of different races performed outside Virginia was as invalid as one done in Virginia. At the time, it was one of 24 states that barred marriages between races.

After Mr. Loving spent a night in jail and his wife several more, the couple pleaded guilty to violating the Virginia law, the Racial Integrity Act. Under a plea bargain, their one-year prison sentences were suspended on the condition that they leave Virginia and not return together or at the same time for 25 years.

Judge Leon M. Bazile, in language Chief Justice Warren would recall, said that if God had meant for whites and blacks to mix, he would have not placed them on different continents. Judge Bazile reminded the defendants that “as long as you live you will be known as a felon.”

They paid court fees of $36.29 each, moved to Washington and had three children. They returned home occasionally, never together. But times were tough financially, and the Lovings missed family, friends and their easy country lifestyle in the rolling Virginia hills.

By 1963, Mrs. Loving could stand the ostracism no longer. Inspired by the civil rights movement and its march on Washington, she wrote Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and asked for help. He wrote her back, and referred her to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The A.C.L.U. took the case. Its lawyers, Bernard S. Cohen and Philip J. Hirschkop, faced an immediate problem: the Lovings had pleaded guilty and had no right to appeal. So they asked Judge Bazile to set aside his original verdict. When he refused, they appealed. The Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the lower court, and the case went to the United States Supreme Court.

Mildred and Richard Loving, in 1967, were arrested in Virginia.

BETTMANN / CORBIS

Mr. Cohen recounted telling Mr. Loving about various legal theories applying to the case. Mr. Loving replied, “Mr. Cohen, tell the court I love my wife, and it is just unfair that I can’t live with her in Virginia.”

Mildred Delores Jeter’s family had lived in Caroline County, Va., for generations, as had the family of Richard Perry Loving. The area was known for friendly relations between races, even though marriages were forbidden. Many people were visibly of mixed race, with Ebony magazine reporting in 1967 that black “youngsters easily passed for white in neighboring towns.”

Mildred’s mother was part Rappahannock Indian, and her father was part Cherokee. She preferred to think of herself as Indian rather than black.

Mildred and Richard began spending time together when he was a rugged-looking 17 and she was a skinny 11-year-old known as Bean. He attended an all-white high school for a year, and she reached 11th grade at an all-black school.

When Mildred became pregnant at 18, they decided to do what was elsewhere deemed the right thing and get married. They both said their initial motive was not to challenge Virginia law.

“We have thought about other people,” Mr. Loving said in an interview with Life magazine in 1966, “but we are not doing it just because somebody had to do it and we wanted to be the ones. We are doing it for us.”

In his classic study of segregation, “An American Dilemma,” Gunnar Myrdal wrote that “the whole system of segregation and discrimination is designed to prevent eventual inbreeding of the races.”

But miscegenation laws struck deeper than other segregation acts, and the theory behind them leads to chaos in other facets of law. This is because they make any affected marriage void from its inception. Thus, all children are illegitimate; spouses have no inheritance rights; and heirs cannot receive death benefits.

“When any society says that I cannot marry a certain person, that society has cut off a segment of my freedom,” the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1958.

Virginia’s law had been on the books since 1662, adopted a year after Maryland enacted the first such statute. At one time or another, 38 states had miscegenation laws. State and federal courts consistently upheld the prohibitions, until 1948, when the California Supreme Court overturned California’s law.

Though the Supreme Court’s 1967 decision in the Loving case struck down miscegenation laws, Southern states were sometimes slow to change their constitutions; Alabama became the last state to do so, in 2000.

Mr. Loving died in a car accident in 1975, and the Lovings’ son Donald died in 2000. In addition to her daughter, Peggy Fortune, who lives in Milford, Va., Mrs. Loving is survived by her son, Sidney, of Tappahannock, Va.; eight grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Loving stopped giving interviews, but last year issued a statement on the 40th anniversary of the announcement of the Supreme Court ruling, urging that gay men and lesbians be allowed to marry.

Correction: January 17, 2012

An earlier version misstated the number of states in which interracial marriage was illegal in 1958, the year Richard and Mildred Loving married. It was 24 — not 16, which was the number of states in which interracial marriage was illegal in 1967, the year the Supreme Court ruled on their case. 


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LordAriel
LordAriel
16:43 Feb 24 2018

Just shows us, that determination and goodness prevails.





 

Martin Luther king Jr.

12:44 Feb 24 2018
Times Read: 2,456


Martin Luther king jr. was arrested 5 times, and wrote his second most influential speech whilst in prison in 1963 for protesting against the treatment of the black community in Birmingham, Alabama. Letter From Birmingham Jail, which was written on the margins of a newspaper and smuggled out of the prison, defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism, arguing that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws.

Tragically, in 1968 he was assassinated in his hotel at the age of just 39.


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Gossip is bullying

08:42 Feb 24 2018
Times Read: 2,465


Gossip is Bullying

MARCH 28, 2017 BY DR. JOEL HABERLEAVE A COMMENT

So I learned about gossip bullying first hand recently while I was preparing for a talk on bullying about relational bullying, about girl bullying, mean girl stuff.

I was sitting in a coffee shop, I was working with a colleague and my colleague left and a woman was sitting next to me who must have heard what I was talking about and she said “I heard you talking about gossiping and relational bullying. My daughter who is young – a teenager – is having this major problem. So she said she’s getting in trouble because of gossiping, her friends are leaving her out.

So I went through, I spent like 30 minutes with her talking about bullying and why gossiping occurs and what it’s all about and then her friends came in and she said to me “thank you very much.” I said “It was great, I hope you got a lot out of it.” She did, she went over to her friends – and I felt pretty good about myself – but when she went over to her friends all of a sudden she started gossiping about a neighbor of hers and getting really mean and nasty and I thought to myself “Woah. I just spent 30 minutes sharing all this research and all this stuff about what bullying is about, she didn’t get an ounce of it because the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” She was teaching her daughter – by her own behavior – how to gossip.

So that’s where it was coming from so I – as a bystander, as an expert I’m thinking what do I do? And I thought “I can’t let it go because if I let it go then I’m doing nothing and I don’t train that. I have to be an up stander and do something.” She asked me to help her, so I thought I could do this in 2 ways. I could go up to her and humiliate her in front of her friends, which would be awful or I can tap her quietly and have her come over and share it. And that’s what I decided to do, so I tapped her on the shoulder, she turned around and said “Yeah?” I said “Can I just talk to you for one more minute?” And at first she was a little bit uncomfortable but she came over to me and I said “I hope you enjoyed our talk and you learned a lot.” She said “I did.” Well there was one thing I just noticed if you don’t mind me sharing. She said “What’s that?” I said “I don’t know if you realize, but when we talked about the gossiping problem you daughter had, maybe she mad some of that influence from you because when your friends came in you started gossiping about a neighbor. And all of a sudden she got really red in the face and she said “Okay, thank you!” And she ran back to her friends and started gossiping about me but here’s the point.

What do we do in those situations?

Do we stand back and do nothing? Or in that situation it was totally appropriate to let her know because she had asked me for advice.

What she did with that I’ll never know, but the point is it’s so easy to be role modeling things and never even see what we do. And that’s where kids learn the most, from what we do and not from what we say.

Dr. Haber is available for speaking engagements and consultations to help your combat your school or workplace bullying issues.


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The dog Walker

06:47 Feb 24 2018
Times Read: 2,472


A woman was flying from Melbourne to Brisbane. Unexpectedly, the plane was diverted to Sydney.

The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay, and if the passengers wanted to get off the aircraft the plane would re-board in 50 minutes..

Everybody got off the plane except one lady who was blind. A man had noticed her as he walked by and could tell the lady was blind because her seeing eye dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of her throughout the entire flight. He could also tell she had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached her, and calling her by name, said, 'Kathy, we are in Sydney for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?'

The blind lady replied, 'No thanks, but maybe Max would like to stretch his legs.'

All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a seeing eye dog! The pilot was even wearing sunglasses.

People scattered.

They not only tried to change planes, but they were trying to change airlines!

True story...have a great day and remember...

Things aren't always as they appear!.

Taking form truthbook


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Ice cream story

06:00 Feb 24 2018
Times Read: 2,476


when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

“How much is an ice cream sundae?”

“50 cents,” replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it.

“How much is a dish of plain ice cream?” he inquired. Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient.

“35 cents,” she said brusquely.

The little boy again counted the coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and departed.

When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at what she saw.

There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were 15 cents – her tip.


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Rosa Park

13:30 Feb 23 2018
Times Read: 2,489


Rosa Parks

Source: America’s Library



Rosa Parks was an African-American Civil Rights activist who became famous when she stood up for what she believed – by sitting down. On the evening of December 1, 1955, Parks was sat on a bus in Alabama, heading home after a long day of work.

During her journey she was asked by a conductor to give up her seat to a white passenger, but she refused, and she was arrested for disobeying an Alabama law requiring black people to relinquish seats to white people when the bus was full. Her arrest sparked a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system. It also led to a 1956 Supreme Court decision banning segregation on public transportation.


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08:42 Feb 23 2018
Times Read: 2,501


Are You The Victim Of Verbal Abuse Without Even Realizing It? 10 Things You Need To Know
By JENNIFER GARAM MAY 4, 2016
Sure, Dad has a bad temper and Mom has her moods. But when do stormy temperaments cross the line into verbal abuse? Because verbal abuse isn't as clear-cut as other types—like physical or sexual abuse—it can be difficult to precisely define and understand.

Devon MacDermott, PhD, a New York City–based psychologist who specializes in trauma and relationships, defines verbal abuse as "chronic verbal interaction that's unwanted and makes the victim feel some kind of emotional harm, and is typically from a close relation like a partner, parent, or close friend or family member." The effects can be as bad or worse as those from other forms of abuse that tend to be considered more serious. (Want to pick up some healthier habits? Sign up to get healthy living tips, relationship advice, and more delivered straight to your inbox!)

Here's what you need to know to begin to recognize and heal from verbal abuse.

It's not just yelling
It's not just yelling.
You may think that verbal abuse is just being yelled at, but it's actually characterized by a range of different behaviors. In addition to yelling, MacDermott cites name-calling, threats of harm to you or someone you care about, or gaslighting (where a victim is manipulated into doubting his or her own memory or sanity) as ways that verbal abuse can manifest. Brian Coughlin, PsyD, a Los Angeles–based psychologist with a focus on trauma and addiction, notes that in verbal abuse, a constructive element to the criticism is missing; someone is being purely critical of another person, acting out in anger, and using words to try to control them.

And someone doesn't have to consistently behave aggressively for it to constitute abuse. Confusingly, an abuser can also act very lovingly at times, which can intensify the impact, MacDermott says, because the abused never knows when they will fly off the handle.

And yes, most people lose their temper and yell from time to time. "But if it's happening regularly and if there's a pattern to the behavior, that's probably a red flag," MacDermott says.

MORE: 16 Signs Your Thyroid Is Out Of Whack


It can be very easy to dismiss.
For example, in romantic relationships, people often don't recognize the abuse because they have a fantasy about what they want the relationship to be or who the other person is, Coughlin explains. When the abuse doesn't fit in with their fantasy, they minimize it and make excuses for their partner, telling themselves that they didn't mean it, was just really upset, or is only going through a phase. "We can end up ignoring the fact that it actually has become a pattern and really is an indicator of an unhealthy relationship," he says.

MacDermott adds that, particularly, if you were the victim of verbal abuse as a child or in a previous romantic relationship, that kind of behavior could feel familiar to you and you might think that that's just how people behave when they're angry.

MORE: Are You Bummed Out...Or Depressed?


You might not even know you've been verbally abused.
It's easy to assume that if you were verbally abused, you'd realize it. But both Coughlin and MacDermott agree that people could have been the victims of verbal abuse in childhood and have no awareness of it. And even if people haven't blocked those memories from childhood altogether, because of the tendency to downplay verbal abuse, they may not fully recognize the impact it could still be having on their adult lives.

MORE: 9 Ways Can Tell If Your Relationship Won't Work

Coughlin says that one way childhood verbal abuse can become apparent is if you explore your current beliefs about yourself. "If a person has a deeply rooted belief that they do not deserve love, are worthless, incompetent, ugly, et cetera, then it's definitely worth looking at where these beliefs are coming from. Oftentimes, that means tracing it back to their childhood," he says. In this way, people might begin to realize the impact of their caregivers' words.

Verbal abuse sticks with you
Verbal abuse can stick with you.
"Your relationship with your caregiver as a child is what forms your blueprint for how to have relationships with other people as you go through the rest of your life," MacDermott explains. "People who have gone through verbal abuse, their blueprint is often askew, and they find themselves in similar relationships later on."

Coughlin also points out that victims of verbal abuse in childhood often experience attachment anxiety in their romantic relationships. "Because there's this mistrust that starts early on, people continue to have that mistrust of others in their adult life," he says. "They're constantly seeking another person who is going to provide fulfillment and get them to stop being anxious, but they're never really able to find that because the anxiety is generated from within."

MORE: 10 Silent Signals You're Way Too Stressed


Severe consequences of verbal abuse
And there are other severe consequences.
Because verbal abuse can cause you to really believe negative things about yourself and other people, Coughlin says, it can impact any element of your life, from your ability to form relationships and your ability to work effectively to your ability to see yourself as having any sort of success.

MacDermott lists depression, anxiety, and PTSD among the potential consequences of verbal abuse. And research backs this up: A 2006 study in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that people who were verbally abused as children are at risk for depression and anxiety as adults.

Victims can become abusers
Victims of verbal abuse can become abusers.
Or they can continue being a victim, or both. Basically, the pattern of abuse can be hard to break. "Unless you notice that this blueprint is not working well for you—that there's a problem and you seek some kind of help—it can be difficult for some people to change it," MacDermott says. "And they just continue being the victim or the aggressor or both in an abusive relationship."

Being raised in an environment where a caregiver wasn't able to modulate their emotions, and therefore unable to teach their child to do so, could result in someone becoming verbally abusive later in life because they don't know how to regulate their own emotions, Coughlin explains. On the flip side, they could continue to be the victim of verbal abuse as adult. "It might not register with them in their adult life that verbal abuse is not acceptable and not an OK way to be treated," he says.

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Can be ongoing from parents to adult children
TANYA CONSTANTINE/GETTY IMAGES
It can be ongoing by parents to their adult children.
We often think of abuse as something that happens in childhood, and don't consider that it can continue even when the child grows up. But MacDermott says that although she sees some people improve their relationships with their parents, others continue to struggle.

The ongoing abuse can be especially harmful because the person had already gone through it when younger, so it's a sensitive spot, MacDermott explains. "To have those experiences continue often triggers not only what's happening in the present, but also all the memories of what happened to them as children." She says that once people identify that this is a chronic problem, they'll have to put boundaries and limits on their relationship with an abusive parent because they know it's not good for their health. (Here's how to make peace with your mother.)

Abuser has a problem
AASTOCK/SHUTTERSTOCK
The abuser isn't a "bad person"—rather, they have an underlying problem.
It can be tempting to write the abuser off as a terrible person, but they likely have a deeper problem that is causing them to act out in this way, like depression, substance abuse, or mental health issues, says MacDermott.

And you won't necessarily see a complete lack of remorse, either. MacDermott notes that in most cases, abusers might feel genuinely dreadful about what they've done, but lack the skills and tools to apologize, correct the behavior, and act differently in the future.

You can recover and heal
You can recover and heal from it.
Although the effects of verbal abuse can be dire, its victims areshout n't doomed to a lifetime of repeating these patterns. As far as developing healthier relationships goes, MacDermott finds that for a lot of people who have been verbally abused in childhood, learning new relationship behaviors can be really helpful, and one of the biggest relationship skills she teaches is noticing when someone else is or is not available. She sees people get stuck in patterns of being involved with others who are not dedicated or compassionate to them, and says that this type of partner may feel exciting at first, but is actually emotionally dangerous in the long run.

"When clients can learn to recognize the telltale signs of someone being open and available—like calling them back consistently, communicating their emotions and needs openly, being willing to be accommodating with the other person's emotions and needs, and being minimally judgmental—then they can start making more informed decisions about partners that are right for them," she says.

MORE: 10 Little Things Connected Couples Do


It needs to be talked about
It needs to be talked about more.
Although there has been increased awareness around verbal abuse lately, MacDermott says that it is still not nearly as researched, talked about, or understood as other forms of abuse. In addition to needing to bring more attention to verbal abuse, she stresses the importance of tackling the shame that can come with it. Shame is a disabling emotion, she says, and it tends to make people shut down, impairing their ability to communicate and making effective behavior less likely.

"One of the best things we can do for people who have endured abuse is to help them realize they're not alone," MacDermott says. "This is something a lot of people have experienced, there are resources available to you, and you don't have to feel ashamed


COMMENTS

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imposters

22:42 Feb 22 2018
Times Read: 2,515


"She was smoking hot, unbelievably sexy ... super beautiful." This was how Nev Schulman, a 24-year-old photographer, described Megan, a fellow artist who became friendly with him on Facebook in 2007.

An online courtship began, and Schulman's filmmaking friends documented his excitement. Not until Schulman knocked on Megan's door months later did he discover that his love interest looked nothing like her profile photo. "Megan" was actually Angela, a 40-something wife and mother of two who later said she had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Schulman and his friends made a high-profile film, "Catfish," out of being duped by a false Facebook profile. Other cases have had more tragic endings.

In 2006, co-workers Thomas Montgomery and Brian Barrett became so entangled in an online love triangle with a young woman who identified herself as "talhotblond" that Thomas eventually murdered Barrett at their office. Neither man realized that they were fighting over an overweight, middle-aged, stay-at-home mom.

So before falling hard for an online-only acquaintance, here are a few tips, gleaned from "Catfish," to help you detect fraudulent profiles on social networking and dating sites.

1. The perfect person is not a real person. A supermodel or retouched profile photo should raise the first red flag.

2. Be wary if the profile describes a personality that complements your own or is too good to be true. Often, imposters will create interests and activities that mirror your own in order to start a conversation.

3. Check how many friends and followers are listed in the person's network. The average Facebook user has 130 friends. An imposter will often have significantly fewer.

4. Determine whether any of your "mutual friends" have actually met your newest online acquaintance in person.

5. Use search engines to do a quick background check on the name and basic information used in a profile. If the profile claims the person attended Oxford, currently works as a CEO at an international company or runs marathons, you should be able to find mentions of these achievements on alumni, company or running sites, respectively. Schulman admitted that Googling Megan earlier in their relationship could have saved him a great deal of embarrassment and heartbreak.

6. Peruse posted pictures and albums carefully. A real person will often have pictures with friends and family, who will have tagged and commented on photos. By contrast, imposters will often use modeling photos featuring only glamorous shots of the individual rather than group photos.

7. Don't be tricked if your friend has multiple people who vouch for him or her online. One person can easily make multiple accounts to make it appear as if there is a support network of family and friends.

8. Imposters will often try to interact with your own friends and family members to create a broader sense of familiarity and build up a broader network of trust.

9. Finally, if you've been harmed by someone who posted a fake profile, report it to site monitors and authorities. Although it may be humiliating to be duped online, authorities will be able to identify imposters and close their accounts more quickly than you working independently.


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Illegal

22:33 Feb 22 2018
Times Read: 2,517


Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement: Is Copying Illegal?

You've heard some teachers say that it's always wrong to copy someone else's work. They ruthlessly check your papers for plagiarism. Other teachers say that it's all right as long as you give credit to the original author. Who's right?

To answer this question, we have to think about the difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement. Take a look at these definitions from The Council Chronicle for English teachers:

Plagiarism is using someone else's work without giving proper credit - a failure to cite adequately. 

Copyright infringement is using someone else's creative work, which can include a song, a video, a movie clip, a piece of visual art, a photograph, and other creative works, without authorization or compensation, if compensation is appropriate. 

Schools enforce plagiarism. 
The courts enforce copyright infringement. 1

What? Did I just copy those definitions from their Web site? As a matter of fact, I did. This is not an example of plagiarism, since I gave credit to the author of the definitions. (See the References section at the bottom of this article.) It's not copyright infringement, either, since my short quote is allowed by the "fair use" exemption in copyright law.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is using someone else's work without giving proper credit. Schools deal with plagiarism by giving the cheaters academic consequences. Most teachers will give F grades for plagiarized work, and some will do more. When I was a teaching assistant at Stanford University, some students were suspended for copying answers during a test.

Plagiarism doesn't have to include copyright infringement. For example, William Shakespeare's plays are not copyrighted because they're too old. Even though it would technically be legal to copy from one of those plays for an English assignment, it would still be plagiarism if you didn't give credit to Shakespeare. Your teacher may not be able to take you to court over it, but she can certainly give you an F. You might even get suspended or expelled from school. Even though copying one sentence from a Web site is legal according to United States copyright laws, that may still count as plagiarism in your teacher's book.

Copyright Infringement

Copyright infringement is using someone else's work without getting that person's permission. The author of any original work, including books, essays, Web pages, songs, pictures, and videos, automatically gets the copyright to that work, even if she doesn't label it with the copyright symbol and her name. The work must be fixed in tangible form, which means it must be stored on something physical, such as paper, canvas, a CD, or a hard disk. This makes college students copyright owners, since they've already written many original works for school.

The owner of a copyright gets to decide who can legally make copies of that work. It is illegal to copy large sections of someone else's copyrighted work without permission, even if you give the original author credit. Imagine someone making copies of the movie Finding Nemo without asking for permission. He sure won't get away with it just by giving the authors credit on the DVD cover!

Fortunately, a fair use exemption allows you to legally copy small amounts of someone else's work. Just make sure to give the author credit so you won't be guilty of plagiarism!

The courts assign consequences for copyright infringement. This means someone may come after you with a lawyer if you violate his copyright. Your school can report copyright infringement to people who have the legal power to take you to court. Students have been sued for copyright infringement before.2 In some cases, the court may require you to pay the fees for both your lawyer and the copyright owner's lawyer.

Is It Okay to Change Someone Else's Words For My Essay?

Taking a copyrighted work and changing it creates something called a derivative work. Since you made changes to create the derivative work, you share the copyright for it with the copyright owner of the original work. Since you don't own the entire copyright for the derivative work, you must still ask for permission before making copies of it.

Because of this, taking someone else's work and changing some of the words only creates a derivative work and does not give you full ownership of the copyright. Even if no one decides to take you to court over it, your teacher might still decide that you are guilty of plagiarism. Instead of paraphrasing someone else's paper and calling it your own, try learning from other people's work first and then writing your own paper from scratch. Read some of these tips for writing an essay in your own words.

Conclusion

Between the consequences for plagiarism and copyright infringement, it's just not worth it to copy other people's work. If you do need to use a few words from another source, take some precautions:

Put those words in quotation marks or indent them to indicate clearly that they are not your own words.Add a footnote to give credit to the original author.Keep the length of your quotation down to a few sentences so you won't be guilty of copyright infringement.If you're jumpy and want to make extra sure you haven't copied, then plug some phrases from your essay into PlagiarismChecker.com. Hopefully, you'll never have to say that what seems like plagiarism was just an accident. Make sure that your hard work is rewarded with the grade you deserve.

ReferencesPlagiarism and Copyright - What Are the Differences? (The Council Chronicle, Nov. 05). 16 Jan 2006 . The definitions were modified to make them more consistent with copyright law's use of the terms "tangible form" and "idea".Stanford Policies: Copyrighted Material and File-Sharing Networks - Stanford University Office of Judicial Affairs. 16 Jan 2006 .

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COMMENTS

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what is the role of the police

17:38 Feb 22 2018
Times Read: 2,525


What is the Role of the Police?


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PRIVATE ENTRY

17:36 Feb 22 2018
Times Read: 2,526


• • • • PRIVATE JOURNAL ENTRY • • • •


 

Here is a thought

15:14 Feb 22 2018
Times Read: 2,531


“If you succeed at loving imperfect people, then it becomes plausible that somebody could love imperfect you.” – T.D. Jakes


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the gift of Responsbility

14:52 Feb 22 2018
Times Read: 2,533


The Gift of Responsibility gives you freedom, because it grants you true awareness of your power as a creator.

“A man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life.”

~ James Allen

Awareness is the first step to understanding that you create everything in your experience. Every part of your life, good or bad, has a root somewhere within your mind.
The truth can hurt sometimes, but by taking charge of the fact that you are creating your own experience, you can finally take control of what you are inviting into your experience. Without the Gift of Responsibility, people do not realize that they are the creators of their own experience, and live their lives reacting to the things around them.
To consciously create your life with responsibility, act, don’t react. You may have heard that one of the definitions of insanity is performing the same action over and over yet expecting different results. When someone reacts to what is happening around them without realizing that their attention to these things are just drawing more of the same to them, they see the same things, good or bad, repeat themselves over and over again in their lives.
Using the Gift of Responsibility means that you may have to go through a period of change where you admit that you were causing negative or painful experiences to happen to you because of your thoughts and actions. This can be hard, because we do not want to take responsibility for our lives. We want to blame others for what is happening to us. But nothing “just happens” to us, we create our own lives through our thoughts, words, actions and beliefs.
The fear inside of us has been in control for too long. Freedom is given to those who are aware of what the fear makes them do. Fear is like a parasite inside of you, and it feels very threatened by the idea of freedom and of living with conscious awareness. This internal parasite feeds off of drama, judgments, negative emotions and off of your fear of change. If it can’t get these things out of you, it will have you “attack” other people with your thoughts, words, body language, and even with your physical body to get the energy it needs to survive. Be aware of this fear parasite as you learn and grow in wisdom and experience.
If you can become aware of how fear uses you to feed itself, you can overcome it by simply being aware. When you become aware of the choices that fear is trying to make for you, you have taken responsibility for yourself, and are one step closer to being completely free.
The cause of our problems is not outside of us. We do not need to wait for anyone or anything to happen to change our lives. The beginning of change always lies within us. By taking full and complete responsibility for both the roots and the fruits in our lives, we will change our lives for the better. To change the fruits you must change the roots. If you want your life to change and if you want less to complain about, you are going to need to change how you think.
Awareness is the first step to creating change.
When you allow others to be responsible for themselves, you free yourself to work on you. No need to worry about controlling others, their choices will always be theirs, no matter how much you try to scheme about how to make them do what you want. There is more than one way to be on this Earth, and who are you to tell other people how to live their lives?

They are responsible, so let them live their own adventure, and you will become more free to live yours.

“I will not surrender responsibility for my life and my actions


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Domestic violence

16:08 Feb 21 2018
Times Read: 2,546


Some of the signs of an abusive relationship include a partner who:

Tells you that you can never do anything right
Shows extreme jealousy of your friends and time spent away
Keeps you or discourages you from seeing friends or family members
Insults, demeans or shames you with put-downs
Controls every penny spent in the household
Takes your money or refuses to give you money for necessary expenses
Looks at you or acts in ways that scare you
Controls who you see, where you go, or what you do
Prevents you from making your own decisions
Tells you that you are a bad parent or threatens to harm or take away your children
Prevents you from working or attending school
Destroys your property or threatens to hurt or kill your pets
Intimidates you with guns, knives or other weapons
Pressures you to have sex when you don’t want to or do things sexually you’re not comfortable with
Pressures you to use drugs or alcohol

Explore the tabs below to learn some of the common warning signs of each type of abuse. Experiencing even one or two of these behaviors in a relationship is a red flag that abuse may be present. Remember, each type of abuse is serious, and no one deserves to experience abuse of any kind, for any reason.

You may be experiencing physical abuse if your partner has done or repeatedly does any of the following tactics of abuse:

Pulling your hair, punching, slapping, kicking, biting or choking you
Forbidding you from eating or sleeping
Hurting you with weapons
Preventing you from calling the police or seeking medical attention
Harming your children
Abandoning you in unfamiliar places
Driving recklessly or dangerously when you are in the car with them
Forcing you to use drugs or alcohol (especially if you’ve had a substance abuse problem in the past)
http://www.thehotline.org


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Here is a message to you guys

15:17 Feb 21 2018
Times Read: 2,551


Real vampires love Vampire Rave.

“When you begin to realize that your past does not necessarily dictate the outcome of your future, then you can release the hurt. It is impossible to inhale new air until you exhale the old.” T.D Jakes

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Cults use deception

12:35 Feb 21 2018
Times Read: 2,557


Cults rely on deception. Not many people would join them if they made their intentions known in the beginning. They also offer something exclusive, something that isn’t available to everyone. They use this as a carrot and it often includes rewards such as money (with greed driven cults) and religious salvation. But in order to receive this reward you need to follow their rules and do what they say.

Cults want you to believe that their organization is your only hope, that you cannot achieve your goals without them. They want you to believe that no other group is as successful or enlightened and that you can only solve your problems by following them. This way they always have a way to keep you under their control – if you want to leave you lose the chance to achieve your goal.


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Abuse of authority

11:35 Feb 21 2018
Times Read: 2,560


Abuse of authority, in the form of political corruption, is the use of legislated or otherwise authorized powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by private persons or corporations not directly involved with the government. An illegal act by an officeholder constitutes political corruption only if the act is directly related to their official duties.

Abuse of authority is separated from abuse of power in that the act is originally condoned, but is extended beyond that initially conceived and is in not all cases.


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Police brutality

11:30 Feb 21 2018
Times Read: 2,561


The term "police brutality" was in use in the American press as early as 1872, when the Chicago Tribune[2] reported on the beating of a civilian under arrest at the Harrison Street Police Station.

The origin of 'modern' policing based on the authority off the nation state is commonly traced back to developments in seventeenth and 18th century France, with modern police departments being established in most nations by the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Cases of police brutality appear to have been frequent then, with "the routine bludgeoning of citizens by patrolmen armed with nightsticks or blackjacks".[3] Large-scale incidents of brutality were associated with labor strikes, such as the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Pullman Strike of 1894, the Lawrence textile strike of 1912, the Ludlow massacre of 1914, the Steel strike of 1919, and the Hanapepe massacre of 1924.

Portions of the populations may perceive the police to be oppressors. In addition, there is a perception that victims of police brutality often belonging to relatively powerless groups, such as minorities, the disabled, the young, and the poor.[4]

Hubert Locke writes,

When used in print or as the battle cry in a black power rally, police brutality can by implication cover a number of practices, from calling a citizen by his or her first name to a death by a policeman's bullet. What the average citizen thinks of when he hears the term, however, is something midway between these two occurrences, something more akin to what the police profession knows as "alley court"—the wanton vicious beating of a person in custody, usually while handcuffed, and usually taking place somewhere between the scene of the arrest and the station house.[5]

In March 1991, members of the Los Angeles Police Department harshly beat an African American suspect, Rodney King, while a white civilian videotaped the incident, leading to extensive media coverage and criminal charges against several of the officers involved. In April 1992, hours after the four police officers involved were acquitted at trial, the Los Angeles riots of 1992 commenced, causing 53 deaths, 2,383 injuries, more than 7,000 fires, damage to 3,100 businesses, and nearly $1 billion in financial losses. After facing federal trial, two of the four officers were convicted and received 32 months prison sentence. The case was widely seen as a key factor in the reform of the Los Angeles Police Department.

According to data released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (2011), between 2003 and 2009 at least 4,813 people died in the process of being arrested by local police. Of the deaths classified as law enforcement homicides, 2,876 deaths occurred of which 1,643 or 57.1% of the people who died were "people of color".[6]


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Cyberbullying

07:45 Feb 21 2018
Times Read: 2,574


Cyberbullying is using information and communication technologies to deliberately and repeatedly behave in a manner intended to harass, threaten, humiliate or harm others.

Though laws vary by state, cyberbullying behavior can rapidly tip over into criminal offenses and contacting law enforcement may be a needed step in stopping the behavior. Many tweens and teens have been shocked to discover their actions constitute a crime and that they will have to bear the full consequences within the legal system.

Physical threats of harm should be reported to police immediately.

If physical threats have not been made, here are some things to consider as you prepare to create the best possible outcome for your child or teen.

Victims of cyberbullying are in a vulnerable state, so how you respond to your child and your decision to report the incident to law enforcement are likely to be significant factors in either making the problem stop, or worsening the situation.

Your first task is to listen to your child without judgment, blame, or attempting to jump in and ’solve’ it. Gently ask questions to discover how long the cyberbullying has been going on, the names of those involved (if known), and the forms of cyberbullying used. If there is evidence of the cyberbullying – saved text messages, posts, websites, etc. – have your child show these to you and save these for documentation should it be needed.

You also need to ask your child to be entirely honest with you about any forms of retaliation they make have taken. Hopefully they have done nothing to retaliate, but often kids and teens lash out and this significantly complicates matters. Let them know that the truth will come out when their cyberbully is confronted, and they will be in far worse shape if they haven’t been transparent about their own behavior. If there is evidence of their actions, document these as well.

Acknowledge your child’s pain. Recognizing your child’s pain and hearing you affirm that what happened wasn’t fair or right is important validation. Being cyberbullied is alienating enough; do nothing that makes your child feel any more isolated. Bullying hurts and that hurt is exhibited many forms — anger, embarrassment, betrayal, frustration, confusion, fear, and reprisal. Help them see that bullies’ actions are not a result of a fault within your child, but a fault within the bully.

If your child or teen retaliated with their own cyberbullying, you also need to include a full discussion about the inappropriateness of their behavior and what the consequences will be. The assertion that "the other kid started it" is irrelevant. Your child cannot blame their choices and behavior on anyone else, and must be held accountable. If they want justice for what was done to them, they need to expect the same yardstick to be applied to any cyberbullying they committed.

Once you understand the scope of the problem, and how your child feels, assess what help your child may need.

Help your child take preventative measures online to block cyberbullies from contacting them, and report cyberbullies to the service providers where the cyberbullying occurred. Responsible sites should take immediate action against cyberbullying incidents.

If your son or daughter experienced cyberbullying, chances are high that the negative fallout has spilled over into their school experience – whether or not the cyberbullying actually occurred while your child or their abuser(s) were on school grounds. This may mean that in addition to contacting law enforcement, you may also want to contact your child’s school. Depending on the severity of the cyberbullying, and whether the bully goes to the same school or not, reporting to the school may be the first step you take.

Don’t wait to see if the cyberbullying goes away; take immediate steps to address the issue. Your child needs to know that you can and will help them with this problem. Ideally you are already informed of your state’s cyberbullying laws, but it’s more likely that you have a vague idea there are laws but have little to no idea what they are. This isn’t a problem; you can go online to find the laws, ask your child’s school resource officer (the police person assigned to work in the school) or ask at your local law enforcement office for help. One excellent online resource is the National Conference of State Legislatures website’s comparison of cyberbullying and cyberharassment laws, but you should also be able to find this on your state’s website, or request this information by emailing one of your elected officials.

When inquiring your about cyberbullying laws, bear in mind that awareness of recent cyberbullying laws may not have trickled down to all officers and you may need to ask them to look this up. Then ask what steps are taken when cyberbullying is reported, how well other cyberbullying victims have been protected, and what steps are taken to ensure the cyberbullying doesn’t escalate.

Law enforcement officers should be very open and supportive in their answers and you should feel free to ask the questions you need in order to determine whether you feel comfortable about reporting the incident. If your questions aren’t met with open understanding, or you believe your local law enforcement will not handle the issue well, step back and reconsider your options. The last thing a cyberbullying victim needs is for the problem to get worse.

Next, discuss what you learned about the laws and procedures with your child or teen and chart out the best course of action. Cyberbullying robs victims of their sense of control, but by including your child in the process of resolving the issue you help them regain that control.

If your child is guilty of retaliation cyberbullying be particularly mindful as you weigh your course of action. Courts are likely to apply the law to both bullies – the instigator and your child the responder.

If reporting the incident to law enforcement is the best course of action, you can now move forward in reporting and documenting the incident(s) following the guidelines you received from law enforcement officers in your previous conversation.

Simultaneously, you may want to help your child or teen increase the strength of their friendships to reduce the feeling of isolation victims often experience. Depending on how deeply the cyberbullying has impacted your child, you may also choose to set up appointments with the school’s counselor or ask the school’s counselor for names of therapists who have expertise in working through the effects of the cyberbullying.

Help your child take preventative measures online to block cyberbullies from contacting them, and report cyberbullies to the service providers where the cyberbullying occurred. Responsible sites should take immediate action against cyberbullying incidents.

Provided by Linda Criddle


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Online harassment

07:35 Feb 21 2018
Times Read: 2,576


Is online harassment a crime?

Cyberstalking is the use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk or harass an individual, group, or organization. It may include false accusations, defamation, slander and libel. ... Cyberstalking is a criminal offense under various state anti-stalking, slander and harassment laws.


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Harassment

07:28 Feb 21 2018
Times Read: 2,578


"Harassment" is legally defined as repeated, unwanted contact. Harassment does not have to be threatening to be "harassing."


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Fake persons

07:24 Feb 21 2018
Times Read: 2,579


One thing that tends to be said about the people behind fake online personalities is that the perpetrator must be somehow "damaged" or mentally ill. But according to psychologists, it's not that simple – there are lots of reasons someone might feel the need to be someone else on the internet.

Dr Chris Fullwood, a cyberpsychologist at the University of Wolverhampton, told BuzzFeed News that by creating a false identity, some people are trying to narrow the gap between their imagined ideal self and how they actually see themselves.

And in an era in which young people are obsessed with taking selfies, we have an increasingly fluid concept of our own identity.

"The contemporary notion of self is that we don't have a single stable self," he says. "We have different selves that relate to different environments and different individuals. In the online world these boundaries become more difficult to navigate."

So for a generation who have a slightly tweaked version of their personality for different platforms and situations – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, private WhatsApp groups, Snapchat, text messages, real-life interactions – perhaps it's understandable that people make the leap to making significant changes to their persona, or even inventing new ones.

"[On Facebook] you create one profile and then everybody in your network sees you," Fullwood says. "But if I went to dinner with my friends or my parents I might act in a different way to reflect those different relationships. On Facebook I can't do that. I have to present a single unitary self, and that can create all sorts of problems."

Those "problems" might mean someone seeking to be something they're not to escape the shackles of their normal, ordinary self.

Catfishing is an extension of stalking, which is increasingly becoming normalised online.

One study found that 88% of people spy on their exes on social media after a break-up through looking at their pictures and status updates, sometimes via a mutual friend.

As Dr Emma Short, a psychologist at the University of Bedfordshire, told BuzzFeed News, this behaviour is increasingly normalised these days – it's sometimes referred to as "creeping". But previous generations would have been shocked that it's possible to covertly spy on other lives.

"In years gone by that kind of behaviour would have been called surveillance or stalking," Short says. "People joke about having stalkers on Facebook but it is actually the same behaviour. It's about a fixation that stops you moving through life. I'm not saying it's always a bad thing, it's just something you observe.

"You lose no social currency though it because no one sees it – you don't have to account for your behaviour."

In many catfishing cases, the person running the fake account spends a lot of time before and during the hoax observing the real account they're stealing from – and nobody knows.

Another reasons people catfish is because they can: Anyone can find and download pictures from Facebook, Instagram, or anywhere else, in seconds. The Facebook generation is the first to be able to create a believable fake identity in the time it takes to make a cup of tea.

But why then do people fall for it time after time?

Our Leah Palmer piece reported how a man left his girlfriend for a women who didn't exist. A popular response in the comments underneath was, "How didn't he know?"

But there are real reasons why we choose to see what we wantto see when it comes to meeting people online.

"If someone presents to us an intact, detailed identity, we immediately trust it," says Short. "That's because if we recognise just the outline of the individual – online or in the real world – we assume that that is real, with no verification. So identity equals trust, even if it's not real. If someone looks like a person, we think they are a person."

She explains that it got a lot to do with instinct: "It's partially an evolutionary default. We're social creatures, that's just what we do: We see a pattern that looks like an individual and we think it must be a real person."

Unconscious social cues tell us what we want to know about someone depending on what we want, says Short. So if we're looking for a friend, colleague, or a lover, we're predisposed to find people who fit the bill.

Even if there are details missing or there's something suspicious – for example, someone's webcam is always broken, or their career seems sketchy – human brains are happy to fill in the blanks.

"Just as we stereotype people in the physical world and immediately make judgments, I think the same thing is happening online," Short says. "We look at profiles and fill in the gaps – you do the dot-to-dot and make all sorts of assumptions about who this person is.

"This is happening very, very fast and we're not switched on to the fact that verification is very poor [online]. In the physical world, people lie but at least you know it's them in front of you. You just don't know that in an online relationship."


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Narcissistic sociopath

07:17 Feb 21 2018
Times Read: 2,583


 TANYA J. Peterson
Traits of a Narcissistic Sociopath

How do you spot a sociopathic narcissist? Watch for certain traits:

A driven quest for power. If a narcissistic sociopath cares about anything other than himself, it is destructive power and control over people.Behaviors that seek love and admiration. To be sure, this isn't needy love. It's not even emotional love. It's superficial. A narcissistic sociopath sees love and admiration as power tools to manipulate and dominate (Do Sociopaths Even Have Feelings?).No apologies, no guilt, no remorse under any circumstance. A sociopathic narcissist believes that she is a gift to the world who makes it richer and more colorful. Therefore, her calculated, even cruel actions are always justified.Invincibility. The narcissistic variety of sociopath believes he is indomitable. Even punishment and prison can't stop him. They're merely part of the game.Wholly self-serving. The needs and wants of others are insignificant and undeserving of consideration.Act as the producer, director, and only actor of his own show. The narcissistic sociopath casts people in roles that increase his power and sense of importance and when bored, casts them aside.


M.E. Thomas is a self-proclaimed sociopath whose memoir (2013) screams narcissism throughout, writes matter-of-factly, "Ruining people is delicious."
Beware the narcissistic sociopath.


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con artists

18:42 Feb 20 2018
Times Read: 2,587


It doesn't matter if someone's brilliant and worldly or stupid and naive — everyone's susceptible to con artists.

In her book "The Confidence Game," writer and psychologist Maria Konnikova dissects the psychology of the con, and she finds that while everyone is potential prey, there are signals the ideal victim gives off.

"There's one thing in particular that makes anyone, intelligent or not, a good victim," she told Business Insider. "And that isn't a personality trait. It's not a demographic trait. It's a situational kind of thing: Where are you at this point in your life? People who are going through life transitions become more emotionally vulnerable and con artists can spot that."

These can be negative: The victim can be experiencing the sadness of a divorce, getting fired, or the death of a loved one. These can be positive: The victim can be experiencing the joy of a new marriage, a job promotion, or the birth of a child. What's common among all these is that they are periods of upheaval.

Con artists, as predators, love to pounce on these opportunities of emotional vulnerability.

During these periods, "we become a little bit uncomfortable because humans don't really like uncertainty and ambiguity," Konnikova said. "We like things to kind of be meaningful. Everyone really wants black and white answers. It's really hard to deal with when everything is kind of shifting around you."

"Con artists can spot that and they can take advantage of it because what they sell is meaning and certainty. They're going to tell you the story that makes sense, that actually makes you say, 'Ok, now I have something that makes sense in this particular moment in my life.'"

Konnikova explained that, unfortunately, it's incredibly difficult to tell when you're getting scammed. The best advice she can give is to try to look at yourself in the third person, to counsel yourself as you would a friend.

If you're feeling emotionally vulnerable, due to either a high or a low, it's best to be aware of opportunities that come your way during this time. If you placed your friend in your shoes and observed yourself, would you say, "Maybe this might not be the best idea?"

"And if that would be your advice to someone else, then maybe you should take it yourself," Konnikova said.


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so true

13:53 Feb 20 2018
Times Read: 2,598


Within lies fact and fancy, truth and metaphor. Discriminate with care
Copyright © 1989-2017 Temple of the Vampire - All Rights Reserved 


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something to know

11:48 Feb 20 2018
Times Read: 2,609


Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned


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here you go

07:25 Feb 20 2018
Times Read: 2,638


A must read. What you post will stay there forever. Be careful what you post..it will haunt you

Real vampires love Vampire Rave.


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LadyMinde
LadyMinde
09:03 Feb 20 2018

I agree





 

04:56 Feb 20 2018
Times Read: 2,645


How can jealousy be a reason why a person may be angry at you?
This person feels insecure about the way that (they think) that you are threatening to take what they believe belongs to them e.g. it could be an object, relationship partner, status, feeling of trust etc. Or they mistakenly believe that you should be more compliant with their needs.

To reduce that threat (insecurity), they attack you to ward off/protect their object, relationship, status, feeling of security etc.

In the analysis of the situation, there may be many mistaken assumptions about cause and effect e.g. they suffer with major insecurity and/or anger issues and this is creating an aggressive reaction; in their high expectations and helplessness they are holding you responsible for protecting their insecurity (mistaken blame); you aren’t trying to take anything away from them - you are just doing what you do; what they perceive they “own” doesn’t belong to them (if you are their partner, you belong to you); they are mistaking the perceived threat as a “real” threat (if you are their partner and are talking to people, your partner thinks that you are flirting, and they are aggressively trying to control/stop this); in their insecurity they are overly possessive and controlling, and trying to keep you “in chains” etc.

Not sure if this is a relationship issue or another issue: Jealousy in relationships Cardiff

Chat to them about their insecurity and the way forward for the relationship (if it is a relationship issue). They need to address their insecurity by dealing with past betrayal so that they can trust you.


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many cam

16:49 Feb 19 2018
Times Read: 2,656


Romance Scammers Now Using Fake Webcam Footage to Deceive Victims
By Joe Tracy | February 22, 2012 | 6
A new online romance scam uses fake Webcam footage to get new victims...Save(Press Release – February 23, 2012) A new evolution in romance scams is about to create tens of thousands of new victims. Online Dating Magazine reports that scammers are now using fake Webcam footage to deceive victims.

Here’s how it works:

First, the scammer spends weeks inside Webcam chat rooms recording footage of an unsuspecting person on different days. The person being recorded doesn’t know they are communicating with a scammer.

The scammer then tries to deceptively obtain photos of the unsuspecting person by email. The scammer may also find photos on Facebook or via online searches.

Finally, armed with photos and multiple days of Webcam footage of the unsuspecting person, the scammer creates a fake online dating profile to lure victims.



“Up until now scams would consist of communication via an online dating service followed by emails and phone calls,” says Joe Tracy, publisher of Online Dating Magazine at www.onlinedatingmagazine.com. “Now scammers can initiate fake Webcam chats with you to further make you believe the lie. They have full control over the footage. They can pause it, make it jump to a point where the person is laughing, type when the person is typing, etc. It comes off as very realistic and impressive.”

Tracy says that this new scam is creating two types of victims: the person being scammed, and the person who was recorded by Webcam and doesn’t realize their footage is being used in scams.

Imagine a guy named Andrew having a Webcam chat with someone he believes is a 28-year-old traveling businesswoman. The scammer memorizes the illicit video and bookmarks, in advance, certain parts of the video for quick access. So Andrew may see a woman in the Webcam typing while the scammer types, “Andrew, look at this new dress I got today.” The video of the woman in the Webcam then stands up to show off the dress. There’s now no doubt in Andrew’s mind that the person he is chatting with is real when in reality it is someone completely different. It’s possible to have a Webcam chat with the “person” on 18 different occasions and they are wearing 18 different outfits. That’s how elaborate this new scam has become.

Tracy warns that the scam can be taken further, with scammers using recorded Webcam sessions of their victim to scam someone else after they’ve gotten the victim’s money.

“This has taken the romance scam to an entirely new level,” says Tracy. “Word needs to get out quickly to warn people about this new development.”

Tracy says that the best way to test whether you are Webcam chatting with a scammer is to innocently ask them to do something and see if they react. For example, type, “What’s that crawling on the wall behind you?” If the person “pauses” or doesn’t look, then that’s a major red flag. When asked to do something they don’t have footage recorded of, scammers will pause the Webcam video and attribute it to a communication problem while answering your question in the chat window.

Online Dating Magazine is asking people to help spread the word about this new scam. Online romance scams are the most successful of all online scams, costing victims worldwide hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

“Some of these scam organizations are making more money that the big online dating services,” says Tracy. “It’s important to warn people so that they don’t fall prey to these elaborate schemes.”

About Online Dating Magazine
Online Dating Magazine is a free online publication and watchdog group for online daters and singles. The publication was launched in 2003 and has served millions of online daters since then with tips, reviews, warnings, and experiences. You can visit Online Dating Magazine at https://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com

Online Dating Magazine is also on Twitter (onlinedatingweb), YouTube (onlinedatingweb), Facebook (onlinedatingmagazine) and Pinterest (onlinedating).

About Online Dating Safety Awareness Month
Online Dating Safety Awareness Month was first launched by Online Dating Magazine in 2011 and occurs every February. During this time, sites are encouraged to publish information that educates online daters and singles on how to have a safe and fun online dating experience.


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Lying online

15:23 Feb 19 2018
Times Read: 2,663


How to Tell if Someone is Lying to You Online

Studies show we are bad lie detectors, but a few clues can help


Most of us are horrible lie detectors in face-to-face interaction, and we're even worse when it comes to knowing if someone is lying online. New research suggests, however, that there are certain linguistic signals we can look for to determine if someone is trying to hoodwink us.

The research focused on online dating, an arena rife with deception from men and women alike. Using personal descriptions written for Internet dating profiles, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Cornell University have identified reliable clues as to whether the author was being deceptive.

article continues after advertisement
The researchers compared the actual height, weight and age of 78 online daters to their profile information and photos on four matchmaking websites. A linguistic analysis of the group's written self-descriptions revealed patterns in the liars' writing.

Here are a few examples:

The more deceptive a dater's profile, the less likely they were to use the first-person pronoun "I." Liars do this because they want to distance themselves from their deceptive statements.
Liars often used negation, a flip of the language that would restate "happy" as "not sad" or "exciting" as "not boring."
Liars tended to write shorter self-descriptions in their profiles—a hedge against weaving a more tangled web of deception. The less they write, the fewer untrue things they have to remember and explain later.
Daters who had lied about their age, height or weight or had included a photo the researchers found to be inaccurate, were likely to avoid discussing their appearance in their written descriptions, choosing instead to talk about work or life achievements.
Using indicators like those above allowed the researchers to correctly identify liars 65% of the time—a significantly higher percentage than what the typical person is capable of, which according to previous studies is usually well below 50%.

What research like this is leading to are programs that analyze verbiage online in a variety of scenarios to determine who is lying (or, in the case of dating sites, who is lying the most, since about 80% of participants lie to some degree).

article continues after advertisement
By the way, if you're wondering what people lied about the most, it was their weight. No surprise there. According to the study, women tended to misrepresent their weight by an average of 8.5 pounds and men by around 1.5 pounds. Half of the participants also lied about their height, and nearly 20 percent changed their age.

The study was published in the February issue of the Journal of Communication.

www.whatmakesyourbrainhappy.com


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Electric people

14:27 Feb 19 2018
Times Read: 2,667


We all know that EVERYTHING IS ENERGY, right?

Many people do not realize their super charged energy can cause electronic and electric appliances interferences. Really?
Yes!!! And I want to admit I am one of those people.

Sometimes really WEIRD things happen when I am super excited, charged, loaded with a lot of energy, even when I am super happy or upset, when while asleep or when in the presence of people with high energetic vibrations.

Yooohoooo!!!

Let me tell you, it can be frustrating, it can get annoying if this type of energy runs for way long, so it is good practice to get centered, grounded, breath deeply, say a prayer and make peace with these energies, so your energies won’t act up and cause electronic interferences.

Blessings,

Lilly Natures Blessings

Sliders: People Who Cause Strange Electrical Phenomena
http://www.muse-net.com/march1504.html

Despite the name, Sliders phenomena are not limited to street lights only. Often folks who share your “ability” can’t wear watches; they will stop working within a couple of days, regardless of how many new batteries are put in them.

They also affect other electrical appliances such as headlights and alternators in automotive vehicles, lights/light bulbs and computers. Light bulbs may blow every time a “SLIder” touches a lamp or a light switch.
Computers may freeze up or experience other problems. CD players may change tracks suddenly whenever a SLIder is near. Magnetic phenomena may also manifest. For example, SLIders may be unable to use credit cards because the cards become unreadable after they’ve been carried on their person. Your irregular EKG is probably your energy causing the equipment to malfunction.

Those who share these experiences are usually relieved to hear that they are not alone. Most spent years questioning what was happening, until eventually they were convinced that something unusual was going on. Like you, all independently report that high emotion plays a key role in such experiences. When they are upset, angry or simply very excited, the phenomena really kick in.

Super-charged bioenergy fields (auras) seem to be the cause. The human nervous system is chemical and electrical in nature. (Neurotransmitters are electrical impulses). When we are emotionally wound up, our nervous systems light up like a busy switchboard. While in most people this does not affect street lights, etc., in people who already have very high energy, getting revved up can boost them to a level where they actually affect electrical systems around them in noticeable ways. Many electrical appliances are easily affected or damaged by sparks of high voltage electricity. We might say that high energy people who are revved up send off “sparks” that trip or blow fuses.

As for what causes this, the theories vary. On the down to earth side of the spectrum, theorists suggest that these phenomena are entirely explainable in bioenergetic terms, though why some people seem to have higher energy than others, no one knows. As I see it, everything is related, so it’s impossible to explain anything on a purely physical level.


Everything in the universe is energy. Everything that appears to be solid is in fact almost entirely empty space with patterns of energy running through it. Our bodies vibrate at a frequency of approximately 8 cycles per second, which is the same frequency as the Earth’s electromagnetic field. Should our frequency become abnormally high or low, unusual things might begin to happen such as what you describe.

This shift in frequency could have a number of different causes. Many who have had near death experiences report SLIder phenomena ever after. Other SLIders have been struck by lightning or suffered a major electrical shock at some point in the past. Still others claim to have had UFO or alien experiences. Some theorists claim that humans who have lived on other planets in previous lives will be born on Earth with different energy and abilities, including what you’re describing here. For more information, search the ‘net for “star seed,” “Indigo children,” or “Indigo adults.” In any case, it appears that something alters SLIders’ energetic frequencies, thus causing unusual electrical phenomena.

It’s important to note that electrical phenomena following the death of a loved one or following attempts at communication with loved ones in Spirit are often efforts by spirits to get our attention. Just as our own energy can affect electrical systems, so can the energy of spirits. In fact, working with non-physical energy/electricity is the easiest way for them to affect physical reality. Not all anomalous electrical manifestations are SLIder situations.

At the same time, many “electric people” also report a high degree of psychic ability or related experiences. This only makes sense, since “high energy” means “high vibration,” which is the foundation of psychic development. These people not only “transmit” their own energy to other electrical systems, they also “receive” energy from them. They are very sensitive to high energy environments and situations, often painfully so. For example, they may “feel” discomfort if a fluorescent light is on anywhere in the house. As Vick Noble explains it in Shakti Woman, “Whereas it seems that the skin is the boundary of the person in ‘normal’ reality, when that same person opens psychically, the boundary expands. The person feels herself extending out beyond the body, taking up more space, feeling things in an extrasensory way. What we took for granted as a kind of density in the physical realm is suddenly called into question on every level.”

I believe that spiritual “awakening” is the development of heightened awareness of all that is already there. Most people are sleepwalking through life, filtering out all but the most obvious stimuli. When we awaken, we become more aware not only of dense physical reality, but also the subtler energetic reality underlying (and creating) the physical. As we begin to move into this higher level of awareness, we become energetically supercharged and sensitive. In traditional spiritual terms, this might be called a “kundalini experience.” (There’s another good search term for you). Many who experience a surge in kundalini include electrical phenomena in their list of “symptoms.”

As we are ever evolving on an upward spiral, it’s a good idea to learn how to work with your high energy. Since this phenomenon is closely tied to high emotion, one way to try to control it is to simply be calm. Before you go to the chiropractor, spend some time in meditation or yoga cultivating inner peace. If you worry that the machine won’t work again, you’ll only get emotionally revved up and produce the same experience again.

There are many gifts in having a high vibration. I encourage you to research further, and to explore how you might use your “electric personality” in helpful, positive ways.

– Julia


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00:57 Feb 19 2018
Times Read: 2,684


Remotely Keylogging (How Hackers Are Stealing Passwords and Sensitive Information)



If, I found who is trying to send me a trojan horse. I will report you to the police.


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crazy hackers

00:45 Feb 19 2018
Times Read: 2,688


It doesn't make sense ,why people are trying to hack into other people profiles on here. It doesn't make sense. This is just a website not your life.
Stop sending Trojan horses, and keyloggin software to people accounts.
You can go to jail for hacking.


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scam artist

16:20 Feb 18 2018
Times Read: 2,699


scam artist caught


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Is not a cult

21:53 Feb 17 2018
Times Read: 2,715


"Strigoi VII is not a cult and does not encourage you to discard important interpersonal relationship. However we are encouraging you to surround yourself with people who bring vibrancy and joy to your life, who augment your talents, provide perspective, and edify you. Surrender yourself with those who love you and love life"
Vampyre Sanguinomicon, The Lexicon of the living Vampire-father Sebastiaan

Cultwatch


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life lessons from 100 year old

19:38 Feb 17 2018
Times Read: 2,720


Life Lessons From 100-Year-Olds



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tracking your phone

14:21 Feb 17 2018
Times Read: 2,734


Find Out Who’s Tracking You Through Your Phone


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14:08 Feb 17 2018
Times Read: 2,737


how hackers can access webcams


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Ordained

13:52 Feb 17 2018
Times Read: 2,745


How to be ordained online

Your wedding really only needs three things: you, the person you are head over heels in love with and the perfect person to marry you. Many couples have their church ministers officiate their marriage, but don’t fret if that’s just not your style. Nowadays, aunts, uncles, friends, and siblings are uniting couples in holy matrimony more often because it’s another way to get the most important people in your life together involved in your union. If you want a loved one or a close friend as your wedding officiant, but he or she isn’t ordained, here’s what you need to know to make that happen. You and your soon-to-be-minister will be pleasantly surprised at how ridiculously easy and inexpensive it is to become a wedding officiant. Sign, sealed, delivered.

The Basics

If your friend or loved one is genuinely wishing to become a legit minister (i.e. start a congregation), then getting ordained online is probably not the best option. In fact, some states (and countries) do not recognize online ordinations, so a more traditional route of attending a seminary or obtaining a degree in theology or ministry is a much better option for the minister-hopeful. On the other hand, if the person is simply wants to act as your wedding officiant for the big day, then getting ordained online is the perfect option.

(Note: If your friend will be required to become ordained under a different religion to officiate your wedding, then have your friend verify with his/her clergy/church as to whether or not it is permitted, because some religions consider this grounds for excommunication.)

Getting Ordained Online

Becoming an ordained wedding officiant online is almost embarrassingly easy.

Grab a device that connects to the Internet (e.g. a smartphone or a computer)Go to an online non-denominational ministry’s website, such as The Universal Life Church Ministries or Open Ministry.Click on “Get Ordained” or something to that effect.Fill out the form.Pay the nominal online ordination fee, if any. (Most are free of charge but accept donations.)Check your email for confirmation.

Depending on what ministry ordains you, you may have to wait up to two weeks to receive your official documents as an ordained minister, so allot enough time for that process. It is highly suggested that your minister verify with the county clerk to ensure that his or her appointment is recognized and legal before the wedding day. If he or she is turned down by the county clerk, it is advised that your friend or loved one contact the ministry that gave the ordination for further guidance.

Becoming a wedding officiant is a piece of cake, really — weirdly easy, if you think about it. Now your wedding will be complete with all the fixings for an absolutely perfect day, including that special someone to have the power invested in them to pronounce you, husband and wife!

Taken from website @ withjoy dot com


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Navy seal

07:43 Feb 17 2018
Times Read: 2,755


Navy Seal motto

Real vampires love Vampire Rave.


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navy seal

07:13 Feb 17 2018
Times Read: 2,758


Navy SEAL Motivation


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conan o brian

03:09 Feb 17 2018
Times Read: 2,770


Conan O'Brien Gets Ordained


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beat a bully

02:31 Feb 17 2018
Times Read: 2,775


2 Tricks - How to BEAT a BULLY everytime


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02:08 Feb 17 2018
Times Read: 2,778


5 Ways to Disarm Toxic People


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01:57 Feb 17 2018
Times Read: 2,780


What is Defamation, Slander, & Libel - Quick Lessons -


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01:45 Feb 17 2018
Times Read: 2,783


So You Wanna Be A Cop Huh?


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you want to be a counselor

01:14 Feb 17 2018
Times Read: 2,803


So you want to be a counselor?


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stop abusing women

17:25 Feb 16 2018
Times Read: 2,826


It doesn't make you a man, to hit women.and children.
When I was stationed in Korea, some fat slob was hiting a women, so I did the best Thing I knocked his front tooth out.
Yeah I'm a short Italian man, but I can fight the best of them.
It's dishonorable and bad character to hit and abuse women.
I think real men need to put a stop to this behavior.


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private investigator

16:59 Feb 16 2018
Times Read: 2,831


Steps for Becoming a Private Investigator

While in most jurisdictions, there is no formal education requirement to become a private investigator, a degree in criminal justice may be beneficial. In fact, O*Net reports that most private investigators need a bachelor’s degree to be hired, though many jobs only require a high school diploma or equivalent.1 Former law enforcement officers sometimes take the experience they’ve gained in law enforcement and parlay it into a new career as a PI. Other aspiring PIs enter the profession after earning a college degree. Most states require private investigators to obtain a license to practice and some cities also have mandatory licensing for PIs. Only Alaska, Idaho, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Wyoming do not currently require PIs to obtain a license to practice, according to Professional Investigator Magazine. Aspiring private detectives must be at least 18 years old (21 in select jurisdictions) and generally must have no criminal record. To become a private investigator, you can expect steps similar to these:

Attend a degree program and/or gain experience in a related field.*Obtain a license from the state in which you plan to work.Obtain a concealed weapons license**.Interview with a private investigation agency.Be fingerprinted and submit to a background check.Get hired as a private investigator.Receive training on the job once hired.

*While it is not mandatory to obtain a degree or to gain experience in the field, both these steps can help prospective private investigators be more hirable.
**Check with your state for more details. If you plan to carry a weapon, you must apply for this license.

Please note that a degree cannot guarantee employment or career advancement. Additional academy training or education may be required for law enforcement jobs.

Private Investigator Job Training

Many private investigators learn the ins and outs of the business by training on the job. Aspiring private detectives may find entry-level positions within a private investigative service and learn from more seasoned PIs.

Other Helpful Skills and Experience

Successful private eyes possess common sense, sound judgment, and the ability to make decisions quickly. Aspiring investigators with previous law enforcement experience may find that experience beneficial when looking for employment. Former members of the military, actors, paralegals, photographers, and librarians may also find their experience advantageous when starting a career as an investigator. Professional investigators who specialize in specific areas may find it advantageous to obtain professional certification. A PI who works predominantly within the criminal defense specialization, for example, can earn certification through the National Association of Legal Investigators.

This is taken from @ criminal justice degree website


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Bully

15:38 Feb 16 2018
Times Read: 2,861


I remember when I was 8 years old, I was walking home from school. I was stoped by an older boy who was 11 years old. He was a jerk. He told me he was going to kick my butt cause I didn't give him my shoes. When he said that I ran has fast has I could. I finally was home until my mom came out.
She told me I got two options. I could get a spanking or I could fight my bully. Me being afraid of my mother choice to face my bully.
I learned that day my bully was all talk. I fought him off and my mom was proud.


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Deadbeat

14:46 Feb 16 2018
Times Read: 2,874


Must-See Video: Kids Confront their Deadbeat Dad -- Dr. Phil



Deadbeat dads are a stain on today society. A real man takes care of his kids. My dad was a pathetic deadbeat who run off with some chick. My mother worked hard and tried raise the six of us. My deadbeat father didn't even pay child support. His chick was more important then the six of us.


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Private investigator

14:44 Feb 16 2018
Times Read: 2,875


Expert Private Investigator Shares Tips On Finding People's Deep Secrets


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Disney sued

14:33 Feb 16 2018
Times Read: 2,875


Disney Owes $240M for Stealing Ideas

By ABC NEWS

O R L A N D O, Fla., Aug. 11


The Walt Disney Company stole ideas for a sports complex from two businessmen and should pay $240 million in damages, a six-member jury ruled today.

Nicholas Stracick, Edward Russell and their company, All Pro Sports Camps, accused Disney of fraud, theft of trade secrets, breaking an implied contract and breaching a confidential relationship. (Disney is the parent company of ABCNEWS.com.)

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Disney executives denied using anybody else’s ideas for the Wide World of Sports complex, the spring training home of the Atlanta Braves, at Walt Disney World.

“Disney is an honorable company,” Louis Meisinger, the company’s general counsel, said Wednesday outside court. “We don’t steal other people’s ideas.”

Defining the Scope The judge severely limited the scope of what jurors could consider by adopting jury instructions that said the architecture, site plan and business plan for the sports complex were not copied from All Pro and could not be considered.

All Pro claimed 88 similarities between its plans and the Disney complex and documented more than 200 telephone calls with Disney executives.

Stracick, a retired baseball umpire from Buffalo, N.Y., and Russell, an architect from Fonthill, Ontario, testified they pitched their idea for a sports complex to Disney officials in the late 1980s.

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Four years after Disney officials rejected their plans in 1989, the company announced it would build a $100 million complex. It opened in 1997.

One alternate juror, dismissed from the case before deliberations began because he wasn’t needed on the jury, said he would have decided against Disney and awarded the full request of $1.4 billion in damages to teach the entertainment giant a lesson.

Jimmy Johnson Jr., a 35-year-old truck driver, questioned the testimony of Disney executives, particularly architect Wing Chao, who claimed they knew nothing of Stracick and Russell’s plans. Johnson said Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner appeared evasive in his videotaped deposition played in the five-week trial.

“I found most of the Disney executives to be less than forthcoming,” Johnson said.


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14:18 Feb 16 2018
Times Read: 2,876


"All of the following are considered plagiarism:

turning in someone else's work as your own
copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not (see our section on "fair use" rules)

Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided, however, by citing sources. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source is usually enough to prevent plagiarism. See our section on citation for more information on how to cite sources properly.
What about images, videos, and music?

Using an image, video or piece of music in a work you have produced without receiving proper permission or providing appropriate citation is plagiarism. The following activities are very common in today’s society. Despite their popularity, they still count as plagiarism.

Copying media (especially images) from other websites to paste them into your own papers or websites.
Making a video using footage from others’ videos or using copyrighted music as part of the soundtrack.
Performing another person’s copyrighted music (i.e., playing a cover).
Composing a piece of music that borrows heavily from another composition.

Certainly, these media pose situations in which it can be challenging to determine whether or not the copyrights of a work are being violated. For example:

A photograph or scan of a copyrighted image (for example: using a photograph of a book cover to represent that book on one’s website)
Recording audio or video in which copyrighted music or video is playing in the background.
Re-creating a visual work in the same medium. (for example: shooting a photograph that uses the same composition and subject matter as someone else’s photograph)
Re-creating a visual work in a different medium (for example: making a painting that closely resembles another person’s photograph).
Re-mixing or altering copyrighted images, video or audio, even if done so in an original way.

The legality of these situations, and others, would be dependent upon the intent and context within which they are produced. The two safest approaches to take in regards to these situations is: 1) Avoid them altogether or 2) Confirm the works’ usage permissions and cite them properly"

Taken from p dot com.


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911 calling

11:32 Feb 16 2018
Times Read: 2,880


Thanks mom.

911 Calling by IndianaJoan

This took place when I was about 10 years old. My mom had rather quickly filed for divorce, but she only had a part-time job and made very little money, so finding a place to stay that was affordable and available immediately was tough. A friend of hers told her that she and her husband had a little mobile home that was currently sitting empty and we could rent it practically for free ‘til we figured out something else.

I immediately didn’t like the house. Part of this I’m sure was due to my parents’ abrupt divorce and having my life turned upside down, but it was also just the house itself. We lived in a mountain town, and this mobile home was way up a steep mile-long driveway. Beautiful pine trees surrounded it, but the house itself looked abandoned and out of place. It had two bedrooms and two bathrooms, so my brother and I shared a room and my mom took the bedroom with the attached bathroom. It was a very ‘70s home, with wood paneling and dated fixtures. There were also areas that showed strange damage, like holes in the wall that were badly patched up. For whatever reason, I immediately refused to use the hallway bathroom. I wouldn’t even step into it. My mom never really asked me why or questioned it, but let me use her bathroom.

Anyway, my mom was gone a lot trying to find whatever work she could, so I would be home alone a lot after school and on the weekends. Each time I received the 911 call, I was by myself.

My mom always told us not to answer the door, but we should always answer the phone in case it was her. So when the phone rang one afternoon, I figured it would be my mom since no one else really had our number yet. There was a woman on the phone who sounded very concerned.

“Hello, this is 911, returning your call. We received your call, but we got disconnected,” the woman said.

I immediately got a sick feeling. I told her that I did not call 911, and she asked me if there was anyone else in the house who might have called. I said I was home alone, but I started to get really worried that maybe I wasn’t. She said she would dispatch police to our address just to make sure everything was okay.

At that point, I was terrified to be in the house, so I sat outside and nervously waited for the police, who showed up in about 15-20 minutes. The officer asked me if I had called 911, and I said “no,” but they claimed I had called them. The officer just sort of shrugged, and said, “This kind of thing sometimes happens. They say that it can’t, that the numbers can’t get mixed up, but it happens.” He did a cursory glance around the outside of the house and left.

I tried to convince myself that the officer was right. It was just a mixed-up phone call, and hopefully whoever did actually call got the help they needed.

About a month later, the same thing happened. I got another phone call from 911, saying they had received a phone call from my number. I told them again that it must have been a mistake. The woman on the phone scolded me a bit, telling me that 911 wasn’t something to play around with and I was preventing people from getting help. She didn’t dispatch any police this time. Again, I was really worried someone was in the house, so I cautiously checked and made sure all the doors were still locked.

I don’t know why, but I always kept the hallway bathroom door closed. Maybe because of the eerie feeling I got from it. As I was checking the house, I just knew someone was in that bathroom. I was terrified. Part of me felt like I needed to open the door to check, maybe to prove myself wrong, but I was too afraid. So I just sat in the living room, watching that door. It was so quiet in the house, that after a few minutes I swore I started to hear faint little sounds coming from inside, like a kind of shuffling noise. I asked my mom to check the bathroom when she got home and she quickly looked inside. She made me come and look to see that it was empty and I was letting my imagination get the better of me.

The 911 calls happened three more times over the coming months, and only when I was home alone. The fourth time the dispatcher told me I could face criminal charges for what I was doing and they would contact my parents. I hung up the phone sobbing and terrified. I had that feeling like someone was in the house again, but if I called 911, they probably wouldn’t even show up. I felt like the girl who cried wolf, only it wasn’t me. It was like someone was playing a horrible, twisted joke on me. I sat and watched the bathroom door again, hearing noises like someone dragging their fingers across the door.

I decided my mom was right, and I was probably just letting my imagination get away. I decided to try and leave the bathroom door open so I wouldn’t get so freaked out by the thought that someone was in there. Then I got the fifth 911 call. This time though, after I hung up the phone with the dispatcher, the bathroom door slammed shut.

I ran. I ran all the way down our steep driveway and found a place to wait till my mom pulled into the drive. When she arrived, she was angry with me for leaving the house, but she saw how upset I was. I think maybe she thought I was acting out due to the stress of the divorce. I refused to be alone in the house again though, so we worked it out so I would stay later at school or go to a nearby friend’s house till she got off work. Not long after this, we got a notice from my mom’s friend that we needed to move out of the house because she her mom needed a place to stay. I was so grateful to be moving out. I told my mom she needed to tell her friend that someone was wrong with the house, but my mom thought that was a ridiculous way to pay back someone’s generosity.

I moved around a lot the next few years and tried to forget about that house. It wasn’t until I was older that I really thought about it. I witnessed an accident and had to call 911 and the fear and paranoia all came flooding back. I decided to do some research, which honestly, I wish I had never done. A few years before we moved in, a woman was killed in that house in some kind of “domestic dispute.” It was days, though, before she was found, shut up in the bathroom.


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funny amazon review

23:30 Feb 15 2018
Times Read: 2,892


funnies amazon reviews


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Obstacles in our path

12:45 Feb 15 2018
Times Read: 2,916


Obstacles In Our Path

By Sunny Skyz • February 12, 2018

There once was a very wealthy and curious king. This king had a huge boulder placed in the middle of a road. Then he hid nearby to see if anyone would try to remove the gigantic rock from the road.

The first people to pass by were some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers. Rather than moving it, they simply walked around it. A few loudly blamed the King for not maintaining the roads. Not one of them tried to move the boulder.

Finally, a peasant came along. His arms were full of vegetables. When he got near the boulder, rather than simply walking around it as the others had, the peasant put down his load and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. It took a lot of effort but he finally succeeded.

The peasant gathered up his load and was ready to go on his way when he saw a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The peasant opened the purse. The purse was stuffed full of gold coins and a note from the king. The king’s note said the purse’s gold was a reward for moving the boulder from the road.

The king showed the peasant what many of us never understand: every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.


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11:39 Feb 15 2018
Times Read: 2,925


Parapsychology is a field of study concerned with the investigation of paranormal and psychic phenomena which include telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, reincarnation, apparitional experiences, and other paranormal claims. It is identified as pseudoscience by a majority of mainstream scientists.[1][2]

Parapsychology research is largely conducted by private institutions in several countries and funded through private donations,[3] and the subject rarely appears in mainstream science journals. Most papers about parapsychology are published in a small number of niche journals.[4] Parapsychology has been criticised for continuing investigation despite being unable to provide convincing evidence for the existence of any psychic phenomena after more than a century of research.[

The definition is from the Wikipedia


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paranormal investigator

11:05 Feb 15 2018
Times Read: 2,930


There are many organizations and groups that offer training for paranormal investigators and most of these are suspect. If you are looking for a good paranormal investigation training program look at organizations with a long history of involvement in paranormal research like ASSAP. Also look for programs that emphasize critical thinking, analysis and investigation methods. Many programs just teach about different theories for paranormal phenomena and while this may be interesting, it isn’t really useful for paranormal investigators. 

And of course there is nothing to stop you from educating yourself. Read books, articles and magazines. Take college classes in related topics and become a competent investigator. Focus on topics like the history of paranormal research, learn about significant cases, learn about the logical fallacies, the The scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning." class="glossaryLink " style="color: rgb(221, 84, 36); text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted;">scientific method, heuristics like Occam's razor (also written as Ockham's razor and in Latin lex parsimoniae) is a problem-solving principle devised by William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347). It states that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. Other, more complicated solutions may ultimately prove correct, but—in the absence of certainty—the fewer assumptions that are made, the better." class="glossaryLink " style="color: rgb(221, 84, 36); text-decoration: none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted;">Occam’s Razor, critical thinking and analysis and investigative techniques. Taking classes in crime scene evidence collection and forensics can be very helpful. 

And of course you could always volunteer here with the Paranormal Analyst. There is plenty of research and investigation to do! Far more than I can keep up with alone. 

Cryptozoologist

Like paranormal investigators there are no official certificates or degree programs in cryptozoology. However many in the field have degrees in zoology, biology or related fields. There are few groups that study cryptozoology. Most cryptozoologists work alone and collaborate on certain projects or share insight on common websites. The best way to get started in this field is get a degree, network with existing cryptozoologists and start investigating! 

Parapsychologist

Parapsychology is the study of paranormal phenomena and is the only path that offers degree programs. In other words if you are serious about the study of paranormal phenomena and want to make a career out of it, parapsychology is typically the best path. Becoming a parapsychologist is a long journey. You’ll spend many years in college and graduate school. Typically you should get your undergraduate degree in psychology from a reputable university then enroll in one of the few parapsychology doctoral programs.

Unfortunately, as a career, the field of parapsychology is limited. Grants are very small and only a few universities and institutions in the world support the research. You can see some of them here (scroll down to the parapsychology section). 

The work is an uphill battle. Parapsychologists face constant criticism of their work from the rest of the scientific community. Much of your work will not be accepted by mainstream science and you will have to constantly defend your work. If you want to work as a part of the scientific community at large and do not enjoy being an outcast this field is not for you. 

If you are serious about this career path pay close attention to a university’s accreditation. Make sure the institution is reputable and you are not wasting your time and money. Here is some more articles related to parapsychology:


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10:15 Feb 15 2018
Times Read: 2,938


How to Become a Paranormal Investigator

How to Become a Paranormal Investigator. So you are fascinated by ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the night and you always wanted to hunt ghosts, track Big Foot or spy the Loch Ness monster. Maybe becoming a paranormal investigator is just the thing for you. Here are some tips to get you started.



Do your homework. Read everything you can on ghosts, poltergeists, UFO sightings and any other kind of paranormal activity. Study the investigations of these phenomena to get a sense of how paranormal investigators approach their work. Learn the lingo and the different types of paranormal activity that may be encountered in an investigation.

Join a local paranormal investigation group. Check out The Shadowlands website or the Ghostvillage website for information on groups in your area. If there are no groups in your area, consider attending a conference out of town or even starting your own group.

Take a class. Many organizations now offer courses in paranormal investigation. Flamel College and the International Ghost Hunters Society both offer courses you can complete from the comfort of your own home.

Invest in some equipment. At a minimum, a respectable paranormal investigator needs a camera, a notebook, a tape recording device and a flashlight. More experienced paranormal investigators invest in EMF detectors or meters which pick up disturbances in electric and magnetic fields.

Start investigating. Go to a site where paranormal activity has been witnessed or recorded and have some fun. Use the techniques you learned from your books or class and perform your own investigation. The best way to become a paranormal investigator is through real life experience.
Warning

Don't quit your day job. Paranormal investigation can be a fun hobby but there are very few people that can make any kind of living out of it. Be realistic and enjoy your new hobby while maintaining a job that can actually pay the bills.


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paranormal investigator

10:02 Feb 15 2018
Times Read: 2,943


Paranormal investigators from Virginia, United States:

3:33AM Paranormal

3:33 Am Paranormal Research is a team of professional men and women devoted to helping families and individuals experiencing negative and hostile hauntings. We do handle demonic cases, however we do not do exorcisms. Our team members have backgrounds in areas such as military, law enforcement, logis...

Bedford Paranormal

Bedford Paranormal was founded in 2006 by Alan May. We were origionally called Bedford Ghost Investigation Group, but changed our name in 2007 to include everything paranomal. We are a collection of people that have different levels of belief and outlooks. We will be looking at our investigations wi...

HAUNT

We are a paranormal research team from southwest Virginia. We have investigated many places big and small in several states. We have many specialties, as well as access to any type of specialist we might need. We have many years of experience on our team, some of our investigators have been in this ...

Knight Time Paranormal

Knight Time Paranormal was formed in early 2013 by Dan Cormany and Mike Slein. We started very small and used only what we ahd on our cell phones to collect evidence. Our big break (for lack of a better term) was investigating Gettysburg. From there, we took off. Today we consist of the following 7 ...

Seven Hills Paranormal Society

Seven Hills Paranormal Society (SHPS) was founded in 2006 as a paranormal research group serving Lynchburg, Southside and Southwest VA, as well as eastern parts of West Virginia and Tennessee. Since our inception, our members have investigated claims of paranormal activity throughout the US, and...

Supernatural Investigators of Virginia

We are a group of volunteer paranormal investigators. We have traveled Virginia and into West Virginia at the request of home and business owners. We have lectured at high school science clubs and at museums. We use science, intuition, and intelligence to give our clients answers on what we belie...

The Ghost Writers

Pursuing the Paranormal. Investigators and chroniclers of the paranormal. Who we are: The Ghost Writers (GW) is a team of investigators, researchers, and chroniclers of the paranormal, based out of southwest Virginia, who utilize established research methodology while in the field. Each team...

Unsolved Mysteries and Unknown Sightings

Hello, I'm Gary Foutz Founder of Unsolved Mysteries and Unknown Sightings. We are in the Research of the Paranormal, Cryptozoology, and Ufology. Our Mission is to help as many as we can at no charge to get some kind of answer for there paranormal, or unknown animals activity or sightings and ...

Virginia Investigation of Paranormal Science

VIPS believe in a professional approach and the ability to set the standard in paranormal research. We incorporate common sense with original and innovative techniques, ideas and philosophies, along with attempting to "debunk" or find the"natural cause" of the claims of activity ...

Virginia Paranormal Investigations

Virginia Paranormal Investigations is a paranormal research group based in Hampton, Va. Our team was founded in 2009. We are dedicated to explaining the unexplained. We investigate anything paranormal to include private residences, urban legends, and historic sites. If you have experienced anything ...


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black veil

09:15 Feb 15 2018
Times Read: 2,976


The Black Veil: A Vampire’s Code of Conduct



Real vampires love Vampire Rave.

While researching real vampires – sanguinarian vampires, people who feed upon human blood; and psychic vampires, people who feed upon the energy of others – I came across a code of ethics, a guide of etiquette created for the greater vampire community for those that wish to follow it.

Originally written in 1997 by Father Sebastian as a code of conduct for patrons of the vampyre haven Long Black Veil in New York City, the code has been altered a few times since then. In 2000 Michelle Belanger, a member of COVICA (the Council of Vampyric International Community Affairs), revised and evolved the Black Veil, gaining the code mass popularity around the world. In 2002 Michelle Belanger, with the input of Father Sebastian and others, presented the BV 2.0.

Below are the 13 principles for modern vampires to follow, if they so choose, the text is by no means a set of rules one must follow, it is also not a set of instructions on how to be a vampire.

From Sanguinarius.org:

1. DISCRETION
This lifestyle is private and sacred. Respect it as such. Do not make a sideshow of yourself. We do not have to prove ourselves to anyone. Appearing on public TV to tell the world that you drink blood is useless attention-getting. It gets a negative reaction for the whole community. Our place is in the shadows; our greatest protection from small-minded humanity is the fact that they do not believe we exist. Someday they may be ready for us to reveal ourselves to them, but that time is not now.

Do not hide from your nature, but never show it off to those who won’t understand.

2. DIVERSITY
Our paths are many, even though the journey we are on is essentially the same. No single one of us has all the answers to who and what we are. Respect everyone’s personal views and practices. We cannot let petty differences of ideology prevent us from maintaining a unified community; there are enough who would attack us from the outside.

Our diversity is our strength. Let our differences in viewpoint enrich us but never divide us amongst ourselves.

3. SAFETY
Use sense when indulging your nature. Do not flaunt what you are in public places. Feed in private and make certain your donors will be discrete about what happens between you. Donors who create rumors and gossip about us are more harm than they’re worth. If you engage in blood-letting, put safety and caution above all other things. Blood-born diseases are a very real thing, and we cannot risk endangering ourselves or others through irresponsibility. Screen donors carefully, making certain they are in good health both mentally and physically.

Never overindulge or get careless. The safety of the entire community rests upon each member’s caution.

4. CONTROL
We cannot and should not deny the darkness within. Yet we should not allow it to control us. If our beast or shadow or darkside is given too much sway, it clouds our judgement, making us a danger even to those we love. Never indulge in pointless violence. Never bring willful harm to those who sustain you. Never feed only for the sake of feeding, and never give over to mindless bloodlust.

We are not monsters: we are capable of rational thought and self-control. Celebrate the darkness and let it empower you, but never let it enslave your will.

5. LIFESTYLE
Live your life as an example to others in the community. We are privileged to be what we are, but power should be accompanied by responsibility and dignity. Explore and make use of your vampire nature, but keep it in balance with material demands. Remember: we may be vampires, but we are still a part of this world. We must live lives like everyone else here: holding jobs, keeping homes, and getting along with our neighbors.

Being what we are is not an excuse to not participate in this reality. Rather, it is an obligation to make it a better place for us to be.

6. FAMILY
We are, all of us, a family, and like all families, various members will not always get along. However, respect the greater community when having your disputes. Do not let your individual problems bring emotional strife to the family as a whole. Settle your differences quietly among one another, only seeking out an elder’s aid in mediation when no other solution seems possible. Never bring your private disputes into public places and never draw other family members into the issue by forcing them to take sides.

Like any normal family, we should always make an effort to present a stable and unified face to the rest of the world even when things are not perfect between us.

7. HAVENS
Our havens are safeplaces where everyone in the community can come to socialize. There are also often public places where we are likely to encounter people who don’t understand our ways. We should respect the patrons of these places as we should also respect the owners of the establishments and always be discrete in our behavior. We should never bring private disputes into a haven. We should never initiate violence in a haven. And we should never do or bring anything illegal into a haven, as this reflects badly upon the community as a whole.

The haven is the hub of the whole community, and we should respect it as such, supporting it without business and working to improve its name in the community so that we can always call it home.

8. TERRITORY
The community is extensive and diverse. Every city has a different way of doing things, and a different hierarchy of rule. When entering a new city, you should familiarize yourself with the local community. Seek out the local havens. Learn what households have sway here. Get in touch with key members of the community, learn who is who, and show proper respect where it is due. You should not expect to impose your old way of doing things on this new community. Rather you should adapt to their rules and be glad of their acceptance.

Always be on your best behavior when coming to a new city either to visit or to stay. We are all cautious and territorial by nature, and only by making the most positive impression possible will you be accepted and respected in a new community.

9. RESPONSIBILITY
This lifestyle is not for everyone. Take care in who you choose to bring into it. Those who are mentally or emotionally unstable have no place among us. They are dangerous and unreliable and may betray us in the future. Make certain that those you choose to bring in are mature enough for this burden. Teach them control and discretion, and make certain that they respect our ways.

You will be responsible for their actions, and their behavior in the community will be reflected back to you.

10. ELDERS
There are certain members of our community who have established themselves as just and responsible leaders. These are the people who helped establish local communities, who organize havens, and who work to coordinate the networking of our culture. While their word does not have to be law, they should nevertheless be respected. They have greater experience than many others, and usually greater wisdom. Seek these elders out to settle your disputes, to give you guidance and instruction, and to help you establish yourself in the local community.

Appreciate the elders for all they have given you: if it was not for their dedication, the community would not exist as it does now.

11. DONORS
Without those who offer themselves body and soul to us, we would be nothing. We cannot be other than what we are, but it is the donors who sustain our nature. For this service, they should be respected. Never mistreat your donors, physically or emotionally. They are not to be manipulated or leeched off of for more than what they freely offer. Never take them for granted. Appreciate them for the companionship and acceptance which they offer us, which so many others would refuse. This above all: appreciate the gift of their life. That communion is sacred. Never fail to treat it as such.

12. LEADERSHIP
When you choose to take a position of authority in the community, remember that you do not lead for yourself alone. Leadership is a responsibility, not a privilege. A good leader must set an example for everyone through his actions and behavior. His motives should be selfless and pure, and he should put the interests of the whole community before his own.

The best leaders are those who serve to better the community and whose person and behavior gives no one — even those outside of the community — a reason to criticize them. They must strive to be above reproach.

13. IDEALS
Being a vampire is not just about feeding upon life. That is what we do, but not necessarily what we are. It is our place to represent darkness in a world blinded by light. We are about being different and accepting that difference as something that empowers us and makes us unique. We are about accepting the dark within ourselves and embracing that darkness to make us whole beings. We are about celebrating the thresholds: body and spirit, pleasure and pain, death and life.

Our lives should be lived as a message to the world about the beauty of accepting the whole self, of living without guilt and without shame, and celebrating the unique and beautiful essence of every single soul.

For more information on the Black Veil, as well as about real vampires, I highly suggest visiting www.sanguinarius.org.

– Moonlight
https://www.vampires.com/the-black-veil-a-vampires-code-of-conduct/


COMMENTS

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determination and Persistence

08:57 Feb 15 2018
Times Read: 2,990


Real vampires love Vampire Rave.

Determination and Persistence

by Stephen on November 16, 2009

in Education, Inspirational Stories, Moral Stories

This is a real life story of engineer John Roebling building the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, USA back in 1870. The bridge was completed in 1883, after 13 years.

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was also injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to talk or walk.

“We told them so.” “Crazy men and their crazy dreams.” “It’s foolish to chase wild visions.”

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built.

In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever. He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task.

As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife’s arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man’s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.

COMMENTS

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frog story

07:47 Feb 15 2018
Times Read: 3,025


Real vampires love Vampire Rave.
A group of frogs were traveling through the forest when two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that there was no hope left for them.

However, the two frogs ignored their comrades and proceeded to try to jump out of the pit. However, despite their efforts, the group of frogs at the top of the pit were still saying that they should just give up as they’d never make it out.

Eventually, one of the frogs took heed of what the others were saying and he gave up, jumping even deeper to his death. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the group of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and to just die.

He ignored them, and jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?”

The frog explained to them that he was deaf, and that he thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

Moral of the story: People’s words can have a huge effect on the lives of others. Therefore, you should think about what you’re going to say before it comes out of your mouth – it might just be the difference between life and death.

COMMENTS

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healing

16:14 Feb 14 2018
Times Read: 3,043


Healing the Shame of Childhood Abuse Through Self-Compassion
The Compassion Cure
Posted Jan 15, 2015
“Shame is the lie someone told you about yourself.”

Anais Nin (attributed)

Several months ago I wrote a blog on how self-compassion can heal the shame of childhood wounds and I received many queries about shame and self-compassion from Psychology Today readers. I’m happy to announce that my book, "It Wasn’t Your Fault: Freeing Yourself of the Shame of Childhood Abuse with the Power of Self-Compassion," has just been published (New Harbinger). I’d like to address some of your queries and share some of the major ideas in the book with you here.

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If you were a victim of childhood abuse or neglect, you know about shame. You have likely been plagued by it all your life without identifying it as shame. You may feel shame because you blame yourself for the abuse itself (“My father wouldn’t have hit me if I had minded him”), or because you felt such humiliation at having been abused (“I feel like such a wimp for not defending myself”). While those who were sexually abused tend to suffer from the most shame, those who suffered from physical, verbal, or emotional abuse blame themselves as well. In the case of child sexual abuse, no matter how many times you have heard the words “It’s not your fault,” the chances are high that you still blame yourself in some way—for being submissive, for not telling someone and having the abuse continue, for “enticing” the abuser with your behavior or dress, or because you felt some physical pleasure.

In the case of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse, you may blame yourself for “not listening” and thus making your parent or other caretaker so angry that he or she yelled at you or hit you. Children tend to blame the neglect and abuse they experience on themselves, in essence saying to themselves, “My mother is treating me like this because I’ve been bad,” or, “I am being neglected because I am unlovable.” As an adult you may have continued this kind of rationalization, putting up with poor treatment by others because you believe you brought it on yourself. Conversely, when good things happen to you, you may actually become uncomfortable, because you feel so unworthy.

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Former victims of child abuse are typically changed by the experience, not only because they were traumatized, but because they feel a loss of innocence and dignity and they carry forward a heavy burden of shame. Emotional, physical, and sexual child abuse can so overwhelm a victim with shame that it actually comes to define the person, keeping her from her full potential. It can cause a victim both to remain fixed at the age he was at the time of his victimization and to repeat the abuse over and over in his lifetime.

You may also have a great deal of shame due to the exposure of the abuse. If you reported the abuse to someone, you may blame yourself for the consequences of your outcry—your parents divorcing, your molester going to jail, your family going to court.

And there is the shame you may feel about your behavior that was a consequence of the abuse. Former victims of childhood abuse tend to feel a great deal of shame for things they did as children as a result of the abuse. For example, perhaps unable to express their anger at an abuser, they may have taken their hurt and anger out on those who were smaller or weaker than themselves, such as younger siblings. They may have become bullies at school, been belligerent toward authority figures, or started stealing, taking drugs, or otherwise acting out against society. In the case of sexual abuse, former victims may have continued the cycle of abuse by introducing younger children to sex.

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You may also feel shame because of things you have done as an adult to hurt yourself and others, such as abusing alcohol or drugs, becoming sexually promiscuous, or breaking the law, not realizing that these types of behavior were a result of the abuse you suffered.

Unbeknownst to them, adults who were abused as children often express the overwhelming shame they feel by pushing away those who try to be good to them; by sabotaging their success; by becoming emotionally or physically abusive to their partners; or by continuing a pattern of being abused or subjecting their own children to witnessing abuse. Former abuse victims may repeat the cycle of abuse by emotionally, physically, or sexually abusing their own children, or may abandon their children because they can’t take care of them.

Shame can affect literally every aspect of a former victim’s life, from your self-confidence, self-esteem, and body image to your ability to relate to others, navigate intimate relationships, and be a good parent to your work performance, ability to be learn new things, and ability to care for yourself. Shame is responsible for myriad personal problems, including: self-criticism and self-blame; self-neglect; self-destructive behaviors (such as abusing your body with food, alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes, self-mutilation, or being accident-prone); perfectionism (based on fear of being caught in a mistake); believing you don’t deserve good things; believing if others really knew you they would dislike or be disgusted by you (commonly known as the “imposter syndrome”); people-pleasing and co-dependent behavior; tending to be critical of others (trying to give shame away); intense rage (frequent physical fights or road rage); and acting out against society (breaking rules or laws).

Shame from childhood abuse almost always manifests itself in one or more of these ways:

o It causes former abuse victims to abuse themselves with critical self-talk, alcohol or drug abuse, destructive eating patterns, and/or other forms of self-harm. Two-thirds of people in treatment for drug abuse reported being abused or neglected as children (Swon 1998).

o It causes former abuse victims to develop victim-like behavior, whereby they expect and accept unacceptable, abusive behavior from others. As many as 90 percent of women in battered women’s shelters report having been abused or neglected as children (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2013).

o It causes abuse victims to become abusive. About 30 percent of abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2013).

The truth is that for most former victims of childhood abuse, shame is likely one of the worst effects of the abuse. Unless you heal this pervasive shame you will likely continue to suffer from its effects throughout your lifetime.

Facing the problems that shame has created in your life can be daunting. You may be overwhelmed with the problem of how to heal the shame caused by the childhood abuse you experienced. The good news is that there is a way to heal your shame so that you can begin to see the world through different eyes—eyes not clouded by the perception that you are “less than,” inadequate, damaged, worthless, or unlovable.

The Healing Power of Self-Compassion

Like a poison, toxic shame needs to be neutralized by another substance—an antidote—if the patient is to be saved. Compassion is the only thing that can counteract the isolating, stigmatizing, debilitating poison of shame.

Many of you may be aware of the writings of Alice Miller. Miller believes that what victims of childhood abuse need most is what she called a “compassionate witness” to validate their experiences and support them through their pain (Miller 1984). For many years I have personally experienced how healing my being a compassionate witness is for my clients, as well as how transformative my having a compassionate therapist had been for me.

In recent years, many others, including major researchers have taken up the subject of compassion. Their work has revealed, among other insights, that the kindness, support, encouragement, and compassion of others have a huge impact on how our brains, bodies, and general sense of well-being develop. Love and kindness, especially in early life, even affect how some of our genes are expressed (Gilbert 2009, Cozolino 2007).

The Research on Self-Compassion

By studying much of the research on compassion, I discovered that while I had come to understand the healing powers of compassion, I hadn’t truly recognized the importance of self-compassion—extending compassion to oneself in instances of perceived inadequacy, failure, or general suffering—in the treatment of psychotherapy clients, particularly former victims of child abuse. In 2003, Kristin Neff published the first two articles defining and measuring self-compassion (Neff 2003a, Neff 2003b); before this, the subject of self-compassion had never been formally studied. There have since been over two hundred journal articles and dissertations on self-compassion.

One of the most consistent findings in this research literature is that greater self-compassion is linked to less psychopathology (Barnard and Curry 2011). And a recent meta-analysis showed self-compassion to have a positive effect on depression, anxiety, and stress across twenty studies (MacBeth and Gumley 2012).

Self-compassion also appears to facilitate resilience by moderating people’s reactions to negative events—trauma in particular. Gilbert and Procter (2001) suggest that self-compassion provides emotional resilience because it deactivates the threat system. And it has been found that abused individuals with higher levels of self-compassion are better able to cope with upsetting events (Vettese et al. 2011).

There is also evidence that self-compassion helps people diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In one study of college students who showed PTSD symptoms after experiencing a traumatic event such as an accident or life-threatening illness, those with more self-compassion showed less severe symptoms than those who lacked self-compassion. In particular, they were less likely to display signs of emotional avoidance and more comfortable facing the thoughts, feelings, and sensations associated with the trauma they experienced (Thompson and Waltz 2008).

Finally, in addition to self-compassion being a key factor in helping those who were traumatized in childhood, it turns out that self-compassion is the missing key to alleviating shame. Confirming what I knew from my extensive work with former victims of child abuse, research shows that traumatized individuals feel significant levels of shame and/or guilt (Jonsson and Segesten 2004). Shame has been recognized as a major component of a range of mental health problems and proneness to aggression (Gilbert 1997, Gilbert 2003, Gilligan 2003, Tangney and Dearing 2002). And it has been found that decreases in anxiety, shame, and guilt and increases in the willingness to express sadness, anger, and closeness were associated with higher levels of self-compassion (Germer and Neff 2013).

One clinician, Paul Gilbert, author of "The Compassionate Mind," found that self-compassion helped to alleviate both shame and self-judgment. A study of the effectiveness of Gilbert’s Compassionate Mind Training (CMT), a group-based therapy model that works specifically with shame, guilt, and self-blame, found that the training resulted in significant reductions in depression, self-attacking, feelings of inferiority, and shame (Gilbert and Procter 2006).

In addition, research suggests that self-compassion can act as an antidote to self-criticism—a major characteristic of those who experience intense shame (Gilbert and Miles 2000). Self-compassion is a powerful trigger for the release of oxytocin, the hormone that increases feelings of trust, calm, safety, generosity, and connectedness. Self-criticism has a very different effect on our bodies. The amygdala, the oldest part of the brain, is designed to quickly detect threats in the environment. These trigger the fight-or-flight response—the amygdala sends signals that increase blood pressure, adrenaline, and cortisol, mobilizing the strength and energy needed to confront or avoid the threat. Although this system was designed by evolution to deal with physical attacks, it is activated just as readily by emotional attacks—from ourselves and others. Over time, increased cortisol levels deplete neurotransmitters involved in the ability to experience pleasure, leading to depression (Gilbert 2005).

Neurological evidence also shows that self-kindness (a major component of self-compassion) and self-criticism operate quite differently in terms of brain function. A recent study examined reactions to personal failure using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) technology. While in a brain scanner, participants were presented with hypothetical situations such as “A third job rejection letter in a row arrives in the post.” They were then told to imagine reacting to the situation in either a kind or a self-critical way. Self-criticism was associated with activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex and dorsal anterior cingulate—areas of the brain associated with error processing and problem solving. Being kind and reassuring toward oneself was associated with left temporal pole and insula activation—areas of the brain associated with positive emotions and compassion (Longe et al. 2009). As Kristin Neff (2011) aptly stated, “Instead of seeing ourselves as a problem to be fixed…self-kindness allows us to see ourselves as valuable human beings who are worthy of care.”

Of particular interest to me was recent research in the neurobiology of compassion as it relates to shame—namely that we now know some of the neurobiological correlates of feeling unlovable and how shame gets stuck in our neural circuitry. Moreover, and most crucially of all, due to our brains’ capacity to grow new neurons and new synaptic connections, we can proactively repair (and re-pair) old shame memories with new experiences of self-empathy and self-compassion.

In light of my research, I determined that in addition to offering my clients compassion for their suffering, I needed to teach them how to practice self-compassion on an ongoing basis in order to heal the many layers of shame they experienced.

Combining what I learned about compassion and self-compassion with the wisdom I’ve gleaned from my many years of working with victims of childhood abuse, I created a program specifically aimed at helping those who experienced abuse become free of debilitating shame. My Compassion Cure program combines groundbreaking scientific research on self-compassion, compassion, shame, and restorative justice with real-life case examples (modified to protect the subjects’ anonymity). Its proprietary processes and exercises help abuse victims reduce or eliminate the shame that has weighed them down and kept them stuck in the past.

By learning to practice self-compassion, you will rid yourself of shame-based beliefs, such as you are worthless, defective, bad, or unlovable. Abuse victims often cope with these false yet powerful beliefs by trying to ignore them or convince themselves otherwise by puffing themselves up, overachieving, or becoming perfectionistic. These strategies take huge amounts of energy, and they are not effective. Rather, actively approaching, recognizing, validating, and understanding shame is the way to overcome it.

Debilitating Shame

“Shame is sickness of the soul.”

Silvan Tomkins

While many people suffer from shame, not everyone suffers from what is referred to as debilitating shame. Debilitating shame is shame that is so all consuming that it negatively affects every aspect of a person’s life—his perceptions of himself, his relationship with others, her ability to be intimate with a romantic partner, her ability to raise children in a healthy manner, his ability to risk and achieve success in his career, and her overall physical and emotional health. The following questionnaire will help you determine whether you suffer from debilitating shame.

Questionnaire: Do You Suffer from Debilitating Shame Due to Childhood Abuse?

1. Do you blame yourself for the abuse you experienced as a child?

2. Do you believe your parent (or other adult or older child) wouldn’t have abused you if you hadn’t pushed him or her into doing it?

3. Do you believe you were a difficult, stubborn, or selfish child who deserved the abuse you received?

4. Do you believe you made it difficult for your parents or others to love you?

5. Do you believe you were a disappointment to your parents or family?

6. Do you feel you are basically unlovable?

7. Do you have a powerful inner critic who finds fault with nearly everything you do?

8. Are you a perfectionist?

9. Do you believe you don’t deserve to be happy, loved, or successful?

10. Do you have a difficult time believing someone could love you?

11. Do you push away people who are good to you?

12. Are you afraid that if people really get to know you they won’t like or accept you? Do you feel like a fraud?

13. Do you believe that anyone who likes or loves you has something wrong with them?

14. Do you feel like a failure in life?

15. Do you hate yourself?

16. Do you feel ugly—inside and out?

17. Do you hate your body?

18. Do you believe that the only way someone can like you is if you do everything they want?

19. Are you a people pleaser?

20. Do you censor yourself when you talk to other people, always being careful not to offend them or hurt their feelings?

21. Do you feel like the only thing you have to offer is your sexuality?

22. Are you addicted to alcohol, drugs, sex, pornography, shopping, gambling, or stealing, or do you suffer from any other addiction?

23. Do you find it nearly impossible to admit when you are wrong or when you’ve made a mistake?

24. Do you feel bad about the way you’ve treated people?

25. Are you afraid of what you’re capable of doing?

26. Are you afraid of your tendency to be abusive—either verbally, emotionally, physically, or sexually?

27. Have you been in one or more relationships where you were abused either verbally, emotionally, physically, or sexually?

28. Did you or do you feel you deserved the abuse?

29. Do you always blame yourself if something goes wrong in a relationship?

30. Do you feel like it isn’t worth trying because you’ll only fail?

31. Do you sabotage your happiness, your relationships, or your success?

32. Are you self-destructive (engaging in acts of self-harm, driving recklessly, suicidal attempts, and so on)?

33. Do you feel inferior to or less than other people?

34. Do you often lie about your accomplishments or your history in order to make yourself look better in others’ eyes?

35. Do you neglect your body, your health, or your emotional needs (not eating right, not getting enough sleep, not taking care of your medical or dental needs)?

There isn’t any formal scoring for this questionnaire, but if you answered yes to many of these questions, you can be assured that you are suffering from debilitating shame. If you answered yes to just a few, it is still evident that you have an issue with shame.

Shame is Not a Singular Experience

Just as the source of shame can be all forms of abuse or neglect, shame is not just one feeling but many. It is a cluster of feelings and experiences. These can include:

Feelings of being humiliated. Abuse is always humiliating to the victim, but some types are more humiliating than others. Certainly, sexual abuse almost always has an element of humiliation to it, since it is a violation of very private body parts and since there is a knowing on the child’s part that incest and/or sex between a child and an adult is taboo. (These taboos hold in nearly every culture in the world.) If the abuse involves public exposure—for example, being chastised or physically punished in front of others, particularly peers—the element of humiliation can be quite profound.

Feelings of impotence. When a child realizes there is nothing he can do to stop the abuse, he feels powerless, helpless. This can also lead to his always feeling unsafe, even long after the abuse has stopped.

Feelings of being exposed. Abuse and the accompanying feelings of vulnerability and helplessness cause the child to feel self-conscious and exposed—seen in a painfully diminished way. The fact that he could not stop the abuse makes him feel weak and exposed both to himself and to anyone present.

Feelings of being defective or less-than. Most victims of abuse report feeling defective, damaged, or corrupted following the experience of being abused.

Feelings of alienation and isolation. What follows the trauma of abuse is the feeling of suddenly being different, less-than, damaged, or cast out. And while victims may long to talk to someone about their inner pain, they often feel immobilized, trapped, and alone in their shame.

Feelings of self-blame. Victims almost always blame themselves for being abused and being shamed. This is particularly true when abuse happens or begins in childhood.

Feelings of rage. Rage almost always follows having been shamed. It serves a much-needed self-protective function of both insulating the self against further exposure and actively keeping others away.

Fear, hurt, distress, or rage can also accompany or follow shame experiences as secondary reactions. For example, feeling exposed is often followed by fear of further exposure and further occurrences of shame. Rage protects the self against further exposure. And along with shame, a victim can feel intense hurt and distress from having been abused.

The following exercise can help you discover what your primary feeling experiences of shame are.

Exercise: Your Feeling Experience of Shame

While you may have experienced all the feelings listed above, you may resonate with some more than others. Think about each type of abuse that you suffered and the various feelings that accompanied it. Ask yourself which of the items listed above stand out to you the most for each type of abuse, or each experience of abuse. In my case, for example, when I think about the sexual abuse I suffered at age nine, I resonate most profoundly with defectiveness, isolation, self-blame, and rage.

Further Defining Self-Compassion

If compassion is the ability to feel and connect with the suffering of another human being, self-compassion is the ability to feel and connect with one’s own suffering. More specifically for our purposes, self-compassion is the act of extending compassion to one’s self in instances of perceived inadequacy, failure, or general suffering. If we are to be self-compassionate, we need to give ourselves the recognition, validation, and support we would offer a loved one who is suffering.

Kristin Neff, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, is the leading researcher in the growing field of self-compassion. In her book Self-Compassion (2011), she defines self-compassion as “being open to and moved by one’s own suffering, experiencing feelings of caring and kindness toward oneself, taking an understanding, nonjudgmental attitude toward one’s inadequacies and failures, and recognizing that one’s experience is part of the common human experience" (224).

Self-compassion encourages us to begin to treat ourselves and talk to ourselves with the same kindness, caring, and compassion we would show a good friend or a beloved child. Just as connecting with the suffering of others has been shown to comfort and heal, connecting with our own suffering will do the same. If you are able to feel compassion toward others, you can learn to feel it for yourself; the following exercise will show you how.

Exercise: Becoming Compassionate Toward Yourself

1. Think about the most compassionate person you have known—someone kind, understanding, and supportive of you. It may have been a teacher, a friend, a friend’s parent, a relative. Think about how this person conveyed his or her compassion toward you and how you felt in this person’s presence. Notice the feelings and sensations that come up with this memory. If you can’t think of someone in your life who has been compassionate toward you, think of a compassionate public figure, or even a fictional character from a book, film, or television.

2. Now imagine that you have the ability to become as compassionate toward yourself as this person has been toward you (or you imagine this person would be toward you). How would you treat yourself if you were feeling overwhelmed with sadness or shame? What kinds of words would you use to talk to yourself?

This is the goal of self-compassion: to treat yourself the same way the most compassionate person you know would treat you—to talk to yourself in the same loving, kind, supportive ways this compassionate person would talk to you.

The Benefits of Practicing Self-Compassion

By learning to practice self-compassion you will also be able to begin doing the following:

o Truly acknowledge the pain you suffered and in so doing, begin to heal

o Take in compassion from others

o Reconnect with yourself, including reconnecting with your emotions

o Gain an understanding as to why you have acted out in negative and/or unhealthy ways

o Stop blaming yourself for your victimization

o Forgive yourself for the ways you attempted to cope with the abuse

o Learn to be deeply kind toward yourself

o Create a nurturing inner voice to replace your critical inner voice

o Reconnect with others and become less isolated

I hope I have been able to convey to you how self-compassion can help heal you of your shame. But it is difficult to adequately explain this concept in one blog. In the coming weeks I will write more blogs about how shame can be healed with self-compassion and explain to you how you can go about becoming more self-compassionate. As you continue reading the blogs and practicing the exercises you will grow to more fully understand what a powerful healer compassion can be.

In the next blog I will discuss the various obstacles that get in our way of becoming more self-compassionate including: our belief that self-compassion is the same as “feeling sorry for ourselves,” the belief that self-compassion is selfish, and our need to forgive ourselves for past actions in order to believe we deserve self-compassion.


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Hi

16:08 Feb 14 2018
Times Read: 3,044


Happy Valentine's day everyone


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PRIVATE ENTRY

15:25 Feb 14 2018
Times Read: 3,046


• • • • PRIVATE JOURNAL ENTRY • • • •


 

Lilith mother all vampyres

13:00 Feb 14 2018
Times Read: 3,072


Cultures around the world carry tales of vampires, but not all fit the Dracula stereotype: an old count preying on young women. While that is terrible, it’s nothing in comparison to Lilith, the queen and mother of these creatures of the dark. A combination of disturbing monster and ultimate seductress, she sucked the blood of men and caused disease, miscarriages, sterility, erotic dreams and nightmares. She was also—if you watched True Blood then you already know!—the first vampire.

Though tales vary slightly, the most common account of Lilith’s life comes from Jewish folklore and the medieval tale The Alphabet of Ben Sira. The basic story goes like this: Lilith was Adam’s first wife, made at the same time and of the same dust as Adam. Because she saw herself on equal terms with Adam, she refused to take the submissive sexual position and cursed him when he refused to see her as an equal. So, she ran away to the Red Sea and began sleeping with demons and having 100 children a day (sheesh!).

To bring her back to Eden, God sent three angels with a message that he would kill her demon children if she didn’t return to Adam. Lilith chose option B: she cursed the angels and was banned from Paradise forever. Now God had a man without a wife, so he borrowed Adam’s rib and created Eve, which only enraged Lilith further. She declared war against mankind, promising to murder children, torment men and destroy women’s hopes for families.

So where does the vampire connection come into play? Well, Lilith’s goal was to seduce men in the night, steal their semen and produce more demon spawn. But she would also sometimes suck their blood to make herself stronger, killing her victims once she was done. And she’s immortal because she didn’t eat from the forbidden fruit of the Garden, unlike Adam and Eve.

Men believed that whenever they had nocturnal emissions, Lilith had visited them; sometimes monks would even sleep with their hands over their genitals while holding a crucifix in order to keep her away. Similarly, it was said that the three angels God sent to bring Lilith back to Adam made her promise to not touch anyone who had an amulet with their names on it. Pregnant mothers would often wear these amulets or place them on their newborn children—especially the boys—to shield them from Lilith’s clutches.

Unlike good ol’ Count Dracula who looks pretty human, Lilith is often depicted with wings, talons and sometimes even a lion’s head. In fact, it’s only within the last few hundred years artists have portrayed her as a beautiful woman. She’s also associated with owls, jackals, deserts, snakes and according to the Kabbalah, Lilith’s powers are strongest during the waning of the moon.


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funniest Amazon reviews

23:02 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,103


The funniest Amazon reviews

Real vampires love Vampire Rave.


Real vampires love Vampire Rave.


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XZenithX
XZenithX
23:47 Feb 13 2018

Lmao





 

funny story

21:41 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,111


USAF here....so country club rules apply. There was a guy who was genuinely worthless and for the life of me, I can't remember his name but for the story we'll call him Trainee Allen. But I recall at one point we were standing in formation doing a practice drill thing with marching and sh@t but Trainee Allen couldn't stand still. And after a barrage of screaming at him, The "Training Instructors" (TI's) told everybody to stay still for as long as they could. Sure enough, Trainee Allen went to pick his nose and the TI's went ballistic. Eventually they had him stand in front of the entire flight with his finger up his nose and had him say "Yarr, digging for gold" like a pirate. Then it became a game of waiting for anybody to smile or laugh from this so one TI stood by Trainee Allen yelling at him to "Say it again"..."Yarr, digging for gold" and the other TI would stalk around looking for anybody to smile. Jesus it was hard to hold it together. Eventually some poor b@st$rd cracked and got annihilated with pushups for laughing. I'll just never forget that poor bastard infront of 200 people with his finger up his nose..."Yarr, digging for gold".

EDIT: Holy Smokes. Thank you, /u/sh4itan for digging this nugget for me! You are awesome!

EDIT II: I woke up this morning remembering this story. I recall this one dude, again I can't remember the name but I remember his face and he looks like a Troy, so we'll call him Trainee Troy. I think it was in the first few weeks and Trainee Troy was really trying hard to impress the TI's. He would try to muster our organization by saying things like "Come on guys", and "Let's go guys". Well it turns out that the TI's took particular insult to the "guys" part. I remember them screaming at him multiple times that "Guys are for gay bars, you are trainees". Well Trainee Troy would correct himself immediately but sure enough he would find himself doing it time and time again. One day (I guess we had time to spare) the TI's had enough of the "guys" thing so they had everybody line up at their locker and had Trainee Troy march around both bays to the cadence of "It's raining men. Hallelujah. It's raining men." It was really monotone and really synced up with his marching...pretty impressive. I remember the first time he made a complete circuit you could hear a few chuckles and laughs but after about the thirtieth time, it was kind of sad. Legend has it that Trainee Troy is still singing the song somewhere. Just kidding, but seriously I don't know how to finish the story and I don't remember what happened next. I'm sure we were all punished for a few people laughing. But a few pushups never hurt anybody.


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17:02 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,123


My Undersized Load

Shortly after we moved to rural South Carolina, we found out Clemson Ag Extension was selling all sorts of berry and fruit trees at great rates. We needed quite a few things because the property we bought was cleared cow pasture and, besides a huge pecan tree, had no other trees on it.

So I ordered blueberry and blackberry bushes and apple, peach and pear trees. When it came time to pick up the order, my friend called to ask if I could pick hers up, too. I told her we’d better take two trucks.
When I got to the extension office I was shocked to find the pickup area empty except for some little bundles of twigs tied with string. I asked where my order was and the attendant led me to one of those bundles. They were bare root cuttings, which take up very little space. 
I could lift mine in one hand.
I mentioned to the attendant that I felt silly bringing a truck to pick up the order. It was then that I noticed a man behind me. He ruefully stated, “Don’t feel bad; I brought a trailer.”


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Dating

16:54 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,125


I met a girl on craigslist. ended up dating, turned out she had a phobia of showers and washed her feet in the toilet. Those were the days.


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dumb laws

15:51 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,129


Dumb Laws in Alabama


It is illegal to impersonate a person of the clergy.
You may not have an ice cream cone in your back pocket at any time
It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.

It is legal to drive the wrong way down a one-way street if you have a lantern attached to the front of your automobile.

Bear wrestling matches are prohibited.


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11:39 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,144


In Denmark, by the time you turn 25, you're unmarried, you can expect your friends to ambush you with a cinnamon shower all day. That's bad enough, but if you're still single at 30, they cover you in pepper.


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Shaqra
Shaqra
12:20 Feb 13 2018

True. Take it from a dane





 

11:30 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,147


. Camel wrestling in Turkey

You would have heard of bull fighting, but camel fighting? Not so much. People in Turkey look forward to the event in which two male camels fight it out with each other. Whoever doesn't run or back away wins. This event is organised during mating season and the camels have a natural instinct to fight off the other male.


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Dani Tribe

11:26 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,148


The Dani (or Ndani) tribe is the indigenous people that inhabit the fertile lands of the Baliem Valley in West Papua, New Guinea. The members of this tribe cut off their fingers as a way of displaying their grief at funeral ceremonies. Along with amputation, they also smeared their faces with ashes and clay, as an expression of sorrow.

They will cut off their hand`s fingers to express love to someone they love very much. When a person in Dani`s tribe passes away, his relative like wife or husband cut off his hand finger and bury together with the dead body of her husband or wife, as a symbol of love to her husband or wife. Finger represents body and soul that will always live together with his/her spouse. The number of fingers that will be cut off depends on how many persons She/He loves even though she/he will lose all of her hand`s fingers and will be unable to perform household chores effectively.


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the most painful imitation ritual

11:02 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,151


The most painful Initiation Ritual – For the Satere-Mawe tribe of the Amazon, you can’t become a man if you don’t take part in this ritual. When a young boy becomes sexually mature he goes out into the jungle with the Medicine man and other boys his age to find and gather bullet ants. The insect with the most painful sting in the world. The sting from these ants has been compared to a bullet hitting the flesh.

The boys will gather the ants and the ants are then drugged by some herbs given to them by the Medicine Man. Later, while the ants are sleeping in their drug induced state, they are placed into a woven mesh glove with the stinger on the inside. When the ants wake up they find themselves trapped and become very angry and aggressive. The boys must put on the gloves and keep them on for about ten minutes while they do a dance to take their mind off the pain.

However the young men of the Satere-Mawe tribe must endure this pain 20 times before they can prove they are men.


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what is it like dealing with cults

02:22 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,176


"What is it like dealing with cults?
Sad when you see the damage they do to people
Disconcerting when the various threats come, as they do
Funny sometimes. For example we get some of the weirdest letters, like the one, which demonstrated how the spiritual realm works with hand drawn pictures of levers, pulleys and bizarre machinery
Rewarding when someone is set free from mind control and is able to start their recovery
Enjoyable as we meet bunches of interesting people from all over the world." cultwatch.com


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mysterious secret societies

02:07 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,180


The 10 Most MYSTERIOUS SECRET SOCIETIES on Earth!
MatthewSantoro


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soft power to fight against cults

01:55 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,183


Soft power can win fight against cults
China Daily/June 12, 2014

Edited by Wang Fan
The May 28 tragedy in Zhaoyuan, Shandong province, in which six "Church of the Almighty God" followers beat a woman to death, has highlighted the harmful consequences of destructive cults in China and prompted the Ministry of Public Security to announce a crackdown on cults.

The crackdown alone may not prevent cults from spreading in the country, says Lu Yunfeng, professor of sociology at Peking University. The authorities need to take more comprehensive measures to deal with cults.

Although many countries and regions have taken strong measures to curb destructive cults, the results have often not been very effective. A good example is China's Taiwan, where Yiguangdao (I-Kuan Tao) has grown from a small sect into one with almost 1 million followers in 30 years despite the local authorities' continuous attempts to rein it in.

Lu says many cults have grown at a faster pace after crackdowns, because they can spread their tentacles through social networks by using "friends". Worse, crackdowns can sometimes cause a "scarcity effect". That means, crackdown can "encourage" cults to adopt "innovations" to sustain the networks. So the networks can be more "pure" and secretly organized, and the crackdown can serve as a "filter" to maintain the members who are most loyal and stubborn. All of these may make the crackdown in the future more difficult.

The spread of cults has a lot to do with the lack of enough channels for people to seek spiritual help at a time when China is undergoing social transformation. "Emerging cults are like fever ... a symptom that reminds us that not all is well with society", Lu says. Proper "social governance", he says, could be the cure to the social ailment of cults.

For that, we have to first lessen our reliance on the State, and let the people and social organizations play a bigger role in countering cults. Since cults are destructive in nature, non-cult followers see them as a threat to society, he says.

One of Lu's students seeking admission to a master's course has spent more than a year working on a paper on the "Church of the Almighty God". Investigations show that the cult is widely hated by its followers' family members because it demands that its adherents "sever" relations with their families. Media reports also say that one of the six suspects in the Zhaoyuan case believes his mother is a "demon" who should be "murdered". His mother is one of the victims-turned-opponents of the cult.

The authorities, therefore, needs to go further, beyond administrative measures, to use more legal means to deal with cults. For example, instead of simply banning destructive cults, it can start legal proceedings against cult leaders and followers to punish them for their illegal activities. Such measures, however, need some time to yield results.

Citing the example of Mormons in the United States, Lu says they used to advocate (and practice) polygamy which was contradictory to federal laws. But the federal government insisted on strictly enforcing the law, and the Mormons officially gave up practicing polygamy in 1890, a full 28 years after US Congress passed the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Law.

A different example is the Waco Siege of 1993, when an investigation into Davidians in Waco, Texas, led to a clash between police and cult followers. Altogether, 86 followers died in a fire and 10, including four police officers, died in gunbattle. Besides, the authorities have to find out the social causes behind the spread of destructive cults and deal with them appropriately. "You cannot forever stop water in a pot from boiling by keeping on adding more water ... you need to extinguish the fire," Lu says, quoting a Chinese proverb.

Disappearing traditions - like the bonds within extended families and the sense of belonging in a community - have left a void in society which cults have rushed in to fill. Many scholars in religion believe cults are popular mainly in certain rural regions of the country that are relatively underdeveloped, and appeal chiefly to uneducated women and senior citizens. Such people believe cults can help solve some of their problems, which are not merely material.

However, material benefits, like donations for medical treatment, and physical help in times of need do help cults to attract followers. That explains why some local authorities find penalizing people for being cult followers has not fully succeeded in reining in cults. Since not all followers join cults for material benefits, they don't leave them when they suffer material loss.

The authorities, therefore, need to improve social services to prevent more poor people from falling prey to cults to seek spiritual (and perhaps material) comfort. Moreover, they also need to help strengthen social relations and encourage the development of bona fide social organizations which would provide spiritual comfort for ordinary people. For instance, Lu says, local governments could help build "love families", where former cult followers can interact with anti-cult groups to understand their mistakes.

For several years, Lu has been deliberating on a deeper question: How to transform China's religion policy into a national strategy? Giving the example of the US, he says the country's Constitution clearly states "freedom of religion", but all US dollar notes carry "In God we trust" in capital letters, and US presidents have been ending their speeches with "God bless America" for the past several decades.

That, Lu says, is quite a smart strategy, of including Protestant tradition in the US' national identity. The practice is well explained in US scholar Samuel P. Huntington's Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity.

Lu advises Chinese to ask the same question: Who are we? The answer may be hard to fathom. But Chinese people do need to follow certain values that conform to traditional Chinese culture and are linked with China's national identity. Only when they succeed in doing so will destructive cults lose their appeal and be rooted out of society.

The author, Zhang Zhouxiang, is a writer with China Daily.


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cult influence Tactics

01:42 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,192


Cult Influence Tactics
(This page is written by my colleague Dr. Brad Sagarin
who researches resistance to persuasion. Thanks, Brad!)
The previous page introduced a single influence technique--one of many--used by cults to retain members. Cult influence tactics are powerful tools which, in the hands of an unscrupulous cult leader, can elicit extreme, and in some cases fatal, levels of compliance.

But we are far from defenseless against assaults on our minds. This page discusses four defenses we can bring to bear against cults: 1) detecting the warning signs of cult influence, 2) asking key questions to determine if an organization is a cult, 3) knowing how to protect ourselves at meetings we suspect may be cult recruitment attempts, and 4) understanding deprogramming and exit-counseling, the modern methods of escape.

Before jumping into the specifics, I'd like to briefly discuss an insidious psychological process called the "Self-serving Bias." This bias leads us to believe that we are immune to the influences that affect the rest of humanity. I run into this bias all the time when describing my work on resistance to persuasion: "I think it's great that you're trying to help people resist television ads. Of course, TV ads don't persuade me..."McInvulnerable's

The self-serving bias has been demonstrated countless times: the majority of Americans believe they are smarter and better looking than average; most drivers (even those hospitalized for accidents) believe themselves more skilled than the average driver; most smog-breathing Los Angelinos believe themselves healthier than their neighbors; most college students believe they will outlive their predicted age of death by 10 years, and so on.

The most ironic example of the self-serving bias that I've ever heard appeared in a social psychology paper written by one of Kelton's students. After the self-serving bias had been discussed in class, this student wrote:

"I don't understand why they say the self-serving bias is universal. I mean, I see it in other people, but I personally don't have a self-serving bias."

I'm not kidding, the student really wrote that!

The self-serving bias often manifests in innocuous or amusing ways, as in the examples above. But in the context of cult influence, this bias leaves us with a dangerous illusion of invulnerability: "I'm not the kind of mindless zombie who joins a cult." But very few mindless zombies join cults. Instead, as discussed on a previous page, the vast majority of cult recruits are normal, productive people--people confident in their ability to shrug off cult influence tactics. So, if I had to name the single most important defense against cult influence, it is the realization that we are all vulnerable--our friends, our families, and ourselves. (Note: Dr. Singer argues convincingly that false perceptions of invulnerability leave us particularly vulnerable, but this address will take you out of the Social Influence Website, so you may wish to bookmark this page before you leave.)

Two books were instrumental in providing material for the rest of this page: Steven Hassan's Combatting Cult Mind Control, and Margaret Thaler Singer's Cults in our Midst (they're in the bibliography). Both are highly recommended for those who want additional information.

The Nine Symptoms of Cult Influence
In the same way that a doctor looks for symptoms to help detect a disease, the following symptoms warn us that a family member or friend may have come under the influence of a cult. Of course, not all of these show up in every case, but they provide a red flag that something may be wrong. No single symptom may be conclusive, but you should be suspicious if you see several of the following symptoms together--and remember that the more quickly cult influence is detected, the easier the rescue.

Personality changes: Do you find yourself saying, "He's a different person," or, "I don't know her anymore"? Destructive cults successfully replace their members' personalities with new identities.
2 Dramatic shifts of values or beliefs: Of course, values and beliefs change gradually over a lifetime--but psychological research has shown that beliefs and values are highly resistant to dramatic short-term change. Such radical changes require extreme situational influences such as those provided by skilled cult leaders.
3 Changes in diet or sleep patterns: Cults will often restrict the diet and sleep of members, possibly in an effort to hamper normal, rational thought processing. In addition, the vegetarian diets commonly required by cult leaders allow the cults to feed members cheaply.
Refusal to attend important family events: Family members pose a strong threat to the influence of the cult. As such, many cults refuse to allow members to attend family events such as marriages, sick relatives, graduations, etc.
Inability to make decisions without consulting a cult leader or guru: One of the signs of dependency upon a cult leader is the loss of personal autonomy.
6 Sudden use of a new ideology to explain everything: Like a harpist playing an instrument with a single string, a cult member uses his or her new ideology to explain the entire world--even when it's wildly inappropriate.
Black and white, simplistic reasoning: Underneath all the complicated jargon, you'll find a cult recruit dividing his or her world into 'good' and 'bad'. The shades of grey in which we all live are usually intolerable to a cult member.
New vocabulary: Is the person suddenly using complex jargon to obscure irrational or simplistic thinking? (Although this could merely be a sign of attending graduate school!)
9 Insistence that you do what they are doing: Recruitment is one of the first duties a new cult member is given. It consolidates the recruits beliefs while it inflates the cult's ranks.
Detecting destructive cults: The key questions to ask
If you've encountered an organization that has raised your suspicion, Steve Hassan recommends a number of questions you can ask to determine if the organization may be a cult.

QuestionWhat's the background of the leader of the organization? Does the leader have a criminal record?

Here are some previous professions of cult leaders: carnival barker, used car & encyclopedia salesman, science fiction writer. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with these occupations, but they provide an unusual resume for a spiritual leader. What all these occupations have in common, however, is that they're influence professions. Many cult leaders learned the tricks of the trade in a previous career. Some have run afoul of the law.

Question What's the power structure of the organization?

Unlike most established religions which employ a broad power structure with checks and balances, cults often have a pyramid structure, with one leader at the top demanding complete subservience from subordinates. Destructive commercial cults are often characterized by a similar pyramid structure with those at the top profiting from the work of those below.

Question Does the organization use deception to recruit new members?

Many cults use respectable sounding organizations as fronts. For example, what do the Freedom Leadership Foundation, the International Cultural Foundation, and Narcanon have in common? They are all fronts for cults. The Freedom Leadership Foundation and the International Cultural Foundation are owned by the Unification Church, while Narcanon is run by the Church of Scientology. Even more ominous is the Church of Scientology's recent acquisition of the Cult Awareness Network, previously a clearinghouse for crucial information about destructive cults.

Question Are you trying to recruit me?

This will work frequently, but not always. Some cults instruct their members to immediately deny a recruitment attempt. (However, I've found a similar question works wonders with telemarketers, too!)

Into enemy territory:
Resisting cult influence techniques on their home turf
Often, a new recruit will be encouraged to invite family and friends to an introductory meeting. If you receive such an invitation from your child, you've been given a valuable but risky opportunity to help your loved one escape. Once you're at the meeting, the cult members will probably try to isolate you from your child. This separation can be accomplished quite subtly: One minute you're sitting next to each other; the next minute, each of you is approached by a cult member who engages you in separate conversations, gradually moving away from each other until you're physically across the room from your child. Cults will often try to control your means of transportation, turning a two hour seminar into an overnight. Make sure you have your own way to leave - and approach with particular caution a group that refuses to let you drive to their meeting place.

And now, for a change of topic, Frames . . .


See Dr. Sagarin's Home Page here.
www.workingpsychology.com
All rights reserved.


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I can move one.

01:30 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,202


A job will done by cultwatch exposing a cult on vampirerave.
We will continue to stay on vampirerave to find more.
Sincerely Cultwatch


"A cult needs to recruit and operate using deception. Why?
Because if people knew their true practices and beliefs beforehand then they would not join. A cult needs to hide the truth from you until they think you are ready to accept it.

For example, imagine if the leader of Heavens Gate cult was open and honest about the group and had said to new recruits, “Join us, wear strange clothes, get castrated and then drink poison!” he would not have had many takers."
Copywritten by cultwatch.com


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scam artist

01:16 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,217


Karma will get you. You scam artist, taking advantage of people to make yourself look powerful.


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to you guys

01:06 Feb 13 2018
Times Read: 3,225


So the bullies run off like cowards. You think your something taking advantage of people. You can't even proof your paranormal investigator, because you both are living a lie.


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Cultwatch
Cultwatch
01:16 Feb 13 2018

I have a right too





 

23:48 Feb 12 2018
Times Read: 3,233


Interview with the Son of God (Siberian Jesus)


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I am son of God

23:34 Feb 12 2018
Times Read: 3,241


Man who thinks his the Son of God



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History of Septum Civic

11:55 Feb 12 2018
Times Read: 3,302


This is for you Lord Ryu
History of Septum Civis

It’s somewhat difficult for me to put down how exactly Septum Civis was started.I have lived in the area since I was a small child. I grew up here. I knew the politics, the people, and the nightlife. I was a part of the Norfolk coffee house crowd since the age of 16. I became a part of the alternative scene around the same time, since everything tended to blend together here. Pagans and Wiccans rubbing shoulders with the Goth crowd, and the occasional Vampire in the mix.In high school I had a close knit group of friends. Claudia was one of them. She got the nickname from the fact that she was short and looked like she was eight when she was 16. It was unclear if it was diabetes or genetics which caused her to be so short,either way; me and the midget had some fun times.The Vampire community was something that was deep underground at the time. It was not easy to find. To some extent you had the LARPs and Gamers, but what of the real deal? You heard whispers, rumors, but we never found the people involved. More than likely they were good at hiding in plain sight.Things stayed that way for a few years. We got out of high school and not soonafter, the sh@t hit the fan. It was around 96 or 97 when John C. Bush got busted for statutory rape. This in and of itself wasn’t newsworthy, however the fact that he was aLARPer, who used “The Masquerade” as an excuse to form some sort of “Vampyric family” and try to get girls in his bed. Well, that was news, especially in a smallminded, conservative area (televangelist Pat Roberson’s 700 club is within spitting distance). The coffeehouse I frequented had become part of an investigation, and the undercover cops stuck out like a sore thumb. The local press (or should I call them tabloids) didn’t bother to differentiate the difference between the Goth community and the Vampyric community, lumping both together. This unfortunately caused a lot of bad blood for many years. Anything and everything Vampyric went underground. It was difficult even for the Goths to get anywhere for a club night since no venue wanted the attention.It took a couple of years for that to die down. I spent time in my college years mining the internet for information on the Vampyre community. There wasn’t much, but finally I found some information on the Sanguinarium. I was skeptical, but decided to read the teachings and make an informed decision when I was done.In the meantime Claudia had died due to kidney failure. Her death was a great loss to all of those in the coffeehouse culture. In many ways, she was our Kitra. 

 
In walks a tall, skinny Puerto Rican wearing a set of fangs and a D’Drennan ankh.I had only seen it online, and from what I knew, the Sanguinarium was mostly centered in NY. So I figured the worst I could do was ignore this person, why not talk to him? Find out if he is one of ours, or just some gamer who knows where to shop. He introduced himself as Ryu, and we talked for a time. He spoke of Father Vincent, whose name I had heard in passing (always in a good way). We spoke of other things, various people we knew, and what not.We spent a couple of months gathering at local coffee shops having discussions on various topics. Ryu spoke of his household Noctem Aeternus, and their teachings. I was able to send a friend of mine to him when he was seeking information and a teacher.Ryu and I discussed a general respect for the Black Veil and the need for some local law about  John Bush problem. A lot of innocent people had been hurt, Beach police had been sued for civil rights violations as a result of the investigation.One cop in particular, Don Rimer, seemed determined to destroy anybody involved in the Vampyric community. He was convinced that all vampires were devil worshipping pedophiles who were going to come after your kids. A couple of years later he was charged with 2 counts of assaulting a female officer. He retired and the charge were dropped. Virginia Beach was always known as a good old boys club, so I was not surprised when one of their star detectives with 20 years on the force got a sweetheart deal.Since then Don has spent the last few years giving lectures and seminars on“Occult Crime”, mostly to the fundy church crowd (which there is a lot of in Va), and occasionally to law enforcement. He’s been debunked by members of the local Pagan community and other law enforcement officers (Google “The Cycle Continues” by Kerr Cuhulain for more info on Don’s shenanigans) . The Lanning Report is another resourcethat completely contradicts Don’s silliness. He makes grand statements with no facts to back them up, such as “Occult Crime is growing” and “the Church of Satan is growing.



 

when they were in need, and give guidance and advice when asked. I failed to do that,and I was ashamed that I had let the community down.I felt that the only way for me and the other elders in the community to make thisright was to come together as a group and set down some basic rules, structure, so thatwhen we had a problem or dispute in the community, it could be dealt with inside thecommunity. So I called together all the households and elders (including Lord Ryu and Lord Ramirez) and after long talks, we came away with an agreement. We agreed that wewould follow the Veil, form a court, much like the rabbinical courts within the Jewish community. The elders would hear various disputes, such as breaking the Veil or other local traditions. We also made it clear that we would not tolerate breaking mundane law.Doing so brought too much attention to us and endangered others. If we had reason to believe that a serious breach of mundane law occurred, the court would contact law enforcement and hand over the offender to them.Sometime later Jonathan was later exiled by the council for sexual harassment of a female member of his house. It appears that later on he attempted to stab Ryu at a local haven, and the establishment banned him from the premises. Rumor has it he might bemoving to Florida to establish a household there.Even with all of that, we’ve managed to show others that we have a system that works. If someone has a grievance against another, and said issue cannot be worked out between the two, they are welcome to bring it to the council and be heard. Whereas therehave been a few minor disputes, most have been worked out on their own. Over the years, word of this court and how we work has headed off a few issues before they became a problem. This in and of itself is an accomplishment. Septum Civis is in an area that has a lot of transient people, usually in the military. It’s not hard for someone to come in, claim to be the king of all vampires (or other such silliness), and try to get in some girl’s pants. Now they know, if they drop names, we can usually call the people inquestion and find out if it’s true. Yes, we do background checks, namely to keep out minors, sexual predators, and the media. Rumor has it that local law enforcement has investigated us, and thus far not found anything to charge anyone with. Hopefully they will know that we don’t want problems, we want to fix them.Lady Raven Cadwell (aka Darci)Co-Reagent of Septum Civis





Presented by Tim...

Good morning ladies and gentlemen,
The noise, as it were, seems to have died down over the recent advent of a “Vampire Police” and we have yet to receive the interview responses that we are awaiting.

When we posted the follow up, on January 18th, to our initial report we noted that certain events had taken place and we posed certain questions regarding these events. Well, we have great pleasure in advising that a highly respected figure in the modern Vampire culture, an authority by virtue of tenure and a member of several notable cultural initiatives has approached us with a view to clarifying some of the reported events of the last couple of weeks.

It is with deepest thanks, and great honour, we are able to present an outline of the situation that unfolded by Lady Sylvere Ap Leanan.
——————————————————————————————————————–

RVL: Welcome to RVL Lady Sylvere, it’s a pleasure to have you with us… for any of our readers who may not know you would you be kind enough to give us a quick rundown on your work within the modern Vampire culture?

LS: Thank you for the opportunity. While I’ve been aware of RVL for years, this is my first interview with you. It’s exciting.

For those who don’t know me, I’ve been involved in the vampire subculture, both online and offline, since 1994. Since 1998, I’ve run the Real-Vampires Community Alliance (RVCA), which is the oldest Internet-based support group for the vampire community, first as the Real-Vampires email list on Yahoo, and now as the RVCA group on Facebook. I’ve been a member of Voices of the Vampire Community (VVC) since 2006, I’ve done interviews for various media, including ABC’s 20/20 and a documentary for XYTV in the UK, and I spoke as an expert panelist at the American Criminal Justice Society’s 2008 conference. I could list more, but those are the highlights.

RVL: Can we begin by asking when did you first become aware of the posts that provided the link for the “Vampire Community Police” initiative?

LS: I first became aware of the group when a link to your first article about it was shared in Vampire Network News (VNN) on Facebook. Around the same time, a direct link to the group was posted by the group’s founder in Vampire Community News (VCN), also on Facebook.

RVL: What were your initial impressions of the matter?

LS: Honestly, my first reaction was a huge eye-roll. This sort of thing has been tried before and it never ends well.



 

RVL: What, in the main, was the general response and reception in the places you found it?

LS: The response in VCN was mostly to point and laugh, not going to lie. However, between the lulz and silly GIFs, there were good comments, questions, and even suggestions. In VNN, the response was more subdued, but no less critical.

RVL: What questions first came to your mind about it?

LS: The same questions that always come to mind when someone pulls this sort of stunt. In no particular order they include:

Who are these people?

What makes them think they’re qualified to police the vampire community?

What “rules” are they trying to enforce and how do they plan to do that over the Internet?

Who made up those rules in the first place?

Do these people realize what they’re proposing is impossible?

Don’t they understand that the vampire “community” is actually made of up of many communities, each with its own regional culture and standards?

Why do we have to go through this yet again?



RVL: What were some of the other more ‘serious’ questions that the postings gave rise to?

LS: All of the questions I listed were posed in some form by various community members. None of them were ever answered. In my case, I tried to go beyond those initial questions to see if this group had anything to offer that past attempts lacked. The short answer was “no” and, as I researched further, it became clear that this group was destined for epic failure.

After reading some of what the administrators of the group proposed to do, it became evident to me that they really hadn’t given much thought to creating an action plan. First, they proposed to collect screen captures of Facebook posts or private messages to use as “evidence” to determine if there had been some sort of misconduct. I’m not sure how they were planning to determine what constitutes misconduct since there are no formal laws for vampires, but this is a violation of Facebook’s Terms of Service. Specifically, Section 5 states, “If you collect information from users, you will: obtain their consent, make it clear you (and not Facebook) are the one collecting their information, and post a privacy policy explaining what information you collect and how you will use it.” (Emphasis is mine.)

In addition, they were calling themselves “police,” which could be construed as ‘impersonating a police officer’. That’s illegal and could result in fines or even time in prison. Both of these things told me they had no idea what they were doing and I said so quite bluntly in both VCN and VNN. I also requested the name and contact information of the attorney the group kept on retainer so I could verify it. I’m sure it will come as no surprise that none of them could provide such information. After I pointed out that calling themselves “police” was likely to get them into real legal trouble, they very quickly changed the name of the group to something about counseling.

This change led me to ask what qualifications they had to act as counselors. The founder of the group and some of the administrators claimed they intended to collect “evidence” and then turn it over to the leaders of Houses or Courts so the leaders could take action. That’s closer to what I would expect of a community advocate, so I asked whether any of them have any training or experience acting as community advocates, such as acting as a court-appointed special advocate for children or as a domestic violence or rape crisis advocate. Only two of the group’s administrators bothered to respond, neither of them were the group’s founder.

One administrator claimed to have a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and experience working with children as an advocate. In the US, the minimum requirements to act as a licensed counselor are a Master’s degree in social work or a PhD. in psychology. So where did she do her undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate studies? What were the subjects of her Master’s thesis and Doctoral dissertation? Where did she complete her internships and where is she licensed? This is all public information, so I’d like to verify it.

Another administrator claimed to be an ordained minister. I’m an ordained minister too. All it takes is a few minutes to fill out some online forms and you’re ordained. In no way does it qualify him to act as a counselor or community advocate. However, in the US, an ordained minister can act as a crisis intervention counselor if he has completed 275 hours of training or education in crisis intervention and then takes another specialized training course that grants a certificate. [See:American Institute of Health Care Professionals. If that’s the case, where did he receive training and where is his certificate held? Again, this should be public information if the person’s claims are legitimate.

These are the types of questions anyone who proposes to take this sort of action should be prepared to answer. The fact that they couldn’t or wouldn’t answer them in a public forum should raise an army of red flags for everyone. To make matters worse, not one of the administrators of that group has ever been recognized as a leader or mentor in the vampire community in the 20-something years I’ve been active. Why in the world should anyone trust them?

RVL: In your opinion, is something of this nature ever going to work, or find a home, in the modern living Vampire culture? Why do you think this is?

LS: Nothing like this is ever going to work, if for no other reason than the fact that the modern vampire culture is international and connected via the Internet. It’s difficult for real law enforcement officials to enforce laws on the Internet or across international borders, how would any group without public backing or formal training and credentials manage it? Even if it were possible, laws vary from one country to another and from one state or province to another. How is an informal, ad hoc group going to enforce.

RVL: What method, or methods, would you advocate in any attempt to eliminate or curtail the more, shall we say ‘destructive’ or ‘disruptive’ elements in the online world of the real Vampire culture?

LS: Start by growing a thick skin. There’s a tendency in the vampire culture to get “butthurt” over very small issues. If someone says something that upsets you, don’t respond immediately. I know this is harder than it sounds, but it’s the first step. Yes, words can hurt, but they’re just pixels on a screen. You can choose whether or not to read them and whether or not to respond. Go outside, read a book, play some video games; whatever it takes to get you away from the forum for a couple of hours and help you cool down.

When you come back, you can ignore the person’s post if it’s better for your emotional health. You don’t owe anyone a response. It might help to reread the post and see if there was something you misunderstood. Text is an expressionless medium that doesn’t convey tone of voice or facial expression, so it’s easy to take things in a way the writer didn’t intend. If it still seems worth a reply, at least you’ll be in a clearer state of mind.

If someone continually says things that are upsetting to you, there’s a wonderful little button labeled “Block” on Facebook and on most other forums as well. Make it your best friend. You also have the option of contacting the group administrator and requesting they take action if you think the person is far enough out of line.

If someone is harassing or threatening you, report them to the appropriate authorities, including law enforcement if necessary. There are resources available, use them.

RVL: Do you think that there needs to be some mechanism for being able to “deal with” blatant instances of unethical, immoral/amoral or criminal activities suspicions within the culture?

LS: We have real law enforcement officials to deal with criminal actions. Let them do their jobs. In the case of things that might be viewed as unethical or of questionable morality, that’s where we start running into the issue of cultural differences and personal ethics. We can’t run a blacklist of “bad” people because then there’s the risk of someone using it to make false claims to further a personal vendetta. Talk about a legal disaster waiting to happen.

What we can do is look out for each other. If you see something sketchy, say something. Learn the warning signs of abuse and cults and if you notice someone needs support, try to offer it. You don’t have to call yourself the “vampire police” to do that. You just have to be a decent human being.

RVL: Thank you very much for shedding some light on these events for us Lady Sylvere, we appreciate your time as, I’m sure, our readers will.

LS: Thank you again for the opportunity. I hope I can give some useful information to your readers.

——————————————————————————————————————–Observations and questions from long tenured and highly respected members of the modern Vampire culture should be accepted for what they are, a very real desire to stop people from creating problems that could lead to potentially disastrous consequences – for them. The folks who have been in the culture, both online and off, for a long time have seen all of this before, they know the damage that can be caused and the ramifications that such damage can engender. No one wants to see anyone get hurt. Yes, there will be those who have nothing but nonsensical, intimidating, sarcastic, self-serving and infantile comments to make… we need to look past, as Lady Sylvere put it, “the lulz and silly Gifs“, and take heed of the good advice that is between the b.s.

We are still hopeful of receiving response to our interview request with the head of the project, perhaps we may find something re-vamped and couched in a less severe manner will be coming forth.

Copyright RVL & Lady Sylvere Ap Leanan, 2018


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Inri Cristo

10:22 Feb 12 2018
Times Read: 3,309


Real vampires love Vampire Rave.

Inri Cristo, the Brazilian who claims to be Jesus Christ reincarnated.
Inri Cristo had his first revelation of being the incarnation of Christ in 1979.
Inri Cristo rides a bike around his compound outside of Brasilia, known as the New Jerusalem. Inri are the initials that Pontius Pilate had written on top of Jesus' cross, meaning "Jesus Christ King of the Jews." Brazil, 2014.

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Cult

08:18 Feb 12 2018
Times Read: 3,315


The majority of Canadians consider Roch Thériault to be one of their country's most notorious criminals, but his devoted followers still call him "Moses."� In 1979, Thériault set up a safe camp in Burt River, Ontario, in preparation for the apocalypse. Charismatic and politically savvy, Roch attracted a small group of followers he called "The Ant Hill Kids,"� all of whom were looking for spiritual salvation and a pure existence. The nine female members were his concubine and were required to be subservient to the few male members of the sect. Over 20 children were born to the group in the ensuing years, many of which were sired by Roch.

The group earned money by selling baked goods door-to-door. Because Moses had officially registered his commune as a church, provincial officials were unable to do much about the primitive living conditions the members were subject to; they could only ensure that the children had warm clothing and proper nutrition. Thériault had a drinking problem and a superiority complex and demanded absolute obedience from his followers. Such unquestioning submission led to the death of one of his "wives".
Thériault was found guilty of murder in 1993 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was denied parole in 2002, but has fathered three more children during his years in jail as a result of conjugal visits with some of his remaining faithful few.



 

 


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08:08 Feb 12 2018
Times Read: 3,320


The Knights Templar order, was founded in Geneva by Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret in 1984. The order’s belief system and practices combine a mixture of Christianity, UFO religion and New Age philosophy using adapted Freemason rituals. The cult was rumored to include several affluent and powerful Europeans in its membership. The Order of the Solar Temple came to global attention in 1994 after member Tony Dutoit murdered his infant son by repeatedly stabbing him with a wooden stake. It is claimed the murder was ordered by the cult’s founder, Di Mambro, who believed the infant to be the Antichrist.

Days after the murder, Di Mambro and other high-ranking members of the cult’s inner circle took part in a mass suicide. The bodies were discovered in two villages in Western Switzerland – 15 members had committed suicide with poison, 30 had been killed by bullets or smothering, and eight were killed by various other methods. Many of the victims were found in secret underground chapels, which were lined with mirrors and other items of Templar symbolism. The bodies were dressed in ceremonial robes and laid in a circle, feet together, heads facing outward


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Cultwatch

07:28 Feb 12 2018
Times Read: 3,324


"Mind control cults keep their members so busy with meetings and activities that they become too busy and too tired to think about their involvement.

Time control also helps the cult keep their members immersed in the manufactured cult environment.

And time control helps keep cult members away from friends and family." Cultwatch.com


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Prince Philip movement

06:45 Feb 12 2018
Times Read: 3,326


The Prince Phillip Movement

Proving that literally anything (or anyone) can be turned into an idol, the Kastom people around Yaohnanen village on the southern island of Tanna in Vanuatu believe that Prince Phillip is a god. According to ancient Yaohnanen tales, the son of a mountain spirit traveled over the seas to a distant land. There, he married a powerful woman and in time would return to them. They believe that Prince Phillip is that man, who happens to also be a god. They have held this belief since the 1950s, and when he visited the area in 1974, it solidified their conviction that he was the god they were waiting for. They exchanged a sacrificed pig in exchange for a signed portrait and sealed the deal. They worship him still today


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Cult

06:23 Feb 12 2018
Times Read: 3,328


The Blackburn cult (aka the Divine Order of the Royal Arms of the Great Eleven) based its theology on a single line from Revelation: “And I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”

May Otis Blackburn, 60, and her daughter Ruth Wieland Rickenbaugh Rizzio claimed to be those witnesses. Supposedly, they were in contact with the angels Gabriel and Michael, who told the women to shut themselves off from the world for three years and write a book called The Great Sixth Seal explaining the world’s mysteries.

The book also promised to reveal “lost measurements” leading to all of the world’s gold and oil deposits, which were apparently stolen from Noah by his son Ham. The pair secured a $40,000 loan from the gullible son of an oil magnate in exchange for the “lost measurements.”

The women used the cash to build the Santa Susana Knolls community in Simi Valley, which included a dozen cabins and a temple that was sealed off in anticipation of Christ’s return. While devotees worked at a local tomato-packing shed, their paychecks were collected by Blackburn and her husband.

The priestesses of the cult gathered followers in a natural clearing to sacrifice mules, and forest rangers reported seeing them dancing naked in the woods. They also built a brick oven to “bake” a disciple named Florence Turner. Supposedly, this was to cure her “blood malady,” but she died two days later.

Eventually, the oil heir who lost his money had Mrs. Blackburn arrested on grand theft charges. Soon, other former cult members came forward with complaints. The police also turned their attention to the discovery of the body of 16-year-old Willa Rhodes.

The Rhodeses were devotees of the Blackburn cult. Daughter Willa, a priestess called the Tree of Life, died of a tooth infection in 1925. On Blackburn’s orders, her body was placed in a bathtub with ice, salt, and spices with a promise that the girl would be resurrected in 1,260 days.

Eventually, Blackburn was convicted of eight counts of grand theft but later released on $10,000 bail. The group departed for Lake Tahoe and was never heard from again


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Reincarnation

03:19 Feb 12 2018
Times Read: 3,344


Before claiming that he is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, Alan John Miller or simply known as AJ worked as an IT specialist for an Australian company. What makes his claim quite interesting is the fact that he publicly declares that he has vivid memories of the crucifixion. According to him, his suffering and death on the cross wasn’t as “harrowing” as many of us imagine it to be. What’s more, AJ claims that his partner, fellow Australian Mary Luck, is Mary Magdalene—the prostitute whose life was changed after Jesus Christ rescued her from her persecutors.

Surprisingly, AJ’s cult, called the Divine Truth, is fast becoming popular not only in Australia but also in other parts of the world. For instance, Louise Faver, a 39 year old British woman, left his job as a neuroscientist in the UK to go to Australia to live near AJ. Aside from Faver, other people, just like George Hamel who abandoned his family and business in California, are forsaking their “earthly” lives to be near their “savior.”


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Funny

02:52 Feb 12 2018
Times Read: 3,350


Real vampires love Vampire Rave.

Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop, also known as Vissarion, claims to be the second coming of Jesus Christ. A Siberian son of God, Vissarion certainly dresses the part, as evidenced by this photo, which may be why he's been able to attract over 10,000 followers.

His sect, the Church of the Last Testament, exists in the deep forest of Siberia. It blends "elements of the Russian Orthodox Church with Buddhism, apocalypticism, collectivism, and ecological values," according to Atlas Obscura.

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Man thinks his Jesus Christ

21:46 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,364


Man claims to Be Jesus Christ The Messiah living in Australia


I think to myself, why do you people get involved with this type of groups.


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Chen Tao

15:16 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,381


.52 KB

Real vampires love Vampire Rave.

Chen Tao
Otherwise known as the True Way Cult, Chen Tao was formed by a former professor who was clearly insane. His beliefs included that the universe is 4.5 trillion years old, our solar system was created by a nuclear war, we each have three souls, and that humanity has been rescued on five different occasions by God descending in a flying saucer. However, the 160-member group essentially disbanded after a failed prophecy in 1998, when founder Hon-Ming Chen predicted God would appear on a single TV channel in North America—whether or not you had cable—at 12:01 a.m. on March 31.


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Foot reading cult

15:08 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,383


Ho No Hana Sanpogyo

This modern Japanese sect is often referred to as the "foot reading cult" based on the claim that its founder—who also claimed to be the reincarnation of both Jesus Christ and Buddha—could diagnose followers' problems by simply examining their feet, and that they would die if they weren't examined appropriately. According to his methods, traits like short toes indicated a short temper and fat toes meant your life would be filled with good fortune. However, the whole ruse unraveled when followers fought back against the steep $900 fee he charged for each "inspection


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Happy science

14:56 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,387


If you're looking for a mash-up of world religions, New Age hokum, far-right nationalism, and infrastructure spending, then Japanese cult Happy Science is for you. It was founded in 1986 by Ryuho Okawa, a former salaryman who was enraptured by a group called the God Light Association. He soon formed his own cult of personality, called Science of Happiness, and changed its name to Happy Science a few years later.

Okawa believes he is the human incarnation of a supreme being called El Cantare, who combines Christ, Buddha, Muhammad, and every other prophetic deity to create a nine-dimensional heaven with him at the head. He's also created a massively complex mythology of New Age nonsense - while simultaneously founding a political wing called the Happiness Realization Party.

Here's where the strangeness goes into overdrive, as his party advocates a violent Japanese nationalism devoted to denying historical atrocities, advocating violent war with China and North Korea, and rebuilding Japan's infrastructure. The group claims to have 12 million members around the world, has a multi-media arm, and enjoys tax-exempt status in the US. 


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Aethrrius Society

14:50 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,392


Aetherius Society Cult is an ominous word. Conjuring up images of glass-eyed devotees and ecstatic rituals, for most of us it’s a pejorative term used to describe unusual spirituality. But if you ever ask what actually constitutes a cult, chances are you’ll have a hard time coming up with an answer. To some people, a cult’s only a cult if it’s a tiny group of acolytes following a megalomaniacal leader. To others, even mainstream religions like Christianity, because they influence the way people think and act and focus reverence on a set of esoteric leaders, dogmas and rituals, ought to be labeled cults.

This ambiguity stems from the fact that cult is a wishy-washy word of many real meanings. But it is possible to hybridize these definitions into a comprehensive, three-pronged one. 1. Theologically, a cult is essentially a spin-off of an existing faith or concept, using some but rejecting other mainstream doctrines to become a new faith. 2. Sociologically, cults break cultural taboos. 3. Colloquially, cults are typically small, centered around one venerated figure, and thick as thieves. Yet although cults are united in their seeming strangeness, they vary drastically in their risks and radicalness. Some cults are benign; some are malignant. Some are powerful; some are weak. Some hit a nerve and spawn their own progeny; some are just theological dead ends.

In A Cult A Day, we’ll be briefly highlighting the width and breadth of cults across the world, moving past the glitzy, demystifying the label and trying to learn some lessons along the way.

In part two of our A Cult A Day feature, in which we explore the multiplicity of cults, we highlight perhaps the first of the world’s UFO-based faith, the super groovy Aetherius Society.

Why You Might Know It

Last summer, dozens of new agey types made a bizarre pilgrimage to Carnedd Llewelyn, the second highest mountain in Wales located in the middle of nowhere in the Snowdonia range. They’d come because they believe their long-deceased leader, George King, imbued it with spiritual energy granted to him by UFO-riding alien beings in 1958 in order that his followers might channel and learn from the enlightened powers of the stars in ages to come as he claimed he did in his life. You may actually not have heard about this trek, but that’s actually because it just happens every few years in the United Kingdom, where King apparently charged nine peaks with energy set to peak at uneven intervals. These people, Aetherians, just show up here and there, now and then, although they have nowhere near the presence they did during King’s life.

How It Started

We don’t know much about King, the founder of the Aetherius Society, save that he was born in 1919, was possibly a drunk and a cab driver who took up yoga in 1944. But in 1954, the then-obscure King claimed that he suddenly received a message in his mind from an alien intelligence while washing the dishes declaring: “Prepare yourself! You are to become the voice of Interplanetary Parliament!”

By 1955, King had founded his society, claiming he was a medium for aliens who lived in secrecy on Earth, had manifested as spiritual beings in the past (like Jesus, Buddha and Vishnu), and wished to share their enlightened wisdom (which sounded a lot like the nascent new age spirituality and environmentalism churning in the late 1950s ether) with the poor beings of Earth. Over the next 42 years, King claimed that he received 600 or so Cosmic Transmissions on healing and enlightenment and drew many followers to his inherited wisdom.

George King (aetherius.org)

read on below...

Recommended

HISTORY

A Cult A Day: The Creativity Movement

SCIENCE

What Would It Cost to Mail a Letter to Mars?

How It Went Wrong

It’s hard to say when things got weird with the Aetherius Society since it started with the premise that a creature named The Full Aspect of Adept Nixies Zero Zero Three channeled energy through their founder. Nor can we really say that Aetherianism imploded in the fantastic way we like to think cults go out—in hails of fire and absurd rhetoric. (This year we learned that the U.K. government actually investigated King, suspecting that his message of non-violence and nuclear non-proliferation was a Soviet plot to soften the nation up, but five years of intelligence scrutiny yielded no signs of any real kind of impropriety whatsoever.) Instead, it just tapered off.

Back in the late 1950s, the Aetherians had their moment in pop culture, hosting a large rally in London’s Trafalgar Square in 1958, getting King to channel a message from Mars Sector Six on BBC2 live in a half-hour broadcast in 1959, and setting up global offices by the beginning of the 1960s. But after briefly becoming (reportedly) the largest metaphysical movement in the world, interest in King’s teachings and mythos faded until he died in relative obscurity in California in 1963. King still has followers—estimates range from 1,000 to 10,000 worldwide—who believe that his presence will reemerge and hold regular meetings and pilgrimages to the 19 mountains their founder channeled his energy into from 1958 to 1961. But their numbers are stagnant, if not falling, and their public presence is almost nil. They seem like anachronisms of a blip in time.

Why People Followed The Cult

A lot about Aetherianism sounds absurd, like how the aliens King channeled traveled in ships that looked like pre-existing pop cultural representations of UFOs or how so many of the holy mountains of his faith just happened to be in his native United Kingdom. But King’s message tapped into a deep, misanthropic malaise in the post-World War II era, in which the brutal capabilities of man, scarring of the earth, and dread potential of nuclear power hung heavy over Europe.

Unity is at the core of the beliefs of The Aetherius Society

According to King, aliens had reached out because Earth had become so destructive they feared earthlings might become threats to the wider solar system and knew that hapless humans needed help righting the environmental, political and emotional imbalances of the species. Tapping into the same emergent beliefs in and vocabulary of “Eastern spirituality” and a distaste for humanity mixed with enthusiasm about space exploration, science and post-spiritual utopian beings and models, King’s aliens were the perfect voices for his era. It’s especially telling that today they’ve scrubbed a lot of alien mentions from their (dopey, 1990s-looking) site, which seems like a bit of a concession that aliens may no longer be as relevant as they were at the start of the Society, but an insistence that the underlying existential fears of human self-destructiveness are still relevant.

What It Tells Us About Cults

The Aetherians are a solid example of a seemingly crazy cult with a self-aggrandizing leader (King referred to himself as a doctor and a yogic master, among other titles) can avoid going off the rails, descending into power plays and brainwashing. Sometimes even bizarre rituals and beliefs are just a manifestation of deep cultural concerns and misgivings with existing outlets. Sometimes the most absurd of beliefs kind of make sense for a moment within the existing cultural milieu. Also, as a brief aside, the Aetherians, as the progenitors of the UFO-based cultic movement (which in other instances get much darker) help us to understand why anyone would or could believe in alien lords and how such beliefs aren’t all death cults and, well, Scientology.


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The brethren

14:33 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,394


The Brethren are nomadic, which means signing up is a guaranteed road trip to somewhere. Possibly the nearest Dumpster, but possibly Mexico or Canada with their exciting trash bins full of delicious tacos and dead moose.

They live simple lives, wanting to be like Jesus, but probably without that pain in the ass crucifixion part. Also, appealing to the lazier nature of man, they feel having an actual job gets in the way of getting to heaven. It's at this point that we raise our hands and say, "THE MAN SPEAKS THE TRUTH."

Also frowned upon are most clothes, worldly possessions and personal grooming, leaving members in brown tunics with long hair and beards, roaming the world on bicycles with backpacks like college kids trying to find themselves in Europe, minus the pot and wacky misadventures with tranny whores.

Much of life in the Brethren seems to be wandering, preaching the good word about the ZZ Top look and living without anything at all, staying in abandoned buildings and trying hard to figure out what exactly separates them from mere hobos.

Either way, all of this means you're not saddled with the expectation to hand over a chunk of your paycheck every week, because you don't have one. You don't have to worry about cleaning your house or doing the dishes because you don't have any. No cares about paying off that credit card, since you don't any. Well, maybe you have one from before your conversion, but it's not like they'll know where to send the bill


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13:28 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,398


"Authority is a key word for this clandestine movement. Everyone must be under authority. That is, under their authority. Now of course apostles did have authority in Scripture, but these new apostles claim that authority as their own, and a great deal more too. Under the catch cries of “Church Governance” and “The Church is a theocracy not a democracy” they employ standard cultic Mind Control methods. They practice “enforced giving”, where tithes and offerings of church members are recorded. Members who do not give the “correct” amount are disciplined and held back from leadership. People are banned from going to other churches and working for Para church organizations not under the apostle’s control. They control relationships, ordering people to stay away from friends and family outside the movement. Some even demand Christian members seek permission to marry each other. They run a reporting structure where members watch other members, and confidential information is passed up through the leadership pyramid. Some members have even had their rooms searched. People who wish to live in cities where there is no branch of the Super Apostle’s church are told not to go. Time control sees endless compulsory meetings. Failing to attend a meeting is noticed and the member is spoken to Breaking sessions are employed where leaders “character assassinate” a member until they break down. Church members are given the impression that they can only be saved by being part of the Super Apostles church. Churches outside the “kingdom” are fallen and dead. Not all of these apostles state this so blatantly, but this is the impression they cultivate within their churches. However some do allude to this in the public arena, so confident they are that God is on their side.

“The term “Local Church” is an important phrase in their onslaught. They claim that no Christian work can be outside of the Local Church. Para church organizations are in error for not being controlled by a “Local Church”. Of course what they really mean is that no Christian work can legitimately exist outside of the control of a Super Apostle. The idea that those Christians under the Super Apostle’s control cannot work outside of a “Local Church” has already lead to an increased disunity in the Body of Christ. Carried through to its logical conclusion this exclusive doctrine will result in extreme disunity since no one will work together. Also their concept of the Local Church will lead to turf wars analogous to those seen in medieval Europe as the lords of that time fought to increase their fiefdoms at the expense of others. Already this sort of behaviour has been reported. For example recently an itinerant preacher who held a seminar in
Palmerston North was challenged by a local pastor to what he was doing ministering in their area.”
How do they justify their stance? The Super Apostles look to pragmatism as their justification for practice, rather than Scripture. What works becomes standard operating procedure; hardly any consideration is given to whether it contravenes Scripture. Where a practice is questioned Scriptures are taken out of context, or twisted, to give the illusion that the Bible allows these methods.

These apostles surround themselves with “bodyguards”. People who isolate them from the workings of their churches. In all probability the Super Apostles do not know the extent of damage their reign is causing, since their bodyguards shield them from the hurt that is resulting in their followers.

Finances are an important area they seek to control. Some of these Super Apostles are more open with their church finances than others. These apostles and their families (nepotism is rife) receive significant incomes from their work. They drive expensive cars, live in luxury homes; some are given cash gifts, jewellery, ocean cruises, and other expensive holidays." Cultwatch.com


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How to leave the cult

11:02 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,404


One of the hardest things to do with a cult is to remove yourself from them. In fact, the degree of difficultly in leaving is often a sign in itself that the group is a cult, or at least unhealthy.
Don’t be in a rush to leave, but ensure you have a plan in place first. It may be hard to wait another week or two, but you’re likely to have an easier time if you do things in a measured, calculated way than if you just leave without any sort of plan.

Seek outside assistance

The first thing we’d suggest you do is seek outside assistance. You don’t have to do this on your own. Think of all the people you know (outside the group or their influence) and consider how they could help. If you need to physically leave the group, who could you stay with?
Find a group of people who you can turn to for assistance. Make a list of whom you’d like to help you, and then approach them and gauge their enthusiasm.
Consider who should be on the list very carefully. Start with those you know well (friends and family), and then go on to those you don’t know well (perhaps a colleague at work, a neighbor) and finally those you don’t know at all but would be useful to have on it. This last group might include a lawyer, a doctor, a leader at another (mainstream) church and so on.
Don’t include people whom you know to be gossips. Firstly, it’s not their business to spread your personal news around, and secondly it carries the risk of increasing pressure and attention from the group you’re leaving.

Breaking the news to the group

This is going to be one of the hardest things you ever have to do.
Broadly speaking, there are three main ways to do this.
Firstly, consider whether you actually have to tell them. Can you just walk away and not look back? Obviously you will have some contact from them once they realise you’ve left, but you don’t have to tell them in the first place – you can leave them to figure it out.
The second option is to tell them directly. This doesn’t have to be the whole group, or some posting on Facebook, or anything like that. It can a simple email or phone call to someone in the group whom you feel would be most receptive or sympathetic to your news.
If it’s an email, get one or two of your support group to read it and see what they think.
If it’s going to be a phone call, write down phrases and paragraphs of what you want to say and don’t get dragged into topics you don’t want to. Remember that you don’t have to say why you’re leaving, only that you are leaving. Hang up if they start to get personal or abusive.
The third option is to get someone from your support circle to do it for you. They can make the phone call (you can tell them what to say) or they can send the email. This is a good option, and one that you shouldn’t be afraid to use. We all need help from time to time, and this is one time in your life when you probably need help.

Further contact with the group

Once you’ve told the group that you’ve left (or they’ve figured it out for themselves) you are likely to have further contact from them. At least for a short while, until they give up.
Cults generally don’t just let people go. As we mentioned at the beginning, it’s one of the confirming signs that the group was unhealthy.
The first contact you have from them will likely be an email, phone call or personal visit. Prepare what you want to say to them beforehand. You can re-use parts of what you wrote when you told them you were leaving. Or it can be as simple as “I’ve decided to leave the group, and I ask that you don’t contact me again” and hang up, or press send.
You don’t have to take their phone calls, or invite them into your house. In fact, we’d suggest you don’t do either. If there is some good reason for you to do so, have someone with you (even for a phone call) for support.
But try not to engage with them. You can screen your phone calls (let it go through to voicemail or a message service, and see if your phone company can provide caller ID), and you don’t have to answer the door. You can also give your trusted circle a code for the phone – let it ring once, hang up, then call back.
Consider changing your mobile phone number (if you have one). Some phone can also screen calls and even text messages, though this requires you to know their phone numbers and enter them.
You can also get your email software to screen emails from certain addresses, either moving them into a certain folder, or permanently deleting them. Remember that once you’ve read something, you can’t un-read it, so try to put aside any natural curiosity to avoid reading hurtful personal attacks upon yourself. If you want to check that there’s nothing practical in the email (like, where you can collect any personal belongings you left behind) you can always get a member of your close circle to read it.
Some countries have harassment laws, so keep any texts or emails they send you, and don’t delete voicemail messages. See if there are ways to get these off your phone so they can be recorded. (In New Zealand, where Cultwatch is based, three unsolicited texts after you’ve asked them to stop is enough for the phone company to block further texts from that number to you.)

Document your dealings with them

Document every contact you have with the group from now on. (And as much of the past as you can, if you want.) At the very least, keep a diary and each day write down any contact with them in as much detail as is practical. Some countries allow you to record conversations that you’re part of without the other party being informed. (Again, check with a lawyer on this.)
You can easily record phone conversations by putting your phone on speakerphone, and using an electronic recording device. Practice with other conversations first until you’re confident you can do it. If someone from the group rings you, don’t be afraid to say “can I call you back in five minutes?” to ensure you’re ready. But remember, you don’t have to talk to them, so only do it if there is a good reason to do it.
If you do have contact with the group, documenting your dealings with them has a number of benefits. Firstly, it will help confirm to you how destructive they are. Phone calls (or worse – personal visits) early in the morning or late at night are designed to catch you off guard, and break down your resistance.
Also, if they threaten you, you will have proof of it and can use it with law enforcement authorities.
(We generally find that law enforcement are of little use in most situations as no law has been broken, but threats may be of more interest to them.)
If you have a digital camera, check whether it has a time stamp on it, and set this correctly and make sure it shows on any photos you take. Then, if the occasion arises when you can use it, it will record the time and date of the photograph.
Note that taking a photograph of someone when they know they’re being photographed is an aggressive move, and will often result in a response from the other party. Be prepared for this, and don’t take a photograph if it’s going to put you at risk.
But the best approach is to try not to engage with them, so hopefully you won’t have much to document.

Law enforcement

We generally find that law enforcement are of little use in most situations as no law has been broken. (If you think one has, check with a lawyer.)
Cases of physical or sexual abuse are a different case, and will elicit a response from police. If you’ve been documenting things, you should have some good proof of what’s occurred. Start by contacting a lawyer, and then get their advice on how to report the group’s actions to the police.
In extreme cases of assault (either physical or sexual), go directly to law enforcement as the time taken to report the offence can be a factor in getting a conviction.

Is your work going to be affected?

Is your work/income likely to be affected? Are co-workers (or even your boss) part of the group? In that case you will likely face some pressure at work and you need to prepare yourself to deal with this. Most countries have laws around why people can and cannot be dismissed from their employment, and it may be worth talking to a lawyer about this.
If your work is going to be affected, then ensure you document everything (or as much as you can) with your co-workers/boss as this can be used in court if you decide to sue them for unfair or constructive dismissal.
Again, Cultwatch are not lawyers and we strongly recommend that you seek legal assistance over any employment dispute as soon as possible.
We have had cases where an employee was pressured to join (and remain in) a cult because their boss and/or several co-workers were in it. One option to consider is finding another job as soon as possible. Ask yourself if you really want to stay around these people.

Moving forward

One thing we’d suggest throughout this difficult process is seeing a counsellor. When we’re physically under stress we see a medical doctor, so seeing someone when you’re under emotional stress makes sense. And after what you’ve been through, being under emotional stress would be normal and expected. Try to find someone who is part of a collective or has been recommended to you. (They’re more likely to be good.) If cost is an issue, many churches offer counseling sessions at little to no cost and that might be an option.
Once the contact from the group has tapered off and you consider yourself “out” then you need to think about how to move forward, and about your recovery from this horrible situation.
Professional counseling is a good idea, and one that can start from the very beginning. It’s good to have someone independent to talk to, even outside your trusted circle of helpers. Continue this even once you’re “out”, as recovery can take months or (more probably) years. You’ll know when it feels right to stop.
Some people who have a bad experience with a religious cult want nothing more to do with organized religion. Decide for yourself whether it was this group that was bad, or whether it’s put you off religion for good.
If you do want to continue with your faith, then acknowledge to yourself that you have been wounded by this experience, and may need to take a break from actively being involved. When you find a new church, consider just being an attendee for a while, before getting involved in anything within the church.
(See our section “How to find a good church”)
When you talk to others about the group, listen to what you’re saying. If your voice and comments are full of bitterness and anger (which is perfectly reasonable and understandable) then talk about this to your counsellor. Anger directed at a valid source is a normal and very human emotion.
Time is the great healer, and unfortunately it usually doesn’t pass as fast as we’d like. It may take months or years, but one day you will wake up and realise you haven’t thought about the group or the experiences you had with them for a long time. Talking about it helps, and that’s why we recommend a professional counsellor.
If you decide at some stage in the future you want to warn others about the group, read our section on “Warning others about a group you were in”.

Final comments

We hope this information has been useful, and given you some ideas on how to leave. Each group is unique, and every situation is different, but these are some common issues that people have written to us about.
If you’d like some more personal advice, please don’t hesitate to write to us directly. (We may take a week or two to respond, so if it’s urgent, perhaps use one of the other assistance sources we’ve mentioned above.)
We hope and pray you will be successful in leaving the group you’re with.

Cultwatch.com


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The temple of vampire

10:22 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,407


"The Dragon Speaks

I am thine Inmost Self.
I gaze out upon thy world of colored lights from the Darkness behind thine eyes.
I reach out through thy hands and touch The soft pleasures of thy living world.
I am the most Ancient One, the Creator of the Gods.
I am the Changing and Changeless One.
And whenever thou gazeth into the eyes of another, there! Lo! I Gaze back at thee!
I am the Source of All That Is!
He who recognizes Me as his own Self becomes also the Source
And is, in Truth, a Sorcerer.
He who allows the flow of My Being To Writhe through the sinews of his body,
to Touch and Change All in accordance with his Will, Is, in Truth, a Magician.
And My Dragon Magic is sweet for I Grant thee thy Wishes.
In what thou calleth dreams, I Gather My Forces.
In what thou calleth reality, I Stage My Dreams.
I Grant to all who seek My Being and My Power the Right to seek their own Pleasures!
I am the True God, the One God, the Only God Which Is.
I am thee and thou art Me.
Yea, even My Symbol is the Mirror!
And know well My Name for by honoring It in all thy Actions thou wilt
Be and remain worthy of My Dragon Magic."
The temple of vampire


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House of dreaming

10:19 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,409


Cults

By Bholanath © 2005

There are some who might choose to see (or call, or at least imply) that House of the Dreaming should be construed as a "cult". Nothing could be further from the truth.

First, it should be realized that a cult -- in its most neutral and traditional sense -- is not necessarily a bad thing. It simply means a "system of religious beliefs and rituals". It can also be used to describe the adherants of such a system. In a more modern sense, the beliefs and rituals needn't be religious: they could be political or even aesthetic. It is related to the word "cultivation". However, the important thing to realize is that through the unified adhesion to such a system, the individual members find security and/or empowerment.

Any careful examination of the articles on the website and discussions on the House message boards (or for those so fortunate, in real time) should prove that while the House does attempt to cultivate the personal evolutions of each member, we don't exemplify a single set of beliefs or practices; instead we put forth insight and speculation upon an array of beliefs and practices. While each of us may have our own preferences towards what is right for us and may openly offer reasons to disparage what we find distasteful, we do not insist that other members of the House should adopt such viewpoints or customs.

In more modern times, the word cult has been loaded with a negative spin, insinuating that the "leaders" exploit the "followers" by brainwashing them, drugging them, draining their personal resources, exploiting their bodies, and even encouraging them to commit suicide.

By contrast, House of the Dreaming has always valued and encouraged individual thought. We have disparaged drug use. We never asked even for donations from its members to cover the costs of materials used during rituals (or from the time and energy given to various on and offline endevours, pro bono). Depending upon an individual's level of involvement and enthusiasm, we may suggest assignments of various sorts to affiliates: However, aside from participation in [usually public and never sexual] rituals none of those assignments have a physical component; nor have we ever made nor implied that any activity was a requirement and could not be amicably refused.

In particular, we have been assailed as a cult because some of us openly frown on Christianity and invite members and affiliates to reexamine preconceived notions, which some might consider the core of their identity. It must be realized that not all members of the House frown on Christianity and in various ways and extents different members and affiliates consider themselves Christian. On the other hand, the history, beliefs, and practices, of Christianity and Christians [taken along with its unavoidable proximity in contemporary life] offers a disproportionate lot to scrutinize. Nor can it be overlooked that the modern experience of many nonconformists when confronted by the words and actions of many who call themselves "Christian" offers a multitude of reasons for bitterness and [in applicable cases] disillusionment with said religion. While the House of the Dreaming exists to explore vampyrism and spirituality, neither of these can be honestly, thoroughly, properly, or entirely divorced from religion. While the House of the Dreaming may choose to moderate some discussions, we do allow members and affiliates a lot of latitude in not only what to think and believe but also what to discussion, and when and how to discuss it.

As to matters of identity: there are many conflicting ideas what might constitute an identity, and therefore what might somehow constitute some essential core to that identity. Beliefs come from many sources, and neither all beliefs nor all sources are good. While some religions might dubiously insist upon the importance of [unexamined] faith, it is still folly to mistake faith for knowledge. If faith does not bear scrutiny, then it is up to the individual whether they feel it is better to remain ignorant [for the sake of preserving their "soul"] or to seek a personal evolution. As a House we might encourage personal evolution, but we don't even try to force it. If an ostrich chooses to stick its head in the sand, I (and I don't necessarily speak on behalf of other HotD members on this) would let the wolf eat it: we each choose our own path.

Further, I would severely question the notion that anything you can be seperated from, whether by whim, will, or woodworking-tool, should really be construed as some essential part of your identity. Obviously if it is removed and yet there is something which you call "I" that survives, whatever-it-was must have been less then crucial or necessary. Perhaps what you consider your "new" self, might seem unto you as different as a butterfly from a caterpillar, but this is not to say that you lost something good or valuable. Rather, it means that you have undergone a critical step in your own personal evolution. To deny the validity of such a step is but an immature desire to live in Never Never Land.

All those who are here, are here entirely of their own will. They are here to learn about who and what they are, what they may be capable of, and who and what they may become. To each, the answers will be ultimately be different. However, we offer (and even receive from) our members and affiliates the opportunity to grow through sharing perspectives and perhaps sometimes even living vicariously in each other's footsteps.

Entomb yourself in your current state of "faith" / "superstition" / "ignorance", if that is what you like (or feel that you need). We, however, would rather you read, contemplate, question and evolve with us. The choice is always yours: do not condemn us for offering it to you.

Afterward

By Aislin Ni MorRhiaghan © 2006

Especially in our community, be wary of people arising claiming leadership with any of these characteristics. More than one is too many. Remember that above all else, we are predators and even the best of intentions may be marred by that fact. Don't be naive, develop a good BS Detector. You can protect yourself from unsafe groups and leaders by developing a good BS detector. Check things out, know the facts and examine the evidence. A safe group will be patient with your decision making process. If a group or leader grows angry and anxious just because you want to make an informed and careful decision before joining, beware.

Signs of a potentially unsafe Group/Leader:

A group/leader that is always right.No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.Followers feel they can never be "good enough".A dramatic loss of spontaneity and sense of humor.Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.Anything the group/leader does can be justified no matter how harsh or harmful.Whenever the group/leader is criticized or questioned it is characterized as "persecution".There is no legitimate reason to leave, followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.Increasing isolation from family and old friends unless they demonstrate an interest in the group/leader.Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.Extreme obsessiveness regarding the group/leader resulting in the exclusion of almost every practical consideration.Hyperactivity centered on the group/leader agenda, which seems to supercede any personal goals or individual interests.Individual identity, the group, the leader and/or God as distinct and separate categories of existence become increasingly blurred.The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" for receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.Instead, in the follower's mind these identities become substantially and increasingly fused - as that person's involvement with the group/leader continues and deepens.Uncharacteristically stilted and seemingly programmed conversation and mannerisms, cloning of the group/leader in personal behavior.Former followers are at best-considered negative or worse evil and under bad influences. They can not be trusted and personal contact is avoided.Dependency upon the group/leader for problem solving, solutions, and definitions without meaningful reflective thought. A seeming inability to think independently or analyze situations without group/leader involvement.

Signs of a safe Group/Leader:

A safe group/leader will answer your questions without becoming judgmental and punitive.A safe group/leader will admit failings and mistakes and accept constructive criticism and advice.A safe group/leader will recognize reasonable boundaries and limitations when dealing with others.A safe group/leader will encourage critical thinking, individual autonomy and feelings of self-esteem.A safe group/leader is often democratic, sharing decision making and encouraging accountability and oversight.A safe group/leader may have disgruntled former followers, but will not vilify, excommunicate and forbid others from associating with them.A safe group/leader will not have a paper trail of overwhelmingly negative records, books, articles and statements about them.A safe group/leader will encourage family communication, community interaction and existing friendships and not feel threatened.A safe group/leader will not be the only source of knowledge and learning excluding everyone else, but value dialogue and the free exchange of ideas. Safe groups and leaders will tell you more than you want to know.


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Cult

08:20 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,423


 "At Cultwatch we have two main definitions of what a cult is.

First, a group that uses manipulative psychological “mind control” techniques to recruit and control their members. These techniques might be “love bombing”, instant friends or emotional blackmail. At extremes it might include keeping people away from their friends and family and isolating them both physically and emotionally.
Real vampires love Vampire Rave.
The second definition we use (when saying a group is a cult) is any group which claims to be a Christian group yet teaches something that is not primarily a Christian belief. For example, a group that teaches that Jesus was an alien from another planet but claims to be Christian.

Note that other mainstream religions (such as Buddhism) are not cults under either of these definitions but may contain cults within them." Cultwatch.com


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07:59 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,425


"Your ideology is a hypocrisy
Your laws are a complete idiotarcy
Corruption fills your veins
Inside of you. Vile attitudes remain
Your mouth scotch taped with lies
Your leaders swarming like flies
Hungry for power
Your heart rotten and sour
Posers and wannabes you are
Pertaining to be a Strigoi Vii which you are not
Your leaders are toothless lions
The great House Sabertooth Noctem Aeternus hypocrisy"
Cult watch


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Justice

07:09 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,430


For justice, truth and peace to flow 
Love too has fruit to bear 
United must become all four 
And practiced everywhere 


True justice cannot stand alone 
It needs of truth and peace 
When love becomes the corner stone 
Sweet fruit will never cease 


Let's drink The Truth as sweet old wine 
Let love live not in vane 
Mix justice now with peace divine 
Allow harmony reign 


For justice without love is nought 
Peace without truth’s a lie 
Until the world this fact is taught 
Condemned she’s bound to die 


To facts of life she must be wise 
Her children need to see 
Until they look with open eyes 
Salvation cannot be 


When truth and peace they understand 
When love becomes her root 
When justice lifts her outstretched hand 
She’ll bear the sweetest fruit 


Let candour be a constant guide 
Integrity wear a crown 
Impartiality reign inside 
With love as wedding gown 


Allow love’s wisdom steadfast rule 
Truth’s knowledge change one’s heart 
Let peace become our daily tool 
Let justice play her part


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Sweet revenge

07:04 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,432


Sweet Revenge

by Matt Pyke   Feb 9, 2005


Left for dead,
This worlds so bleak,
No power left inside,
Not even for me to speak,

Hurt so many times,
But never truly healed,
No you cannot see them,
My emotional scars are sealed,

Sometimes they ask me,
Have I always been this way?
It breaks my heart to answer,
But it is the truth that I must say,

No I have not always,
But probably will always be,
The darkness that dwells inside,
Is the living part of me,

I’ve kept it in for so long,
So much anger never let out,
Struggled with every tantrum,
Suppressing the urge to shout,

But the turning point is now,
You will not be my demise,
I will uplift my spirit,
And spring to your surprise,

No longer will you hurt me,
No more pain will I feel,
This day will end my sorrows,
And break that holy seal,

My emotions will flow with hatred,
And death you will meet,
Through this day of reckoning I have realized,
Revenge through success is sweet.

Copyright 2005


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There is no escape

07:01 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,433


There's no escape from THEM
they will hunt you down 
not of your doing---they have to find a scapegoat
though you know them not---somehow

they will attribute their failings
to you---' You caused our downfall'
you are their 'marked man'
and hopelessly you protest-- 'But I don't know you at all'.

There's no escape from THEM
even if you become a monk in a faraway monastery
or decide to be a recluse in the furthest mountain
they would still come in hordes as your relentless enemy.

   None hears you though you say'  But I did none any harm
   I'm just another human being--a nobody-
   why have they chosen me as their target?
   Alas!  I'm doomed !--can someone help set me free?'

Written by

MS Lim


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Justice

06:59 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,434


That Justice is a blind goddess 
Is a thing to which we black are wise: 
Her bandage hides two festering sores 
That once perhaps were eyes.

by Langston Hughes


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00:33 Feb 11 2018
Times Read: 3,466


the House Sabertooth Noctem Aeternus. I challenge you , Prove to me that your leader was a childe of Father Vincent. Again I challenge you prove to me your leader is the childe of Father of Vincent


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I challenge you

22:36 Feb 10 2018
Times Read: 3,490


the House Sabertooth Noctem Aeternus. I challenge you , Prove to me that your leader was a childe of Father Vincent.


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The cult of the house sabertooth Aeternus

22:06 Feb 10 2018
Times Read: 3,502


There is a cult on vampire rave called the House Sabertooth Noctem Aeternus. They have group off vampire rave. There cult leader has all traits of it. He told a Vampyric online forum about a girl's personal business. Which is against the law may I add. A real Strigoi Vii will have common sense. They will have respect for themselves and for others, its in the black veil.
No one by law has the Right to post someone personal information without their consent. He can not excommunicate someone from the Vampyric community. He has no power. I like to see him prove. If you are one of their childe, I will not to speak to you. I will wash my hands of you.


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Self help and counselling cult

18:01 Feb 10 2018
Times Read: 3,526


"Self Help & Counselling cult
Cults that use “self help” or counselling or self improvement as their base often target business people and corporations. By doing their courses and seminars they claim you and your staff will become more successful. Business people locked away in hotel rooms are subjected to quasi-religious indoctrination as they play strange games, join in group activities, and share their innermost thoughts with the group. Once you have completed one course you are told you need to do the more advanced course, which naturally costs more than the last. These cults will sometimes request that you do volunteer work and that you help recruit your friends, family and work mates. These groups specialize in creating powerful emotional experiences which are then used to validate your involvement in the cult. The religious overtones are couched in terms which don’t sound religious. They usually come to the surface as you near the end of a seminar. Many people have been bankrupted by involvement with these cults." Cultwatch.com
There is cult on vampire rave called the House Sabertooth Noctem Aeternus. There cult leader Lord Ryu has all traits of it. He told a Vampyric online forum about a girl's personal business. Which is against the law my I add. He's even tried to report her, the haven director to the Secretary of the haven. A real Strigoi Vii will have common sense. They will have respect for themselves and for others its in the black veil.
No one by law has Right to post someone personal information without their consent. He can not excommunicate someone from the Vampyric community. He has no power. I like to see the prove where he was sired by father Vincent. To let everyone know father Vincent was Father Sebastiaan childe . I will not speak to any one of these wannabes till they have proof that Lord Ryu was sired from father Vincent.


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16:51 Feb 10 2018
Times Read: 3,537


Ave everyone
I want to warn you against clicking on random emails from people you don't know. Be cautious when clicking emails. Hackers have found a way to turn on your webcam and watch everything you are doing. They can access files on the computer, so they can access your bank information etc.
Some cults have used this method to get power over there members.
A few people on here, had been hacked on this site so far.
A friend of mine came to me with a file that a vampire rave member has sent her. It had a keylogger software installed on it. Her so called sire told her she had to study it for a quiz. We went through it and that's how I discovered it.
Also noted, this group covenant or house lied about excommunicating her from the Vampyric community. They don't have the power to do so. There nothing more then a cult. Just some wannabes and liars and idiots. I know who they are on here. End of story
Be safe be happy
Cultwatch


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16:05 Feb 10 2018
Times Read: 3,548


There has been alot of hacking on this site.
So Im posting this article for your protection.
Be safe be happy
Cultwatch
Real vampires love Vampire Rave.
7 Steps You Can Take to Keep From Getting Hacked

BY ELIZABETH KING

1. Choose a secure messaging app

From WhatsApp to Facebook Messenger, there are many options for sending messages to friends, family, and colleages. But which is most secure? Apa says the best messaging app consumers can use right now is the encrypted messaging and voice calling app Signal.

Because Signal’s security protocol is open source, it's available for independent experts to play with the protocol and find vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to grab messages and files, Apa tells Complex. And unlike other messaging apps, Signal does not store any messages or files on their servers. So even if their servers got hacked, there would be nothing to find. This also means that messages and files sent through Signal are safe from the government.

“Signal doesn’t store any metadata on their servers, which means that federal agencies can’t request much information from people who are using Signal. The only data that is stored is a timestamp with the last time a person connected to the app,” Apa says.

WhatsApp fails on the storage front, according to Apa. “When information is stored on servers, they can be obtained by federal authorities. The messages are stored automatically through iCloud or other syncing methods,” meaning your messages are still out there on the app’s server. Unlike Signal, WhatsApp also stores contacts, which could also potentially be summoned.

Facebook Messenger now has the option to turn on a “secret conversation” mode that encrypts your messages, but otherwise, Apa says there’s no encryption for your Facebook messages. So if you want to make sure nobody can access your messages and files sent through a messaging app, skip Facebook and WhatsApp altogether (or at least for really sensitive information), and download Signal.

2. Get two-step verification for your email

If your server offers it, Apa says it’s a great idea to add two-step verification to your email address. While a password can be obtained through other means (such as phishing), a second step password is a random set of characters sent directly to your personal device, which means an attacker would need both your email password and your phone, tablet, or laptop to access your email account. Adding two-step verification only adds a handful of seconds to your log-in process, and could potentially save a heck of a lot of trouble if a hacker tried to get your emails.

3. Check who's been accessing your account

Security measures aren’t perfect, so while Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, and other companies have plenty of their own protocols in place, it's smart to add our own. “Because security features that users can modify and activate [in social media accounts and email] are limited, it’s a good idea to check the access logs on personal accounts,” Apa explains. This is to make sure login records match your own activity. So if there’s an IP address or timestamp that doesn’t look familiar, it could mean someone other than you accessed your account, and you should change your password ASAP.

4. Have a strong phone passcode

Speaking of passwords: It’s not just individual accounts that need strong passwords for your protection. Apa says that choosing the right password for your phone or tablet is also vital. If someone steals your phone, a 4-digit password is going to be easier to break than a 6 or 10-digit password (as long as it's not something predictable like 111111), so it’s a good idea to opt for a longer one. Apa says that a 6-digit code should be sufficient, but there’s no harm in using the maximum amount of digits your phone allows. 

5. Use trusted devices

“Avoid logging into private accounts from public computers” such as at the library or school computers, Apa advises. “Many times people get hacked because attackers can install keylogger software [software that tracks keystrokes on a device] on public computers, and within a couple of days, tons of passwords can be obtained.” If you have to check your email or Facebook away from a trusted device, consider updating your password later that day, so that even if your password was obtained by someone else, they won’t be able to use it to gain access to your accounts.

6. Seriously, for the love of God: Choose a strong password

Celebrities have paid the price for choosing weak passwords in recent months. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter and Pinterest accounts were hacked last June after hackers cracked his lackluster password: “dadada.” Zuck should have known better—and so should all of us. A strong password is key for protecting private data. Further, Apa says that passwords should be one per account: “Don’t use the same password for Gmail that you use for business email or social media. If you have the same password for one account and you get hacked, hackers will use that same password to try to access other accounts.”

If you have a hard time keeping track of a long list of complex passwords, Apa suggests installing a secure password manager such as KeyPassX. All of us should also update our passwords periodically.

7. Install encryption software on our computer

Lastly, Apa says that anyone can and should install encryption software on their computers. By encrypting the files and date on your computer, this software makes it difficult for attackers to access information stored locally on your device. For Windows, Apa recommends Blocker, and FileVault for Macs.


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spying

12:15 Feb 10 2018
Times Read: 3,563


Real vampires love Vampire Rave.

HOW DO HACKERS ACCESS MY WEBCAM OR FACETIME CAMERA?
There's a number of means by which hackers have gained access to people's webcams. The most common, however, is through the use of Trojan horse malware. This is malicious code hidden within seemingly innocent files that once downloaded will do its thing and give the wrong'uns backdoor control of your device.

Don't think your life's interesting enough to be snooped on? It doesn't matter, malware expert and Chief Strategy Officer at Blancco Technology Group, Richard Stiennon, told Norton: "We all have to become aware that our every action could be watched."
HOW CAN I STOP HACKERS SPYING ON ME?
It might sound obvious – like looking both ways before crossing the street – but make sure your device is running some solid anti-virus software if you're worried about unwanted watchers. Capable of spotting and blocking malware before it's done any damage to your machine, anti-virus software isn't just for laptops, but smartphones and tablets too. Yes, you'll have to pay for the good stuff, but less than £100 a year for peace of mind isn't too bad.

That's not the only solution though. If you're using an external webcam, the easiest way to protect yourself is to simply unplug it. Well, that and make sure you keep your kit on while it's in use.

There are more money-saving ways to keep your tech and privacy secure, and they're often the most effective means of foiling unwanted onlookers, too. You've probably seen people in your local coffee shop with a bit of sticky tape, part of a post-It note or a plaster over their laptop's camera - heck, even Facebook founder and full-on billionaire Mark Zuckerberg does just that. Well, it turns out that's the most effective means of keeping secure, even if some new fangled hack manages to bypass your antiviral software. So what are you waiting for? Get sticking.

This happen to my friend on this site vampirerave.

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Sanguinomicon: Liber Jahira

12:04 Feb 10 2018
Times Read: 3,564


The Sanguinarium& The Quest page 8
Mradu is a noble warrior and guardian. Kitra is our councilor and weaver and Ramkht is our visionary and Priest.


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Computer hackers

00:39 Feb 10 2018
Times Read: 3,579


What can computer hackers and predators do to me?
Real vampires love Vampire Rave.
While your computer is connected to the Internet, the malware a hacker has installed on your PC quietly transmits your personal and financial information without your knowledge or consent. Or, a computer predator may pounce on the private information you unwittingly revealed. In either case, they may:

Real vampires love Vampire Rave.
Hijack your usernames and passwordsSteal your money and open credit card and bank accounts in your nameRuin your creditRequest new account Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) or additional credit cardsMake purchasesAdd themselves or an alias that they control as an authorized user so it’s easier to use your creditObtain cash advancesUse and abuse your Social Security numberSell your information to other parties who will use it for illicit or illegal purposes

Predators can pose a serious physical threat. Use extreme caution when agreeing to meet an online “friend” or acquaintance in person.

How will I know?

Check the accuracy of your personal accounts, credit cards and documents. Are there unexplained transactions? Questionable or unauthorized changes? If so, dangerous malware installed by predators or hackers may already be lurking.

What can I do about computer hackers and predators?

When you arm yourself with information and resources, you’re wiser about computer security threats and less vulnerable to threat tactics. Hackers and predators pose equally serious and but very different threats.

To protect your computer from hackers and predators:Continually check the accuracy of personal accounts and deal with any discrepancies right awayUse extreme caution when entering chat rooms or posting personal Web pagesLimit the personal information you post on a personal Web pagesCarefully monitor requests by online “friends” or acquaintances for predatory behaviorKeep personal and financial information out of online conversationsUse extreme caution when agreeing to meet an online “friend” or acquaintance in person

Take these steps to protect your computer from hackers right away:Use a 2 way firewallUpdate your operating system regularlyIncrease your browser security settingsAvoid questionable Web sitesOnly download software from sites you trust. Carefully evaluate free software and file-sharing applications before downloading them.Practice safe email protocol:Don't open messages from unknown sendersImmediately delete messages you suspect to be spamMake sure that you have the best security software products installed on your PC:Use antivirus protectionGet antispyware software protection

An unprotected computer is like an open door for computer hackers and predators. To take it a step further, protect your computer from hackers by using a spam filter or gateway to scan inbound email or IM messages. Products like Webroot Spy Sweeper® and Webroot Internet Security Essentials thwart dangerous malware before it can enter your PC, stand guard at every possible entrance of your computer and fend off any spyware or viruses that try to enter, even the most damaging and devious strains. While free anti-spyware and antivirus downloads are available, they just can’t keep up with the continuous onslaught of new malware strains. Previously undetected forms of malware can often do the most damage, so it’s critical to have up-to-the-minute, guaranteed protection.


COMMENTS

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ThedarkprinceVvvvV
ThedarkprinceVvvvV
01:31 Feb 10 2018

most of those tools are very far behind in detecting spyware and malware of the newest generations. while they do help they should be made more effective against the advancing threats.
I will agree most of these tips are helpful, but it doesn't make anything a computer or network a concrete fortress by any means.
There are plenty of attacks hackers employee to obtain their information they desire. However, the biggest flaw is the user who is untrained or knowledgeable.





 

Con Artist

23:57 Feb 09 2018
Times Read: 3,587


"Lies lies
Your words spread like flies
Deceitful deceitful
Your action are lethal
Steal lie and cheat
Once I found you, you will cry in defeat
Con Artist" cultwatch

Real vampires love Vampire Rave.

Con artists make money through deception. They lie, cheat and fool people into thinking they've happened onto a great deal or some easy money, when ­they're the ones who'll be making money. If that doesn't work, they'll take advantage of our weaknesses -- loneliness, insecurity, poor health or simple ignorance. The only thing more important to a con artist than perfecting a con is perfecting a total lack of conscience.


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Strigoi Vii

20:06 Feb 09 2018
Times Read: 3,604


Ave everyone

"Strigoi Vii loves the finest pleasures of life, such as conversation and debate, art, music, gourmet food, dance, and literature, They will never force others to adopt their views or actions, always respecting others free will above all else. However they will also try to inspire and encourage others to live a more unfettered and fulfilling life.

Strigoi Vii are not victims of blind faith, and thus strive to break the conditioning of the mortal-minded briefs and dogms , seeking knowledge only through results." Vampyre Ssnguinomicon, The Lexicon of the living Vampire author Father Sabastiaan


"Those who control the information control the person. In a mind control cult any information from outside the cult is considered evil, especially if it is opposing the cult. Members are told not to read it or believe it. Only information supplied by the cult is true. One cult labels any information against it as “persecution” or “spiritual pornography”, another cult calls it “apostate literature” and will expel you from the group if you are caught with it. Cults train their members to instantly destroy any critical information given to them, and to not even entertain the thought that the information could be true." cultwatch.com


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19:35 Feb 09 2018
Times Read: 3,608


Ave everyone
People in the world have questions. Big ones, that have been around for thousands of years. And the scoundrels of the worlds have been around just as long, coming up with the answers, getting rich and powerful thanks to the hard-wired trust within humans. Surely many of the world’s religious and spiritual leaders are honest and good, and they truly believe in their cause. But the foundations of religion may be where one can find the deviants, who are still swimming around in organized religions up to this day.


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19:35 Feb 09 2018
Times Read: 3,609


Ave everyone
People in the world have questions. Big ones, that have been around for thousands of years. And the scoundrels of the worlds have been around just as long, coming up with the answers, getting rich and powerful thanks to the hard-wired trust within humans. Surely many of the world’s religious and spiritual leaders are honest and good, and they truly believe in their cause. But the foundations of religion may be where one can find the deviants, who are still swimming around in organized religions up to this day.


COMMENTS

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Cult

18:26 Feb 09 2018
Times Read: 3,624


Real vampires love Vampire Rave.

Ave everyone,
A cult will have a slick well-rehearsed Public Relations front which hides what the group is really like. You will hear how they help the poor, or support research, or peace, or the environment. They will tell you how happy you will be in their group (and everyone in the cult will always seem very happy and enthusiastic, mainly because they have been told to act happy and will get in trouble if they don’t). But you will not be told what life is really like in the group, nor what they really believe. These things will be introduced to you slowly, one at a time, so you will not notice the gradual change, until eventually you are practicing and believing things which at the start would have caused you to run a mile.

COMMENTS

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ErebustheDead
ErebustheDead
19:20 Feb 09 2018

hmmmm





 

Deception

09:23 Feb 09 2018
Times Read: 3,651


Ave everyone, " a cult needs to recruit and operate using deception. Why?
Because if people knew their true practices and beliefs beforehand then they would not join. A cult needs to hide the truth from you until they think you are ready to accept it.

For example, imagine if the leader of Heavens Gate cult was open and honest about the group and had said to new recruits, “Join us, wear strange clothes, get castrated and then drink poison!” he would not have had many takers."
Copywritten by Cultwatch.com


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