From HULIQ

Scans Show Conservative Brains Larger in Area Connected With Processing Fear

A new study issued Thursday in the journal Current Biology, using a series of brain scans, found that liberals have more gray matter in the part of the brain associated with understanding complexity, while conservatives have a increased greay matter in the section of the brain related to processing fear.

 The study found that conservatives have a larger right amygdala. The amygdalae, of which there are two, one in each hemisphere of the brain, are associated with reactions to fear, the study said. On the other hand, liberals have a larger anterior cingulate cortex, or ACC.

Other studies had already determined that, based on liberal / conservatives views, those same sections of the brain had greater activity. This was the first such study to associate physical differences with political views.

Ryota Kanai of the University College London, where the research was done, said, "Previously, some psychological traits were known to be predictive of an individual's political orientation. Our study now links such personality traits with specific brain structure."

The study said, "We found that greater liberalism was associated with increased gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, whereas greater conservatism was associated with increased volume of the right amygdala."

Since the ACC , the study said, is a region that "monitor(s) uncertainty and conflicts," that could explain the individuals' more liberal views. "Thus, it is conceivable that individuals with a larger ACC have a higher capacity to tolerate uncertainty and conflicts, allowing them to accept more liberal views," the study said.

Meanwhile, those with a larger amygdala are "more sensitive to disgust" and tend to "respond to threatening situations with more aggression than do liberals and are more sensitive to threatening facial expressions," the study added. However, it is unclear if the physical differences in the brain cause the difference in political views, or are a result of the political views themselves.

The study was based on 90 "healthy young adults." These individuals reported their political views on a scale of one to five from very liberal to very conservative, then agreed to brains scans.

The study concluded, "Our findings are consistent with the proposal that political orientation is associated with psychological processes for managing fear and uncertainty." It has been said, previously, that the GOP preys on fear during its campaigns, and this may explain that course of action.

For Doug

From FactCheck.Org
 

The truth about Obama's birth certificate.

 

Summary

 

In June, the Obama campaign released a digitally scanned image of his birth certificate to quell speculative charges that he might not be a natural-born citizen. But the image prompted more blog-based skepticism about the document's authenticity. And recently, author Jerome Corsi, whose book attacks Obama, said in a TV interview that the birth certificate the campaign has is "fake."

We beg to differ. FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as "supporting documents" to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said.

Update, Nov. 1: The director of Hawaii’s Department of Health confirmed Oct. 31 that Obama was born in Honolulu.

 

Analysis

 

Update Nov. 1: The Associated Press quoted Chiyome Fukino as saying that both she and the  registrar of vital statistics, Alvin Onaka, have personally verified that the health department holds Obama's original birth certificate.

Fukino also was quoted by several other news organizations. The Honolulu Advertiser quoted Fukino as saying the agency had been bombarded by requests, and that the registrar of statistics had even been called in at home in the middle of the night.

Honolulu Advertiser, Nov. 1 2008: "This has gotten ridiculous," state health director Dr. Chiyome Fukino said yesterday. "There are plenty of other, important things to focus on, like the economy, taxes, energy." . . . Will this be enough to quiet the doubters? "I hope so," Fukino said. "We need to get some work done."

Fukino said she has “personally seen and verified that the Hawaii State Department of Health has Sen. Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures."

Since we first wrote about Obama's birth certificate on June 16, speculation on his citizenship has continued apace. Some claim that Obama posted a fake birth certificate to his Web page. That charge leaped from the blogosphere to the mainstream media earlier this week when Jerome Corsi, author of a book attacking Obama, repeated the claim in an Aug. 15 interview with Steve Doocy on Fox News.

Corsi: Well, what would be really helpful is if Senator Obama would release primary documents like his birth certificate. The campaign has a false, fake birth certificate posted on their website. How is anybody supposed to really piece together his life?
Doocy: What do you mean they have a "false birth certificate" on their Web site?
Corsi: The original birth certificate of Obama has never been released, and the campaign refuses to release it.
Doocy: Well, couldn't it just be a State of Hawaii-produced duplicate?
Corsi: No, it's a -- there's been good analysis of it on the Internet, and it's been shown to have watermarks from Photoshop. It's a fake document that's on the Web site right now, and the original birth certificate the campaign refuses to produce.

Corsi isn't the only skeptic claiming that the document is a forgery. Among the most frequent objections we saw on forums, blogs and e-mails are:

• The birth certificate doesn't have a raised seal.
• It isn't signed.
• No creases from folding are evident in the scanned version.
  
• In the zoomed-in view, there's a strange halo around the letters.
• The certificate number is blacked out.
• The date bleeding through from the back seems to say "2007," but the document wasn't released until 2008.
• The document is a "certification of birth," not a "certificate of birth."
  

Recently FactCheck representatives got a chance to spend some time with the birth certificate, and we can attest to the fact that it is real and three-dimensional and resides at the Obama headquarters in Chicago. We can assure readers that the certificate does bear a raised seal, and that it's stamped on the back by Hawaii state registrar Alvin T. Onaka (who uses a signature stamp rather than signing individual birth certificates). We even brought home a few photographs.

The Obama birth certificate, held by FactCheck writer Joe Miller

Alvin T. Onaka's signature stamp

The raised seal

Blowup of text

You can click on the photos to get full-size versions, which haven't been edited in any way, except that some have been rotated 90 degrees for viewing purposes.

The certificate has all the elements the State Department requires for proving citizenship to obtain a U.S. passport: "your full name, the full name of your parent(s), date and place of birth, sex, date the birth record was filed, and the seal or other certification of the official custodian of such records." The names, date and place of birth, and filing date are all evident on the scanned version, and you can see the seal above.

The document is a "certification of birth," also known as a short-form birth certificate. The long form is drawn up by the hospital and includes additional information such as birth weight and parents' hometowns. The short form is printed by the state and draws from a database with fewer details. The Hawaii Department of Health's birth record request form does not give the option to request a photocopy of your long-form birth certificate, but their short form has enough information to be acceptable to the State Department. We tried to ask the Hawaii DOH why they only offer the short form, among other questions, but they have not given a response.

The scan released by the campaign shows halos around the black text, making it look (to some) as though the text might have been pasted on top of an image of security paper. But the document itself has no such halos, nor do the close-up photos we took of it. We conclude that the halo seen in the image produced by the campaign is a digital artifact from the scanning process.

We asked the Obama campaign about the date stamp and the blacked-out certificate number. The certificate is stamped June 2007, because that's when Hawaii officials produced it for the campaign, which requested that document and "all the records we could get our hands on" according to spokesperson Shauna Daly. The campaign didn't release its copy until 2008, after speculation began to appear on the Internet questioning Obama's citizenship. The campaign then rushed to release the document, and the rush is responsible for the blacked-out certificate number. Says Shauna: "[We] couldn't get someone on the phone in Hawaii to tell us whether the number represented some secret information, and we erred on the side of blacking it out. Since then we've found out it's pretty irrelevant for the outside world." The document we looked at did have a certificate number; it is 151 1961 - 010641.

Blowup of certificate number

Some of the conspiracy theories that have circulated about Obama are quite imaginative. One conservative blogger suggested that the campaign might have obtained a valid Hawaii birth certificate, soaked it in solvent, then reprinted it with Obama's information. Of course, this anonymous blogger didn't have access to the actual document and presents this as just one possible "scenario" without any evidence that such a thing actually happened or is even feasible.

We also note that so far none of those questioning the authenticity of the document have produced a shred of evidence that the information on it is incorrect. Instead, some speculate that somehow, maybe, he was born in another country and doesn't meet the Constitution's requirement that the president be a "natural-born citizen."

We think our colleagues at PolitiFact.com, who also dug into some of these loopy theories put it pretty well: "It is possible that Obama conspired his way to the precipice of the world’s biggest job, involving a vast network of people and government agencies over decades of lies. Anything’s possible. But step back and look at the overwhelming evidence to the contrary and your sense of what’s reasonable has to take over."
In fact, the conspiracy would need to be even deeper than our colleagues realized. In late July, a researcher looking to dig up dirt on Obama instead found a birth announcement that had been published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Sunday, Aug. 13, 1961:

Obama's birth announcement

The announcement was posted by a pro-Hillary Clinton blogger who grudgingly concluded that Obama "likely" was born Aug. 4, 1961 in Honolulu.

Of course, it's distantly possible that Obama's grandparents may have planted the announcement just in case their grandson needed to prove his U.S. citizenship in order to run for president someday. We suggest that those who choose to go down that path should first equip themselves with a high-quality tinfoil hat. The evidence is clear: Barack Obama was born in the U.S.A.

Update, August 26: We received responses to some of our questions from the Hawaii Department of Health. They couldn't tell us anything about their security paper, but they did answer another frequently-raised question: why is Obama's father's race listed as "African"? Kurt Tsue at the DOH told us that father's race and mother's race are supplied by the parents, and that "we accept what the parents self identify themselves to be." We consider it reasonable to believe that Barack Obama, Sr., would have thought of and reported himself as "African." It's certainly not the slam dunk some readers have made it out to be.

When we asked about the security borders, which look different from some other examples of Hawaii certifications of live birth, Kurt said "The borders are generated each time a certified copy is printed. A citation located on the bottom left hand corner of the certificate indicates which date the form was revised." He also confirmed that the information in the short form birth certificate is sufficient to prove citizenship for "all reasonable purposes."

–by Jess Henig, with Joe Miller

Sources

United States Department of State. "Application for a U.S. Passport." Accessed 20 Aug. 2008.

State of Hawaii Department of Health. "Request for Certified Copy of Birth Record." Accessed 20 Aug. 2008.

Hollyfield, Amy. "Obama's Birth Certificate: Final Chapter." Politifact.com. 27 Jun. 2008.

The Associated Press. "State declares Obama birth certificate genuine" 31 Oct 2008.

Nakaso, Dan. "Obama's certificate of birth OK, state says; Health director issues voucher in response to 'ridiculous' barrage" Honolulu Advertiser 1 Nov 2008.

From A life Connected

Viva Cesar Chavez! For the people, for the planet, for the animals.

Posted by Connector in Discover Nonviolence

Nonviolence leader Cesar Chavez was born near Yuma, Arizona, USA on March 31, 1927. Last month would have marked his 84th birthday. He died in his sleep in 1993.

We honor Cesar Chavez because he bridged social justice mountaintops — dedicating his life to fight for the rights of people, for the preservation of the environment and for protection of animals. He recognized that the social justice movements are not separate but intimately tied to one another. He often remarked how violence is cut from the same cloth — whether it is violence against people, violence against the environment, or violence against animals.

Cesar advocated Nonviolence as a strategy and as a way of life. He encouraged people to stop talking and start walking — don’t wait! — when you see injustice, put Nonviolence into action.

He was one of the first to remind us to live our lives consistently with our values. This includes consuming consciously — buying only fair-labor products, environmentally friendly products, and animal-friendly products (Cesar was vegan).

The future won’t be just and bright simply because we want it badly enough. We must take personal action and responsibility to do the right thing. Cesar put it this way, “Talk is cheap… it’s how we organize and live our lives everyday that tells what we believe in.”

Celebrate Cesar Chavez’s birthday with us by taking action — connect with the impact of your everyday choices. Every dollar you spend is a vote. Every time you choose not to buy something it’s a vote. You voted yesterday. You’ll vote today — maybe hundreds of times. Did you vote for human rights, the environment, compassion for animals, and Nonviolence? Or did you vote for greed, environmental destruction, cruelty, and violence? Are your choices in line with your values?

Take the opportunity to expand your circle of compassion and learn more about a social justice issue you may not visit regularly. Ask your new friends on those social justice mountaintops what you can do to support them — today and everyday. Yes, we can keep on talking, but let’s start walking our talk, too.

Happy birthday, Cesar!

From FarmKind

Welcome to Farm Kind!
 

Farm Kind was founded to be a place where everyone can come to learn about issues concerning our food, how it is produced, and the many complex connections it has to our world and our lives.

Who and what is Farm Kind? Farm Kind was founded by myself, Harold Brown. Some folks call me Farmer Brown. I was born on a family farm and spent half of my life in agriculture. This includes three years working in the dairy industry. Growing up a farm kid gave me a rich experience that few people have the benefit of knowing these days. It taught me the value of community, of hard work, and that our personal choices have everything to do with the world we create.

This website is intended to be a resource for farmers who want to make the transition from animal based to plant based agriculture, for consumers to learn a different perspective on how food is produced, to help those who desire to reconnect with the land and become farmers, to support local food production, environmental and social justice issues, the rights of all living beings to be co-cohabitants of this planet, and how these things have everything to do with creating the peaceful world that all beings desire.

Does this website hold all of the answers? Not at all, but we all need to start some place and like the old saying goes, the longest journey begins with a single step.

Like anything worthwhile, learning new information or a different perspective is hard work and can really challenge us emotionally, intellectually, and even spiritually. I kind of think about it like digging a ditch or postholes. At the beginning of the day I would dread the prospect of the toil but once I started I found a rhythm, a flow to the work. It went from being drudgery to being a type of moving meditation where I was able to contemplate many things and learn how to most efficiently use my body. It started with a single movement and led to a sense of inner peace.

Join me on this journey, this work in progress, and see where it takes us.

Peace,
Farmer Brown

From Tribe of Heart

NEW YORK STATE PREMIERE
Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home
at the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival
Thursday, April 14th, 7 PM at Cinemapolis in Ithaca
FREE Companion Event: “Creating a Peaceable Kingdom in the Finger Lakes”
An introduction to Ithaca-area groups making a difference for animals, with speakers representing
FarmKind, Wild Things Sanctuary and CayugaDeer.org,
Sun, Apr 17, 2:30 - 4:30 pm, Women's Community Bldg, 100 W. Seneca St,, Ithaca

Tickets: $9.50 Seniors & Students: $8 Members receive $1.50 discount		Screening will be followed by Q&A with Ithaca filmmakers Jenny Stein and James LaVeck, and film subject Harold Brown. Reception at Delilah's.
		James LaVeck (producer), Jenny Stein (director) and Harold Brown (film subject)

About the film... Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home is a new documentary by the award-winning filmmakers of The Witness. Watch a preview A riveting story of transformation and healing, this 78-minute documentary portrays the experience of five farmers, an animal rescuer and a humane police officer, each engaged in a courageous struggle of conscience. As they attempt to re-integrate parts of themselves that were fragmented by expectations and experiences that went against their deepest natures, they reveal the complex web of social, psychological and economic forces that have led to their present conflict. Their powerful testimony, combined with rare footage providing insight into the emotional lives of animals, creates an unforgettable portrait of farm life that many viewers have called "a life-changing experience." Video highlights from the World Premiere Video highlights from the Chicago Premiere Audiences are saying... "Phenomenal film. Life-changing." "I felt 'whole' after watching the film. It makes connections that I don't encounter in everyday life. It made me feel larger than myself, like I am a part of something bigger." “Touched my heart and opened more compassion, kindness and mercy in me.” "Beautiful. Courageous. It has raised my awareness to a whole new level." "The first time I cried and laughed at the same time. I feel awakened and alive." "This is by far the best film on our modern agricultural system, and an alternative view, that I have ever seen." "It has re-awakened in my soul what I have known all along and now I must follow. Thank you." "We are truly all connected, and this documentary shows this better than anything else out there." "Very clarifying, morally and ethically." "It’s hard to communicate the number of feelings that enveloped me while viewing this film. The emotions of the audience surrounded and touched me as an ocean of compassion." "Moving and honest." "Our world needs this message -- it was heartfelt, tragic, hopeful and inspiring. I'm overwhelmed and grateful." "I can honestly say that after seeing this film, I am changed for the better." "This film reminds me to live with heartfelt connections to animals, people and the earth." "My heart has been broken, and opened." “Not only is ‘the journey home’ about our individual and collective journeys to truth and justice, but the animals’ journeys ‘home.’ They are our teachers if we will only listen -- hear them -- and learn. Maybe this is ‘the one’ that will awaken the collective. I can only hope.” "Everyone on the planet needs to see this film. I am deeply moved." F ollow Tribe of Heart on Facebook and Twitter:

Please help us publicize this event! Share this invitation with people you know in Central New York. It's easy! Use the share button at the top of this invitation. If you are on Facebook and plan to attend, let us know, and invite your Facebook friends, too! Event details... Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home will be screened at Cinemapolis, 120 E. Green Street, in Ithaca, NY. Map & Directions General Admission: $9.50 Seniors/Students: $8 Cinemapolis Members: $1.50 discount Reception to follow, at nearby Delilah's. Map & Directions Special guests... Film Subject Harold Brown A fifth-generation farmer from Michigan, Harold Brown worked in animal agriculture for half of his life. In Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home, he shares the touching story of how he broke away from the traditions of his upbringing to forge a new way in the world, based on his desire to live in harmony with his most deeply held values. In 2008, Harold founded a charitable organization called Farmkind, “to be a resource for farmers who want to make the transition from animal based to plant based agriculture, for consumers to learn a different perspective on how food is produced, to help those who desire to reconnect with the land and become farmers, to support local food production, environmental and social justice issues, the rights of all living beings to be co-cohabitants of this planet, and how these things have everything to do with creating the peaceful world that all beings desire.” Farmkind is based in the heart of the Finger Lakes, in Hector, NY. Filmmakers Jenny Stein and James LaVeck The work of documentary filmmakers Jenny Stein and James LaVeck, has been recognized by film festival juries and audience members for its uncompromising yet compassionate portrayal of the interplay between what is most troubling in human society with what is most inspiring in human nature. LaVeck (producer) and Stein (director) are co-founders of the Ithaca, New York-based non-profit documentary production organization Tribe of Heart. For the last ten years, Tribe of Heart films have appeared in 80 festivals around the world and won 17 top awards, including 4 for Best of Festival and 12 for Best Documentary. Their work has appeared on PBS, LinkTV, FreeSpeech TV, and the United Kingdom’s Community Channel. This will be their third film to screen at the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival over the past 10 years. About the festival... The Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival at Ithaca College embraces and interrogates sustainability across all of its forms: economic, social, ecological, political, cultural, technological, and aesthetic. The festival is in the spirit of UNESCO’s initiative on sustainable development. This initiative has redefined and expanded environmental issues to explore the international interconnections between war, disease, health, genocide, the land, water, air, food, education, technology, cultural heritage, and diversity. Through film, video, new media, installation, performance, panels, and presentations, the festival engages interdisciplinary dialogue and vigorous debate. It links the local with the global. And it showcases Ithaca College as a regional and national center for thinking differently—in new ways, interfaces, and forms—about the environment and sustainability. This year's FLEFF will take place April 10-17 at Cinemapolis and at Ithaca College.

Tribe of Heart is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that produces award-winning, life-changing films about the journey of awakening conscience and the ethics of the human-animal relationship. As a small organization with a big vision, we depend on the power of our community to make our programs come to life. Thank you for the many ways you help Tribe of Heart encourage positive, peaceful transformation.

Donations can be made online or mailed to Tribe of Heart, POB 149, Ithaca, NY 14851

The Obvious Is Often Overlooked

by Dee Newman

The obvious is often overlooked

When the obscure becomes an obsession.

It’s impossible

To undress a woman who’s

Already naked.

From The President

Dee,

Today, we are filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign.

We're doing this now because the politics we believe in does not start with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you -- with people organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co-workers, and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build.

So even though I'm focused on the job you elected me to do, and the race may not reach full speed for a year or more, the work of laying the foundation for our campaign must start today.

We've always known that lasting change wouldn't come quickly or easily. It never does. But as my administration and folks across the country fight to protect the progress we've made -- and make more -- we also need to begin mobilizing for 2012, long before the time comes for me to begin campaigning in earnest.

As we take this step, I'd like to share a video that features some folks like you who are helping to lead the way on this journey. Please take a moment to watch:


In the coming days, supporters like you will begin forging a new organization that we'll build together in cities and towns across the country. And I'll need you to help shape our plan as we create a campaign that's farther reaching, more focused, and more innovative than anything we've built before.

We'll start by doing something unprecedented: coordinating millions of one-on-one conversations between supporters across every single state, reconnecting old friends, inspiring new ones to join the cause, and readying ourselves for next year's fight.

This will be my final campaign, at least as a candidate. But the cause of making a lasting difference for our families, our communities, and our country has never been about one person. And it will succeed only if we work together.

There will be much more to come as the race unfolds. Today, simply let us know you're in to help us begin, and then spread the word:

http://my.barackobama.com/2012

Thank you,

Barack

From Dan

I believe that it was Kierkegaard who said – "I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations - one can either do this or that." His advice was: whether you do it or don't do it - you'll regret it.

The following is from Life's Bone:

Does This Mandala Make Me Look Fat?

It all started
when I realized
I had two kinds
of problems.
One, I called THIS
and the other, THAT.
As to which to ponder,
when THIS
got too confusing,
I'd go ponder THAT.

As for THIS,
and the answer to THIS,
I searched mostly
in a place I called THERE;
or in the other place
called HERE.
And, for a long while,
I was either COMING,
or I was GOING,
from HERE to THERE
in search of the answer to
THIS or THAT.

Nearing exhaustion
one day,
I had a hysterical revelation
as to the answer
to the problem
of THIS.
I realized that,
THIS, was in fact, THAT.
And that THAT was THIS, as well.

Whereas I once had two problems,
I now have but one.
I felt
an astonishing sense of relief,
and simply slumped down
into this chair,
in which I presently sit.
I watched
THIS and THAT in my mind
being inexorably mashed
and formed
into a singular ball.
One round
blobular
problem
I decided to call
IT.

And so, now
I retire into my easy chair.
No more COMING and GOING
between HERE and THERE
about questions of THIS and THAT.
I reach for my pipe and bowl.
Life is much simpler now,
and I can kick back
and idly contemplate
the meaning of IT.

Of course,
no one can really hope
to get to the bottom of IT.
IT is a bottomless pit.
IT will be an endless quest.
But, that's ok.
I will see some part of IT
and hear a little
of the sound of IT,
and taste some of IT,
smell, and feel
a bit of IT,
and know
some of IT,
on my way
down.