TwizzTed Tiffi ~ Tony Awards Contest Entry
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Antidepressants Don’t Work for Treating Depression?
Those of us who have had to suffer through many years of depression, like me, may not find this information to be so surprising. I think it would be rare occasion where doctors actually write prescriptions for the perfect antidepressant the 1st time someone makes them aware of being depressed, but that’s just my opinion.
Prozac, Cymbalta, Zoloft, Paxil, WellButrin, Effexor XR… the list goes on. These are just a handful of Brands I was given to ‘help’ with my depression. Effexor XR seemed to work, but after the first 2 weeks it was all back to the same old feelings of worthlessness, insecurity, sporadic crying, not to forget a Huge drop in my sex drive, which is not usual for me 
I spent over 10 years of my life making great attempts to find the proper medication that fits me the best, break free of the horribly rapid mood swings which often resulted in a deeper depression at the spur of a moment. Little did we all know, we were being ripped off by Big Pharma ~ BIG TIME !!! Even worse, they put our personal health at risk just to make a buck! How pitiful.
Posted by: Mark Hyman MD; April 24, 2010 07:00 AM ~ The Huffington Post
Here’s some depressing recent medical news: Antidepressants don’t work. What’s even more depressing is that the pharmaceutical industry and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have deliberately deceived us into believing that they DO work. As a physician, this is frightening to me. Depression is among the most common problems seen in primary-care medicine and soon will be the second leading cause of disability in America.
The study I’m talking about was published in *The New England Journal of Medicine. It found that drug companies selectively publish studies on antidepressants. They have published nearly all the studies that show benefit — but almost none of the studies that show these drugs are ineffective.
That warps our view of antidepressants, leading us to think that they do work. And it has fueled the tremendous growth in the use of psychiatric medications, which are now the second leading class of drugs sold, after cholesterol-lowering drugs.
The problem is even worse than it sounds, because the positive studies hardly showed benefit in the first place. For example, 40 percent of people taking a placebo (sugar pill) got better, while only 60 percent taking the actual drug had improvement in their symptoms. Looking at it another way, 80 percent of people get better with just a placebo.
Here are a few things you can do to start treating your depression today.
7 Steps to Treat Depression without Drugs
1. Try an anti-inflammatory elimination diet that gets rid of common food allergens. As I mentioned above, food allergies and the resultant inflammation have been connected with depression and other mood disorders.
2. Check for hypothyroidism. This unrecognized epidemic is a leading cause of depression. Make sure to have thorough thyroid exam if you are depressed.
3. Take vitamin D. Deficiency in this essential vitamin can lead to depression. Supplement with at least 2,000 to 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 a day.
4. Take omega-3 fats. Your brain is made of up this fat, and deficiency can lead to a host of problems. Supplement with 1,000 to 2,000 mg of purified fish oil a day.
5. Take adequate B12 (1,000 micrograms, or mcg, a day), B6 (25 mg) and folic acid (800 mcg). These vitamins are critical for metabolizing homocysteine, which can play a factor in depression.
6. Get checked for mercury. Heavy metal toxicity has been correlated with depression and other mood and neurological problems.
7. Exercise vigorously five times a week for 30 minutes. This increases levels of BDNF, a natural antidepressant in your brain.
Overcoming depression is an important step toward lifelong vibrant health. These are just of few of the easiest and most effective things you can do to treat depression. But there are even more, which you can address by simply working through the 7 Keys to UltraWellness.
Mark Hyman, M.D. practicing physician and founder of The UltraWellness Center is a pioneer in functional medicine. Dr. Hyman is now sharing the 7 ways to tap into your body’s natural ability to heal itself. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos on Youtube and become a fan on Facebook.
*Study: The New England Journal of Medicine ~ “Results Among 74 FDA-registered studies, 31%, accounting for3449 study participants, were not published. Whether and how the studies were published were associated with the study outcome. A total of 37 studies viewed by the FDA as having positive results were published; 1 study viewed as positive was not published. Studies viewed by the FDA as having negative or questionable results were, with 3 exceptions, either not published (22 studies) or published in a way that, in our opinion, conveyed a positive outcome (11 studies). According to the published literature, it appeared that 94% of the trials conducted were positive. By contrast, the FDA analysis showed that 51% were positive. Separate meta-analyses of the FDA and journal data sets showed that the increase in effect size ranged from 11 to 69% for individual drugs and was 32% overall.”
It has been a little over a year since I’ve been on ANY chemical medications for depression and I still have my moments but it really has gotten loads easier to overcome, compared to when I last took them. I couldn’t understand why, Not One of these medications worked for me! I knew I was depressed, so I swallowed “Anti” depressants (doctors orders), and expected at least one of them to actually work!!
Well, now I understand why not.
~Tiffi
Is it okay to say, you’re not okay?
I’m still trying to figure out why people ask “how are you” when they don’t always want to hear the true answer? Daily, people ask one another how they feel or how life is going but when the person comes back and says “not so good” too many people tend to back off and/or hesitate asking what the problem is and quickly resort to a phrase where they don’t even have to get involved such as “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, I hope things get better for you.” Why is it that not many ask “is there anything I can do?”
There is a boat load of reasons why someone wouldn’t offer their help or support. Maybe they are afraid that the person will ask too much of them. Maybe they have too much going on and don’t have the time or can’t handle all the issues they have on their own to stop and help another person. Maybe they assume that it would be too stressful or even maybe they assume that there is nothing they can do to help. Maybe, maybe, maybe… but did you ask?
There are a lot of people, I’ve noticed, that don’t even discuss their issues with others because they feel too independent to ask and some feel they have asked for help so often in the past that no one will think to help them again. The one thing I don’t understand is why is it that when someone does finally admit that they can’t handle things on their own and they ask for help, too many people try and avoid the issue and/or keep their distance.
Too many people are so wrapped so tightly in themselves, trying to deal with their own shit that they don’t even consider helping anyone else. Did anyone ever think, if they put their own issues to the side for a moment and give a person a shoulder to cry on and help them with the details of their issues, then just MAYBE that would be all they need? A good friend will listen to anything and everything you say but sometimes try to distract your mind with things that they went through just to say “it could be worse.” Come on now… nobody wants to hear “it could be worse” when they are currently going through it!
After openly talking about what your dealing with, have you ever heard the phrase “I never been through that before, I don’t know what to tell you” or “that happened to me before but just not like that?” I’ve heard things like this all too much in my life! This is why most people just end up saying “I’m fine” when they are asked how they are. I should know cause I used to have to go to work and try not to cry or say too much about my issues at home even though people definitely notice that I was not okay and dying inside just to tell someone what life was like for me once I got home. Eventually, I stopped saying I’m fine all the time because it was apparently obvious that I was not!
It just doesn’t seem right that people have to put a mask on in front of others. Saying your fine when your not is only lying to yourself also. It’s only been a few years now, that I’ve been telling people how I really feel. Not expressively speaking my true feelings on things was just eating me alive inside! Ya know, people can potentially go crazy from having too much on their mind and no ways to vent. Watch out! When I hold too much back for too long, the words that usually come out of my mouth, at times can cut like a knife ~(-:{ Ask any of my closest friends and relatives.
What kind of world are we living in where someone in need has to hide their true feelings because they are too afraid to ask for support? I’m not even taking financial support into consideration!!
What about those of us who quit asking for help a long time ago but really do need it still? Is it too much to ask for someone we care about to OFFER their help as opposed being forced to feel weaker by admitting they need help? What about the people who barely asked for anything their whole life that feel they have only ever been a burden to those they thought truly cared?
Is it really okay to say you’re not okay?
I’m still unsure if society thinks it’s okay, but I do know one thing…
I’ve already made the decision to never again say I’m okay when I’m not because for me, it’s self-destructive, leaves me lonely, and does not resolve a thing!!!
So, with that said… how do you feel?
Cannabis Controversy by TwizzTed Tiffi
Was just reading this document from the ONDCP and this is how I feel:
“Important facts about our nation’s most misunderstood illegal drug”
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. According to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, about 102 million Americans 12 years of age or older have at least tried marijuana once in their life, which is 41% of the entire population — National Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
The ONDCP states that the some effects of marijuana can be:
Respiratory illnesses – Marijuana has never been known to have caused any respiratory illnesses. The people who have admitted to smoking pot and then getting respiratory issues were mostly likely to be also cigarette smokers. Needless to say, IT’S THOSE MANUFACTURED, CHEMICALLY ENHANCED CIGARETTES THAT ARE KILLING YOU, NOT the cannabis — duh!! I feel a huge difference in my breathing since I quit buying “brand name” cigarettes and began rolling my own tobacco. Took a little getting used to but it’s been so long since I’ve had a Newport that I can’t even remember what they taste like. What I do recall is all the mucus and shit I coughed up while smoking those cancer sticks! Don’t cough at all anymore… hmmm, wonder why that is? We all know that the cigarette manufacturing companies don’t care about our health they just want to make their big bucks!!! In the process, they are killing us with extra added crap we don’t need that actually CAUSES us to be addicted to a certain “brand.” Just my opinion, of course.
Problems with learning – I agree that someone who smokes marijuana could possibly acquire some learning slowness due to smoking marijuana. Although you should remember, some of us have thoughts that race through our brains so fast we can’t catch them. So why not smoke a little bud to make our lives a bit easier? It has even been proven, in some medical research studies that marijuana is also used as an alternative medication for Adderall or Ritalin, which is given to people who have ADHD or OCD. I am hoping to hear more on this topic soon!!!
Problems with memory – I can’t remember if I have had problems remembering my memory while smoking’ refer (-:{ à Just joking, rofl! I have had different results when smoking marijuana, depending on how I was feeling before I smoked it! When I am depressed and smoke it, I actually get a more clear picture of what I was depressed about, so in this case (for me) it helps, but for those people who usually have no problems remembering things.. Marijuana would most likely have an adverse affect and cause memory loss instead.
Increased heart rate – The only time my heart rate EVER increased due to marijuana was the few times that I smoked it in high school cause I thought my Mom might know when I got home and when I was first dating my ex-husband because he was against all drugs. I mean there were probably only a handful of times that I actually had an increased heart-rate from smoking herb, lol. Honestly, my heart-rate increases sporadically at times due to anxiety from the stress of being misunderstood, my entire life. Guess what actually helps me get over the anxiety the fastest? That’s right!! Mary Jane (-: But again… THAT’S JUST ME, OK!!!
Impaired coordination – The only time my coordination was ever impaired was immediately after smoking. Just like going to the bar and drinking, you should know and feel if y
ou are not okay to operate heavy machinery, then DON’T DO IT IDIOT!! People should have the ability to open their mouths and say how they feel without the pressure of being tagged as weak or incompetent.
Increased anxiety – Daily stress causes anxiety, the fact of not knowing the outcome of a situation causes anxiety, people not believing you when you’re telling the honest truth, causes anxiety; post traumatic stress disorder and other mental disorders can cause anxiety, but the only time marijuana causes anxiety is when you feel like you are doing something wrong. The fact that marijuana is illegal, yet 41% of the population has smoked it in the past, just shows that people are not apt to always comply by the law when everything they know and believe points in the other direction. In other words, if it was legalized it would decriminalize people’s thoughts and in turn decriminalize their actions. Most people who are smokers… just want to smoke and not do the other drugs. If we could purchase our pot in legal stores then people could “decide” on their own, whether they want to or CAN buy it. The point is, it should be the people’s choice!
Depression – Marijuana does cause depression, but only when the person is a pure Pothead from their head down to their toe, hee hee. There’s nothing I hate more than a fuckin’ pothead who is, under normal circumstances smarter than the average bear, but then when he/she smokes gets dumber than the episode of Beavis & Butthead where everyone went around mimicking “Oww, Quit It!” I mean come on… if you have a brain, use it and don’t smoke pot you could ruin your future. For the rest of us “average Joes (or Joannes, ” cannabis will only make us smarter, if you don’t overdo it!! Have some self-control people!!! OMG… We need the government officials to fully understand that we are not their little soldiers marching in some high school band, trying to be patriotic… we are humans who deserve the right to make our own decisions. For example: think about how many innocent people who only smoke pot every now and then must feel, when they are applying for a new job, haven’t toked in about 15 days, management thought the interview went well and <Bam!>–You need to take a drug test! Many Americans understand this policy ahead of time and also are aware of how to flush their system so the test comes up clean. The point is why should we get stressed out and cover up the fact that we are using a natural herb substance that is helping a heap more people than it has ever hurt?
A recent update I’ve seen was that cannabis will be legal throughout the US was in four years from now. Isn’t that too long of a wait for you? In those four years, cancer patients who can’t afford to relocate to another state, will suffer in agony because the government is and in certain areas will continue, to destroy medical marijuana 
crops due to laws that were created so long ago, when we did not have the full understanding of how much it helps. In those 4 years, millions of dollars worth of perfectly good cannabis will be gone due to the ignorance of so-called professionals that are only stuck behind the contracts they previously agreed upon with “Big Pharma.” I’ll leave the rest of this up to your imagination… or you could voice your opinion in the comment section below.
Suicidal ideation – O-M-G, what the fuck? I’m not even sure what to say here… moment, I need to stop laughing. — Not EVER in my life has marijuana influenced my opinions of suicide. IF ANYTHING… hittin’ the blunt after being depressed for a whole week straight (non-stop) only made the next week better. See people think that marijuana is “Just Like Other Drugs” well it’s NOT!! If you don’t have refer, you just DON’T HAVE IT! The only side effect you may or may not have is physical pain, but it is the SAME physical pain that was there before you smoked it. Marijuana simply numbs the bad feelings you are having inside. Within 2-3 hours after you smoke it, the numbness wears off… and everything goes back to normal. Accept one thing… the biggest factor!! This being, the physical pain that was gained by going through all that everyday stress, anxiety, and depression. This natural pain reliever is my “drug of choice” when it comes to my personal psychological medication needs. I will NEVER go back on that pill cocktail, or any other “trial & error” prescription drugs that most doctors say you need these days.
Addiction – Addiction is in the person and not in the drug! So does that mean everyone who has tried drugs before is a potential “drug abuser?” 41% of the 41% of the Americans who have admitted to trying marijuana would probably disagree. Anyone with some type of past “weakness” in their life “could” theoretically become a drug “user” but it is those times when peoples situations just never seem to get better than are the most at risk. And seeing the way the unemployment rate is increasing rapidly, I can foresee more and more people, little by little leaning toward heavy drugs to find the “fix” to their life-problems. Since they are the user, they are the victim and (like a child), really don’t know any better. Not because they “know the feeling of drugs and want that high” because they will settle for finding anything that will get them out of this “slump” that seems to be lasting forever in some eyes. Would you rather have a bunch of happy hippies floating around spreading love, hugs, & the peace pipe or an overwhelming increase in the amount of human beings that have found their way to the crack house to hit the pipe and needing recovery in the end? There is nothing wrong with speaking up and voicing your opinion! And you should whether you are a pot smoker or not.
Withdrawal Symptoms: (These seem to be far less side effects than the pharmaceutically prescribed, chemical bullshit that half the time doesn’t even fucking work!)
Sleeplessness – Not having something to smoke does not cause sleeplessness. I can put a bet on it that most smokers smoke because they have trouble with insomnia. Also, another one of my issues. Anxiety, depression then having to go from smoking and actually being able to sleep and not smoking and being up all night while the issues increase, then I choose to be high ^_^ naturally!
Decreased Appetite – I never experienced a decrease in appetite after not smoking weed in a while. Are they trying to make us believe that legalization of marijuana will cause us to be lazy and fat? Funny thing, I been all around this village here in the Netherlands and as an estimated guess I would say about 80% of the people who’ve passed me by were not overweight ~ With depression comes greed and selfishness and what would any animal do when they felt they were being threatened? The hoard things for themselves with no regard to the other animals needs. Don’t we all notice that America is the FATTEST nation and there are still children starving in Africa? When are we going to realize that there are also now, and more to come, human beings starving in the “richest country in the world? “ Wake Up, America… are you with me? I know… the worldwide depression has made you slow. Just smoke a bong, & relax!
Drug Craving – I think I’ve said enough. Here is where I end the blog… Why? Because I feel like it!! How about you make a comment and let the world know what you think. Does marijuana or the lack there of, cause you to have a craving or a need for weed? Be honest… you don’t ever have to give me your real name, lmao! Be creative with your comments, this is my domain so you can have freedom of speech here!! See you on Facebook Friends!!!
FYI:
You can use whatever name/email address you wish, email addresses will not be published on the open domain.
GO FOR A NATURAL HIGH
^_^
…and by the way, if ya got nothing to say… you could always tell us how your Drug Resistance Awareness Education program went in grade school…
How old were you when the DARE officer came to your school?
Did your parents re-explain the drug issue with you after or during the time you were learning about it in school?
Have your views on drugs varied over the years or stayed the same?
Even if you don’t want to respond to all I’ve written so far… maybe you could just tell me about your experience(s) with marijuana or other drugs. Maybe you’ve had a friend or family member who suffered from drug or alcohol addiction. Or you could tell me your drug of choice. Anything that has to do with drugs, alcohol, or marijuana please comment!! I would love to read all of your personal feedback on this subject.
For all of my Fb friends who love to comment about just how high you are… now is your time to shine… I won’t delete or change any comments…. Enjoy!! (-:{}:-)
LEGAL TIPS FOR BLOWERS — by TwizzTed Tiffi
A Collection of Articles That Address Research on Marijuana
Source: TwizzTed Tiffi’s Personal Experience; Office of National Drug Control Policy
Philosophy of Mind
Philosophy of Mind is a branch of modern analytic philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e. the relationship of the mind to the body, is commonly seen as the central issue in philosophy of mind, although there are other issues concerning the nature of the mind that do not involve its relation to the physical body.
Most modern philosophers of mind adopt either a reductive or non-reductive physicalist position, maintaining in their different ways that the mind is not something separate from the body. These approaches have been particularly influential in the sciences, especially in the fields of sociobiology, computer science, evolutionary psychology and the various neurosciences. Other philosophers, however, adopt a non-physicalist position which challenges the notion that the mind is a purely physical construct. Reductive physicalists assert that all mental states and properties will eventually be explained by scientific accounts of physiological processes and states. Non-reductive physicalists argue that although the brain is all there is to the mind, the predicates and vocabulary used in mental descriptions and explanations are indispensable, and cannot be reduced to the language and lower-level explanations of physical science. Continued neuroscientific progress has helped to clarify some of these issues. However, they are far from having been resolved, and modern philosophers of mind continue to ask how the subjective qualities and the intentionality (aboutness) of mental states and properties can be explained in naturalistic terms.
Philosophy of Mind and Science
Humans are corporeal beings and, as such, they are subject to examination and description by the natural sciences. Since mental processes are intimately related to bodily processes, the descriptions that the natural sciences furnish of human beings play an important role in the philosophy of mind. There are many scientific disciplines that study processes related to the mental. The list of such sciences includes: biology, computer science, cognitive science, cybernetics, linguistics, medicine, pharmacology, and psychology.
Neurobiology
Within the field of neurobiology, there are many subdisciplines which are concerned with the relations between mental and physical states and processes: Sensory neurophysiology investigates the relation between the processes of perception and stimulation. Cognitive neuroscience studies the correlations between mental processes and neural processes. Neuropsychology describes the dependence of mental faculties on specific anatomical regions of the brain. Lastly, evolutionary biology studies the origins and development of the human nervous system and, in as much as this is the basis of the mind, also describes the ontogenetic and phylogenetic development of mental phenomena beginning from their most primitive stages.
Psychology
Psychology is the science that investigates mental states directly. It uses generally empirical methods to investigate concrete mental states like joy, fear or obsessions. Psychology investigates the laws that bind these mental states to each other or with inputs and outputs to the human organism.
An example of this is the psychology of perception. Scientists working in this field have discovered general principles of the perception of forms. A law of the psychology of forms says that objects that move in the same direction are perceived as related to each other. This law describes a relation between visual input and mental perceptual states. However, it does not suggest anything about the nature of perceptual states. The laws discovered by psychology are compatible with all the answers to the mind-body problem already described.
Philosophy of Mind in the Continental Tradition
Most of the discussion in this article has focused on one style or tradition of philosophy in modern Western culture, usually called analytic philosophy (sometimes described as Anglo-American philosophy). Many other schools of thought exist, however, which are sometimes subsumed under the broad label of continental philosophy. In any case, though topics and methods here are 
numerous, in relation to the philosophy of mind the various schools that fall under this label (phenomenology, existentialism, etc.) can globally be seen to differ from the analytic school in that they focus less on language and logical analysis alone but also take in other forms of understanding human existence and experience. With reference specifically to the discussion of the mind, this tends to translate into attempts to grasp the concepts of thought and perceptual experience in some sense that does not merely involve the analysis of linguistic forms.
Philosophy of Mind in the Eastern Tradition
Eastern traditions such as Buddhism and Hinduism do not hold to the dualistic mind/body model but do assert that the mind and body are separate entities. Buddhism in particular does not hold to the notion of a soul, or atman. Some forms of Buddhism assert that a very subtle level of mind leaves the body at the time of death and goes to a new life. According to Buddhist scholar Dharmakirti, the definition of mind is that which is clarity and cognizes. In this definition, ‘clarity’ refers to the nature of mind, and ‘cognizes’ to the function of mind. Mind is clarity because it always lacks form and because it possesses the actual power to perceive objects. Mind cognizes because its function is to know or perceive objects. In Ornament of the Seven Sets, Buddhist scholar Khedrubje says that thought, awareness, mind and cognizer are synonyms. Buddha explained that although mind lacks form, it can nevertheless be related to form. Thus, our mind is related to our body and is “located” at different places throughout the body. This is to be understood in the context of how the five sense consciousnesses and the mental consciousness are generated. There are many different types of mind—sense awarenesses, mental awarenesses, gross minds, subtle minds, and very subtle minds—and they are all formless (lacking shape, color, sound, smell, taste or tactile properties) and they all function to cognize or know. There is no such thing as a mind without an object known by that mind. Even though none of these minds is form, they can be related to form.
Consequences of Philosophy of Mind
There are countless subjects that are affected by the ideas developed in the philosophy of mind. Clear examples of this are the nature of death and its definitive character, the nature of emotion, of perception and of memory. Questions about what a person is and what his or her identity consists of also have much to do with the philosophy of mind. There are two subjects that, in connection with the philosophy of the mind, have aroused special attention: free will and the self.
Free Will
In the context of philosophy of mind, the problem of free will takes on renewed intensity. 
This is certainly the case, at least, for materialistic determinists. According to this position, natural laws completely determine the course of the material world. Mental states, and therefore the will as well, would be material states, which means human behavior and decisions would be completely determined by natural laws. Some take this reasoning a step further: people cannot determine by themselves what they want and what they do. Consequently, they are not free.
This argumentation is rejected, on the one hand, by the compatibilists. Those who adopt this position suggest that the question “Are we free?” can only be answered once we have determined what the term “free” means. The opposite of “free” is not “caused” but “compelled” or “coerced”. It is not appropriate to identify freedom with indetermination. A free act is one where the agent could have done otherwise if it had chosen otherwise. In this sense a person can be free even though determinism is true. The most important compatibilist in the history of the philosophy was David Hume. More recently, this position is defended, for example, by Daniel Dennett, and, from a dual-aspect perspective, by Max Velmans.
On the other hand, there are also many incompatibilists who reject the argument because they believe that the will is free in a stronger sense called libertarianism. These philosophers affirm the course of the world is either a) not completely determined by natural laws and deterministic natural law is broken by dualistic sentient beings, or b) determined by indeterministic natural law only, or c) determined by indeterministic natural law in line with the will of a non physical agency. Under Libertarianism, the will does not have to be deterministic and, therefore, it is potentially free. Critics of the second proposition (b) accuse the incompatibilists of using an incoherent concept of freedom. They argue as follows: if our will is not determined by anything, then we desire what we desire by pure chance. And if what we desire is purely accidental, we are not free. So if our will is not determined by anything, we are not free.
The Self
The philosophy of mind also has important consequences for the concept of self. If by “self” or “I” one refers to an essential, immutable nucleus of the person, most modern philosophers of mind will affirm that no such thing exists. The idea of a self as an immutable essential nucleus derives from the idea of an immaterial soul. Such an idea is unacceptable to most contemporary philosophers, due to their physicalistic orientations, and due to a general acceptance among philosophers of the scepticism of the concept of ’self’ by David Hume, who could never catch himself doing, thinking or feeling anything. However, in the light of empirical results from developmental psychology, developmental biology and neuroscience, the idea of an essential inconstant, material nucleus – an integrated representational system distributed over changing patterns of synaptic connections – seems reasonable. The view of the self as an illusion is widely accepted by many philosophers, such as Daniel Dennett and Thomas Metzinger.
Hope you enjoyed!! Compliments of Wikipedia
My Gemini Man
Written For Thomas (Samson)
Since I have found My Gemini Man,
He has helped Me to be, All that I can.
He’s compassionate touch, though to some it’s not much,
Quickly reminds Me, We fit phy-si-cal-ly.
This devoted feeling, is all I do need,
Which He’s shown me so deep, from the very First seed.
He’s swift, strong & loyal, but sensitive too!
His intelligence forces Me, to think, then to do!
All faith believed in, with that I hold dear.
We support ourselves through, and when I need he hears!
I enjoy him my soulmate, with him, life does flow
When I see him, he’s smiling, his face, all a glow
Always happy to see me, he’s my closest friend.
It’s relief, to be near him… ‘Til the bitter end!
Pisces with Gemini
These two mutable signs each share relaxed, flexible, dispositions and a love of people, but they have very different styles that they may not get on as smoothly as one would expect. Pisces(that’s me), a water sign, speaks the language of emotions while Gemini (Samson), an air sign, speaks the language of ideas. It’s easy for misunderstandings to occur, since Gemini doesn’t always mean what it says and Pisces can’t always say what it means. (So very true)
Also, Gemini’s cool detachment is in direct contrast to Pisces’ emotional intensity. But this pair can share their thoughts and feelings honestly, the Gemini objectivity and the Pisces insight could be good for both individuals — and for the relationship
So with a little care, these two, with their shared love of adventure and delight in new experiences, could have a great deal of fun both in and out of the bedroom!
A Memorable Way of Life
Theoretically speaking, what if people could predict the future due to different types life experiences they had in their past? You know, the ones they can hear? It is known, that the ears can pick up sound waves long before (prenatal) the physical eyes can actually see (postnatal). It also takes much longer for the eye to process the information once a visual memory is officially seen. In turn, this could leave a scar in the memory which could influence the brain on many levels.
In my family, for the lack of a better example, that means, “Go directly to jail; Do not pass Go; Do not collect your thoughts while we stomp on you a little harder. Unless, of course, you decide to complete your educational career in the direction of The Arts, Music, Business, and/or Technology. All while making sure you stay in church, any church that is, which is exactly why, I still attend today. Keep your children safe and warm and they shall not be the center of harm. These oh so twisted, bedtgime melodies are still to this day, bouncing off the walls of my brain and are caused by my deeper prenatal, postnatal, and remainder of my childhood memorys. Hearing can have the most deep impact on a human embryo & fetus, especially when a woman is deeply depressed during her pregnancy. Since sound only travels straight it can only bounce off of the walls in the brain until it is a dead sound. That is, until the sound becomes mute, but does it ever really go away? I think that it gets stored in your sub-memory or in other words, files within files within files in that category and the sub-category thereafter.
One fact is that hearing, in connection with the brain, is one of the deepest mysteries of the sensory region. Also, in the storage area, which is of course is your memory. If a person can think logically in a rational situation they could not possibly explain their issues to someone else, while they are in a hysterical state of mind. Getting the feeling of a deeper understanding of the subject-at-hand, usually comes with bad news. Have you ever, actually, sat on a park bench alone, on a nice warm spring day, while the leaves were tumbling along the sidewalk? After a brief step inside your thoughts, you could have sworn you heard a footstep, just a few inches behind you. Somewhat frieghtened, you turn around, adrenaline rears its ugly head, as if someone had been following you and much to your dismay, there’s no one really on your tail. In fact, the tone of a shoe where the sole hit the pavement is something we’ve all, probably heard it before just the same. This could also coinside with something bad happening or with something brandingly good happening when you heard that particular sound. Did you ever feel like you were going crazy? How about those of you who just “know” you’re imagining it and don’t even turn around like the big tough-guy that you are??? Lol.
As children, I am positive that we all took an extra little double-take, every now and then, just to make sure what we saw or heard was really not there to begin with. I know, I did. Truth be told, it was your imagination playing tricks on you, or was it? When I think about the imagination, it somehow brings me back to childhood and the trips to Disney World in Florida. If anyone had the chance to visit this amazing fantasy land, you would know that Figment the flying Dragon is really what makes your imagination run wild. Really it makes my mind do a 360 when I think back to all of the twisted truths I was told as a child.
Imagine that your hearing could be much better than your sight, even if you have 20/20 vision. It is extremely difficult to understand,if you are looking from the angle that you can see before you hear. Retrain your mind to better understand that you can hear first but can not see until after birth. When you finally come to the conclusion that you can hear before you see, miraculously you may have a more humble vision of how life happenings were usually intended, orginally.
Humorously, the math geeks would probably ask you, if you know, the theory’s behind quantum physics, optics, mechanics and if you know what E=MC2 means, first. I’ve heard so many older people in urban communities saying ”what that means is you’re not living right!” Maybe it is, really, because you’ve heard the same bullshit, in the same tones, from the same people, for numerous years and it quickly was branded in your brain, like the lot number on a cow’s right hoof. Sort of like a natural self-demolishing/cleansing, brainwash session. Are you really remembering the bits and pieces of the event that you wanted to take with you? Or did your “behind the scenes,” sub-minded greed taking over you? Once instilled as good and now driven down lifes dramatic path of political incorrectness.
Life in America was meant to be a meltingpot of opportunities for people from all nations to get together and unite as one single nation, undivided. I can still hear Martin Luther King’s, ”I have a dream,” speech faintly spoken in the back of my mind Funny how it is not even close to being as liberalized as it already has been in Western Europe for years. I found that together as a united “region,” they take better care of their land and the people who reside on the land. Ultimately, creating less crime, less political difference, less disowned family members, and in the end a more united place for people to live, dream, work, play, love, learn and enjoy their life more freely, thus to preserve their way of living. I will never forget the deeply moving experiences I was able to endure while visiting here in a liberalized country. Which is what the democratic party of America, has always hoped would someday become a part of our traduce nation. Moved in a way that not many people could understand at first glance.
This is one of the most serene places, I have ever visited. Finally I received my chance to rest my weary mind. Not to mention, I am here in Maastricht, NL and it is one of the oldest lands in the world, generally. Unbelievably, less than 250 km away from here is around-about where my very own ancestors came from. That is before they took the plunge and came accross the great Atlantic Ocean and settled in the area of Oaks, Pennsylvania, which then spread to Norristown and also King of Prussia. Lots of history in the region I grew up in, especially with George Washington and the battles at Valley Forge, long ago. This land, I stand on, dates back to the old stone age (between 8,000-25,000 years ago). Celts lived here 500 years before the Romans which evolved to what is now one of Europes oldest cities. As a matter of fact, it’s the oldest place I’ve ever been. Before this the oldest place I stepped foot on was somewhere along the East Coast of North America. It’s possible that the land was not even “founded” and “established” until 1492 or after. I’m sure a few of my friends who still have Authenic American Indian Roots could relate with me on this point. It’s really hard for me not to be able to “relate” with so many different cultures, given my multi-racial heritage and by being raised in a moderately liberal family. However, some people are just a little harder to judge, at first. Sometimes makes you think, how high you should place a blood family member and their opinionated views, on a pedistal in your life.
I believe that most family members don’t know how to be humble, because they never got caught in their sin & ended in prision. Some family members are closer than others but you still can’t figure out why they were the ones to initiate a false fraud claim on their own daughters. Is this nation ready for people like me? People who can see two or three sides of the story before it even gets to the third page.
Maybe you can relate to this example, where maybe the words that you were taught in the past, all somehow came out to be a grand fisod of what you thought to be a family united. Maybe it is communication, maybe it is hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling what could possibly have been. But in the end all you’ll get is a fairy-tale unless you actually got the words from the horses mouth.
Well, I guess we all can learn a lesson in this one… that lesson being to hold your family closer than your arch rival and not the other way around because one day, when you least expect it… they potentially could turn their back on you first. Well, isn’t life such a mystery? Does it really have to be.
Sources: TwizzTed Tiffi & Uncle Tom
Inbox Manipulation: TwizzTed Tiffi
Well, I sure have had some exciting times socializing on Facebook this past week! Check out this inbox message I got from one of my Ex-Facebook Friends (I don’t personally know him).
On November 1st I posted a status and told my Fb buddies that they could have freedom of Speech on my page (as usual), then some random person made a statement referring to “not even being allowed to mention the word Palestine” so this Homer Duffman fellow got EXTREMELY offended on the spot talking about the goings on in palestine and how the conditions there are horrible, and they are but it had nothing to do with the conversations that were happening on my pofile that day. Immediately after I realized the the man made Homer mad, I went to Homers page to chat with him there (after researching the Palestine issue myself) and he had already deleted me (pitty)… so I sent him and inbox message and this is how it went:
TwizzTed Tiffi November 1 at 3:28pm 
bank,sweetheart.I am sorry you don’t feel comfortable with yourself,how you look and how you feel about the person you are.I could probably help you with a lot of your issues,but what’s in it for me? You have a boyfriend or whatever,make his lazy ass get a job and help you.Or become a stripper,show your pussy to strangers for cash.See how cold that sounds? I knew all about you before I let you be my friend,just reading your posts on other people’s walls.I feel bad that you have cried so much,allowed people to change you,make you live in a world that has no real use for you.Your self-esteem is in the gutter,you want to be everyone’s friend,I know you.Let me guess,you have let guys have sex with you just for attention,right? You didn’t have the clothes or the money or the nice house, so you found a safe place in taking your panties off and proving to yourself you are worth something by letting some dude dump a load in you,right? We can talk if you are willing to be real-if you just want to keep up the fake talk,I can’t help you. and u don’t let me be your friend…. i choose you at random, how does that make you feel? oh yeah, and i ONLY “FUCKED” people who i had a relationship with, and most of them were not good enough for me, cause i think highly of myself–> cause my mama taught me that! Why don’t you get a “hard”labor job cause you need not spread your bullshit around to helpless people, god damned scientology fucker!!! i hate people like you, thinking you know it all…. even the real preachers have more knowledge than you… GO TO COLLEGE, it’s never too late to educate…. you wanna know me read my life… www.mylife.tooreal.org, sorry i don’t want to know you! Enjoy your life Spasti };-)
I am sorry for your bad experiences with woman, but if you allow yourself to judge so general, you might be good for a boot camp, but not as partner in a sense making conversation. it’s a pitty, as there is some potential.
Homer Duffman November 2 at 8:17pm
Summary of Thought
Don’t keep idiots around in your facebook friends list, Don’t steal your friends’ friends, if you don’t know someone personally, don’t give them any part of you until they earn it first. Don’t add your name to any of those facebook groups if you never researched the group yourself. Don’t give out your address/phone number on your facebook profile. Don’t accept peoples requests that say a friend of yours referred them to you, cause everyone can see your friends list, talk to your friend first and find out.
You never know, who is Stalking your profile!!!
Does anyone have a comical way for me to respond to him next…. the more out of this world, the better!
Time to fuck with those who like to fuck with others, just to see how they like it.
Don’t be a Spasti
Legal Tips for Blowers
“Legal Tips for Blowers” — Government Enforced Marijuana Smoking?
Of course, everyone who smokes weed would definitely know HOW to smoke. Whether it is being smoked LEGALLY or not… doesn’t make too big of a difference on the way it is being smoked, does it? Or is that a trick question???
After reading a few more short sentences down this page, you will see a list that I made available for you. This 11-point list contains the resolution to “key issues,” that the Dutch Government felt was necessary, for the people to know before smoking the joint that is.
I picked up a brightly colored yellow/black flyer last week when I was in a coffeeshop in Maastricht, Netherlands. This is across the enormous Atlantic Ocean and over 6,000km away from home…
11 Cannabis Tips provided by the Vereniging Officiele Coffeeshops Maastricht (VOCM) concerning the proper use of Hash & Marijuana.
“What do you know and what don’t you know?”
This is the exact heading of a wasp-colored 5” x 7” cannabis “tips-card” that I picked up in one of the coffeeshops here in Maastricht, Netherlands one day last week. This is official documentation concerning the utilization of Hash & Marijuana. It was provided by the VOCM, but mostly for the visitors of The Netherlands, who do not smoke cannabis on a regular basis.
Here are the 11 TIPS offered on the VOCM brochure (word for word):
- 1. You won’t solve your problems by smoking a joint. You should only use cannabis for enjoyment.
- 2. There are different strengths of hash and marijuana, so ask the coffeeshop staff for information. If you don’t know how strong it is, take a puff and then wait a few minutes before continuing.
- 3. Combining alcohol and cannabis can result in unpredictable effects, so be careful, particularly if you do not have much experience smoking cannabis.
- 4. Using cannabis can cause heart palpitations, sweating, and nausea. Such symptoms are unpleasant, but not dangerous. In some cases, you may feel ill or afraid. Don’t Panic. Find a quiet spot and eat/drink something sugary. The worst will be over within an hour.
- 5. Cannabis temporarily influences your ability to think logically, your memory, and your ability to concentrate. You should therefore not smoke cannabis if you need to go to school/college or work, or if you need to drive/cycle.
- 6. Don’t smoke cannabis if you are pregnant or if you have psychological problems. Only smoke if you are in positive frame of mind.
- 7. If the use of hash or marijuana become a habit within your everyday life, it is high time you stopped to think about the situation and try to change.
- 8. If you use medication, consult your doctor beforehand.
- 9. Harmful substances are released when you smoke cannabis, such as tar and carbon monoxide. It is therefore not a good idea to inhale long and deeply. In fact, there is no reason to inhale so deeply or for so long, as the active substances in cannabis are absorbed by the lungs very quickly.
- 10. It’s illegal to take cannabis or related products abroad.
- 11. In the Netherlands, the sale of small quantities of cannabis is only permitted in “tolerated” coffeeshops. You should therefore never buy cannabis on the streets, only in a coffeeshop. Always buy your hash/weed at a coffeeshop which is officially tolerated. At least you know that you get an honest advice without any problem and you can have a good time in Maastricht.
You know you are smoking in a “legal” VOCM coffeeshop when you see the following Logo:
The cannabis “tip-cards” are primarily located near the entrance of each coffeeshop and/or in the vicinity of where the sales take place. They sit in a 4-pocket, clear plastic holder and is offered in 4 languages; Dutch, German, French, and English. Being from Pennsylvania USA, I, of course, picked up the English version for my reading pleasure.
Given that the national language in the Netherlands is Dutch, I am making an educated decision when I say that this document was probably created in Dutch and then translated into English/other languages as they seen fit to do so. Funny thing is, I went to a different coffeeshop yesterday and picked up another card that, seemingly, was an updated version of the one I found last week.
This one is titled “Tips for Blowers.” and it states:
“Hello, now you are in an officially tolerated VOCM coffeeshop (Club of Official Coffeeshops Maastricht) and we want to inform you about blowing in the Netherlands.”
This informative card is much more organized and the translation into English is a bit better than the first document. It makes the reader aware that it is FORBIDDEN to buy cannabis anywhere else or you could be at risk for having it confiscated by the police.
** MY FAVORITE SECTION ** ABOUT THE UPDATED VERSION OF THIS BROCHURE IS
“Some tips for the street (drugrunners)”
The 3 Tips that are suggested if someone is being approached by a drug runner are:
- Don’t react to their approaches, they maybe even aggressive.
- Try not to make any eye contact. Don’t react on whistling.
- Never follow them, don’t give any money.
APPARENTLY THERE ARE EVEN ILLEGAL MARIJUANA TRANSACTIONS IN THE LAND OF LEGAL MARIJUANA…
SEE MY LATEST MARIJUANA BLOG Written 12/17/09: CANNABIS CONTROVERSY by TwizzTed Tiffi
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SMOKING MARIJUANA, PLEASE VISIT :
Vereniging Officiele Coffeeshops Maastricht (VOCM) at http://www.vocm-online.nl/uk
To view online version (which again differs from the first two documents) click here for the PDF – VOCM Brochure
Visit the Official Website of The Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions at http://us.holland.com/
For other Information about Maastricht, Netherlands such as Culture, Vacationing, Shopping, Wine Tasting, and Much More click here
For the History of Maastricht, Netherlands click here
To visit the Beautiful Churches of Maastricht, Netherlands, click here
Official Coffeeshops in Maastricht, NL
EASY GOING . . . . . .Hoenderstraat 8
CLUB 69 . . . . . . . . . Grote Gracht 97
FANTASIA . . . . . . . Sint Annalaan 3a
SMOKEY . . . . . . . . . Wilhelminakade
MISSIPPI . . . . . . . . Wilhelminakade
COOL RUNNING . . . .Brusselsestraat 35
MAXCY’S . . . . . . . . .Rechstraat 60a
LUCKY TIME . . . . . . Hoogbrugstraat 4
MISSOURI . . . . . . . .Hoogbrugstraat 31
KOSBOR . . . . . . . . . Kleine Gracht 3
HEAVEN 69 . . . . . . .Brusselsestraat 146
BLACK WIDOW . . . . Bosscherweg 165
SLOW MOTION . . . . Bourgognestraat 10a
I Was Given This World I Didn’t Make It!
Keep ya head up ya’ll… ^_^
This is the song that I brought to my mother to listen to when I was 12 years old…
but she did not HEAR or Feel the lyrics, the way I did.
Please listen to my story… Listen to 2PAC’s story… !!!
Lyrics:
Some say the blacker the berry
Tha sweeter the juice
I say, the darker the flesh and the deeper the roots
I give a hollar to my sisters on welfare
Tupac cares, but don’t nobody else care
I know they like to beat ya down a lot
And when ya come around the block brothers clown a lot
But please don’t cry, dry ya eyes
Never let up
Forgive but don’t forget girl keep ya head up
And when he tells you you aint nothin’
Don’t believe him
And if he can’t learn ta love ya, you should leave him
Cause sister you don’t need him
I aint tryin to gash up, but I just calle ‘em how I see em
Ya know what makes me unhappy
When brothers make babies
And leave a young mother to be a pappy
And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman
And out game from a woman
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women
Do we hate our women ?
I think it’s time ta kill for our women
Time ta heal our women
Be real to our women
And if we don’t
Well have a race of babies
That hate the ladies that make the babies
And since a man can’t make one
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one
So will the real men get up
I know your fed up ladies
But keep ya head up
Refrain
Oooooo child things are gonna get easier
Oooooo child things are gonna get brighter
Oooooo child things are gonna get easier
Oooooo child things are gonna get brighter
I remember marvin gay, used to sing to me
He had me feelin like black was the thing ta be
And suddenly the ghetto didn’t seem so tuff
I thought we had it rough, we always had enough
I often huffed and puffed about my curfew and broke tha rules
Ran with tha local crew and had a smoke or two
And realize momma really paid the price
She nearly gave her life, to raise me right
And all I had to give her was my pipe dreams
Of how I’d rock the mic and make it to the big screen
Im tryin ta make a dollar out of fifteen cents
Its hard ta be legit and still pay the rent
And in the end it seems I’m headin for tha penn
I try and find my friends, but they’re blowin in tha wind
Last night my buddy lost his whole family
Its gonna take the man in me
To conquer this insanity
It seems tha rain will never let up
I try ta keep my head up and still keep from getting wet up
You know it’s funny when it rains it pours
They got money for wars, but can’t feed tha poor
Sad there aint no hope for the youth and the truth is
There aint no hope for tha future
And then they wonder why we crazy
I blame my mother, for turning my brother into a crack baby
We aint meant ta survive, cause it’s a setup
And even though ya fed up
Ya got ta keep ya head up
R.I.P. TUPAC: Your war is over & now I’m fighting with you !!!
Lord, Please bless all of the followers of TUPAC because he wuz a REAL NIGGA!
DARE TO GET INSPIRED… BY TWIZZTED TIFFI!
Feel my brutha’s & my sistas, listen to our pain too!