Monday, April 30, 2018

The key to creativity, Jazz



Love and life do you dare? Why would you not?

There has been many musicians that just jump in to
that they do out of the blue. Edgar Winter for one was
known to just jump in to what he was doing.
A lady I liked in the 90's she was the banquet manager at
the time, she dated Edgar back in the 70's.
One day I was setting up a video projector, VCR, amp system for the
banquet once because the Audio Visual guy was out for lunch so my
boss asked me for help and me like being her partner helped.
She said I gave her a flashback of Edgar because I was right in there
just plugging things away like Edgar would do when he played.
I reminded her of Edgar by that.

To note she said the part of Frankenstein when Edgar went wah, wah, wah
it would freak her out. "It was like he was a alien coming out of the ground
wiggling like a warm." It bugged her. I can see that being Edgar must of been
a trip when you are tripping out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8f-Qb-bwlU

But the point of that is the improvisation on how the brain invents.
It brings on the light when you are in your moment playing!

"He is known for being a multi-instrumentalist keyboardist, guitarist, saxophonist and
percussionist as well as a singer."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Winter

No one did that more than Sun Ra.
"Sun Ra was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific output, and theatrical performances. For much of his career, Ra led "The Arkestra", an ensemble with an ever-changing name and flexible line-up."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Ra

~~~~~Jazz improv and your brain: The key to creativity?
Fingers graze a keyboard, poised to play. A trumpet rises to the lips. Drumsticks perch in the air, ready to fall. The improv begins, and this combo of jazz musicians instantly creates a piece of music that has never been heard before.

As each instrument hijacks the melody, the song is reinvented in ways even the musician doesn't understand.

Revered jazz trumpeter Miles Davis put it this way: "I'll play it first and tell you what it is later."

For neuroscientist Dr. Charles Limb, jazz is pure creativity in action.

"When you hear great jazz, like John Coltrane or Miles Davis, it has this jaw-dropping quality to it, and what's been described as 'a sound of surprise' takes place," Limb said. "And you think to yourself, 'Wow, that's not just phenomenal music, that's phenomenal neurobiology.' "

Could jazz improvisation be a key to understanding how the brain invents? Could that creativity be studied? An accomplished jazz musician himself, Limb was the perfect scientist to tackle the project.

"I had always intuitively understood that the creative process in jazz improvisation is very different than the process of memorization," he explained. "That is immediately apparent when you play."

Why a song gets stuck in your head
He decided to ask jazz musicians to play a memorized song while their brains were scanned inside a functional MRI and then to have them riff a bit during the scan to compare the differences.

"You say 'go,' and jazz players can improv at drop of a hat, so from an experimental perspective, it's really easy to study, as compared, to say, a novelist," said Limb, chief of the Division of Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. "Just imagine I want you to write a novel on the spot, and every 60 seconds, I'm going to have you switch modes between something original and something you've memorized. it's jarring and not how novelists normally work."

Jazz musicians do work that way, but there was one major issue: the magnetic field of the MRI. The pull is so powerful that any metal in the room would be rocketed to the machine's core, destroying the item in the process.

To solve the problem. Limb commissioned a non-magnetic piano with plastic keys, which could be played on the musician's lap while in the scanner. The work began, and the results, published in 2008, were fascinating.

While the musicians improvised, the parts of the brain that allow humans to express ourselves -- the medial prefrontal cortex or "default network" -- became more active.

At the same time, the part of the brain responsible for self-inhibition and control, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, became dormant.

The medial prefrontal cortex, parts of the brain that allow humans to express ourselves, is shown in yellow. The part responsible for self-inhibition and control, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, is blue.

The medial prefrontal cortex, parts of the brain that allow humans to express ourselves, is shown in yellow. The part responsible for self-inhibition and control, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, is blue.

By inhibiting the part of the brain that allows self-criticism, the musicians were able to stay in their creative flow, known as "in the zone."

"I view this as a neurological description of letting go," Limb said. "If you're too self-conscious, it's very hard to be free creatively."

Not just jazz
It's not just all that jazz. Limb also scanned the brains of rap artists as they freestyled.
"If you look at the history of jazz and rap, you can make an argument that rap is today's jazz," he said. "Jazz was a radical American-born art form, and rap has a lot of parallels to jazz, because so much of it is created on the spot and is sort of a music of the street."

Before long, Limb was also peering inside the noggins of improvisational comedians and caricature artists.

"In 30 seconds, that artist can sketch any face he is seeing as a caricature," he said, adding that improv comedians function similarly. "I realized that was analogous to what is happening in a freestyle jazz solo. The brain is taking a known structure and deviating from it in intentional ways that are not pre-planned.

"Jazz is a great model to begin with, but I don't want to end there," Limb continued. "If you look at artists at creative experts of our time, and you believe you can learn how human creativity operates by looking at art, you realize that each type of art represents a unique piece of human thinking."

In the past decade, the field of improvisational neuroscience has exploded. Researchers have peered inside the brains of classical musicians, non-musicians, writers and "divergent" thinkers, those who can quickly come up with novel ways to use everyday objects, such as a brick.

One of the first myths to be debunked: "Right-brain people" are not more creative. In fact, networks in both the left and right sides of the brain are intimately involved in creativity and change depending on the type of endeavor and the stage of the creative process.

"We're looking at networks of creative brain function, the interplay of these networks and the role of aptitude," said Rex Jung, a professor of neurosurgery at the University of New Mexico who studies aptitude, intelligence and creativity. "Everyone is creative; it's just a matter of degree. We have this prototypical idea of artistic creativity, but we are creative in our relationships, our work, our cooking or even arranging our homes in a different way."

For the arts, at least, successful creative improvisation also appears to be related to expertise, a mastery generated by a lot of hard work. Research finds that musicians who have devoted hundreds, perhaps thousands, of hours to practice seem to more easily get into "the flow."

"What the trained experts who are so creative are always revealing is that it was practice -- a lot of effort and practice -- that gave them the creative edge," Limb said, "rather than the genius, talent or aptitude they were born with.

"So one of the take-home points is if you want to build a more creative society, there is no substitute for just trying and doing it," he continued. "We see the creative brain evolve over time. It's not just fixed at birth. By practicing these behaviors we add to our creative abilities."

Jung agrees: "The more raw material you have, the more time you devote to developing a skill set, the easier it is to improvise. It takes expertise to have enough material to draw on to be creative. So find an area that interests you, develop an expertise in that area, and then start creating and develop something extraordinary."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/29/health/brain-on-jazz-improvisation-improv/index.html

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Yue Lao the old man under the moon and Red Strings

I do have a few red strings in my life. I met people before I met them
and my old lady the one that brought me to the town I live in now.
We both where born in the same hospital in the same town different times,
in Ohio! Walking to my car once I sort of fell once and she did also
after I did. Like my string pulled on her string.

A lady love almost ran me over by accident and
on my knees I begged her to come back she took off. Only for me
to work with her later. I first met her in 1996 in another town
in a McDonald's and beyond at different times.

Also I had a girlfriend I also met around the same area in that
town on the highway by the McDonald's in 1989.
I also ended up in the same town with her and I worked with her also
and we had dinner in our car in the parking lot and we seen the 1996 lady,
yes we did!

I seem to be connected to a many. Way out of any of our control.
So I accept it as it is bigger than me!
http://walmartramen.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-red-string-of-fate.html

But who did it? Yue Lao? Don't know! But I accept it for the better!
Lovers... To do with love and better lives!

~~~~~Yue Lao
A legend is told about the old man under the moon. During the Tang dynasty, there was a young man named Wei Gu (韋固 Wéi Gù). Once he was passing the city of Songcheng, where he saw an old man leaning on his pack reading a book in the moonlight. Being amazed at it, Wei Gu walked up and asked what he was doing. The old man answered: "I am reading a book of marriage listing for who is going to marry whom. In my pack are red cords for tying the feet of husband and wife." When Wei Gu and the old man came together to a marketplace, they saw a blind old woman carrying a three-year-old little girl in her arms. The old man said to Wei Gu: "This little girl will be your wife in the future." Wei Gu thought this was too strange to believe and he ordered his servant to stab the girl with his knife.

Fourteen years later, Wang Tai, the governor of Xiangzhou, gave Wei Gu his daughter in marriage. He was having difficulty finding a suitable match of higher standing for his daughter even though she was a beautiful young woman because she had difficulty walking and had a large scar on the small of her back. When Wei Gu asked what had happened, he was told that she had been stabbed by a man in the marketplace fourteen years before.

After ten years and three children later, Wei Gu sought the old man for suitable matches for his two younger sons and daughter. The old man refused to find suitors for his children. During the later years Wei Gu sought to find a possible match for his children but by coincidence, no marriage was put to order.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Lao

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_thread_of_fate

http://www.mysticalcoven.com/soul-mates-and-the-invisible-red-thread-theory

Friday, April 27, 2018

Abba is Back!



I always liked Abba it's good to get back to something good.
Life is short as I push on a lot. Just get out and do it, love the life you live!

Not from Abba but Frida and not Frida the hairdresser I dated in the 90's
that barfed on the first date taking me to a gay bar being she was a rat testifing
against the mongols, with the gay bar giving her security, but Abba Frida the 
one that did the song "I Know There's Something Going On"

Also a lady I loved in the 90's had issues with her husband at the time.
I could not play that song and if it came on the radio I had to turn it down.
Giving her security, taking care of her in how I could at the time.
So we all can relate with songs from Abba and Frida but the point is they
are coming back. And I hope to note for people to be true with themselves
and take in the love and love the life you live!

~~~~~Abba announce first new songs for 35 years
The band said in a statement: “The decision to go ahead with the exciting Abba avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence. We all felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and we had only been away on a short holiday. 
An extremely joyful experience!”
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/27/abba-announce-first-new-songs-for-35-years

Friday, April 20, 2018

Marijuana's effects on young brains diminish 72 hours

420 had been a big thing with the kids relating to Hitlers Birthday 4-20-1889!
Reflecting a need to grow up about it! More education is needed about 
using the weed. Even college kids smoke the weed after finals, studying...
There is a responsibly that needs to be taken before you smoke the weed.
And if you smoke make it positive. Sort of like having vaping etiquette not
to be a douchebag about it! That is just making it bad for everyone else!
Like the douchbags that wipes their ass with toilet paper but puts is in a 
trashcan where everyone can smell their crap in the bathroom.

The weed use needs to be looked at to not cause emotional damage by
smoking weed like in shooting heroin in the gutter or smoking weed in the 
woods celebrating Hitlers Birthday. There is a time to grow up about it!
Get out of the woods / gutter! Accept the need of weed. Smoke it if you need it.
If you don't need it or just don't like it then don't smoke it! 
Look to go higher not lower!

"We Are All In The Gutter But Some Of Us Are Looking At The Stars"
- Oscar Wilde

Yes the effects of Marijuana's on young kids diminish 72 hours.
And so it should be known so more education on it's use, for
the better, not for the worst! Because throughout history kids used it
and so everyone should be brought up about it!

~~~~~Marijuana's effects on young brains diminish 72 hours after use, research says
Marijuana is notorious for slowing certain cognitive functions such as learning, memory and attention span (maybe that's why they call it "dope"?). But new research in young people suggests that these cognitive effects, while significant, may not persist for very long, even among chronic users.

The meta-analysis, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, combines data from 69 previous studies that look at the effects of heavy cannabis use on cognitive functioning in adolescents and young adults. It found that those young people who identified as heavy marijuana users scored significantly lower than non-users in a variety of cognitive domains such as learning, abstraction, speed of processing, delayed memory, inhibition and attention.

"There have been a couple of meta-analyses done in adult samples, but this is the first one to be done specifically in adolescent and young adult samples," said Cobb Scott, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a lead author of the study.

"We looked at everything from learning and memory to different aspects of executive functioning such as abstraction ability," Scott said. "And we basically showed that the largest effects -- which was around a third of a standard deviation -- was in the learning of new information and some aspects of executive functioning, memory and speed of processing."

But when the researchers separated the studies based on length of abstinence from marijuana use, the difference in cognitive functioning between marijuana users and non-users was no longer apparent after 72 hours of marijuana abstinence. That could be an indication "that some of the effects found in previous studies may be due to the residual effects of cannabis or potentially from withdrawal effects in heavy cannabis users," Scott said.

The study comes as America continues to debate the merits of marijuana legalization. Recreational marijuana use is legal in nine states. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized some form of medical marijuana use, with at least three additional states potentially deciding on the issue in the upcoming November election, according to Melissa Moore, New York deputy state director for the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance.

Studies on the long-term cognitive effects of marijuana use among adolescents and young adults have shown inconsistent results. A 2008 study reported that frequent or early-onset cannabis use among adolescents was associated with poorer cognitive performance in tasks requiring executive functioning, attention and episodic memory.

A 2014 study also warned against the use of marijuana during adolescence, when certain parts of the brain responsible for executive functioning -- such as the prefrontal cortex -- are still developing.

"There have been very important studies showing evidence for irreversible damage (from marijuana use), and so there needs to be more research in this area," said Kevin Sabet, assistant adjunct professor at the Yale School of Medicine and president of the nonprofit Smart Approaches to Marijuana, who was not involved in the new study.

"I hope they're right. We want there to be little effect after 72 hours. But given the other studies that have had very large sample sizes that have been published over the past five years in prominent journals, I think we need to look into that more," added Sabet, whose group is focused on the harms of marijuana legalization.

But a number of recent studies have also shown that the association between marijuana use and reduced cognitive functioning disappears after controlling for factors such as psychiatric illness and substance use disorders, according to Scott.

In an attempt to make sense of these discordant results, the new research combined data from 69 previous studies, resulting in a comparison of 2,152 frequent marijuana users with 6,575 non-users. Participants ranged in age from 10 to 50, with an average age of 21.

The researchers found that, overall, the cognitive functioning of frequent marijuana users was reduced by one-third of a standard deviation compared with non-frequent marijuana users -- a relatively small effect size, according to Scott.

"It surprised, I think, all of us doing this analysis that the effects were not bigger than we found," Scott said. "But I would say that the clinical significance of a quarter of a standard deviation is somewhat questionable."

But according to Sabet, even a relatively small effect size could be important, especially in a large meta-analysis such as this one.

"The small effect size may be meaningful in a large population, and again, all (cognitive) measures are worse for those using marijuana," Sabet said.

"The study is pretty bad news for marijuana users," he added. "Overall, I think this is consistent with the literature that marijuana use shows worse cognitive outcomes among users versus non-users."

In an effort to identify other potential factors that could have affected the relationship between marijuana use and cognition, the researchers also separated the studies based on the length of marijuana abstinence, age of first cannabis use, sociodemographic characteristics and clinical characteristics such as depression.

Of these, only the length of marijuana abstinence was found to significantly affect the association between chronic marijuana use and reduced cognitive functioning. Specifically, cognitive functioning appeared to return to normal after about 72 hours of marijuana abstinence -- a threshold identified in previous studies, according to Scott.

"The reason we chose the 72-hour mark is that in looking at the data on cannabis withdrawal effects in heavy cannabis users, 72 hours seems to be past the peak of most withdrawal effects that occur," he said.

However, the 69 studies included in the review did not have a uniform definition for "chronic" or "frequent" marijuana use, one of the study's main limitations, according to Sabet.

"When you put all of these studies together that have different definitions of marijuana users and are from different times, it's not surprising that you'd get a smaller effect size," Sabet said.

The studies also relied on a variety of tests to determine cognitive functioning, including the Trail Making Test, the Digital Span Memory Test and the California Verbal Learning test, according to Scott.

"The other thing that's important to highlight is that we're only looking at cognitive functioning. We're not looking at risks for other adverse outcomes with cannabis use, like risk for psychosis, risks for cannabis use problems or other medical issues like lung functioning outcomes," Scott said.

But the results still suggest that the negative cognitive effects of marijuana use, while significant in the short-term, probably diminish with time. They also shed light on the need for more research in this area, particularly as cannabis policy in the United States continues to change at a rapid pace.

"As attitudes change about cannabis use and cannabis use becomes a little bit more accepted in terms of policy and government regulation and medical cannabis use increases, I think we need to have a real understanding of the potential risks and benefits of cannabis use," Scott said.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Quantum entanglement Space and Time



Space and time is a interesting point when related to Quantum theory. 
It is nonlinear as time and space does not matter. If it was, it is in all times.
Like if there are screws embedded in the floor in a strange format of
quantum entanglement and one of the screws where missing but was there in 
the past it would not mater as it was there so it is there entangled with the others.
It was so it is, through space and time.

It is real. Also in a term of strange attractors. What are the odds of that happening?
Like sets of Double pendulums connecting if one goes starts sooner or later
they would not cross paths or they will in time cross paths it's the fact they do
in space and time.

Mind blowing thinking nonlinear about the Quantum entanglement of such
connections. many times a cigar is not a cigar in a world of Quantum entanglement!!!

~~~~~Quantum entanglement isn't only spooky, you can't avoid it
Quantum entanglement is the key to quantum computing, cryptography, and numerous other real-world applications of quantum mechanics. It is also one of the strangest phenomena in the Universe, overcoming barriers of space and time and knitting the entire cosmos into an integrated whole. Scientists have long thought that entanglement between two particles was a rare and fleeting phenomenon, so delicate that exposure of the particles to their surroundings would quickly destroy this linkage. Now mathematicians at Case Western University have shown that entanglement between parts of large systems is the norm, rather than being a rare and short-lived relationship.

Entanglement is one of the strangest predictions of quantum mechanics. Two objects are entangled if their physical properties are undefined but correlated, even when the two objects are separated by a large distance. No mechanism for entanglement is known, but so far experiments universally show that nonlocal entanglement is real. When two entangled particles are subjected to the influence of a surrounding environment, their interactions with the surroundings cause the entanglement to "leak out" into the surroundings, so it is more difficult to detect and use, but it does not disappear.

Entanglement is clearly subtle, but how common is it in the real world of macroscopic objects? A new research paper from Professor Stanislaw Szarek's mathematics group at Case Western Reserve University addresses this question, and finds that entanglement is ubiquitous in large objects.

Their analysis is essentially statistical, where the quantum probabilities are studied using the tools of geometric functional analysis, a field of mathematics well suited for addressing problems associated with very large numbers of dimensions.

Systems of a few particles will tend to lie close to a pure state, a state in which none of the internal particles are entangled with each other. The particles of such a system will show essentially no sign of being entangled. You can create a state of a few particles in which the particles are entangled, but these states are quite unusual.

When you consider larger systems, perhaps having thousands (or trillions) of particles, the quantum description is essentially the same, but the way the quantum attributes of the system scale with size changes the probabilities considerably. Now the pure states form only a very small portion of the possible quantum states, and as a result, the more probable behavior is that parts of the system are entangled with each other.

Szarek's team also considered the entanglement of subsystems of an entangled system. If you choose two particles from a system, the chance that they are entangled is very small; in fact, vanishingly small in the limit of very large systems. On the other hand, if you split the system in two, these halves are almost certain to be entangled with each other.

In the end, their analysis shows that in systems having large numbers of particles, a pair of tiny subsystems tend not to be entangled with each other, but a pair of large subsystems tend to be entangled. If you consider two subsystems each having fewer than about one-fifth of the total number of particles in the overall system, the subsystems are almost certainly not entangled with each other. If the two subsystems are larger than one-fifth of the original system, they are almost certainly entangled. The abrupt change in entanglement behavior is characteristic of the geometry of high-dimensional spaces.

The result shows that everyday objects are so constructed that their parts are entangled with each other, and are also entangled with most everything with which they have previously interacted. This is an interesting result, particularly for those who think of the Universe in holistic terms, but does this holism have any observable consequences? This is a very difficult question, to which we don't yet have a practical answer.

Large-scale entanglement guides how our world evolves, often in crucial ways. However, predicting how a specific action might change that evolution appears impossible, at least in any practical sense. Such prediction simply requires too much knowledge about the microscopic state of the world. One might say, facetiously, that magic works, but usually has no real and/or predictable effect. At least, within quantum mechanics.

Monday, April 16, 2018

The IMF senses that not all is well and so the lowest pay

People are not getting paid for what they make for the company.
"The typical worker is almost twice as productive today as he or she was then. 
Adjusted for both inflation and productivity gains, therefore, the minimum wage 
should be at least $15.00 an hour."
https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/raise-the-minimum-wage-113

Small tows are small for a reason. You make nothing, you have nothing, 
because they want nothing. And that makes nothing for everyone also.
And so also is the lack of foundation to grow. Reflecting living low makes 
it low for others. This is not a foundation for growth.

~~~~~Why poverty in Oklahoma is being compared to a Third World nation
Faced with a 30 percent cut in its programs and activities budget, the state Department of Education slashed funding for high-quality early childhood programs by $2.5 million and eliminated funding for financial literacy programs. Oklahoma used to invest heavily in parenting training for disadvantaged families, but the Department of Education just eliminated the last $1 million from the Parents-as-Teachers program, while the Health Department has cut funding for the Children First program by 30 percent since 2011. Until five years ago, the state provided over $2 million for adult education programs; that funding was wiped out in 2011. Drug treatment providers had their contracts cut earlier this year by the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, and those in need of residential drug treatment face long waiting lists. The number of families qualifying for child care subsidies has been declining for years, and in June DHS announced a freeze – to be lifted in August – on accepting new families for subsidies.  And as a final blow, a single mother with two kids working year-round at $10/hr will now lose $231 a year because the Legislature cut the state Earned Income Tax Credit.
https://okpolicy.org/poverty-oklahoma-compared-third-world-nation

And so the light of whats holding us all back is something even seen as a warning
of what is going on, or could be going on!

~~~~~The IMF senses that not all is well with this global economic upswing
Christine Lagarde ought to be a happy woman. As she noted in a speech in Hong Kong last week, there is good economic news around the world. The US is operating at full employment, the upswing in Europe has spread across the continent, Japan is growing strongly and the outlook for Asia is bright.

All the same, Lagarde has plenty to worry about as she prepares for this week’s half-yearly meeting of the International Monetary Fund, the organisation run by the former French finance minister. Her concerns can be summed up in five words: protectionism, unilateralism, war, debt and inequality.

The IMF has been issuing increasingly firm warnings about the risk of a trade war in the 16 months since Donald Trump won the US presidency. But it has only been in the past three months that Trump has started to make good on the pledges made during his campaign. Tariffs on imported steel and aluminium imports were followed by US action specifically targeted at China.

Lagarde’s concern is not just that Washington and Beijing will become embroiled in a trade war, but that protectionism will spread in a fashion not seen since the 1930s.

That anxiety has been heightened by Trump’s go-it-alone approach. The US was instrumental in creating the world’s four key multilateral organisations – the United Nations, the World Bank, the IMF and the World Trade Organisation – but the current president appears to have scant regard for any of them. Lagarde would like to see the US settle its trade differences with China at the WTO but there is little immediate prospect of that.

The risk of war between Russia and America over Syria is the most pressing example of the “uncertain geopolitics” mentioned by Lagarde in her Hong Kong speech. Here, Trump has been seeking to secure the support of the US’s traditional allies – such as Britain and France – for military action, but financial markets are already taking fright at the prospect of oil supplies from the Middle East being disrupted. Oil prices rose to their highest since late 2014 when last week’s tension was at its height.

Deep down, the IMF thinks the recovery from the 2008 financial crash is fragile and incomplete. It is fragile because a decade of cheap money has left the global economy wallowing in $164 trillion of private and public debt – an all-time high. It is incomplete because too many people have been left behind during the upswing that followed the deep recession of 2008-09.

Back in 2006 and early 2007, the IMF was asleep at the wheel as the global economy careered towards a devastating crisis. Lagarde wants to ensure there is no repeat performance.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/apr/14/imf-senses-not-all-well-economic-upswing-christine-lagarde

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Chaos In Your Life Is Essential To True Growth And Polytheism!



Chaos is the best environment for personal growth!

"If you have no chaos in your life, you are not growing because
growth means chaos."

So just standing there in stagnation is death. Sort of like a OS
remaining the same. It becomes unsafe un-adapt in the changing world
and so people stop using it.

Monotheism or Polyamory... Polytheism! What? Well if everything was
Mono then we all wouldn't of got as far as we have now. Like the life today
if we all where still in the dark ages! Just mindless people with nothing
working and dying in the cornfield with no one knowing their name.

To note I would say it's ok to induce xenophobia as it would be something
over a time that would cause them to be burned out from being xenophobic. 
Sort of like burning down the weeds making room for grass to grow. 
To get out of the non functional grip of the fail of society out in the woods. 
Life is not run out from the woods anyway.

I mean if you have nothing you can't run things like you have nothing most of
us would have nothing also pulling all of us down with the nothing also!
In that would be good in a social economic vacuum with the wealth inequality
so high! It would help to let them burn... Or at least let them go into their own fire.
Small towns like their misery sort of wanting to go back to the days without a
dishwasher or not wanting one so life would be harder at it.
Hard work gets you a stroke so why seek it? Thus it all will blow up sometime
thus cleansing the gene pool in time. Well you can't make them not so it would be
best for them to learn from the fail. Give it time!

But really the point here is that chaos makes growth!

~~~~~Why Chaos In Your Life Is Essential To True Growth And Ultimate Success
I think more than a few of us have experienced bits of Murphy’s Law…that as things start to improve in your life, chaos and craziness starts to occur, yes?

Most people will have that go through.

Why is that? What’s happening?

Well, it comes down to everything being energy.

As you’re changing and improving your life you are moving from an old habit of energy at one level of vibration into a completely new and different level of vibration.

It’s a different looking energy.

There’s a resonance between those two energies, and the separation between the new and the old, the space in-between, is unusual and often uncomfortable.

And you’re not just going to drop the old energy overnight. It doesn’t happen that way. It doesn’t even happen in a week or a month. The old energy patterns are still there, and it’s easy to get back to them.

It’s perfectly normal. You’ve shaken things up. But even more fundamental than that: if you have no chaos in your life, you might as well be dead. You’re flat lining. You’re so freaking normal and boring that you’re not growing.

If you have no chaos in your life, you are not growing because growth means chaos.

About once a month I have this thought that goes in my head. The thought is, “Take a deep breath, Harv, because it’s coming.” I’m not installing anything negative, but I know chaos is coming.

Every single time I start the Wizard pattern, stuff comes up and says, “Really? You think you’re a Wizard? Watch this, and see how good you are now, buddy.” It’s like a test, and I know it’s coming.

I used to be pissed off about it. I used to stay away from trying to live in a Wizard mentality because I didn’t want it to happen, but now I say, “It’s just proof that I’m growing.”

The test says, “If you think you’re a good hitter in baseball, I’m going to stop throwing you underhand lobs and I’m going to start throwing you overhand pitches. Then I’m going to start throwing faster and faster, and maybe one day you’ll get into the big leagues.”

Nobody’s telling you that you have to get rich. Nobody’s telling you that you have to be super happy. Nobody’s telling you that you have to be the best person. Nobody is saying that—only you. Do you want it? Then guess what: Chaos comes with it.

Before order comes chaos. Every time you are reordering, you will go through the process called chaos. Chaos is good. Confusion is part of chaos. You have shaken up the energy. Keep going, keep doing it, and do not give up. Keep shaking it up.

Then what’s going to happen? You’re going to come to a new resonance, a new energy. You’re going to get to a new order. Good for you, but then guess what’s going to happen? You get stuck there unless you go for something bigger, better, higher and faster. Then what? Chaos!

You’ve got to get this mantra into your bones: I love chaos.

That’s the Wizard’s principle. “I am comfortable with chaos, ambiguity and the unknown.”

You see, it’s just your little monkey mind that wants to know every single thing, how it’s going to turn out, and have everything in order and in control. It’s just fear, but it’s okay. It’s a state of your mind. You can change that.

Say, “Thank you for sharing. This is a good thing. Just chill out and everything will be fine. Let’s keep going.” That’s it. Some crazy shit may happen to you, but take a nice, deep breath and keep going because at one point in time you’re going to get to a new place.

When you get to that new place, you’re still going to be rough around the edges, but you’re going to be at a Level 8 instead of a Level 5. That’s a different game. Keep playing.
https://www.harveker.com/2015/10/13/why-chaos-in-your-life-is-essential-to-true-growth-and-ultimate-success

~~~~~Dandelion Seeds: Polytheism and Polyamory are a Natural Combination
Being a Druid makes polytheism the obvious choice for me, grounded in my theology, personal experience, and the lore left to us by the ancient pagans.  I believe in a myriad of Powers and Spirits that exist with us as part of the world in ways that are not always clear, but like Jason and many others, I have come to understand that the gods have agency, or the ability to think, take action, and create as well as the ability to form relationship.  In my spirit work I have relationships with many deities and spirits.  Some are mentors, some are remote figures like stern distant relatives, some are friends, and sometimes the relationship can become sexual or romantic.  I’m not a godspouse, so I can’t speak to that, but I have had intense trance experiences where sexuality was a part of what I did.  The thing is, all of these are relationships that have meaning for me.  They blend and change over time, just like my relationships in the physical plane.

In my tradition we study ancient proto-Indo-European culture because so many of the gods and goddesses we worship evolved from this linguistic root.  We can only know what linguists and archeologists have deduced from the puzzle of common root words and pottery fragments.  These people lived long before written language.   *Ghosti is one of those words linguists have discovered.  When you see an asterisk in front of a word it means that this was never a real word; it’s a word that linguists have created by comparing many related languages.  This particular word is really, really old, and seen in many languages all over the Eurasian continent.  It is the word from which both “guest” and “host” evolved.  It is a word that encapsulates the sacredness of relationship.

*Ghosti has deepened my understanding of all my relations, both with people and with other Beings.  All relationship is sacred; in every moment I am both the guest in someone else’s experience and their host in mine.  I do not control them, own them, or get to say what they do.  Not even my husband.

So now we get to the polyamory.  You were waiting for it weren’t you?  Some of you, dear readers, were probably envisioning orgies and never ending sex parties, right?  It’s okay, I get it.   It’s not really like that though.  Okay, maybe once in a great while it is. A little bit.  Beltane is fun. Now let’s move on.

’ve identified as polyamorous for most of my adult life.  My husband and I have been part of a stable quad relationship for almost three years now.  We live and work together. We are raising our kids together.  Beyond that there are sometimes lovers outside the quad, and metamors. Those are my lover’s lovers.  Often those relationships deepen into good friendships.  I have relationships with all these people in one respect or another.

Sometimes relationships change. We call this “transition.”  In my experience, in a poly context you don’t really need to “dump” anyone.  People are not trash.  Once I’ve come into a sacred relationship with someone, why would I toss them aside like a discarded sweater?  Just because I’m not in a sexual relationship doesn’t mean I don’t care.  Just like with my relations with the gods and spirits, each interaction is seen within a matrix of sacredness and flux. Sometimes relationships fade away completely, but if I treat each interaction with another person as a moment where I am hosting them I would be a horrible host indeed if I just tossed them out on the curb.  Instead I choose to allow my life to be a little more complicated than all or nothing.  It’s not really shades of grey.  It’s more like a rainbow of flavors.

In both the physical world and the spirit world I have a “poly” orientation.  I understand that there is rarely just one answer to a question, or one path to take.  It has put me in pretty strong opposition to a lot of “mono” things.  Monotheism seems to lead logically to an attitude that polarizes people into those who are right and those who are wrong.  Monoculture is a kind of agriculture where only one kind of plant is planted and it’s very dangerous because it’s so easy for disease or insects to spread and ruin the whole crop.  The Irish Potato Famine is an example.  Monogamy is one way of being, but I don’t think it’s the human default option.  If people had evolved to be purely monogamous it would be a lot simpler for humans to pull it off.  Surely if it was easy and natural radical Muslim groups wouldn’t need to stone women to death for adultery.

I’m not saying mono things are bad, but I do think that they can lead to an attitude of “I’m right and you’re wrong.” I think monogamy is going against our natural inclinations. That’s okay.  Sometimes it’s the right answer.  Sometimes pagans focus their spiritual experience solely on one god or goddess.  Sometimes one person is all another person wants or needs in terms of relationship.   Most of the time we humans live in a matrix of many kinds of relationship.  I think being honest about our poly ways is a powerful magic.   We are living examples of the realization that when it comes to human culture there are many right answers.  I embrace my polyamory and my polytheism.  My worldview says I believe in many gods and many loves.   What does your heart tell you?
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/2015/07/dandelion-seeds-polytheism-and-polyamory-are-a-natural-combination

Friday, April 13, 2018

Conspires to keep wages down to buy less stuff

As you know you get what you pay for! If not then would you go to that 
brain surgeon that came out of a community college?

Push for low taxes but then have the schools come out with kids
not prepared for college sitting in their class in college with the hand in 
the air saying What? What? What? What are you talking about! 
With no clue of what that was because they never heard if it before in 
high school now in college feeling the pressure of the college professor saying,
isn't about time you quit my class?  

How many will drop out of college hitting a wall? What does that do to the
labor force coming out with no job skills not knowing how to run the lazers
that makes the doughnuts in the the future? Issues like a background check 
at Walmart like 1000 fails to get 3 workers that can pass the background check?

Low taxes also means more gravel roads, less police, fire fighters, schools etc.
Pay less taxes have less going into your world as bad workers.
Low pay and so pay bananas get monkeys along with banana's for payment
in that pushes no banana's please! Do you take food stamps for payment?
So in that how is that going to help sales? 

The low pay takes care of itself as a lack of sales.
Well make nothing, have nothing! Why have them close your stores
because they all don't go there being broke, when they all will have to raise the
pay sometime to get some kind of sales?

~~~~~How the American economy conspires to keep wages down
The economy is growing but our paychecks are not. That’s because employers have, over decades, built a political apparatus to hold down pay.

When unemployment goes down, wages are supposed to go up. That’s just supply and demand. Quite puzzlingly, though, this mechanism seems not to be working today. Unemployment stands at a modest 4%, but paychecks aren’t growing. Although today’s is the best-educated workforce in history, employers just insist that workers need more training.

In other words, they’re gaslighting us. Meanwhile, over decades, employers have built and maintained a massive collective political apparatus to hold down wages. To call it a conspiracy would be only slight embellishment.

The symptoms of the problem are not hard to miss. In February, for example, the American economy posted its biggest one-month jobs gain in a couple years, but wage growth stayed stalled out. For months, economists and financial journalists have been puzzling over the question, as Bloomberg put it, of “why the economy grows but your paycheck doesn’t”.

Economists will tell you that wages generally increase with productivity – that you’re paid in line with the value of what you do. This was credible from the end of the second world war to the 1970s, when productivity and hourly wages rose almost perfectly in sync. But according to research by the Economic Policy Institute, from the early 1970s to 2016 productivity went up 73.7%, and wages only 12.3%.

Similarly, there used to be a positive relationship between stock prices and wage increases. But some initial signs of wage growth in February sent the market spiraling over inflation fears – until it became clear that the reported wage gains were all concentrated among top earners. Then everyone calmed down and stopped selling.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve just announced that it’s taking the next step in its plan to raise interest rates. This will suppress wages to prevent inflation, although inflation is minuscule and wages aren’t showing signs of life.

Another apparent culprit is what’s called “monopsony”. Monopoly occurs when sellers are so concentrated that they don’t really have to compete. Monopsony is when the buyers – in this case, employers – are concentrated.

A recent paper from the Roosevelt Institute found that the average level of concentration in labor markets is 45% higher than the threshold for “highly concentrated” markets used by antitrust regulators. If the government went after employer monopsony the way it does other kinds of markets, regulators might have their hands quite full.

What’s worse, as Alan Krueger and Eric Posner pointed out in the New York Times recently, one in five workers with a high school degree or less is subject to a non-compete clause – a tool for employers to push wages down by forbidding workers from getting jobs with their competitors.

Many major franchises also forbid their franchisees from hiring workers away from each other. So a McDonald’s on this corner isn’t allowed to hire away workers from the McDonald’s on the other corner by offering 25 cents more. (Such rules were a classic tool of white landlords in the Jim Crow South to keep down the pay of black sharecroppers.)

And even employers that don’t have such a commanding position can still hire workers through contractors who do. Temp agencies, for example, can function like bottlenecks, forcing workers into monopsonistic labor market conditions on behalf of smaller, less powerful employers.

We tend to think of employment as a market interaction: supply and demand meet to set a price, and that’s the wage you get paid. But work is much more than this. When you buy bread, there’s no other connection between you and the baker. You take your loaf and go home. But when you sell labor in the labor market, you’re entering into an ongoing power relationship. In return for your wages, you’re supposed to submit – not once but every day. It’s not just economic. Work is intrinsically political.

Typically, we enter into economic relationships by ourselves. But political relationships quickly become collective. As we’ve seen, employers have a vast collective apparatus at their disposal: the stock market, the Fed, antitrust and employment law, just to name a few.

But, defiance can travel and become collective too. For some years, for example, unions have had success winning raises for low-wage workers politically, rather than at the bargaining table – through direct ballot initiatives, by putting pressure on Democratic politicians, and by getting new laws passed. (If the federal minimum wage had kept pace with overall income growth, it would be three times higher.)

Workers have taken heroic risks to make a point – in the fast-food industry in particular, where employer retaliation is a given. And cities and states across the country have responded by passing minimum wage hikes.

Today, the supreme court is weighing the question of the collective political power of workers. In the Janus v AFSCME case, an anti-union corporate group is seeking to take away the power of public sector unions to collect money from all workers whom they represent.

The anti-union side argues that such fees violate workers’ free speech rights by compelling them to pay for representation that’s of an essentially political nature. As Justice Anthony Kennedy argued, public sector unions will always advocate “for massive government, for increasing bonded indebtedness, for increasing taxes”. Kennedy’s point is that these aren’t just economic goals; such workplace bargaining affects public policy.

Somewhat wanly, the state of Illinois (defending the fees) argued that if unions don’t have the right to collect this money, the workplace will become unstable and conflictual. It didn’t seem like a credible threat. Then along came the West Virginia teachers’ strike and the chain reaction it ignited. The improbable outbreak, endurance, and triumph of the teachers’ strike in that state has inspired underpaid educators in Kentucky, Arizona and Oklahoma to take action for themselves.

The future of American unions hangs in the balance
 Read more
All these are states where teachers and underpaid and fed up, and where the formal power of their unions is quite limited. But in West Virginia, the teachers figured out how to win a long-delayed raise anyway: realizing they were irreplaceable, they shut down the schools for almost two weeks, and secured a 5% pay bump – not just for themselves, but for the state’s whole public sector.

In West Virginia, the legislature had to pass a law, and the governor had to sign it, to give the teachers their raise. Oklahoma has now done the same, and passed its first tax increase in decades to fund the raise. These workers, in other words, are not just engaging in bargaining: their strikes are political in nature, and they are shaping public policy.

The political power typically enjoyed by employers is generally experienced by workers as fear: fear of harassment, favoritism and wage theft, fear of joining a union or speaking out, fear of the consequences of injury or sickness, fear of the risks of asking for a raise, and beneath these, the fundamental workplace fear – of losing your job.

The current of fear running through the workplace is one of the best ways to tell there’s something more than a market transaction happening there. But fear can go both ways. In West Virginia and Oklahoma, the irreplaceable teachers terrified Republican officials. With unemployment down, more of us are becoming irreplaceable every day. There’s leverage for workers there, but you have to be willing to scare your boss to use it.

Gabriel Winant is a historian and writer completing a PhD at Yale University. He is working on a book on the Rust Belt and the rise of care work

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Teacher walkout promises to alter school landscape and about time.

In life you do or you don't and if you don't then they don't either.
Why fund education and have all those people with job skills?
When you could have the lowest pay by the masses dropping
out of college from coming out unprepared from their high school.
Making nothing so they have nothing making no sales!

And yes they where!
"Oklahoma's public colleges and universities conferred
692 fewer degrees and career certificates in 2016-17 than the previous
academic year."

"The 1.9 percent decline occurred despite efforts to increase degree
completion to meet workforce demands, according to a report submitted
Thursday to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education."
http://newsok.com/oklahoma-colleges-awarded-fewer-degrees-last-year/article/5588945

So to me I see the Teacher Walkout as needed to get more funding otherwise you
get more of nothing no one could hire. You get what you pay for!
It's a point of action and the effect of it! What do you want for your kids in life?
Brings up the point of why let the stupid put the schools in that mess in the first
place... Vote more Blue!!!!!

~~~~~The marble floors of the Oklahoma state Capitol pulsated as a mass of teachers clamored for lawmakers to find more money for public schools.

"This is our house," the teachers cried Friday morning, a statement they had made true for five consecutive days.

While the Capitol rattled this week with the sounds of chants, impassioned speeches, school bands and helicopters hovering above, the teacher walkout sent a shock wave across the state, promising to alter public education throughout Oklahoma in a variety of ways.

The threat of the walkout was enough to spur state lawmakers to pass more than $400 million in new taxes last month, funding a $6,100 pay raise for teachers, purchasing textbooks and pumping some additional money into the classroom.

Last week, the Legislature advanced a series of revenue-raising bills that could put more money into school budgets.

The Senate, meeting in a rare Friday session, approved new taxes on third-party internet sales and ball and dice gaming.

"We have seen important steps forward that I don't think would have happened without teachers coming to the Capitol," state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said.

However, teachers said more needed to be done and they vowed to return on Monday, extending the strike into a second week.

"We hope capital gains goes back to the table, and that is what we are really waiting for," said Barbara Bayless, a teacher from Choctaw, referring to the repeal of the capital gains tax exemption, which could generate more than $100 million, according to the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

Fulfilling promise of 1990

Oklahoma teachers last walked off the job in 1990, when a four-day strike resulted in the passage of House Bill 1017. It included a school funding increase and a series of school mandates, including smaller class sizes and the requirement for support staff, such as school nurses and librarians.

"Many of the provisions of House Bill 1017, such as class size limits, librarians, those kinds of things, still exist in law, but there is a moratorium on those being required because of a lack of funding," said David DuVall, executive director of the Oklahoma Education Association, which originally called for the teacher walkout.

"But with additional funding, that moratorium would come off and we can restore those vital positions to our schools."

DuVall said the immediate impact of HB 1017 in the early 1990s was smaller class sizes, additional support staff and improved academic performance.

He believes the current walkout will result in similar gains for Oklahoma schools.

"But this can't just be a one-time event," DuVall said. "We are going to be watching the Legislature this year and every year. We are going to be voting in November to ensure that the progress that is made continues."

Student impact

While educators hope the walkout has a positive impact for a generation of Oklahoma students, Hofmeister said it would be important to ensure the ongoing time out of school doesn't do significant harm to students.

"The concern that teachers, and school leaders and families would be feeling is real, that our students are not in class learning," Hofmeister said. "That is my primary focus and I know that is on the mind of the teachers who are here."

Hofmeister said school leaders will have to find ways to make up for the lost instruction time, especially as schools prepare for state-mandated tests this month.

The academic performance of students this year will be especially important for the state one year after it launched new long-term goals and changed its proficiency rates.

Test scores from last year will serve as the baseline in tracking progress as part of the new standards.

State education leaders hope that when students take tests in the coming weeks it results in improved scores, especially as an average of 63 percent of Oklahoma students scored below proficient in the 18 state-required tests issued last school year in grades three through eight, and 10th grade.

"I don't know how that is going to end up," Hofmeister said about the walkout's impact on test scores. "What I can tell you is that is the most important focus for me, insuring our students can do their very best."

Some schools are already adding days to the calendar, including Oklahoma City Public Schools, which, so far, has moved the end of the year back by one day.

"If we go past Monday ... we start adding minutes to the end of the day," district spokeswoman Beth Harrison said. "There are broader implications going forward for any more days canceled because it starts to impact instructional time, which starts to impact families."

The Oklahoma Education Association released a poll this week that showed 68 percent of likely voters supported the walkout.

But the closure of schools is taking a toll on parents who are juggling child care, especially those with limited resources or who have children that require special care.

“This is very hurtful to a lot of families,” said Candace Constantine, whose three children have been at the Boys & Girls Club in Oklahoma City, one of several sites providing drop-in child care services. “I'm all for the teachers getting a raise, but the thought that there were enough programs for all the kids in Oklahoma City, it's ridiculous."

Parents have participated in the protests at the Capitol, often bringing their children along.

"Her seat is put together with duct tape and one of her teachers has three jobs," Theresa Olds said about her daughter, who attends school in Oklahoma City. "I want her in school, but I want her in a fully-funded school."

Teaching profession

While the Legislature approved a $6,100 teacher pay increase last month, educators still launched their walkout, saying it was about more than salaries.

“We are out here for the children, for our future,” said Becky Horton, who teaches vocal music at Mustang North Middle School. “It's not always about teacher pay; it's about them first.”

A wave of teachers has left the state or the profession in recent years, searching for better pay and improved working conditions.

Those at the Capitol this past week said increased funding could help retain teachers and encourage others to consider the profession.

"It's not just about pay and funding, it's about respect," said James Machell, dean of the College of Education at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Teacher preparation programs across the state have reported a decrease in enrollment. But Machell said the walkout could result in more students choosing to become a teacher.

"Our students have been very energized by all this," said Machell, who first became a teacher in 1974 in Oklahoma City. "I have been astonished by the high level of support from school leaders, school boards and the community."

Choctaw teacher Kari Cruzan came to the Capitol early Friday morning to ensure she had a seat in the viewing gallery when the Senate convened to consider three revenue-raising bills.

She said the walkout not only had the chance to increase school funding and inspire teachers, Cruzan also thought it would be a teaching moment for students.

"For our students, we get to go back and share more of what we've learned about the government process to teach them about it, to empower them to make their voices heard as they grow older," Cruzan said. "That will change the state."
http://newsok.com/teacher-walkout-promises-to-alter-school-landscape/article/5589902

Monday, April 9, 2018

Personality Types, Test, INFJ, Who are you?



Who are you? Me I am INFJ mixed in a few parts with INTJ but I am more in INFJ!
It's not surprising for me. Still funny that it fits my nature.
The point is to find out more about yourself take the test.
" INFJs are the rarest type, and make up about 1–3% of the general population."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INFJ

~~~~~Find Your Personality Type
What is personality typing?

Personality typing is a system of categorizing people according to their tendencies to think and act in particular ways. Personality typing attempts to find the broadest, most important ways in which people are different, and make sense of these differences by sorting people into meaningful groups.

The pesonality types described here were created by Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katharine Briggs, in the 1960's. Their theories were based on the work of psychologist Carl Jung, although they extended his ideas to create a more complete framework of personality typing. Myers and Briggs proposed that there were four key dimensions that could be used to categorize people:

Introversion vs. Extraversion
Sensing vs. Intuition
Thinking vs. Feeling
Judging vs. Perceiving

Each of the four dimensions was described as a dichotomy, or an either/or choice between two styles of being. Myers and Briggs described this as a "preference" and proposed that any individual should be able to identify a preferred style on each of the four dimensions. The sum of a person's four preferred styles becomes their personality type.

Myers and Briggs theorized that our preferences on each of the four dimensions would combine to create predictable patterns in thought and behavior, so that people with the same four preferences would share many commonalities in the way they approach their lives, from the hobbies they choose to the work that might suit them.
https://www.truity.com

Friday, April 6, 2018

Mixing oil, 24oz best mix 33 and the strange why it is

The car I have has issues with oil it is a modern car that uses a 5w 30 oil but is modified so it needs a thicker oil. I had tried additives but the ones out there are not good as they foam bad or just are too thick clogging up the valve timing making the car run bad. You really don't need additives anyway and cars today are using lighter oil and many additives are just too thick for newer engines. Older engines with like 100,000 miles burning oil would befit from an additive or just thicker oil.

So really my car needs over a 30 weight oil but not a 40. Because my cars oil capacity is 4.5 qt's it is not hard to get a good number for the oil. Reflecting to Tesla and the other mysteries I mixed my oil to be a 33 weight. Mixed oil of same brand and type but adding a different weight of oil to the mix. 

For my car or others is 24 oz of a 20w 50 or 5w 50 then the 8 oz of the 5w 30 to make the qt of oil. Then the 5w 30's was added to make the 4.5 qt's of oil for my car. And so by doing that it gives me like a 7w 33.333+ oil! That was the magic number as the car took off smooth and went up to 90 in no time on the highway. (Testing.) It ran good but it did not reduce friction enough. It was conventional oil I mixed. So a synthetic oil is recommended. But the 33 was the number as is did not mess with the valve timing and it held up at high revs.

I don't have OCD! It's just that a 40 type oil was too much as at idle it was clear it didn't work well because the engine misfired as the oil was messing with the small oil galleries and valve timing. So a slightly different weight of oil works.
So in that thinking a boundary, a 35 might be too much if the engine was doing that. A 34 weight as the same... Why not 33 ok! And so I did and it is the number. 

My dad was a oil engineer and  as such he believed in not putting oil additives in the oil. Oil has the additives already in them. More now than ever! My dad was more interested in the additives that is in the oil. He would look for oil with the highest amount of Molybdenum and the lowest Calcium for his Volkswagen rabbit diesel. 
http://www.pqiamerica.com
http://walmartramen.blogspot.com/2019/05/low-speed-pre-ignition.html

But what is it about 33? Nikola Tesla said 3 is the secret of the universe! And so to get a 33 oil all you have to do is mix 24oz of a 50 oil! It ends up around 33! No kidding!

Why does it work? It could be it's not too thick of a oil to not make the engine work harder and thick enough to cushion more than a 30 would.

"Aside from the detergent system, there are many other additive and lubricant compositions that can influence LSPI. Molybdenum compounds, for example, not only provide frictional benefits, but also have been shown to decrease LSPI when used at high levels. Base oils also affect LSPI events. Both the quality of the base stock (i.e., Group II vs. Group III) and the viscosity can have secondary effects on LSPI. The effect on LSPI from these other lubricant aspects are not as significant as the detergent system, but can shift the LSPI frequency in oils that are more prone to LSPI."
https://www.oronite.com/about/news/low-speed-pre-ignition.aspx

~~~~~Some call these patterns The Blueprint of God.

In vortex math (the science of torus anatomy) there is a pattern that repeats itself: 1, 2, 4, 8, 7, and 5, and so on 1, 2, 4, 8, 7, 5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 7, 5, 1, 2, 4…

As you can see 3, 6, and 9 are not in this pattern. Scientist Marko Rodin believes these numbers represent a vector from the third to fourth dimension which he calls a “flux field.” This field is supposed to be a higher dimensional energy that influences the energy circuit of the other six points.

LET ME EXPLAIN!

Let’s start from 1, doubled it is 2; 2 doubled is 4; 4 doubled is 8; 8 doubled is 16 which means 1 + 6 and that equals to 7; 16 doubled is 32 resulting in 3 + 2 equals 5 (you can do 7 doubled if you want to which you would get 14 resulting in 5); 32 doubled is 64 (5 doubled is 10) resulting in total of 1; If we continue we will keep following the same pattern: 1, 2, 4, 8, 7, 5, 1, 2…

If we start from 1 in reverse we will still get the same pattern only in reverse: Half of one is 0.5 (0+5) equaling 5. Half of 5 is 2.5 (2+5) equaling 7, and so on.

As you can see there is no mention of 3, 6, and 9! It’s like they are beyond this pattern, free from it.

However, there is something strange once you start doubling them. 3 doubled is 6; 6 doubled is 12 which would result in 3; in this pattern there is no mention of 9! It’s like 9 is beyond, completely free from both patterns.

But if you start doubling 9 it will always result in 9: 18, 36, 72, 144, 288, 576…

~~~~~Number 33: Secret Societies, UFOs, Death, Destruction & Disneyland
What’s with the number 33? To occultists and secret societies like the Freemasons, 33 is held in reverence. This supposedly magical number appears to pop up time and time again throughout many of history’s most significant and tumultuous events, from Biblical times through to the modern era. Is there really something to 33 or is it just another number like any other? Let’s don our shiny tin foil hats and plunge headlong down the rabbit hole to explore the possible significance of the number 33 in connection with secret societies, UFOs, death, destruction and Disneyland.

End the Capital Gains Tax Break

Why let the schools, lower income people and etc, fail with all the high dollar
homes, cars that have $500 oil changes yet have people scared of a penny tax
to fund education. Yet push on a cigarette tax, a poverty tax. Not a good revenue
source at all. Taking the food money to get cigarettes makes less sales!
http://www.koco.com/article/penny-sales-tax-proposal-fails/8260354

The capital gains tax needs to go! Look where tax cuts takes you!

~~~~~2018 Policy Priority: End the Capital Gains Tax Break
Background
Oklahoma allows a 100 percent deduction from state income tax of any gains from the sale of property located in Oklahoma or stock of a company headquartered in Oklahoma. This Oklahoma capital gains deduction was enacted in 2004 as part of State Question 713, which also increased the cigarette tax.

A recent study by PFM Group Consulting for the Oklahoma Incentive Evaluation Commission found that over the past five years, Oklahoma’s capital gains deduction has reduced state tax revenues by $474 million while creating just $9 million in additional tax revenue – for a net cost of $465 million. The study also found that on average, 85.5 percent of the total deduction amount was claimed by individuals with income equal to or more than $200,000.

The Solution
The PFM Group study concluded that the capital gains tax break cannot “be credibly shown to have significant economic impact or a positive return on investment for the State.” Based on this analysis, the report recommended repealing the tax break. The Legislature should heed this recommendation and end the capital gains tax break. If they are not willing to repeal the tax break outright, then the deduction could be narrowed by limiting it to investments in certain sectors, requiring that gains be reinvested in Oklahoma, or only allowing the exemption for individuals with income below a certain threshold.
https://okpolicy.org/2018-policy-priority-end-capital-gains-tax-break

Monday, April 2, 2018

Oklahoma teacher / support staff pay raise bills



Oklahoma passed the bills to raise the pay for schools but...
And yes also for the support staff also in that is needed as
for the workers that made correcting for inflation the wages 
is like $5 an hour!

Teachers need pay also with all he work and effort to
make $12 an hour new Teacher pay!
That's like the point of your education is only worth
the paper it's printed on as like you want your kids to go to 
Harvard and not a JR college. Like the result or going to a 
brain surgeon that went to a JR college vs Yale Medical school!
Its about the point of the kids future. 

And so still there is a raise but what about those kids and funding for
support staff needed? And so it's about the kids future a need for better!
http://newsok.com/teacher-walkouts-may-last-longer-than-one-day/article/5589032

Each school district has different issues. So the protest is different on different parts.
But all the same. Needing more than they are getting! Pay for teachers and staff.
And more for the teaching of the kids. 

And so they have to fund education better or have the kids popping out
of high school unprepared for college, going to a JR college to make up the 
loss to get in college. So many won't and all of that makes a bad labor force.
Un skilled labor! Who can pass the background checks? 

The kids going in private school just won't be working at Walmart so
as the bulk of labor force crashes who are those kids getting out of
private school going to hire when they get out in the world?
So private schools are few to the many in public school!

For those that don't understand why others don't want to cut off their legs
to save their toes well look how they live, what do they have?
Being against the Teacher walkout is like being a clueless "regional pantomime".
Local and pantomime with nothing that helps no one with anything!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxF9vFJezRA

~~~~~Nearly 50 million students enroll in public elementary and secondary schools in the United States, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 5 million (roughly 10 percent) of students in the U.S. attend private schools.
https://articles.niche.com/private-school-vs-public-school-breakdown

~~~~~Governor signs tax hike and teacher pay bills following political drama
Declaring it a "historic moment," Gov. Mary Fallin signed major tax hike and teacher pay raise bills Thursday — signing the measures into law just days before teachers have announced plans to walk out of their classrooms.

"We achieved something that we all thought might be impossible," Fallin said. "It was not easy getting there."

Ultimately, lawmakers approved a bill that will hike teacher pay by an average of about $6,100 a year.

"We will now be able to be second in the region in teacher pay," Fallin said, adding that raises would average 15 to 18 percent, depending on years of service.

Whether that will be enough to stave off a prolonged teacher walkout is yet to be determined. Oklahoma Education Association leaders are still calling for schools to close Monday so teachers can make their voices heard at the Capitol.

But State schools Superintendent of Instruction Joy Hofmeister called approval of the teacher pay raise bill "a tremendous step forward for public education."

"This bill allows us to begin to reverse Oklahoma's severe teacher shortage and begin attracting new talent to the profession while also rewarding career educators," she said.

To pay for teacher and state employee pay hikes, lawmakers approved a $474 million package of tax hikes that will:

• Raise the initial tax rate on oil and gas wells from 2 percent to 5 percent for the first three years, with the rate rising to 7 percent after that.

• Increase the motor fuel tax by 3 cents a gallon on gasoline and 6 cents a gallon on diesel.

• Add a $1 per pack tax on cigarettes.

• Tax little cigars the same as cigarettes.

• Add a $5 room tax on hotel and motel stays.

The hotel/motel tax will likely never be collected, however.

Projected to raise about $47 million, that proposed tax created an uproar in Oklahoma's hospitality industry, with many hotel and motel operators complaining it would hurt tourism and convention business.

Yielding to pressure from the Senate, the House passed a follow-up bill Thursday that would repeal the hotel/motel tax.

That bill will now go to the Senate. The governor is expected to sign it if it reaches her desk, said Michael McNutt, the governor's press secretary.

Consideration of the repeal measure created the political drama of the day, with House Democrats locking up against it.

Democrats complained that the loss of that tax revenue would leave the state short of the needed funds to grant promised pay increases and that senators had not provided an alternative source of funding.

State Rep. Scott Inman, D-Del City, argued on the House floor that the tax package approved by lawmakers was about $75 million short of providing necessary funding even with the hotel/motel tax included. In addition to wanting the hotel/motel tax removed, Inman said state senators were voicing a reluctance to allow balls and dice to be used in roulette and craps games in Indian casinos, a proposed change projected to provide about $22 million in annual revenue.

"Now the (revenue) plan is nearly $150 million upside down," Inman said.

Oklahoma Education Association President Alicia Priest joined Inman in criticizing legislative efforts to repeal the hotel/motel tax and back away from proposed Indian gaming law changes.

“What yesterday looked like a positive step forward and a historic down payment on our children's future now hangs in the balance as the Legislature dismantles the funding needed to solve this crisis they created in the first place," Priest said in a prepared statement. "Stunts like these are why Oklahomans lack any trust or confidence in the state Legislature."

Priest said the goal of teachers has been to avoid a walkout, but "because lawmakers continue breaking promises, even promises made less than 24 hours ago, we call on schools to remain closed on Monday so educators can send a clear message at the Capitol: Oklahoma educators won't stand for these games any longer."

Senate Majority Floor Leader Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, said Inman was overstating the revenue gap.

"Ball and dice was never certified money eligible to be spent," Treat said, adding that the Indian gaming legislation is still "working through the process."

"None of that money was included in the pay raise for teachers or support employees or state employees," he said.

Treat said state senators would not have passed the tax revenue bill without a promise to repeal the hotel/motel tax, so the teacher and employee pay raises would not have been possible without it being removed.

The Senate is considering alternatives to make up for some of the revenue that would be lost by repeal of the room tax, he said.

One alternative under consideration is asking Amazon to collect sales and use taxes on items sold through its site by third-party vendors, Treat said.

Amazon already has an agreement with the state to collect such taxes on items it sells directly, he said. Expanding collections to include third-party vendors — something Amazon is already doing for some other states — is projected to raise an additional $19.6 million a year, he said.

In addition to signing the tax package and teacher pay raise bills Thursday, Fallin signed a bill that places a $17,000 cap on deductions on adjusted gross income. Charitable contributions and medical expenses are excluded from the cap.

Getting a pay raise for teachers has been a "priority of the state of Oklahoma for many years," the governor said. "It took many efforts and many tries."
http://newsok.com/governor-signs-tax-hike-and-teacher-pay-bills-house-votes-to-repeal-hotelmotel-tax-increase/article/5588967

~~~~~New Teacher Pay Raise FAQs
ssertion 1:  This does not have sustained funding year over year. Only 60% of the money will go to education.

FALSE. Education receives funding from a variety of sources, the largest of which is the General Revenue (GR) Fund. Increasing the amount of money going into the GR Fund each year will pave the way for the Legislature to ensure the raises continue to be funded. As a result of HB 3705, the Legislature has set a new baseline for education funding. As is the case each year, the OSDE, advocacy groups and educators will continue to express education needs to the Legislature. For example: In FY 17, common education was appropriated $65.8 million from the Rainy Day fund. In FY 18, common education was appropriated $51 million from the Rainy Day fund, leaving a “hole” of $14.8 million. Additional funds were added from other sources to ensure the total was not reduced.

Assertion 2:  Money will be “diverted” to health/roads after the first year.

TRUE, BUT MISLEADING. The state has many obligations to fulfill, including those for education, roads and bridges and healthcare. With the passage of new revenue streams to fund state obligations for core services, funding will be freed up to be appropriated for education. 

Assertion 3:  The removal of the hotel tax means the raise will shrink.

FALSE. In HB 1023xx the Legislature increased the minimum salary schedule, which will require teachers be paid no less than the new minimum annually. In HB 3705, common education was appropriated money from the General Revenue (GR) Fund to provide districts money for the raises. The Legislature has made this appropriation before appropriations to any other agencies – by April 1 for only the second time since 2003 when the requirement was put into place. Regardless of which revenue measures are passed, common education will still receive the appropriated amount.

Assertion 4:  Raises are only for one year (like a bonus or stipend). 

FALSE. In HB 1023XX the Legislature increased the minimum salary schedule, meaning teachers must be paid no less than the new minimum annually.

Assertion 5:  Those making above the minimum salary schedule will receive  nothing or a reduced amount.

FALSE. HB 1023XX includes a provision to ensure that all teachers receive the amount of raise for the corresponding step. For example: A teacher in a district paying $2,000 above the minimum with 10 years of experience and a bachelor’s degree makes $35,950 (min) + $2,000 = $37,950. Next year a teacher in the same position would receive $37,950 (base) + $5,734 (raise) = $43,684, whereas a teacher in a district paying the minimum would receive $35,950 (min) + $5,734 (raise) = $41,684. Salary increases by step are included in the chart below.

Assertion 6: This raise will not be meaningful. We will still be 48th (or so) in teacher pay.

FALSE. Using the average increase in annual salary of $6,180, teachers will rank second in the region according to the NEA Ranking of the States.

Assertion 7: This salary increase will put teachers in a higher tax bracket, which will nullify the impact of the pay increase. 

MOSTLY FALSE. See the US tax tables linked below for reference. Only teachers on the upper end of a bracket’s range would move to another bracket. Additionally, health insurance benefits are fully paid by the state and are not to be included in the calculation of taxable income. To see US tax tables, click here. 

Assertion 8: This legislation does not provide funding for classrooms.

FALSE. HB 3705 restores the textbook line item for schools at a level of $33 million and appropriates an additional $422.3 million to the state funding formula, which is expected to more than cover the cost of raises for teachers and support staff. Based on current estimates, that leaves an additional nearly $18 million for operations.

Assertion 9: Support staff raises are dead/not happening.

FALSE. HB 1026XX, which provides a $1,250 raise to school support staff, has been passed by both houses of the Legislature and sent to the Governor for signature. HB 3705, which appropriates approximately $50 million to fund raises for school support staff, has also been sent to the Governor for signature. 

Assertion 10: Retired teachers were left out of this bill. 

TRUE, BUT WITH QUALIFICATIONS. While HB 1010xx did not include provisions for COLA, there is legislation still alive this session to address this issue. HB 1340 provides for a one-time distribution to retirees who have been retired for five years or more of $1,000 to $1,400, depending on the funding ratio of the pension system. This bill has passed the House and awaits a hearing in the Senate. 

Assertion 11: The revenue bill (HB 1010xx) uses the terminology “if funds are available.”

FALSE. In existing state statute, school districts receive apportioned funds from the tax levied on the gross production of oil and gas. These are state-dedicated revenues that contribute to the state funding formula. Education receives its apportionment “before any other apportionment of revenue has been made” (see 68 OS 1004, also reflected in HB 1010XX). Other Funds, like the County Highway Fund, then receive a “proportionate share of the funds available” after the obligation to education has been fulfilled. 

Assertion 12: This does not restore funding lost over the last decade.

PARTLY TRUE. It is impossible to reverse a decade of student growth that has outpaced funding for public education in a single revenue bill or legislative session. However, the actions of the Legislature to fund education at more than $2.9 billion – an increase of $480 million in one year – immediately puts Oklahoma on the path to recovery. Our focus remains on advocating for what kids need to achieve academic excellence to ensure that upon graduation they are college and career ready. We continue our advocacy efforts toward those goals and encourage everyone in the education community to do so. 

Last updated on March 29, 2018
http://sde.ok.gov/sde/newsblog/2018-03-29/new-teacher-pay-raise-faqs