Monthly Archives: January 2012

Herbal Drug for Alcoholism

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Herbal drug reduces the effects of alcohol

January 5, 2012 by Deborah Braconnier report

Hovenia dulcisEnlarge

A photo of the tree Hovenia dulcis. Image: Wikipedia.

(Medical Xpress) — Alcohol consumption can lead to those dreaded hangovers and even alcohol dependence. However, a new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience has found a natural ingredient in the Asian tree Hovenia dulcisthat seems to produce anti-alcohol effects.

Led by Jing Liang from the University of California, researchers began looking at different herbs that have natural anti-alcohol properties. They found descriptions of anti-alcohol properties of the Asian tree Hovenia dulcis that dated back to 659. These descriptions listed it as a prime hangover remedy.

The main ingredient in Hovenia dulcis is known as dihydromyricetin, or DHM. The team of researchers used rats to test out the effects. Rats react similar to humans when it comes to the  so they are a perfect candidate.

The rats were given the human equivalent of 15-20 beers in a time frame of under two hours. As expected, the rats passed out drunk and lost the ability to flip themselves over when placed on their back. Within an hour, the effects of the alcohol started to wear off and they were able to again control their bodies.

When the rats were given the same alcohol with a shot of the DHM, they still eventually lost the ability to flip over but it took a longer time period and they were able to recover from the effects in about 15 minutes.

The effects of the DHM went beyond that though. Two days after the , the rats that were given the DHM showed less signs of hangover symptoms such as anxiety and seizures.

The other noted result was the reduction in addiction. When the rats were allowed to drink freely, they would gradually start consuming more. However, those  that had received the DHM did not increase consumption.

While these results will not lead to a magic pill that will allow you to drink and not face consequences, the results do hold some promise when it comes to the treatment of .

Liang and her team of researchers plan to begin testing humans and their response to the DHM.

More information: Dihydromyricetin As a Novel Anti-Alcohol Intoxication Medication, The Journal of Neuroscience, 4 January 2012, 32(1): 390-401; doi: 10.1523/​JNEUROSCI.4639-11.2012

Abstract
Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) constitute the most common form of substance abuse. The development of AUDs involves repeated alcohol use leading to tolerance, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, and physical and psychological dependence, with loss of ability to control excessive drinking. Currently there is no effective therapeutic agent for AUDs without major side effects. Dihydromyricetin (DHM; 1 mg/kg, i.p. injection), a flavonoid component of herbal medicines, counteracted acute alcohol (EtOH) intoxication, and also withdrawal signs in rats including tolerance, increased anxiety, and seizure susceptibility; DHM greatly reduced EtOH consumption in an intermittent voluntary EtOH intake paradigm in rats. GABAA receptors (GABAARs) are major targets of acute and chronic EtOH actions on the brain. At the cellular levels, DHM (1 μM) antagonized both acute EtOH-induced potentiation of GABAARs and EtOH exposure/withdrawal-induced GABAAR plasticity, including alterations in responsiveness of extrasynaptic and postsynaptic GABAARs to acute EtOH and, most importantly, increases in GABAAR α4 subunit expression in hippocampus and cultured neurons. DHM anti-alcohol effects on both behavior and CNS neurons were antagonized by flumazenil (10 mg/kg in vivo; 10 μM in vitro), the benzodiazepine (BZ) antagonist. DHM competitively inhibited BZ-site [3H]flunitrazepam binding (IC50, 4.36 μM), suggesting DHM interaction with EtOH involves the BZ sites on GABAARs. In summary, we determined DHM anti-alcoholic effects on animal models and determined a major molecular target and cellular mechanism of DHM for counteracting alcohol intoxication and dependence. We demonstrated pharmacological properties of DHM consistent with those expected to underlie successful medical treatment of AUDs; therefore DHM is a therapeutic candidate.

© 2011 PhysOrg.com

from:   http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-herbal-drug-effects-alcohol.html

Wind & The Shape of Trees

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Leonardo da Vinci's tree rule may be explained by wind

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(Left) A model of tree branching. (Middle) A tree skeleton with all branches having the same thickness. (Right) The same tree with branch diameters calculated from a model accounting for wind-induced stress, which closely follows Leonardo’s rule. Image credit: Christophe Eloy. ©2011 American Physical Society

(PhysOrg.com) — More than 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci observed a particular relationship between the size of a tree’s trunk and the size of its branches. Specifically, the combined cross-sectional areas of a tree’s daughter branches are equal to the cross-sectional area of the mother branch. However, da Vinci didn’t know why tree branching followed this rule, and few explanations have been proposed since then. But now in a new study, physicist Christophe Eloy from Aix-Marseille University in Aix-en-Provence, France, has shown that this tree structure may be optimal for enabling trees to resist wind-induced stresses.

In his study, which is published in a recent issue of , Eloy explains that Leonardo’s rule is so natural to the eye that it is often used in computer-generated trees. Although researchers have previously proposed explanations for the rule based on hydraulics or structure, none of these explanations have been fully convincing. For instance, the hydraulic explanation called the “pipe model” proposes that the branching proportions have to do with the way that vascular vessels connect the tree’s roots to its leaves to provide water and nutrients. But since vascular vessels account for as little as 5% of the branch cross section (for large trunks in some tree species), it seems unlikely that they would govern the tree’s entire architecture.

“The usual textbook explanation for Leonardo’s rule (and, more generally, for the relation between branch diameters) involves hydraulic considerations,” Eloy said. “My study shows that an alternative explanation can be given by considering external loads, such as wind-induced forces.”

Eloy has proposed that Leonardo’s rule is a consequence of trees adapting their growth to optimally resist wind-induced stresses. It’s well-known that plants can alter their growth patterns in response to mechanical sensation, such as wind. The phenomenon, called “thigmomorphogenesis,” means that wind can influence the trunk and branch diameters of a tree as its growing. The underlying cellular mechanisms of this phenomenon are largely unknown.

Building on this line of thinking, Eloy used two models to predict the probability of a fracture at a certain point in a tree due to strong winds. He found that, when the probability of fracture is the same everywhere on the tree, so that each part bears the stress equally, Leonardo’s rule is recovered. He also showed that the diameters of each branch on a tree can be calculated by knowing the parameters of a simple tree skeleton.

Although some of the most common tree species, such as maples and oaks, seem to follow Leonardo’s rule, there are many species that don’t follow the rule, and many more that scientists have yet to analyze.

“Actually, Leonardo’s rule has not been assessed for that many species,” Eloy said. “So far, it seems to be hold for about 10 species. The problem is that it takes a lot of time to measure a single tree, which has thousands of branches, and the data are usually very scattered. Besides, some species clearly do not satisfy Leonardo’s rule, such as baobabs, koas, and most bushes.”

The finding that trees seem to follow Leonardo’s  when adapting their growth to tolerate wind-induced stresses could have applications both in nature and technology.

“It has obvious applications to the forestry industry to calculate the yields of tree stands and to evaluate the risks of breakage during storms,” Eloy said. “It could also be applied to manmade branching structures such as antennas.”

He added that there is still much more to understand about tree design, including the self-similarity shared by large trunks and smaller branches.

“I am still working on this subject, in particular to try to relate growth to external loads,” he said. “In other words, I would like to understand the dynamical growth mechanisms that lead to the intricate fractal structures of.”

More information: Christophe Eloy. “Leonardo’s Rule, Self-Similarity, and Wind-Induced Stresses in Trees.” Physical Review Letters 107, 258101 (2011). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.258101

Copyright 2012 PhysOrg.com.

from:    http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-leonardo-da-vinci-tree.html

Rio Grande Rift Earthquake Potential

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Some earthquakes expected along Rio Grande Rift in Colorado and New Mexico, new study says

January 12, 2012

Some earthquakes expected along Rio Grande Rift in Colorado and New Mexico, new study saysEnlarge

(PhysOrg.com) — The Rio Grande Rift, a thinning and stretching of Earth’s surface that extends from Colorado’s central Rocky Mountains to Mexico, is not dead but geologically alive and active, according to a new study involving scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. 

 

“We don’t expect to see a lot of earthquakes, or big ones, but we will have some earthquakes,” said CU-Boulder geological sciences Professor Anne Sheehan, also a fellow at CIRES. The study also involved collaborators from the University of New Mexico, New Mexico Tech, Utah State University and the Boulder-headquartered UNAVCO. The Rio Grande Rift follows the path of the Rio Grande River from central  roughly to El Paso before turning southeast toward the Gulf of Mexico.

Sheehan was not too surprised when a 5.3 magnitude  struck about 9 miles west of Trinidad, Colo., in the vicinity of the Rio Grande Rift on Aug. 23, 2011.  The quake was the largest in Colorado since 1967 and was felt from Fort Collins to Garden City, Kan.

Along the rift, spreading motion in the crust has led to the rise of magma — the molten rock material under ’s crust — to the surface, creating long, fault-bounded basins that are susceptible to earthquakes, said Sheehan, a study co-author and also associate director of the CIRES Solid Earth Sciences Division. The team studied the Rio Grande Rift region to assess the potential earthquake hazards.

Using Global Positioning System instruments at 25 sites in Colorado and New Mexico, the team tracked the rift’s miniscule movements from 2006 to 2011. “Questions we wanted to answer are whether the Rio Grande Rift is alive or dead, how is it deforming and whether it is opening or not,” said Sheehan.

Some earthquakes expected along Rio Grande Rift in Colorado and New Mexico, new study says
The high-precision instrumentation has provided unprecedented data about the volcanic activity in the region. Previously, geologists had estimated the rift had spread apart by up to 2 inches or 5 millimeters each year, although the errors introduced by the scientific instruments were known to be significant. “The GPS used in this study has reduced the uncertainty dramatically,” Sheehan said.

Using the latest high-tech instrumentation, the scientists found an average strain rate of 1.2 “nanostrain” each year across the experimental area, the equivalent of about one-twentieth of an inch, or 1.2 millimeters, over a length of about 600 miles.  “The rate is lower than we thought but it does exist,” Sheehan said.

The researchers also found the extensional deformation, or stretching, is not concentrated in a narrow zone centered on the Rio Grande Rift but is distributed broadly from the western edge of the Colorado Plateau well into the western Great Plains. “The surprising thing to come out of the study was that the strain was so spread out,” Sheehan said.

Results of the study are published in the January edition of the journalGeology.

The team plans to continue monitoring the Rio Grande Rift, probing whether the activity remains constant over time, said lead study author Henry Berglund of UNAVCO, who was a graduate student at CU-Boulder working at CIRES when he completed this portion of the research. Also, the team may attempt to determine vertical as well as horizontal activity in the region to tell whether the Rocky Mountains are still uplifting or not, Berglund said.

“Present-day measurements of deformation within continental interiors have been difficult to capture due to the typically slow rates of deformation within them,” Berglund said. “Now with the recent advances in space geodesy we are finding some very surprising results in these previously unresolved areas.”

As far as the potential for future earthquakes in the region, the study’s results are unequivocal, however. “The rift is still active,” Sheehan said.

The new study also is co-authored by CU-Boulder Associate Professor and CIRES Fellow Steven Nerem, Frederick Blume of UNAVCO, Anthony Lowry of Utah State University, Mousumi Roy of the University of New Mexico and Mark Murray of  Tech.

Provided by University of Colorado at Boulder

from:    http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-earthquakes-rio-grande-rift-colorado.html

Mt. Merapi Hazard Analysis & Volcano Status Report

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Hazard map assessment of Mount Merapi, Central Java, Indonesia using remote sensing

Last update: January 11, 2012 at 1:37 pm by By 

Author : David Harris, IGES department, Aberystwyth University, Wales

Abstract
As the global population is predicted to reach 7 billion people by 2012, land pressures and rapid population growth is resulting in many more communities living within danger zones of natural hazards, a pattern particularly seen around volcanoes. This thesis will emphasise the impact of volcanoes on populations using the example of Mount Merapi, Indonesia. Mount Merapi is the most active volcano in Java and has persistent minor eruptions, but according to volcanologists Mount Merapi is heavily overdue a large-scale eruption which could potentially put over 1.1 million people at risk. This thesis begins with a review of published papers and a description of Mount Merapi’s geological history, with a particular focus on its recent eruptions. To better assess Mount Merapi’s threat to the communities that are in close proximity to the summit the thesis uses GIS software to produce a risk map. The risk map is then used as a basis for further analysis on the potential impact in the event of a major eruption. The thesis specifically examines the risk on the basis of current population (e.g. Kemiren, a town with 103,777 people at a risk value site of 10.5) and social vulnerability (e.g. Ngablak, which has a Social Vulnerability Index value of 0.5 – 1.5 and a risk value varying between 7.5 and 28.5). Lastly, the thesis considers the impact of Merapi’s most recent eruptions in October and November 2010 and recommends some considerations for the future in terms of risk reduction by changes in response times and evacuation procedures.

for the complete analysis, including surveys of the location of volcanoes relative to large population areas, go to:    http://earthquake-report.com/2012/01/11/hazard-map-assessment-of-mount-merapi-central-java-indonesia-using-remote-sensing/

Dutch Sinse on Pole SHift

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1/8/2012 — German ‘SWARM’ satellites to study Pole Shift — Launching early 2012

Posted on January 9, 2012

watch the video here:

 

———————————————-

 

Euronews put out this news in Oct. 2011 — announcing what the “SWARM” satellite array will do — they announced the project for “early 2012″.

Word has come to me that the launch will be announced shortly. This study will measure the movement of the earths magnetic poles.

Here is the original story:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11980315

https://www.google.com/search?q=german+swarm+magnetic+satellite+launch&ie…

here’s my original video from Oct. 2011 — no longer on my list mirrored by a viewer –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y9pM4q9vQY&feature=results_video&play…

from:    http://sincedutch.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/182012-german-swarm-satellites-to-study-pole-shift-launching-early-2012/

 

 

Jeff Masters on Rain & Drought 2011

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Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog
Posted by: JeffMasters, 3:07 PM GMT on January 11, 2012 +4
Rains unprecedented in 117 years of record keeping set new yearly precipitation totals in seven states during 2011, NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center revealed in its preliminary year-end report for 2011. An extraordinary twenty major U.S. cities had their wettest year on record during 2011. This smashes the previous record of ten cities with a wettest year, set in 1996, according to a comprehensive data base of 303 U.S. cities that have 90% of the U.S. population, maintained by Wunderground’s weather historian Christopher C. Burt. Despite the remarkable number of new wettest year records set, precipitation averaged across the contiguous U.S. during 2011 was near-average, ranking as the 45th driest year in the 117-year record. This occurred because of unprecedented dry conditions across much of the South, where Texas had its driest year on record.


Figure 1. Precipitation rankings for U.S. states in 2011. Seven states had their wettest year on record, and an additional ten states had a top-ten wettest year. Texas had its driest year on record, and four other states had a top-ten driest year. Image credit: NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center.


Figure 2.Wettest, driest, and warmest year records set during 2011 for major U.S. cities. No major cities had their coldest year on record during 2011. Image credit: NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center.

2011 sets a new U.S. record for combined wet and dry extremes
If you weren’t washing away in a flood during 2011, you were probably baking in a drought. The fraction of the contiguous U.S. covered by extremely wet conditions (top 10% historically) was 33% during 2011, ranking as the 2nd highest such coverage in the past 100 years. At the same time, extremely dry conditions (top 10% historically) covered 25% of the nation, ranking 6th highest in the past 100 years. The combined fraction of the country experiencing either severe drought or extremely wet conditions was 58%–the highest in a century of record keeping. Climate change science predicts that if the Earth continues to warm as expected, wet areas will tend to get wetter, and dry areas will tend to get drier–so 2011’s side-by-side extremes of very wet and very dry conditions should grow increasingly common in the coming decades.


Figure 3. Percentage of the contiguous U.S. either in severe or greater drought (top 10% dryness) or extremely wet (top 10% wetness) during 2011, as computed using NOAA’s Climate Extremes Index. Remarkably, more than half of the country (58%) experienced either a top-ten driest or top-ten wettest year, a new record. Image credit: NOAA/NCDC.

23rd warmest year on record, and 2nd hottest summer for the U.S.
The year 2011 ranked as the 23rd warmest in U.S. history, with sixteen states recording a top-ten warmest year on record. Delaware had its warmest year on record, and Texas its second warmest. However, these statistics don’t convey the extremity of the summer of 2011–the hottest U.S. summer in 75 years. The only hotter summer–and by only 0.1°–was the Dust Bowl summer of 1936, when poor farming practices had turned much of the Midwest into a parking lot for generating extreme heat. The June – August 2011 average temperatures in Texas and Oklahoma were a remarkable 1.6°F and 1.3°F warmer than the previous hottest summer for a U.S. state–the summer of 1934 in Oklahoma. The U.S. Climate Extremes Index (CEI), which is sensitive to climate extremes in temperature, rainfall, dry streaks, and drought, indicated that an area nearly four times the average value was affected by extreme climate conditions during summer 2011. This is the third largest summer value of record, and came on the heels a spring season that was the most extreme on record. When averaged over the entire year, 2011 ranked as the 8th most extreme in U.S. history, since the fall weather was near-average for extremes. The CEI goes back to 1910.


Figure 4. Average temperatures for the summer in Texas and Oklahoma, at 86.8 degrees F (30.4 degrees C) and 86.5 degrees F (30.3 degrees C), respectively, exceeded the previous seasonal statewide average temperature record for any state during any season. The previous warmest summer statewide average temperature was in Oklahoma, during 1934, at 85.2 degrees F (29.6 degrees C). Image credit: National Climatic Data Center.

Wunderground’s weather historian Christopher C. Burt has a more detailed look at the U.S. extremes observed during 2011 in his latest post. His selection for the most remarkable yearly record set during 2011:

Perhaps, most astonishing is the total annual rainfall of just 1.06” at Pecos, Texas (normal annual precipitation is 11.61”). If confirmed this would be a Texas state record for least amount of precipitation ever recorded in a calendar year, the current record stands at 1.64” at Presidio in 1956.

from:   http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html

HAARP Detection Network

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HAARP Detection Network opens to the public with national purpose

Published on January 9, 2012 6:40 pm PT
– By TWS Staff Reporter
– Edited by Staff Editor


(TheWeatherSpace.com) – HAARP is an array across Alaska that is said to control the weather, or at least have the power to. A new sensor network has been released to the public to keep track of HAARP’s effects on North America.

From the creators of ChemtrailForecast.com comes HaarpStatus.com, a project that is the future of predicting what HAARP does and warns the public of what is in store due to it
.According to the Website’s about section, the project has been under development for a couple of years. Volunteers have added 22 sensors at their residences, in unknown locations. These sensors measure the effects and changes of the ionosphere that HAARP tampers with and a magnitude system that goes with the sensor readings triangulates the center of the frequency above the country.

When the ionosphere changes, weather patterns can as well, according to TheWeatherSpace.com Senior Meteorologist Kevin Martin.

“I’m in full support of the system,” said Martin. “I’ll be in contact with HaarpStatus.com on numerous occasions to compare their findings with real world events. If the ionosphere bumps up a bit, it can alter the jet stream, so the project has merit.”

Visit HaarpStatus.com

from:   http://www.theweatherspace.com/news/TWS-1912-haarp-weather-forecast-patterns-alaska-change.html

 

Indonesia Earthquake 1/10

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Massive earthquake out of the coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia – Tsunami alert lifted

Last update: January 11, 2012 at 8:22 am by By 

January 10, 2012 By 

Earthquake overview : A massive earthquake occurred several hundred km out of the Sumatra Banda Aceh coast. Theoretical calculations concluded that no widespread tsunami would occur in the Pacific Ocean. Indonesian authorities have however called a tsunami alert for many areas in Sumatra.

A WISE TSUNAMI ADVICE in case you are living or traveling to an earthquake rich area of the world and are residing close to the coast :  EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY TO HIGHER GROUNDS (10 to 30 meters higher than sea level) IF :

– strong shaking goes on for 30 seconds or longer
– the authorities are calling for an evacuation
– you see a fast unusual retreating sea

Triggers of today’s massive earthquake :
The January 10, 2012 earthquake off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia, occurred as a result of strike-slip faulting within the oceanic lithosphere of the Indo-Australia plate, approximately 100 km to the southwest of the major subduction zone that defines the plate boundary between the Indo-Australia and Sunda plates offshore Sumatra. At the location of this earthquake, the Indo-Australia plate moves north-northeast with respect to the Sunda plate at a velocity of approximately 52 mm/yr.
While they are rare, large strike-slip earthquakes are not unprecedented in this region of the Indo-Australian plate. Since the massive M 9.1 earthquake that ruptured a 1300 km long segment of the Sumatran megathrust plate boundary in December of 2004, two Mw 6.2 strike-slip events have occurred within 50 km of the January 10 2012 event, on April 19 2006, and October 4 2007. These events seem to align with fabric of the sea floor in the diffuse boundary zone between the Indian and Australian plates. (summary as described by USGS)

Update : At midnight UTC,  4 aftershocks ranging from 4.8 to 4.9 have been listed by USGS.

Update : The tsunami alert was maintained longer at Simeulue  island (Aceh province) as this island was closest to the epicenter. Although Simeulue was not indicated as a place at risk by the GDACS simulation, authorities do not want to take any risk.

Important update : Indonesian authorities have lifted the earlier called Tsunami alert. People in Banda Aceh reported a retreating sea after the earthquake occurred, just like it happened in 2004 during the devastating tsunami who killed more than 200,000 people.  Luckily no reports about any serious waves so far.

Update : We know from earlier experiences in Indonesia that local people often do not trust the authoritiesand remain in safe locations even if the authorities ask them to return to their house and pick up their daily life. Additionally, rumors are often spread that an even heavier earthquake and tsunami will be triggered. Rumors are one of the major problems after earthquakes.

Update : Indonesian media are reporting that BMKG, the local Indonesian seismological agency, has lowered the magnitude from 7.6 to 7.1. BMKG triggered an early warning tsunami alert to the local agencies. BMKG received reports that people fled their houses almost automatically for a safe location. No reports as yet from the real wave heights. People have been asked to stay in the safe places for a longer time and not to return to heir houses to soon.

Update : A lot of panic amongst the Sumatra population when they felt the earthquake and when the tsunami sirens went off.

Red bullets are indicating Tsunami alert from the Indonesian authorities

Update : MetroTV Indonesia is one of the only channels reporting on the earthquake and potential tsunami risk. The image at right shows where the Indonesian authorities have called a tsunami alarm for the coastal areas.

Update : Based on the GDACS data, the time that the waves may have reached Simeulue and Northern Sumatra is over now.  We expect final experience reports soon.

Update : We still cannot reach BMKG, the Indonesian seismological agency via the Internet due to too heavy demand.  This happened also in the USA during the Virginia earthquake (USGS).

Update : If all theoretical data will be confirmed, this was a LUCKY ESCAPE, but this earthquake will have send vibrations of fear through the population of Northern Sumatra.

Update : The GDCAS image below shows very well the propagation of the tsunami wave from the epicenter versus the northern part of Sumatra, including Banda Aceh.  GDACS has calculated based on historical earthquakes and lots of additional data, that the waves in Northern Sumatra will be max. 0.4 meter

Tsunami wave distribution and height – Image courtesy GDACS

Update : Indonesian media are currently reporting a SR magnitude of 7.6
A TSUNAMI ALERT has been called by the local BMKG for parts of the country (unclear at this moment, but certainly the islands and Sumatra, including Banda Aceh). Our experience is that people in Indonesia are mostly not waiting for an alert but are auto-evacuating when a strong shaking for more than 30 second occurs.
Indonesian media are only reporting earthquake numbers , no background information yet

Fault line west of the Sumatra coast

Update : Magnitudes and depths as calculated by other seismological agencies :
EMSC : M 7.3 @ 10 km
GEOFON (Germany) : M 7.1 @ 10 km
CEN (China) : M 7.2 @ 20 km

for more information and updates, go to:    http://earthquake-report.com/2012/01/10/very-strong-to-massive-earthquake-out-of-the-coast-of-northern-sumatra-indonesia/

Alan Cohen on Cycles

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Alan Cohen,
The Tide Always Comes Back In

A coaching client told me about a friend of hers who was freaking out because “the economy is never going to recover.” I suggested to her that her friend was suffering not from economic distress, but simple nearsightedness. Of course the economy is going to recover. Thinking that the economy will never return would be like standing on an ocean shore watching a wave break on the beach and anxiously exclaiming, “There will never be another wave!” There is always another wave, and the tide always comes back in.

Everything in the manifest universe functions in cycles. It’s all about frequency and vibration, crests and troughs. Economics is no exception. The economy goes up and it goes down. The stock market goes up and it goes down. Real estate goes up and it goes down. For every up there is a down and for every down there is an up. To believe that when it is up it will stay up and when it is down it will stay down is quite the short view.

People who recognize the wave nature of life are not disturbed when things change. Smart people do not resist or complain about change; they capitalize on it. In the 1970’s during the “gas shortage,” people were selling their big gas-guzzling cars and buying little economical ones. At that time I read a newspaper article about a fellow who was buying Cadillacs for ridiculously low prices because he expected that the time would come again when gas would be plentiful and there would be a demand for Cadillacs. Sure enough, the oil companies “found” more gas, the price of fuel plummeted, and the price of Cadillacs soared. The man was an entrepreneurial visionary.

(Translated to today’s market, we might say that a visionary would recognize there are other sources of energy besides oil, and place his or her chips on the tide of commerce flowing in that direction.)

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, lots of people were afraid to fly and travel, and the tourist industry suffered badly. Many tour agents threw up their hands and found other careers. In the spring of 2002 I read an article in a Hawaii newspaper about several tour agencies that were thriving. In the midst of the doldrums following September 11, they were planning trips for the following spring. They realized that at some point people would feel more confident and want to travel again, and these tour agents would be waiting for them and have trips for them. That’s exactly what happened. While the tide of tourism was out, they were preparing for its return. They were the only agencies thriving at that time.

One of my favorite models of vision in action is portrayed in the film, Tucker, the Man and His Dream, based on the true story of Preston Tucker. In 1947 Tucker developed an automobile many years ahead of its time, with a range of features that have since become standard equipment. Because his invention posed a threat to the auto manufacturers in power, Tucker was squashed and falsely accused of crimes. In the midst of his trial, Tucker doodled. When he was acquitted, Tucker showed his wife the sketches — schematic plans for a new kind of refrigerator with the potential to revolutionize the industry. Tucker wasted none of his precious time. Why bother with a trial when you can be creating things that will change the world?

I am also inspired by creative entertainers who see beyond appearances. Mel Torme, for example, wrote The Christmas Song (“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…”) in the month of June, when there was no Christmas, snow, fire, or chestnuts. Oscar Hammerstein, partner in the legendary musical team of Rogers and Hammerstein, composed his magnum opus, The Sound of Music, while he was dying. While his body was withering, his spirit was soaring. He was not distracted by the appearance of limitation. While one tide was going out, another was coming in.

An economic downturn, or recession, is an intrinsic piece of a greater progression. Abraham-Hicks notes that, “This economy is planting seeds of desire, intention, and invention that will make the economy stronger than it ever was.” Likewise, Native Americans would purposely burn down certain forests because the area needed cleansing, and the forest that grew back would be healthier. There is a wisdom in apparent destruction, which paves the way for ultimate construction. I once saw a sign posted at a road construction zone, “The inconvenience is temporary. The improvement is permanent.”

We are going through a period of temporary convenience. We can moan, complain, criticize, and blame, or we can take a breath and flow through it. Just keep watching the ocean, and you will find that the next wave is not far behind the last one.

Alan Cohen is the author of many popular inspirational books, including I Had it All the Time. 

from:   http://www.spiritsite.com/forums/columns/others/part64.shtml

Ram Dass on Saying Grace

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Ram Dass, The Only Dance There Is, Part 3

 

What I mean by the word consecration is bringing into consciousness the nature of the act in a cosmic plan. For example, in the old days people would say grace. Grace was a thing you waited for before you ate the turkey.

Norman Rockwell characterizes the kid reaching while everybody’s head’s bowed. It’s that time, “Let’s say grace.” “Grace.” Now, when I bless food, the statement I say, when I say grace, is an old Sanskrit one. It means “This offering of this little ritual I’m performing, this is part of it all, part of Brahma, part of that which is eternally all. He who is making the offering means, that which is being offered is part of it all. The hunger to which you are feeding . . . the fire which you are feeding, that’s all part of it all. Whoever you are offering it to is part of it all, too. He who realizes that all of it is interrelated, all of it is one, becomes one with it all.”

There is a very lovely short story by J. D. Salinger calledTeddy, in which Teddy is like an old lama who has taken a reincarnation in a kind of middle class western family by some quirk of cosmic design. He is about ten years old and on a ship with his sister and his mother and father.

He’s out on deck and he is meeting this man who has begun to see that this little boy isn’t quite like a little boy, and he says to him, “When did you first realize that you … how it was?” And Teddy says, “Well, I was 6 years old. I was in the kitchen and I was watching my little sister in her high-chair drink milk. I suddenly saw, that it was sort of like God pouring God into God, if you know what I mean.” Well, that’s exactly the same thing as that Sanskrit mantra.

from:    http://www.spiritsite.com/writing/ramdas/part6.shtml