The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

[lkwdblds]

I like the sound, style and character of the old instruments as they were played back then. Has a different feel to it in comparison with modern orchestras.

One evening back in the 70's when I was on the Dianetic Internship, I had to go to Qual to sort out some sort of confusion. I don't recall what it was about now, or what the Qual Sec did to straighten me out so that I could continue on with my course, but when I went home that night after course, I flipped on the stereo and started listening to an orchestra on the radio. I found myself suddenly able to hear every single instrument in the orchestra and I was awe struck by that. I sat on the floor in front of the speakers for about 20 minutes, just fascinated with what I was hearing. My perceptions in regards to music had changed drastically from what I normally heard in music, just from whatever the Qual handling had been. I then realized that not everyone heard music in the same way and thought that this must be why some people are really grabbed by music and become musicians and make it their whole life. It was like all the instruments in the orchestra had come alive for me, and each had it's own personality, instead of the orchestra just being a melded sound....I don't really know how to describe this, but it was totally awesome. Unfortunately it didn't last. I wish it had because it was truly incredible. It made the music, the instruments and the orchestra seem really rich with a lot of depth and color that I hadn't experienced before.

As a result of some of the good experiences I've had when in Scientology, I have had glimpses of how unbelievably beautiful and awesome our perceptions and experiences can be, if they aren't dumbed down or dulled. Those experiences were far more than anything I had ever dreamed of and I don't think I could have conceived of it if I hadn't experienced it myself. If we all could perceive life in that way, life would be way, way more than incredibly enjoyable for all of us. I just hope that we can all find the way to being able to exist in that beautiful state someday. How delightful life would be.

People need to be awakened to their true potential.

I thought when I found Scientology that I'd found pure gold.....unfortunately it turned out to be mostly fools gold with a little teeny bit of gold here and there, but I'm glad for the little pieces that I did find.

Great realizations FoTi!! The beautiful French pianits Helene Grimaud says a couple things in her interviews that may help you re-attain the former great state which you achieved in music. She talks about the vibration of the notes and she says that the vibrations are noticeably different every time she plays a piece.

She says that in great music, one of her secrets is to vibrate between the notes! Its pretty self evident that we spiritual beings respond to certain frequencies of vibration more so than other frequencies. We seem to have our own natural vibration.

Musical vibrations can cover a large gamut of the range of human emotions. Rhythm is a very powerful force, especially in dance. The music one likes best probably vibrates closer to a being's natural vibration than music he doesn't like. The composers, orchestras, bands, instrumentalists and vocalists which people like best probably reflect best their native vibrations or perhaps even better can get people to vibrate at new frequencies which they were previously unaware of.

Helene Grimaud talks about vibrating between the notes and if one can achieve that, one's sense of music can be greatly expanded.
Lakey

[CarmeloOrchards]

How the Duggars Support 19 Kids and Live Debt-Free
By Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger | Financially Fit – 12 hours ago


It costs nearly a quarter of a million dollars to raise a kid from birth to 18, according to the most recent calculations by the United States Department of Agriculture—and that's before college tuition. Multiply that by 19 children plus mom and dad and it is a little mind bending that the Duggar family, of reality television fame, manage to support themselves without government assistance and, what's more, are completely debt-free.

These days, the family earns its money from their popular TLC program, 19 Kids and Counting as well as from real estate investments. E!Online estimates each episode makes them a cushy $25,000 to $40,000. However, even before the brood hit the big time on television, they were self-sufficient and lived comfortably. How did they do it?

Neither dad Jim Bob nor mom Michelle Duggar attended college. They married when he was 19-years-old and she was 17. They got their start as entrepreneurs by selling used cars which Jim Bob repaired himself. Then they launched a towing business. They sold the business in 1994 and went into real estate. One of their first lucrative deals was to convert an old chicken hatchery into 10 commercial rental units. They also leased land to a cell phone company for its transmission tower. While the real estate business grew, the family was scrupulous about living withing their means.

Duggar Family Home Economics 101

1. Get out of debt. Jim Bob says the "Financial Freedom Seminar" by Jim Sammons, which preaches independence and thrift, inspired him and wife Michelle to live debt-free. It took years of lean living, but they were able to completely wipe out their debt and start making the investments that led to Jim Bob's success in commercial real estate. The Duggars don't use credit cards.

2. Buy your home with cash. The Duggars borrowed to purchase their first home—a tiny 900-square foot cottage where they raised five children. It took them seven years of scrimping, but they bought their 2,000-square-foot second house, which they were living in with 17 kids when their reality show began, outright for $65,000. Their current house sits on 20 acres and is 7,000 square feet. The family divides itself over four bedrooms and shares one super-sized family closet.

3. Buy used-everything. The Duggars have never owned a new car. One of their vehicles is a 21-seat bus that once belonged to a hockey team. It cost just over $2,000 at an auction and is worth about $50,000. Mom Michelle shops at garage sales and thrift shops for the kids' clothing and shoes. Jim Bob told MSNBC the family motto is, "Buy used, and save the rest."

4. Buy in bulk. With 21 mouths to feed, the family spends a significant portion of its earnings on food. They do a monthly bulk-shopping run for essentials—such as the 48 boxes of cereal they consume a month. Still, the Duggar family grocery bill is a whopping $3,000 per month.

5. Use energy efficient products. The Duggars outfitted their home with energy efficient light bulbs and appliances.Their monthly bill for water, utilities, and phone is just shy of $700.

6. Make what you can at home. The Duggars make their own laundry soap costing about $2 for 10 gallons, which is significant given that they wash about 35 loads a week. Although they purchase diapers, they make their own wet wipes. They also bake their own bread from 50-pound bags of wheat.

7. Scrutinize your bills. Jim Bob and Michelle ask for all of their bills to be itemized. They once noticed that a hospital had erroneously charged them for 86 bars of soap. "For hospital bills, phone bills, anything—ask for everything to be itemized," Michelle told Parenting.com. She looks over her cell phone bills particularly closely, "They automatically put stuff on. We call and get them to take it off."

8. Trim the budget of "extras." The Duggars give each other haircuts and limit their entertainment budget to $100 per month. On weekends they play broomball (a form of hockey) and take the kids to the playground or a park.

[CarmeloOrchards]

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

The country shares an island with the Dominican Republic. The two countries are like night and day.

The dictators of the past wreaked havoc for decades. The hurricanes and the earthquake followed by the disease has pushed the living standard further down.

The economists' answers to buoying US jobs and prosperity don't even come close to applying.

If someone grows a plant in a victory garden, it will be stolen.

Money is kept on cell phone accounts because if it is carried, it will be stolen.

Our daughter, who works for the major cell phone company of Haiti, is on loan to the government of Haiti. She has been given the job of directing A LOT OF MONEY to something that will benefit the country's people.

any suggestions?

Roger, Face, Ted?

[Ted]

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

The country shares an island with the Dominican Republic. The two countries are like night and day.

The dictators of the past wreaked havoc for decades. The hurricanes and the earthquake followed by the disease has pushed the living standard further down.

The economists' answers to buoying US jobs and prosperity don't even come close to applying.

If someone grows a plant in a victory garden, it will be stolen.

Money is kept on cell phone accounts because if it is carried, it will be stolen.

Our daughter, who works for the major cell phone company of Haiti, is on loan to the government of Haiti. She has been given the job of directing A LOT OF MONEY to something that will benefit the country's people.

any suggestions?

Roger, Face, Ted?

My policy with just about all foreign aid is this: Do not send money. Find out what they need. Give them the material goods to sustain themselves and the wherewithal to build from that stable position. American farmers and manufacturers would benefit. Haitians would benefit.

In the receiving country, we manage the distribution system to circumvent the criminal elements, placing such things as food directly in the hands of the people. Protected by US military if necessary.

Once again, do not send money. Send goods.

[Ted]

My policy with just about all foreign aid is this: Do not send money. Find out what they need. Give them the material goods to sustain themselves and the wherewithal to build from that stable position. American farmers and manufacturers would benefit. Haitians would benefit.

In the receiving country, we manage the distribution system to circumvent the criminal elements, placing such things as food directly in the hands of the people. Protected by US military if necessary.

Once again, do not send money. Send goods.

One more thought that is certain to get some howls and screams: The condition of the people as a country cannot be above Danger. Bypass is justified. New "policy" is a must. Any constitution or law will not be worth the paper it could be printed on as long as the criminal elements are in play. A constitution such as ours was meant for a moral people. When criminality and other forms of dishonesty overwhelm the system it goes nonfunctional. Installation of a benevolent dictator might be necessary. Don't give the dictator any money either.

[RogerB]

Yes, Ted's principles are sound.

I have several comments . . . though be warned these are based on not ever having been in the country, though I was very, very close to a couple of Haitians here in the US.

From what you say, C, the money is already in the country and is to be used to best effect.

Knowing they are a neighbor of the Dom Republic suggests to me they share the same soil . . . and this will be the same rich stuff that grows the best cigar leaf in the world a la Cuba, Jamaica and its neighbor Dom Rep.

The place obviously has land laying fallow, not in use except for rudimentary attempts at subsistence "farming."

I would say, "the government" or the NGO doing the organizing of the use of the money can/should organize groups of local residents into co-ops to take over un-used/abandoned land and farm crops that a) they can protect and b) be sold on the international market for cash . . . . tropical fruits and cigar tobacco would be my first choices. BIG market in the US for this.

Ditto, they could engage in aqua-culture . . . .

There are other examples of individuals being financed to empower them as independent manufacturers . . . this earlier done in Asia.

As my mother used to be, she worked at home on her own sewing machine making clothing. This again could be set up on a co-op basis, with the members easily and quickly trained on how to be producers. Hell . . . be careful they might do a Chinese play on us and earn so much from us to become our creditor!

But bottom line . . . the first step is to bring these folks UP into the realm of wanting to produce for themselves and begin to "put ethics in" in their communities so that everything either produced or used in production isn't stolen out from under their noses.

Most folks in the civilized west have no comprehension just how far down communities like Haiti have sunk . . . but it can be turned around as has been done in some of the African countries . . . and interestingly enough it is the women who actually start the change and upgrade and bring the society about them to greater sanity.

I suspect it will also be the women who will do the work and lead the (any upgrading of) change for the better in Haiti.

Co-ops will be needed to bring this off as in the co-operative enterprise there is communal support, safety and protection. It is also a successful enterprise model . . . . many may not be aware that in my day as a lad in Oz, much of the farm produce was brought to market by locally organized co-ops, and one year my uncle and I professionally fished in Byron Bay which had a wonderfully successful "fisherman's Co-op" to which we sold our catch.

R

[CarmeloOrchards]

One more thought that is certain to get some howls and screams: The condition of the people as a country cannot be above Danger. Bypass is justified. New "policy" is a must. Any constitution or law will not be worth the paper it could be printed on as long as the criminal elements are in play. A constitution such as ours was meant for a moral people. When criminality and other forms of dishonesty overwhelm the system it goes nonfunctional. Installation of a benevolent dictator might be necessary. Don't give the dictator any money either.

the government of Haiti, these days, is the good guys. The money comes from it. What is needed is a way to use it for bringing up prosperity where many, if not most eat mud, just to quell hunger.

what would be a non wasteful use of the money?

how to develop commerce?

trickle down?

bubble up?

create small islands of slightly raised prosperity with guards, such as a manufacturing plant?

if you were the top banana, how best to make the money work for overall betterment?

it isn't foreign aid, it's real honest non US money

[CarmeloOrchards]

Yes, Ted's principles are sound.

I have several comments . . . though be warned these are based on not ever having been in the country, though I was very, very close to a couple of Haitians here in the US.

From what you say, C, the money is already in the country and is to be used to best effect.

Knowing they are a neighbor of the Dom Republic suggests to me they share the same soil . . . and this will be the same rich stuff that grows the best cigar leaf in the world a la Cuba, Jamaica and its neighbor Dom Rep.

The place obviously has land laying fallow, not in use except for rudimentary attempts at subsistence "farming."

I would say, "the government" or the NGO doing the organizing of the use of the money can/should organize groups of local residents into co-ops to take over un-used/abandoned land and farm crops that a) they can protect and b) be sold on the international market for cash . . . . tropical fruits and cigar tobacco would be my first choices. BIG market in the US for this.

Ditto, they could engage in aqua-culture . . . .

There are other examples of individuals being financed to empower them as independent manufacturers . . . this earlier done in Asia.

As my mother used to be, she worked at home on her own sewing machine making clothing. This again could be set up on a co-op basis, with the members easily and quickly trained on how to be producers. Hell . . . be careful they might do a Chinese play on us and earn so much from us to become our creditor!

But bottom line . . . the first step is to bring these folks UP into the realm of wanting to produce for themselves and begin to "put ethics in" in their communities so that everything either produced or used in production isn't stolen out from under their noses.

Most folks in the civilized west have no comprehension just how far down communities like Haiti have sunk . . . but it can be turned around as has been done in some of the African countries . . . and interestingly enough it is the women who actually start the change and upgrade and bring the society about them to greater sanity.

I suspect it will also be the women who will do the work and lead the (any upgrading of) change for the better in Haiti.

Co-ops will be needed to bring this off as in the co-operative enterprise there is communal support, safety and protection. It is also a successful enterprise model . . . . many may not be aware that in my day as a lad in Oz, much of the farm produce was brought to market by locally organized co-ops, and one year my uncle and I professionally fished in Byron Bay which had a wonderfully successful "fisherman's Co-op" to which we sold our catch.

R

any models that you can point to? hat write ups, so to speak?

these homes are tents or cardboard boxes

[Ted]

the government of Haiti, these days, is the good guys. The money comes from it. What is needed is a way to use it for bringing up prosperity where many, if not most eat mud, just to quell hunger.

what would be a non wasteful use of the money?

how to develop commerce?

trickle down?

bubble up?

create small islands of slightly raised prosperity with guards, such as a manufacturing plant?

if you were the top banana, how best to make the money work for overall betterment?

it isn't foreign aid, it's real honest non US money

Danger Condition still applies.

First, what is the ideal scene for Haiti? I don't mean Ideal Ideal, just ideal compared to what it is now?

As top banana I would be ruthless on criminality.

Must secure food, water, shelter, clothing so these basics do not present a problem for the people and a distraction to creating honest business and enterprise. If the basics and criminality are not addressed the country could eventually slip into literal non-existence. Seems like it is hovering not far from death anyway.

Whereas everything of value initially comes from the earth, I would, on a longer term, look to the earth and sea for sustainable, marketable product or raw material. As I understand it, Haiti had no raw materials, no mining, etc. ... What about off-shore drilling? All Haitians could have a piece of the action while some other country drilled and pumped.

Roger's idea of growing tobacco sounds great and not as complicated as drilling for oil. Not only sounds great but should be great, and marketable. They could also grow marijuana/hemp. This natural plant can be broken down into many useful products. So what if the people smoke some. Pot smokers are generally laid back and not prone to violence. Evidence exist that the oils of the plant are effective in addressing cancer. Wouldn't that be a boon to the economy if Haiti became THE world's producer of medical grade marijuana. Clinics could be built for people who can't get relief for their ailments through conventional means. But I am getting way ahead of myself...

hempbasics.com

Well, you did preface your question with me being top banana. Back to the Ideal Scene... What is it? That's what I would do.

[Ted]

any models that you can point to? hat write ups, so to speak?

these homes are tents or cardboard boxes

Also need a PR program to instill pride in being Haitian. A national product exchanged on a worldwide basis could move the country in that direction.

Ethics question: Who has or is benefitting by these people being held down?