MikeLigalig.com

PH foreign policy afflicted with Stockholm Syndrome

By: Hermenegildo C. Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer
March 10, 2018

Many of us are familiar with the term "Stockholm  Syndrome." In 1973, four people were taken hostage in Stockholm. Despite their ordeal, the hostages spoke well of their captors and refused to testify against them in court. The term was eventually applied to victims of abuse who refuse to take action against their abusers. This is most evident in cases of persons victimized by authority figures; the victims usually identify with the interests of the perpetrators and end up speaking well of them.

The Philippines' relationship with China is abusive. Imagine a farmer with a bully neighbor: The bully takes over the choicest part of the farm and then fences it. The bully proceeds to harvest all the fruits and crops in the area. Each time the farmer mentions the encroachment on his farm, the bully threatens him.

In such a case, the victim would go to the police. But that will make the perpetrator look bad, and, as noted, victims afflicted with Stockholm Syndrome do not want to do that. This explains the statement of Foreign Secretary Alan Cayetano for Filipinos "not to be harsh on China" in spite of its bullying tactics.

9. Heals Cuts Faster

Just like how Vicks can heal bruises, the menthol ingredient in the ointment will also relieve the pain from your cut and help heal wounds faster.

10. Gets Rid Of Fat 

Imagine getting rid of belly or upper arm fat with an over-the-counter ointment! It's actually possible!

Vicks VapoRub combined with camphor, baking soda, and a bit of alcohol creates a fat burning cream that will that save you time and money.

https://www.shared.com/

7. Repels Insects



Insects hate the strong smell of VapoRub, so apply a thin layer of the ointment on various parts of your body that's exposed. This saved me a ton of money when I went to the Caribbean!

If you've already been bitten, VapoRub will soothe the itch and the antiseptic properties will reduce your risk of getting an infection.

8. Makes You Cry

No one wants to cry, but sometimes it's a good idea. One time I really needed my tear ducts to get to work because I got one grain of sand in my eye, and I didn't want to rub my eye any further because there was a possibility I could scratch my cornea.

Instead I put a little bit of VapoRub under my eyes and let that grain of sand trickle out with my tears.

5. Removes Acne

Before you sleep, put a small amount of Vicks on your pimples or acne. In the morning, wash your face, and repeat for the next couple days until the problem is solved.

6. Eases Earaches

Put a small amount of VapoRub on a cotton ball and place it in your ear for a few hours. The antiseptic properties will not only reduce the pain, but will help fight your possible ear infection.

3. Fades Stretch Marks And Wrinkles

If you massage this ointment for a few minutes onto your stretch marks or wrinkles at least once a day, you'll notice that these unwanted lines will disappear within a couple weeks.

4. Heals Bruises

Gently massage VapoRub with a little bit of salt on your bruised skin for a few minutes. You'll notice that the cream will reduce the swelling, and in a short time the bruise will disappear.

1. Trains Pets

If you're not willing to spend hundreds of dollars to potty train your pets, leave some VapoRub in places that they relieve themselves most often. Vets say dogs and cats hate the smell of the ointment, so the smell of Vicks will remind them that what they did was wrong.

Vicks will also prevent your cat from scratching up all your beloved furniture. Leave the ointment on any piece of furniture that they like to scratch on, before it gets completely destroyed.

2. Foot Care



Vicks VapoRub is extremely moisturizing, which means it can make your cracked heels look as good as new. Before you go to bed, rub some of the ointment on your heels. In the morning, wash your feet with cold water and scrub away dead skin, and then moisturize.

The cream is also great to cure toenail fungus. Apply the ointment on the affected nail every night, and then wear an old, but clean, sock. In the morning, wash your feet and clip off the infected nail.

10 Unlikely Uses For Vicks VapoRub That Will Solve Your Biggest Problems

By Moojan | Mar 06, 2018



There's not a home in America that doesn't have a bottle or two of Vicks VapoRub in their medicine cabinet.

The topical ointment is great for all your aches and pains, but the cooling cream has so many other uses that could save you a lot of time and money. I mean A LOT.

Sophia Lowes from Cancer Research UK said the evidence was mixed.

She said: "It's not clear whether being deficient in this vitamin just reflects poor general health rather than having a direct impact on cancer risk. Enjoying the sun safely, while taking care not to burn and increase skin cancer risk, should help most people get enough vitamin D in summer."

Dr Christian Aldridge, from Melanoma UK, said anyone concerned about their vitamin D levels should see their GP, suggesting supplements were the safest way of topping up Vitamin D levels without increasing the risk of skin cancer.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Cancer charities were cautious about the findings  Credit: Paul Grover

Across all the cancers examined, the difference between the highest and lowest groups was 20 per cent.

Researchers from the National Cancer Centre in Tokyo, Japan, concluded: "Higher vitamin D concentration was associated with lower risk of total cancer.

"These findings support the hypothesis that vitamin D has protective effects against cancers at many sites."

Cancer charities urged caution over the findings.

However, too much time in the sun is linked to a higher risk of skin cancer, with NHS advice to mimimise exposure between 11am and 3pm.

The new research published in BMJ tracked 34,000 men and women for an average of 16 years, dividing them into four groups, depending on their vitamin D levels.

Overall, those in the top group were a fifth less likely to get any form of cancer, compared with those with the lowest vitamin D readings.

Adults with the highest levels of vitamin D saw their chances of liver cancer fall by 55 per cent, with a 36 per cent lower chance of prostate tumours, and 22 per cent lower risk of breast cancer.

Dose of sunshine exposure could cut the risk of cancer by a fifth

Laura Donnelly
The Telegraph
08 March 2018


Research linked high levels of vitamin D exposure to a lower overall risk of cancer

A dose of sunshine could prevent the risk of cancer by a fifth, research suggests.

A study of 34,000 adults found those with high levels of Vitamin D had a 20 per cent lower chance of cancer.

Although the vitamin is found in some foods, including oily fish, eggs and fortified cereals, as well as in supplements, the main source is sunshine.

It is known to protect against bone and muscle disease, and has been associated with lower risks of some chronic illnesses.

Inevitably, dynasties can become extinct like dinosaurs. Mendoza foresees the growth of a national middle class to press for political changes. America too was plagued by dynasties until wealth and education encouraged citizens to vote dynasts out of power. In the Philippines dynasties may have begun in the last two decades of the Spanish regime and were cultivated by American colonialists. But modern technology enables people to monitor their leaders more closely and constantly. Dynasts would fall by the wayside in much the same way that scions of tycoons do if they do not strive to become better corporate executives.

http://www.philstar.com/

Modernization, migration, and education can weaken dynasties. It is always tough for citizens to escape the clutches of poverty in their locale. But by chance, some are able to get good education, form a business, and gather following to push for political and economic reforms. Through media coverage and steadfast campaigning by civic-minded fellows, they get elected. Unfortunately they can become the new dynasts.

By chance, too, good hearts enlighten certain dynasts to change their ways. One such was multi-term Naga City Mayor Jessie Robredo. In forums in the 2000s, Robredo recounted coming from a family of traditional politicians, at that time derisively called "trapos" (rags). His grandfather, father, and uncle were Marcos loyalists who, like most politicos under martial law, ruled by patronage. The poor, kept ignorant, subsisted on dole-outs. Robredo happened to become a scholar at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government where he learned the use of politics for development. Applying the lessons to Camarines Sur, he elevated his penurious province-mates to middle class status. In 2010-2012 he could have replicated his accomplishments nationwide as Secretary of Interior and Local Government, had not death in a plane crash overtaken him.

Fat and thin dynasties "are both troubling," Mendoza says. The Constitution does not differentiate between them. Article II, State Policies, Section 26 requires: "The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law."

Mendoza advocates the enactment of stop-and-go for dynasties. He likens politicians and political clans to vehicles at an intersection. Only light cars must be green-lighted, he says; tanks and trucks that sweep everyone aside must be given the red light.

Mendoza also proposes parallel laws to promote independence. Strengthening the party system would make politicians carry platforms and not families. Forbidding political butterflies also would make them abide by party discipline. The Ateneo study notes certain individuals who were able to slay political Goliaths through party support and appealing platforms.

Poverty tends to perpetuate dynasties. In some locales, Mendoza narrates, poor folk noticed that funds were not trickling down because their leaders did not come from the ruling dynasty. In the next election they voted in a dynast in the hope of funds finally flowing in. They were wrong of course.

The Ateneo study shows that fat dynasties rule the 12 poorest provinces: Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sarangani, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-tawi, all in Mindanao. Fat dynasties also exist in Luzon and Visayas: Bulacan, Batangas, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Kalinga-Apayao, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Masbate, Northern Samar, Western Samar, Eastern Samar, Biliran, Siquijor, and Negros Oriental, among others.

Dynasties foment warlordism. Clans violently clash for control. At one time in Maguindanao, 23 Ampatuans held political office at the same time, and crushed the rival clans. When they fell, the Midtimbangs came to hold 12 posts simultaneously; the Mangudadatus 11, and the Sinsuats seven.

The fat dynasty destroys democratic checks and balances. The governor and mayor handle local executive power; the board and council, under the vice governor and vice mayor, respectively, handle legislative. In a situation where the governor, vice governor, and several board members come from one family, they dictate provincial policies and regulations. Like, they alone undemocratically decide to whom to award mining or logging permits, and skirt environmental clearances. Same if the mayor, vice mayor, and councilors come from one clan.

The fat dynasty also breeds unfairness. The related governor, vice governor, board members and congressman take control of the internal revenue allotment and pork barrel from the national government. They use this up in bailiwick cities and towns where more relatives are in power. That is how the dynasts spend public funds to pave concrete roads into their mansions, beach resorts, and mountain rest houses.

Dynasties breed poverty, poverty breeds dynasties

GOTCHA
Jarius Bondoc (The Philippine Star)
February 19, 2018

Which came first, political dynasties or poverty? That chicken-and-egg question has always bugged academics. Researchers from the Ateneo University School of Government tracked the politicos and penury in all 82 provinces over two decades, and came up with the answer. The worse the poverty, the likelier dynasties are to fatten. And when dynasts take hold, poverty stays too.

Dean Ronald Mendoza explains the results of their study by first distinguishing two types of dynasties. The "thin" one consists of kinsmen, say, a father, son, and grandson, succeeding the other in one elective position one at a time. They tend to serve better to keep their good name. The "fat" dynasty has at least three members of a family simultaneously holding positions. The relatives -- spouses, parents, siblings, offspring -- sit as provincial governor, vice governor, board member, city and municipal mayor, vice mayor, councilor, and congressman. They "rigodon" every election. Rigodon is a dance in which pairs sashaying in a circle change partners every so often.

For her well-spoken concern, Locsin had to tangle with bashers on social media who called her out  for "slut-shaming" the Playgirls. Her noteworthy reply: "There's no such thing as slut or non-slut. There are only women."

And yes, there should be reason to mark this day despite the dark clouds overhead. Filipino women-whether in high office or in the grassroots, whether in the cross hairs of macho power or in low-key arenas-remain our best hope for better times ahead.

Steadfast and unyielding, they choose to stand strong and unbowed in the face of the storm of fake news, false charges, threats, and intimidation.

Women are leading the charge against forces that would keep us silent and complicit. They do all women-and like-minded men-proud.

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:26 AM March 08, 2018
http://opinion.inquirer.net/

The recent mass shooting in the Florida campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School also united the community behind one student, Emma Gonzalez, who aired the most searing indictment of the people responsible for the death of 17 young people.

"We call BS!" Gonzalez said, calling out those in their gilded seats in the US legislature, the companies behind the National Rifle Association, the NRA itself, and others who have continuously denigrated and resisted gun control that could have prevented yet another school massacre.

In these parts, the peasant-based alliance Gabriela and women's organizations maintain the fight against the misogyny that animates officialdom.

On the local entertainment scene, actress Angel Locsin advised "Pilipinas Got Talent" contestants clad in skimpy outfits to resist being "objectified" and to "show us your talent and not your bodies."

In contrast and elsewhere in the world, women are ascendant. Consider the Pussyhat rallies, the massive women's protest march in January last year right after US President Donald Trump's inauguration.

Wearing knitted pink hats that alluded to their gender, millions of women marched to advocate policies on human rights, women's rights, healthcare, racial equality, gay rights and reproductive rights. The march united genders, ethnicities and generations to protest Trump's macho posturing and political bankruptcy.

In Hollywood, women are finally taking control of the narrative. The #MeToo movement has at last exposed the dark monster lurking beneath all that glitter and glamour, and revealed pernicious and institutionalized sexual harassment.

Convicted drug felons were allowed to testify in Congress against Sen. Leila de Lima at proceedings presided over by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre no less, preparatory to her arrest and detention for alleged trade in illegal drugs.

During the same House inquiry, then Representative Roque and some of his colleagues took the most unseemly delight in questioning De Lima's ex-lover on their affair, purportedly in aid of legislation.

Meanwhile, the threat of impeachment is hanging over the heads of not only Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno but also Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales. And from abroad, United Nations rapporteur for human rights Agnes Callamard has been the subject of unflattering remarks.

   
EDITORIAL

Women under siege

International Women's Day is being marked today under a pall of foreboding, shock and rage, with recent events seeming to underscore that Filipino women, who were once touted as among the most educated, outspoken and economically liberated in Asia, are in fact under siege by unlikely forces.

Misogynistic statements have been made in official government events. Consider how women officials have been and are being treated in this administration.

In an official phone call, Vice President Leni Robredo was told not to attend Cabinet meetings anymore, having been effectively ousted from Malacañang's inner circle.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY (IWD), 08 March
Theme: "Time Is Now: Rural And Urban Activists Transforming Women's Lives"

NATIONAL WOMEN'S MONTH, Philippines, March
Theme: "We Make Change Work for Women"

http://verafiles.org/articles/buhay-ka-pa-ba-portrait-president-source-disinformation

Quote from: islander on March 06, 2018, 01:31:01 PM

Call for action

The report proposes policy-driven solutions to industry, government and civil stakeholders and calls for new collective interventions to the systematic production of disinformation.

These recommendations include self-regulation measures in the digital influencer industry and legal reforms for election finance transparency.

Drawing attention to the country's highly skilled, highly organised online freelance labour force – described as "a stockpile of digital weapons" – the research challenges global actors to look beyond the West and consider how fake news production in countries such as the Philippines, currently the outsourcing capital of the world and previously the focus of attention for "digital sweatshops", might have far-reaching implications for digital disinformation in democratic countries such as the UK and US, and vice versa.

oops.

Call for action

The report proposes policy-driven solutions to industry, government and civil stakeholders and calls for new collective interventions to the systematic production of disinformation.

These recommendations include self-regulation measures in the digital influencer industry and legal reforms for election finance transparency.

Drawing attention to the country's highly skilled, highly organised online freelance labour force – described as "a stockpile of digital weapons" – the research challenges global actors to look beyond the West and consider how fake news production in countries such as the Philippines, currently the outsourcing capital of the world and previously the focus of attention for "digital sweatshops", might have far-reaching implications for digital disinformation in democratic countries such as the UK and US, and vice versa.

Explore further: 'Fake news' becomes a business model: researchers

More information: The report is available online: newtontechfordev.com/newton-te ... cial-media-trolling/
Provided by: University of Leeds

https://phys.org/news/

"Our aim is not to name and shame individual workers, but to expose the system that has professionalised the organisational workflow and salary incentive schemes of 'paid trolls' and fake news authors," Dr. Ong added.

Election funding legislation and gaps in self-regulation of the advertising and PR industries allow digital campaigns to remain unchecked, and for PR and ad executives to take on ethically dubious freelance work without fear of being held accountable, the researchers say.

Dr. Cabañes said: "There's no one-size-fits-all solution to disinformation. Countries need to understand the hierarchies and financial incentives that reward these 'paid trolls'.

"Simply blocking accounts or blacklisting fake news sites – while often well-meaning – does not treat the underlying causes of the problem."

Disinformation campaigns

The study explains how strategists set campaign objectives based on input from their political clients, then delegate political marketing responsibility to a team of digital influencers and fake account operators.

These operators infiltrate online communities, artificially trend hashtags to hijack mainstream media attention, and disseminate disinformation to silence enemies and seed revisionist history narratives.

While the Philippine public's moral panic about fake news is often directed at high-profile digital influencers and celebrities who are seen to incite political divisiveness and harass journalists, Dr. Ong and Dr. Cabañes argue the architects of disinformation are hiding in plain sight – wearing respectable faces as leaders in their industry while sidestepping accountability.

Led by Dr. Jason Cabañes from the School of Media and Communication and Dr. Jonathan Corpus Ong from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the project involved in-depth interviews with disinformation architects and online observation of the fake accounts they operated.

"We were initially curious about the kind of people who become 'paid trolls' and how they manage to live with that stigma," said Dr. Ong. "Meeting the people behind fake Facebook accounts, we learned that there is actually a professionalised hierarchy with ad and PR strategists at the top."

Dr. Cabañes, a lecturer in International Communication, added: "We also met the anonymous digital influencers and fake account operators in the middle and lower rungs of the hierarchy. We got to know how financial insecurity and career aspirations drove many of them to get into disinformation work."

Fake news production and social media 'trolls'

February 13, 2018
University of Leeds


Credit: University of Leeds

A network of digital workers are designing political disinformation campaigns, creating fake news and fanning the flames of public discontent in the Philippines, new research has found.

The research outlines the motivations and strategies of a well organised and funded hierarchy of political operators, who maintain day jobs as advertising and public relations executives, computer programmers and political administrative staff.

The report, Architects of Networked Disinformation: Behind the Scenes of Troll Accounts and Fake News Production in the Philippines, is based on a year-long research project.

Social networking service Facebook uses an algorithm that provides content to users that it deems the user wants. This is based on user activity, when he or she engages with like-minded friends or screens out content that does not conform with his or her existing preferences. The result is a virtual bubble that reinforces the user's biases, insulating him or her from opposing viewpoints.

George, however, sees a problem in looking at filter bubbles from the lens of social media seen as a new form of media. He said that the media must also look at it as a new form of conversation or social interaction. In truth, he said, people tend to interact socially with people they like, and with whom they share the same values.

"We don't then think about what society should do to penetrate our conversations or gate-crash our party," he said. "In a crowded, in a very intrusive environment, we have the power retreat into our spaces where we get to chat with people we care about, people we share our values, our religion."

George said that while this reality offline is not alarming or wrong, it turns out to be a dilemma online. Rather than seeing it as a problem on Facebook, however, George said that journalists must ask whether they are doing enough to create media experiences where people get to confront other points of view. — PCIJ, February 2018

http://pcij.org/

George pointed out that this is why demagogues like Donald Trump go for the easy sell — not because they are ideologically attached to white nationalism for example, but because these are effective, easy political stances.

"If it was easy to promote democracy and human rights, Donald Trump would be doing, championing that," he said. "He is not, because it is a hard sell."

The often easy answer, George noted, is to blame it on the people "because it lets us off the hook." The more challenging question is how the system let down people so badly that they are willing to overturn norms and rebel against expertise. This is a much harder question because media, academe, and other institutions across society end up pointing fingers at each other.

"We have failed the people over a long time such that they are willing to opt for easy but wrong answers." George said.

Jabal, though, said that reporters can do more in presenting facts and data by using real-life experiences and doing more investigative reporting in the mainstream. Beyond content itself, the PR practitioner also emphasized the need to study how information is distributed. He finds a problem with Facebook giving users just one side of the story, as an effect of echo chambers and filter bubbles.

"The truth is if you're looking at the economic problems of any country, there are simply no easy answers," he said. "How do you go out and tell the people, 'Well, the truth is, looking at the state of the world, of our country, it is in fact not possible for any politician to guarantee you a job or a high salary'."

The fact that sacrifices need to be made in order to ensure some basic decent living is a hard sell. Making empty promises, like how politicians do, meanwhile, is much easier to do.

For instance, with human rights, the easy sell is to tell people that they are first and foremost Filipino, Muslim, or Hindu, and that other people do not count, George said. In short, asking people to look at themselves in terms of their most obvious and salient identity is easy. It is harder to ask people to consider the obligation they owe to strangers simply because they are members of the human race.

The problem requires deep civic education, which is more than a job for the media. The solution cannot be captured in a clever tweet or soundbite.

Jabal noted that Duterte's supporters, when they post or share information online, could be performing as well just like the president. This rests on his observation that every time people publish something on Facebook, they almost instantaneously check whether their friends are liking or sharing it. The tendency is to share because the idea is people believe in that information.

"We're performing also for our followers, for those people who like us," he said.

This could be a reason why the supposed strategy is winning because the information given is packaged and repackaged in a manner that appeals to the base of the base, Jabal said.

Hong Kong Baptist University journalism professor Cherian George, another speaker at the conference, meanwhile put forth another perspective. To be sure, the media being able reach out to the audience using the right communication tools and social media skills is important. But George said that this is not enough because the truth, in the current context, is a much harder sell than the lie.

Check out Jonathan Corpus Ong and Jason Vincent O. Cabañes' study titled "Architects of Networked Disinformation: Behind the Scenes of Troll Accounts and Fake News Production in the Philippines," which found that disinformation production is a professionalized enterprise in the country.

"We need to look at the source or the agent – who are speaking, who are producing this content," Jabal said. "We need to be able look at it from the point of view of the message itself – how is the message being crafted?"

These need to be addressed because the messages and the images being developed use shared belief as a base. This goes back to Jabal's point that understanding Duterte's supporters – who they are and how they are interpreting his messages — is an important part of the equation as well.

Organized by news organizations and universities, the two-day event held at the Ateneo de Manila University in Makati gathered over 40 media experts to discuss why "fake news" and other forms of disinformation threaten freedoms, and how people can fight back.

Jabal said that while shedding light on the truth through reporting and fact-checking is of course essential, the campaign that needed to be done is not only about communication but also behavioral in nature.

"Fake news, misinformation, disinformation, or even 'malinformation' could be a strategy," he said. "So we need to look at it from that way."

When viewed from a PR lens, Jabal said, what is happening indicates that disinformation might be part of a strategy because of a structure that seems to be followed. He said that this is why the media and other institutions need to look at the issue with the elements of a campaign in mind to understand why there has been so much support for Duterte.

Why, how is Duterte winning the information war?

By Karol Ilagan



HE LASHES OUT at reporters and calls the false and misleading information that he dishes out as jokes or "traps." Yet while his diatribes can be described as unbecoming of his office, President Rodrigo R. Duterte remains widely popular, enjoying consistently high trust ratings in surveys.

But public-relations practitioner Ron Jabal says that to understand why Duterte is winning the so-called information war requires going beyond the soundbites and personalities and looking into the motives and interests of both the source and interpreter of the message.

Speaking at a panel in the Democracy and Disinformation conference last week, Jabal said that journalists need to look at Duterte's public appearances as a ritual or a performance. Duterte is not just a disseminator of information, he said, but a source of drama. This, according to Jabal, is how the President's supporters interpret his message – that he is performing, not just providing information.

But the partisan abuse of science is unlike the personal spirituality (or lack of it) that motivates individual justices. There is and can be no justification for invoking science to serve political ends.

What IS equivalent to the abuse of science is the effort of a group of justices to sideline her. Whatever motives they may have had (and we must all grant that they may have been moved by genuine concerns, perhaps even driven by a religious understanding of personal agency), they have only succeeded in strengthening the Duterte administration's campaign against Sereno. In acting (precipitately, on nonimpeachable issues with Sereno) to protect their institution, they have only undermined it. They misunderstand the President's attack on Sereno as directed at her alone. Based on everything else that he has done, this cannot be true. It is, it has always been, Mr. Duterte versus the Court.

On Twitter: @jnery_newsstand
http://opinion.inquirer.net/

Sereno's public display of her spirituality is again only another excuse. Is she the only justice, or even the only chief justice, to speak in terms of "God's will"? Of course not. When Aquino won the presidency, Corona, whom Aquino viewed as illegitimately occupying the post of chief justice, offered an olive branch wrapped in religious ribbons. We must unite behind Aquino, he said in June 2010. "Let us all move forward and together, with God's will, we will bring this country as envisioned by Rizal toward national greatness."

Perhaps Sereno committed a faux pas in the secular precincts of the judiciary when she spoke of her appointment as following God's will? We can point to many other justices who welcomed their appointment to the Court in the exact same terms. For instance, Sereno's tormentor in the Court, Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro, accepted her designation in December 2007 in the exact same terms. It was not political payback for her rulings adverse to deposed President Joseph Estrada, she said. Rather, her joining the Court was "God's will."

In the light of the Court's own history, Sereno's religious understanding of her office is not out of the ordinary. How can it be, when most appointees to the Court are Christian, have experience of the many vicissitudes of life, and are familiar with Christian tropes that, to use David's framework, "would have been generated" by their professional success?

David's real argument, within the limits dictated by his conflictedness, involves what he calls the ethic of seniority. President Benigno Aquino III's appointment of Sereno, a junior justice, to the position of first among equals in the Court after the conviction of Chief Justice Renato Corona violated this ethic and, like an injury that never healed, has now irrupted into a festering wound. He writes: "Chief Justice Sereno's appointment brazenly stood this ethic [of seniority] on its head. Under the circumstances, it would have required a large reservoir of people skills and humility on her part to neutralize the resentment that would have been generated by her appointment."

I disagree, because in fact the ethic of seniority is not all that it is reputed to be. How easy it is for us to forget that Corona himself was not the most senior member of the Court when Gloria Arroyo appointed him chief justice. (That was Antonio Carpio, who had proven to be more independent-minded than first thought.) The chief justice Corona succeeded, Reynato Puno, was bypassed once when he was the most senior member of the Court. (In the US Supreme Court, after which our own is patterned, seniority is not even a consideration in the appointment of a chief justice.)

My point: The seniority card is only an excuse, used to cover a multitude of frustrated ambitions. So what if several justices now act as if they cannot get along with Sereno? Will the Court come to a screaming stop? To ask the practical question is to answer it.

NEWSSTAND

In defense of CJ Sereno

John Nery
March 06, 2018

I disagree, strongly, with the much-esteemed Randy David when he suggests in "Conflicting thoughts on CJ Sereno" that the Philippines' first female chief justice's candid remarks about her appointment being "God's will" is the same as a psychologist's terrible misuse of neuropsychiatric test results.

A leading public intellectual, and a favorite writer of mine, David ends his disconcerting column by quoting Sereno: "The whole world is witness that this appointment is God's will... Only God put me in this position. It seemed like it was time to give the leadership of the Supreme Court to one of his humble servants." And then he concludes: "What does that say of her colleagues who applied for the same position and did not get it? To me, that kind of talk is no different from invoking science to serve political ends."

David is making a false equivalence, and I will try to show why. In the process, I hope to make my own views clear: that the intervention of several Supreme Court justices in the Duterte administration's campaign to remove Sereno from office is egregious, and only enfeebles an already weak judiciary.

The Court is indeed a collegial body. But an ethic of seniority usually pervades such settings. Chief Justice Sereno's appointment brazenly stood this ethic on its head. Under the circumstances, it would have required a large reservoir of people skills and humility on her part to neutralize the resentment that would have been generated by her appointment.

But, from the start, she didn't seem inclined to do that. She displayed such a disconcerting sense of being anointed that one would think she was being named to an ecclesiastical rather than to a state office. At her first flag-raising ceremony at the Court grounds, for instance, she told the assembled employees: "The whole world is witness that this appointment is God's will ... Only God put me in this position. It seemed like it was time to give the leadership of the Supreme Court to one of his humble servants."

What does that say of her colleagues who applied for the same position and did not get it? To me, that kind of talk is no different from invoking science to serve political ends.

public.lives@gmail.com
https://opinion.inquirer.net/

I am not myself a great fan of the Chief Justice. My one and only personal encounter with then Professor Meilou Sereno at the University of the Philippines was fleeting, but it left me with such a disturbing impression of her that I have since thought it prudent to avoid being in a conversation with her. Certainly, I had very strong reservations when President Benigno Aquino III appointed her to replace Chief Justice Renato Corona, who, despite being disgraced and impeached, had remained popular with the Court staff.

I have always thought that President Aquino, who, back in 2010, questioned Chief Justice Corona's midnight appointment by the outgoing Arroyo administration, missed a crucial opportunity to restore a sense of order at the high court when he appointed a very junior magistrate like Justice Sereno to the position of chief justice. In so doing, like Arroyo before him who put a higher premium on loyalty than on what was good for the institution, he bypassed very senior magistrates, including Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.

I have strong doubts about the impeachability of the offenses with which Chief Justice Sereno is charged. But whether she is removed from her position or not, I don't think, judging from her recent troubles with her fellow magistrates, which seem symptomatic of her relationship with most of them, that she is in any position to effectively lead the Court.

The JBC correctly stood its ground and initially refused to release the raw results of the tests, or to interpret them for the committee. But confronted with the threat of being held in contempt, and assured of immunity from criminal prosecution, they relented and agreed to speak in executive session. Proceedings in executive sessions are supposed to be restricted to the members, but, invariably, they leak out.

The JBC personnel tried their best to qualify their statements and to keep what they had to say to the barest minimum. But, smelling blood, the committee turned to its invited "expert witness," the clinical psychologist Geraldine Tria, to interpret the results. Dr. Tria told them what they were waiting to hear: "You have nine manifestations, and there are strong indicators that five out of nine are actually manifested, like grandiosity, unlimited power, sense of entitlement, interpersonally exploitative in order to take advantage of others ... lack of empathy and sensitiveness to the needs of other members in the community." She concluded thus: "Based on the findings, [she is] not recommendable." For someone who never once interviewed the subject, or observed her at close range, Dr. Tria was quite bold and sweeping in her analysis. One wonders what prodded her to put herself in this situation.

The appointment of justices of the Supreme Court is strictly the prerogative of the president of the Republic, who chooses from a list provided by the JBC. It is a political power conferred by law, and to be exercised within the bounds of the law. There are specific legal requirements for such appointments, but, as far as I know, "passing" or "failing" a neuropsychiatric test is not one of these. Clearly, there are subjective factors that go into such appointments. It is the president's call in the end.

PUBLIC LIVES

Conflicting thoughts on CJ Sereno


Randy David
March 04, 2018

On a long road trip the other day, I happened to be tuned in to yet another live broadcast of the unending marathon hearing on the impeachment case against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno at the House of Representatives.  In the agenda of the House committee on justice that day was the testimony of the psychiatrists of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) who administered the psychological test to applicants for chief justice in 2012.

I was stunned by the extent to which the committee members were prepared to go to dig up anything that would complete their public degradation of the Chief Justice. It violated all norms governing the relationship between politics and science. In a glaring political misuse of science, the committee asked their guests to set aside all scruples about the professional oaths they took in favor of the presumably higher constitutional task to which they were being asked to contribute.

In particular, they were asked to divulge the results of the psychological evaluation of then Justice Sereno. Such tests are normally regarded as highly confidential, to be used strictly in relation to a specific purpose. Taken out of context, their outcomes could be given unwarranted meanings. If they fall in the wrong hands, they could be used to discredit and blackmail subjects who trustingly submitted to these tests.

Quote from: hubag bohol on March 04, 2018, 09:24:14 AM

this is great!

https://www.taringa.net/

Please know that at least one of us expats has seen what you do for others and understands that you have a story behind your smiles. Know that at least one of us admires you, respects you, and thanks you for your sacrifices. Salamat po. Ingat lagi. Mahal ko kayong lahat.

David H. Harwell, PhD, is a former professor and assistant dean in the United States who now travels and works abroad designing language training programs. He is a published author and a son of a retired news editor.

https://pinoysoftheworld.wordpress.com/

You have many problems here, I understand that. Americans worry about having new cars, Filipinos worry about having enough food to eat. That's an enormous difference. But do not envy us, because we should learn something from you. What I see is that even when your hands are empty, your hearts remain full.

I have many privileges in the countries where I work, because I am an expat. I do not deserve these things, but I have them. However, in every country I visit, I see that you are there also, taking care of your families, friends, bosses, and coworkers first, and yourselves last. And you have always taken care of me, in this country and in every other place where I have been.

These are places where I have been very alone, very tired, very hungry, and very worried, but there have always been Filipinos in my offices, in the shops, in the restaurants, in the hospitals, everywhere, who smile at and take good care of me. I always try to let you know that I have lived and traveled in the Philippines and how much I like your country. I know that behind those smiles of yours, here and abroad, are many worries and problems.

I often pity those of you who go to America. You see pictures of their houses and cars, but not what it took to get those things. We have nice things, too many things, in America, but we take on an incredible debt to get them, and the debt is lifelong. America's economy is based on debt. Very rarely is a house, car, nice piece of clothing, electronic appliance, and often even food, paid for. We get them with credit, and this debt will take all of our lifetime to pay. That burden is true for anyone in America—the OFWs, those who are married to Americans, and the Americans themselves.

Most of us allow the American Dream to become the American Trap. Some of you who go there make it back home, but you give up most of your lives before you do. Some of you who go there learn the very bad American habits of wanting too many things in your hands, and the result is that you live only to work, instead of working only to live. The things we own actually own us. That is the great mistake we Americans make in our lives. We live only to work, and we work only to buy more things that we don't need. We lose our lives in the process.

I have sometimes tried to explain it like this: In America, our hands are full, but our hearts are empty.

I am American and hard-headed. I am a teacher, but it takes me a long time to learn some things. But I've been trying, and your culture has been patient in trying to teach me.

In the countries where I've lived and worked, all over the Middle East and Asia, it is Filipinos who do all the work and make everything happen. When I am working in a new company abroad, I seek out the Filipino staff when I need help getting something done, and done right. Your international reputation as employees is that you work hard, don't complain, and are very capable. If all the Filipinos were to go home from the Middle East, the world would stop. Oil is the lifeblood of the world, but without Filipinos, the oil will not come from the ground, it will not be loaded onto the ships, and the ships will not sail. The offices that make the deals and collect the payments will not even open in the morning. The schools will not have teachers, and, of course, the hospitals will have no staff.

What I have seen, that many of you have not seen, is how your family members, the ones who are overseas Filipino workers, do not tell you much about how hard their lives actually are. OFWs are very often mistreated in other countries, at work and in their personal lives. You probably have not heard much about how they do all the work but are severely underpaid, because they know that the money they are earning must be sent home to you, who depend on them. The OFWs are very strong people, perhaps the strongest I have ever seen. They have their pictures taken in front of nice shops and locations to post on Facebook so that you won't worry about them. But every Pinoy I have ever met abroad misses his/her family very, very much.

A sentimental open letter from an American teacher to the Filipino people

LOVE LETTER TO FILIPINOS
By David H. Harwell, PhD



I am writing to thank Filipinos for the way you have treated me here, and to pass on a lesson I learned from observing the differences between your culture and mine over the years.

I am an expatriate worker. I refer to myself as an OAW, an overseas American worker, as a bad joke. The work I do involves a lot of traveling and changing locations, and I do it alone, without family. I have been in 21 countries now, not including my own. It was fun at first. Now, many years later, I am getting tired. The Philippines remains my favorite country of all, though, and I'd like to tell you why before I have to go away again.

I have lived for short periods here, traveled here, and have family and friends here. My own family of origin in the United States is like that of many Americans—not much of a family. Americans do not stay very close to their families, geographically or emotionally, and that is a major mistake. I have long been looking for a home and a family, and the Philippines is the only place I have lived where people honestly seem to understand how important their families are.

There was a computer program set up in various spots around the world. It would shoot off random numbers, there was no pattern ever seen for years. This is called a Random Number Generator. However when the September 11th attacks happened, or other moments that human consciousness became coherent, things changed. For instance, in the case of a severe tragedy in which all humans are thinking about similar things and having similar emotions, all the numbers become structured and organized. They show an unpredictable sequence of ones and zeroes. The odds of this happening by chance is one in a trillion. How is this possible?

Every single thing you can see around you — the rocks, the birds, and the trees — all are comprised of the same atoms. They are just expressed differently — yet intricately interconnected. Whatever you do and whatever decisions you make, if you do it with love as your motive and if your intentions are pure with love you cannot be wrong. So know your intentions and know your truth and embrace it. You were born with a light that others have tried to dim with a mask, let your light shine again and take your mask off. Humanity needs the gift that your true self possess.

https://wakeup-world.com/

10. Whatever you do, if you do it with love in your heart as your intention, you cannot go wrong.

The world is full of opinions. Everyone has the answers. You can't do this, or you shouldn't do that. People can show you evidence about why they are right and why you are wrong. Everyone will tell you how to handle your recovery and how to handle every situation in life. When we are listening to other people instead of our true selves, we are going against our own truth and against our own nature.

There is no right and wrong. We used to think smoking was okay for you and doctors advertised it. We used to think the world was flat. We used to think Columbus discovered America. There is no truth, there is only perception. You must do what your true inner self believes. Your mask is unique so your mask's removal is going to be unique. The one thing that is common for all mask removals is connection and love. Science and studies have found out that we are breathing the same air that people breathed in and breathed out thousands of years ago. The air we breathe is composed of mainly nitrogen, gas, and oxygen gas. Very little is lost in space, and only occasionally is there a new source of carbon or oxygen introduced into this planet. So every breath you take has atoms that have been here for billions of years.

Which is why, when you are finally being yourself you are likely going to be mocked, ridiculed, and teased. It begins to seem much easier to revert back to old ways (the mask). It is hard when you have run your whole life and been afraid. Then you start to be yourself and people start teasing you or pushing you away. You must realize that this has nothing to do with you and has everything to do with them. If somebody loves you that usually has more to do with them than you; and if somebody hates you that has more to do with them than you.

I remember when I had to have a psychological test done, I had to have my four closest people fill out a form and I figured it would all be the same answers that they gave. I got four completely different forms with four completely different sets of answers. Others love us based on their perception of us or they hate us based on their perception of us, none of this is reality – but it is reality to them.

What matters is what we think of ourselves. If we love ourselves, we will glow and other people will be drawn to us and some will be drawn away from us.

"The ego says, 'Once everything falls into place, I'll find peace.' The spirit says, 'Find your peace, and then everything will fall into place.'" – Marianne Williamson

9. You must learn to truly love yourself or you will not make it.

I wrote earlier about being your true self and that is completely different from loving your true self. There is a reason we wear these masks and have these false selves. It is because we think that at our core, we are not OK. Then we start to be ourselves, but also seek to make changes. We have to 100-percent, truly, genuinely love our true self and embrace it or we will eventually slip back on our masks.

This is the often overlooked Steps Six and Seven of the 12-Steps. We are removing the parts of ourselves that are not true and keeping those that are. However, we get confused at this point because we feel that part of ourselves is flawed.

But, that is impossible! Every single person is perfect at their core. You do not have any flaws. That is a lie created by society. Every person is perfect and once you find your true self you will see this to be true.

Part of recovering is making the effort to be true to yourself. Once you can do this, you will find yourself in others. You start to see that all of life is a synchronicity. You will suddenly be around people who can help you and you have to be willing to accept help and make yourself vulnerable. If you cannot expose yourself and be vulnerable to these good people, then you will fall.

Vulnerability allows others to lift the mask.

You have to start all over sometimes; that may even mean leaving your family and lifelong friends. It is terrifying, but you will find new people that embrace your true self, whereas your friends and family have only got to know your mask and are not ready for your true self. You'll find that people who you thought were close friends really were not; and people who you thought were not your friends actually were. You find out everybody's true character when you go through this. It's a gift in that way as well. Someone you may not have associated with five years ago, you'll love them when you are your true self. This just means that the transformation is happening.

Now some negativity can be good if you're an overly positive person and turn a blind eye to all negativity because that is also unrealistic and can actually benefit the person. Also, being angry can help mobilize and motivate you to change. People who are totally happy and content at all times are never the ones that change the world – see Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi. It is those that are healthy discontents that create change.

On the flip side, if you only are surrounded by negativity it will suck the life out of you. Likewise if you are around a bunch of people who believe that you are a bad person, be that your family, friends, or relatives, then that's going to creep right back into your subconscious and you creep right back into old patterns. Soon you believe that pattern as real.

You cannot do this alone. It took many others to help us put the mask on, and it will take others to help remove the mask as well. I came across five amazing people that helped change my life and save it.

8. Who you surround yourself with is one of the most important decisions you will make.

I have heard many wise people say that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. As I said above, that directly affects our subconscious and what we think of ourselves.

I remember years ago my oldest daughter enrolled in a private school. Everyone in the school was Catholic and she came home and believed in her inner core that the entire world was Catholic. She cried about it at night that she was different because she did not go up to get the fake bread at their ceremonies. Similarly, if you are around five people that smoke pot and you do not smoke pot, then you are the weirdo for not smoking pot. However, if you are with five people that do not smoke pot and you do, then you are considered strange for smoking pot.

At the end of the day, if you are around negativity — eg. those who consider you strange or different — it will eventually influence you.

That's the inner voice, it is the subconscious.  It is strong but it may not even be true. The only way to combat this is to start telling yourself positive things (affirmations), surround yourself with positivity, changing your perceptions of the world (cognitive behavioral therapy), focus on the positive things in life (gratitude). This starts to build more positive files in your subconscious which drives you out of despair and into a positive direction.

We all are born pure, and with nothing but love in our hearts. This is often taken from some of us by a combination of temperament, environment, society, and trauma. We eventually believe that we are not good at our core. But we are. We can change our subconscious by what goes into our brain daily. This takes persistence and daily practice, and it is hard when we are used to thinking negatively about ourselves. However, this out of everything is probably the key to sustained long-term recovery- dealing with that inner voice and changing our thoughts.  It will seem foreign at first to say "I'm a good person." If you are going to make it, you have to start doing on a daily basis. You can replace those files just like your body replaces every cell in the body every seven years. Soon those old files will be gone and the new positive files will be your subconscious.

We are all born with an innate temperament that lasts our entire lives. That would be like if a couple people were eating a pizza. One person takes a bite and it tastes lukewarm to them; but the other person burns their mouth and complains as to how hot it is. The others would not believe it to be true.  However when it comes to emotions, we can't see anything, the scars or burns are invisible. So we are told that it is not real and our emotions are crazy, in which we believe to be true. This only further pushes our true selves down and creates more negative self-talk which creates files in the subconscious.

This leads to the most sensitive, warm, kind people in our society being invalidated and told they are "babies" for feeling and caring more than most. We tell them that they are not right when inside they are going through a trauma.

But if a young boy acts out in anger instead of crying, that is more acceptable in our society. That is one form of a mask that is created and is prevalent among young men. Then with this mask, and all masks, comes depression from not being your true self from going against nature.

As young children and even as adolescents, our brains are flooded with gray matter. This is the part of our brain that can be molded and create the person we are to become. This is what shapes the subconscious mind which will determine what drives us for a lifetime. If someone is told they are bad, lazy, incompetent, then they will be driven by this. If someone deals with pain, torture, trauma, and abandonment, they will be drive by this as well.

The good news is we can change the subconscious mind by implanting new messages. It is flexible, but it takes time, practice and patience.

Additionally, some of us will be more affected than others by these messages. Some people are naturally more sensitive, more prone to trauma,  and more prone to take things too personally.

7. Our subconscious is what drives us.

We have two parts of our mind – the conscious and the subconscious. The conscious is all of which we are aware. The subconscious is the part that we are not aware, but all the millions of things we process daily and store away.

Our brain cannot tell if what is in our subconscious is true or not. It takes everything in as fact. It is like a hard drive that receives commands and stores everything as fact. It is built by other people and society – parents, siblings, teachers, television, pop culture, advertisements, etc. If we grow up being told that we are "bad," our subconscious processes it to be true.

Everything is a perception and not reality. However, as different things start to play out in our conscious mind, then the subconscious files come to the surface to back it up as "evidence." This creates stronger files in our subconscious mind. These files in our subconscious mind are what drives us; not what we are consciously aware.

There is not one magical moment where you reach some mountaintop. It usually takes two steps forward, followed by one step back. It is a continuous, non-linear process. It is like a newborn baby deer trying to learn to walk. Their feet are wobbly and they fall down often. Falling down is not the issue, it is the learning process that makes you stronger and not having shame about the fall. It is about being around people that do not judge the fall.

The only way through the pain you have is to deal with it. There are many things we have hidden inside ourselves through the years because of fear and using the mask. Sometimes it may be for years, or decades, but all things eventually rise to the surface and all your pain is revealed. But that is the only way that it can be healed is for it to come to the surface. It cannot be healed when it is buried.

Let the storm come. After the storm comes the rainbow.

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's learning to dance in the rain." – Vivian Greene

If there is no struggle, there is no growth. If there is no growth, there is no recovery.

Everything in my life in which I thought would be my demise, ended up being the very best things in the long run. We see a small portion of the big picture and act like that's the reality, when it's not. We must trust the process and trust in the bigger picture. Without the illusion, there would be no enlightenment.

There will come a time that you will think this is not worth it and feel like giving up. This means you are getting close to breaking through. We usually give up right before the miracle happens.

6. Embrace your struggles, they are gifts.

When I see a patient walking around a treatment center saying "everything is fine," "everything is ok," or "I'm doing great," this becomes a giant red flag. You should be struggling. Muscles do not grow without struggle and the same goes for our soul.



Since we were young, we were trained to believe that admitting to a struggle is a sign of weakness, but in fact it is a great strength. We are all going through a struggle. We should be working on the thing that is the most difficult for us for optimum growth. The thing that you are most scared to do is probably the thing that is most essential to your recovery.

If you are in pain, if you are crying, if you are scared, then you are growing. If you are questioning why you are there, or why you are going through this, or questioning your own sanity, then you are growing. If you are angry, if you are tense, if you are isolating, then you are growing.

Relationships come first. If you cannot build a relationship, a trusting relationship, then you will only do damage. I believe many staff in this field are well-intentioned, however they make these problems much worse and the patients get much sicker simply because there is a lack of acceptance, love, and an overabundance of advice giving and fixing.

Trust me, if there was an easy-fix, the person would have already done so. In rushing to fix a person, you are sending the message that they are incompetent and could not think of this on their own. A broken person doesn't need to be fixed, they need to be loved, then they are able to heal themselves.

When I say listening, I mean being present completely with that person. This means not checking your phone, not looking at the clock, and not even thinking about anything else. This is referred to as active listening. The ten people I think are the best in this field all do this. They make the person they are with feel like they are the most important person on earth in that moment. When the person can feel heard, the magic begins.

5. Love, acceptance, and truly listening is far more powerful than any advice you can ever give someone.

We have all seen someone struggling and we want to fix it. Usually we want to fix it the way we would fix it for ourselves if we were in the same struggle. We tend to go in and tell people how to change. Although well-intentioned, when we do this, we begin to lose them. Everyone is different, and every recovery is different. Every mask is unique, and therefore every mask removal must be unique.

Relationships are the single most important thing to someone going through a recovery. You can have the cure for them, but if they do not trust you, they will not hear it. They do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care.

Accepting people for who they are and where they are at in their life will go further than any piece of advice you can ever give them. Giving someone love and a hug when everybody else is kicking them is what I call "psychological life support."

I had two people that did this for me and they saved my life. Not those who criticized me and tried to force me into treatment. It was those who offered unconditional love and acceptance who kept me alive. Unconditional, meaning without conditions/judgments, but just loving them and accepting them in their entirety with no desire to change or point out their flaws. When I was ready to change, I went to the same people because I had gained their trust.

Our insane society has created these masks and then they profit off these masks they created. Then you are labeled as insane if you don't want to wear your mask anymore. Because when we take off our masks, they lose business.

What goes into your brain will affect your subconscious mind. If you feed it with fear, it will seek fear. If you feed it with love, it will find love. The opposite of living in fear is living with love. Love is the antidote to fear.

When you live with love, you will be faced resistance from those still guided by fear. But remember, in the end, throughout history, every single time love always wins. There may be a time it seems this is not true. But it becomes a crucial point in your recovery when you decide to choose love over fear if you are going to succeed. Every person going through a true recovery will come to this stage and it is scary, it is lonely, and it is supposed to be. It takes immense strength to love when everything inside of you tells you to run away. Once you make it through this stage, you have reached a turning point and the mask begins to crumble.

4. Fear destroys us; and makes others money.

When we are not ourselves, then our lives are being lived and based on fear. When we are always afraid, it is from remembering pain or trauma. Just like any animal, when we are afraid we will hide. We live in a society in which many people benefit of us being afraid.

We are evolutionarily programmed to remember the negative experiences at a much higher rate, more clearly and more intensely, than positive experiences.

Many businesses profit off of our fear. The news gets higher ratings when they show fights, violence, and all the things that are wrong with the world. So that is what they show and that is what we see. They are not showing a true representation of the world, but a sample size that spreads fear and increases ratings. This is paid for by commercial advertisements that spend millions of dollars by spreading fear into your mind in an effort to buy their product. They will tell you might get bitten by a snake, so you need to buy a fence to keep the snakes out. They tell you to buy material items to fit into society or you will be left out and not included. When the fear does not go away, we continue to consume more. And it never goes away until we realize that we are being played.

"If tomorrow, women woke up and decided they really liked their bodies, just think how many industries would go out of business?" – Dr. Gail Dines

It can be scary to finally be yourself. You will likely start feeling rejected and you will lose some people. But those are the people that you want to lose. You will also gain people in your lives – the ones that love the true you and not the false you.

This is a change that is painful and it causes most people to go back into their false self (ore put their mask back on). However, this is an essential struggle that you will encounter on your way. It will turn your world upside down and your relationships will change.  But as the old saying goes, "it is better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for who you are not."

You are only doing a smidgen of what you are capable of doing by being your true self. You have no idea what you're capable of until you embrace who you are and you will be blown away by the results.

Some of us may not even know who we really are because we've been wearing this mask for so long. In that case you get to explore and try new things. You get to discover who you truly are and what makes your soul feel alive. This can be viewed as an obstacle or an opportunity. You can now try everything – writing, dancing, singing, etc. – try anything you desire and you will find your true self in the process.

You will find out who you were, before the world told you who you were supposed to be.

This concept can be frightening, especially if we have become too accustomed to the mask. Some will do anything and everything to put the mask back on for safety, security, and possibly they are benefiting from pretending to be their false self. Although, in the long run it will create more inner dissent.

The world needs you to be you. Your true self fits into the world exactly how it should. When we go against this, we are robbing humanity of the gifts our true selves possess. Albert Einstein said, "great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."

3. Be true to who you are.

We run from who we truly are because we are told to by our environment. We are told that it is not okay to be our true self from the time we are young and we begin to believe it to be true. We spend our whole lives living for other people and living based on other people's expectations. We eventually lose ourselves and create a false persona (or false self) – This is what I refer to as "The Mask".

The longer we wear the mask, the more we forget who we are underneath. We start to think that we are our masks – the character that we present to the world for acceptance. As this continues, we grow to dislike our mask because it is not our true self. This leads to depression, self-hate, or even suicidal ideation. We think we hate ourselves, but in reality we hate this false self that we have created. When we go against our own nature, it will always create depression.

If you have forgotten who you are, it's easy to remember. You know the truth by how you feel. If you want to remember what that feeling is like, simply go do something that is pure, genuine, and has good intentions and see how that feels. If you can do something for somebody that can never repay you, you will remember this feeling – that is the feeling you are seeking.

Now there are some absolutely wonderful people in this field. That is a fact. However, in general there is an overall lack of humanity and compassion in the way this population has been treated. We are the most incarcerating society in the history of mankind and most of these prisoners are there for harmless drug offenses.  Due to this influx of incarcerations, we have created for-profit prisons which rely on mass incarcerations for profit. They set up contracts with governments to guarantee high occupancy rates and spend millions of dollars lobbying to congress to make tougher prison laws to ensure they stay profitable. In turn, members of congress then hold stock in these private prisons – meaning that the people that make the laws are making money off the laws they sign into action.

We are locking up people who have a disease to profit the rich. Punishment does not work for this disease – it never has and it never will. If it did work, we would not have a this astronomical recidivism rate in jails for drug offenses.

The addiction and mental health industry continue to grow, despite this complete lack of success. There are extremely high rates of recidivism in these fields. Speaking from personal experience, more often than not the patients get sicker while in treatment.

The staff then blames this lack of success on the patient. They point fingers and say that the patient "was not ready" or that they have "poor insight." The site that failed to provide adequate treatment blames the victim and takes no responsibility for their failure.

This system only continues because too many people are making too much money off keeping people sick. The staff tends to be undertrained, under-qualified, and lack any meaningful or diverse life experience. They are trained to believe that their patients are bad people that are making bad choices instead of a sick person who has been traumatized. This obviously results in receiving much different treatment.