July 27, 2024 (NYTimes.com)

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Schwartz Report • Premiered Jul 26, 2024 Thank you for listening.

An excerpt from my book Walking Your Blues Away: How to Heal the Mind and Create Emotional Well-Being

THOM HARTMANN JUL 28∙PREVIEW

No experience is a cause of success or failure. We do not suffer from the shock of our experiences or so-called trauma—but we make out of them just what suits our purposes.
—Alfred Adler

One of the enduring mysteries in the field of psychology is why the same event produces such different memories and responses in different people. As the New York Times reported in a July 1, 2004 article by Anahad O’Connor, one out of every six soldiers coming home from the war in Iraq are showing signs of emotional difficulties, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder.

         Citing a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, the reporter noted, “The researchers surveyed more than 6,000 soldiers in the months before and after service in Iraq or Afghanistan. Almost 17 percent of those who fought in Iraq reported symptoms of major depression, severe anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, compared with about 11 percent of the troops who served in Afghanistan.”

         In World War II, post-war depression and anxiety was called “battle fatigue”; in World War I it was referred to as “shell shock.” The question isn’t so much why it happens—we know GIs in war do and see horrific things. The question that perplexes is why post-war anxiety and depression haunts some veterans and not others. Of course, some vets see harder combat than others. But even that doesn’t entirely account for the statistics. There are still huge variations among individual soldiers in how they respond to the same event.

The One-Day Scratch Pad

In order to understand why some people are still “shocked” months and even years after a traumatic event, it’s necessary to first understand how the brain and the mind process trauma.

The brain is a complex collection of deeply interconnected parts and processes; I will vastly oversimplify here for the purpose of description. There is a part of the limbic brain, or “visceral brain,” called the hippocampus that essentially functions as a one-day scratch pad for memory. Everything you experience throughout the day is stored as sense impressions in the hippocampus; in order for an impression to become a long-term memory it must pass through the hippocampus. Although the larger brain is able to discern time and therefore understand that one thing happened a week ago and another thing happened a month ago, the hippocampus only knows one time: today.

         During the night, as we sleep, the hippocampus dumps its information from the day into the rest of the brain for processing, sorting, storing, and disposing of irrelevant information; as the brain is processing the details of the day from the hippocampus, we experience a state that we call “dreaming.” Most sleep researchers are convinced that the time when we experience rapid eye movement (REM) sleep—when our eyes move back and forth rapidly underneath our eyelids—is when most of the traumas of our daily life are processed. The process of information management completed, when we wake up in the morning the hippocampus is once again empty and ready to record another day.

         The problem emerges when the hippocampus is carrying information that’s too much, or too “hot,” for the larger brain/mind to handle. When a sensory experience is too strong to be easily and unremarkably processed, then it presents in our dream world as a nightmare. If that still doesn’t “download” the information from the hippocampus, then the trauma either becomes buried in the subconscious (the process that Freud termed repression), or it gets thrown back to the conscious mind the next morning. It’s as if the brain says, “Whoa, that’s too much for me to process in one evening, so please just hang on to it for now.” When the person wakes up the next morning, the information is still there in the hippocampus, still “remembered” and known and felt as if it had happened that very day

         The conjecture that the hippocampus knows nothing at all about the past accounts for the unique feature of true post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): that the person feels, every day, as if the past event were happening today. The trauma is always front and center, new, fresh and raw. The consequences can be psychologically and emotionally disastrous. Every day is affected by a past event; the traumatic event never passes from “now” into “then,” and is never processed and filed away in a memory bank, where it no longer has the power to cause pain and problems on a daily basis. The impact of this on the mind and the emotions is staggering.

         Brain scans even demonstrate that before a PTSD event has been processed, the amygdala—a part of the brain responsible for strong/survival emotional states—and the hippocampus are not functioning normally. The brain scan makes it possible to, in a way, “see” the stuck memory. After processing the memory, these parts of the brain can return to normal functioning.

Access to Resource States

One of the key concepts of many schools of psychology is that human beings are most functional when every part of the mind has access to all other parts. In particular, this functionality is a matter of having full access to positive resources, such as memories of times when we were successful in our undertakings and the good feelings we associate with those accomplishments. Working from this level of functionality, then, when we take on a new task, for example, we first remember times in the past when we attempted something similar and accomplished our goals. This functionality can be accessed in all new endeavors, from embarking on a new love relationship to taking on a first public-speaking engagement.

         <T>Memories of past accomplishments and capabilities are stored in parts of the brain far from the amygdala and hippocampus. The amygdala and hippocampus, parts of our nervous system’s most primary and primitive structures, lie deep in the brain. (Humans share the amygdala and hippocampus structures with all mammals, unlike our frontal lobes, which we only share with the highest of the apes.) Thus, having a negative memory stuck deep in the hippocampus blocks the pain and fear associated with that memory from reaching and “associating with” positive memories and resource states, which are housed in more distant parts of the brain.

One of the most elegant and truly useful aspects of walking therapy (and other forms of bilateral intervention) is that, by their very process of side-to-side motion, they cause the right and left lobes of the brain to alternately take responsibility for processing information. When you look to your left, the right side of your brain is processing what it is you’re seeing; as your line of sight travels past your centerline and to your right, the information travels across the corpus callosum, the bundle of nerve fibers that connect the two hemispheres, and is handed off to the left side of the brain for processing.

         Normally the left and right sides of the brain have a certain amount of separation of function. For example, Broca’s region, in the left side of the brain, is responsible for speech, whereas we “listen” to sound and speech with the “silent” part of the brain, Wernicke’s region, in the right hemisphere.

         The hippocampus lies deep within the brain, closer to the ancient midbrain than most of the more evolutionarily recent “thinking-function” parts of the brain. These are closer to the surface and generally reside specifically on either the right or left side of the brain. This physical/anatomical detail has led researchers to guess that one very significant way in which bilateral therapies function is by keeping the hippocampus (and the amygdala) engaged through actively recalling the traumatizing memory, while simultaneously and alternately activating the left and right hemispheres of the brain. This process integrates the function of the hippocampus with the two hemispheres of the brain while also connecting the two hemispheres. Because the hippocampus is engaged, the processing that would normally happen during sleep happens instead while the person is wide awake, provoking an “emptying” of the hippocampus and the filing and storing of the information it had contained in an appropriate “this-is-the-past” part of the brain.

         When people who undergo bilateral therapy wake up the next day, they know that what had been bothering them is now in the past. (Often they will dream of the original event overnight). With the walking therapy that I have developed, in most cases this recognition that the experience is in the past happens during the walk itself. That is the key indicator that the session has been successful.

2 DAYS AGO by RODERICK SCOBIE ( @RODERICKSCOBIE )

PARIS – An Olympic torchbearer jogging through Paris en route to the opening ceremony has accidentally triggered a huge uprising amongst the populace as they reflexively took to the streets.

“As a lifelong Parisien I’ve always known what to do if I see a torch heading towards the center of the city,” said local shopkeeper turned revolutionary Didier Comtois. “You gather the forces of liberty and storm the seats of power.”

Following a tumultuous election that saw the far right threaten to gain control of the National Assembly before ultimately falling short to a left-wing alliance, the citizens of Paris were especially primed for mass action. But in the end most participants simply felt that the 66 year old Fifth Republic, France’s 3rd-longest-lasting system of government of the past 250 years, was getting a little stale.

“Sure we’ve had our share of protests in the last year over police killings, food prices, and the retirement age getting raised anywhere close to other EU nations,” said one former prisoner turned militia leader. “But those are just a kind of amuse bouche, the main course has to arrive eventually. And there is only one dish on the menu: revolution!”

Thousands of tourists were quickly absorbed into the uprising as it passed the hotels and restaurants in the north of the city. Many were convinced it was a new Olympic event that had started before the opening ceremony and involved violent fan participation, like soccer.

As the oblivious torchbearer made his way through Parc de la Villette, explosions could be heard to the south. Authorities insisted that this was a pre-planned fireworks display to announce the opening of the Games but others were not so sure.

“Fireworks? Ha!” laughed one woman with fire in her eyes and the songs of revolution on her Spotify playlist. “I’m heading to my storage locker to find the family barricades, we’ll have the parliament on the run by dawn!”

At press time it was reported that Andrew Lloyd Weber and Lin-Manuel Miranda were teaming up to make the most annoying musical possible based on the event.

(thebeaverton.com)

(Photo from guardian.ng)

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/smKqMiGXxl4?si=K-9_6_79HgQJ5fJM

NBC Sports Jul 26, 2024

Hymne a l’Amour (Hymn to Love)
(M. Monnot/E. Piaf with English lyrics by G. Parsons, originally performed by Edith Piaf)

If the sun should tumble from the sky
If the see should suddenly run dry
If you love me, really love me
Let it happen darling, I don’t care

Shall I catch a shooting star
Shall I bring it where you are
If you want me to, I will.
You can set me any task
I’ll do anything you ask
If you’ll only love me still

When at last, our life on earth is through
I will spend eternity with you
If you love me, really love me
Let it happen darling, I won’t care

La versión francesa:

Le ciel bleu sur nous peut s’effondrer
Et la terre peut bien s’ecrouler
Peu m’importe, si tu m’aimes,
Je me moque du monde entier

Tant que l’amour inondra mes matins
Que mon corps fremira sous tes mains
Peu m’importent les grands problemes,
Mon amour puisque tu m’aimes

J’irais jusqu’au bout du monde,
Je me ferais teindre en blonde
Si tu me le demandais
On peut bien rire de moi
Je ferais n’importe quoi
Si tu le me demandais

Nous aurons pour nous l’éternité
dans le bleu de toute l’immensité
Dans le ciel plus de problèmes
Dieu réunit ceux qui s’aiment

(and the other version…)

Le ciel bleu sur nous peut s’effondrer
Et la terre peut bien s’écrouler
Peu m’importe, si tu m’aimes,
Je me fous du monde entier

Tant que l’amour inondra mes matins
Tant que mon corps frémira sous tes mains
Peu m’importent les problemes
Mon amour puisque tu m’aimes

J’irais jusqu’au bout du monde
Je me ferais teindre en blonde
Si tu me le demandais
J’irais decrocher la lune
J’irais voler la fortune
Si tu me le demandais

On peut bien rire de moi
Je ferais n’importe quoi
Si tu me le demandais
Je renierais ma patrie
Je renierais mes amis
Si tu me le demandais

Si un jour la vie t’arrache à moi
Si tu meurs, que tu sois loin de moi
Peu m’importe, si tu m’aime
Car moi je mourrai aussi

Nous aurons pour nous l’éternité
Dans le bleu de toute l’immensité
Dans le ciel, plus de problèmes
Mon amour crois-tu qu’on s’aime?
Dieu réunit ceux qui s’aiment.

(forum.gateworld.net)

“The Mandela Effect is a type of false memory that occurs when many different people incorrectly remember the same thing. It refers to a widespread false memory that Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s. Memories are not always precise recordings of events.”

(medicalnewstoday.com)

New Thinking • Jul 14, 2024 Cynthia Sue Larson, MBA, hosts Living the Quantum Dream on the DreamVisions7 radio network. She is author of Reality Shifts: When Consciousness Changes the Physical World, also Quantum Jumps and The Aura Advantage. Her newest book is The Mandela Effect and Its Society. In this interview, Cynthia Sue weaves her own personal experiences and research with a wider knowledge based on accumulating over 1,000 instances of bizarre events concerning the disappearance and reappearance of objects and people. 00:00 Introduction 07:17 Defining the Mandela Effect 10:25 Carl Jung’s experience 13:57 The dinosaur disappeared 17:37 Cynthia Sue’s Larson’s personal experiences 22:56 What does modern physics say? 28:24 The simulation hypothesis 32:36 Personality studies 36:30 Reality is malleable 43:23 The “many worlds” interpretation 47:21 Conclusion Edited subtitles for this video are available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, and Swedish. New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. (Recorded on June 24, 2024)

“Girls Gays and Theys”

By GRANT TUCKER and MOLLY CLAYTON

PUBLISHED: 25 July 2024  (DailyMail,co.uk)

Kamala Harris is hoping for a boost to her presidential bid – after being caught up in a British pop star’s social media trend.

The US Vice-President has embraced the ‘brat summer’ craze, which was kick-started by Charli XCX.

The term refers to the 31-year-old singer’s album Brat, released last month, which was yesterday nominated for a Mercury Prize.

Following the news that Joe Biden had dropped out of the presidential race this week, Charli XCX wrote on social media: ‘Kamala IS Brat.’

The post sparked a flurry of internet ‘memes’, which the Harris campaign is now using to win young voters.

British singer Charli (left), 31, posted a tweet branding the Vice President (right) as ‘brat’ after Joe Biden endorsed her for the Democratic presidential nominee and dropped out of the race

Charli XCX, 31, took to X on Sunday saying, ‘kamala IS brat’ – an endorsement referencing the name of her album released earlier this year

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The header on her official campaign account has been modelled on the Brat album cover, using the same font and shade of green.

Supporters of the Democrat have also edited her speeches to songs from the album. One viral post remixed the song Von Dutch with a speech Ms Harris gave last year.

In it, she recounted her mother saying: ‘You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.’

Read More

How ‘brat’ is Kamala Harris and what does that even mean? Democrats in Congress weigh in 

Abigail De Kosnik, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told US news channel NBC that Ms Harris was ‘plugged in’ to popular culture in a way that previous Democrat candidates have not been.

Describing why the Vice-President is embracing the ‘brat summer’ trend, she added: ‘The brat girl is sort of like the unexpected leader, the unexpected winner.’

Ms Harris has also been endorsed by musicians such as Beyoncé and Cardi B, while US singer Kesha mashed up a video of her ‘cackling’ with her 2011 song Blow.

Yesterday Charli XCX said that watching Brat ‘take on a life of its own’ had been ‘wild’ as she was nominated for a Mercury Prize.

Brat, which is her sixth studio album, is one of 12 albums to be shortlisted.

Hailing the second time she has ever been nominated for the award, Charli XCX posted: ‘Brat has been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and I really am so honored [sic].

‘It’s so nice to see this body of work get so much love, it truly means the world and watching it take on a life of its own has just been so wild and quite f****** crazy.’

‘Brat’ is Charli XCX’s (pictured) sixth album

Charlie XCX reveals the ‘brat summer essentials’ to Nick Grimshaw

Kamala Harris (pictured) has embraced the ‘brat summer’ trend after Charli XCX’s viral tweet

Charli, 31, tweeted ‘kamala IS brat’, a reference to her newly released album brat (album artwork pictured on left). Harris’ campaign quickly adopted the album’s lime green aesthetic for her Kamala HQ X account (right)

News anchors puzzled by Kamala Harris being a ‘brat’

Corinne Bailey Rae has also been nominated as has Beth Gibbons for her first solo studio album Lives Outgrown.

Rock band The Last Dinner Party has also been recognised for its debut album.

The winner, to be announced in September, will receive a £25,000 reward. However there will be no live awards ceremony this year, only ‘extensive promotional activity’.

How did the ‘brat summer’ craze begin?

The ‘brat summer’ social media trend began with the June 7 release of Brat, the sixth studio album by musician Charli XCX.

The 31-year-old from Cambridge, whose real name is Charlotte Emma Aitchison, has described a ‘brat’ as a ‘girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes’.

Last month she described a ‘brat girl’ as someone who ‘has a packet of cigs, a [lighter] and wears a strappy white top without a bra’.

Some critics have called it a rejection of the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic – the idea that a woman can look ‘fresh and glowing’ with minimal effort.

New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove • Jul 26, 2024 This video is a special release from the original Thinking Allowed series that ran on public television from 1986 until 2002. It was recorded in about 1989. It will remain public for only one week. What is the difference between management and leadership? While effective management is needed to maintain the status quo, it is leadership that moves us forward to a new vision of the future. The path to leadership, says James Kouzes, is an inner process much like the mythological hero’s journey. James M. Kouzes is a Fellow of the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University. He has been President of Tom Peters Group Learning Systems. Since 1969 he has trained more than 15,000 executives and professionals. A former Director of the Executive Development Center of Santa Clara University’s School of Business, he is author of The Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations. Now you can watch all of the programs from the original Thinking Allowed Video Collection, hosted by Jeffrey Mishlove. Subscribe to the new Streaming Channel (https://thinkingallowed.vhx.tv/) and watch more than 350 programs now, with more, previously unreleased titles added weekly. Free month of the classic Thinking Allowed streaming channel for New Thinking Allowed subscribers only. Use code THINKFREELY.

New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove • Jul 18, 2024 Ronnie Pontiac was the personal research assistance for Manly P. Hall at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles. He is author of American Metaphysical Religion: Esoteric and Mystical Traditions of the New World. He is coauthor with Tamra Lucid of The Magic of the Orphic Hymns: A New Translation for the Modern Mystic. Here he describes both the ancient Egyptian goddess Sekhment and a contemporary movement involving large numbers of people who feel the presence of this figure in their dreams and in their lives. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:19 The festival of drunkenness 00:06:44 Who was Sekhmet? 00:23:38 Early stages of Sekhmet’s modern revival 00:32:49 The influence of Robert Masters 00:47:05 Other contemporary proponents of Sekhmet 00:54:08 Living statues 00:59:49 Deeper meanings and considerations 01:10:08 Goddess, archetype, or egregore? 01:18:25 Conclusion Edited subtitles for this video are available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, and Swedish. New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. (Recorded on June 26, 2024)

This Saturday, Salon Calvin’s  2024 Series presents Video and Conversation  – William Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest.

Salon Calvin, will not have you quoting Shakespeare, as a matter of fact, you don’t even have to have read the play to attend.

Shockingly it is about having fun learning something about yourself through literature you may not  have known/

We will have a video on the play The Tempest presenting viewpoints from the cast, historical records, and some tidbits about how and why Willye wrote the play in the first place.  In this continuing series, you are invited to find insights from fun yet in-depth conversations with interesting and piquant guests.

Followed by a Segway into a fun-filled discussion on what you saw and insights you gained about the play.

 Event: Salon Calvin evening

Date: Saturday, July  27, 2024

Time: 4:00 pm to about 7 pm Pacific Time

Where: Over Zoom

Zoom Link – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89922643702

See you there!

Calvin