FEATURED post
17/06/16
Paulo Coelho
I learned about this in AA. Almost every time you go "out there" on the drink
after accepting you have a problem it gets worse. Because you know deep
down you have a problem and I think there is spiritual energy at play
telling you "This is not the way to go and you will have to learn that
and will whatever the cost". AA is about helping- and transforming- the individual drinker to live a happy life free from drink so this below message from Paul would be applicable to everyone in life in general, I think, and not just to people who have a alcohol or drug addiction or other addiction.
I haven't gone to an AA meeting in well over three years but I learned a lot going to those meetings and thanks in very large part to the organisation I haven't drank in well over 5 years! :)
I haven't gone to an AA meeting in well over three years but I learned a lot going to those meetings and thanks in very large part to the organisation I haven't drank in well over 5 years! :)
16/06/16
15/06/16
Heineken and Formula 1 in 2016!
Image via felixdicit.com
Photo via chimpreports.com
Letter to The Irish Times
Alcohol companies and motor sports
Sir, – In light of the recent statistics issued by the
Road Safety Authority that found that alcohol was a factor in almost 40
per cent of fatal road incidents, it is truly shocking to see Formula 1
agreed a five-year new sponsorship deal with Heineken.
The F1 deal with Heineken, estimated to be worth €133
million, places this alcohol company as one of the main sponsors of the
sport, with both trackside billboards and also sponsorship of teams in
F1. Alcohol brands are now dominating sponsorship in F1, linking popular
motor sport to one of the major killers on our roads, drink-driving.
A report on alcohol brand exposure during the F1
Monaco Grand Prix last year showed there were on average 11 references
to alcohol brands per minute, averaging one every five seconds. The
Monaco Grand Prix has a worldwide audience of around 500 million people,
and with the new deal in addition to the previous sponsorship
agreement, F1 is close to becoming more an event for granting the global
exposure of alcohol brands than a sporting event.
Between 2008 and 2012, 1,077 lives were lost in in 983
fatal collisions in Ireland alone. Surely Formula 1 has a
responsibility to break the link between drinking and driving? – Yours,
etc,
Prof FRANK MURRAY,
Chairman,
Alcohol Health Alliance Ireland,
President
Royal College of Physicians of Ireland,
Frederick House,
South Frederick Street,
Dublin 2
15th June 2016
12/06/16
09/06/16
Inequality and poverty - Michael D. Higgins (3)
"Global hunger is rooted in poverty;
And poverty is exacerbated by inequality."
And poverty is exacerbated by inequality."
President Michael D. Higgins, 9 June 2016
31/05/16
28/05/16
CRAOL Community Radio Féile 2016 - Regency Hotel
On Saturday 28th May 2016 the Near Media Co-op hosted the 2016 CRAOL Community Radio Féile & Awards in the Regency Hotel. I went along to it in a personal capacity and for Near FM and Raidió na Life and interviewed:
1) Louise McLoughlin, Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) (en).
2) Martina O'Brien, CRAOL (en).
3) Jack Byrne, Near Media Co-op and current chairperson of CRAOL (en).
4) Ciarán Ó Muirí, Comharchumann Cumarsáide Near (ga).
5) Muiris Ó Fiannachta, Raidió na Life (ga).
6) Fergus Ó hÍr, Raidió Fáilte (ga).
7) Tina Dennis, Dublin South FM (en).
8) Jeff Murphy, 92.5 Phoenix FM (en).
9) Gavin Byrne, Near FM (en).
10) Donie Tarrant, Near FM (ga).
11) Irena Cvetković, Athlone Community Radio (en).
12) Tony Conway, Erris FM (en).
13) David Quinn, Freelance Video Journalist (en).
14) Aoife Nic Canna, DJ & Oibrí sa Meáin (ga).
15) Ciarán Oglesby, Near FM (ga).
16) Eoghan Ó Néill, Raidió Fáilte (ga).
17) Bénévole de Radio, Fréquence Sillé (fr) .
18) Bénévole de Radio, Fréquence Sillé (fr).
19) Sally Galiana, Near FM (es).
20) Sally Galiana, Near FM (en).
18/05/16
17/05/16
09/05/16
Twitter lists
I created two Twitter lists tonight, my first time creating them.
- Raidió Pobail (Community Radio)
of my favourite community radio stations
and
- Irish Global Dev NGO's
of my favourite Irish global development NGO's including Irish Aid as the GO.
Creating your own personal lists on Twitter is a great way of catching up on all the news on Twitter in the areas you interested in and saves you having to check out each individual page separately. I have known of Twitter lists for ages but I only started creating them tonight and I think they are a great idea.
- Raidió Pobail (Community Radio)
of my favourite community radio stations
and
- Irish Global Dev NGO's
of my favourite Irish global development NGO's including Irish Aid as the GO.
Creating your own personal lists on Twitter is a great way of catching up on all the news on Twitter in the areas you interested in and saves you having to check out each individual page separately. I have known of Twitter lists for ages but I only started creating them tonight and I think they are a great idea.
06/05/16
Esther Abraham Hicks
I wrote last October about my spiritual avatars to date. I have to update you on the latest and one of the greatest new spiritual avatars I have now. Esther Hicks. She channels a higher power of Abraham- which is a collective higher power- and gives seminars throughout the world. I heard of her once a couple of years ago but did not inquire any further at the time because I, like most of you now probably, considered the idea absurd. Well I reread a few months ago that Neale Donald Walsch recommended one of her books in one of his books so I bought it and I agree with her teachings and believe that Esther Hicks, like Neale Donald Walsch, speaks the word of God. She not only has a Youtube channel with 163,000 subscribers to date (May 2016) but there are loads of other Youtube channels of or including her work also. She clearly believes in spreading her work for free mostly.
Anyway I recommend having a listen (most of her videos on Youtube, bar on her channel which incidentally has not been updated in a year, are audio podcasts). I am inclined to believe her when she says that we are all extensions of Source and when we are in alignment with our higher power know it or feel it. It happens I believe that some people, a very small minority, spend a lot more of their time in alignment than most people. I believe that Esther Hicks is one of these people and has a lot to teach us.
I recommend you watch or listen to at least two or three minutes of two of her videos to find out about Esther and the spirit Abraham she channels for yourself. A Youtube search for Abraham Hicks with specific search terms for areas you are in particular interested in should bring up videos/or audio podcasts of talks she has done on those topics- I find with areas I am interested in myself anyway.
22/04/16
The Public Health (Alcohol) Bill / An Bille Sláinte Poiblí (Alcól) 2016
Prof. Joe Barry, Trinity College Dublin
21/04/16
19/04/16
18/04/16
10/04/16
09/04/16
08/04/16
07/04/16
24/02/16
19/02/16
Society of St. Vincent de Paul Ireland and the 2016 Irish General Election
Here is an interview I did earlier with John Mark McCafferty the Head of Social Justice and Policy at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Ireland. We also spoke about the global picture in the second half of the interview mentioning the Sustainable Development Goals.
27/01/16
10/12/15
05/12/15
Darren J. Prior / Mac an Phríora
Nóta – I am not including the Gaelscoileanna movement and Irish language education in general in
this – I don't have a lot of experience of that outside of learning Irish in (English-medium) schools
and attending some coláistí samhraidh / second level summer colleges in the Gaeltacht.
Posted on Politics.ie
08/10/15
My favourite spiritual authors (2015)
When I first heard of the books when I was getting a Reiki attunement I thought that the idea was pie in the sky. It was not until I was in my late 20's when somebody I was chatting to online on Gary Zukav's old blog (he has a newer one now) mentioned Neale Donald Walsch so I did a Google search for him (not remembering that he wrote the CWG triology and other books) and found his old blog (he also has a new blog now), and read some of his quotes – allegedly from God – and I actually believed them.
I am not going to give a summary of his books as I could be writing for a long time. I regularly reread parts of his books. One thing I will say though is that, in the books God says that he communicates with humans all the time and it is only a question of listening to him. I am inclined to believe that we all have a higer self, or soul, and that our higher self or soul is God or part of God. So these books by Neale Donald Walsch are his converations with his higher self of God. My idea of God is different to that of Neale Donald Walsch (although I believe the vast majority of the material in his books and they have been and continualy are highly beneficial to me) in that I believe in the reality of evil. I don't actually get unduly concerned about possessions and exorcisms and even the devil though believe it or not because the more regular everyday evil we or I come across every day is more pressing and worrying.
M. Scott Peck's books have changed my life more than any other writer ever. Next Neale Donald Walsch's books have helped change, or evolve, me the most and Gary Zukav has a big amount also along with Anthony De Mello's books and those of Eckart Tolle's.
07/10/15
What is the problem with the world at the most basic level?
However if we all actually used our brains we could evolve so much without even having to ask for God's help I think.
"One of the major dilemmas we face both as individuals and as a society is simplistic thinking - or the failure to think at all. It isn't just a problem, it is the problem". — M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Travelled and Beyond.
I know that a lot of you reading this use your brains. Could you imagine if everyone on this earth used their brains and actually sought with curioristy and enthusiasm to increase their consciouness and knowledge of this earth and it's people? We wouldn't have a problem!
# M. Scott Peck / Scotty / Scott Peck
30/09/15
Reiki and the Reiki Federation Ireland
Gillian McNamara, PRO Reiki Federation Ireland
Soundbite – Reiki as a complementary therapy as opposed to an alternative therapy
– Reiki Federation Ireland
(2015)
29/09/15
Alcoholism
I remember reading one of Neale Donald Walsch's books where it said that alcohol irrespective of the dose impairs the mind. I just read this page long description on alcohol (well mostly alcoholism) and it is eery how accurate it is to me (I used to have a drink problem) and it makes me look at a lot of people differently: people who I didn't think had a drink problem but now I can see that they have (even if most of them can function by and large day-to-day) - including looking at most people in our society generally differently as I recognise now that most people, or the majority of people, are suffering from damage from alcohol to a greater or lesser extent also.
(In Ireland anyway - I will let others judge and comment on their own respective countries.)
I have highlighted what to me really sticks out. Not many people may be interested in reading the whole page.
Here is the article republished:
Alcoholism is a disease of the body, thinking, emotions and spirit. Progressive damage to these four aspects interact in various ways such that a person is increasingly compelled to drink. Also, once drinking starts they cannot 'always' guarantee when they will stop or how much they will drink.
The Body
A genetic predisposition. Fifty percent of alcoholics have an inherited genetic makeup that almost guaranteed they would become alcoholic when they began to drink heavily. For example, the brain chemistry of some children or grandchildren of alcoholics actually encourages heavier drinking.
Alcohol Metabolism. Alcohol is metabolized differently by some people. As a result the body and brain requires more alcohol to have the same effect than normal drinkers would need.
Cell alteration. All heavy drinkers undergo changes at the cellular level of the brain. Where the brain cells meet extra receptor positions grow to receive the heavy dose of alcohol related chemical messengers. When not drinking these extra receptor positions demand to be filled thus creating a craving for alcohol.
Brain damage. Alcohol, in any quantity, is poisonous to brain cells and kills off cells in their millions. The most critically affected parts of the brain are those that deal with short term memory, decision making and rational thinking. Women heavy drinkers develop brain damage with less drinking than men.
Liver Damage. The most common liver disease of alcoholics is cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver. This disease results in reduced and corrupted chemicals being sent to the body which can result in damage to other organs. Women suffer liver damage with less alcohol consumption than men.
Alcoholic Hepatitis (AH). AH is caused by other liver diseases most notably cirrhosis of the liver. More than 60% of persons who develop both AH and cirrhosis will die within four years. AH can cause changes in sleep patterns, mood, and personality; psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression; shortened attention span; and problems with coordination may occur.
Brain Chemicals. The body and especially the brain relies on the liver to filter important body fluids and excrete wastes. As a result of contaminated chemistry from a damaged liver the brain does not function properly. Typically a person will have cloudy and slowed thinking.
Heart Damage. Heavy drinking causes damage to the heart muscles. The heart pumps less blood and an abnormal heart beat may develop. Women suffer heart damage with less alcohol consumed than men.
Skeletal Muscles. Heavy drinking causes muscles in the arms and legs to shrink. For example, an alcoholic may have legs that are out of proportion, skinnier, than the rest of their body. Sufferers may become embarrassed about their body shape.
Cancer. The risk of cancer increases with greater alcohol consumption - more so in women. Cancer can develop in the upper airways, the liver, breasts and the bowels.
Sexual Organs and Sexuality. Heavy alcohol use shrinks the testicles. In men and women the breasts grow larger. Men produce more female hormones and women produce more male hormones. Men become less virile and women become less feminine. As a result a persons sexuality and libido is altered.
They may sense change in their sexuality and over compensate by becoming more sexually active. Indiscriminate or intoxicated sexual activity raises the risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases.
Thinking
As detailed before various damaged body organs and altered chemistry affect how the brain thinks.
This buildup of thinking changes occurs over an extended time period. These small changes are usually unseen by the sufferer. The person reacts by adjusting their reasoning and behavior to accommodate their new ways of thinking. Alcoholics always adjust their thinking in ways that are harmful to themselves. And further, they cannot see the impact of their new coping style.
Typically they begin to adopt a siege mentality. Inner-self feedback, and from other people, indicates they are not quite at one with their 'inner' selves or the person they once were. Their experiences seem to paint a picture to the sufferer that people around them are against them, or are better than them, or are just different from themselves. They become insecure, angry, ashamed, depressed and anxious about their altered attitudes and actions.
This siege mentality generates a self-centered perspective to protect their self concept. They become takers and non-givers. "I want what I want and I want it now", sort of thing; "I need a drink, now"; regardless of the needs of others. And, when they do not get it they assert themselves even more, becoming more demanding as the disease progresses.
Alcoholics will increasingly try to cope by drinking more alcohol to take away the pain of their perception of being isolated in thinking and behavior. They slowly adopt a denial attitude to their real condition, which they eventually believe is reality for them.
The alcoholic drinks more due to a different brain chemistry and metabolism, has craving for more alcohol due to cell alteration and organ damage, and drinks more to cope with the effects of their changed thinking and behavior. They are drinking to feel normal.
The Emotions
From the above it can easily be seen that their emotions become strained and twisted. They become emotionally dependent on achieving and keeping a state of denial of their true situation. They deny it to themselves and others. If their alcoholism is in threat of being exposed or their alcohol supply is threatened they may protect themselves with anger, bluff, self-pity, manipulation, depression, running away & etc.
They 'feel' as if they must continue their current emotional and thinking stance at all costs. Alcohol has become their best friend and they are loyal to it.
The Spirit
The spirit of a person is the centre of their personality. If, as seen above, the person is not thinking, feeling or acting as their true self would, not aligned with their spiritual self, they are spiritually ill at ease; or dis-eased.
A Solution
The progression of the disease must be arrested by stopping drinking and restoration of health in all four areas - body, thinking, emotions and spirit.
It is the dis-eased spiritual state that is targeted by the most successful treatment service world wide - Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Through the Twelve Steps of recovery each person finds their inner, spiritual self by stripping away the effects of alcoholism and fixing up the wreckage of past thinking and actions. They begin to live a life of freedom from alcohol that has had them enslaved.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/opinions/11632
(In Ireland anyway - I will let others judge and comment on their own respective countries.)
I have highlighted what to me really sticks out. Not many people may be interested in reading the whole page.
Here is the article republished:
Alcoholism is a four fold progressive disease
Robin Foote
Alcoholism is a disease of the body, thinking, emotions and spirit. Progressive damage to these four aspects interact in various ways such that a person is increasingly compelled to drink. Also, once drinking starts they cannot 'always' guarantee when they will stop or how much they will drink.
The Body
A genetic predisposition. Fifty percent of alcoholics have an inherited genetic makeup that almost guaranteed they would become alcoholic when they began to drink heavily. For example, the brain chemistry of some children or grandchildren of alcoholics actually encourages heavier drinking.
Alcohol Metabolism. Alcohol is metabolized differently by some people. As a result the body and brain requires more alcohol to have the same effect than normal drinkers would need.
Cell alteration. All heavy drinkers undergo changes at the cellular level of the brain. Where the brain cells meet extra receptor positions grow to receive the heavy dose of alcohol related chemical messengers. When not drinking these extra receptor positions demand to be filled thus creating a craving for alcohol.
Brain damage. Alcohol, in any quantity, is poisonous to brain cells and kills off cells in their millions. The most critically affected parts of the brain are those that deal with short term memory, decision making and rational thinking. Women heavy drinkers develop brain damage with less drinking than men.
Liver Damage. The most common liver disease of alcoholics is cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver. This disease results in reduced and corrupted chemicals being sent to the body which can result in damage to other organs. Women suffer liver damage with less alcohol consumption than men.
Alcoholic Hepatitis (AH). AH is caused by other liver diseases most notably cirrhosis of the liver. More than 60% of persons who develop both AH and cirrhosis will die within four years. AH can cause changes in sleep patterns, mood, and personality; psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression; shortened attention span; and problems with coordination may occur.
Brain Chemicals. The body and especially the brain relies on the liver to filter important body fluids and excrete wastes. As a result of contaminated chemistry from a damaged liver the brain does not function properly. Typically a person will have cloudy and slowed thinking.
Heart Damage. Heavy drinking causes damage to the heart muscles. The heart pumps less blood and an abnormal heart beat may develop. Women suffer heart damage with less alcohol consumed than men.
Skeletal Muscles. Heavy drinking causes muscles in the arms and legs to shrink. For example, an alcoholic may have legs that are out of proportion, skinnier, than the rest of their body. Sufferers may become embarrassed about their body shape.
Cancer. The risk of cancer increases with greater alcohol consumption - more so in women. Cancer can develop in the upper airways, the liver, breasts and the bowels.
Sexual Organs and Sexuality. Heavy alcohol use shrinks the testicles. In men and women the breasts grow larger. Men produce more female hormones and women produce more male hormones. Men become less virile and women become less feminine. As a result a persons sexuality and libido is altered.
They may sense change in their sexuality and over compensate by becoming more sexually active. Indiscriminate or intoxicated sexual activity raises the risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases.
Thinking
As detailed before various damaged body organs and altered chemistry affect how the brain thinks.
This buildup of thinking changes occurs over an extended time period. These small changes are usually unseen by the sufferer. The person reacts by adjusting their reasoning and behavior to accommodate their new ways of thinking. Alcoholics always adjust their thinking in ways that are harmful to themselves. And further, they cannot see the impact of their new coping style.
Typically they begin to adopt a siege mentality. Inner-self feedback, and from other people, indicates they are not quite at one with their 'inner' selves or the person they once were. Their experiences seem to paint a picture to the sufferer that people around them are against them, or are better than them, or are just different from themselves. They become insecure, angry, ashamed, depressed and anxious about their altered attitudes and actions.
This siege mentality generates a self-centered perspective to protect their self concept. They become takers and non-givers. "I want what I want and I want it now", sort of thing; "I need a drink, now"; regardless of the needs of others. And, when they do not get it they assert themselves even more, becoming more demanding as the disease progresses.
Alcoholics will increasingly try to cope by drinking more alcohol to take away the pain of their perception of being isolated in thinking and behavior. They slowly adopt a denial attitude to their real condition, which they eventually believe is reality for them.
The alcoholic drinks more due to a different brain chemistry and metabolism, has craving for more alcohol due to cell alteration and organ damage, and drinks more to cope with the effects of their changed thinking and behavior. They are drinking to feel normal.
The Emotions
From the above it can easily be seen that their emotions become strained and twisted. They become emotionally dependent on achieving and keeping a state of denial of their true situation. They deny it to themselves and others. If their alcoholism is in threat of being exposed or their alcohol supply is threatened they may protect themselves with anger, bluff, self-pity, manipulation, depression, running away & etc.
They 'feel' as if they must continue their current emotional and thinking stance at all costs. Alcohol has become their best friend and they are loyal to it.
The Spirit
The spirit of a person is the centre of their personality. If, as seen above, the person is not thinking, feeling or acting as their true self would, not aligned with their spiritual self, they are spiritually ill at ease; or dis-eased.
A Solution
The progression of the disease must be arrested by stopping drinking and restoration of health in all four areas - body, thinking, emotions and spirit.
It is the dis-eased spiritual state that is targeted by the most successful treatment service world wide - Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Through the Twelve Steps of recovery each person finds their inner, spiritual self by stripping away the effects of alcoholism and fixing up the wreckage of past thinking and actions. They begin to live a life of freedom from alcohol that has had them enslaved.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/opinions/11632
31/08/15
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