CaveatMagnusFrater's Comments (285)

“HI Elana,

I've observed my feelings around other people quite often. Mostly, I was concerned with figuring out how I could react internally to feel the balance I prefer for myself . I'm going to give your advice a try. I'll just observe over and over agian how I'm letting someone else effect my feelings and see if awareness presents itself.

I've long belived that we frequently base our responses on decisions we've made as children, some decisions were made as young as three or four years old.

Thank you,
little brother”

“Are you having a difficult time finding friends to network with and share baby-sitting? Hopefully things have changed in the last ten years, but in the 90s, it was all but impossible. That's the one advantaqe single mothers have over single dads.”

“HI Ed and Deb,

My advice to President Barrack Obama would be to first define a very specific objective in Afghanistan and then devise the plan that will achieve that objecitve. Wipe out terrorism is neither a plan.nor a realistic objective. Working with the Pakistani government to re-estavlish the bordor between Afghanistan and Pakistan in order to isolate extreme Taliban elements from peace seeking civilians would be a worthy and achieveable goal.

For our economy, I'd advise re-implementation of trade and communication regulations that were established post depression to limit the power that some greedy individuals seek. The fairness doctrine prevents a wealthy individual from having excessive influence on national discussions. Anit-trust and monopoly laws led to a more balanced economy where no one corporation was too big to allow it to fail. Also, I'd advise he heed the late Senator Kennedy's championing of union rights as a counterweight to the power of large corporations.

Respectfully,
little brother”

“It's not easy to realize that one's existance is finite. Therefore man has fulfilled a need to feel eternal by creating a philosophy in which the soul continues after the body dies. To some, that is so comforting that to accept any arguement against it dispels the delusion of spiritual immortality. As long as men need their gods, they will ignore evidence that their beliefs are unfounded.”

“Hi Kari,

My latest bout of an overwhelming sense of gratitde was when a group of my friends did something very nice for me when they knew that I was feeling a little down .

peace
little brother”

“Hi Kiri,

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family.

I've been employing your #2 tip for a while now and it's helped me to minimize my stress. I used to take a book with me when I thought I might have to wait a while, like at Dr. appts. Now, it's just another opportunity to do some light meditating.

Have a blast,
little brother”

“Hi Cara,

Just last night as I was driving home from work after stopping off for groceries I called my oldest son and asked if he was coming to Thanksgiving dinner. Also he said his girlfriend went back home for the holiday. So he asked if so-and-so or someone -else was going to be there. I told him no, it was just going to be me, my wife, his brother, him and a couple of friends who didn't have other plans. Well, that wasn't good enough. He doesn't want to come because 2 people he doesn't know are going to be there and this used to be a family thing. As my heart sank because my son wasn't coming because I'd invited friends I knew that it was him and not me but that didn't make the disappoingment any easier. I think that was a vampire moment, I let someone down again. How quickly such moments can deflate us like a knife to the sidewall of a tire but how long it takes to re-inflate. But re-inflate I shall and I'm almost there already.

I too adopted Angie Cordero's pledge but went with the two that I need most and will be able to remember:

Listen more, talk less.
Laugh more and de-stress.­"

Happy Thanksgiving,
little brother”

“HI Anne,

I know that imagery-rehearsal therapy is effective. I used it many years ago. I never heard of such a thing but I intuitatively understood that if I'd plan a response to the most frightening recurring nightmares I was having, I'd at least have a chance to alter them and it worked. I highly recommend anyone having the same nightmare over and over create a plan to either overcome the dreams antagonist or at least build an early escape from the dream. "I'm having this dream again, time to end it" worked for me with the alligator dream.

Great post,
little brother”

“Hi Darya,

I couldn't imagine counting calories on Thanksgiving Day. I've loved the traditional feast since I was very young. On top of that, my wife makes the best mashed potatos and gravy I've ever eaten. And trying to just have one or two bites of greenbean cassarole is a rediculous thing to ask your mouth to do, especially when celebrating with family and friends. And who even considers eating turkey without stuffing? Actually, I think that's illegal. So I'll slow down on Friday and every other meal until Solstice Day when the 2nd of the three seasonal feasts requires celebration rather than food celebation.

Have a blast,
little brohter”

“Hi Ed and Deb,

All we have to do to make politics more honest and kind is to eliminate fear and greed and teach everyone in the world how to be more compassionate. It might take a couple years.

peace,'
little brother”

“Hi Belleruth,

I couldn't agree more. PTSD is not contageous. One can become depressed after dealing with a large number of people coping with PTSD but you can't catch it by osmosis.

little brother”

“implement a draft lottery for all mean and women between 18 and 30 who have not yet served and don't allow deferments or escape clauses. When everybocy's kid is at risk of being cannon fodder, we'll enter war less willingly”

“Look to Rome's ocupation of Britain for an example of nation building. My ancestor's beliefs are called heathan while the Roman's catholicism reigns supreme.”

“Required study: All published works by Fareed Zacharia. He's the rare journalist whose ax to grind is exposing deceit so honest negotiations can proceed.”

“HI Julia,

Thanks. You just helped me find some neat stuff to give this holiday season. I opened the links to Owi-Robots and Davis Studio. I'm sure I'll find something for nearly everyone at one of those. My neice lives greener then I do (I'm getting better) and she'll definately appreciate that her gift was made with the smallest carbon footprint possible.

Great Post,
little brother”

“HI Anne,

I started reading your blogs appearantly just shortly after you started writing in the Living section of HuffPo. I feel like an infant in spiritual growth and so many of the posters in this section have become my guides. Like an infant I accept nourishment from those who seem trustworthy to me and I try what I've been given. Then like everybody, if it makes me feel better I continue doing it. Practicing gratitude and forgiveness has made it so much easier to let relaxed happiness fill my heart pretty regularly. Thank you for bringing such wonderfully ideal ideas to us so often.

Lotsa Luv
little brother”

“Hi Martha,

Great name. Two of the best women I've ever known are Marthas. To answer the question posed in your articles title: Neither. It is not sexual harassment because it took place outside of a work environment. It was a cheesy come-on that could flatter some and annoy others, not poetry. I miss the overt friendliness which is so pervasive in countries around the Med. but I don't miss the religious undertones that are so evident nearly constantly. Pros and cons. Seems like everywhere I live, you get some good and some bad with the culture. When in Rome......­..

Peace
little brother”

“Hi Kari,

I sure hope Price Doc succeeds. The health insurance industry is as large as the healthcare industry and one can only assume that when only 1/2 the people in the combined industry actually perform healthcare, lots of money goes to profiteers rather than producers. The obvious conclusion is that people cannot afford healthcare because greedy bastards found a way to line their pockets at the expense of the sick. GO PRICEDOC and everyone else fighting the good fight to protect the vulnerable from the tyrants.

much respect,
little brother”

“Hello Ed and Deb,

This is great: Dalai Lama humorously says: "Treat this book as you would a cookery book. You wouldn’t merely read recipes with approval, you'd try them out" That remindes of of the Italian Cooking magazine my wife subscribed to. She' peruse it for hours and then one day she made ravioli from scratch. It was delicious. I have my own recipes for pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce but looked through her magazine and used some of the ideas and improved my own recipes. It's kind of like when I first tried meditation in the 70s. I didn't get it. I kept on trying and trying but since I was doing it wrong, I felt it wasn't for me and I left it. Now that I understand what I was doing wrong, (thanks Ed) it does work for me. Thanks for inspiring me and pointing me in the right direction. I'm spreading hte word. Not emphatically but in my own way. i just mention that I've started meditating and it's really helped me .

Lotsa love,
little brother”

“It would at least require an understanding of journalism.”

“WTF451,

That was my thought too. But it's pointless to explain why it's ok for one side to say we're the real Americans but not alright for the other side to do so.”

“Hi Alana,

The good news is that it's only 2 weeks until Black Friday. All those great deals just waiting for me to sccop in and save big bucks. Even though Christmas isn't part of my religion, It is a national holiday, so we celebrate Solstice again a few days later just to be in sync with everyone else. I hope you have a great holiday season and good luck with those birthdays.

little brother”

“Hi Carolyn,

I think Aby's 5 steps could be used year round. I'm as busy as I can be without stressing over B.S. As far as getting it perfect: you're not going to get it all perfect no matter how hard you try, can't be done. So, give yourself a break and enjoy the time with family, anytime all year.

little brother”

“Hi Friday,

On top of that, we teach little boys from the get go that they WILL get jobs when they grow up and support their family. Little girls are taught that they CAN get jobs when they grow up if they don't want to be stay-at home-Moms. It puts a lot of pressure on little boys but it also ill-prepares girls for working outside of the home. I think the advantatges and dis-advangtages of each gender balance out until sex and pregnancey come into the picture. Then women are definately discriminated against.”

“Yes. They claim victum status because they are impeded in their efforts to control others.”