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teanderthalrex · 4 months ago

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Fewer Rules, Better People by Barry Lam

There are two important things about this review: I am not a philosopher, but I am an abolitionist.

Those two things informed a lot of my enjoyment, or lack thereof, of this short book on how legalism is bad for everyone and less rules will make for better people, if only we follow the guidelines set out at the end of the book.

I agree with a few points in this book: we shouldn't have rules that no one plans to enforce and that being answerable to laws and rules does not mean that a person has a good sense of morality and no bias.

However, I disagree that more discretion is the answer. Discretion often leads to more sentencing and over-policing in minority neighborhoods. A point that's brought up in regards to both police and judges in this book.

We need to be asking the question, "Why is our default to punish all lawbreaking and why is that default punishment increasingly longer and longer prison sentences?"

In order to create a world where discretion can exist without harm (if even possible), we first need to create a justice system where the end goal is not institutionalized privatized slavery.

Lam himself notes this issue in his book when he says that more and more public dollars are spend on prison and police budgets until, in some cases, over half of a cities budget is going to police and jails.

Lam also contradicts himself, talking about how with discretion police can charge you with every single crime imaginable. He uses the example immunity for drug-related crimes gifted to those who report an overdose, by acknowledging that the people who call in the overdose are often charged with other crimes in order to still punish them for the crime of being an addict.

Whenever possible, the consequence for a crime should not be prison.

We still need laws against theft, and against assault, and against murder, but when the consequences for all these crimes are to become slaves of the state, ruining the lives of the people convicted and often affecting the entire community, their families, and other aspects of public life, like taxes, we need to instead work on what the consequences for violating the law should be. Fines and long ass prison sentences clearly aren't working, so let's start there.

The reason I didn't really relate to this book is because as a philosophical approach, this new moral and ethical code Lam proposes will never reach or apply to every American, and therefore not to every police officer or judge or prosecutor, and because of that we cannot rely on it over the legalism approach (though the overwhelming inefficiency of layers and layers of bureaucracy was spot on).

Essentially, when every person has a different thought-process, epistemology, philosophy, ontology, and culture, we cannot better our laws by scanning for a specific morality.

I do agree with suggestions 6 and 7 at the end of the book. That in the same way that professors have a code of ethics and an ethics board, there should be a group, ideally community-focused that reviews discretionary decisions made by police and prosecutors and judges, and has the authority to remove those individuals for patterns of decision-making that are immoral or unethical or otherwise biased. As well, comprehensive training on good discretionary decision making is a must.

To be clear, this isn't a bad book. I liked the look into alternatives to legalism, but I found what was presented, at least from the perspective of an abolitionist, to be lacking in an actionable mode of implementation that would work for the current state of America.

I would love to work on the following actions at a community level based on Lam's book however:

A reduction in unnecessary bureaucracy.

A community-led initiative to have discretionary decisions, including use of firearms on unarmed or fleeing individuals, reviewed, with the authority to have those employees of the state removed, fired, or banned from future service for patterns of decision-making counter the safety of all citizens.

Community-led comprehensive empathetic discretionary training for all public employees.

2.5/5

#fewer rules better people #Book review

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sick-not-tired · 3 years ago

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Final Response

These Three Things I Know for Certain About Outdoor Recreation Research:

1. The subjects of your study matter

The subjects of your study form both the experimental and control groups and are the yardstick by which a variable or theory is tested (Neuman & Robson, 2014). Choosing the right subjects for your research means selecting a group that is representative- both statistically and qualitatively- of your group. The group should be large enough to be an accurate sample, small enough to be a possible venture, wide enough to get a big picture of your area of research, and yet specific enough to rule out large outside influences. One must also be on the lookout for power dynamic breaches like abuse of power, abuse of trust, or conflicts of interest (Neuman & Robson, 2014). The entirety of a study can crumble based on only the poor selection or unethical treatment of subjects, making it not only one of the first, but also one of the most important parts of planning an experiment.

2. Everything is a matter of perspective

Lets explore the hypothetical of two studies being done on the treatment of wilderness trip leaders: one focused on women vs. men leading women, and the other, women vs. men leading men. In the former, the trip leaders are always treated with respect and trust, while in the other, the women were not. The results of the first study could suggest that client sexism did not exist, and that women and men are equally respected by participants, while the latter would suggest the exact opposite. The perspectives and biases from which you design your study has an effect on it, no matter how objective you aim to be. If you do not have the lived experience or knowledge to design a study on a certain topic, your results will not be representative.

3. Focusing on recreation can leave pieces of research missing

This one is a discovery I have made on my own throughout the semester, rather than being strictly taught to me. For my podcast project, we focused in on identity in the Thunder Bay outdoor recreation space. I found myself enthralled with the topic of identity as it relates to one’s feelings about participating in outdoor recreation, however I found myself frequently having to leave interesting concepts out because they did not meet the hyper-specific criteria for our project. The issue here is that outdoor recreation is so entangled with almost every aspect of social psychology one sees in their day-to-day life, and yet we often don’t take one’s day to day life into account. Outdoor recreation as a concept needs more specific understanding, but this feeling of discovering a stone unturned and being unable to fully turn it leaves me pondering if we narrow things too completely.

These Three Things I am Still Confused By:

1. The boundaries between protecting your study and protecting your participants:

There is a well known ethical paradox in social and psychological research in which the researcher must find a perfect mid point between the advancement of knowledge and minimizing impacts on participants (Neuman & Robson, 2014). While the code of ethics addresses some hard and fast rules of harm reduction (Neuman & Robson, 2014), it seems to me that there is a large grey not addressed. For example, working with participants with past trauma, specially in recounting those stories, can be incredibly triggering and difficult. How does a researcher manage the likelihood that learning more about those who have experienced trauma, can set participants back in terms of mental and emotional recovery? Is the only option to remain impartial and offer up alternative resources someone can seek? I hope that there is more personal responsibility than that for researchers.

2. How far academic outdoor recreation research can go in the future

Parks Canada and other related businesses have been doing their own independent applied studies for decades (Neuman & Robson, 2014), but research done on the field of outdoor recreation as a whole is just beginning. I wonder exactly how far this more generalized outdoor recreation research can go in the future, because outdoor rec has been shown to have so many similarities to group activity as a whole. At some point, will doing this specific research be seen as merely restating research that has already been done with other group situations, or will the small (yet important) differences continue to expand in coming years?

3. How many people are working on the same research at once

I found that in this course we talk about research as almost being a solitary affair, however as our guest lecturers have stated, there is almost always other people involved to oversee, contribute, or act as impartial third parties to the study. I think this course could have benefitted from exploring these various relationships and the hierarchy of research teams further. I feel it would have given a more realistic look into what the world of research will really look like once we get there, which could have enticed some students to be more interested in continuing with research.

These Three Things I Know for Sure About Myself as an Outdoor Recreation Researcher:

1. I like to actually perform research rather than analyzing and writing about it

Throughout the podcast project, I very much enjoyed looking at the social media posts that I did my research on, but I had a lot of trouble scripting my part of the podcast. I very much enjoy writing and speaking, however writing in a scientific or professional manner feels stifling and cold in comparison to more narrative or creative writing tasks. I do not enjoy the rewording and restating of fact, the necessary repetition of scientific writing, or being unable to have any of my own ideas once the writing period has begun. All new or interesting ideas must happen before the research has even begun, and this can feel stifling and highly rooted in the hypothetical. The task of actually writing the paper or script feels sluggish and droning to me.

2. I do not think I could work on research with highly volatile or controversial topics

During one of our guest lectures, a research project was discussed that involved a participant with a particularly controversial opinion on women in the outdoors. This is not an uncommon thing either. Many researchers, depending on their topic, will end up in a similar situation, faced with opinions that they do not share or respect. I cannot see myself being able to maintain the necessary composure during this circumstance. I am a very sensitive person and I also have been told I do not hide my facial expressions well, so I do not believe I would be able to get through an in-person survey with someone who is rude or bigoted towards me or others in any way.

3. I am very interested in women’s stories

In many areas, I find I have grown tired of constant reiteration of female struggles. I find that those who have lived experience as a woman already know what the findings will be, and those that do not have that lived experience are often not listening. However, I have found another side of women-centred social research this semester. Through articles I read throughout this course, such as, “Curating a Public Self” (linked below), I have found that studies done by women and for women are incredibly different than studies done about women. The topics that studies about women are still aiming to “definitively” prove over and over again are accepted as fact and as jumping off points for the real research to begin. It does not feel like being nagged about my own experience, but rather like someone finally telling me something about myself I did not already know. I hope to continue to look for studies and articles done by women and for women, not about them, because we are not objects of oppression but rather individuals with stories that are worth hearing.

These Three Areas I Need to Spend Time Developing/Learning in Order to Feel More Confident in my Skills:

1. Developing a Longer Attention Span

When selecting research questions, I often pick something I am very interested in in that moment. This allows me to put effort into a project and care deeply about finding the truth. However, it also means for me specifically, that all of these benefits go away once that topic is no longer interesting to me. The research process takes 7 steps (Neuman & Robson, 2014), and my short hyper fixation on the topic can only get me through approximately steps 1-4. Once the data is collected and the personal curiosity satisfied, my interest tanks. Applied research is far quicker than academic (Neuman & Robson, 2014), so this may be better suited to me, but in the future, I hope to learn to pick topics based off of long-standing interest rather than whims, and work on lengthening that attention span.

2. Deconstruct my own Impostor Syndrome

Throughout the entirety of my outdoor recreation “career”, I have felt like I do not belong in the outdoor space. Objectively, I know that even in childhood I was firmly situated in the community through camping, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, and summer camps, but even now I will often say to myself that these ventures “don’t count” in some way or that “other people do more extreme things”. Impostor syndrome is an incredibly common response to environmental influences like sexism, racism, ableism, and homophobia, but one must be able to look past their feelings of falsehood in order to perform their best in work and scholarly situations.

3. Taking the time to come up with better quality questions

A huge part of research, and specifically surveys, are the questions you are asking. This brainstorming process can seem easy once you’ve selected a thesis, but between developing your sample group, choosing your intended audience, avoiding confirmation bias, creating falsifiability, and following all ethics rules, the question development process can be lengthy and difficult (Neuman & Robson, 2014). The process requires “skill, practice, patience, and creativity,” (Neuman & Robson, 165, 2014). I would like to think I possess all of these traits, but as previous responses will show, I do lack patience. I hope to get better at this in order to create questions that dive deeper to what the research is looking for.

Reference List:

Gray, T., Norton, C., Breault-Hood, J., Christie, B., & Taylor, N. (2018). Curating a public self: Exploring social media images of women in the outdoors. Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership, 10(2), 153–170. https://doi.org/10.18666/jorel-2018-v10-i2-8191

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2014). 1: Doing Social Research. In Basics of Social Research (pp. 2–22). essay, Pearson Canada.

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2014). 2: Theory and Social Research. In Basics of Social Research (pp. 24–42). essay, Pearson Canada.

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2014). 3: Ethics in Social Research. In Basics of Social Research (pp. 43–63). essay, Pearson Canada.

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2014). 8: Survey Research. In Basics of Social Research (pp. 162–192). essay, Pearson Canada.

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navelgazed · 4 years ago

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I dislike the prioritization of emotional empathy in some discourses a lot, mostly because I don't think I do emotionally empathize; I don't feel other people's feelings, and it's nearly impossible to get me to cry at a TV show or movie. I experience things in response to emotional stimuli, but it usually isn't the feeling that the other person is feeling.

However, I have a very strong moral and ethical code based on reducing the amount of harm I do as much as possible. I may not feel someone else's pain, but I know what it's like to be in pain, and generally (though not always) I am good at judging what inflicts emotional pain and how to avoid it. My empathy is not based on emotion but on logic and ethics. I don't know why I'm incapable of doing the emotional empathy thing, but I would still describe myself as a sensitive and emotionally intelligent person.

I think prioritizing feeling over like, a solid code of ethics focusing on harm reduction isn't fantastic, because people can manipulate your emotions in all kinds of ways, many of them malicious. Weaponizing someone's desire to be a Good Person and then twisting them into doing something because someone's feelings are hurt, even though it harms someone else, opens the field up to a game of who can elicit the most pathos. It's not a great way of getting justice or making anyone safer.

#!Artemis post

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insatiablebcba · 5 years ago

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insatiable

As of late, I’ve made waves among my inner circles of professional colleagues and friends by questioning realities of Applied Behavior Analysis that are largely accepted as “the way things are.” I am a Behavior Analyst who is trying to go rogue because I’ve realized that too much focus on keeping the peace reinforces the status quo. Sometimes that’s good. But that’s assuming you want to keep the status quo.

I’ve come to realize that, in light of the current state of the field, conscientious, ethical behavior analysts cannot reinforce the status quo. In fact, we need to be downright contrary in the face of systemic problems that we are complicit with maintaining.

I am in the pursuit of being insatiable.

I recognize that this freedom is a privilege I’ve attained by feeling “done”: done with the field, done with the facade of expertise, done with the bloated profits of large scale companies and their private investors who know nothing about best practice.

But I’m also done with the mom and pop companies, who in spite of striving to treat their employees “well”, fail to budget for staff training, expert referrals, and evidence-based assessments. Where Behavior Technicians are left alone with their clients in the name of “empathy” for the parents, meanwhile, endangering their own staff. Where arbitrary punishments are used because that is what was modeled by an out-of-touch supervisor who hasn’t pursued the research literature since their own certification 15 years prior. Where staff are “family”, so why wouldn’t a driven behavior technician spend their free time trying to figure out how in the hell to write a BIP by their next session? Where suicidal ideation is included in a behavior plan as “attention-seeking challenging behavior targeted for reduction”.

If these scenarios sound a little too close to home, or perhaps too specific, please know that they are borne from the direct experience of the author within the past 6 years.

I have the mental freedom, free from constantly evading cognitive dissonance when affronted with criticisms of Applied Behavior Analysis. You are in this latter group if you wonder, “but I have good intentions? How can I be harming you?” when you are faced with a criticism of your practice.

I don’t have to worry about my current state of conflict impeding my ability to support myself or my family. This in itself is a privilege; prior to this, I actively avoided the cognitive dissonance of the field and my own past actions out of fear, in spite of gnawing feeling in my gut that something is wrong.

And if your first instinct is to critique me by saying, “but how is that behavioral??” Kindly get the FUCK out of here.

To those of you who are still reading: I have a hunch that many of us are in a similar boat. I want to give us a platform to air out our grievances, making unspoken discomforts a spoken step forward in supporting the people we claim to serve in ways that they approve of; in ways that are humane, empowering, and support meaningful outcomes, not so-called “best outcomes” (which is often code for a “cure”).

I am in the pursuit of being insatiable following years of blind acceptance and complacency. Let us all be insatiable by no longer accepting outdated, humiliating practices that are openly accepted by peer-reviewed behavior-analytic literature and passively accepted by those who don’t know any better.

I must say that I’m trying, that I am in pursuit, because I have so much more to learn. But this is the first step.

Let us accept being dissatisfied, hungry for more, desperate for better. How else will we change?

#disability rights #neurodiversity #neurodivergencies #asd #autism #disabilities #use your privilege #do better #change #applied behavioral analysis #applied behavior #criticisms #bcba #rbt #behavior #behavior therapy #behavior therapist #i'm done #so done

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roughridecreations-blog · 5 years ago

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Do I need an Eco-Friendly Yoga Mat

ECO FRIENDLY YOGA MATS

Why Should I use an Eco Yoga Mat?

An eco yoga mat should facilitate a connection with body and soul by reflecting a connection with self and the environment.

Practicing on a shiny plastic mat made as cheaply as possible for maximum profit contradicts the ideology of yoga.

Incorporating an eco yoga mat in your yoga practice is a simple gesture that reflects your commitment to your environment, the world community and your yoga practice.

There are myriad alternatives for eco friendly yoga mats materials It is becoming increasingly easy to find a yoga mat that is biodegradable, created with sustainable and plant based materials, and is produced ethically.

Are you looking to purchase an eco yoga mat? If so, you can find an extensive list of retailers and manufacturers that sell environmentally friendly yoga mats by visiting the Eco Friendly Yoga Mats Directory page

What does PVC have to do with my downward dogs? Almost all Yoga mats currently on sale around the world are made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride: commonly known as “vinyl”).

PVC is a long term pollutant plastic.

Up until the 1930s this plastic was considered a useless toxic by-product of the oil industry.

As chemists explored the applications of PVC the versatility and economic gains at that time were more exciting than any environmental consideration.

The benefits of vinyl seemed endless during the 20th century but soon health and environmental drawbacks came to light and the controversial PVC debate began.

In order to make PVC soft and ‘sticky’, as is required for yoga mats, many chemicals are added.

The most significant is a plasticiser called DHEP Di (2-ethylhexyl phthalate).

Unfortunately these chemical softeners are extremely toxic to humans and to the environment.

Scientists and campaigners are promoting a worldwide reduction in the amount of phthalates used in plastics.

In 2000 the European Commission brought out a Green Paper and later held a public hearing on the environmental issues of PVC.

Eco Yoga Mat Materials Alternative A true eco friendly yoga mat is made entirely from natural plant based material.

It should be PVC free, contain no heavy metals and ozone depleting substances and produced in socially conscious conditions.

At the end of the yoga mats life it can be composted, making it entirely eco friendly.

All natural rubber and jute fiber are common ingredients to green yoga mats Jute a is a sustainable plant that is grown in regions of India and Bangladesh in a 4 month period just prior to the rainy season.

It is fast growing and uses land that would otherwise be dormant at that time so increasing revenue for farmers.

Natural rubber for yoga mats comes from the sap of the rubber tree which the rubber tree secretes over a number of years (its tapped similar to maple syrup coming from a maple tree).

The rubber tree is not harmed in the farming of the sap. The sap can be made into any number of rubber products including eco friendly yoga mats.

Other materials that are being used more and more with green eco yoga mats are Polymer Environmental Resin (PERs) and Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE).

Both are synthetic materials, but they have a number of favorable traits compared to PVCs such as being able to be melted down for other uses at the end of its useful life and contain no heavy metals and no phthalates.

Types of Eco Friendly Yoga Mats There are a number of different environmentally friendly yoga mats available in the marketplace today.

Though they might have different characteristics and be made from different base materials, the one trait they all have in common are they represent an environmentally friendly alternative to a traditional PVC yoga mat.

Open Cell versus Closed Cell Yoga Mat Both open cell and closed cell yoga mats can be environmentally friendly.

Typically, how tight the weave of a eco friendly yoga mat determines whether it is a closed cell or open cell yoga mat.

Open Cell Yoga Mat Open cell mats typically have a looser weave and feel more sticky. Characteristics of open cell mats include increased flexibility and traction.

Because of the looser weave in an open cell mat, an open cell mat is more likely to absorb moisture and hence bacteria (similar to a sponge). An open cell mat requires cleaning on a more regular basis and are more likely to have an odor after extended use Closed Cell Yoga Mat A closed cell mat has a tighter weave which limits moisture and odour absorption and allows the mat to have a longer life compared to an open cell mat Because of the moisture limiting properties, moisture might sit on the surface of the mat making it more likely your hands and or feet slip A closed cell mat is likely not appropriate for Bikram Yoga or other types of hot yoga due to the increased levels of moisture the user would generate How do I care for my Eco Yoga Mat? Let your Green Yoga mat breathe as much as possible, especially if you work a sweat on to it. Wiping down with a damp cloth before and after class is good practice. Certain environmentally friendly yoga mats can be machine washed while some have to be hand washed. It is best to check with the manufacturer’s instructions before washing. If your mat is machine washable, use a cool cycle using a small amount of detergent if really dirty. The mat will retain a lot of water. Remove excess amounts by rolling up with a dry towel. Dry flat to avoid creasing (though they will eventually smooth out). Do not put through a tumble dryer. Avoid contact with oils and store out of direct sunlight as both will result degradation of the rubber.

ECO DIRECTORIES Natural Organic Makeup Brands and Cosmetics Directory Eco Friendly Baby Directory Eco Friendly Clothing Directory Eco Friendly Yoga Mats Directory Environmentally Friendly Pet Supplies ECO FABRIC Eco Friendly Fabrics Tencel Fabric (Lyocell) Bamboo Fabric Hemp Fabric Organic Cotton Soy Fabric ECO BABY Eco Friendly Baby Products Eco Friendly Diapers Organic Baby Products Organic Baby Clothes Environmentally Friendly Toys ECO RECYCLING Appliance Recycling Plastic recycle codes Recycle Batteries Recycle Computers Recycling Computer Monitors Recycling Tips for the Home ECO YOGA Eco Friendly Yoga Eco Friendly Yoga Clothing Eco Friendly Yoga Mats Eco Friendly Yoga Mats Directory

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anniekoh · 6 years ago

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to the architects of concentration camps and the designers of detention centers

The response to American concentration camps is abolition.

The humanitarian response is to shut down the camps or prevent their establishment.*

Building better detention centers, instead of using tent cities or converted sheds, is not humanitarian.

Justice for Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez, a 16 year old who died alone in his Border Patrol holding cell, is to make sure youth are not detained by a xenophobic government agency.

Giving the Border Patrol enough funds to hopefully hire a nurse and buy some medicine is not justice.

*(Dream Action Oklahoma and other activists led protests that resulted in the cancellation of plans to open a concentration camp to house immigrants at Fort Sill)

ARCHITECTS / DESIGNERS / PLANNERS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

has been calling for a Prison Design Boycott for years. ADPSR’s stance is simple, architects, designers and planners should refuse to design prisons and other carceral facilities. Don’t accept government contracts for the prison-industrial complex, even if the project is to improve prison design, do promote community-based alternatives to incarceration.

More specifically, ADSPR is advocating for

American Institute of Architects to amend its Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct to prohibit the design of spaces for killing, torture, and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In the United States, this comprises the design of execution chambers; super-maximum security prisons (“supermax”), where solitary confinement is an intolerable form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; and solitary confinement facilities for juveniles and the mentally ill. As people of conscience and as a profession dedicated to improving the built environment for all people, we cannot participate in the design of spaces that violate human life and dignity. Participating in the development of buildings designed for killing, torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is fundamentally incompatible with professional practice that respects standards of decency and human rights.

At a planning conference in 2017, I attended a panel in which one of the speakers was urban planner and university administrator Flores Forbes, who had been incarcerated in the early 1980s. He described attending an event, a charrette on “designing the ideal jail,” at which he had to excuse himself. The carceral institution is not a design exercise or the subject for a juried competition.

My layperson’s understanding of harm reduction -- let’s just immediately improve the material conditions for this person, even if we are not addressing the underlying issues -- has generally made me less radical in my actual practice. Working within a broken system to improve people’s lives is worth it, I think, in many cases. However where this approach is really really problematic is when the “reform” or the small improvement actually further entrenches the injustice.

Don’t legitimize concentration camps. Don’t accept that ICE is a legitimate use of government power and public money.

#architecture #concentration camp #prison design #ethics #architect

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tipsycad147 · 4 years ago

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Wicca questions answered: Just the facts about Wicca and Paganism

by Michelle Gruben

Curious about Wicca and Paganism? You’re certainly not alone! In my almost 20 years as a practicing Pagan, I’ve met lots of people who want to learn more about this small-ish, little-understood religion. Some are interested in joining Wicca (or another Pagan tradition). Some just want to better understand their Pagan friends and neighbors.

Like many Pagans, I started my training under Wiccan teacher before moving onto my own personal path. I’m not a Wiccan myself, but I attend Wiccan rituals and count many Wiccan folks among my friend. This article is my attempt to answer some of the most common questions about Wicca, Paganism, and the relationships between the two forms of belief.

What is the difference between Wicca and Paganism?

When I tell someone that I’m Pagan, a typical response is, “Oh, so you’re Wiccan?” Wiccan and Pagan mean the same thing to a lot of people. They’re not synonymous, but there is quite a bit of overlap between people who identify as Wiccan and as Pagan.

Simply put, all Wiccans are Pagans, but not all Pagans are Wiccans. Wicca is a denomination or subset of Paganism. Many other religions have branches or denominations. If someone tells you that they are Presbyterian, you can safely assume that they are also Christian. But if someone tells you they are Christian, they may or may not be Presbyterian. The case is similar for Wicca and Paganism.

Wicca is probably the best-known of all modern Pagan religions, but there are many others. Broadly speaking, anyone who believes in more than one god can be classified as Pagan. Norse Heathens, Classical reconstructionists, and Kemetic (Egyptian) Pagans are just a few of the characters you may encounter in Pagan communities. Some people even argue that Hindus are Pagan—in which case, Paganism sheds its minority status among the world’s major religions.

Do all Wiccans practice witchcraft?

Some Wiccans practice witchcraft—perhaps most. But practicing witchcraft is not a requirement of the Wiccan religion. Also, not everyone who practices witchcraft is Wiccan.

Witchcraft is a broad term for a variety of practices, including spellcasting, divination, spirit communication, trance journeying, and many more. Some form of witchcraft has occurred in every known civilization since the beginning of recorded history.

At its heart, witchcraft is about using interactions with the unseen world to effect change on the mundane world. The Witch’s power comes from within his or herself, from Nature, or from allied gods or spirits. Witchcraft may be practiced or part of a religion, or independently—even by non-religious persons. Witchcraft is a morally neutral term. It encompasses hexes and curses as well as benevolent and healing magick.

Wicca teaches that every man and woman has the power to become a Witch through study and practice. Many people are attracted to Wicca because of an interest in witchcraft. I’d venture—based on purely anecdotal evidence, of course—that most Wiccans do practice some form of witchcraft.

However, the core rites of Wicca are devotional practices that are not necessarily witchcraft. Wicca emphasizes respect for Nature, connection with the Gods and ancestors, and ethical behavior over psychic training. Learning spellwork and divination are really a secondary part of most Wiccan paths.

Here’s where it gets complicated. Both “Wicca” and “witch” share the same linguistic root word, an old Anglo-Saxon term meaning “wise one.” Any adherent of Wicca may called herself a Witch—whether or not she practices witchcraft. (A male Wiccan is also called a Witch.) Some Wiccans capitalize the word “Witch” to emphasize that it is a religious affiliation, not just a description of their behavior.

Where did Wicca come from?

Wicca was first named and described by an Englishman named Gerald Gardner. In the 1930s and 1940s, Gardner began assembling a group of practicing Witches into what ultimately became the Bricket Wood Coven. He initiated several priestesses, including High Priestess Doreen Valiente, who collaborated with Gardner to develop the Wiccan liturgy.

Gardner wrote down the main rituals of Wicca in his published books, and in a collection of private papers now known as the Gardnerian Book of Shadows. Gardner claimed that his knowledge of the Wiccan tradition came from a group of witches known as the New Forest coven. He claimed to have been initiated into a British tradition of witchcraft stretching back to pre-Christian times. The tradition he called Wicca had supposedly been alive for centuries, kept underground by Britain’s anti-witchcraft law.

Some people buy this explanation, while some people believe that Gardner fabricated or embellished his stories about the New Forest coven. There is very little evidence for an unbroken tradition of British witchcraft before the 1930s. And it’s clear that the Gardnerian corpus is heavily influenced by English Freemasonry, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the field of cultural anthropology, and the famous magician Aleister Crowley (of whom Gardner was an associate).

Even if there’s no truth at all to Gardner’s claims of an ancient tradition, Wicca is now around 80 years old, at least, with many branches and offshoots. The oldest branch of Wicca is called Gardnerian Wicca. Gardnerians attempt to follow Gardner’s rituals and instructions as near as possible to how they were written down. Some Gardnerian groups claim a lineage stretching across a chain of initiations to Gardner himself.

Despite Gardner’s historical importance in the modern witchcraft revival, he does not occupy a lofty position in the Wiccan belief system. Wicca has no holy book, no prophets, and no written dogma. Gardner’s title within Wicca is simply “Witch”—the same as any other Wiccan initiate.

What do Wiccans believe?

Wiccan beliefs are so diverse that any list of Wiccan beliefs is certain to be incomplete. The following is my attempt to summarize Wiccan tenets in a few paragraphs:

Central to Wiccan beliefs is a reverence for nature. The Wiccan liturgical calendar is based on the movement of the sun and moon. Wiccan observe eight seasonal rites based on the annual cycle of the sun. They are called Sabbats, and are evenly distributed throughout the solar year. There are also thirteen Esbats per year, and these coincide with the lunar cycles.

Wiccan believe that human beings are not a separate creation, but an integral part of Nature. Wicca emphasizes connection with the plant and animal kingdoms, and with our human ancestors. Wiccans revere the life-giving power of the sun, the generative energy of sex, and the cycles of death and birth. Ritual offerings of food and beverage underscore our dependence on the gifts of nature. Future anthropologists might describe Wicca as a solar fertility religion—but Wiccans will certainly find that hopelessly reductive.

The central Wiccan deity is a Goddess, who may go by many different names. She is often described as a trinity—the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. In Her aspect as Maiden, the Goddess takes a male consort and together they bring forth life. In some versions of Wicca, the God and Goddess are co-equal. In others, the Goddess is clearly primary. The story of the courtship of the God and Goddess, His death, and His subsequent rebirth, is a solar myth tied to the Wheel of the Year.

Wicca has few behavioral codes. Wiccans eschew the concept of sin, instead focusing on ethical behavior and personal responsibility. The Wiccan “Rule of Three” posits that any good or harm released into the world will come back to the sender threefold. Whether they literally believe in the Rule of Three or not, Wiccans strive to heal the world, to grow in wisdom, and to live without harming others.

The Wiccan Rede, “An it harm none, do what ye will,” is sometimes cited as Wicca’s only binding piece of scripture. Not that these eight words are simple to understand. Wiccans can get into heated debates about what exactly is forbidden by the words “harm none.” And attempting to discover and follow one’s will is a magickal quest that can take a lifetime (or several).

While we’re on the topic, Wiccans also have varied beliefs about life after death. Some believe in reincarnation, others don’t. Some Wiccans speak of a heaven called the Summerland, celestial voyages, or journeys through the lands of Faery. (Wiccans don’t accept the concept of Hell or eternal punishment.) Some Wiccans claim to communicate with departed relatives and other spirits, while others don’t believe in the survival of individual consciousness after death.

All of this ambiguity makes Wiccan funerals veeeeerrry interesting. A “reunion with the Mother Goddess” may be the literal hope of the departed person, or just a poetic description of a dirt nap. It’s probably fair to say that Wiccans aren’t that fixated on the afterlife, because it can’t be known for certain. Most focus instead on honoring the gift of life while they’re alive.

Is Wicca an ancient religion? Is Paganism?

This is a question that is not easily answered. It is sure to spark a debate among any gathering of Pagans.

There is a certain perception that an older religion is somehow more legitimate than one that was developed more recently. Right or wrong, this bias affects the religious paths people choose to follow.

Interest in Wicca peaked in the late 1990s, and is now on the decline��that is, according to internet traffic statistics. The internet itself is probably to blame. As the 20th-century origins of Wicca have become more widely known, Pagans have tended to seek out other paths. It’s seen as more credible to be a member of a “real” ancient religion. Or at least, one in which ancient texts are available.

The truth is, there are very few (if any) unbroken occult traditions in the West. We have endured Inquisitions, Enlightenments, Dark Ages, and militant monotheism so widespread it has obscured any legacy of traditional witchcraft. (Except for a few Sicilian grandmas and, perhaps—if we’re feeling generous—a secret coven tucked away in southern England.) Any Western Pagan tradition that claims a continuous lineage of hundreds of years should be regarded with extreme skepticism. Some writers use the term “Neo-Paganism” to make it clear that contemporary Paganism is a revival and not a continuous tradition with the distant past.

Does that mean Neo-Paganism is a modern invention? Not necessarily. Many Pagan practices and beliefs are very old, even if the lineage is not. Pagans hold sacred the same things that would have moved our Stone Age ancestors: The movement of the sun and moon, the cycles of the seasons, the beauty of the natural world, sex, death, and harvest.

Some Pagan rites are inspired by centuries-old practices that we have records of. Some have to be completely re-imagined. The fairest way to describe Neo-Paganism might be to call it a modern religion with ancient roots.

Does Wicca require initiation? Is self-initiation allowed?

Wiccans believe that embracing the calling of a Witch is a personal choice. It cannot be simply inherited or conferred by another person. The power of the Witch is a birthright, but it must be claimed.

Dedication refers to the act of dedicating oneself to a path of Wiccan study. This “trial period” can last any length of time, while a person decides if Wicca is right for them. (A year and a day is the traditional interval.) Initiation is the more formal rite of passage, and involves full commitment to the path of the Witch.

Many Wiccans participate in a dedication ceremony sometime during their journey. Each coven, or group of Witches, may set their own requirements for dedication or initiation. For solitary Wiccans—those who practice without a coven—self-dedication is the norm.

Wiccans disagree on whether self-initiation “counts” as a true initiation. Not all branches of Wicca allow self-initiation—though most Wiccans would grant that it is permissible if a suitable teacher cannot be found. In formal Wiccan traditions, there is a three-degree system, probably inspired by the Masonic degree system. The aspirant must be initiated by an existing priest or priestess. Once the candidate rises to the rank of third degree (High Priest or High Priestess), he or she is eligible to initiate others or to “hive” (form a new coven).

Many covens have secret teachings that are available only to initiates who have reach a certain rank. (As you progress through the degrees, more of the coven’s knowledge is revealed to you.) Others are more open to non-initiates, and some even host rituals for the public. You don’t need to be initiated to participate in an open Wiccan ritual.

What are some of the symbols of Wicca?

The most familiar symbol of Wicca is the pentagram, or five-pointed star. In Wicca, the pentagram represents the four elements (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water) surmounted by Spirit. The pentagram is also a symbol of the microcosm, the human being. Surrounded by a circle, it is called a pentacle and stands for completeness, balance, and perfection.

The pentagram is used as both a symbol of faith and a protective seal. The Wiccan pentagram is usually drawn upright, with the single point at the top. (Despite its frequent appearances in horror movies, the Wiccan pentagram is not a symbol of evil or Satanism.) Many Wiccans identify themselves with a pentagram necklace or tattoo. There are different versions of the pentagram, from the very simple to the very elaborate.

The triple moon is another symbol of Wicca that you may encounter. It is a circle (the full moon) with a waxing and waning crescent, one on either side. The triple moon symbolizes the Triple Goddess, the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. The lunar cycle, in Wicca, is evocative of the cycles of life, death, and birth.

The triquetra and triskele are Celtic symbols dating to pre-Christian times. Wiccans have adopted them, though some Celtic Christians use them, too. Both symbols represent trinities, the cycles of life, and eternity. (The triskele is a triple spiral, and the triquetra is a three-cornered knot. Read more about their similarities and differences.)

The eight-spoked wheel stands for the Wheel of the Year, and the eight Wiccan Sabbats on the Pagan calendar. The eight-pointed star is a solar symbol dating back to ancient Sumer. Sometimes the symbol will have a solar circle in the center, representing the constancy of Earth’s sun.

The spiral Goddess is usually shown nude with her arms stretched over her head. A spiral at Her belly represents Her infinite power of creation. The faceless, bare-breasted goddess is an echo of the fertility objects that have been found at many archeological sites around the world.

https://www.groveandgrotto.com/blogs/articles/7-questions-about-wicca-and-paganism

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megan-fmpyr1 · 4 years ago

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Baukjen

Baukjen is a London-based womenswear brand, with a focus on environmental, ethical and sustainable style. There clothes are made to last They dont want to profit from fast fashion, when its the planet praying the price. They always looking for new idea how to make there products more sustainable and ethical ways of working. There mission is to put their customers and people at the heart of everything we do; through the timeless, carefully crafted designs that empower women to be their best selves every day, and our determination to drive lasting positive change in a damaging industry – through sustainable practices, recycling of garments and fabrics and a commitment to a more ethical supply chain.

Baukjen is very positive in sustainability, they have so many different way of being eco friendly:

There clothes are Designed for Good. They practise environmental, ethical and social responsibility and are motivated to make lasting positive change. They have , plastic free and 100% biodegradable packaging. Another factor is that Baujken are carbon net-neutral. They use at least 90% responsibly sourced fabrics and fibres, and to increase this all the time. They also source ethically produced animal products and be actively researching vegan alternatives. They are proud to be a zero-waste company, and they never send clothes to landfill or incineration. There imprint on the world matters. They are always aiming to increase there offer of eco-friendly fabrics. Most of the fabrics they use are derived from natural fibres that biodegrade much faster without releasing harmful chemicals into the environment. There factories follow our code of conduct to ensure that water pollution and hazardous waste production and disposal are always avoided and have achieved a 38% reduction in water usage in their value chain this year and are aiming for an even greater reduction next year through using fibres with lower water consumption and treatment. Baukjen only work with factories that meet the highest ethical standards. All of them sign our rigorous Code of Conduct. They have built an inclusive working environment across our whole company.

House of Baukjen proudly works with the key global organisations to deliver a better world. Amongst others The Fashion Pact, the UN Fashion Charter, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and Science-Based Targets for Nature. There are less than 50 fashion companies in the world that work with this organisation.

I like the idea how Baujken celebrate women. They love wrinkles and stretch marks, and don’t photoshop there models to be slimmer. I feel this brands relates to Conscious Clarity because of they way it links to all 3 of my key themes, including, Versatile, where links of to women empowerment and body confidence. Living with less linking of to sustainably, and finally my theme of Eco friendly, which the whole brand relates to. Even if the outfits dont really support women below 25 for example, I feel many brands go spring of the same Idea of baujken.

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expandoffshore-blog · 6 years ago

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How Outsourcing Can Help You Build A Better Startup

Subsequently published their first wildly popular application Cartoonatic - they never would have expected the success (and increase in workflow) which they'd face. After rave reviews on their debut app, they chose to generate photo-editing apps that always top the App Store charts. While their software were receiving awesome Recognition and they grew to over 22 million customers worldwide, they nevertheless sought to streamline some of their essential business processes anyway they can. Kevin, VP of Macphun tells us that he believed outsourcing in order that they could be able to support their clients in a professional manner and free up the inner personnel that were preceding working with customer support so as to help Macphun grow and become more productive.

"We certainly did respond to customer Inquiries by email and phone, but again it required man-power within the business that we could deploy in different ways."

Now this is just one small market of outsourcing, but each Sub-category all share the same function, which brings us into the core of the manual

HOW CAN OUTSOURCING HELP YOU GROW? (and everything you Want to understand )

So Incase you've gotten this far and don't understand what outsourcing is exactly... here's a brief and right to the point definition by Merrill Matthews of Forbes.

Outsourcing is when a business Contracts with an outside person or company to provide some product or service, such as bookkeeping, payroll processing or janitorial services, or even more complex functions such as marketing or IT services. And households do exactly the exact same thing when they turn to professionals for important pipes, air conditioner or car repairs.

While outsourcing is Typically seen as a maintenance strategy for some immense corporations such as GE, Microsoft, Intel, Oracle - it's also recently been popularized as a growth strategy for many lower-level startups which need to prioritize more important locations. Nancy Mann Jackson from Entrepreneur backs this up by stating,"entrepreneurs have long seen outsourcing as a strategy earmarked for large business, but technology has made it a more accessible tool for small businesses and for some tiny firms, outsourcing has made a strong effect on their development, productivity and bottom lines"

As stated above, High-tech is growing more and more popular with small companies, because of their increasing accessibility to technology which make outsourcing smoother and more effective. However, in addition to the, outsourcing is blowing because there are a extraordinary amount of qualified professionals that have chosen to leave the corporate world in favor of functioning at a less stressful environment such as their houses or small startup offices.

Now you probably have a couple questions that you need answered before considering outsourcing like...

When to outsource?

Where to outsource?

Concerns with outsourcing?

Now That you have asked all these questions, it is time to create this guide as detailed as possible simply by heading down the list.

Which It's likely that you're already outsourcing a portion of your business tasks like payroll administration or criminal and background checks for job. With the points mentioned above, it is simpler than ever to outsource any activity that you see necessary. BUT this does not necessarily indicate you should outsource only as it's simple for you. Many procedures are better off being cared for in-house, based on what your priority is... For instance, if your priority is to create massive amounts of revenue with your special sales technique that just your in-house staff has perfected then it is likely not the best idea to give that task to an offshore contractor. On the opposite end of the spectrum if your priority is customer support, then it's probably OK to outsource something such as graphic design.

Here's a Fast list of jobs which are better off left to get an qualified contractor to take care of:

Tasks That need highly skilled experience. Let us say you are a CEO of SaaS startup and do not possess a group of executives created yet, for example CFO, COO, CIO, etc.. Outsourcing some of these positions (at least briefly ) can help get your startup off the floor. So ultimately you will have a highly skilled task outsourced for much less than it'd cost to get a full-time worker take action.

Repetitive tasks. This may be anywhere from outbound sales calls for out the word about your merchandise or conduct client satisfaction surveys to very common troubleshooting problems. Let's face it, providing these repetitive tasks to a highly qualified in-house staff to be concerned about may be a massive waste of your business's resources and time.

Also included in this list:

Tasks that require unique talent or knowledge.

You Might have a great idea for an app and some funds to fund it's development, but no comprehension of coding/development/design. This is where you might need to think about outsourcing the development of your program. It is possible to hand over your thoughts to an experienced developer on the opposite side of earth and let them take care of the remainder (obviously with your supervision). Another example is if you do not possess the resources to hire whole time IT support staff to handle your own IT systems, you can easily employ an IT specialist from freelancer sites like Elance-Odesk or Guru.

To cut a very long story short... you can certainly And effectively outsource any business process which isn't a priority within your business, one which does not require full care from the in-house staff, or some other tasks that you are not comfortable performing yourself.

For the guys at Macphunthey finally made the choice to outsource when taking care of heaps of support tickets became too much for their comparatively small staff to take care of. But it's different for everyone.

The time to Choose outsourcing might come very early for someone whose product growth depends on it. OR it may come at a later time for all those companies that just need a little support.

For Chris Devor of all Macroplant Inc. the decision to outsource came about 1 year into starting his company:

After About 1 year in business, I had help with our support emails. It was both a time issue and an issue of being able to properly respond to my users immediately and effectively. I had another developer doing emails. But given the price of a programmer's salary, it didn't make sense to get them answering support emails all day. Next I hired a freelancer or two to help with service emails.

Where If I Outsource To? In the realm of tech and IT outsourcing services, the most well known nations to outsource to are India, Philippines, Central America, and Eastern Europe with a total workforce of almost 1.5bn (Statistic Brain). On account of the bad economies of third-world nations, many companies select these regions simply due to the cost-savings.

Having said that, you should not enter the Recruitment process with a particular country in mind, but using an individual's exceptional talents/skills in mind. Remember you're finally focusing on quality instead of merely prices. It's possible to review thousands of salespeople on websites such as Elance.com or Guru.com to pick and choose which ones will fit your requirements best.

Why would your normal Silicon Valley CEO hire software developers for 100k+ a year, when he can hire equally qualified off-shore workers for under $15 an hour?

This Question may bring up some ethical worries that I'll address below, but it is important to not forget that your average CEO's job is to perform what is in the organization's best interests.

Concerns With Outsourcing

There Are a few different concerns you need to appear at before considering outsourcing. Concerns like security, quality, management, inadequate work environment, transparency, etc..

Here's what to look at when choosing the right builder...

Can they take data confidentiality and privacy steps to ensure the protection of your customers' personal information? Will they be available to communicate with whenever you have a question or concern? Can they protect your very best interest by accepting legal measures? How can they handle the management of their team can you routinely review your outsourced worker's performance? Are they doing a job that your in-house team actually can not perform effectively? Could you see/visit their office and evaluate working conditions? Do they have reputable clients they already provide service for?

If they don't follow any of these simply business steps... it is a big red flag.

Another However, by adhering to a strict recruitment and training procedure that this one may be overcome easily.

Finally, communicate your Expectations clearly and even compose a contract before hiring outsourced members to be certain there is not any confusion anywhere.

"When Risk Vs. Reward Of Outsourcing

Outsourcing Is widely known as one of the best solutions to decrease costs and lots of studies are completed to verify this fact. It pointed out:"Savings typically result because the outsourcing supplier can access a cheaper, more flexible work force and the latest, most efficient technology. Organizations assert they reach, on average, a 15% price reduction through outsourcing" However Successful outsourcing is in conserving a company money - it still has the capacity to harm a organization's reputation. There is a massive stigma against outsourcing. If you reside in a community which has an outsourcing firm and they use your friends and acquaintances, outsourcing is wonderful. But if your neighbors and friends lost their jobs because they were sent across the world, outsourcing may bring bad publicity. If you outsource part of your operations, morale may suffer in the remaining work force.

However... if done right and professionally, Outsourcing may be among the biggest assets to your company and the Benefit of huge quantities of work being raised from your plate, often Overshadow the downsides.

#offshore company #outsourcing company #bpo companies #call center outsourcing #offshore outsourcing #outsourcing services #global outsourcing

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fitnesswomenshealth-blog · 7 years ago

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Thousands of Mental Health Experts Agree With Woodward: Trump is Dangerous

New Post has been published on https://cialiscom.org/thousands-of-mental-health-experts-agree-with-woodward-trump-is-dangerous.html

Thousands of Mental Health Experts Agree With Woodward: Trump is Dangerous

(Discussion Op-ed) — Bob Woodward’s new book, “Fear,” describes a “nervous breakdown of Trump’s presidency.” Previously this yr, Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” offered a very similar portrayal.

Now, an op-ed in The New York Occasions by an nameless “senior White Dwelling official” describes how deeply the difficulties in this administration operate and what effort is required to safeguard the nation.

None of this is a shock to those of us who, 18 months in the past, set alongside one another our possess public services guide, “The Risky Situation of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Wellbeing Authorities Evaluate a President.”

My concentration as the volume’s editor was on Trump’s dangerousness for the reason that of my location of experience in violence avoidance. Approaching violence as a general public overall health challenge, I have consulted with governments and international businesses, in addition to 20 several years of partaking in the personal evaluation and therapy of violent offenders.

The e book proceeded from an ethics convention I held at Yale, my house institution. At that meeting, my psychiatrist colleagues and I discussed balancing two necessary duties of our occupation. To start with is the duty to converse responsibly about public officers, specifically as outlined in “the Goldwater rule,” which necessitates that we chorus from diagnosing with out a private assessment and with out authorization. 2nd is our duty to secure community health and security, or our “duty to warn” in circumstances of hazard, which usually supersedes other policies.

Our conclusion was overwhelmingly that our accountability to modern society and its security, as outlined in our moral rules, overrode any etiquette owed to a public figure. That choice led to the collection of essays in the book, which features some of the most notable thinkers of the industry which includes Robert J. Lifton, Judith Herman, Philip Zimbardo and two dozen other people. That selection was controversial amid some members of our subject.

We currently know a good deal about Trump’s psychological condition based mostly on the voluminous facts he has specified as a result of his tweets and his responses to real cases in true time. Now, this week’s credible reviews assist the considerations we articulated in the e book past any doubt.

These experiences are also constant with the account I gained from two White House employees users who known as me in October 2017 because the president was behaving in a way that “scared” them, and they thought he was “unraveling”. They ended up calling mainly because of the e-book I edited.

As soon as I confirmed that they did not understand the problem as an imminent danger, I referred them to the crisis home, in purchase not to be sure by confidentiality principles that would implement if I engaged with them as a dealing with health practitioner. That would have compromised my function of educating the community.

The Psychology Powering the Chaos

The author of the New York Situations op-ed makes clear that the conflict in the White Home is not about Trump’s ideology.

The trouble, the writer sees, is the absence of “any discernible first principles that guideline his final decision producing … his impulsiveness [that] benefits in half-baked, sick-informed and often reckless choices that have to be walked back, and there being literally no telling irrespective of whether he may modify his head from just one minute to the next.”

These are obviously psychological symptoms reflective of psychological compulsion, impulsivity, inadequate focus, narcissism and recklessness. They are identical to people that Woodward describes in a lot of examples, which he writes ended up achieved with the “stealthy machinations used by those in Trump’s internal sanctum to attempt to manage his impulses and stop disasters.”

They are also dependable with the system we foresaw early in Trump’s presidency, which anxious us more than enough to outline it in our reserve. We tried using to alert that his condition was even worse than it appeared, would grow even worse in excess of time and would finally develop into uncontainable.

What we noticed have been signs of mental instability – indications that would sooner or later play out not only in the White Household, as these accounts report, but in domestic scenarios and in the geopolitical sphere.

There is a strong relationship amongst fast dangerousness – the likelihood of waging a war or launching nuclear weapons – and prolonged societal dangerousness – insurance policies that drive separation of youngsters from family members or the restructuring of world relations in a way that would destabilize the entire world.

Receiving Even worse

My present issue is that we are presently witnessing a additional unraveling of the president’s mental point out, especially as the frequency of his lying increases and the fervor of his rallies intensifies.

I am concerned that his psychological issues could trigger him to take unpredictable and potentially extraordinary and harmful steps to distract from his legal difficulties.

Psychological wellbeing gurus have standard techniques for assessing dangerousness. Extra than a own interview, violence opportunity is greatest assessed as a result of previous heritage and a structured checklist of a person’s features.

These characteristics involve a history of cruelty to animals or other people, hazard using, habits suggesting reduction of management or impulsivity, narcissistic temperament and recent mental instability. Also of issue are noncompliance or unwillingness to go through assessments or therapy, accessibility to weapons, inadequate relationship with substantial other or spouse, looking at oneself as a victim, deficiency of compassion or empathy, and lack of concern above consequences of hazardous acts.

The Woodward reserve and the New York Periods op-ed ensure many of these features. The relaxation have been evident in Trump’s conduct outside the White Household and prior to his tenure.

That the president has met not just some but all these standards ought to be reason for alarm.

Other ways in which a president could be perilous are by means of cognitive signs or lapses, given that features these kinds of as reasoning, memory, focus, language and studying are significant to the responsibilities of a president. He has exhibited signs of decrease here, far too.

Additionally, when an individual shows a propensity for huge-scale violence, this sort of as by advocating violence from protesters or immigrant family members, calling perpetrators of violence this sort of as white supremacists “very high-quality people” or displaying oneself susceptible to manipulation by hostile international powers, then these factors can advertise a a great deal far more widespread culture of violence.

The president has presently revealed an alarming escalation of irrational behavior all through occasions of distress. Other folks have observed him to be “unstable,” “losing a step” and “unraveling.” He is probable to enter these a condition again.

Violent acts are not random activities. They are conclusion products and solutions of a long approach that stick to recognizable designs. As mental health and fitness professionals, we make predictions in phrases of unacceptable degrees of chance instead than on the basis of what is specified to come about.

Trump’s impairment is a familiar pattern to a violence expert such as myself, but offered his amount of severity, 1 does not will need to be a expert to know that he is perilous.

What Following?

I believe that Woodward’s book and the revelations in the New York Periods op-ed have placed terrific force on the president. We are now getting into a time period when the stresses of the presidency could accelerate mainly because of the advancing specific counsel’s investigations.

The diploma of Trump’s denial and resistance to the unfolding revelations, as expressed in a recent Fox interview, are telling of his fragility.

From my observations of the president more than prolonged time via his community presentations, immediate thoughts via tweets and accounts of his shut associates, I believe that the query is not whether or not he will glimpse for distractions, but how before long and to what degree.

At minimum many thousands of mental wellness specialists who are associates of the National Coalition of Concerned Psychological Overall health Experts share the see that the nuclear launch codes should not be in the fingers of a person who displays such levels of psychological instability.

Just as suspicion of criminal offense really should lead to an investigation, the severity of impairment that we see should lead to an evaluation, if possible with the president’s consent.

Mental impairment should be evaluated independently from criminal investigations, employing medical standards and standardized actions. A sitting president may be immune to indictments, but he is subject to the legislation, which is rigid about community safety and the suitable to remedy when an individual poses a threat to the public because of mental instability. In the scenario of risk, the client does not have the suitable to refuse, nor does the doctor have the correct not to get the human being as a patient.

This evaluation might have been delayed, but it is still not as well late. And psychological well being specialists have extensive expertise assessing, restraining and dealing with people today a lot like Trump – it is practically program.

By Bandy X. Lee / Creative Commons / The Conversation / Report a typo

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republicstandard · 7 years ago

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Analyzing the Democrat Platform: Abortion, Guns, and Healthcare.

Welcome to the final part of our analysis of the Democratic Party. Let us commit wrongthink one last time against the most progressive party platform Democratic Party has ever had.

Voter IDs

This is the first time I have ever encountered the idea that “enhancing our democracy” and “protecting our voters” means that voter ID laws should be scrapped. I, as a foreigner, am impressed by this extreme courage from the Democrats. People are generally used to more subtle ways to enact such an outrageous law; but the Democratic Party is not subtle at all. They cite that it “suppresses minorities” for some reason. By the very same logic, minorities are oppressed in various other things that also require an ID, such as being able to drive!

Countries like Norway and Brazil have much higher turnouts than the US despite having voter ID laws. Perhaps the problem is not the voter ID laws but the fact that the Americans are opting out of the corrupt, inefficient and ugly Democratic-Republican system? Nevertheless, if people do not care enough to have IDs, they should not be able to vote. Frankly, they do not deserve to vote, if they cannot even go through such a simple process. It is not a strange thing to assume that a party that supports lifting the restrictions on election security is a party that is much more likely to tamper with elections. The Democrats should keep their mouths shut about election integrity until they start supporting voter ID laws. This behavior is embarrassing any self-respecting person.

The Democrats promised to “end Citizens United” and other big money financial contributions. I suppose those big money financial institutions were idiots because they still ended up donating to the Democrats; or maybe they knew that the Democrats wouldn’t keep their word.

Abortion

One issue that has been very hot for years all over the western world has been abortion. Let us be clear: this issue is about determining whether we should be allowed to kill a baby before it is born, or not. One interesting claim that I see from pro-choice activists is that a fetus is not technically a living being because it is not a human being yet. That argument is simply outrageous and idiotic, you don’t expect a horse, or a dog to grow from a human fetus. We expect a human being, and the process of its birth has already started at conception. Another argument made is that without the mother the embryo wouldn’t survive. that is quite possibly the worst and the most dishonest argument for pro-choice that I have ever seen. To counter this so-called “argument” one needs to consider whether people on life-support should be killed. After all, they cannot survive without that machine. How about asking them whether we should kill welfare dependents? Is not the welfare state itself, a kin of machine? Are welfare recipients not “alive” because they are dependent on the state? It doesn’t end here, how about we kill the entire human race? We are all dependent on many things, such as Oxygen, food, money and so on. This might seem like an absurdists argument, but it follows the same exact logic. The notion that fetuses aren’t “living beings” because they cannot live independently without their mothers, is a disgrace.

The leftist side of the discussion loves to jump to appeals to scientific truth, but upon further inspection, their position is quite anti-scientific. One easy way to show the truthfulness of this is on their views of race and how we are all blank slates, as discussed in the previous article of this series. The same goes for abortion. Recent research suggests that the heart of the unborn begins beating at 16 days after conception. This is before the woman knows that she is pregnant. Strong evidence for the pro-life cause comes from this collection of acedemic quotes from Princeton University.

"The question came up of what is an embryo, when does an embryo exist, when does it occur. I think, as you know, that in development, life is a continuum.... But I think one of the useful definitions that has come out, especially from Germany, has been the stage at which these two nuclei [from sperm and egg] come together and the membranes between the two break down." [Jonathan Van Blerkom of University of Colorado, expert witness on human embryology before the NIH Human Embryo Research Panel -- Panel Transcript, February 2, 1994, p. 63]

Considering the other arguments from pro-choicers, such as “but what if a child is born into a bad family”, which presupposes that a family does not have any responsibility for their children. It is an argument that is used to shift the goalposts to another issue. It is a fallacious argument, and should not be taken seriously in a debate about abortion. One other popular, and more of a libertarian argument is “It is going to happen anyway and should therefore be legal”. The same can be said for murder and many other crimes. Why should we punish murder if “it is just going to happen anyway”. Of course, there will be illegal abortions from some incredibly irresponsible parents, which is why they will be punished. Under a system that acknowledges the reality of the pro-life case, the aborters will either be punished by the government if they get caught, or they will be punished by the fact that the doctor that is willing to help them kill a baby is going to be unreliable. That is a risk, sadly, that many are willing to take, worldwide.

At the end of the day, it is not “your body your choice” but “your body and your choice, his body and his choice”. The requirement is that neither of you negatively affect each others’ existence, whether that is intentional or unintentional. The fact that abortion turned from a “life” issue to a “woman’s rights” issue illustrates how abhorrently hazardous feminism has become, to the point where everything, -including the lives of their own babies- has become a hindrance for so-called “freedom”. There is no doubt that the push for contraception, birth control and various other harmful “solutions” is to solely enable a woman’s “freedom”; which is a code-word for degeneracy.

Education

College debt relief and attempting to make “debt-free college a reality” are in reality a means with which to make the student loan debt and college tuition prices astronomically higher. Simple supply and demand is at play here. If we pledge to offer state subsidies for debt relief for students, we artificially increase the demand for college, and since the demand increases, tuition prices increasing wouldn’t be an unrealistic outcome to predict. As a matter of fact, that is what has happened ever since 1980, and the cost of attending college has increased by 260 percent! In comparison, the CPI has increased by 120 percent, which means that the cost has increased by 140 percent. This is done with your tax money. The money that would otherwise be used to invest in markets and businesses with good future, is instead being taken by the government so the government can pardon student debt at your expense.

Healthcare

The Democrats’ biggest and their proudest child, is no doubt, the healthcare system. There is this empty and semantic discussion on healthcare, about whether it is a privilege or a right. What categorizes something as a right in this modern world is merely a piece of paper written by some people with the power to enforce this idea with force. Some "rights" end up being the cause of our deaths. Bearing this in mind, we should rather debate whether the system itself is efficient or not, rather than proclaiming our rights.

In terms of ethics -and I have gone over this many times in my columns for Republic Standard- you cannot claim the moral high ground when you support that the government should take money from the citizens to pay for other citizens’ healthcare (or any other program's) coverage. For those who cried that destroying Obamacare would kill people, The Manhattan Institute have showed -with absolute brilliance- that destroying Obamacare would result in zero lives lost. I would go as far as to claim that Obamacare is actually contributing to why people die in the first place. To support this claim, we can observe a graph of age-adjusted mortality rate. It seems like the reduction of mortality suddenly ceased, and instead got a tiny bump, which is certainly interesting to see.

But aside from that, one more particularly glaring piece ofevidence is the reduced US life expectancy rate.

Even considering the economic reality, Obamacare is in a very rough spot.

Why are costs increasing even though the effectiveness of the service has decreased? We can thank state monopolies, and the 83 percent market share that is split between four insurance firms.

The Second Amendment

When it comes to gun rights, Democrats are fighting against the constitution. For Neoliberals and leftists, the constitution is losing its meaning and is slowly turning into a piece of paper, rather than the foundations that the US was built on. The Democratic Party Platform is actually surprisingly quiet on the Second Amendment putting it on the backburner. Contrast this with how they hawk about how guns are bad every time a mass shooting happens, and we see the disdain the Democrats hold not only for the constitution, but for their own base for whom this platform should be an informative document. I would like to use this as an opportunity to give you the truth about guns and violence.

Democrats talk about 33000 people dying by the gun. The important part here is the word “death”. This does not only include homicide, but also suicide. 60% of people that die from gunshot do so by committing suicide. This means that 60 percent of those deaths would in all likelihood happen in one way or another. What about the methods of acquiring those firearms? By using France as an example, we can see that while there are 12 million firearms in the country, more than 8 million of them are illegally owned.

Let us take a look at an inmate survey in Chicago for a sample of this behavior in the United States.

It would be remiss to fail to acknowledge racial aspect of this discussion. As we have concluded in our previous article, races do have different characteristics and act in different ways in response to various situations.

There is a very strong correlation between Black/Hispanic population and crime. This is not explained by poverty. Rich black kids are more likely to go to prison than poor white kids. Is this systemic racism, or White supremacy? Not when racial propensity for crime is factored in. As John Q. Publius notes:

America does have a violent crime problem, but the thousands of bodies piling up in Baltimore, St. Louis, Memphis, Chicago, and Detroit isn’t because of white males or marauding racist police officers. That, my good friends, is largely the province of a certain subset of our population who are far more likely than their white counterparts to commit criminal and violent acts. This group commits 52.5% of all homicides despite consisting of just 13% of the population (and of that 13%, it is mostly young males doing the killing, which amounts to maybe 2-3% of the US population).

This is a double whammy for blacks. Blacks in America are 5 times more likely than the national average to be the offenders in a firearm related assault. They are also 15 times more likely to be on the receiving end of it. This is a plague on Black America, and a resolution must be found. If Black Lives truly Matter for protesters, they should talk about gun violence and how to stop it, instead of de facto blaming the police.

The most popular part of any gun control debate is the public mass shootings part of said debate. Every single time a mass shooting happens, there comes an intense debate between pro-gunners and anti-gunners. Get ready, because this will shock you: 98% of Public Mass Shootings happen in "Gun-Free Zones".

If you, the reader, wanted to commit a mass shooting, would you rather do it in a gun-free zone, where law-abiding citizens are most likely not going to be armed, or would you rather do it in any other place where the chances of an armed guy shooting you is a plausible possibility? The answer should be very obvious. Gun-free zones, which Democrats support, cause mass shootings rather than prevent them.

And of course, the eye candy of the pro-gun argumentation would be Switzerland, a country that is very well known for allowing citizens to have guns. The result? One of the lowest crime rates in the world.

There is research that estimates that in 55000 to 80000 incidents, guns have been used to deter crimes. These are low-end estimates, high-end estimates can reach up to 4.7 million per year. Even if we go by the lowest estimates, 55000 per year is still a lot, particularly compared to the homicide rate. Across every metric, it is clear that responsible gun ownership leads to a safer society.

CONCLUSION

This is the end of my analysis of the Democratic Party Platform. we have covered the Democrat view when it comes to many topics such as Economics, LGBT, Crime, Social issues and so on. I can state that during my analysis, I was thoroughly appalled by the illogicality of this party platform. This Party Platform is what happens when you attempt to create “the most progressive party platform in its history”. Towards what end are we progressing?

The result is a system of tyranny. Resist it with all your might.

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braziliansfordemocracy-blog · 8 years ago

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ARE CUNHA AND RENAN CASES EQUAL?

By Igor Drumond

If Eduardo Cunha* was suspended from his Office by the Supreme Court (STF), Renan Calheiros** shouldn’t be also?

* Eduardo Cunha was a Deputy and President (or Chief Speaker) of the Chamber of Deputies in Brazil (our House of Representatives).

** Renan Calheiros is a Senator and President of the Senate.

According to our Constitution and laws, should they have been suspended after all?

I don’t know exactly. I had a lot of work gathering all references and information to make this comparison… So, let’s see. First, the order of the facts, then I’ll try to see what are the Constitution and the Law rules in each case.

CUNHA’S CASE

2015, March 9th – the first inquiry is filed against Eduardo Cunha at the Supreme Court, (Inquiry no. 3983).

2015, August 20th – the Prosecutor General of the Republic – PGR (similar to United States Attorney General) files a complaint against Eduardo Cunha at the Supreme Court in the Inquiry no. 3983.

2015, October 13th – PSOL and REDE political parties, filed a petition at the Ethics Commission of the Chamber of Deputies to oust Deputy Eduardo Cunha from Office. The main reason (among countless) was that Cunha lied to Congress about the existence of his accounts in Switzerland Banks.

2015, October 15th – the second inquiry is filed against Eduardo Cunha (Inquiry 4146), which was filed by the Prosecutor General of the Republic, Rodrigo Janot, based on evidence that Eduardo Cunha did had accounts in Switzerland Banks. On the same day, it was filed a new impeachment petition against President Dilma Rousseff written by the lawyers Hélio Bicudo, Miguel Reale Jr. and Janaina Paschoal, a review of their original petition filed in September 2015.

2015, December 2nd – PT party announced that it would vote for the acceptance of the process for Eduardo Cunha’s withdrawal from Office at the Ethics Committee meeting scheduled for December 8th, 2015.

After that, in the same day, December 2nd, 2015, Eduardo Cunha (Chief Speaker) accepts the request for President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment of a petition filed one month and a half earlier (to my point of view an obvious backfire).

2015, December 16th – the PGR files a Precautionary Action, or Injunction, (AC no. 4070) at the Supreme Court, requested by PSOL and REDE parties, which calls for the immediate suspension of Eduardo Cunha’s mandate as a representative and consequently his suspension as Chief Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. Briefly, the urgency request was based on 11 motives, almost all involving Eduardo Cunha’s maneuvers to disrupt all processes he was the defendant, the withdrawal process at the Ethics Committee and also the STF’s criminal Inquiries.

It is worth mentioning that Eduardo Cunha is known to be the “King of Maneuver” in Congress, by the use of any subterfuge to reverse decisions that are against his own interests, like the case of votes on the Criminal Liability Age Reduction, and the Political Campaign Financing by Corporations (mini Political Reform, which was already ruled unconstitutional by the STF) and even meddling in the affairs of the Ethics Committee’s Board.

2016, March 3rd – the Supreme Court accepted the complaint based on the Inquiry No. 3983 and Eduardo Cunha becomes a defendant.

2016, March 7th – the PGR files a complaint against Eduardo Cunha based on the Inquiry No. 4146 at the Supreme Court.

2016, May 3rd – REDE Party, represented by none other than Daniel Sarmento Professor of Constitutional Law at UERJ, files a Claim of Non-Compliance with a Fundamental Precept (ADPF No. 402). Mainly based on Article 86, paragraph first, Item I, of the Constitution; the action asks a Supreme Court ruling that a person who is a defendant in a criminal prosecution cannot hold position in any Office of the Presidency of the Republic’s succession line, which would be Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies, Presidency of the Senate and Presidency of the Supreme Court, in this order. In my view, this ADPF has two main objectives: one, make such obstacle opposed to any citizen (erga omnes and binding effect); and two, legal maneuver to make a new request for Eduardo Cunha’s immediate suspension as Chief Speaker (but not from his mandate as representative), since Justice Teori Zavascki had not yet decided about the Injunction filed on December 16th, 2015.

2016, May 5th – almost 6 months later, the STF’s Full Court rules, in the AC 4070 injunction, to finally suspend Eduardo Cunha from his mandate as well as Chief Speaker. Since the ADPF 402, in which Justice Marco Aurélio was the rapporteur, was scheduled to this day, Justice Teori felt compelled to speed up his decision in the AC 4070 case where he was the rapporteur. So he scheduled the AC 4070 for this day because the same kind of decision could be ruled before in a newer process (ADPF 402).

2016, June 22nd – The Supreme Court accepted the complaint based on the Inquiry No. 4146 and Eduardo Cunha turns defendant again.

2016, September 13th – the Chamber of Deputies decides do expel Eduardo Cunha from Office.

A Precautionary Action, or Preliminary Injunction, has at least two essential requirements which are the plausibility of the invoked right and danger in delay (Civil Procedure Code – CPC/73, Art. 273, item I or CPC/2015, Art. 300+). The preliminary injunction rule is an exception to the constitutional due process of law’s right of defense principle. It’s a pre-trial motion so that the judge can issue an emergency measure’s order without hearing the other party (no possibility for the defendant’s right of defense). This is why the Preliminary Injunction order must be grounded on those two requirements above.

The plausibility of the invoked right (or “likelihood of success on the merit of the case”) means that, in a summary and preliminary analysis, all elements, evidences and other clues points to a possibility that the right claimed exists in practice, that the applicant’s claim have strong support and great likelihood of being granted at the end of the process.

The danger in delay means that the right the applicant seek protection can perish or there’s a great risk of suffering serious and irreparable damage if an urgent measure is not taken to prevent it from happening. Therefore the preliminary injunctions can be seen as a preventive measure, a protective order. Prevents the right claimed from being harmed or lost since the action would lose its object and no justice could be achieved if there’s no right to be protected.

In Eduardo Cunha’s case, the plausibility of the invoked right – given the overwhelming evidence and charges against him both in the judicial and the administrative (withdrawal process) spheres – have at least 2 out of 5 foreseeable reasonings from Constitution’s Article 15 possibilities: a future criminal conviction or administrative misconduct – the latter which was eventually confirmed by him being withdrawn from his mandate as Representative.

Well, the danger in delay reasoning is even easier to understand, I think. The existence of an Inquiry in progress and then a second Inquiry, No 4146 of October, starting almost at the same time of the Withdrawal Process in the House of Representatives. The consequence of any of those processes, if confirmed, would be the loss of the mandate as Representative. If this wasn’t enough, Eduardo Cunha was using the power of his Office as Chief of the House of Representatives to protect himself, disturbing processes and obstructing justice – How often did he interfere in the formation and progress of the Ethics Committee of the House of Representatives? – That is, if this precautionary urgency requirement had been complied within a reasonable time (for me, the urgency is something that is decided in one week maximum, not 6 months), perhaps Cunha had been ousted more quickly by the Ethics Committee, which would save us from his maneuvers and wrongdoings in the Congress. It is possible that neither the coup d’etat (impeachment) had gone through ridding us from this institutional chaos Brazil is living in. Therefore, it would be more reasonable if Eduardo Cunha had been ousted by order of the ADPF 402’s preliminary injunction, and not by the almost 6 months late AC 4070’s preliminary injunction.

Could Deputy Eduardo Cunha have been removed by Justice Teori at the request of the AC No. 4070 (if it was granted within a reasonable time – one week maximum)?

Some say that the answer should be NO, like Prof. Gamil El Föppel Hireche from UFPE. His explanation is quite interesting – I recommend his article. I will try to summarize it in two main arguments, one of constitutional order and other about criminal procedure.

Professor Hireche states that the appropriate protective mechanism to ensure the due course of the criminal proceedings would be pretrial detention, which is an exceptional measure. However, Constitution’s Article 53, paragraph second states that Congress members cannot be arrested during the mandate, except if found in the act of committing a non-bailable crime; or, of course, after the final criminal sentence (Article 55, item VI) – almost repeating the text of the Article 5th, item LVII’s presumption of innocence principle. Therefore, we can define it as some kind of “parliamentary immunity”.

This “immunity” brings us to his second argument. Since congressmen is exempted from pretrial detention as a precautionary measure while in office, “a replacement measure could not be adopted in exchange” like the suspension of the civil service exercise provided by the article 319, item VI, of the Criminal Procedure Code – CPP (again, I recommend reading Prof. Hireche’s article linked above).

I understand Prof. Hireche’s arguments, but I tend to disagree. I’m more aligned to Prof. Lenio Streck’s reasonings, which seems more consistent with the integrity of the law to me. Briefly, the “immunity” is a prerogative granted to the Office position to protect the Parliament institution, not the individual. So, if a person uses those prerogatives’ powers for its own benefit precisely to obstruct the due process in which he is a defendant, the preliminary injunction (Article 319, item VI) is needed and justified as a preventive procedural measure, and not as a punitive measure. So it’s aimed to protect both the Representative Office and the due process of law from wrongdoings. Here is an excerpt of his argument:

“Note that the lack of decorum by prerogatives abuse is a hypothesis of mandate loss provided by the Constitution, Article 55, item II and paragraphs 1º and 2º. And who decrees the mandate loss is the House of Representatives. But, why does the Supreme Court, who must judge a deputy for any crime committed (article 53, paragraph 1º), could not order a precautionary measure to ensure due process in the case where the parliamentary prerogatives abuse involves itself in the obstruction of his own inquiry and judgment process? Precautionary measure is not the legal protection, but the process guarantee. The precautionary withdrawal is not a punitive measure, is not even subject the same way as the punishments system. It is a procedural measure to ensure the due process and not to be confused with the merits.”

So the answer to the above question is YES.

Eduardo Cunha could have been removed immediately from Office (and as Chief Speaker) based on the criteria of the preliminary injunction (Precautionary Action or Measure) presented above (Article 273, item I, of the Code of Civil Procedure of 73 combined with Article 319, VI, of the Criminal Procedure Code).

Since Justice Teori’s decision was wrong, because it was too late, could Eduardo Cunha have been ousted by Justice Marco Aurelio’s decision at the ADPF 402’s preliminary injunction request? (if, of course, granted in a reasonable time – let’s say, a week)

This is a tricky answer, some say yes, others no…

The ADPF 402 is mainly based on Constitution’s article 86, essentially the part that deals with the suspension of the President regarding cases of common crime, but for a maximum period of 180 days.

This article from Prof. Pierpaolo Bottini, with which I agree, has a deeper explanation of the ADPF 402’s merits.

First, we must draw the difference between: common crime committed before or in the course of the mandate. Article 86, paragraph 4, states that any common crime criminal lawsuit is suspended through the mandate’s term for a crime committed before it. That is, a citizen can exercise the Presidency of the Republic even if he is a defendant in a criminal lawsuit for crimes committed before his Inauguration. After the Inauguration the existing process, and all its deadlines, is suspended until the end of the mandate.

In the case of crimes committed during the term (Article 86’s head), there is another restriction, it cannot be any common crime, but only those “related to the performance of his functions“ as president. Beyond that, the criminal charge must be accepted by two-thirds of the Chamber of Deputies so that, only then, the complaint can be filed and go to trial at the Supreme Court. In this case, the individual is suspended from Office as President for up to 180 days (Article 86, Paragraph 2). After the 180 days period, he/she can come back to Office even if the trial has not ended. That is, if the STF cannot end the trial in 180 days, the individual-defendant will regularly exercise the Presidency Office.

What does article 86 of the Constitution tells us then? That there is only one possibility for an individual accused of a common crime to be suspended from Office as President: as long as he’s a defendant in a criminal lawsuit related to the exercise of the President function and up to 180 days.

Well, since ADPF 402 is intended to extend this rule to other positions in the presidential line of succession (the Chief Speaker, Senate and Supreme Court’s Presidency), then the criteria should be at least the same as those applied to the Presidency Office, right?

So, the answer to the above question is: I have my doubts, but I would say NO.

In Cunha’s Case, I believe that even if the danger in delay element of the precautionary measure were legitimate, it would lack substance regarding the plausibility of the invoked right element, as I tried to explain above. After all, I might be wrong, but the ADPF 402 seemed to me a subterfuge to circumvent Justice Teori Zavascki’s inertia at the AC 4070 and ensure the same end through other means.

RENAN’S CASE

2007, August 6th – an inquiry is filed at the Supreme Court against Renan Calheiros, Inquiry No. 2593.

2013, January 28th – a complaint is filed by the PGR against Renan Calheiros on the Inquiry No. 2593.

2016, November 3rd – there was a majority of six votes, out of eleven possible, in the Full Court of the STF in favor of ADPF 402, but the process was suspended because Justice Toffoli requested the case docket for examination.

2016, December 1st – almost 4 years later the PGR’s complaint is accepted by the Supreme Court and Renan Calheiros finally becomes a defendant.

2016, December 5th – Prof. Daniel Sarmento, representing REDE party, files the petition No. 69829 in the ADPF 402’s process, which asks for the immediate suspension of Senator Renan Calheiros as Senate President at a preliminary injunction. In addition to the ADPF 402’s main merit its initial petition request also asked for Eduardo Cunha’s immediate removal as Chief Speaker, since he was a defendant and Lower House Chief Speaker at that time: this request had lost its object due to the STF’s decision in the AC 4070 process. Therefore, the Petition No. 69829 claims mainly two arguments: one, that, even though the trial is not finished yet, the majority of six justices had already been achieved in favor of the case merit; two, the subsequent event (the above decision of December 1st, 2016) took another congressman, Renan Calheiros, to the same position that Eduardo Cunha displayed. Thus, this new petition reiterates the initial ADPF 402’s preliminary injunction request replacing Eduardo Cunha for Renan Calheiros to order his immediate suspension from Senate Presidency.

2016, the same day: (this is what we can call urgent!) Justice Marco Aurélio accepts the request and decided monocratically (i.e. individual decision) that Renan Calheiros should be suspended from Office as Senate President. This order was ignored by the Senate’s Board in the aftermath, which would be a crime of disobedience (article 330 of the Criminal Law Code), but this is not important for this article’s debate.

2016, December 7th – Justice Marco Aurélio’s monocratic decision goes to the STF’s Full Court deliberation and all other justices decided to partially endorse it, i.e., Senator Renan Calheiros can remain as President of the Senate, but no longer in the Presidency succession line.

Senator Renan Calheiros could have been removed from the Senate Presidency by Justice Marco Aurélio in the ADPF 402’s preliminary injunction?

NO. For several reasons, the main one is the ADPF 402’s initial petition grounds weakness to justify granting of the main merit request (explanation above), the absence of the injunctive relief’s precautionary character (after all, it is based on an Inquiry from more than 9 years ago!) and, mainly, because I guess the principle of presumption of innocence (Article 5th, Item LVII of the Constitution) still prevails in our legal system. I am not even addressing the matter that it was an order given by a single Justice.

Could the Supreme Court have kept Renan Calheiros’s Office as Senate President, but ousted him from the Presidency succession line?

NO. As stated here by Prof. Renato Ribeiro de Almeida, the Lower House, the Senate and the Supreme Court’s Presidents are not in the succession line to the Presidency of the Republic, only the vice-president is. According to the Constitution, those positions will replace the President, not succeed him. This replacement is a precarious succession, only temporary. Moreover, the Constitution does not provide such severe criteria for the President Office itself. So, how can be made such obstacle to other positions in the succession (or replacement) line by an ampliative interpretation of a restrictive constitutional rule? Isn’t it a disproportionate overuse of analogy? It does not sound reasonable to me.

For further reading on the Renan Calheiros case I recommend this article showing several positions, also this other one from Prof. Lenio Streck.

Answering this post’s title main question: Eduardo Cunha and Renan Calheiros’ cases are not equal.

The former should have been suspended immediately from Office as Deputy because his case met all the precautionary measure’s requirements needed by the civil and criminal procedures.

The latter couldn’t, because the suspension request was based on an action still awaiting for final judgment (ADPF 402), which is based on weak grounds using an ampliative interpretation of a restrictive constitutional rule, and the case did not meet the requirements for the granting of an injunctive relief.

Thus, just like Prof. Bottini said, I also think REDE party’s concern addressed by the ADPF 402 is admirable. But I must say that this is an opinion using a political lens to make an analysis about this situation.

If analyzing this using a legal lens, I must say I cherish for the stability and respect of the political institutions, especially our Constitution. Our Constitution’s coherence and integrity depend on the respect given to its limits settings. Therefore, I am against the amendments sought by ADPF 402 using the Judiciary way, just because it compromises several Fundamental Rights and Guarantees’ Principles with no regard to the Democratic way.

For a fair legal system, the ends cannot justify the means.

Like Master Paulo Bonavides once said: “there’s no instrument nor mean to assert the democratic survival of institutions beyond the Constitution.”

#ForaTemer DiretasJa

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tipsycad147 · 6 years ago

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Wicca questions answered: Just the facts about Wicca and Paganism

Posted by Michelle Gruben on Jun 14, 2017

Curious about Wicca and Paganism? You’re certainly not alone! In my almost 20 years as a practising Pagan, I’ve met lots of people who want to learn more about this small-ish, little-understood religion. Some are interested in joining Wicca (or another Pagan tradition). Some just want to better understand their Pagan friends and neighbours.

What is the difference between Wicca and Paganism?

Do all Wiccans practice witchcraft?

Some Wiccans practice witchcraft—perhaps most. But practising witchcraft is not a requirement of the Wiccan religion. Also, not everyone who practices witchcraft is Wiccan.

However, the core rites of Wicca are devotional practices that are not necessarily witchcraft. Wicca emphasises respect for Nature, connection with the Gods and ancestors, and ethical behaviour over psychic training. Learning spellwork and divination are really a secondary part of most Wiccan paths.

Here’s where it gets complicated. Both “Wicca” and “witch” share the same linguistic root word, an old Anglo-Saxon term meaning “wise one.” Any adherent of Wicca may called herself a Witch—whether or not she practices witchcraft. (A male Wiccan is also called a Witch.) Some Wiccans capitalise the word “Witch” to emphasise that it is a religious affiliation, not just a description of their behaviour.

Where did Wicca come from?

Wicca was first named and described by an Englishman named Gerald Gardner. In the 1930s and 1940s, Gardner began assembling a group of practising Witches into what ultimately became the Bricket Wood Coven. He initiated several priestesses, including High Priestess Doreen Valiente, who collaborated with Gardner to develop the Wiccan liturgy.

What do Wiccans believe?

Wiccan beliefs are so diverse that any list of Wiccan beliefs is certain to be incomplete. The following is my attempt to summarise Wiccan tenets in a few paragraphs:

Wiccan believe that human beings are not a separate creation, but an integral part of Nature. Wicca emphasises connection with the plant and animal kingdoms, and with our human ancestors. Wiccans revere the life-giving power of the sun, the generative energy of sex, and the cycles of death and birth. Ritual offerings of food and beverage underscore our dependence on the gifts of nature. Future anthropologists might describe Wicca as a solar fertility religion—but Wiccans will certainly find that hopelessly reductive.

Wicca has few behavioural codes. Wiccans eschew the concept of sin, instead focusing on ethical behaviour and personal responsibility. The Wiccan “Rule of Three” posits that any good or harm released into the world will come back to the sender threefold. Whether they literally believe in the Rule of Three or not, Wiccans strive to heal the world, to grow in wisdom, and to live without harming others.

Is Wicca an ancient religion? Is Paganism?

This is a question that is not easily answered. It is sure to spark a debate among any gathering of Pagans.

Interest in Wicca peaked in the late 1990s, and is now on the decline—that is, according to internet traffic statistics. The internet itself is probably to blame. As the 20th-century origins of Wicca have become more widely known, Pagans have tended to seek out other paths. It’s seen as more credible to be a member of a “real” ancient religion. Or at least, one in which ancient texts are available.

Does Wicca require initiation? Is self-initiation allowed?

What are some of the symbols of Wicca?

The triple moon is another symbol of Wicca that you may encounter. It is a circle (the full moon) with a waxing and waning crescent, one on either side. The triple moon symbolises the Triple Goddess, the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. The lunar cycle, in Wicca, is evocative of the cycles of life, death, and birth.

https://www.groveandgrotto.com/blogs/articles/7-questions-about-wicca-and-paganism

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