Author Archives: jessica

Buy Telescopes

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Astro-Physics products can be shipped to overseas destinations except for the following countries: Australia, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

Astro-Physics is dedicated to the production and development of amateur telescopes and accessories. They strive to produce the highest possible quality telescope components at an affordable price. Astro-Physics builds optics, critical gears, circuit boards, and components including the knobs and fitting from scratch.

Astro-Physics offers a variety of telescope mounts andmount accessories, tube rings and photo / visual accessories.

The German Equatorial mounts Astro-Physics manufactures are: the Mach1GTO, 1100GTO, 1600GTOand 3600GTO. The Mach1GTO is compact, light-weight and portable. The 1100GTO German Equatorial Mount incorporates the design features of the 1600GTO in a smaller, more portable package.The 1600GTO can be used for basic configuration or with the optional Absolute Encoders it can go into demanding astro-imaging. The 3600GTO is the solution for imaging with large instruments or with a combined weight.

Mounting plates are another product of Astro-Physics. They produce an arrangement of dovetail mountings and fixed mountings. Astro-Physics also offer an array of accessories from counterweight shaft options, shaft extension and shaft safety parts, tripod, piers, power supplies and so much more. From the smallest accessory to the largest telescope mount you will find Astro-Physics products to be of the finest quality.

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What is Social Darwinism – Science – AllAboutScience.org

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QUESTION: What is Social Darwinism?

ANSWER:

Herbert Spencer, a 19th century philosopher, promoted the idea of Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism is an application of the theory of natural selection to social, political, and economic issues. In its simplest form, Social Darwinism follows the mantra of "the strong survive," including human issues. This theory was used to promote the idea that the white European race was superior to others, and therefore, destined to rule over them.

At the time that Spencer began to promote Social Darwinism, the technology, economy, and government of the "White European" was advanced in comparison to that of other cultures. Looking at this apparent advantage, as well as the economic and military structures, some argued that natural selection was playing out, and that the race more suited to survival was winning. Some even extended this philosophy into a micro-economic issue, claiming that social welfare programs that helped the poor and disadvantaged were contrary to nature itself. Those who reject any and all forms of charity or governmental welfare often use arguments rooted in Social Darwinism.

At its worst, the implications of Social Darwinism were used as scientific justification for the Holocaust. The Nazis claimed that the murder of Jews in World War II was an example of cleaning out the inferior genetics. Many philosophers noted evolutionary echoes in Hitler's march to exterminate an entire race of people. Various other dictators and criminals have claimed the cause of Social Darwinism in carrying out their acts. Even without such actions, Social Darwinism has proven to be a false and dangerous philosophy.

Scientists and evolutionists maintain that this interpretation is only loosely based on Darwin's theory of natural selection. They will admit to an obvious parallel between Darwin's theory of Natural Selection and Spencer's beliefs. In nature, the strong survive and those best suited to survival will out-live the weak. According to Social Darwinism, those with strength (economic, physical, technological) flourish and those without are destined for extinction.

It is important to note that Darwin did not extend his theories to a social or economic level, nor are any credible evolutionists subscribing to the theories of Social Darwinism. Herbert Spencer's philosophy is only loosely based on the premises of Darwin's work.

However, according to evolutionary theory, nature is a "kill-or-be-killed" system. Those that cannot keep up are either left behind or cut off. If evolution, through chance, is solely responsible for life as we now know it, why should that process be countered? If "survival of the fittest" or "kill or be killed" cannot apply in what we define as "decent society," then, which is wrong, society or evolution? If neither, then how do we explain morality, charity, and compassion? Why drain resources from the strong to support the weak? Certainly, we should be charitable and help those in need.

Though Darwin did not promote Social Darwinism, basic evolutionary theory raises some nagging questions.

What is your response?

Yes, today I am deciding to follow Jesus

Yes, I am already a follower of Jesus

I still have questions

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Nihilism Embodiment – FANDOM powered by Wikia

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Nihilism EmbodimentPower/Ability to:

Become the embodiment of nihilism.

The ability to become the embodiment of nihilism. Variation of Philosophy Embodimentand Oblivion Embodiment. Opposite to Meaningfulness Embodiment.

Users become the living embodiment of nihilism and gain the ability to feed off of the unimportance of everything in existence. What the user sees is deemed nothing worth while, or of absolute insignificance: the opponent is deemed weak or worthless and can be destroyed by the user.

Xemnas (Kingdom Hearts) represents Nihilism, wielding the power of nothingness.

Yuchi Hirose (Alive: The Final Evolution) took in the Heart of Akuro to completely become the Void, and became completely emotionless as a result.

Kefka Palazzo (Final Fantasy) is a powerful being who enjoys nothing but chaos and destruction.

Utsuro (Gintama) considers his 500 years of immortality being an empty and meaningless existence; even the mind-reading Batou considers him to be "empty".

Kyurem (Pokmon) represents the absence of yin and yang.

Emo Dandy (Space Dandy) is a parallel version of Dandy whose life is so depressing and meaningless that nothing matters to him anymore, leaving him a personification of emptiness and nihilism.

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Use nihilism in a sentence | nihilism sentence examples

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He followed it up with a number of other works on the condition of the Russian peasantry, on Nihilism, and on the conditions of life in Russia.

The principle of examination, the reasoned analysis of human conditions and the discussion of causes, far from culminating in disillusioned nihilism, everywhere aroused the democratic spirit, the life of sentiment and of human feeling: in the drama, with Marivaux, Diderot and La Chausse; in art, with Chardin and Greuze; and in the salons, in view of the suppression of privilege.

Still more unequivocal was the sceptical nihilism expressed by Gorgias: - (I) nothing exists; (2) if anything existed, it would be unknowable; (3) if anything existed and were knowable, the knowledge of it could not be communicated.

Thus arose a struggle between the youthful, hot-headed partisans of revolutionary physical science and the zealous official guardians of political order - a struggle which has made the strange term Nihilism a familiar word not only in Russia but also in western Europe.

The result is a selflimiting dialectic. This higher dialectic is a logic. It is no accident that the first of the philosophical sophists, Gorgias, on the one hand, is Eleatic in his affinities, and on the other raises in the characteristic formula of his intellectual nihilism' issues which are as much logical and epistemological as ontological.

The nihilism of Gorgias from the Eleatic point of view of bare identity, and the speechlessness of Cratylus from the Heraclitean ground of absolute difference, are alike disowned.

(For details of this revolutionary movement, see Nihilism.) In respect of foreign policy the reign of Alexander II.

Brahmanic pantheism and Buddhistic nihilism alike teach the unreality of the seeming world, and preach mystical absorption as the highest goal; in both, the sense of the worth of human personality is lost.

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Future Nanotechnology

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Nanotechnology will one day be used extensively in the field of medicine. Varying from replicating cells to analyzing broken bones to cleaning up nasty biological hazards, medicine will be greatly enhanced by all of the wonderful things that nanotechnology is capable of doing. In this article, we will thoroughly go over each of the aspects that nanotechnology will play on the medical industry and how it will help both the doctor and you, the patient. Let us begin.

Making VaccinesNanotechnology will greatly speed up the process of creating vaccines. Take the swine flu vaccines, for example. The reason that it takes so long to come up with a perfect vaccine (even though most vaccines on the market are no where near perfect) is because scientists must be able to take samples of medicines that they think will work and then mix them with the actual virus to see if it neutralizes the virus in a living subject. All of this is mostly trial and error and can take a long time. After that, doctors then have to see what types of negative effects it has on the host (thats the patient) so they know how to counteract the side effects or at least know what theyre dealing with. Nanotechnology will be able to make this all go a lot faster because, being so tiny, you could theoretically load thousands of nanites with thousands of different vaccines and inject them into the host all at once and see if any of them work. If it does work, you could then narrow down your results by trying the same experiment on a new subject and only using half of the original vaccines. If it still works, then you can keep narrowing it down; if it doesnt work, then you know that the vaccine you want is in the second experiment and you could then use the same process to narrow down those vaccines instead.

Cleaning Up ContaminationNanotechnology will also be a big help for cleaning up chemical wastes and other types of biological hazards that may spill into a residential area. Nanotechnology will be able to work quickly by scurrying throughout the area (whether thats on ground, air, water, or in a living subject; or even all at the same time!) and analyzing everything it comes across to decide whether that object is contaminated or not. If it decides that an object is contaminated then it can quickly separate the toxins from the object and surrounding area or simply inject anti-toxins onto the affected area. In the case of living subjects, nanotechnology will be able to continuously provide the person or animal with oxygen, monitor their vital signs, deliver anti-toxins, and constantly update the health of that body.

Biological AnalysisNanotechnology will one day be able to scurry throughout our bodies via the circulatory system (traveling through our blood) and monitor every single vital sign that exists. Nanites will be able to address whether theres any broken bones, torn muscle tissue, irregularities, monitor metabolism levels, monitor cholesterol levels, make sure that the organs are functioning properly, and any other type of requirement for a healthy body. If you thought that one of those cameras they stick down your throat (or rectum!) was a sign of advanced medical breakthroughs, think again! Nanites will be able to monitor your every need and alert the doctor of any problems with anything in your body. Its like thousands of tiny, little cameras zooming around your blood stream at all hours. Rest assured, nanotechnology on its way to save the day!

RegenerationNanotechnology may also be able to aid and even perfect the act of regenerating cells. In case you dont know, regeneration is the process of bringing a person back to life. Today, there are many different problems with doing so but nanotechnology may be able to fix most if not all of them. One of the biggest problems is due to the crystalization of frozen cells but nanotechnology may be able to warm those cells and even remake some of them so that the person doesnt biologically fall apart when theyre revived. Nanotechnology may be able to also simply cure cell damage as soon as we die which means we wouldnt even have to be frozen first.

CancerWith over ten million Americans alone with some form of cancer or another, people are eagerly searching for remedies and treatment options. Nanotechnology may very well be the answer to the long search weve been hoping for. Below are two different methods of curing cancer due to nanotechnology:

OdotsOdots are gold nanites that are able to track down cancer cells in the body and identify them so that doctors can now know exactly where all cancer cells are in the body without even having to use one of those awful rectal cameras.

NanoparticlesNanoparticles will be able to inject chemotherapy directly into cancer cells themselves with very minimal damage to the surrounding cells. Today, chemotherapy leaves a cancer victim extremely weak and nearly dead; tomorrow, chemotherapy will be a quick, painless procedure and youll only feel the positive effects of the treatment. Hurray for nanotechnology!

NanoshellsNanoshells work similarly to nanoparticles but instead of injecting the cancer cells with chemotherapy, they will simply use the heat from infrared light. You may be surprised but scientists have discovered that when these nanites are irradiated by xrays, they produce electrons that destroy the cancer cells without harming much of the surrounding area. That means no more chemotherapy and no more sickness! Nanoshells will make cancer seem easier than the common cold.

Heal Broken BonesIn order to heal broken bones, companies are developing what is commonly known as nanotubes in order to provide bones with a proper structure in order for them to grow back in the way that they are supposed to. Coupled with other medicines, we may one day even be able to grow entire bones back within a very short period of time whethers thats a few days or a few weeks is anybodys guess, but it still beats todays methods.

BiomarkersA biomarker will bea form of nanotechnology that is able to attach itself to various diseased cells inside of the body in order for a doctor to be able to analyze it and treat the person accordingly. In todays world, many diseases go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, leading to even more complications. With this new technology, however, we will be able to save many more lives simply by being more informed.

Faster Wound HealingA company called Z-Medica is producing medical gauze that contains special nanotechnology known as nanoparticles. These nanoparticles will be loaded with a drug called aluminosilicate, which helps blood clot faster in open wounds. Knife wound victims today have a fair chance of dying depending on how deep the cut is, where it is, and how fast that person is treated. In tomorrows world, however, people may carry this type of gauze on them at all times and could easily bandage themselves up in a jiffy and they will be ok until they can receive proper emergency treatment.

I hope this article has shone some light into your world concerning the various ways that nanotechnology will aid and revolutionize the medical industry. In the future, we wont be so stressed out about medical conditions or even would-be fatal injuries that todays medicine simply cant help. In the world of tomorrow, we will be safer and more aware of and against the dangers surrounding us.

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What is Neurohacking? – Home – Neurohacker Collective

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The term hacker has its origins in computer programming subcultures from the 60s, and was used to describe people who wanted to take on hard problems in a spirit of playful exploration and a resistance to unearned authority. Although the methods, means and intentions of hackers varied widely, all seemed to share a unique ethos that mixed a deep commitment to individual autonomy and agency with an equally deep commitment to collaboration and co-creation.

Over time, the concept of hacking has traveled far from its origins, finding its way into a number of domains like Biohacking, Consciousness Hacking, Flow Hacking and Life Hacking. Each is a kind of hacking because each shares this hackers ethos and a commitment to using it to find the most effective ways to optimize the human experience.

We call the common thread that links these hacking communities together, empowered responsibility. This notion expresses the dual recognition that we are no longer able to rely on external authorities to take care of us (in any domain) but through a combination of ubiquitous information, individual experimentation and open collaboration, we are increasingly empowered to take responsibility for ourselves.

In the Biohacking community, the spirit of empowered responsibility drives the process of optimizing ones biological health and performance. Biohackers learn from each other how they can modify their nutrition, exercise, sleep, movement, and mindset to achieve the specific kind of well-being that they individually desire.

The Consciousness Hacking community takes empowered responsibility in using technology as a catalyst for psychological, emotional and spiritual flourishing. They utilize mindfulness techniques and biofeedback tools for self-exploration, taking personal responsibility for their conscious experience in this most individual of journeys.

Emerging from within and alongside these movements, we are observing the coalescence of a new and important domain: Neurohacking.

Whereas biohacking concentrates on the body, and consciousness hacking explores the inner experience, neurohacking is somewhere in the middle, focusing on the mind-brain interface - the intersection of neurology and consciousness. Specifically, neurohacking involves applying science and technology to influence the brain and body in order to optimize subjective experience.

The desired outcomes of neurohacking cover everything from focused productivity, to expanded creativity, more restful sleep, reduced anxiety, enhanced empathy, and anything else that contributes to the psychological well-being and emotional health of whole, thriving human beings.

The technologies of neurohacking run the gamut from chemical technologies like nootropics and entheogens, probiotics to support the gut-brain connection, bioelectrical technologies like neurofeedback and transcranial stimulation, photic therapies like low level laser therapy and all the way to embodied practices like somatics and meditation. So long as there is a scientifically accessible biological mechanism for effecting subjective experience, it belongs in the domain of neurohacking.

Of course, like all emergent phenomena, neurohacking didnt just come from nowhere. For years there have been many movements and communities out there, playing in and pioneering some aspect of the neurohacking space.

Some of these domains include:

We propose that it is now timely and useful to perceive the commonality among these different movements and communities as shared aspects of Neurohacking. And in an effort to make these commonalities more visible and legible to each other, in the upcoming weeks we will take a deeper dive into each, highlight some notable people and projects in each space and explore the frontiers of the community from the point of view of Neurohacking.

In our next post, we will begin this exploration with the domain of Nootropics.

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Evolution – Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Evolution is a scientific theory used by biologists. It explains how living things change over a long time, and how they have come to be the way they are.[1]

Earth is very old.[2][3] By studying the layers of rock that make up Earth's crust, scientists can find out about its past. This kind of research is called historical geology.

It is known that living things have changed over time, because their remains can be seen in the rocks. These remains are called 'fossils'. This proves that the animals and plants of today are different from those of long ago. The older the fossils, the bigger the differences from modern forms.[4] How has this come about? Evolution has taken place. That evolution has taken place is a fact, because it is overwhelmingly supported by many lines of evidence.[5][6][7] At the same time, evolutionary questions are still being actively researched by biologists.

Comparison of DNA sequences allows organisms to be grouped by how similar their sequences are. In 2010 an analysis compared sequences to phylogenetic trees, and supported the idea of common descent. There is now "strong quantitative support, by a formal test",[8] for the unity of life.[9]

The theory of evolution is the basis of modern biology. Theodosius Dobzhansky, a well-known evolutionary biologist, has said: "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution".[10]

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The evidence for evolution is given in a number of books.[11][12][13][14] Some of this evidence is discussed here.

The realization that some rocks contain fossils was a very important event in natural history. There are three parts to this story:

The most convincing evidence for the occurrence of evolution is the discovery of extinct organisms in older geological strata... The older the strata are...the more different the fossil will be from living representatives... that is to be expected if the fauna and flora of the earlier strata had gradually evolved into their descendants.

Ernst Mayr [1]p13

The evolution of the horse family (Equidae) is a good example of the way that evolution works. The oldest fossil of a horse is about 52 million years old. It was a small animal with five toes on the front feet and four on the hind feet. At that time, there were more forests in the world than today. This horse lived in woodland, eating leaves, nuts and fruit with its simple teeth. It was only about as big as a fox.[19]

About 30 million years ago the world started to become cooler and drier. Forests shrank; grassland expanded, and horses changed. They ate grass, they grew larger, and they ran faster because they had to escape faster predators. Because grass wears teeth out, horses with longer-lasting teeth had an advantage.

For most of this long period of time, there were a number of horse types (genera). Now, however, only one genus exists: the modern horse, Equus. It has teeth which grow all its life, hooves on single toes, great long legs for running, and the animal is big and strong enough to survive in the open plain.[19] Horses lived in western Canada until 12,000 years ago,[20] but all horses in North America became extinct about 11,000 years ago. The causes of this extinction are not yet clear. Climate change and over-hunting by humans are suggested.

So, scientists can see that changes have happened. They have happened slowly over a long time. How these changes have come about is explained by the theory of evolution.

This is a topic which fascinated both Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.[21][22][23] When new species occur, usually by the splitting of older species, this takes place in one place in the world. Once it is established, a new species may spread to some places and not others.

Australasia has been separated from other continents for many millions of years. In the main part of the continent, Australia, 83% of mammals, 89% of reptiles, 90% of fish and insects and 93% of amphibians are endemic.[24] Its native mammals are mostly marsupials like kangaroos, bandicoots, and quolls.[25] By contrast, marsupials are today totally absent from Africa and form a small portion of the mammalian fauna of South America, where opossums, shrew opossums, and the monito del monte occur (see the Great American Interchange).

The only living representatives of primitive egg-laying mammals (monotremes) are the echidnas and the platypus. They are only found in Australasia, which includes Tasmania, New Guinea, and Kangaroo Island. These monotremes are totally absent in the rest of the world.[26] On the other hand, Australia is missing many groups of placental mammals that are common on other continents (carnivora, artiodactyls, shrews, squirrels, lagomorphs), although it does have indigenous bats and rodents, which arrived later.[27]

The evolutionary story is that placental mammals evolved in Eurasia, and wiped out the marsupials and monotremes wherever they spread. They did not reach Australasia until more recently. That is the simple reason why Australia has most of the world's marsupials and all the world's monotremes.

In about 6,500sqmi (17,000km2), the Hawaiian Islands have the most diverse collection of Drosophila flies in the world, living from rainforests to mountain meadows. About 800 Hawaiian drosophilid species are known.

Genetic evidence shows that all the native drosophilid species in Hawaii have descended from a single ancestral species that colonized the islands, about 20 million years ago. The subsequent adaptive radiation was spurred by a lack of competition and a wide variety of vacant niches. Although it would be possible for a single pregnant female to colonise an island, it is more likely to have been a group from the same species.[28][29][30][31]

The combination of continental drift and evolution can explain what is found in the fossil record. Glossopteris is an extinct species of seed fern plants from the Permian period on the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana.[32]

Glossopteris fossils are found in Permian strata in southeast South America, southeast Africa, all of Madagascar, northern India, all of Australia, all of New Zealand, and scattered on the southern and northern edges of Antarctica.

During the Permian, these continents were connected as Gondwana. This is known from magnetic striping in the rocks, other fossil distributions, and glacial scratches pointing away from the temperate climate of the South Pole during the Permian.[13]p103[33]

When biologists look at living things, they see that animals and plants belong to groups which have something in common. Charles Darwin explained that this followed naturally if "we admit the common parentage of allied forms, together with their modification through variation and natural selection".[21]p402[11]p456

For example, all insects are related. They share a basic body plan, whose development is controlled by master regulatory genes.[34] They have six legs; they have hard parts on the outside of the body (an exoskeleton); they have eyes formed of many separate chambers, and so on. Biologists explain this with evolution. All insects are the descendants of a group of animals who lived a long time ago. They still keep the basic plan (six legs and so on) but the details change. They look different now because they changed in different ways: this is evolution.[35]

It was Darwin who first suggested that all life on Earth had a single origin, and from that beginning "endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved".[11]p490[21] Evidence from molecular biology in recent years has supported the idea that all life is related by common descent.[36]

Strong evidence for common descent comes from vestigial structures.[21]p397 The useless wings of flightless beetles are sealed under fused wing covers. This can be simply explained by their descent from ancestral beetles which had wings that worked.[14]p49

Rudimentary body parts, those that are smaller and simpler in structure than corresponding parts in ancestral species, are called vestigial organs. Those organs are functional in the ancestral species but are now either nonfunctional or re-adapted to a new function. Examples are the pelvic girdles of whales, halteres (hind wings) of flies, wings of flightless birds, and the leaves of some xerophytes (e.g. cactus) and parasitic plants (e.g. dodder).

However, vestigial structures may have their original function replaced with another. For example, the halteres in flies help balance the insect while in flight, and the wings of ostriches are used in mating rituals, and in aggressive display. The ear ossicles in mammals are former bones of the lower jaw.

In 1893, Robert Wiedersheim published a book on human anatomy and its relevance to man's evolutionary history. This book contained a list of 86 human organs that he considered vestigial.[37] This list included examples such as the appendix and the 3rd molar teeth (wisdom teeth).

The strong grip of a baby is another example.[38] It is a vestigial reflex, a remnant of the past when pre-human babies clung to their mothers' hair as the mothers swung through the trees. This is borne out by the babies' feet, which curl up when it is sitting down (primate babies grip with the feet as well). All primates except modern man have thick body hair to which an infant can cling, unlike modern humans. The grasp reflex allows the mother to escape danger by climbing a tree using both hands and feet.[13][39]

Vestigial organs often have some selection against them. The original organs took resources, sometimes huge resources. If they no longer have a function, reducing their size improves fitness. And there is direct evidence of selection. Some cave crustacea reproduce more successfully with smaller eyes than do those with larger eyes. This may be because the nervous tissue dealing with sight now becomes available to handle other sensory input.[40]p310

From the eighteenth century it was known that embryos of different species were much more similar than the adults. In particular, some parts of embryos reflect their evolutionary past. For example, the embryos of land vertebrates develop gill slits like fish embryos. Of course, this is only a temporary stage, which gives rise to many structures in the neck of reptiles, birds and mammals. The proto-gill slits are part of a complicated system of development: that is why they persisted.[34]

Another example are the embryonic teeth of baleen whales.[41] They are later lost. The baleen filter is developed from different tissue, called keratin. Early fossil baleen whales did actually have teeth as well as the baleen.[42]

A good example is the barnacle. It took many centuries before natural historians discovered that barnacles were crustacea. Their adults look so unlike other crustacea, but their larvae are very similar to those of other crustacea.[43]

Charles Darwin lived in a world where animal husbandry and domesticated crops were vitally important. In both cases farmers selected for breeding individuals with special properties, and prevented the breeding of individuals with less desirable characteristics. The eighteenth and early nineteenth century saw a growth in scientific agriculture, and artificial breeding was part of this.

Darwin discussed artificial selection as a model for natural selection in the 1859 first edition of his work On the Origin of Species, in Chapter IV: Natural selection:

Nikolai Vavilov showed that rye, originally a weed, came to be a crop plant by unintentional selection. Rye is a tougher plant than wheat: it survives in harsher conditions. Having become a crop like the wheat, rye was able to become a crop plant in harsh areas, such as hills and mountains.[45][46]

There is no real difference in the genetic processes underlying artificial and natural selection, and the concept of artificial selection was used by Charles Darwin as an illustration of the wider process of natural selection. There are practical differences. Experimental studies of artificial selection show that "the rate of evolution in selection experiments is at least two orders of magnitude (that is 100 times) greater than any rate seen in nature or the fossil record".[47]p157

Some have thought that artificial selection could not produce new species. It now seems that it can.

New species have been created by domesticated animal husbandry, but the details are not known or not clear. For example, domestic sheep were created by hybridisation, and no longer produce viable offspring with Ovis orientalis, one species from which they are descended.[48] Domestic cattle, on the other hand, can be considered the same species as several varieties of wild ox, gaur, yak, etc., as they readily produce fertile offspring with them.[49]

The best-documented new species came from laboratory experiments in the late 1980s. William Rice and G.W. Salt bred fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, using a maze with three different choices of habitat such as light/dark and wet/dry. Each generation was put into the maze, and the groups of flies that came out of two of the eight exits were set apart to breed with each other in their respective groups.

After thirty-five generations, the two groups and their offspring were isolated reproductively because of their strong habitat preferences: they mated only within the areas they preferred, and so did not mate with flies that preferred the other areas.[50][51]

Diane Dodd was also able to show how reproductive isolation can develop from mating preferences in Drosophila pseudoobscura fruit flies after only eight generations using different food types, starch and maltose.[52]

Dodd's experiment has been easy for others to repeat. It has also been done with other fruit flies and foods.[53]

Some biologists say that evolution has happened when a trait that is caused by genetics becomes more or less common in a group of organisms.[54] Others call it evolution when new species appear.

Changes can happen quickly in the smaller, simpler organisms. For example, many bacteria that cause disease can no longer be killed with some of the antibiotic medicines. These medicines have only been in use about eighty years, and at first worked extremely well. The bacteria have evolved so that they are no longer affected by antibiotics anymore.[55] The drugs killed off all the bacteria except a few which had some resistance. These few resistant bacteria produced the next generation.

The Colorado beetle is famous for its ability to resist pesticides. Over the last 50 years it has become resistant to 52 chemical compounds used in insecticides, including cyanide.[56] This is natural selection speeded up by the artificial conditions. However, not every population is resistant to every chemical.[57] The populations only become resistant to chemicals used in their area.

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6 facts about psychedelic drugs that will totally blow …

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Despite the fact that the U.S. government deems many hallucinogenic or psychedelic substances to be dangerous, classifying them as Schedule I drugs with no currently accepted medical use, various scientists have dared to study their effects. What theyve found over the years paints a startling, promising and powerful picture of potentially game-changing medicines.The governments "war on drugs" policies severely limit research on psychedelics. Before scientists can complete any federally sanctioned studies, they have to jump through an expensive tangle of hoops and red tape. Restrictions aside, over the years researchers have collected a database of research showing that many psychedelics have an unprecedented potential to treat cancers, addictions and psychological traumas, among other things.Here are some of the coolest things scientists have discovered about psychedelics over the years.1. LSD can mitigate end-of-life anxiety.Theresultsof the first clinical study of the therapeutic use of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) in humans in more than 40 years werepublishedin the peer-reviewed Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease in March. They show that LSD can promote statistically significant reductions in anxiety for people coming to terms with their own impending demise.Swiss psychiatrist Peter Gasser and his colleagues conducted the double-blind, placebo-controlled study, sponsored by the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). They tracked 12 people who were near the end of life as they attended LSD-assisted psychotherapy sessions. Inhis report, Gasser concluded that the study subjects anxiety "went down and stayed down."2. Psilocybin, aka magic mushrooms, actually calms, rather than stimulates, certain brain functions.The common conception is that psychedelics do something extra to cause their effectsincrease activity, add hallucinations, promote awareness, etc. Astudythat examined brain scans of people under the influence of psilocybin found that it reduces activity in certain areas of the brain. That reduction of activity leads to the drug's effect on cognition and memory. Psychedelics, and psilocybin in particular, might actually be eliminating what could be called the extra "noise" in the brain.3. The drug MDMA (akaecstasy, orMolly) promotes release of the hormone oxytocin, which could help treat severe anxieties like PTSD and social anxiety resulting from autism.Before the federal government classified it as a Schedule I substance, therapists experimented with MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxyrnethimphetarnine) beginning in the 1970s to help reduce moderate depression and anxiety among their adult patients. After widespread recreational use in the rave scene caught the attention of authorities, MDMA was criminalized in 1985. However, research primarily supported by the MAPS has continued to turn up positive results for the drugs potential therapeutic use. Variousclinical trialsand statistical research have confirmed that MDMA can successfully treat post-traumatic stress in military veterans and others. Oneexampleis the clinical trial led by Michael Mithoefer, which used MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to treat chronic PTSD.A 2009 study offers a plausible explanation for MDMAs effectiveness treating PTSD. The double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of 15 healthy individuals confirmed that MDMA causes the brain to release oxytocin, which is the human hormone linked to feelings of love and compassion.MAPS recently received government approval to launch anew studyexamining MDMAs potential for treating social anxiety in autistic adults. Based on the known effects ofMDMA, as well as individual reports, thisexploratory studywill focus on enhancing functional skills and quality of life inautistic adultswithsocial anxiety.4. Psilocybin could kill smoking addiction. Psychiatry professor Matthew Johnson, who works at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, presented the preliminaryresultsof a pilot feasibility study looking at the ability of psilocybin to treat smoking addiction at the 2013 Psychedelic Science conference in Oakland, Calif. For the study, five cigarette-addicted participants underwent placebo-controlled psilocybin treatment with a psychiatrist. All five completely quit smoking after their first psilocybin session. At all followup visits, which occurred up to one year later for the first four participants, it was biologically confirmed that the participants had abstained from cigarettes.5. Ayahuasca can treat drug addictionand possibly much more.Ayahuasca is a brew prepared with the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, originally used for spiritual and healing purposes in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. The vine is usually mixed with leaves containing the psychedelic compound DMT.Gabor Mate, a medical doctor from Vancouver who is a prominent ayahuasca researcher,contendsthat therapy assisted by psychedelics, and ayahuasca in particular, can untangle complex, unconscious psychological stresses. He claims these stresses underlie and contribute to all chronic medical conditions, from cancer and addiction to depression and multiple sclerosis.Theresultsof the first North American observational study on the safety and long-term effectiveness of ayahuasca treatment for addiction and dependence were published in June 2013 in the journal Current Drug Abuse Reviews. All of the participants in the study reported positive and lasting changes, and the study found statistically significant improvements for scales assessing hopefulness, empowerment, mindfulness, and quality of life meaning and outlook subscales. Self-reported alcohol, tobacco and cocaine use declined, although cannabis and opiate use did not. The reported reductions in problematic cocaine use were also statistically significant.6. DMT occurs naturally in the human body, and taking it could simulate death.The drugDMT(diemethyltryptamine), which causes hallucinogenic experiences, is made up of a chemical compound that already occurs within the human bodyendogenously(as well as in a number of plants). This means our brains are naturally set up to process the drug because it has receptors that exist specifically to do so. Cannabis is another illegal drug that occursendogenously.Someresearchbased on near-death experiences points to the fact that the brain releases DMT during death. Some researchers have also conjectured that DMT is released during other intense experiences, including orgasm.

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6 facts about psychedelic drugs that will totally blow ...

Alternative Medicine Chapter 1: Like Some Other Bedtime …

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Alternative Medicine

a Harry Potter fanfic by canoncansodoff

Summary: Harry is struck down by a nasty curse a moment after he became The Boy-Who-Won that requires some non-traditional treatment, tenderly administered by a trio of young witches willing to share in more than just his physical therapy.

Ship: Harry/Hermione/Padma/Parvati

Rating: M

Disclaimer: Not my characters, no money being made, etc., etc.

oo00OO00oo

Chapter One

The-Boy-Who-Won woke with a blinding headache and a full bladder.

"He-ll-pp?" he rasped.

"Oh, Harry...you're awake...how wonderful!"

The young wizard tried to turn towards the the familiar voice, but found himself immobilized from the neck down. Putting his own condition aside from the moment, he focused on what mattered most...the sight of his bushy-haired best friend dressed in muggle shorts and a t-shirt, stretching out from a kip on a rattan sofa.

"Her...Hermione, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Harry...thanks to you, of course," Hermione replied. "I'm so happy that you're...so what do you need? What can I get you?"

"Erm...some answers would be nice, but first I need to use the loo."

Hermione's focus shot involuntarily down towards Harry's crotch.

"Oh, well...go ahead."

"What?"

"Go ahead and take care of your business, Harry."

"What? Erm...How?"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot," Hermione replied sheepishly. "You've got a partial paralysis charm applied to aid your healing, so you're wearing a magical bedpan."

Harry groaned. He'd run into this situation more times than he'd care to recall whist under Madame Pomfrey's care.

"Would it be easier for me to leave the room?" Hermione asked.

With a sigh, Harry replied, "No...I mean...it's not like we haven't been in this situation before, and there is a sheet covering me, right?"

"Right now there is."

"Right now?" Harry asked with concern. "Does that mean there have been times when I haven't been covered with bed linens?"

"Not that you know," Hermione replied with a giggle, as she made for the door. "I'll go get the Healer."

With a giggle. Since when did Hermione giggle?

Harry shook his head relaxed control of his bladder. The therapeutic version of the paralysis charm allowed for that sort of thing, of course... wouldn't do to have heart muscles frozen and other bodily functions interrupted by magic. The resulting stream of yellow spray was instantly banished as it left his body by a device that actually looked like and functioned more like a magical nappie than a magical bedpan.

His business finished, Harry tried to recall how he got to be where he was. No great surprise that he was in hospital...he had met Voldemort on the field of battle for one final confrontation. He remembered slipping in the Accio spell amidst all of the heavy-duty curses...the spell that Voldemort missed, until it sent him sailing through the air towards the sharpened tip of the Sword of Gryffindor held in Harry's off-hand.

The last thing Harry remembered about the battle was planting his foot on the Dark Lord's chest, in an effort to pull the blade from his nemesis' impaled heart.

Not getting any further in his recollections, Harry took in his present environs. They were, quite surprisingly, new to him...located neither within the Hogwarts Infirmary or St. Mungo's. The headache made looking about the room painful, but that didn't keep him from using his other senses. Neither Hogwarts or St. Mungo's could have provided a private room with an opened window that allowed a warm gentle breeze to carry exotic scents and the sound of crashing surf.

Particularly in January.

Confirmation of these clues came when Hermione returned with a Healer. There were, of course, Healers of South Asian descent working in St. Mungo's, but none that dressed in saris, or worked in hospitals whose rooms overlooked a tropical beach.

The smiling elderly witch cast a spell that adjusted Harry's bed so that he was sitting upright. She then asked, "How are you feeling, Mr. Potter?"

Harry snorted, and looked down at his uncovered torso. He was shocked to see arms that were little more than twisted bits of flesh on bone, but focused on the immediate question.

"About all I can feel is a throbbing headache."

"Let me address that issue, then, before I perform my examination."

She walked to the opened door and called out a request using a melodious foreign language.

Harry made the most of his limited muscular control and arched his eyebrows towards his hairline when two young witches responded to the call.

"Padma? Parvati?"

The sari-wearing witches smiled as they approached Harry's bedside. Padma reached out and touched Harry's shoulder while her twin sister angled a straw tip into his mouth. The headache potion that the young wizard sipped through that straw was both effective and delicious.

"Now I know for sure that I'm not in Britain," Harry stated.

"Why is that, Harry?" asked Padma.

"There isn't a medicinal potion in the British Isles that tastes that good."

"Well you would know, having had need for most of them," Hermione replied. She stood on the bedside opposite of the the Patil twins, and mimicked Padma's shoulder touch.

"So where, exactly... "

"You are a honored guest of the Kovalam Arya Vaidya Sala," the Healer replied.

"India, then?"

The older witch nodded. "Kerala State, close to Thiruvananthapuram City."

"Thiru-vana..."

"Easier to call it Trivandrum," Padma suggested with a smile.

"But how?"

Hermione and the twins tried explained while the Healer undertook a series of diagnostic charms.

"You see, Harry...just after you killed Voldemort, you got hit with a nasty hex."

"What kind...who?"

"Dolohov," Hermione replied. "And it was some type of withering curse that affected all of your extremities."

"A withering curse...on my extrem...you mean just my arms and legs, right?"

All three witches giggled.

"Yes, Harry...just your arms and legs," Padma offered.

Parvati lifted up the side of Harry's sheet and said, "Maybe I should double-check, just to be certain?"

The Gryffindor witch's efforts were thwarted when the Healer slapped her hand away from the bed and scolded her in Malayalam.

Padma's scolding was in English.

"Haven't you've checked out that appendage enough times since he's been here?"

"No, actually."

Harry blushed, and asked, "Erm...so how long..."

"Close to twenty centimeters, I would think."

"Parvati!" her sister exclaimed.

Harry's blush grew. "I meant to ask how long I've been in hospital."

"Three days here," Hermione replied, casting a disproving look towards her dorm mate. "Another three days at St. Mungo's before that."

"So why here?" Harry asked. When the Healer glanced up from her wand work, Harry got nervous. "Not that there's anything wrong with here...or that I don't appreciate it..."

"No worries, Mr. Potter," the healer replied with a smile.

"St. Mungo's was a zoo," explained Hermione. "We couldn't keep the press away, and the Ministry seemed more interested in taking credit than providing security."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"And then there was the issue of care," Padma added. "Neither Madame Pomfrey nor the healers at St. Mungo's could control the withering, so they had you under a stasis spell."

"So..."

"So we were with you that last day," Parvati stated. "I actually saw the spell cast on you...and it sort of reminded me of some of the more gruesome bedtime stories that our father told us."

"Gruesome bedtime stories?" Harry asked.

"Well, not that gruesome," interjected Padma. "Sagas about battles between Indian wizards and the Nagas...that sort of thing. One of the stories involved a handsome wizard prince that was struck by a withering curse similar to yours."

"Really?" asked Harry.

Padma nodded. "So Parvati and I told our parents, who contacted our Auntie, here..."

"Auntie?" Harry asked. He turned his head towards the healer. "So you're their Aunt?"

The witch smiled and nodded her head. "Great Aunt, actually. I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself...Healer Patil, at your service."

"Aunt and Uncle run this Ayurvedic Hospital," explained Parvati. "They were more than willing to help, as was the Indian magical ministry, so..."

"So we kidnapped you from St. Mungo's and brought you here," Hermione said nervously. "Hope that you don't mind."

Harry snorted, and the room was quiet as he considered his response.

On the one hand, his hands (and, presumably legs) were useless to him. But on the other hand, he was alive, and Voldemort was dead. He frankly hadn't expected to survive the final battle, so he decided then and there to consider his glass half-full.

And that meant making the most of present circumstances.

"Let me see...instead of being held in stasis at St. Mungo's with a horde of pesky reporters and animagus beetles hovering over me, I wake up to a lovely room by the beach, attended by four of the loveliest healers a patient to could hope for."

"Oh, Mr. Potter, such a flirt!" Healer Patil chided. The smile on her face and twinkle in her eye softened the admonishment. There was, in contrast, nothing sort about the deep blush on the other witches' faces.

"So," Harry continued. "I've got something in common with another bedtime story hero, huh?"

"Oh, Harry...stop!"

"What?" Harry said with a grin. "Maybe if I can't stop all of the fan-girl attention, I should embrace it? Ginny always tried to measure me against the stories she was told."

Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Yes, go ahead, by all means...embrace the horde of fan-girls. I'm sure that they'd be willing to reciprocate."

"Nah," Harry said with a roguish grin. "I'd rather stay here and be embraced by you lot."

"Really?" asked Parvati.

"Sure, why not?" Harry replied brightly. "Of course, I might have problems doing any kind of embracing for a while."

"I think we could work on that," offered Hermione.

"So tell me more about this magical prince that shared my misfortune," asked Harry. "Did he get healed and live happily ever after with a harem?"

"Harry!" chided Hermione.

Originally posted here:

Alternative Medicine Chapter 1: Like Some Other Bedtime ...

Ascension: Deckbuilding Game on the App Store

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After thousands of hours of play, I'm kind of surprised I never wrote a review for Ascension. I've played it practically every week since launch. With that said I still see new combinations and tricks, so yeah, I think it's a deep game. Generally I play solo offline versus three computers and get great enjoyment out of infinite turn combos. It's a great way to wind down after work for thirty minutes or so at a time and still is my favorite game. As an aside, the others I play regularly are TES Legends and (lately) Star Empires.

As others have noted, the game slows down if too many cards are in play. It gets real hard to navigate back to what you want to copy. I used to cycle entirely through the draw deck but that's harder these days with the slowdown. The AI has also gotten a bit stupider in recent years, and kind of co-op by feeding the last computer player. The AI will also think awhile if it has a lot of constructs in play but it is nowhere near as long as it used to be. But the app itself is very stable and gameplay progresses very quickly until a lot of cards are in play (50+ overkill in one turn).

But it's rare to find a perfect game or app and these minor quibbles are nothing compared to all the fun I've gotten out of this game over the years. Well worth the money and hoping for another expansion soon.

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Ascension: Deckbuilding Game on the App Store

Ascension – Ascension Glossary

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Ascension, also known as Spiritual Awakening, is a simultaneous increase of Expanding Consciousness that occurs when our spiritual-energetic bodies connect into our physical bodies. Generally, the catalyst for spiritual Awakening is discovered through the process of progressive Kundalini activation that starts in the base of our spine and moves the intelligent energies up the spine and into the Crown. As a human being undergoes the Awakening process, which can progress gradually over many years, that person shifts into perceptions of higher consciousness, which can include increased awareness of energy in the environment, perceiving multidimensional realities, sensing extradimensional entities and feeling a direct communion with God and the interconnected energy that exists between all things.

Ascension is a change in Spectrum of Frequency through Kundalini awakening and a change in the focus of our Consciousness. Ascension is about moving our Consciousness from one reality to another. Since reality is a dimension, what we are undertaking is essentially a full dimensional shift. To go through this shift we must adjust our way of thinking and being to that which is in alignment with our soul purpose and true divine essence.

Ascension is the complex quantum mechanics governing the movement of consciousness through time and space. Consciousness is energy, as well as, energy is intelligent consciousness. When energy shifts, so does our consciousness. Time and space as we have known on planet earth is changing, and we are moving into a future timeline. Through gradual exposure to frequency activation of various stellar bodies, the planet is transformed into higher dimensional and frequency planes of existence. One can consider the multidimensional model of our reality through the study of the Universal Time Matrix and the Universal Tree of Life. The shift of frequency forces all of the planetary inhabitants to shift into the newly exposed planetary frequencies and adapt to the accumulative impact of the shifting energies. All humans have a unique Blueprint and pace to keep aligned with the planetary frequencies. Some will adapt to these frequencies while embodied on planet, while others may not. The choice lies with each of us and is directly our responsibility. We can participate or not with our personal evolution process. All that is required from the Ascension process is participation at the level you are able and that attention and focus is placed on one's heart with a desire to know the true self.

As we develop Self Awareness which is the knowledge of the Self, we are developing the right relationship to the Self, and thus we can better develop our relationship with God Source. We cannot know the highest expression of our nature, until we know the deepest inner contents of our own being. Self study is self mastery and is the pathway to expanding Consciousness and awakening Kundalini.

See Where Can I Start?

The Ascension Stages are about the bringing of layers of light, the Kundalini force existing within the levels of our spiritual bodies (our Multidimensional God Selves) by descending these layers into matter and anchoring them into the physical plane of reality. Simultaneously, Ascension is a shift in energetic Spectrum of Frequency patterns held in a dimensional space which, when absorbed and activated into the layers of the planetary and human bio-energetic field, activates its DNA Silicate Matrix template instruction set. This catalyzes a chain of events that creates a complete transformation and transmutation of various patterns and programs held in the energetic templates of the Human Souls journey within a cycle of evolutionary time. When activated, these patterns begin to shift, re-emerge and clear from the layers of experiences coded into every cell and memory pattern held as an energetic vibration within the bodies. This part of the biological ascension process may manifest physical, mental and emotional Ascension Symptoms as well as the spiritual crisis of the Dark Night of the Soul.

The 5D Ascension is the original evolutionary schema or Ascension Plan for the planet Earth at the end of the 2012 Timelines or at the end of the Ascension Cycle, or the end of an Age of Humanity. This original plan was aborted by the Krystal Star Guardians, and in my knowledge, I was shifted from my original Ascension mission in 2004 to learn how to best work for the Guardian Aurora teams who were active building Krystal Star hosting architecture for planet earth. In 2005 I was made aware the original plan was aborted and councils disbanded and reassembled to work on the new mission upgrades, called Ascension Plan B.

The elemental re-encryption process of this Avatar of Ascension (AOA) project as a part of the Aurora Guardian Families is an adjustment that actually changes the coordinates of your birth blueprint and its genetic imprint on the flesh. When we incarnated into 3D we had to accept huge miasmic package that is attached to the collective human race mental bodies on this planet. These are called Negative Forms or Shadow or Phantom Sun bodies. These phantom bodies are what connect humans to the timeline of the (911 Timelines), Armageddon Software or the negative alien agenda NAA. The transduction sequence is the definition of when the God Spark connects to the core manifestation body (12 Tree Grid) which projects out the elemental physical manifest body Three Layers of Ego. As we know a major project of the AOA Aurora is to re-encrypt the elemental structure of our bodies, as well as anchor the architecture to build the unity source code platform. This changes the false 911 Timelines architecture and is what the work of this ES community is in laying the template of the Law of One (LOO) in the GSF Ascension Timeline. This timeline exists in the Aurora time continuum. See Aurora Re-encryptions.[1]

4 Planetary Rounds = 1 Planetary Cycles = 1 Astrological Age = Aeon = 26,000 (26,566) years = precession of Earths axis of rotation with respect to inertial space.At the end of every cycle, we become aligned to the galactic core; Stargate portals open (See Planetary Gates, and we are eligible to proceed with an Ascension timeline.

Refers to the precession of Earth's axis of rotation with respect to inertial space. A complete precession cycle (One Astrological Age) covers a period of approximately 25,765 years, the so called Great Platonic Year, during which time the equinox regresses over a full 360. The precessional movement also is the determining factor in the length of an Astrological Age or Aeon. (Note that there are 12 Zodiac Archetypes that are each of the 12 Astrological Ages. We are moving from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius.) The Precession of the Equinoxes is caused by the differential between the gravitational forces of the Sun and Moon on the Earth.

What is Ascension?

Virtues

Spirits of Christ

Father Arc

Mother Arc

Krystal Star

KA RA YA SA TA AA LA (KRYSTAL)

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Ascension - Ascension Glossary

What is Ascension? – Energetic Synthesis

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This is a basic Primer to review the basic meaning and mechanics of the "Ascension" and discuss the various awakening symptoms that we as humans may encounter in our consciousness evolution process. I have many articles and tools on the website that will help support your awareness to investigate and explore the impacts this has upon human beings, our planet and all of consciousness. It is important to develop strong discernment of the energetic signatures that we interact with, while learning how to distinguish personal resonance to help guide you forward, so only take in what feels right for your personal journey and discard the rest.

Humanity is undergoing a consciousness shift which requires a re-education of valuesand change of priorities in lifestyle, of which much of this information on this website is a guideline to support those awakening and being guided towards stewardship or leadership in order to help others move through the transitional impacts this creates on the planet. It is also important to share this information with others in order to not feel a sense of isolation and fear from a myriad of possible unusual consciousness experiences that can result from the integration of our higher light-energy bodies that happens during our Ascension process. My desire to share this information comes from my very personal and frightening physical awakening process that dismantled my entire reality and ego in a very short period of time. During intense spiritual awakening phases in which we undergo ego dismantling, is called the Dark Night of the Soul. I share my experiences with anyone who may need this information as I have had many unusual, mystical manifestations appear in my life since my spontaneous kundalini release many years ago. Those of us undergoing the first wave of awakening will be Ascension Guides for the balance of humanity who have not yet experienced a direct spiritual awakening or extra-dimensional contact. This website is dedicated to the Starseeds, and those endeavoring to evolve as Guardian Stewards in order to help participate and build the required consciousness structures this planet and humanity will require in the coming Age.

It is important to share this information in order to not feel a sense of isolation and fear from a myriad of possible unusual consciousnessexperiences that can result from the integration of our higher light-energy bodies that happens during the Planetary Ascension cycle. My desire to share this information comes from my very personal and frightening physical awakening process that dismantled my entire reality and ego in a very short period of time. It made functioning in life in the 3D reality extremely painful, isolating and difficult to navigate. I share my experiences with anyone who may need this information to develop better discernment, as I had many unusual, mystical and unexplainable manifestations appear in my life since my spontaneous kundalini release many years ago. As I had no guru, teacher or mentor to explain it to me, my personality/ego was terrified that I was losing my mind along with my identity in the life I had known up to that point. Who does one call upon during mutidimensional awakening experiences and when sick with the kundalini flu? Who on Earth do you talk to when you are introduced to other interdimensional beings of every shade of light, grey and darkness and then begin to perceive an organized spiritual hierarchy of otherworldly human and non human entities? Why are some of these dark entities attacking people that are awakening? Further, I had many physical ailments show up during these times when the spiritual light force was greatly increased and activated from within me to build my aura. At the time, I was most blessed and had teams of Angels (Light Beings) and Extradimensional Ascended Masters around me, I was emotionally devastated and physically ill, as my state was exacerbated from my lack of comprehension of what was transpiring in my consciousness body. No one told me that spiritual awakening and rising kundalini forces can not only be devastating, but that there are many dark forces on the earth that will start targeting you for energetic harrassment to stop your forward progress.

Now I want to share my direct awakening experiences to assist anyone who may need this information so that having this knowledge can eradicate the fear of facing the unknown mysteries lying within. Once we go into and are spiritually initiated into these mysteries of God, there is no turning back. During these times since the planet is accelerating so quickly into higher frequency patterns, many more people will experience spontaneous awakening and consciousness altering experiences, that may feel to be scary without proper context. Many of these people will not be in spiritual or metaphysical settings when this consciousness shift occurs to them, it will be the office professional, the banker, the average person in the level of the current mass consciousness. Spiritual awakening is not a disease to be labeled by the medical community so people are medicated, it is a natural biological process for expanding human consciousness. The ultimate liberation of our Soul-Spirit comes through this blessing and humans must embrace and prepare themselves for this consciousness change that will forever alter the way we perceive and interact with reality. This process is the divine destiny of all humankind and our beautiful planet that is the heart principle of the Universe. We are in an accelerated consciousness evolution timeline and it is time to prepare. Many people have been suppressed and mind controlled to reject the spiritual-energetic reality of which the planet and humanity is undergoing and facing now. The Controllers do not want Planetary Ascension information given nor many other topics for disclosure given to the masses as common knowledge, because they can control and herd people easier when they are scared and dumbed down. Those awakening now are the forerunners and the Mapmakers of the future planetary changes to shift the timelines. In order to be effective and clear, self mastery over mental and emotional states, as well as having proper evolutionary context, and an awareness of the hidden extraterrestrial agendas, is required for Integrated Spiritual Ascension and future Stewardship roles.

The Mechanics of the Shift

First, let us review the meaning of "Ascension" and why we, as humans, will experience physical, emotional and mental symptoms and changes.

Currently we are in a phase transition of expansion into the realms of experiencing higher consciousness as multidimensional human beings living on this planet. During this phase of the Ascension cycle, we as human beings will experience many varied physical symptoms as we shift our cells into higher frequency patterns.

Ascension is about the bringing of layers of light, the force existing within the levels of our spiritual bodies (our Multidimensional God Selves) by descending these layers into matter and anchoring them into the physical plane of reality. Simultaneously, Ascension is a shift in energetic frequency patterns held in a dimensional space which, when absorbed and activated into the layers of the planetary and human bio-energetic field, activates its DNA template instruction set. This catalyzes a chain of events that creates a complete transformation and transmutation of various patterns and programs held in the energetic templates of the Human Souls journey within a cycle of evolutionary time. When activated, these patterns begin to shift, re-emerge and clear from the layers of experiences coded into every cell and memory pattern held as an energetic vibration within the bodies.

The Ascension process is about moving the consciousness from one reality to another and the awareness of possible multiple realities existing simultaneously. Since a reality is a dimension, what we are undertaking is, in essence, a complete dimensional shift. A dimensional reality is held in place by a complex layer of coded energetic grids to create the illusion of time and space for the consciousness to perceive and to participate in its own experience within the broadband widths of that particular range of frequency. As the dimensional grids shift its frequency and its magnetic attributes change, all things existing within that broadband reality will also shift and change in a myriad of ways. The natural laws governing that time and space as we know them will change. This also means the perception of our spatial awareness, our relationship to time and space will also change rather dramatically.

Thus, to go through this shift one must prepare and adjust one's way of thinking and being to that which is in alignment with the soul purpose and true divine essence. Surrender and Acceptance are two main characteristics we will need to allow to permeate through us to facilitate an easier time. In order to shift the old behaviors and thought patterns not serving the soul purpose, we will become aware of the beliefs and behaviors that exist as imbalances within us and we must take the appropriate steps to integrate or clear them. This process will bring our deepest fears, beliefs of limitation and old pain patterns to the surface through events that trigger them into our awareness so that we can consciously acknowledge, resolve and heal them. Some of these issues are ancestral or inherited in their nature and may feel rather odd yet familiar when they are is brought to your awareness. It is important to remember that we are not only clearing our own individual mind grid, but also the karmic mind implications and collective (un)consciousness implications on this planet from the last evolutionary cycle. This way you can reframe the circumstance in your mind to be that which is impersonal and detached from identifying with the specific issue that has risen to the surface to be cleared within your bodies. Appreciate and acknowledge your light being for accepting the assignment for this clearing rather than claiming it as belonging to you. By doing this repeatedly, we clear our emotional and energy bodies of the long held traumas, beliefs and fears that have impeded our ability to experience our true being and bring more joy into our lives. Once the emotional body is resolved and cleared of an old pain or trauma, the physical body then is enabled to clear its equivalent of that block.

All of this happens simultaneously within all of the layers of the bio-energetic field when each healing is cleared. In effect, it is a full clearing and release of these painful events held as patterns in the bodies from the souls record and cellular memory. And that is pretty awe inspiring when you realize how this will impact the human experience as we move forward!

Also, as these painful patterns are removed from the soul record, the clearing recodes our DNA so it can hold more light, thus sustaining our new frequency and a state of increasing higher consciousness and multidimensionality. As we hold this greater light and advanced genetic package in our bio-energy field, it enables others, through the principle of resonance, to vibrate at the increased frequency rate and activate their own inner potential and divine inheritance towards Ascension.

Emotional clearing is the main process we will experience and be acutely aware of as we shift through the Ascension. Since emotional pain and imbalances are responsible for our states of "dis-ease" many of us will experience illness or physical releases of pain clearing from our bodies. Some of this clearing is for your karmic, genetic or ancestral soul lineage. Some of us, as lightworkers, have chosen to clear states of imbalances for the collective or for a specific group and will feel this movement of energy transmute through us, as our energetic being is acting as a cosmic filtration system for the greater whole.

The goal of this information is to inform you of these dynamics that we are currently experiencing, and as the energies accelerate to prepare you even further by clearly discussing the various possible physical symptoms from a position of having a neutral association. Utilizing what works for you personally by cultivating intuitive discernment with an informed awareness is the intended support of offering this discussion.

This is to not alarm you, but is used as a tool to keep you informed in order to be self accountable and self sovereign in all of your upcoming choices. We will not be given anything we cannot handle. Much of this can be avoided by being self-aware and taking the time to heal through emotional clearing and listening to your body when it requests other healing techniques. Spirit has given us many tools for our Ascension toolkit to assist and support our evolution in the easiest possible way. Ask for assistance with a pure heart and it will be given!

Transmutational Symptoms

During theAscensionprocess as we accrete frequency and light we may undergo a variety of ascension symptoms, physical, mental, emotional or spiritual-energetic.

These transmutational symptoms can be extreme. The12D Shieldis helpful to harmonize the body through many ascension symptoms. Many of the ascension symptoms are vague to describe and inexpressible in linear thought and language. When people go to doctors, they are being told to take drugs or they are being instructed to seek professional psychological help.This site is not professing to be giving any medical advice. It may be beneficial for some of us to seek out medical or psychological treatment during our process. We must follow our own inner guidance on how to proceed with what is occurring within our physical and energy body systems at this unprecedented time of acceleration.

Certain symptoms are now becoming more apparent and when we know this as a process and that many others are feeling the same things, a certain serenity can be brought into the mind. Many can rest in the knowledge that they are being transformed in ways that may feel extremely hard on the physical body.

Some of the most common symptoms reported include:

Also, our bodies often experience a rush of heat and energy bursts that are not comfortable. Our bodies are being shifted in thermodynamic ways and with so much light entering the fields of the body, some of the "symptoms" we experience are actually preventing our physical vehicles from bursting with the intensity of light. We may experience a "triad" sleep pattern (waking up every 3 hours) or interrupted sleep as we are being recalibrated and worked on energetically at night. This adds to our being restless and tired in the morning.

Remember to be gentle with your hearts and being and only allow others within your boundaries of inner sanctum that treat you the same. This can be an extremely vulnerable time emotionally. We need to release the fear of asking for help and investing in ourselves to feel balanced and healthy. Massage, Bodywork, Hydration, Supplementation, Energy Work, Spiritual Counsel

If I could impart anything to our it would be to emphasize how humans are so deeply loved and appreciated by God's Spirit, The Krystal Star and Law of One Light Hierarchies, The Planetary Logos, from all those of whom we serve as One. The impact of our collective consciousness work during this evolutionary time cycle to shift future timelines is generally beyond the comprehension of the human mind.

As we move forward only those of you that can feel the inner resonance are aware if you are apart of the soul groups of Starseeds and Indigos that agreed to be the Light stewardship and Ascension Guides for the changing reality structure. Humans are expanding consciousness to become increasingly multidimensional, and being in Love is only one part of the human equation. Clearing ego and emotional wounds, learning to discern ego from higher self intelligence, as well as reclaiming and healing spiritual light-bodies, and evicting Imposter Spirit parasites, is a part of having an accurate assessment of the requirements of our changing earth. Our earth needs new ethical guidance and humanitarian stewardship. The Galactic community, those in communication with enlightened intelligence fields and higher dimensions, are the first ascending waves to meet those challenges of building structures that support humanity as multidimensional spiritual beings. Our community is the repository of building and supporting the integrated ascension path, as well as cultivating self leadership in order to lead and support humanity through personal example.

Lightworkers, Starseeds, Gridworkers and Ascension Stewards,Thank you and with deep gratitude for all of your amazing work!

Stay in the luminosity of your Avatar heart and Christos-Sophia path! We are here to reunite the Holy Mother and Holy Father and reclaim the Christos Diamond Sun body for all!

Lisa Renee, http://www.EnergeticSynthesis.com

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What is Ascension? - Energetic Synthesis

Why Is Freedom of Speech Important? | Reference.com

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In areas of the world where freedom of speech is not protected, citizens are afraid to speak out against their government, even when it acts illegally, for fear of being locked away in a cell for life. According to the University of Virginia, historically, men, women and even some children were put to death for daring to speak out against a tyrannical monarch, an unjust parliament or legislature or even a powerful corporation.

Fortunately, in the first amendment in the Bill of Rights guarantees a person the freedom to speak and express himself however he wishes, just so long that his actions do not infringe on the rights of another person. Even in the American Colonies, prohibitions on free speech were rampant. Virginia had a law in its charter that would grant the death penalty for anyone who "blasphemed God's holy name."

According to Justia.com, one of the most overlooked part of the guarantee of free speech is the fact that it causes sweeping change in ways that the government itself can never quite accomplish. Justice Thurgood Marshall stated, "above all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content."

The change is gay marriage laws is one example of how the actions of a free society lobbying, protesting, distributing fliers and debating caused sweeping changes in public perception and the law in a relatively small amount of time. Without freedom of speech, the voices of this minority would have never been heard.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) – IMDb

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After Elizabeth, Will, and Captain Barbossa rescue Captain Jack Sparrow from the the land of the dead, they must face their foes, Davy Jones and Lord Cutler Beckett. Beckett, now with control of Jones' heart, forms a dark alliance with him in order to rule the seas and wipe out the last of the Pirates. Now, Jack, Barbossa, Will, Elizabeth, Tia Dalma, and crew must call the Pirate Lords from the four corners of the globe, including the infamous Sao Feng, to gathering. The Pirate Lords want to release the goddess Calypso, Davy Jones's damned lover, from the trap they sent her to out of fear, in which the Pirate Lords must combine the 9 pieces that bound her by ritual to undo it and release her in hopes that she will help them fight. With this, all pirates will stand together and will make their final stand for freedom against Beckett, Jones, Norrington, the Flying Dutchman, and the entire East India Trading Company. Written byJ. Curcio

Taglines:At the End of the World, the Adventure Begins

Budget:$300,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA: $139,802,190,27 May 2007, Wide Release

Gross USA: $309,420,425, 4 October 2007

Cumulative Worldwide Gross: $963,420,425, 25 November 2011

Runtime: 169 min | 128 min (Mainland China Censored Version)

Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1

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Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) - IMDb

What the Alt Right is – Vox Day

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In the interest of developing a core Alternative Right philosophy upon which others can build.

The patron saint of conservatives, Russell Kirk, wrote: "The great line of demarcation in modern politics, Eric Voegelin used to point out, is not a division between liberals on one side and totalitarians on the other. No, on one side of that line are all those men and women who fancy that the temporal order is the only order, and that material needs are their only needs, and that they may do as they like with the human patrimony. On the other side of that line are all those people who recognize an enduring moral order in the universe, a constant human nature, and high duties toward the order spiritual and the order temporal."

This is no longer true, assuming it ever was. The great line of demarcation in modern politics is now a division between men and women who believe that they are ultimately defined by their momentary opinions and those who believe they are ultimately defined by their genetic heritage. The Alt Right understands that the former will always lose to the latter in the end, because the former is subject to change.

The 16 Points in other languages:

Labels: #AltRight, philosophy

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What the Alt Right is - Vox Day

Quantum Computing Explained – WIRED UK

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Ray Orange

Google, IBM and a handful of startups are racing to create the next generation of supercomputers. Quantum computers, if they ever get started, will help us solve problems, like modelling complex chemical processes, that our existing computers can't even scratch the surface of.

But the quantum future isn't going to come easily, and there's no knowing what it'll look like when it does arrive. At the moment, companies and researchers are using a handful of different approaches to try and build the most powerful computers the world has ever seen. Here's everything you need to know about the coming quantum revolution.

Quantum computing takes advantage of the strange ability of subatomic particles to exist in more than one state at any time. Due to the way the tiniest of particles behave, operations can be done much more quickly and use less energy than classical computers.

In classical computing, a bit is a single piece of information that can exist in two states 1 or 0. Quantum computing uses quantum bits, or 'qubits' instead. These are quantum systems with two states. However, unlike a usual bit, they can store much more information than just 1 or 0, because they can exist in any superposition of these values.

D-Wave

"The difference between classical bits and qubits is that we can also prepare qubits in a quantum superposition of 0 and 1 and create nontrivial correlated states of a number of qubits, so-called 'entangled states'," says Alexey Fedorov, a physicist at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

A qubit can be thought of like an imaginary sphere. Whereas a classical bit can be in two states at either of the two poles of the sphere a qubit can be any point on the sphere. This means a computer using these bits can store a huge amount more information using less energy than a classical computer.

Until recently, it seemed like Google was leading the pack when it came to creating a quantum computer that could surpass the abilities of conventional computers. In a Nature article published in March 2017, the search giant set out ambitious plans to commercialise quantum technology in the next five years. Shortly after that, Google said it intended to achieve something its calling quantum supremacy with a 49-qubit computer by the end of 2017.

Now, quantum supremacy, which roughly refers to the point where a quantum computer can crunch sums that a conventional computer couldnt hope to simulate, isnt exactly a widely accepted term within the quantum community. Those sceptical of Googles quantum project or at least the way it talks about quantum computing argue that supremacy is essentially an arbitrary goal set by Google to make it look like its making strides in quantum when really its just meeting self-imposed targets.

Whether its an arbitrary goal or not, Google was pipped to the supremacy post by IBM in November 2017, when the company announced it had built a 50-qubit quantum computer. Even that, however, was far from stable, as the system could only hold its quantum microstate for 90 microseconds, a record, but far from the times needed to make quantum computing practically viable. Just because IBM has built a 50-qubit system, however, doesnt necessarily mean theyve cracked supremacy and definitely doesnt mean that theyve created a quantum computer that is anywhere near ready for practical use.

Where IBM has gone further than Google, however, is making quantum computers commercially available. Since 2016, it has offered researchers the chance to run experiments on a five-qubit quantum computer via the cloud and at the end of 2017 started making its 20-qubit system available online too.

But quantum computing is by no means a two-horse race. Californian startup Rigetti is focusing on the stability of its own systems rather than just the number of qubits and it could be the first to build a quantum computer that people can actually use. D-Wave, a company based in Vancouver, Canada, has already created what it is calling a 2,000-qubit system although many researchers dont consider the D-wave systems to be true quantum computers. Intel, too, has skin in the game. In February 2018 the company announced that it had found a way of fabricating quantum chips from silicon, which would make it much easier to produce chips using existing manufacturing methods.

Quantum computers operate on completely different principles to existing computers, which makes them really well suited to solving particular mathematical problems, like finding very large prime numbers. Since prime numbers are so important in cryptography, its likely that quantum computers would quickly be able to crack many of the systems that keep our online information secure. Because of these risks, researchers are already trying to develop technology that is resistant to quantum hacking, and on the flipside of that, its possible that quantum-based cryptographic systems would be much more secure than their conventional analogues.

Researchers are also excited about the prospect of using quantum computers to model complicated chemical reactions, a task that conventional supercomputers arent very good at all. In July 2016, Google engineers used a quantum device to simulate a hydrogen molecule for the first time, and since them IBM has managed to model the behaviour of even more complex molecules. Eventually, researchers hope theyll be able to use quantum simulations to design entirely new molecules for use in medicine. But the holy grail for quantum chemists is to be able to model the Haber-Bosch process a way of artificially producing ammonia that is still relatively inefficient. Researchers are hoping that if they can use quantum mechanics to work out whats going on inside that reaction, they could discover new ways to make the process much more efficient.

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Quantum Computing Explained - WIRED UK

Hawai’i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) : Home

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Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) : Home

Judge Andrew Napolitano: The real threat to Donald Trump …

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Napolitano: The real threat to Donald Trump

Judge Napolitano's Chambers: Judge Andrew Napolitano explains why it was legal for the FBI to raid Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen's office, but why the raid is not the real threat to the president.

In the midst of worrying about North Korea, Syria and Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives this fall, President Donald Trump is now worrying about a government assault on his own business, which targeted his own lawyer.

Michael Cohen has been the personal lawyer for Trump and for the Trump Organization -- the umbrella corporation through which Trump owns or manages nearly all entities that bear his name -- for many years. Cohen is so closely connected to the Trump Organization that one of his two law offices is located on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, just a few doors from the corner office formerly occupied by Trump himself.

On Monday, shortly before dawn, a team of FBI agents bearing a search warrant from a federal judge broke in to the offices of the Trump Organization and removed computers, files, tax returns and telephones from Cohens office. At about the same time, three other teams of FBI agents performed raids. One was at another of Cohens offices a few blocks away, and his vacant New York City apartment and hotel rooms he had been occupying were searched, too; and agents also seized personal and professional files and equipment from those venues.

Did the FBI lawfully break in to the headquarters of the presidents family business and cart away files and equipment from his lawyer, as well as legal and financial files of the president himself? The short answer is: yes.

Here is the back story.

In October 2016, when the federal government began its investigation of alleged attempts by the Russian government to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch managed the work.

After Trump became president and Jeff Sessions became attorney general and Sessions recused himself from this investigation, the No. 2 person in the Department of Justice appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel in charge of the Russia investigation. The investigation in Washington is 18 months old and has been run by Mueller for about 11 months.

If a criminal investigation stumbles upon evidence of crimes substantially removed by geography or subject matter from the location and principal responsibilities of the investigation, it is the prosecutors duty either to prosecute those crimes if feasible or to pass whatever evidence has been found on to another prosecutor closer to the place of the alleged crime.

Sometimes, keeping that evidence is a temptation too great to resist. Thats because one of the techniques that prosecutors in America use to gather evidence about a crime is to indict those at the fringes of the behavior they are investigating and then attempt, by coercion and bribery, to turn those indicted individuals into cooperating witnesses. Sometimes the indicted crime is truly at the fringes, both rationally and geographically. But the targets of these fringe prosecutions are rarely attorneys who are representing a person who is a subject of the investigation.

Until now.

Though Cohen does not represent Trump in the Mueller investigation, he does represent him in nearly all other legal matters, and his files contain a treasure-trove of confidential and financial materials from and about Trump. Judges are very reluctant to sign search warrants authorizing the seizure of legal files, with two exceptions.

The first is the so-called crime/fraud exception. Under this rule, if the client is using his confidential communications with his lawyer to further an ongoing crime, fraud or tort, the communications are not privileged, and evidence of them may be seized.

The other exception is the independent criminal activity of the lawyer. That appears to be the case here. It seems that Cohen -- who claims he borrowed $130,000 from a bank to pay an adult-film actress to remain silent about her relationship to Trump, which Trump denies was sexual -- did not tell the bank from which he borrowed the funds the true purpose of the loan.

If so, that may be evidence of bank fraud on Cohens part. If he wired those funds over interstate lines, that is evidence of wire fraud. If he used the U.S. Postal Service to facilitate a material part of the deal with the actress, that would be considered mail fraud. Each of these fraud charges carries a prison term of five years.

When FBI agents arrive for a raid, they rarely take the time to examine fully all the documents they have seized -- even if the documents are protected by the attorney-client privilege and even if the client is the president of the United States. Needless to say, there are safeguards in place to prevent the prosecutors who dispatched the agents from viewing the privileged materials.

When Mueller in Washington came upon evidence of Cohens bank fraud in Manhattan, he passed it along to the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan. That office -- not Mueller -- examined the evidence and obtained the search warrants for Cohens personal and professional premises, authorized the raids of those premises and received the fruits of the raids.

What will become of Cohen? Federal prosecutors in Manhattan will now decide whether to ask a grand jury to indict him on the fraud charges, and if he is indicted, Mueller will enter the picture looking to make a deal.

Trumps lawyer was Muellers bait.

All of this has understandably infuriated Trump. His rights as a client were violated. His attorney of many years and on many matters will soon be a defendant. Can Trump restrain himself from offering to pardon those who could harm him or firing those who are tormenting him or waging war against real or imagined enemies? Will his anger, frustration and disgust at the violation of his financial and personal privacy push him and America into what even congressional Republicans fear would be a constitutional crisis?

The potential failure of self-restraint is the real threat he now faces.

Andrew P. Napolitano, a former judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, is the senior judicial analyst at Fox News Channel.

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Ben Sasse: Donald Trump Ready to Rejoin TPP and Help American …

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He looked right at Larry Kudlow and said, Larry go get it done, Sasse said, recounting the meeting to White House reporters.

Sasse and other members of Congress and governors from agriculture states met with the president at the White House to express concerns about higher China tariffs hurting American farmers.

Senators Deb Fisher (R-NE), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and John Hoeven (R-ND),who also attended the meeting, confirmed Trumps interest in rejoining TPP.

Roberts said he was very impressed that Trump instructed both Kudlow and Robert Lighthizer to explore the idea of rejoining TPP.

That would certainly be good news all throughout farm country, Roberts said.

Fischer said that the president also discussed the importance of ethanol and the renegotiation of NAFTA with the president.

Hoeven said the meeting with Trump was a very positive meeting about opening up more markets to free and fair trade.

The senators did not have a timeline for the president but appeared confident that the president heard their concerns.

Clearly its a deliberative process,and the president is a guy who likes to blue-sky a lot and entertain a lot of different ideas, but he multiple times reaffirmed the point that TPP might be easier for us to join now once the TPP 11 is alignedand that we might be the 12th party to those negotiations, Sasse said.

TPP-11 is the group of Pacific nations who signed a renewed free trade pact after Trump pulled the United States out of TPP.

Sasse,who recently returned from a trip to China, admitted that they cheated on trade and stole intellectual property but suggested that the best way to compete with them was to lead Pacific nations on global trade.

He criticized the presidents strategy of proposing higher tariffs on China to get them to play fair on trade.

Tariffs first and U.S. alone action that focuses just on tariffs and steel thats not going to solve the real problems we have, he said.

He criticized the idea of using government welfare payments to farmers to help them survive threatening tariffs from China.

They dont want welfare payments, they want to feed the world, Sasse said.

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There’s a very disturbing pattern of silencing Donald Trump’s …

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AMI issued a statement categorically denying that the payments it was involved in had anything to do with Trump or Cohen or that there was any sort of partnership between Pecker, the company and the campaign. "These claims are reckless, unsubstantiated, and false," according to the statement.

But it doesn't take a genius to see the similarities here. In all three instances, Trump allies (Cohen in the case of Stormy Daniels; and AMI, which is run by his friend David Pecker, in the case of McDougal and the doorman) sought to snuff out a story that painted Trump's personal life in a negative manner.

What we don't know is what role -- if any -- Trump himself played in these specific instances or any other episodes we don't yet know about.

Trump has denied knowing about the Daniels' payment. He has said nothing -- at least as far as I can find -- about the payment to McDougal and the alleged payment to the doorman. Trump has denied he engaged in any affair with McDougal.

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There's a very disturbing pattern of silencing Donald Trump's ...