Project Respect: Yes Means Yes

I had a lot of people ask me the last couple of days; Are you ok?

I'm fine.

What is not fine is the blind hypocrisy, self-endangerment and gross negligence that people seem to NOT MIND living with, simply, because it is the way it is.

WTF?

Seriously?

I've been called a feminist as if it's a bad thing. I've been an equal rights fighter since I can remember being something of value in this world. Recently I've been called a "slut shamer", as if it's not okay to ask a victim to call out their accuser.

I'm sorry that SOB hurt you.

But if you don't say anything... Who does he hurt next?

TEN YEARS.

TEN FUCKING YEARS.

The CBC heard rumours, inklings, suggestions. Everyone knew about Jian. If you didn't and you made eyes at him, you were warned.

Yet.

I'm a bitch for thinking, SOMEBODY could have, should have said something.

Why didn't they say anything?

Oh, lots of reasons, he's a BMOC, he's important and I'm not, my life will be destroyed if people find out, I don't want to go through the hassle, I don't want to relive the crime...

It goes on, I've received example upon example of valid reasons why DOZENS of women were VIOLATED by Jian Ghomeshi and yet, kept mum publicly.

But, suddenly, he's the country's biggest sex offender and I'm a slut shamer for asking why everyone has remained so silent on this issue.

Really?

The most common story line is that there were four women who knew it, and had been victims of it, and were willing to anonymously claim it were so, yet none had pressed charges or were willing to. So nobody knew, and it came as a big surprise to everyone right? The only reason we even know about this is because Jesse Brown tweeted that he was working on a big story. Jian thought it was about him. So, he posted, shock of shocks, his story.

And now suddenly EVERYONE knows... Like it had previously been this heavily guarded dark secret that nobody knew about.

Except, not really. It turns out that the CBC's beloved Jian Ghomeshi was a bit of a freaky deaky in the bedroom and EVERYONE knew it, at least MANY people knew it and said nothing; repeatedly, and this, for years!

So, what did the CBC see that pissed them off so much that they'd distance themselves from the story so quickly and suddenly without much fanfare which to MY eyes, appeared to be them allowing Jian to just walk away without nary a word? They haven't said. But something tells me it was Jesse Brown's story. Only neither the Star nor the CBC could say anything.

So, they announced on Sunday that the split was permanant, Jesse Brown tweeted that he had a huge story breaking in the morning, Jian assumed that story was about him and so, Jian published his statement to try and control the dialogue or at least to temper the fallout.

Which, btw, to anyone thinking clearly is corroborated by girl 4 who actually filed a complaint with the CBC. He seems to be using his aggressive BDSM style to pick up his dates. This is obvious to me in how COMMON KNOWLEDGE Jian's freaky deakiness was.

What is also interesting to the situation is that media keeps talking about the BDSM world and their "boundaries" and "lines in the sand" and "safewords" as if they were a big deal.

Except nobody saying such really is IN that BDSM world nor do they have the slightest clue about how THAT world is no different from THIS world in that it is replete with misogyny.

What I'd like to know the answer to National Broadcaster, CBC and blogger cum reporter, Jesse Brown, is WHAT DID JIAN GHOMESHI DO WHEN THE GIRLS SAID "no" or "stop"?

Because one girl has already testified that when THEY didn't like each other's reaction to his BDSM come on, she was put into a cab.

It seems like he honoured her "no".

And THEREIN lies the rub.

THIS is the real reason that the women didn't report this or file a complaint, I think, because there is a very real actuality that once she said "stop", he stopped. So, here is a situation where a girl has gotten in over her head. "I didn't think he was THAT freaky deaky", is a common refrain.

And we'll keep hearing that line. "we didn't know it was that bad". But it wasn't about the sex he was having, it is about "consent" and everyone is making a big deal about the fact that Jian didn't get consent.

But didn't he?

It's a boundary problem.

In the BDSM world, it is rather common at a party for an admitted submissive to be able to walk through a room without being dominated by admitted doms in the room. Not because the submissive actual consents to it, but because without an explicit, "hands off", it is assumed that anything goes, UNLESS and UNTIL she says no.

And it's ass backwards. No puts the onus on the recipient of an unwanted come on to stop it. And the onus should be on the offerer of the come on to GET PERMISSION first.

Somebody said to me, "what if it was a kiss, does someone need consent for that?". And the answer is yes.

But we don't do that... boundary problem.

In Victorian times we did. If you spied a girl you liked. You'd trip yourself six ways of Sunday to find out who she was so you could get an introduction to her. One didn't just speak to a woman without an introduction.

Now, one has difficulty walking down the street without some sort of a "come on". Pretty lady, gorgeous hair, a look, a stare. I've had men walk into telephone poles from staring at me rather than watch where they were walking.

I had utter strangers come up to me while I was pregnant and touch my belly! I've had men use the come on line "Would you like to go back to my place and fuck", MORE THAN ONCE. And my brother used to joke that this was HIS pick up line. When I asked if that didn't get him a slap in the face, he replied, "usually".

Rumours and warnings about Jian have been common knowledge at the CBC for what looks like a decade. The insinuation here is that they didn't know how bad he was.

And that seems to be the crux of it. Boundary problem.

Because we live in a society where it's okay for people to make passes at total strangers. Because we live in a society where it's an unwritten rule that it's okay to do WHATEVER you like so long as when you are told to stop, you stop.

We tell our kids, be careful, so you don't get bullied, we tell ourselves, lock the doors so we don't get robbed and we tell our women, just say no and it will protect you from rape.

But it doesn't.

It doesn't stop it. Only teaching people not to do these things teaches them not to do things.

If you want something, you ask. If your answer is yes, you get it, if it's no, you don't. You don't get to take it first and then find out if it's okay to take, but we DO behave like that when the "thing" being taken is a someone's personal space.

Poor Jian Ghomeshi. I don't know if the answer to that question is going to come down in his favour or not. He's been railroaded into being outed (accidentally, he claims) by Jesse Brown, and the CBC. And voila, here he is in all his BDSM freaky deakiness.

But is he a sexual predator? Society says he is, because he's hit, kicked and bit his "partners", but the answer to sexual predator ends up being predicated by society to that answer; what did he do when she said stop? I'll let the cops ask that question now, for that's where the actual predatorship begins.

So, assuming Ghomeshi really did stop when told to. He's not a sexual predator by society rules. Society is putting the onus on the victim to stop the "attack" after it starts, rather than putting the onus on the "attacker" to get permission before hand.

Maybe if people would ASK PERMISSION first, rather than last, we'd see a lot fewer "victims" in our society afraid to say anything even though it's the elephant in the room.

If I have offended you with my stance on this whole Jian Ghomeshi thing because YOU have been a victim of sexual violence, then you have misplaced your offense. I did not offend you, nor did Jian Ghomeshi. Society has offended you.

And we need to fix that.

So, how do we fix it? Resolve the boundary problem.

I read ever so recently about a movement called Yes Means Yes.

There is surprisingly zero ambiguity to the word "yes" and it creates a very legitimate boundary to have to cross in order to say, "I had consent". It requires a "yes".

I invite you to join me in sharing this concept with every woman you know and you who are parents of boys, teach them too.

You see, I've been in a situation where saying "no" wasn't easy, because it was a passionate moment, and had something not happened to interrupt that moment, something I wouldn't normally do might have been allowed to occur simply because I was unable at that moment to say "no" or "stop" or anything else for that matter.

So, had that moment progressed, there would have been an "escalation" that I couldn't stop and I certainly wasn't ready for.

Had it happened, his defence... She didn't say "no" or "stop".

And his defence could need to be... She said "yes".

It's called "Project Respect" and it makes sense. Only "yes" means "yes".

http://www.yesmeansyes.com/consent-0

An open letter to the CFIB and the Canadian people on boycotting or hating on the CFIB

My name is Tina Brooks. My husband and I own a small batch specialty co-pack business in Rigaud, Quebec and we are proud members of the CFIB.



I am writing this letter because Canada's labour federations, Press Progress and the Broadbent Institute are actively undermining the CFIB because they have at one time or another been on opposite sides of the fence from a position that the CFIB has represented on the part of its' membership.

Let me tell you about MY experience with the CFIB. When Brooks Pepperfire Foods opened our doors in 2003, we received a visit from our account rep who congratulated us on opening our business and asked if we were familiar with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. My first husband's company had been members, but I personally didn't know anything more than that about the organization.

She explained to me that the CFIB is a non-profit, non-partisan lobbying group who polls their membership in order to present their needs and demands to government. She explained that, because we are members, our points of view would gain access to government that we ourselves could not gain.

The organization also provided a network of small business owners in similar situations to the ones we were about to go through to garner information and support from, if we were so inclined. We have been offered, help and support in running our business and that has been invaluable.

I have an account online that I rarely if ever visit, but when I do, I find useful information for business owners. There is never a discussion of politics or what which political parties are doing unless there is an election. Then, the CFIB provides me with videos of each of the party leaders (all of them, even the backbenchers and independents) and interviews them on the topics they've polled the membership to ask.

Every spring, about this time, my local CFIB representative comes into my shop and spends at least an hour with me, going over what the CFIB is lobbying and has successfully lobbied over the last year, and then proceeds to walk me through a series of polls designed to glean my input as a small business owner. She has never discussed politics with me, although, that is one of my favourite things to discuss. She is very careful not to lead me when going through the poll with me, and she has never expressed any political opinions to me, ever.

Currently the head spokesperson and mouthpiece for the CFIB is a fellow named Dan Kelly. His job is to take the compiled results of these membership polls and to present them, not only to government, but to media as well. He is currently the target, it seems, because of a recent CBC interview discussing the Temporary Foreign Workers' Program currently in the news.

Recently, the Federal Government and several business owners across Canada got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. People and governments are like that. They like to cheat until they get caught. For me it's really annoying because the lessons life teaches are to be honest and tell the truth, but people and especially governments don't do that.

So suddenly, there we were with a few business owners, cheating on the TFWP and the insinuation is that the group cheating are members of the CFIB. So, when the Tory Government in it's crash and burn sort of tactic blankly shut down the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, upsetting an apple cart that had been in place since the 70s, small business owners who ARE members of the CFIB went to our lobby group to complain.

Well, I imagine that some of the TFWP's participants, less than 10% of the membership of the CFIB were suddenly upset because they had employees who were on this program who had been summarily cut off, regardless of whether they were legitimate users of the program or not.

But the ship had sailed. So, Dan Kelly, as is his job, expressed to the media that there was a blanket error being made by the Federal Government in cancelling this program access without individually determining whether the businesses using the TFWP were legitimate or not.

Then there came the media uproar.

Dan Kelly was interviewed by Evan Solomon at the CBC and all hell broke loose.

I invite you to watch that interview here: http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/ID/2451613027/

Suddenly I was reading Facebook posts and Twitter feeds calling for the boycott of the CFIB membership. Interestingly, at the same time, someone lit upon Dan Kelly's comment that Canadians weren't exactly lining up for fast food service jobs or to clean hotel rooms.

The Canadian Labour Congress, an employee at the CRA and several other Labour groups were up in arms and claiming that the CFIB was biased, that the head of the CFIB had called Canadians "lazy" and that the entire membership of the organization were Tory stooges.

I was taken aback and more than a little surprised. I'm not one to join groups that are partisan or supportive of an anti-human platform. So I was suddenly required to take a really close look at the organization we had aligned with to see if they really were as horrible as people were saying they were.

I spent all morning digging and reading and digging some more. I went onto the CFIB membership website and I started reading and reading and reading. I went so far as to actually do two CFIB surveys, not because I particularly wanted my opinion known on either topic, but rather because I wanted to see if the questions were leading or partisan in any way.

I went browsing the internet to see WHO was talking about the CFIB and what they were saying.

I discovered several things.

1. Dan Kelly is the mouth piece for a non-partisan organization that expressly represents the interests of its' membership which it learns through unbiased non-partisan polling methods.

2. The biggest, most vocal detractors were of two ilk. Tory and Labour/NDP supporters. It seemed to me that I found no Liberal voices in the mix and in fact, discovered that the Liberals were liking the CFIB because the membership liked their stance vis-a-vis the 2013 Ontario Liberal Government's budget; iow, they supported it. So, if anyone might be accused of carrying the CFIB's bias, it might be the Liberals, but no. Supposedly the capitalist pig members of the CFIB are all Tory supporters who hate Canadians because they're all lazy.

3. Although many anti-Tory partisans were claiming that the CFIB is a Tory stooge or that it was a pro-Tory group, I found zero evidence of that. Instead what I did find were NDP and Labour supporters spouting talking points designed to denigrate the CFIB because they didn't support Ontario Labour's desire for business to increase their employment costs by creating private pension plans for their employees. I guess Labour doesn't really understand small business. Especially when we are well aware that pension plans are the business of government, not small businesses.

4. There is absolutely nothing anywhere that would lead any thinking person to believe that the CFIB is directly supporting ANY government faction, unless you listen to the spin of those who would have you believe that the CFIB is supportive of their measures, when only certain members of the organization in fact support those groups.

5. The CFIB goes to a great deal of trouble to amass the responses from the membership to set their platforms and they are extremely careful not only in wording those responses, but in lobbying those responses to Government on the membership's behalf.

6. Press Progress is an enormous mouthpiece fanning the flames of anti-employer sentiment. Only I was not sure why Press Progress would do such a thing... until I learned that they have a pro-labour agenda, funded by the Broadbent Institute.

Yet, I'm seeing bias alright. I'm seeing a pro-labour agenda alright and it's all coming from that one place and it's partisan.

NONE of them are coming from the CFIB. Oh, sure, Dan Kelly said that some employers were saying that Canadians aren't exactly lining up for their jobs. Press Progress decided that he'd said "Canadians are lazy". He didn't say that.

What a lot of people don't know is that those who use the TFWP must be qualified to benefit from the program by the Government of Canada. They must not only pay to bring the employee from his homeland to here, he must also pay for that employee's return. In addition to that, they are required to help the employee secure accommodations and subscribe these employees to the workman's compensation benefits programs. In addition to that, they must pay the worker the "industry average", which in ALL cases is at least minimum wage or above.

If indeed anyone, McDonald's franchisees included, were paying any foreign workers, under this program, less than minimum wage, a majority of CFIB members support throwing the book at them.

But Press Progress isn't talking about that.

It's always wonderful to hear people talking about what the CFIB said, but not once has anyone actually quoted what Dan Kelly did say. They have all implied that he said hurtful and hateful things that make the CFIB worthy of disbanding and worthy of a boycott of anyone who is a member.

At first, I thought it was just Labour, except that NDPers had picked up the ball. So, I asked my MP. He says it's not coming from them... so where is it coming from?

The Broadbent Institute and Press Progress. Nice spin if you can get it.

So, if you're planning on boycotting the CFIB or quitting the CFIB because they're supposedly biased or supporting the Tory agenda... take a slightly closer look at who you're boycotting.

I notice Press Progress conveniently ignored when the CFIB denounced the changes the Tories were bringing to the TFWP last July, but by January, the CFIB was to blame for supposedly supporting the program.

Interestingly, the CFIB has only ever reported what has come from their membership, without partisan spin. Unlike Press Progress who spins what they report.

CFIB: http://www.cfib-fcei.ca/english/article/5771-financial-post-ted-mallett-making-hamburger-of-labour-markets.html

Read enough of the picking and choosing that the spinners are doing and you'll very quickly discover that you've been spun.

And if, after reading this, you think I'm the one who has been spun, you just go right ahead and boycott all the members of the CFIB, my own business included. Because I've done my homework and seen where the "spin" and "lies" are coming from. Frankly, I'm a little more than embarrassed for the Broadbent Institute, their bias is obvious. I used to think they were less biased than the Fraser Institute. I was wrong. Sad that I was SO wrong. tsk tsk.

As a friend of mine on Twitter said recently; You believe what you like and I'll believe what I like. Personally, I'll believe the truth that is right in front of my eyes. If you see anything that even remotely shows that the CFIB is biased in any way, do let me know, because all of the bias I found was not theirs.

Azodicarbonamide... Yum!

Here ya go.

Azodicarbonamide... what is it?

Well, let's say I told you that it's in every single one of your Timbits and Subway buns and God only knows what else. There it is.

Is it bad for you?

Well, the EU says yes.

Canada, US and Korea consider it to be GRAS, as in Generally Recognized As Safe and suggest it's not bad for you.

IOW, it's allowed in food products, so long as it doesn't exceed recognized maximum levels. What is that maximum? 45 ppm.

The EU classifies it as Harmful. So it's not allowed in food products at all.

But Canada accepted it... how is that possible? Well, I explored that.

The GRAS in Canada was accepted based on studies done in 2004. So, it's safe, right?

Not so fast.

Unfortunately, THIS study was done while the Tories were running the Government. That means that science isn't of much import. So long as the corporations involved can make a ton of money, they're laughing.

So who isn't laughing?

Well you might not be when you learn that the scientists involved weren't happy with the sketchiness of the data they were given. It was done in the 50s. And the fact that 45 ppm is a lot tricky to calculate on any given batch of anything (Ask me about WHY we have to build a food lab?) Add to the sketchy data and the inability to determine with any kind of accuracy how much is actually in the bread and voila, you have a sketchy food ingredient GRAS approved for the Canadian market.

And do I have to remind you what Tories think of science?

That said is it safe.

Yeah probably. O_o Unless you're European.

So why is the European market so different?

Well, essentially, what it seems to come down to is "what is the ingredient" and "what are you using if for".

In industry, yes, it's part of rubber production. It's actually used in attaching that rubber gasket to food lids. THAT is where the max 45 ppm study applies.

They didn't study whether or not it was edible in burger buns, donuts or sub buns. They looked at the product used in food jar lids and whether or not THAT was dangerous.

So, what do we actually know about this GRAS ingredient as food? We know that it causes serious respiratory problems in the people who work with it. The use of it in the food jar gaskets allows that it has generally evaporated most of its problems BEFORE the lids go onto the jars, and even then, the amount that is ABLE to leech into the food is undetectable. Does that mean it's not there? No, it means their testing systems aren't sensitive enough to determine whether it's in there or not nor in what quantity. So, it's been given the GRAS in North America and Korea.

So, now that you see that there is really nothing wrong with this GRAS Food ingredient in teeny quantities, why is Subway pulling it from Canadian subway buns?

Well, apparently a loudmouthed blogger is the source. So, when Subway, Tim Horton's, Mickey D's, and KFC became front page news over said blogger's efforts, I assume they all started looking at the ingredient for damage control.

What did they learn? Probably what I learned.

It's probably harmless.

"Probably"?

I'm in food production... sketchy food ingredients are not acceptable to me. If it's safe, I want to hear, it's definitely safe or it isn't safe, not "it's probably safe".

Well given that GRAS is up to 45 ppm, we needed to know how safe it is in the jars. We use glass jars and these lids have the ADA inthe gasket.

So... What did Health Canada learn? They tested the food products and discovered that the traces were actually below 25 parts per BILLION.

So, in the jars, they're essentially safe. In the food, well, that comes down to how much of it do you eat; because it adds up.

Apparently the Environmental Working Group (the organization that tracks pesticides and chemicals in produce, ie the Dirty Dozen), has called for the FDA to ban the use of it in bread products.

Here's the bad news. Studies that were done that found nearly double the amount of allowable ADA was in bread products. Why? Because in Canada, the ingredient is NOT REQUIRED to be listed on the label.

Interestingly when called on it, Health Canada responded that a thorough safety assessment had been done on the product PRIOR to it's approval in 1964.

Let me say that again...

1964.

The studies in the FDA's toxicology database are all unpublished studies dated 1959.

So, the scientist's response is that any decision made in the 60s on data from the 50s needs to be reviewed. The simple fact that it has been used for over 50 years doesn't mean it's safe. We learned that lesson from many a harmful product that has now wisely been banned from food.

In fact, the ADA's potentially cancer-causing-by-products, semicarbazide and urethane which are created during the baking process were only discovered ten years ago. That's when the bread comes into play.

Is it safe in the bread?

Well, in Europe, you're not allowed to put it into food and it is not allowed to be used specifically on baby food jars, because THEIR jury is still out. You can use it on regular jars, because 25 ppB isn't significant.

My jury is still out. So, I'm going to err to the side of caution.

If it's on the jar lid, chances are I'm safe. If it's in the food, I'm not eating it.

You decide how YOU want to proceed.

The EU results: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/afc050701.htm

See, all that sensass to get your attention long enough to read this diatribe was worth it.

Will you be having a Big Mac today? Timbits?

Both KFC and Subway have taken my stance of erring to the side of caution. Tim Horton's and Mickey D's? Not so much.

Bon appetit!

Ian Anderson and the red hot chilli peppers. Literally.

When I first heard Ian Anderson play his flute, it was on the local rock station and he was lead singing for Jethro Tull.

I fell in love with the rock and roll flute. So much so that when my kids came home from school with instructions to buy them flutes, I imagined my kids would grow up to be famous rock flautists.

It was a dream that didn't last long.

The flute isn't the most common rock and roll instrument, in fact, it not as rare as you might think.

Jethro Tull's use of the flute is possibly the most well known, but Genesis, the Troggs, Mannfred Mann and the Moody Blues also had flautists.

Ian Anderson isn't playing his flute professoinally anymore, he's retired to a life of relaxation with his wife that includes gardening in England.

Interestingly, that gardening includes chilli peppers, a love gifted to him by drummer Ritchie Dharma.

Read about Ian Anderson's garden and love for chillies by Mark Diacono in the Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/10757338/Ian-Anderson-from-Jethro-Tull-to-red-hot-chilli-peppers.html

Look for Ian's Peach Salsa Recipe. We'll translate it using Peppermaster Sauces soon.

Enjoy this video of Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull playing Bourée.

Date Night with an Aspie

Date night with an Aspie

So, we went out to the Keg last night for date night. Anyway, we sat in the bar, had a couple of hors d'oeuvres and a couple of drinks while watching the hockey game. (Habs lost but clinched the playoff spot anyway).

So, served with the calimari, which was very nice and riddled with the most nummy tempura'd peppers, were two sauces: One, a sweet chili sauce and the other, a teriayaki sauce; think "soy sauce and garlic". Anyway, I can't stomach such Sweet Chili sauces, the combination of high fructose corn syrup, xanthan gum and chemicals is just too much. So, I dipped the calimari in the teriyaki sauce, even though I knew by the texture that it contained the HFCS.

This morning, I dealt with the high fructose corn syrup. I hate mornings.

Being #autistic usually isn't a big deal, because we're careful not to have things in my diet that will make me ill. When I do eat out, there is always a risk.

Now I know why the Keg doesn't qualify as "fine dining" even though they charge "fine dining" prices.

Beyond the HFCS in the dipping sauce, though, the food was great, the company rocked and if we'd won the hockey game, it'd have been a PERFECT date night.

#AspieProblems #AutismAwareness #Aspergers

Tarot - Oracle Cards Review 1 - Hazelmoon Hawaiian Tarot - Katalin E. Csikos

A little while ago, Katalin E. Csikos posted to one of my Facebook Tarot groups that she was willing to give a copy of her tarot cards to readers in exchange for a review of her deck; HazelMoon's Hawaiian Tarot.

The deck is printed by Artful Dragon Press and had the distinction of being used in an episode of CBS' Hawaii Five-O, Season Three, Episode 304 - "Popilikia" which aired Monday, October 15, 2012.

Well, as you know, I tend to do my tarot readings, education, practice if you will during what I call swamp days.

Today is a swamp day.

Today I'm going to wade into my tarot practice via HazelMoon's Hawaiian Tarot.

My first remark on the deck as I remove it from the box is that it is well printed, on good solid card stock. It is very shiny finished, so it suggests that the deck will shuffle well, not stick and hopefully hold up longer.

They're far rather wider than one expects from this type of deck. It sort of feels like a short, Thoth. or a Fat RWS.

The cards themselves are interesting and my first thought is that borderectomies exist for good reason.

The borders of these cards have a very cool hieroglyph contained within. Some readers will learn the meanings of these hieroglyphs and incorporate them within their readings, others will utterly ignore them. Trimmers will have these very obtrusive borders removed within the week.

The cards themselves are absolutely beautiful examples of Hawaiian folk art that is stunning. Of course, it must be said that I'm a huge fan of native art works, so I'm partial to this sort of thing.

So, I like the cards, they're really cool and they're beautiful folk paintings. BUT, the question is...

Can they read well enough to be someone's go-to oracle?

And today, I need to answer that question. (The following was posted to my Facebook Page, so don't answer looking for a reading, they've already been done!).

I need your help.

If you would like to be a guinea pig for this deck, I am now offering three quick five card readings.

And I give no guarantee of the validity of the readings until after I can actually read them or not...

So... If you wish to be one of these three... Speak now or don't.

ONLY the first three will get a reading. So don't even bother posting after that. (I'll be in a swamp all afternoon.)

So, there was as usual a mad scramble to be on of those chosen for the readings, and for those of you learning tarot, here they are...

XX Judgement, V The Hierophant, IX Nine of Lava Stones.
The Voice is calling to you, are you listening, Chris? Stop thinking about things and doing nothing. Grab the bull by the horns, there is a light at the end of the tunnel... Just go into it. Behind your greatest fear is your greatest treasure.

Boy of Swords, Three of Swords, Five of Swords
The boy is happy. He's just come in from a great day of surfing. The waves have died and now its time to go home and relax. But heartache and gossip are going to affect him. He is about to be embroiled in lots of chaos.

Four of lava stones, three of lava stones, two of swords.
The tide has changed and the situation is deteriorating. The longer you allow it to continue without going with the change, the worse it will get. The time has come for you to make the sensible choice to accept the truth and move forward finally.

In private conversations with each of the sitters, I discovered that the cards spoke very much to them and that the cards were very useful at allowing me to read my intuition into their situation. Which is the point of every good oracle.

The Hazelmoon's Hawaiian Tarot will not become my goto Tarot deck, but if someone chooses it from my decks for their reading, they will be most happy with the outcome.

Oh, and did I tell you how much I love the paintings??!!

If you are interested in getting your own copy of the Hazelmoon, you can get them from the About us link on Katalin's website or from my favourite cardsellers at Tarot Garden. Tell 'em I sent you.

Focusing on the challenges in another who we love deeply rather than on the love we feel for them, keeps you from truly enjoying the give and take that a relationship brings.

When you recognize a fear response in your partner; he's afraid of losing face, as a good example. See that response for what it is, and respond with sympathy for their human distress over the situation.

His fear and his pain does not need to be yours, nor do you need to take it on.

If speaking your truth is going to cause difficulty, then you must do so knowing the pain will be created, choosing when to do so, with discernment.

When you realize that you have created pain in your love, the only way to keep from pulling the pain back in is to transform it from pain back to love again. Pity, sympathy, whatever emotion feels best to suit the situation.

It takes practice, but you do not have to own how people react to your actions. Being one with yourself does not mean that you will not have conflict. It simply means that you will have a place where you can find peace while all hell about you is breaking loose.

Meditate. Your spirit will show you the way to peace. -- Melody

In honour of International Women's Day, March 8, 2013.

I'm blessed. Being born in Canada, I am recognized as equal to men in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I have legal recourse in the event that someone trods on my rights.

To whit; it reads:

15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.

Today is International Women's Day. Last year, women in the Middle East had their privileges whittled away by the Muslim Brotherhood, Indian women and girls continue to be tortured and raped without legal protection, and American women continue to go unmentioned and unprotected in their constitution. I find it surprising that many American gun enthusiasts, including women are threatening to hold a major revolution over their right to own a tool of killing, yet those women are still not equal in the eyes of the law. That this fact doesn't seem to scathe them, befuddles me.

Contrary to popular belief the Women's Rights' amendment long fought, continues to not yet be a reality. That is sad, at best. Although, in 1977, the UN adopted a resolution proclaiming today the day to be observed for Women's Rights and International Peace; said date which had already been being celebrated by American women for the two previous years. By now, there should be change?

This year's Women's Day theme is "A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women." It seems unfortunate to me that in 2013, UN Women, CEDAW, Amnesty International and other rights groups continue to strive to have equality and protections for all women.

It's not easy watching the way that women get treated in this world on a day to day basis. It is different, if you're a man, I suppose. Little girls get shot in the face for daring to go to school, women are raped, daily, while citizens turn a blind eye or worse male passersby will jump in and participate in public gang-bangs. Women's rights are erased from existence with the twist of a pen in Egypt. It is bittersweet that yet I enjoy a freedom that other women can only dream about all at a time when "one woman" is celebrated as being the face of true freedom and equality... just it's not for women's equality, it's for someone else; albeit a very important "someone else".

Because we live in North America, we are living in a world that lies to women on a daily basis. YOU ARE EQUAL, they tell us. Women have rights too. Well, here in Canada that is certainly true, but my US friends have no such guarantees. Even though Susan B. Anthony fought so hard as she did, and even though NOW, the National Organization for Women continues to put the women's rights amendement on every ballot until the bill is passed and ratified into law! Yet, 75% of Americans believe that the law was passed. I found it interesting that President Obama ran on a women's rights platform that has been virtually unheard of since taking office. Just this last month, he honoured a woman who has changed America and the World by refusing to go to the back of the bus. She didn't stand up and do what she did because she was a woman, she did it because she was black and there was no justifiable reason for her to be a second class citizen as a person of colour, yet, sadly, were she alive today, Rosa Parks who could sit on the bus, would still not be protected by her own nation as a woman.

Rosa Parks

Perhaps it means not much, being the privileged woman I am, living here in the Great White North. Seriously, though; what does it mean to ME to be equal in the eyes of the law? Well, it means that I am respected by the males of my nation as a human being, and THIS, whether THEY like it or not.

Over 600 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not a crime. Nearly 70% of the world's women have experienced violence against them both physical and sexual and over 60 million girls worldwide are forced into marriage before the age of 18. Worse, fully half of all the sexual assaults the world over happen to girls under the age of 16!

My daughter and step-daughter are adults now, but still, were they to leave Canada to go to certain nations, they'd instantly become second class citizens. Scary that one of those nations is the United States.

This isn't the kind of world where I thought I was being raised. It hurts to think that women have no legal recourse for even so much as asking to be treated as a human being! And this fully 30 years after women were written into the Canadian Constitution.

This year, lets find a way. Let's work together to bring an end to violence against women, and lets wake the world up start by getting women's rights ratified into law EVERYWHERE. Enough is enough.

Rosa Parks is one woman who stood up for equality. She is regularly heralded for her work in furthering the rights of all men, yet she was also a strong supporter of the women's rights movement and she lived in a nation where one woman CAN be heralded as having changed the world; but who is still not equal in the law of the land. I think it's time to change that.

In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton along with Lucretia Mott, penned the now famous Declaration of Sentiments. Would that one day, all North American women can enjoy equality. Their words marked a cornerstone that has come to be known as the women's suffragist movement and was instrumental in women in many countries, including Canada, being given the right to vote in the early 1900s.

There is a statue of the valiant five I had the honour of seeing while in Calgary in 2012.

The Valiant Five;

• Emily Murphy (1868-1933) - The British Empire's first female judge
• Irene Marryat Parlby (1868-1965) First female Cabinet minister in AlbertaNellie Mooney McClung, Suffragist and member of the Alberta legislature
• Louise Crummy McKinney (1868-1931)  First woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and any legislature in Canada or the rest of the British Empire
• Henrietta Muir Edwards (1849-1931) Founding member of the Victorian Order of Nurses.

Canadian women owe their equality to these five. I look forward one day to celebrating the similar equality of all women.

They were five women in one nation who succeeded. This is one world, we are one people; we are one woman and together, we can make equality a reality.

In the immortal words of Human Rights Activist and Comedian, Dick Gregory;

Never before in the history of this planet has anybody made the progress that African-Americans have made in a 30-year period, in spite of many black folks and white folks lying to one another.

Writing Again

I haven't felt like a writer in a while. writer's block, life gets in the way? Who knows. Anyway, it seems the bug is back. I've known it was coming back for a while now, but here it is. Suddenly I have refound my muse? Maybe it's just that I have something to say?

Perhaps my Virtual Assistant Suzie Kummins-Poirier owner of Ace Concierge asked me to participate in a blog roll. She wanted articles that her customers could use to improve their business.

Here's a brief exerpt of what I wrote...

How to Increase your Bottom Line and in so doing Rescue the Economy by Changing your Eating Habits.

A loud refrain during the latest Presidential election was all about creating jobs in order to help the economy. Both sides trumpeted how it was going to happen. But nobody really presented a solution that seemed workable at the John Q Public level.

As an outsider looking in, it seems pretty obvious to me that the easiest way to fix the economy is to improve the productivity of those employers who are already feeding the economy, lower their bottom lines and they'll quite naturally invest further in their company feeding the coming economic boom.

Click here to read more.

Butterflies

So Teresa Deak sends me butterflies. Once, ONCE she sends butterflies!

Suddenly I'm seeing them everywhere:

Everywhere.

Security Bubbles and Butterflies

The other day a friend and tarot client contacted me in a tizzy. His sister is in Israel and was freaking out because, as seems to be a daily occurrence in that area of the world, rockets were landing all around her! Knowing that I am able to throw remote bubbles of protection around people, he wanted me to protect her.

How could I say "no"?

I settled into my spirit and I proceeded to throw the bubble around the girl and her neighbour who was with her in the basement. Everything was going fine until I realized that for the first time ever I had to struggle to erect the bubble, and once it was erected it felt fuzzy and not quite solid as it usually does. Worse, I could feel a hand reaching out of the bubble to the hand of the neighbour who WAS NOT inside the bubble!

So, rather than just sit back and hope for the best, I put out a call for support from my esoteric and spiritual friends. The call was answered in spades, as usual. I have such loving supportive friends.
Well, a tarot friend of mine, who is probably more familiar with the sort of situations that Southern Israelis must go through, living in essentially a war zone, she was rather more calm, cool and collected about the situation. Good thing, for I don't think I'd have known how to take the incidents that transpired as were talking.

I contacted Ruth Stefanovic, aka Modern Day Ruth via Facebook to ask her to look at the situation for me. I was very concerned for the safety of the neighbour for I couldn't for the life of me get her into the bubble.

Well, Ruth took a look at her cards and she saw what I was seeing; the arm sticking out of the bubble, and we could both feel the danger that seemed to exist at that moment for the neighbour. It seemed distant, so long as the hand inside the bubble held onto hers. Meanwhile, I put out a public call for help to my esoteric friends. And answer the call they did.

As we were looking at the situation, esoterically, of course, I suddenly felt/saw the neighbour slip into the bubble, as if she were pushed by an unseen hand. Then the bubble strengthened and solidified.
I could see the two girls sitting on a bench huddled together, obviously afraid, but the bubble solid around them told me they were suddenly both safe.

Then a moment later, my office was filled with butterflies. The flock was akin to the sort of thing you'd see during a wedding or a memorial when the critters are released, and they seemed to be flocking around me. I wasn't too surprised as I've spent my entire life seeing things that aren't "there" or at least aren't visible to other people. But I was pleased, I've never been surrounded by butterflies before.

I don't know who "pushed" the neighbour into the bubble, whether it be someone from the Tarotholics Anonymous group or someone else (I did post the request to both my wall and a lightworkers' group that I belong to). I don't know who sent the butterflies but it was beautiful.
I had a discussion with my husband about it last night. We decided that the butterflies weren't actually mine, nor were they actually here (unless someone tells me differently), but rather that they were a gift of visual perception. We decided that the tarotist Teresa Deak who sent butterflies to the girls was the source of the butterflies and that although they seemed as if they were in the room with me, it was more that I seemed to be in the room with the girls and thus could see the butterfiles.
The good news is that a few hours later, a cease fire was called, the all clear sounded and the girls went home to their own beds.

I wanted to know what Greg thought of the whole thing. He thinks that most people would simply lock me up for being crazy, because he's studied brain science and knows how the psychiatric industry behaves. Of course, when I asked why he doesn't think I'm crazy, he replied "because I believe in magic".

Melody Reading Price list

About Tarot

Life is a cycle. Within each person's life are a series of cycles, each one with a beginning, a middle and an end. Many cycles overlap during a person's lifetime, others begin when others end. It can be said that the Tarot represents these cycles. Tarot allows us to truly examine these cycles, making life and love easier.

Advantages of hiring a Tarot practitioner:
* Personal exploration and growth.
* Awaken yourself to the choices available to you.
* Find a focus for your problem solving.
* Help you clarify goals.
* Help you understand the past, present and future.
* Help you make decisions about the future
* Fortune telling, in its most basic form

What Tarot can do for you and your business:
* Provide dialogue and personal insight.
* Annual business planning.
* Mission and Vision Statements with real meaning.

Tarot History

Many believe that Tarot began in Italy in the early 14th century although the basis for modern-day tarot was created in the 19th century by a Catholic Priest named Eliphas Levi. A learned scholar, Levi was schooled not only in Catholicism, but Judaism, Hinduism, Cabalism and Masonic religions. He also studied astronomy, astrology and metaphysics. When he created his first deck, he incorporated his knowledge (and understanding) of these religions, the elements of nature (fire, water, earth and air) as well as astrological symbols. Some cards even refer to Biblical scripture. By the late 19th century, the cards were being used to predict the future.

There is nothing more mystical and magic to Tarot than there is magic and mystery to the Universe. Tarot unlocks these mysteries, when you know how to read the cards.

About Melody

Melody is the name that I have chosen to give to my Source Spirit. I believe that within each of us resides an energy, a guidance system, if you will, that uses emotion to show us the best way to meander through this existence we call human life. That existence is at its very core, if you think about it, designed for one sole purpose... the experience. It is the very journey between birth and death that is of import and in order to navigate that path we have built in energy systems. It's rather tricky to explain given the fact that no two people can ever possible 100% agree on all of the icons that must be used to describe what I'm talking about, but know that deep inside you, you can FEEL that energy. It is what makes you feel good when you win something. It is what drives you when you're on the path of something you truly desire and it is the wondrous emotion of love and power that you feel when you exchange spiritual connections with someone or something else.

That energy, which I call my Source Spirit, speaks to me, and the "voice" I hear, I have named Melody.

Interestingly, it is through the tarot cards that Melody speaks and as such, my readings are, as my husband likes to call them, eerily accurate.

I do not pull punches, I do not play games. I am not one of those readers who is all hung up on the "ethics" of tarot that they cannot tell you what they actually SEE in the cards. I believe that IF I can see it, it is because it is meant to be told. I won't sugar coat what I see, although, I always strive to deliver what I see with love.

Some people call it channeling, I simply call it being completely in touch with the higher self within me that is able to connect to the higher self within you. Melody is not a separate entity that exists outside of me, consider she is more like an imaginary friend, or more appropriately, my burning bush ala Moses of the Bible fame.

Prices:

Personal Consultations: $100.

Corporate consultations:
$250 plus $75 per additional employee Includes a Mission Statement reading (3-6 cards), an Annual Business plan reading (24 cards) and two key employee readings: Double Horseshoe reading (14 cards each).

Gift consultations:
Birthday Readings:
Double Horseshoe (14 cards) or Celtic cross reading (10 cards) $100
Wedding Gift: $150 includes one Relationship reading (8 cards) and one Double Horseshoe reading (14 cards) for each of the bride and groom.

Tarot Parties $450. Includes a Double Horseshoe reading (14 cards) for the host/hostess and one Simple Horseshoe or Life Strategy reading (7 cards) for each of a maximum of 8 guests. (Time frame: 5 hours).

Readings are done in person, on the phone, skype, internet messenger or by email; by appointment only.

Referrals are welcome.

If you are interested in learning how to read tarot cards or just wish to practice reading your own, join our Tarot Forum at http://canadiantarot.com

A healing meditation for Sally.

Sally is my helpmeet and one of my best friends. We have some important plans together to save Haiti or at least part of it, and the whole world by spiritually overly-optimistic intention. She and I met on twitter and became fast friends during the Haitian Earthquake crisis. Sally is very dear to me is an absolute angel to everyone whose life she touches. And I need her. So, I'm asking for your help to save her. Melody is sitting with her now and holding her hand, except she looks like a little old woman, who Sally will recognize instantly as her mother. (There are literally tears streaming down my face as I describe this vision I have just been blessed to feel.)

Anyway, I'm already late, so let's get this out there!

Sally is currently in a battle for her life with pancreatic cancer. The doctors have given her two months. We want to call their bluff and go all in. So, we're calling on lightworkers everywhere to participate in a global healing. The more people we can get praying, the more effective the efforts will be, so please, pass it on.

You can use your own healing meditation/prayer if you are more familiar with one, but this is the Meditation I will be doing. I welcome you to follow it.

Please, share this prayer/meditation request with anyone and everyone you know who might comply and ask them to pass it along as well. The power of prayer is the most powerful tool we have.

In light and love,

Tina (and Melody).

Full credit for my meditation must be given to Copyright © 2003 - Guru Rattana, Ph.D. Learn more, by clicking here: http://www.kundaliniyoga.org/kyt23.html

Here it is:

Healing Meditation Instructions

Yogi Bhajan has said that the mantra RA MA DA SA SA SAY SO HUNG is one of the most powerful healing mantras on the planet. The power of this mantra comes from its ability to connect earth and ether. This mantra is used in many meditations taught by Yogi Bhajan. Below I explain one of the most popular meditations.

RA MA DA SA is the earth mantra.

This part of the mantra pulls the healing vibration into the physical plane.

SA SAY SO HUNG is the ether mantra.

This part of the mantra resonates with the universal healing frequency.

RA - Sun
MA - Moon
DA - Earth
SA - Infinity
SAY - totality of infinity
SO HUNG - I am Thou


Activating the Chakras
The mantra can be vibrated up the spine, chakra by chakra. Slightly pull on the energy centers as you chant each sound. This internal stimulation helps activate and align the chakras.

RA - base of spine
MA - belly (ma aa)
DA - navel center
SA - heart
Pause - hold at heart
SA - heart
SAY - throat ( say ay)
SO - third eye
HUNG - out the top of the head


To Begin
Set your intentions and ask for healing for yourself, others you wish to include, the Earth and Yogi Bhajan. Then release these prayers to the universe. During the meditation concentrate only on doing the meditation, the mantra and the effects you are experiencing. Get into the sensory experience and awareness. The more you are present to your experience, the more effective you are in creating a sacred healing space. You will use the space that you have created at the end to share healing energy.

Position - Mudra
Sit in Easy Pose (or full lotus) with your upper arms resting against your ribs, slightly in from the sides. The elbows are bent, and your forearms
positioned upward and slightly angled out from the upper arms. Your palms are flat, facing upward and pointed out from your body at a 45-degree angle.
(to form a 45% angle point the hands are over the legs toward the knees.)
The fingers are together with the thumbs stretched out towards the side away from the fingers.

It is very important to stretch the thumb away from the fingers. The stretch in the webbing keeps the hands flat and helps maintain a stretch at the wrist. You can use one hand to push down the other hand in order to get a feel of the correct stretch in the wrist. It is this stretch that helps balance the brain. When the thumb is not stretched, the wrist relaxes, the hands move upward and the mudra and its effects are compromised. When the mudra is accurately done, you will feel energy or a pull in the center of the palms. This creates the power to heal with your hands.

Your eyes are focused at the tip of your nose and the eyelids are nine-tenths closed. The focus at the tip of the nose, creates the pressure to cross the optic nerves at the third eye. You should be able to feel an awareness at the third eye and be able to hold your attention there.


Chanting
The mantra is to be chanted in either of the following two versions:

Inhale deeply and chant the mantra all in one breath. Ra Ma DA SA SA Say So Hung. There is a pause between the two SAs, but NO breath. Adjust the speed so that you can chant the full mantra on one breath, without a cheat breath on the pause.

MA and SAY are slurred making two notes each, "MA AA", "SAY AY". The first SA is short. HUNG is forcefully vibrated in the skull and out the top of the head.

Chant for 11, 15, 22 or 31 minutes.


Effects and Powers
This meditation gives one the power to heal long distance and to heal with the hands.


To End:
Now is the time to use the healing space that you have created.

* Inhale deeply and hold the breath. While the breath is held, concentrate on yourself and feel the sensations in your body. Feel or allow the vibration of the mantra to penetrate every cell of your body. Feel the mantra continue to resonate in your body. Become the healing vibration. Allow yourself to be healed.

Repeat the above process 3 or more times with the following variations.

* Inhale deeply and hold the breath. Feel the healing love pulse in your heart. Invite in friends, members of your family and situations and allow them to be bathed in the healing vibration. Hold them in your body, in your heart and in the healing vibration that you now resonate with and embody.

* Inhale deeply and hold the breath again. Feel that your heart is so big and the love so infinite that you can hold the whole earth in your heart. Let the earth pulse with the mantra and be healed with this love.

* Inhale deeply and hold the breath for a last time. Invite Yogi Bhajan into your heart to be healed. Be very attentive. I personally find that my heart space increases dramatically when I invite Yogi Bhajan in. I feel he is also healing me.

The above sequence can vary according to what you are intuitively directed to do

Another thing to do is to feel the Sun or a golden light in you heart:

* Chanting RA creates this energy.
* Expand it to fill every cell of your body. Then merge with the group's light if you are doing this with in a group.
* Feel the light expanding to radiate through the room, the vicinity, the area, country and then the whole earth.
* See/feel the earth healed.
* See/feel the hearts of every person penetrated with love and peace.
* Merge everything into Universal Light.
* As you come back, i.e. focus only on yourself, know that you can maintain this healing energy and light in your being.
* Intend that simply by smiling and greeting others, you share this love and light with the world.

End with the prayer "God bless this Earth with peace." Repeat five times.

If you don't know Elyse Bruce or Thomas Taylor of Midnight in Chicago, reading this blog is a waste of time. But you're welcome to read along.

Elyse Bruce, the musician is a very old friend of mine. She and I go way back. In fact, she would have been the maid of honour at my wedding to my current husband had her son not gotten ill. Well, she used to read tarot cards with me regularly. In fact, it was her tarot cards that predicted that I would be getting married to a "magician". Click here to see a tarot "magician" card. But later, she met this guy Thomas D. Taylor and things changed, a lot.

Because of Thomas, Elyse put away her tarot cards. Said she had to hide them from Thomas because he didn't like them. So, MIC's suggestion that they know nothing about my "magic" is an outright lie.

Eventually Elyse broke up with Thomas, or rather she told me that she had, but she kept him as her business partner.

I haven't had reason to think of Elyse since last July, the week before my step-daughter's wedding. And I'm looking forward to having no further thoughts of her once this blog is written.

See, what Elyse knows is that last July, she took it upon herself to write a letter to a fruit company with whom I was helping negoticate a win win situation for a Haitian farmer. That result was published in the Montreal Gazette, and Chenail Fruits, helped out someone they didn't have to help out. A little paperwork error, one might say. But the win was negotiated contrary to what Elyse tried to do; which I might add, could have her charged in a criminal court. I decided at the time that I would not press charges BECAUSE she had been my friend for so long and also because I believed, and mostly still believe that she is under some form of control of Thomas D. Taylor. But trust me on this, if ever the question comes up in a court of law, Elyse, whether it be me or someone else, I've still got your email in hand and Libel is a pretty easy thing to prove when untruths are written in emails. I've also got the email you sent me telling me to stay away from Ari Ne'eman of ASAN because he was bad news. Maybe Ari can use that in his lawsuit if you two don't knock it off?

For the record, this is the wonderful hot sauce project that should have been: http://www.thehotzoneonline.com/2007/12/14/raising-the-heat-for-autism/

Yes, it ended up selecting Autism Speaks, but Thomas tells the story just a little differently from the truth, we call that obfuscation and Thomas is really good at it. I had no clue that AS was supporting eugenics, and through what strikes me as creative ostracization now, then struck me as a really good reason to NOT work with AS. And we cancelled the project, but that wasn't good enough for Thomas. Thomas and Elyse believe in guilt by association. See, people aren't allowed to be ignorant of things like Eugenics as pertains to AS because well, you should know that they're into eugenics, EVEN THOUGH, it is written NOWHERE on the AS website or in any of their documents. But you know, that's enough for Thomas to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Now I bet you're wondering... What do they think of YOUR friends and family? Do any of your friends or family support AS? You best disown them because if not, you're in Thomas' target sights.

Interestingly, in the last 24 hours, since I became the target of the attacks, I have learned of a frightening history of MIC going after people, as is repeatedly seen in her blog, like a dog after a bone. Elyse believes that if you do something, like allow your autistic son to go somewhere, and he somehow ends up murdered, its YOUR fault for letting him go.

I should mention that although it's pretty easy to guess which one of the two of them is writing because I know Elyse so well, for someone else, it's hard to tell which of the two of them is posting on the Midnight in Chicago blog, because neither of them sign their posts other than as "Midnight in Chicago". So, it's not really Elyse or Thomas that is doing this, it is Midnight in Chicago. Odd to not separate THAT from your "company". At least what I'm posting is personal, on a personal page in Facebook and here on what is clearly labeled as my PRIVATE blog.

But then, they've done this to how many people?

So, now we come full circle and the possible reason you've landed on this blog... What you want to see is my response to her last post with all her acknowledgements about my company, because, it seems, although she'll allow posts that say I'm a devil worshipper, she won't allow this one... Well, here is that response:

I really appreciate the publicity, Elyse. We’re very proud of our company. It makes great products and is actually changing things for people which is more than I can say for MIC.

You see, if someone wants to do business with me, it will be because Brooks Pepperfire Foods makes amazing gluten free hot sauces and other food products. And frankly if the only reason for not doing business with me is because I have friends who DO support Autism Speaks, then by all means, go find another gluten-free hot sauce. I’ll help. :)

So, I’m curious, how many people do you think will read this? Should I be concerned that my sales will drop off? You’re awfully full of yourself.

I could take the time to rebut your BS and obfuscation, but I’m not going to bother, my Daddy taught me long ago that when you roll around in the mud with pigs, you get dirty and the pigs like it. I prefer not to roll around in the mud with you, I have a business to run and I’m going back into that little forum that you and your bully friends are so not welcome in and I’m going to continue to find support and succor and share it with the other people who are in there. And I’m going to do a lot of other things that are way more important than what you think you have to say.

And if you’d like to report the group to Facebook, by all means do so, but the reason the lock is on the door is so that people can post in security. Self-help groups require that as a key to their effective operation. But you knew that.

Which reminds me… I have to wonder now if maybe the reason that Brady White, DDS got so angry at Sympatico because you were doing exactly THIS to him back then? Maybe I owe him an apology for defending you to him? Say did you save any of THOSE screen shots?

You make your own bed in life and you choose your path, Elyse. Try to choose a better one. This one is just ugly.

Now, I've had about enough this, Elyse Bruce and Thomas D. Taylor of Midnight in Chicago. So, it seems has pretty much anyone and everyone in the autism community that you have previously targeted.

Regardless of what anyone thinks of Autism Speaks or any other autistic support/advocacy group, we as aspies, Dx'd or not, with friends, family, and connections on the spectrum, owe it to each other to work together to make autism awareness, support and advocacy number one.

If Elyse and Thomas think that this goal is best served by going after and attacking everyone in the autism community, by being nasty and divisive, then, that is their path. We each get to choose our own. If they think that calling in the troops to attack me, make fun of my company using lies and obfuscation is going to knock me off my game for more than a short while, then, they think far too much of themselves.

Finally, since I've logged onto your blog no less than 20 times in the past 24 hours just to see what shite you've been posting, the calculated repeated activity by someone else you've targeted for ostracization, means that nobody but those posting here are actually reading your blog.

And guess what? Given the ridiculously low number of hits THIS blog has gotten. You're stirring this stuff up amongst basically nobody.

So...

Stick a fork in this issue, it's done.

For those of you who are more interested in awareness, support and succor of each other, well, just keep doing the work required, because this divide and conquer the autism community ridiculousness isn't doing anyone any good and sadly, as a result, neither is Midnight in Chicago.

Elyse and Thomas, I have one suggestion... Start figuring out why you feel the need to ostracize all these people and maybe then you'll realize that you've both got far better things in life to do than this and if you don't, go find something!

Maybe plan your wedding... Happy things make life much more pleasant, don't you think?

Bless you both.

Welcome to my blog!

So nice to have you.

I hope you find your visit here most pleasant.

Why stop here? My home website is http://www.pepperfire.ca my flagship brand, is http://www.peppermaster.com and finally our latest Pepperfire Initiative project: http://www.haitianfire.com

I hope you're having a wonderful day!

Let me know if you'd like a Tarot Twreading. They're free.

Of course, it helps if you're on twitter, so feel welcome to follow even more of my insanity there!

Thanks for stopping by.

Yours,

Tina Brooks

Tea and little boys and why stories are meant to last forever

One of my best friends in the whole world, one Ms. Ali, aka, All in One on Aeclectic Tarot and one of my Soul Sistas, has at the ripe old age of, well, slightly older than me, learned how to drink tea. Snicker says the newfie.

Well, I told her to get a brown betty. There is nothing else in the world that one should, could or would make tea in, so that is what I recommended.

Well, I was at a tradeshow last week and in the booth next to me was Al Cadenas' tea company. These guys were pretty cool, they must have had a hundred different teas. In the booth they had a whole bunch of teapots and I thought of getting Ali a teapot, except that, Greg and I haven't had a bodum since the fire, and they had one... so we traded. I got my bodum and Ali is on her own for a Brown Betty.

So, then, here we are.

The whole point of this post is not my new bodum. It is in fact a showcase for a cute little story for cute little Nico (Ali's boy, who I suggested should have been a dog, although, she turns out to have been 100% absolutely suited to being a mother... lovely thing. But, ahem, I digress.)

So, here goes...

Once upon a time there were a pair of Peking ducklings. Their parents had been killed in a natural disaster and they were all they had left to the other in the whole world.

These ducklings were loved and coddled by Tina who lived in Montreal. Montreal is a city in Canada, the land of true freedom, way up north where the entire country freezes over in the winter and so much snow falls that everyone has to move into an igloo built on top of the snow until the snow melts in the spring.

Well one morning, the ever so slightly older Peking duckling heard that Alison had learned to like tea. So he shook his slightly younger brother awake and quacked, "I have to go to California! Alison MUST learn to LOVE tea!".

At first the slightly younger brother Peking duckling was surprised but he came to accept the idea quite readily when he realized that the two beloveds could stay in contact, as often as they wanted, daily, several times a day even and all they had to do, as a team, was to have both Tina and Alison turn on their PCs every so often enough that they could say a quick hello and how-goes-the-duck-race, if you will. So it was decided. Slightly older brother Peking duckling would go to California.

So, Tina put Slightly older brother Peking duckling into a little box, along with a little surprise for Alison to enjoy with her tea and sent it off via Canada Post.

Btw, you can track the voyage of Slightly older brother Peking duckling by going to http://www.canadapost.ca and track this package: (insert CP tracking number here).

When Alison receives slightly older brother Peking duckling, she is most graciously asked to Meme in kind by completing the tale of Tea.

On the Topic of Ferrets as Pets; not to be Confused with the Topic of "Familiars".

Before my first child was born, I had two ferrets. They make great pets. I like running a dog, so I hestitate to say they are the best, nothing beats a dog.

Things you should know about Ferrets:

They are explorers and are able to get into the oddest places. You won't be able to figure out HOW they got into them, so you need to ferret-proof the rooms where they are going to be released. They also like chewing on things, like wires, so you have to keep those away from the ferrets as part of your ferret proofing. Interestingly, they use ferrets to wire airplanes because their natural inclination is to go into tunnels. When you see a ferret running into a pipe in a movie, it is not because anyone trained them to go in there, it is because they LIKE to go into tubes, so your cage or room in which the ferret will live needs to be a mini jungle gym for ferrets. Your daughter will really enjoy "building" this space because the funkier it is, the better the ferret will like it. I'll explain why... Ferrets have two speeds... asleep and whirling dervish. There is nooooo middle ground. When they are awake, if there is no-one around, they will play with their environment. Kinda like giant gerbils or mice. Probably why people think they are rodents, but they aren't.

Ferrets, like cats or dogs, need to have shots and be spayed or neutered. The male is much larger than the female of the species and because they are pack animals, are better happier pets if they are part of a pack. In other words, get two ferrets or become an alpha ferret. You can get a ferret manual at the local library or on Amazon. I recommend DD read a couple before becoming the mama ferret. But, it sounds like this is right up her alley if she really likes animals.

Ferrets eat like cats, so feeding a cat is the same as feeding a ferret, EXCEPT, you have to feed it ferret food or ASH-FREE cat food, because the ash in dried cat food is bad for ferrets; it's probably bad for cats too, but it expressly causes respiratory problems in ferrets. You can purchase the food directly through your vet, they get good discounts. If you buy the food in bulk, it's cheaper. Btw, there is a small-animal vet that will have better knowledge of ferrets than other vets, so choose carefully. Ferrets are like cats in that they like to poop in the same place all the time. So they will tell you where to put the litter box once they've explored the room. Btw, the bigger the area, the more litter boxes you will need. They don't like to travel very far when they want to poop. Like cats they like to cuddle and need to wear a harness if you're going to walk them outdoors on a leash. Like cats, who also like to explore on a leash, they are freaking lazy, so don't expect long walks... but more on that in the "like a dog section".

Ferrets are like dogs, so you can train them to do things, like come when they are called and they are fun to play with. Please know though that you do not need to train them to do what they do in the movies, because those things are just things that the ferret will do naturally, they are highly inquisitive and really intelligent little buggers. They're FUN! Now, as lazy as ferrets are, they "tunnel" when they do not want to be awake anymore too, so they will cozy up inside your jacket or wrap themselves around your neck like a fur stole or even curl up in the inside pocket of the carrying purse you bought for just such purposes and it will hang out of the back content to let you do the walking while its nose explores the environment where you take it. Then, when you stop, they love to sniff around the ground exploring wherever you've stopped until you're ready to go again, so they're fun to putter around with. Much better animals for talking for walks and chillaxin the way teens do than cats who mostly don't like to be carried for long.

Ferrets need to have their talons clipped (or sanded down) regularly, (I walked my ferrets on pavement, we lived in the city, so that took care of a lot of the talons, but I still had to clip them once a month. That is like one would do with a dog. You can use one of those teeny buzz sanders made for manicures to do it yourself.

Ferrets are blind as bats like moles but not quite so bad because they are diurnal (I think that's the right word) -- they are mostly day creatures, when they're awake. Because they don't see very well, you never want to move really quickly near their faces, they will bite out of instinct.

Ferrets sleep 17-20 hours a day, so they need a nice safe dark place to go to during the day, that's where their cage comes in. My ferrets had their own room, rather than a cage, and that room had shelves and ramps and ladders that the ferrets could climb and play on. They love to jump and play.

The hammock is just another playplace for the ferret, they might even sleep in it. They are community-oriented, social animals who like to sleep in a lump, so they are accustomed to sleeping in a pile. The hammocks are simply unnecessary, but make for a comfy place for the ferret to nap. (Did I mention, they sleep a lot!).

Ferrets are great pets for high school kids because they'll curl up in your lap while you study or play video games, and when you want to be interested in them, they're totally ready to play.

Ferrets are mustilidae (sp?) like skunks or weasels, they are NOT rodents, so they have to be de-scented. You get the ferret de-scented BEFORE its first heat, which is also when you will get the ferret fixed. You have to fix them. I recommend getting all domesticated pets fixed though. It's hard to be natural and wild when you are a pet so hormones are not good for it.

If you've ever got into any video game for any reason, you are going to LOVE your daughter's ferrets. They really do make great family pets, and they will make a point of sleeping when there is no-one around to play with.

Oh, and did I mention, they make GREAT pets!

A little background.

My course began when I was really little. I didn't know it then, but with 20/20 hindsight I can see it clear as day.

When I was about 18, I had my first vision. I was walking along the beach with Jesus. And he was telling me that I was here to do something important, although he didn't say what. But he basically told me to trust that no matter what happens, he would be with me all the time and that in the times that I felt most alone, he'd be carrying me, even if I didn't know it.

About 17 years ago, I had another vision. My husband was killing himself on drugs and there was nothing I could do to stop him. I had been attending al-anon and had shared that night that every time I shared my anxieties, I felt better. In the vision I saw myself reciting those same words to the women in the group and stood up and looked behind me and each time I saw that when I had made good choices, those choices had been guided by the hand of God. So, then and there I made a commitment to God to look for those pathways that would lead me to the good choices and so long as God made it clear to me, I would follow.

So far so good, or so I thought.

Then my husband committed suicide, leaving me destitute with two small children and about $120K in debts that could not be written off.

And there I was thinking... But, I'm doing what you said, I'm going where you say, why arent, things getting better... But I couldn't see what was good and right and coming for me in the future.

I was so taken up with my husband's death, and the way that even my own family behaved because of it, that I moved out into the middle of nowhere to be alone with my kids.

Then about a year later, I met my current husband. I wanted nothing to do with him, but my heart had other ideas.

When he asked me to marry him, I thought, "what are you nuts, you have nothing, I have less than nothing, what good is this going to do?" but my heart thought "yes, yes, yes, yes, yes"...

We were married five months later.

Everything doesn't go exactly according to plan. Things are not always bright and rosy, but I actively look for the good in things. Doing the exercises in the ACIM helped me to realize the lack of real value to things and the real value to my emotions.

I think, although, even for me, it would take a lot of work, that I could handle just about any strife that God chose to throw at me. I swear to God, I say to my husband regularly, I am Job. I truly am.

But, I have to trust in God's plan anyway.

In the meantime, what happens is that I have come to grips with the knowledge that I am not my credit rating. That any morning, no matter how bad yesterday was, today has the potential to be better and so, my first thought is, today will be a better day.

Sometimes, when I'm slogging through a hell of a day, it's all I can do to find the good in what is going on, because I want to pull my hair out, I ran out of gas, filled up, forgot the fill the windshield washer reservoir, got turned around, was a half hour late for my appointment, ran into traffic that would make me an hour late for another appointment, then get home after a really stressful day to learn that I have a choice of tea or tea to calm my nerves because my beloved drank the last glass of rum.

Life isn't easy, it isn't meant to be.

Melody has taught me that we are here to experience these things because WE CAN. God cannot step into this illusion and do any of what we are doing, because God knows that at the wave of a hand, his riches would be right there on the table in front of him. He does not fear, he does not feel pain, he does not desire riches or even comfort, for he HAS all these things.

What we as humans fail to EMBRACE is the knowledge that WE are God and as such, We do not fear, we do not feel pain, we do not desire riches or comfort for we HAVE all these things...

EXCEPT

That in order for us to EXPERIENCE the richness that life has to offer, we CANNOT know who we are, so we have this curtain that draws down that keeps us from knowing the truth. Even when it is right in front of us, our ego refuses absolutely to accept it for if it did... WE would cease to exist, for as Gary Renard described it, the Universe would just disappear.

Now, when Melody started introducing me to the Law of Attraction, things got interesting.

But that's another lesson plan altogether.

Both of these "Grand Designs" work because at the end of the day, WE are who we are.

BUT, if we allow our Ego to fight the good fight, we will not believe it and no manner of desire or wishing for the peace will allow it to be.

We must convince our Ego that in following the lesson plan, the ego will become all that it can be and life will be wonderful... even when it is horrible.

New Year's inspiration

I've been reading my pals' posts on Facebook about their New Years' resolutions and what they are planning for the coming year and I figure it's a good idea to share what I'm going to do with the coming year.

Perhaps you can help?

First let me tell you how I got here and why I am going to do what I am planning, it'll make more sense.

When I first met Melody I had no clue about the Law of Attraction or the Course in Miracles or even about where she was leading me. All I knew was that she had been leading me quite well on a pathway that I was quite willing to follow.

I have gone from being a stressed out, overworked lunatic with very odd idiosynchracies to being a calm, happy, loving person. At least most of the time. As I say when I have the few moments I still do, be patient, Melody isn't finished with me yet.

Well, about the time, I had begun planning my career as a professional Tarot Reader, but Melody had different plans. Or I, at least, had a different pathway to walk before that could happen.

Well, things have happened, I have grown and changed. I have stepped through the aperture of a black hole and seen beyond the event horizon, or, in the words of my friend Gary Renard, I have seen the universe disappear.

And then I have willed it back into existence, because I'm just frankly not ready to step on over and stay there. I rather like it here.

AND, I might add, given the number of people who have come to rely on Melody for guidance, she isn't quite done over here yet either.

This year, I will be launching a spiritual guidance club. Said club will be open to all comers, and will provide them with unlimited access to Melody. I am planning on writing a newsletter and daily blogs that will come straight from Melody through me... I don't know how that is going to go, so I'll be finding a couple of "guinea pigs" for the project. I've already asked a couple of people, who know who they are, and they have accepted. There are a few people to whom I have yet to make the invitation but they will receive that soon enough.

The goal is to make it so that I can afford to bring Melody's wisdom to people without putting me into a position where I am doing more tarot readings for free that are encroaching on my income making time. Those who find value in Melody's guidance will, I believe, agree that this is the right way for me to go.

The project will involve the receipt of an email message specifically for the reader direct from Melody. I haven't figured out exactly how this is going to happen, especially if the mailing list gets too big, but that is the general gyst of it. This message will be free for all those who want them, but for those who need more, they will be able to subscribe to a paid system where they can have all the immediate access to Melody they need. Subscribers will be able to request a message from Melody on any given day, and have access to full personalized readings.

Anyway, there will be way more to it than that, but that's the gyst of what I'm working on right now.

Any thoughts on which way I should go? Feel free to comment.

Profile of a Tarot Reader

Tina Brooks comes from a long line of gypsy Tarot Card readers. Her Grandmother was Madame Laurette. A well-known professional reader and psychic who passed away in 2008.

Tina began reading cards at the age of 14, under the Tutelage of Madame Laurette and began with the very difficult task of memorizing the meanings and imagery of 52 regular playing cards. It was not until many years later when Tina saw her first Tarot deck, a Crowley Thoth, that card reading began to have real meaning. The painted pictures in the Thoth deck gave way to images, thought patterns and ideas that the regular playing cards could never invoke.

In 2004, Tina's much read and much beloved Thoth deck was lost in a house fire. For a year, Tina didn't even think to pick up her cards. But one day, she found herself searching for her cards, to no avail and realized she would have to purchase a new deck of cards.

That was when Tina discovered the Revelations' deck, the cards she currently reads with.

They say all things happen for a reason, this discovery was no accident. Tina could suddenly see and hear the thoughts, images and ideas displayed in the tarot quite clearly and with great emotion. Shortly thereafter, Tina discovered that these cards were a window to the essence of the universe and she began to discourse, through the cards with the spirit known as Melody.

Melody has explained to Tina that although she can be described as many things, a spirit guide, an angel, perhaps even a demon by some, she is none of these things. Melody is, purely and simply, Tina's direct connection to Source. Source can be described as the energy that is life.

With the help of the Revelations Tarot deck, Melody whispers messages to Tina that she can translate into English or French, giving new insights and meaning to the people who sit for her readings.

Whether it be about love, work, money or health, Tina's readings hit uncannily close to home.

Tina can be found reading on Twitter, where under the Twittername "Pepperfire", Tina and Melody may offer 140 character Tarot Twreadings.

We invite you to open your heart and your mind to the messages that Tina and Melody have to offer and hope that you walk away with insight and love in your heart. Failing that, we hope you find the readings entertaining, for life is meant to be fun.