Cathy Denton

Catherine Denton is a Metaphysician living in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Check out her musing on family, life, health, and various metaphysical topics.

Manipulation in the Media: Part Three-The Blame Game

News

As we continue our series on media manipulation, I hope you are using the techniques given in the previous posts. These tools become more valuable and can be applied to a wide variety of settings beyond the ones illustrated here. Today we will look at another manipulation device- blame. Let’s see how we can avoid being trapped in this cycle of wrong turns.

I outgrew the monster under the bed a long time ago. Can we all let go of it’s all Russia’s fault or Donald Trump’s fault or Barack Obama’s fault, or Hillary Clinton’s fault, or the Democrats, the Republicans, the left, the right, my boss, my parents, my circumstances, my race, my age… It feels like an adult version of “My dog ate my homework.” When blame is cast, it has the effect of giving the real perpetrator a break while simultaneously placing them in the victim role. For the most part, people feel a kinship with victims. This is where the previous manipulation tactics- partial disclosure & distraction- can come in handy. The more helpless, cute or admirable others perceive you to be, the less likely they will believe you did anything wrong.

Another aspect of blaming another for a perceived wrong-doing is it gives the media a chance to demonize the one currently being accused. The demonization of someone by an authority figure such as the media or our leaders provides permission for the masses to do the same. It becomes a mob mentality which is very contagious. People get caught up in the name-calling and fault-finding because to go against the crowd is detrimental. You become the enemy, and the group turns on you. It takes an emotionally strong person to go against the tide of public opinion. Many get trapped in the undertow. This blanket demonization of the blamed person(s) often spills over onto those who support them. An example is how the Republicans vilified Hillary Clinton which spilled over onto the Democratic voters who helped her. She was presented as prison fodder while the voters were willing dupes. This tactic shuffles back and forth covering both sides of the spectrum. Now it becomes a tactic against the Republicans- President Trump, and his supporters are reviled and denigrated. Cue the violence.

The person or entity that is bearing the blame for the perpetrator\’s mistakes needs to be already in the consciousnesses of the culture. They had to have done something in the past that was perceived as despicable for this bit of manipulation to work. Nazis, Russia and President Trump, to name just a few, have all been maligned in the past over deeds deemed wrong in our culture whether they were guilty of that particular offense or not. The media continues to perpetuate this perception by linking these people at every opportunity to the perceived evil done in the past. They won’t let you forgive and forget. While it is correct in some cases there is ongoing wrong-doing, there is no chance to decipher a past transgression from a recent one. One of the rules of propaganda is to repeat phrases over and over until those you are trying to manipulate automatically associate the entity you are blaming with evil deeds all on their own. It can be challenging to un-link the two concepts so that you can discern truth. Not everyone is terrible at every moment of every day. Yet our media makes us think that by presenting a one-dimensional character.

What can we do when we become aware of The Blame Game? This particular manipulative action is entrenched in our society. As children, we learned that to feel safe and loved, it is better not to admit what we have done if we fear any repercussions. Guilty people are excoriated in the news, and it becomes a heavy burden that few recover from. To prolong the illusion of innocence, the real perpetrator digs in their heels against further allegations. Bill Cosby comes to mind as a respected person who most people had trouble believing he was guilty of anything but was convicted in a court of law of severe misdeeds. Deflecting blame onto someone else may get you off the hot-seat for a moment. As the saying goes though- be sure your sins will find you out. Nothing stays a secret forever.

When in our lives have we not felt loved or maybe were rejected? What was happening to us when we felt the need to blame someone or something instead of owning up to our part in the harmful event? Does this past deed still haunt us? Is there a way for us to make amends? These are the questions we can ask ourselves to lay open our wounding so that healing can begin. It won’t be easy. When we can see how blaming others for our rash actions have hurt us through our relationship with people, it will be easier for us to identify when the media is using this tactic on us. We can then see through the illusion they are creating by perpetuating the deflection. Investigate the alleged perpetrator/victim. Some of these people are guilty of wrong-doing. Some are not. Getting to some kind of truth is a process. In our fast-paced world, we would rather have easy once-and-done answers. Truth is almost never found through that type of non-action.

I hope that we can focus on solutions and leave the blame alone. It is easy to pass the buck and keep the criticism going. It is not easy to offer another view of the current narrative much less a different solution that may be less charged with emotion. By not allowing ourselves to be manipulated by our media and thoroughly question the players’ motives we can begin to strip back the masks that are used to get to some truth. We may never know the entire truth of anything. We hide the truth from ourselves so how can we expect others to divulge all they may be hiding? Our only solution is to take what is given but wait and see what the next day brings. Be open to an evolving truth and release any attachment to an outcome that makes you feel better for the moment. In our world right now, the time is ripe for some hard truths to come to light. Some people we respect will fall. Some people we dislike will be exonerated. By leaving off the public flaying of the guilty and instead encouraging them to do the right thing, we can create an environment where others will not dread owning up to misdeeds. Perhaps in the future, there will be no wrong-doing to lie about. We can hope.

In my memoir, Metaphysical Girl: How I Recovered My Mental Health, I give an explanation for epigenetics. I tell how my parents and grandparents lived, what they believed and how their lives affected mine. I attempted to do this in a way so that they were not blamed for my illness. It was difficult to discover my own culpability in how I was feeling and perpetuating my own suffering. After I came to terms with my avoidance of taking responsibility for my choices and reactions to my environment, I began to heal.

If you have found this series helpful or informative, please leave a comment below. If you would like my take on other concepts that we face in our world today, let me know your thoughts below this post. Thank you all for your support!

Neil Sanders – Your Thoughts Are Not Your Own: Media Manipulation Of Perception https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbmgsIQwrzA&list=PLG4qaeBOYMUlq2c3E0sx5YqFcAPZWveCW

Cathy Denton

Catherine Denton is a Metaphysician living in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Check out her musing on family, life, health, and various metaphysical topics.

Manipulation in the Media: Part Three-The Blame Game Read More »

Manipulation in the Media: Part Two- Partial Disclosure

News

In the previous post, I outlined one way the media manipulates us by high-jacking our emotions and causing us to focus on news items that are meant to tug at our heart or invoke anger. I explained a process to use their manipulation and turn it into healing for ourselves. We will now look at partial disclosure. This manipulation tactic is where only part of a story is told. It can be done in a written piece or by showing only part of a photograph. It can also be done by photo-shopping different pictures together. The latest bit where this was done was the cover of Time Magazine where Pres. Trump and a small crying child of color were shown opposite each other. The audience interpreted the meaning as the girl being taken from her parents while Trump did nothing to prevent it as per the recent rhetoric regarding the immigration crisis along the US southern border. It was a powerful image. As expected our emotions were actively engaged. The problem with this particular picture is that is a false representation of the facts.

Have you noticed that it seems no matter the news affiliation of traditional media the latest atrocity is recounted using many of the same inflections, descriptions and even the headline is eerily similar? It can be challenging to find the original publication so you can see the intended context of any given story. This may not be so surprising when you learn that six (6) corporations control the majority of the media industry: Time-Warner, Disney, Murdoch\’s News Corp, GE, CBS, and Viacom. As recently as 1983, there were at least fifty (50) corporations that shaped the way we viewed the world through news and independent journalism. To illustrate why having only six entities in control of our worldview is troubling, allow me to tell you a personal story.

Several years ago I was involved in a car accident. My daughter, a nephew, young cousin and another child, all around ten years old, were with me that day as we headed across town to the public pool. Just before the event, I was idling the car at a stop sign on a small side road waiting for a clear path to pull out onto the busy main two-lane street. I had to wait a couple of minutes to feel safe enough to get my older Buick Century to turn left into traffic and be on our way. A moment later, there were two wrecked cars. We were in one of them as we were spun around in the road with a smashed in right front fender. The kids and I were fine, but the young woman driving the small red sports car had a broken leg and wrecked front end.

I know I was at fault, no matter how fast she had been driving. She had the right of way, and I pulled out in front of her. When the report had been filed, I got a copy to take to my insurance company. It stated that the young girl was at fault and that she pulled out in front of me. She was charged with the accident. I questioned the report and asked to speak with the officer who filed it. He told me that witnesses saw her pull out from the far side road and hit my car as I drove down the main two-lane street. Both vehicles had been totaled. To do that kind of damage, someone had to be going faster than just pulling out from a dead stop. The next day, you could see the spin marks on the road where my car turned after being hit. I had to argue with the officer that the accident was my fault and explained where I was when I pulled out in front of her. He reluctantly changed the report.

When something happens, and people are questioned regarding what they saw, no one ever tells the exact same account. People do not notice or remember details the same as one another. Some things get left out, and some things get embellished. We are human and have different perspectives on what is essential and what is not of value. To have our world explained to us by so few entities are in danger of becoming a form of propaganda. It seems we are told what these five companies want us to know in the way they want us to understand it. This could be done with benevolent intention, but it takes away our ability to discern for ourselves the truth of the account. We are presented with stories from a perspective that may leave out crucial information so that we can make an informed opinion and then subsequent appropriate response.

One use of this tactic is to infer that the news that is being recounted is new information. It is not explained that this latest account is really part of a regular practice that was not made known in public forums when it first began. An example of this would be the #metoo movement. It was inferred by news agencies that these victims of sexual assault had only recently reported what happened to them in years past. It was also presumed that this movement was a recent thing. The public was left to wonder at the timing of coming out now regarding these events and in some cases attack those who accused some of the people whom the world respected. It was only after the damage was done that it was made known how some of the victims tried to seek justice right after the original event but were not believed or worse. Could the piece of news have been made into more of an exposé on the discovery of an ongoing problem instead of allowing us to be subject to what amounts to click-bait?

I was a beta reader for a friend\’s manuscript where she instructs those new to social justice in how to go about this activity in a thoughtful, focused manner. One of her key points was not to be drawn in by every heart-wrenching cause that comes into your awareness. Helpless children and small cute animals are the favorite advertising trope to get more attention to the real product. Sometimes you are not even aware of what the actual product is because you are so caught up in the helpless or cuteness factor. This is to our detriment.

Advertising in the form of commercials are professionals at using this manipulation tool- deflection and distraction. You are busy looking or listening to all the good things in the short \”film\” so that you are not aware of the possible dangers in the product or service being offered. Pharmaceutical companies do this by using smiling people being healthy and active with a backdrop of beautiful scenery and soothing music. The voice inflection of the narrator is also soothing and hypnotic, even when they tell you that the drug they want you to ask for may cause potentially deadly side-effects. They say these things at the end when you are visually and audibly compromised.

No matter the story or the source, do your own research. Be open to other points of view and different yardsticks of measurement. The way things have always been done is not always the best way. Branch out and explore all sides of an issue without engaging in the emotional aspect of the reporting. Most of the time, no one side has the monopoly on the truth. It is often found in the middle or a blending of many perspectives. When you keep your worldview small, you are missing out on much of what life offers. We tell our children to travel and see the world. We all need to move in our mind as well and not get locked into our own echo-chambers of a version of truth.

In my memoir, Metaphysical Girl: How I Recovered My Mental Health, I show you how I opened up my worldview of the medical field so that I could find other means to be well. I have integrated the good from each perspective to become the person I am now. You can find this book on Amazon at the link below.

Please do your own due diligence, these are only some of many sources I found:

Crying Girl on Time cover
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-photo/father-says-little-honduran-girl-on-time-cover-was-not-taken-from-mother-idUSKBN1JI07W

Debunked Mocking of Disabled Reporter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkAIi-4OIIk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk-fDRLSsQk

Scripted Media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAkxR9T01pw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2dJxiDkcjA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWVgDLDNp5w https://qanon.pub/data/images/f02e85b95ed1150e4fb3a0daf21e57234023f350deb695c02a20beda7551bffb.jpeg

Who Owns the Media
http://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6

#metoo
https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/17/us/me-too-tarana-burke-origin-trnd/index.html

Lyrica- RX drug for fibromyalgia pain
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/dwk2/lyrica-lake-home

A List to Choose News Sources from Each Category
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/ 

Metaphysical Girl: How I Recovered My Mental Health
https://www.amazon.com/default/e/B07B6S7JHP?redirectedFromKindleDbs=true

Written By:

Cathy Denton

Catherine Denton is a Metaphysician living in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Check out her musing on family, life, health, and various metaphysical topics.

Manipulation in the Media: Part Two- Partial Disclosure Read More »

Manipulation in the Media: Part One- Sensational Stories

Uncategorized

I don’t know about you, but I do not like being manipulated. I want to think of myself as a reasonable person who is thoughtful and discerning in regards to who and what I allow into my awareness. After years of therapy, I have come to realize when my feelings and emotions are being high-jacked. Engaging my thinking mind when in the throes of an emotional situation has been a struggle in the past though it only occasionally trips me up in the present. This change has happened over time with years of practice.

Reading the news or watching videos of events taking place around the world or even in our backyard has been a juggling act for me. Many stories appear before us that tug at heart-strings or stir a rage within our breast that is difficult to control at times. I have trouble keeping up with the next big story that bursts onto the scene and relentlessly demands a reaction from me. In this onslaught of emotion-driven rhetoric, I have noticed a pattern. The stories of late are focusing on chronic problems but reported on as if they were another 9-11 or the latest hurricane that devastates a populated coastline.

Don’t misunderstand me. The events of a terrorist attack and various deadly weather events rightly deserve our attention. The difference in a situation that happens over a few minutes to a few days of actual crisis is that these experiences are acute- meaning they are sudden, intense and brief. The sensational stories we are shown in the news now are more of the chronic variety- meaning constant and continual events that happen over an extended period. The #metoo movement, the immigration of peoples, and government corruption are chronic problems reported as if they just sprang from the earth fully formed.

Our media seems to expect us to drop everything we are quietly working on that either better our circumstances or improves the world. At their insistence, we must then focus on a situation of their choosing that is presented in an emotionally charged way to extract maximum focus and energy from us. We are becoming a people who are traumatized and desensitized to the world around us. Some people may develop chronic anger, depression or anxiety over this type of treatment. If this were happening in a personal relationship or family, it would be called emotional abuse, yet we will put up with this from a trusted source outside our home.

For myself, this type of manipulation forces me to question the agenda of the media. In therapy, I was taught to take a step back in my mind and disengage from the emotional aspect of the situation so I could think a bit more clearly. I was instructed to examine what was the purpose of the event. Was it here as a mirror of my own beliefs and behaviors or was it someone else projecting onto me their thoughts and actions? It can be challenging to tease those aspects apart to find the real culprit.

I have felt the need to step-up my self-care strategies in regards to the world happenings. While a vacation from social media and the mainstream news can be helpful, it is a short-term solution. Increasing our distress tolerance would be of more significant benefit for the long term. Disengaging our emotional response when we read or see distressing news items is challenging, but you can do it. Thinking clearly about the story\’s real topic is the goal. Then you have the discernment as to whether any action you take at that moment is the one you are to pursue.

Begin by acknowledging that you are feeling a particular sensational story in your body. Explore where you are feeling it. Does it give you a headache? Does your chest hurt? Do you want to throw-up or perhaps you feel a tightness in your gut. Maybe you are feeling a constriction or the opposite- an agitation all over your body. These are all signs that you have faced a similar traumatizing event at some point in your life journey. You may have never experienced sexual assault, never been an immigrant dangerously crossing a border, or been the victim of someone\’s corrupting influence. Instead, you may have been in a situation where you were angry, known fear, or felt betrayed. Your body does not care what the circumstance is- the chemicals flooding your body (adrenaline, cortisol, norepinephrine) are in response to the emotion you are feeling. Your body reacts to the remembered emotion from the other time when you felt this same mental state.

Take note of when the last time you were aware of this particular feeling. That episode is where your hurt is waiting for you to deal with the issue that you couldn’t deal with back then. This event reminds you in a relatively gentle way that there is some trauma in your emotional body that needs releasing. When you keep putting off addressing past hurts, they can take up residence in your body causing you to experience disease or disability. It is imperative to resolve past trauma before it reaches the physical stage where it is more difficult to shake off those long-ago hurts.

Once you take care of your pain, then you can give your attention to the news item that triggered your emotional response. Feeling empathy for the people involved in the story is okay, but when it provokes a stronger reaction, you are poorly equipped to handle any thoughtful engagement to help remedy their situation. Taking care of your needs may inspire you to action, or you may only feel you need to stand in solidarity with others who take action. You will then know which course to take.

As you discover what your needs are in the stories you see and read, you can then view them as opportunities to heal. Taking care of your needs first will bring to your awareness abilities, knowledge and inspiration to help others. It can not be the other way around, or you will only experience greater suffering with each news event. Building tolerance by changing your perspective makes you more effective in all your endeavors. We may take the potential manipulation by others to influence us by turning the tables on that harmful activity. That which was meant to harm can be used to heal.

I have written a memoir chronicling my journey from being diagnosed with bipolar disorder to becoming whole. I first tried traditional western medicine and therapies but eventually turned to eastern remedies and holistic treatments to gain the wellness I now enjoy in all aspects of my life. I have found the therapeutic modalities that involve body, mind, and soul to have been an effective way to live the life I had not had at any point of my younger self. In this book, I outline resources that I used and some I recommend for others to try. I advise clients to do their research as I guide them in the remedy they choose. You can order Metaphysical Girl: How I Recovered My Mental Health on Amazon at the link below.

Five Basic Principles of Propaganda plus an Expanded List
http://www.physics.smu.edu/pseudo/Propaganda/goebbels.html

Metaphysical Girl: How I Recovered My Mental Health
https://www.amazon.com/default/e/B07B6S7JHP?redirectedFromKindleDbs=true

Written By:

Cathy Denton

Catherine Denton is a Metaphysician living in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Check out her musing on family, life, health, and various metaphysical topics.

Manipulation in the Media: Part One- Sensational Stories Read More »

What About the Children?

Musings on Change

Recently in the news, there has been a flurry of outrage, indignation, and disgust regarding the separation of children from their parents who happen to have entered the US illegally under the existing law. Most of these are from Mexico. At present, there are approximately 2,000 children in shelters near the Mexican border while the parents are incarcerated in a separate place. What is to be done regarding this situation?

Let’s step back and see how these circumstances came about without looking at the emotional, heart-wrenching aspect for just a moment. The current situation did not crop up overnight. The factors involved are numerous, and there are a lot of moving parts. The bottom line question is “Why would a family want to leave their country and do it in a manner that is fraught with danger along with possible criminal repercussions?”

Mexico has a roller-coaster of a past with revolts, wars, and revolutions. In 1934 President Cárdenas began a revival of social programs that helped the peasant class. His work provided for the country to thrive after an extended period of turmoil. Part of the reforms included agrarian redistribution-land given to peasants, and confiscating property owned by foreign companies. The US and European oil companies that had their property confiscated were not treating the workers well and forcefully stopped their employees from forming labor unions.

By 1940 the confiscation of the oil company property is paid back to the companies involved to the tune of $24 million + interest. This happened as Mexico joined WWII. The country enjoyed economic growth in the years after the war while the financial gap between the rich and poor widened. In 1976 substantial oil reserves were discovered off-shore in the Gulf of Mexico which produced more than a million barrels a day. With the promise of this bounty, the government borrows money at high interest to fund social reforms, along with industrial and agriculture expansion. Unfortunately, the oil is a poor grade, and Mexico is plunged into enormous debt. In a deal with the IMF in 1982 to restructure its debt, Mexico agreed to devalue its peso while cutting many programs including social ones to the detriment of the people. Mexico’s borders hemorrhaged with thousands of the poorer class leaving for greener pastures.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect between the US, Canada & Mexico in 1994. Longstanding trade barriers begin to phase out with President Gortari promising Mexico would start exporting goods instead of its people. In 2014 it was clear that NAFTA was not suitable for Mexico in the way it was promised. Poverty remained to stagnate at about 52% the entire time along with an increase in unemployment. In the years since NAFTA, the illegal drug trade has taken off. The profit margin for marijuana, crystal meth, heroin, and cocaine is enormous. Cartels can buy a kilo of cocaine in Peru for $2,000 then by the time it goes through the trafficking pipeline, which includes Mexico, and on to New York, the cost of that same kilo broken down to salable quantities is at least $100,000. In Europe, it goes for much more. Mexico’s poor who are looking for a new life are recruited to bring these drugs into the US. To be fair, most of those seeking to cross our borders are not involved in this trade, but plenty of them are. Those who may be forced to participate in exchange for protection on the treacherous journey or are drawn to the money paid to carry it across the border. For everyone who is involved in this illicit job, there are many more executed because they won’t succumb to the cartels’ persuasive tactics.

The Mexican government has been reluctant to prosecute anyone involved in the drug trade which has made the cartels emboldened in their endeavors. They have expanded into human trafficking, guns, and ammunition but have also taken up more legitimate operations. This mix of legal and illicit businesses has given them immunity in their communities. Many of the poor and middle class depend on them for legal jobs which makes the local government, who are not adverse to taking “hush” money, reluctant to bring them down. In 2008, the drug trade was the country’s 5th largest employer. Many were shocked when Chapo Guzmán was arrested, but hundreds of people took to the streets in protest. The local economy had been kept infused with El Chapo’s money.

The US government has also had a hand in Mexico’s troubles. America is Mexico’s major importer of illegal drugs with a $100 billion-a-year market. To be sure, Europe is another major importer, but they do not share a border with Mexico and therefore do not deal with the immigration difficulties. They have their own from the Middle East. Marijuana was Mexico’s most significant export though with the advent of potential US federal laws making that commodity legal in the states, that status is changing. Since the cartels are diversified in their goods, there are other lucrative drugs to take marijuana’s place.

The US has not kept up with people’s desire to emigrate and therefore have outdated visa quotas at the border on how many people can be handled efficiently causing a severe back-up of people waiting to get into the country. Desperate people increasingly look to more drastic means to leave a country in turmoil. At the same time, the US has increased its militarized presence at the border which further endangers those trying to cross both legally and illegally. The American government has not kept up with the needed infrastructure to handle the number of people wishing to be here so when those desperate people do get into the country, there is not the Utopian society they may have envisioned.

America has not stayed out of Mexico’s affairs when it comes to the separate drug cartels and their war with each other. Taken from the US play-book that has been attempted in many other countries, the US Drug Enforcement Agency and the Mexican government chose one of the cartels to “back” by arming and supplying them with aid to run the rival cartels out of business. When El Chapo was arrested, both the US and Mexico then basically backed off allowing the cartel that was left to take over the whole operation. This did nothing to help the situation as the drug trade still flourishes, rivals sprang up to take the place of the fallen, and it’s business as usual.

With the cartels becoming diversified in legal and illegal businesses, there comes a time when all that money has to be put somewhere. The banks in Mexico and now globally have taken on that job. As the tangled mess that is Mexico’s economy, the increasing financial chasm between rich and poor, the difficulty in finding safety and the indifference of the government to interfere or help in any meaningful way, it becomes apparent as to why Mexico\’s impoverished want to flee their homeland. The sad thing is that they may be jumping from the frying-pan and into the fire.

We in the US have helped to make this situation along with Mexico. Our world has increased its consumption of goods, both legal and illegal. It has sought diversion and distraction instead of purpose and meaning. We have traded our ability to talk with each other and work things out for a feeling of safety. Our rants on social media regarding the children we see on the news may help us blow off steam, but they do not support those children. Asking President Trump to allow the families to be together, which is ignoring a law that has been in place since 2014, will assist for the moment but will not stop the situations that caused it in the first place- there are plenty more people making their way to what they believe is a better land. Do they have any idea what they are in for?

I believe disentangling the leviathan that our world has become will take dedication, courage and sacrifice. Some people will not live to see a better tomorrow. Those of us who work for that time we may never see, are encouraged to find small victories in the everyday. Blaming someone for the world’s ills only slows the progress we could be making. Creating an environment of cooperation instead of name-calling and separation is the order of the day. If you must separate yourself from those you do not agree with, go ahead. Just don’t condemn those who choose to find common ground with all folks so we can dismantle what doesn’t serve us anymore and build a more equitable future. Fighting on two fronts divides our effectiveness. We all helped create the world that is here. It will take us all to re-create it as well. Let\’s not muck up the process.

Timeline of Mexican History https://www.history.com/topics/mexico/mexico-timeline

Poverty in Mexico https://borgenproject.org/poverty-in-mexico-2/

Drug Trafficking by the Numbers https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/drug-addiction/drug-trafficking-by-the-numbers/

How Mexican Drug Cartels Earn Billions http://www.latinpost.com/articles/113055/20160203/how-mexican-drug-cartels-earn-billions-drug-trade.htm

How the Mexican Drug Trade Thrives https://www.thenation.com/article/how-mexican-drug-trade-thrives-free-trade/

Immigration and Drug Trafficking http://immigrationtounitedstates.org/466-drug-trafficking.html

Petroleum Industry in Mexico https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_industry_in_Mexico

NAFTA https://www.thebalance.com/nafta-definition-north-american-free-trade-agreement-3306147

2014 Immigration Crisishttps://www.npr.org/2014/07/09/329848538/whats-causing-the-latest-immigration-crisis-a-brief-explainer

INS Reporthttps://cis.org/New-INS-Report

Timeline- History of Legal and Illegal Immigration to the United States https://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023#1950-1999

Immigration Loopholeshttps://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/crisis-border-numbers/?utm_source=ods&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1600d

Catch & Release Immigration Policyhttps://www.us-immigration.com/us-immigration-news/us-immigration/catch-and-release-policy-for-undocumented-immigrants-reinstated/

Written By:

Cathy Denton

Catherine Denton is a Metaphysician living in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Check out her musing on family, life, health, and various metaphysical topics.

What About the Children? Read More »

When Folks Leave Us Behind: A Perspective on Suicide

suicide, Uncategorized

Recently a high profile celebrity was in the news. The report wasn’t about a recent acquisition of more accolades, but of his demise. His death was ruled a suicide. We do not know what was running through his mind in his last moments and perhaps he wasn’t sure either. He apparently only knew that his emotional pain needed to stop.

This could be the recounting of a number of people of any gender. The person need not be famous and known worldwide to mean something special to someone. There are plenty of statistics to quote regarding the suicide issue, but I want to focus on the people left behind and how they can care for themselves during a tragedy such as this. The person who has taken their life may be a family member, friend or well-known personality. It seems strange to feel so deeply for a celebrity, but with our ever increasingly connected world, we often feel close, sometimes closer than family to those in the public eye. We identify with the persona they project, and we believe them to be that person we see. In private, just like you and I, their lives are very different.

In a world where social media is an important connection point for folks, we are so used to seeing the smiling faces or the political rants and forget that those people are more. People are complex, and their lives are more nuanced than we realize at times. Behind the vacation pics, sporting events, birthday dinners, baby photos and pet snaps are also crabby children, bored parents, indigestion, dirty diapers, and vet bills. Celebrities are no different, but their lives are captured more often on film for all to comment on. Imagine if your day-to-day happenings were recorded in perpetuity. It would not even make the cut on Reality TV at my house.

When someone we know or perhaps idealize dies in this way, what do we do? There is the grief process of course which has varying degrees of emotion depending on how close you felt or the aspect of their life you identified with most. In that grief, you may feel anger, sadness, remorse, guilt, regret, a sense of hopelessness or even relief. Feel the feelings as they come up. Don’t judge them as good or bad- they are just emotions that need an outlet. If you need to scream or cry or clean your house- do it.

When you feel a particular emotion for more than you would like, talk with someone who will listen. For some folks, saying words out loud gets them out of their head and also out of their body. Other people may want to write their words. Art is another form of getting feelings out of the head and body to deal with. I have known people who clean to relieve themselves of the emotions they feel. However you can work through the pain that is there, you are taking care of you. Your actions may benefit others, but that need not be your priority.

Remember the person who has gone in a way that honors them but does not exclude other activities from your life. You are still here, and some people would feel sorrow if you neglected them. One of the best ways to celebrate the person\’s life or legacy is to go on living. Your extended seclusion will not help you or anyone else. In the 1997 movie Titanic with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack tells Rose to go on living.

Jack: Winning that ticket, Rose, was the best thing that ever happened to me… it brought me to you. And I’m thankful for that, Rose. I’m thankful. You must do me this honor. Promise me you’ll survive. That you won’t give up, no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless. Promise me now, Rose, and never let go of that promise.

Rose: I promise.

Jack: Never let go.

Rose: I’ll never let go, Jack. I\’ll never let go. I promise.

~Titanic, 1997 Writer & Director James Cameron, Twentieth Century Fox

Dare to live. Dare to continue your life’s mission. If you had no purpose before, perhaps now you have one. You might become involved with a cause that person supported or give time and energy to one you help in their name. You can also continue the life you are living as it is, but now you can have a greater passion for each day. Use the energy this loved one left you to live an expanded and joyful life. This can be your gift to them.

~ Dr. Catherine Denton, Metaphysician, Reiki Master, suicide prevention trainer and workshop speaker. Author of Metaphysical Girl: How I Recovered My Mental Health.
Paperback & e-Book on Amazon.   Dr. Denton\’s website www.willowpondspirit.com

Written By:

Cathy Denton

Catherine Denton is a Metaphysician living in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Check out her musing on family, life, health, and various metaphysical topics.

When Folks Leave Us Behind: A Perspective on Suicide Read More »

Becoming

Uncategorized

I believe our bodies are self-regulating. All we need to consciously do is to support it while it goes through the changes it needs to make. When we go from baby to toddler, we no longer need to be fed with mother’s milk or a baby bottle. We progress to more solid food and better mobility. As teens our bodies change again from children that have energy to spare, living off kool-aid and candy to something more substantial and a lot of it. We also need more sleep like when we were babies because it takes a lot of internal processes to get all of our body onboard with these changes.

We cannot stop the whiskers from growing on a teenage boy’s face nor can we stop a young girl’s period from becoming. Our best course of action is to support those changes and embrace what it means to be a young adult in it’s first stages of being. To suppress these natural occurrences is to make the person and everyone around them miserable.

At mid-life there are more changes that occur. Our bodies begin to slow- in metabolism, in memory and in desire. Our youthful activity is no longer needed and we begin to acquire the wisdom that would have been nice when we were young and foolish. In our culture that worships youth, we are told this stage in life is the worst thing that can happen to someone. We are given options to slow down the aging process with pills, diets, fast cars and hair dye.

What happens when we embrace the change and allow ourselves to become the next version of ourselves? Appreciating our new-found gifts can make for an interesting life. When we work with our new selves we may find that our youthfulness hasn’t gone away. It has evolved into something much deeper and far richer than what we had before. Living in the moment becomes the goal. Eating what our body needs and being active in the way our lifestyle supports is important now.

I personally haven’t arrived at my “golden years” where menopause is just a memory and retirement is as busy as my youth. I suspect this age has need for as much support as the rest of my life had required. At each stage what is best for us changes and suppressing what we are becoming gets tiresome, and expensive. Going against conventional wisdom need not be risky or frowned upon. Many are coming to terms with what has been happening to people for millennia. Embracing who we are and who we are becoming is now entering the “en-vogue” stage of existence. I welcome the chance to be another version of myself. I will embrace the change.

Written By:

Cathy Denton

Catherine Denton is a Metaphysician living in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Check out her musing on family, life, health, and various metaphysical topics.

Becoming Read More »

Aries New Moon April 15th-16th 2018 Healing the World Meditation

Uncategorized

Aries is a cardinal or focused beginning type energy and it is the first sign in the Western Zodiac. We are also in Spring in the Northern hemisphere which hearkens new growth and new cycles. A New Moon is also a beginning energy that carries us through the next 28 day cycle.

Another aspect of this particular new moon is Uranus, planet of unexpected things, rebellion and out of the box ideas is conjunct or right next to the sun and moon during this event. With all three of these together it gives us a powerful package of energy to work with over the next moon cycle and beyond.

The beginning of a much longer cycle is Chiron, the wounded healer, moving into Aries on April 17th. This is going to bring the focus to the masculine aspects in each of us- the warrior/soldier, the CEO, the boss and all those movers and shakers in the world. For the next 8 years we will be healing the Aries in all of us.

Because this time will be a new beginning in the sign of Aries who is ruled by Mars, the god of war, I felt it would be an auspicious time to have a mass meditation for peace. Quite a number of other groups are asking their followers to join together at this time for this special purpose. A meditation such as this has proven results. I link studies below to give you an idea of the impact we can make together.

Since this will be a very high energy time with Uranus, Chiron and the luminaries in the same sign, you may feel a bit anxious or restless. If you feel you can\’t be still and meditate, feel free to do a moving meditation by walking, dancing, twirling, or as simple as rocking in a rocking chair. For those who can meditate in a still way, feel free to change your routine-Uranus likes to shake things up- so go with that energy if it feels right for you.

To get you started feel free to follow these steps but be sure to make it all your own as well:

Find your own sacred space to do the meditation
Set your intention for the world to be at peace-visualize how that will look
Allow the cares of the day to drift by as you feel the peace you are sending out to the world
Allow the peace to encircle you, those you love, your community, your state or province, your country and the globe. See it spiral out into the cosmos.
Do this for as long as you feel is right for you.
As you go about your day or sleeping at night, reflect on that peaceful feeling and the vision you had of that taking place.
Express your gratitude for the peace you have sent forth and for your participation in this event

    Don’t be surprised at the way the change happens. You will feel different and you will have made a difference in the world around you. It may appear in the news that things are just as bad or worse. Don’t be alarmed. Change takes many forms but peace will be the outcome.

    I look forward to meditating with you all on April 15th and 16th during the Aries New Moon.

    Blessings,
    Dr. Catherine Denton

    Meditation on Peace Studies:

    http://www.worldpeacegroup.org/washington_crime_study.html

    http://maharishi-programmes.globalgoodnews.com/maharishi-effect/

    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10683169608409775

    Cathy Denton

    Catherine Denton is a Metaphysician living in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Check out her musing on family, life, health, and various metaphysical topics.

    Aries New Moon April 15th-16th 2018 Healing the World Meditation Read More »

    95% Donor

    Musings on Change

    While reading a friend\’s post documenting her journey of a bone marrow transplant she made the comment that her bone marrow level was now at 95% donor. I was struck by that notion and thought of how much of ourselves is donor parts. For some, this means a physical donation of eyes, kidneys, liver, and other body organs that are now so easily done through surgical means. What we don’t ordinarily think about is how much of what we think of as “us” is donated by those around us.

    It starts with our parents donating their egg, sperm and the DNA characteristics that make up our physical form. Our grandparents and other ancestors have donated our heritage and collective cultural experiences. Epigenetics tells us that behaviors and thinking patterns can be passed down from successive generations. The environment we grew up in donates much to our perception of the world.

    These donations do not stop with our birth and the atmosphere we were born into. We are learning machines with adjustments to our perceptions happening all the time. A kiss on our baby’s smooth forehead donates our first taste of physical love. Touching a hot stove donates to us the gift of physical pain. We are left for the first time with a babysitter and feel the donation of abandonment. The donation of a well cooked meal presents us with a pleasantly full belly. A beloved pet dies contributing grief to our growing list of donations. On and on it goes with experiences happening to and around us along with our reactions to them.

    Where do all these donations go and what do we do with them once they are in our possession? Most were incorporated into our perception of ourselves and our world. Some fit very nicely and are used often on various occasions. The feelings of joy when we help those less fortunate, the belief we can do great things in spite of circumstance, and the positive thoughts about our own self-worth are all gifts that were given to us in some fashion as we grew to maturity.

    Other donations were used when we were small but then discarded eventually for something we found more useful. We may have finally abandoned the belief that only our parents can make our lives be OK, the thought that we may have caused our present circumstance and no one else is to blame, or perhaps we have discovered that it is alright to color outside of the lines on occasion.

    Still, there were several donations that did not fit well at any time and are now chafing or snug in all the wrong places. These we still try to use either because of who gave them to us or using them helps us feel accepted. You insert your own reason. Perhaps we were gifted with a belief that we were no good or would never amount to anything. We could have received from well-meaning individuals a donation of shame for a disability or proclivity to certain unsavory activities. Guilt may have been laid at our doorstep for things we are not even sure we really believed in.

    Another aspect is that we are donating to others just as they are donating to us. Are we thoughtful in our giving or do we hand out our gifts indiscriminately to any who pass by regardless of the fit? Perhaps it is time to do inventory of the donations made in our name.

    Yes, our lives are made up of many donations from different people, places, and things. Just as the Salvation Army or the Goodwill Stores can not decide what people want to donate to them, we get handed all this stuff that may or may not be useful. We do, however, have control of what happens after that. We can look at what was given from every angle then decide for ourselves if we want to keep it, pass it on to another or discard the unwanted item. This reflection is my donation to you.

    Written By:

    Cathy Denton

    Catherine Denton is a Metaphysician living in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Check out her musing on family, life, health, and various metaphysical topics.

    95% Donor Read More »

    Connection

    Family, Uncategorized

    The Confederate flag shirt was the first thing I saw as I watched a cousin I had never met walk through the door. Jon and I were at a memorial gathering at my cousin Terry\’s home. We were celebrating his brother Tony\’s life with only a few of my 32 cousins on my dad\’s side of the family. The majority of the handful of relatives there were acquainted with Tony only the last few years of his life. My sister Barbara, his brother Terry and myself knew Tony from childhood on.

    I have mentioned in other stories that a good portion of my extended family did not have a lot of formal education with most only completing high school. Quite a number were highly skilled in trades or small business admin duties with a couple of cousins who worked as nurses. I know from stories told that about half of my paternal cousins, maybe more, had lived a difficult life of poverty and abuse as children. We did not grow up together as aunts and uncles were scattered throughout Florida, Alabama and Tennessee. My birth family lived in several places near the military bases dad was stationed at. We rarely saw some of our relatives over the years and some we had never met as was the case that day.

    Seeing that shirt was a bit jarring to me. I know where I come from but this symbol of what I had come to now view as “hate speech” left me feeling sad and just a bit fearful. The wearer of the shirt, Jesse was one of the cousins whose father, Jim, was very abusive and I had had my own hurt feelings in my dealings with Uncle Jim, as a child. If family stories were true, Jesse\’s experiences were much much worse.

    Jesse himself was a quiet young man of less than thirty yrs. He introduced his wife who was six months pregnant with her third child. Jesse got a plate of food from the potluck we had all assembled and sat next to Jon at the table. Immediately they bonded over work since both were employed by manufacturers of automotive parts though in different towns. I was sitting not far from Jesse at the table. While other conversations flowed around me, I watched him and his interactions with those present.

    It was then I felt him wearing his shirt as if it was armor. He did not appear aggressive in any way speaking to Jon in soft measured tones, in fact, he seemed quite meek. I knew his father to be bombastic with harsh words and colorful speech. Jesse was quite different, almost beat down. I felt the armor he wore was to protect him from any hurt he might encounter at this gathering, not protect him from any violence he might induce as his father had many times in the past. I witnessed a number of these emotional displays of my uncle where property damage and people roughly pushed aside were part of the show.

    Jesse\’s demeanor made me step back in my mind. After Jon and I returned home, I ran the film of the day over and over in my head. In the wee hours of morning is when many things coalesce for me. I awoke with a revelation. I knew that Uncle Jim had been abused as a child from his dad, my grandfather. His brash way of dealing with all that emotional and physical hurt was to lash out before others could do the same to him. It seemed Jesse chose an inward path of protection with only the outward showing of the Confederate flag shirt to indicate a certain manly toughness. Even though he was meek and quiet, he belonged to a loose community of sorts. He may have found that sporting this attire gave him instant access to something he did not experience growing up. Jesse had family when he wore their colors.

    I have observed that people show each other who they belong to or with in all manner of ways. It could be tattoos, hand signs, sport jerseys, pink knitted hats or blue collar shirts with a company name on the chest that lets you know what gang, group of sports fans, social justice cause or socioeconomic class you declare is your community. There was a good chance that Jesse did not have a complete understanding of how the Confederate flag was viewed by others and only acknowledged the result that mattered most to him- a show of strength that belied his powerlessness.

    I have belonged to many communities over my lifetime. I was among other things, a Brownie in elementary school, a school band member, an actress in school & community theaters, a nurse, a military service member and also a church member. Each of these groups had a way of showing off their members whether it be uniform, instrument or covenant. Within each of these affiliations I felt a certain empowerment. I belonged. I had connections. I had people who would watch my back if there was danger, pick me up if I had fallen or protect me if I were threatened.

    Even though I do not robe myself in a Confederate flag, I felt a certain kinship with this newly revealed cousin. We were born in the same family and shared much in the way of ancestry, cultural experiences and it seems, the need for community. Our ideologies may be vastly different but because we are kin we might be able to connect with each other and learn each others hopes and dreams while exorcising the demons of our collective family experience.

    Written By:

    Cathy Denton

    Catherine Denton is a Metaphysician living in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Check out her musing on family, life, health, and various metaphysical topics.

    Connection Read More »

    Inside the Chrysalis

    Uncategorized

    Change is not comfortable. Change is not a place people naturally seek. The status quo is much more to people’s liking and is encouraged by others. Does the caterpillar think about the day that it gravitates toward some unknown and possibly scary period where it decides and indeed can’t help itself to wrap silken thread around it’s body allowing less and less light in the blanket of what will be it’s home for a while? Does it comprehend that things will change and climbing about on limbs and leaves will no longer be allowed as it was before? Everything it used to know as truth will be different when it comes out of that womb of silk. What about the changes inside that womb? Have you ever thought about what happens inside for that time when there is no light no sound and no outside world to reference things to?

    I believe I was fortunate to grow up in a family that virtually instilled no particular religious beliefs. That doesn’t stop a person from believing in something for there was many a night that I stared out at the night sky and poured out my heart to the moon stars and blackness that I saw from a bedroom window. Even though there was no religious education to speak of, I was indoctrinated to believe certain things. Oh, not like a school at home that your parents taught in that fashion but children learn what they are shown even if never explained why things are that way.

    There is a story about a woman with a family and it is a holiday. She wants to cook a ham for a family meal and the daughter notices that her mother takes the ham cuts off a good portion of the end and throws it away. The daughter asks why she did that and the mother tells her that’s the way it’s done to cook ham. “Why?” the daughter asks. My mother did it this way and she showed me. “Well who showed her?” I guess her mother did. “Mom, you threw away a lot of meat. That doesn’t make sense.” The mother asks her mother and she says that was the way she was taught by her mom and back it goes to the Great Grand mother who happens to be alive and she is called and consulted about the cooking of the ham. The great grandmother says “Oh! I didn’t have a pan big enough for the whole thing so I used to cut the end off so it would fit.” The status quo is easier to maintain than changing or even asking a “Why?” every now and then.

    In this rapidly changing world there are many things you and your family must change in order to get along, get by or just plain survive. None of this comes easy nor do we do it without some whining, stomping of our feet or bucking the system for a time until we capitulate and fall in line with the rest of society. In United States there were those that said “no more”. A ruler was changed. The way the nation was run changed. The way the people had to respond changed. Many were hurt, jostled, left out, or perished due to this change. No one escapes, no one is untouched.

    There are many times a Chrysalis will be formed in your life and you are forced to change. Leaving school, getting married, having children, divorce, work changes, moving, loved ones being sick and dying, your own health could take a turn for the worse can all make change inevitable and unpleasant at the very least. What is changing in your life now? Are your beliefs about the world being challenged? Are your beliefs about your Faith being trampled? Are your perceptions of yourself morphing into some thing unrecognizable to the “old” you? Are your relationships turning into dust when they were once rock solid?

    There is a hope in all this. For things to grow and thrive change has to happen. Since this is a given in life there are provisions for such challenges. A caterpillar only stays in the chrysalis for so long then it emerges into a different being. The process of changing is painful and seemingly drawn out. In the darkness of the chrysalis, time stands still and it seems never ending. But it does, at least until the next wave of changes flow. One day you are crawling from place to place and the next you are able to fly.

    Written By:

    Cathy Denton

    Catherine Denton is a Metaphysician living in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Check out her musing on family, life, health, and various metaphysical topics.

    Inside the Chrysalis Read More »

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