What is an Uncle Tom?

I think Harriet Beecher Stowe did an excellent job of illustrating the man and his qualities to the extent that no one else need weigh in on the subject. amazingly the modern day understanding of the term, even by those who have no acquaintance with the novel (life among the lowly), are acutely aware of the truth of the meaning. Yet, there is more to it.

Uncle Tom was as pious and perfected of a spiritual being as any. this is an understanding that many do not comprehend when they use the term. At first, when i found out about the original character, 'Uncle Tom' i felt that the term was being used injudiciously, and in ignorance. As I've researched the book, and read critical theory of the novel, I've come full circle, in that I can find no fault in someone using the term Uncle Tom' to describe... well, an Uncle Tom.

And the issue is quite complex. Granted, Uncle Tom was loyal, pious, moral, ethical, yet, the system of slavery certainly was not. Despite this, Tom had a loyalty to his master, based upon his understanding of the law and the rules of the age and condition in which he found himself. He certainly accepted the fact that he was property, which, on a level, many African-Americans and Whites also accepted, or if they were white, did not involve themselves in, and if they were black, rebelled against in overt or subtle, or even in psychological disloyal ways.

the "good slave" is the slave which best embodies the understanding and attendant actions which demonstrate fealty and all of those high qualities of humanity, merged with the acceptance of being a slave with a master whose fate is one and the same as your own.

The Buddha, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, could not be thought of as 'Uncle Tom's' for although they were spiritual, moral, ethical men, they believed that in a law greater than that which simply governs men. They believed in God's law. A law which was known to them (as it was known to Beecher Stowe) through their emotions and their commitment to do God's will, in all ways, first and foremost, in their advocacy for the full brotherhood of all beings regardless of social position, infirmity,disability, or sin.

and so These men could never, would never be 'Uncle Tom's' for their conscience stirred such that they fought, and advocated and were willing to expose themselves to all that be what may, in order to consecrate themselves to a higher, spiritual purpose.

So let us examine a description of Uncle Tom, by Beecher Stowe herself, given by his master, Mr. Shelby in the opening chapter of the book:

"...Tom is an uncommon fellow,...steady, honest, capable, manages my whole farm like a clock... Tom is a good steady, sensible pious fellow, he got religion at a camp meeting 4 years ago and i believe he rally did get it, I've trusted him since then with everything i have. money house horses and let him come and go around the country and i always found him true and square in everything

"...why last fall I let him go to Cincinnati alone to do business for me and bring home 500 dollars. Tom, I trust you because i think you're a Christian. I know you wouldn't cheat. Tom comes back sure enough. I knew he would. Some low fellows, they say said to him, Tom, why don't you make tracks for Canada? Ahh master trusted me and I couldn't. They told me about it.

Beecher Stowe, would be the last one to defend Uncle Tom as an activist. As a Christian, he needs no defense, in fact, in Beecher Stowe's life as an American, it has been argued that she rejected Perfectionist doctrine, which advocated a rich interior christian life, primarily due to the need to have a marriage with Christ and to give oneself up to do his works.

Tom speaks of the bible, but he also, due to his acting out perfectionist ideology, becomes a martyr. He can not "do wrong" and yet, he also can not "act right". to "act right" as a slave is to reject the idea that humans can become the property of another. and yet, this is where politics enters religion, for the education of a slave was not a liberal arts one, it was as a member of the slave-labor class. It was as a member of a intergenerational caste of Stockholm syndrome devotee's.

and the Stockholm syndrome can be an excellent framework from which to help the imagination to understand the psychology of Uncle Tom.

Stockholm Syndrome is survival based, and can begin to manifest very quickly, within a few days. and can be found in any situation where the abused is dependent on the abuser in any essential way. it can be found in; abused children, battered spouses, prisoners of war, cult members, incest victims, hostages, concentration camp prisoners, etc.

there are four situations or conditions that serve as a foundation for the syndrome:
1. the presence of a perceived threat to one's physical or psychological survival and the belief that the abuser would carry out the threat
2. the presence of a perceived small kindness from the abuser to the victim
3. isolation from perspectives that differ from those of the abuser.
4. the perceived inability to escape from the situation.

the main manifestations of the syndrome are:
1. positive feelings for the abuser
2. negative feelings by the victim towards family, friends, or authorities trying to win their release
3. supportive behaviors by the victim to help the abuser
4. inability to engage in behaviors that may assist in their release or detachment from such efforts.

this is what A. Philip Randolph was referring to in his epic fight and victory as the leader of the Pullman car porters union:

A. Philip Randolph, at the beginning and the midst of the struggle, understood the psychology he was batting against:

From The Messenger, New York: August 1925: [from] Pullman Porters Need Own Union

Uncle Tom's

"The handicap under which the porters are now laboring are due to the fact that there are too many Uncle Toms in the service. With their slave psychology they bow and kowtow and lick the boots of the Company officials, who either pity or despise them. The company uses these me-too-boss, hat-in-hand porters to spy on the independent manly men. They are always afraid that somebody will rock the boat, that the good white folks will get mad. They are always singing to let well enough alone, even though they be kicked and spat upon; that the time isn't ripe for the porters to stand up like men. The officials know this, the white employees on the railroad know this and the public knows it. This sort of porters who have a wishbone where a backbone ought to be, must be brushed aside and made to understand that their day has passed, never to return. It is reported that Frank Walsh, Chairman of the Industrial Relations Committee, indicated that it was obvious upon cross-examining the Pullman porters during the Congressional investigation of the Pullman Company, that the porters had been coached. And naturally, because their transportation had been given them by the Company. They testified in favor of the Company and against themselves and their fellow workers. Happily, however, this type of porter is gradually losing his influence."

Beecher-Stowe knew that she was creating a beautiful, pious and meek character full of all christian faith and fervor as any character ever created, yet, she did it purposely, to show the psychological effects of slavery upon the will. to demonstrate to her northern and international audience, the psychological chains of oppression. she did it to demonstrate the religious nature of African-Americans, who were thought to be and treated as less than human. her strategy, encompassed all possible strategies, and in showing uncle tom to be pious, she was hoping to move Christians to recognize that they could not be satisfied with a rich interior spiritual life, sitting and praying alongside slave owners and those that believed in slavery as long as brothers and sisters in Christ were yet to be delivered from Egypt if you will.

Beecher-Stowe and her book, in contemporary times have fallen out of favor. she has been accused, at many time, from the time the book was written, of racist/paternalist ideology upon blacks. But i don't see this at all. One must remember the times that she operated in.
I remember Eddie Murphy, who beautifully illustrated the absurdity of trying to overlay a modern day perspective to the to the politics of slavery.

but even if you do, what Beecher Stowe has created is amazing. the beauty and love she shows for all people regardless of race, who are christian, or in sin. she leaves god to judge them, although she knows the reading public will certainly be moved to form their own opinions.

she takes great pains to illustrate the beauty, humanity, intelligence, devotion, love, family bonds, terror, fear, torture, murder, desperation and aspirations of the black race. as well, or better than Toni Morrison, ntzake shange, Alice walker, Tracy Chapman....

but don't take my word for it, let's look at what William G. Allen, a contemporary of Frederick Douglass, and Professor at Central College in McGrawville, NY has to say about the book in an opinion published in Frederick Douglass' newspaper, May 20, 1852:

I have recently read "Uncle Tom." What a book! It is, in its line, the wonder of wonders. How its descriptions stir the blood, indeed almost make it leap out of the heart!

Uncle Tom was a good soul, thoroughly and perfectly pious. Indeed, if any man had too much piety, Uncle Tom was that man. I confess to more of "total depravity." More shame to me, possibly, but nevertheless, such is the fact. My non-resistance is that of the Douglass, Parker, and Phillips school. I believe, as you do, that it is not light the slaveholder wants, but fire, and he ought to have it. I do not advocate revenge, but simply, resistance to tyrants, if need be, to the death.

The story of the Quadroon girl, second book, thirty-fourth chapter, exceeds anything that I have ever read, in all that is soul-searching and thrilling.

I have one regret, with regard to the book, and that is that the chapter favoring colonization was ever written. Many of the bad features of that chapter, are somewhat modified by the admission, on the 302nd page, of the right of the colored people to meet and mingle in this country—to rise by their individual worth, and without distinction of caste or color; and that they have not only the rights of the common men here, but more than these, the rights of an injured race for reparation;

I have no objection to the Christianizing of Africa. God speed the missionaries who go thither for so high and holy purpose—Those also, be they white or colored, who go to build republics upon her shores, go to perform a work, great, grand, and glorious—God speed them also.


As to the talk about African nationality, this is sheer nonsense if by African nationality is meant a nation composed entirely of pure Africans. Nations worthy of the name, are only produced by a fusion of races... Indeed, fusion of races seems to be a trait, distinctive of Americans.

Let us take this to our hearts, at least, that slavery is a national sin, and nations are not fixed facts, but are continually, though may be slowly, passing away.

And so we have Uncle Tom. A pious character, in his faith, unreproachable, and yet, a burden to all those who strive for political action against repression for his allegiance to the law of the land, over the full law of god, hidden and passed off as "goodness". Overall his acceptance of his condition as a slave, his passivity, and his complete brainwashing, parading as religious meekness make him a despised character fully deserving of the name, 'Uncle Tom'. This same man who would never think to "cheat" his master by running away with himself has, in his acceptance, left his fate and that of his family in the hands of evil-doers who repay his loyalty and fealty in spades of cruelty.

Uncle Tom and "Uncle Tom's" as the prototypical Stockholm Syndrome-ee, have been the nemesis of social movements and uprisings from time immemorial. From the conquest of Africa, Latin America, and the snitch, that alerts those in power of pending insurrections, this feeble minded class of man, has earned a place of disdain on a level far over-reaching the hatred of the oppressor.

In this apologist age of those with mental infirmities, Uncle Tom's still can not be forgiven, despite their well documented psychological malaise. Uncle Tom's love of religion could be said to perhaps have had it's appeal in his own fear in the possibility of eternal punishment. Perhaps Tom's religiousness is in truth, another symptom of his inability to think on his own. perhaps his perfectionist displays are merely another layer of psychological wound upon the mind of a slave caught within the dual realm of arbitrary masters and Gods.

On Uncle Tom and Other Things. (Dr. Patricia Hill, Wesleyan University)

Dr. Patricia Hill of the History and American Studies Dept. of Wesleyan University has written an excellent paper, titled,
'Uncle Tom's Cabin as a Religious Text'

In it she explores the religious and literary (mostly philosophical and moral) philosophy of Harriet Beecher Stowe, as well as the evolution of her education and awakening/coming to terms with her own religious search and desire for communion with god. One of the major points of these work is that Beecher Stowe's 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' in many ways serves as her consecration to Christ.

Beecher Stowe believed that one of the ultimate forms of communion with Christ was to give oneself up to perform the work of God, often times through art, but yet, through an emotional understanding of the world, which served as a connection to Christ. Beecher Stowe also believed that to be truly religious required one to work as Christ would to ensure that all men are recognized and treated as brothers under God.

Below is a synopsis of the text which may be found in it's entirety here

Hill begins her essay with a short overview of the history of religious based views towards slavery, and then links that history to the production of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' while following the thread she began, by breaking down the creation and impact of the novel.

"...And yet, this essay focuses on the religious culture that produced Uncle Tom's Cabin precisely because that text — thoroughly grounded in evangelical religion — rendered a verdict that produced a political explosion."

The south initially did not try to defend slavery, rather they opposed a strong federal government and an established religion which were, "the essential elements of any effective challenge to slavery". In other words, the south, as a business conglomerate, made the major thrust of their efforts in ensuring the legality of slavery, by establishing it, enforcing it, and advocating for a government that recognized and protected it. One of the ways this advocacy manifested, was in arguing for states rights over the Federal government. A sort of quasi anti-federalist perspective, if you will.

Although the defense of slavery by use of the bible had undermined the religious moral argument against slavery, somehow stowe was able to ignite a political explosion through uncle tom's cabin. how did she do this? in short her religious training, and belief's, rooted in scottish common sense philosophy, and the belief that one must have an internal sprituality which did not rely or rest in the church, rather, within the individual who laid ones all upon the alter as a consecreation, "yielding oneself as a living sacrifice to god" and allowed god to work through them, took the debate from the political sphere and the clergy, and transformed it into a personal grass roots uprising, which in turn, because once again politicized in a way which empowered the people, instead of the institution. such revolutoins are the only revolutions strong enough to overwhelm and out-influcence the heirarchies of society and established political channels.

Stowe writes of becoming "one with christ in that union of which marriage is a type", which matches upham's concept of union with the divine, which required the sacrifice of the will. it was a mystical union with teh divine that could not be limited by formal, instituional boundaries.

the religion articulated by stowe, resonated deeply within those that believed in god and abolition, and it moved those that believed in god, but felt that slavery was an unrootable southern affair not to be meddled upon by the north, to claim a religious moral high ground that moved them to become more active in their acts of faith. and for those that believed in god, and slavery, it robbed them of the force of their bible based arguments. only the choir was left for them to preach to.

stowe learned 18th century concepts of ethics and of a moral sense closely allied with an aesthetic of moral beauty and cultivated emotions. this mixed with the romanticism she learned through wordsworth, coleridge and byron.

her association with theodore dwight weld taught her about the manual labor movement, abolitionism and racial integration, which further removed the issue of slavery from a bible supported institution, to an issue of labor exploitation, racial discrimination, competitive individualism and a focus on market values. this is what weld argued in the famous 1834 lane debates.

Some of the major sociological events and ideas upon Stowe: the oberlin perfectionist; german idealism and perfectionist theology which formed the foundations of her faith. i.e., the divine is known through the emotions.

sermons and formal worship services form a part of her religious habitus, but they are the least part. "Her religious life centered on practices pursued in the privacy of domestic spaces; reading and discussion, singing and prayers. Social intercourse, in conversation and letters,.. religious formed a... web... in which evangelical life was lived"

stowe review of thomas upham's, principles of the interior or hidden life (1843) [new york evangelist in 1845], shows how her thoughts and perspective evolved.

stowe was well read, and often debated, discussed and opinioned/editorialized upon that which she read in addition to being the daughter of a preacher with 6 brother's who were preachers, who all communicated and spoke to one another due to their shared belief that such discussions, communications and "work" within religion, formed the basis for ones faith and christ-evolution.

as a romanticist, she "poured over volumes on religous art" in her travels to europe and recognized the power of art to illustrate religious themes and move/stir emotions to deeper spiritual understanding.

the literature of her day, was infused with philosphy, fiction, religious newspapers, and religious issues permeated print culture. as she felt herself becoming a sacrament, she allowed god to use her, and work through her, within her chosen form, to produce uncle tom's cabin.

" Stowe knew that she needed to persuade her evangelical public that abolition was a Christian imperative, not a radical, skeptical agenda. Abolitionism, in 1850, was a minority movement. Abolitionists were generally considered fanatics; "

Her version of holiness perfectionism, with its emphasis on union with the divine and empowerment for service, suggests that sanctified Christians, in their ability to more perfectly imitate Christ, can more fully enter into the sufferings of others than the unsanctified can. But she would have agreed with Smith's broader argument that the human imagination was intimately connected to the moral sense.

For her evangelical public, Stowe's objective was to demonstrate the African's capacity to be a fellow Christian.

"Stowe develops another line of argument by portraying the damage that slavery does to the master class. The moral threat to children is revealed in Henrique's ungovernable temper. Marie St. Clare provides an instructive portrait of the kind of monster of selfishness that slavery produced. Slavery also undermines religion among the more thoughtful of the master class."

Some of Stowe's literary, religious and literary contemporaries; william theodore weld; frederick douglas; harriet jacobs; angelina and sarah grimke.

stowe realized that there was little distinction between the south, which engaged in slavey and it's profits, and the north which ignored it, allowed it, and invested heavily in the cotton aftermarket.

another element is intimacy. there is hand holding, touching, embraces, tender careses, deep stares into one another's eyes. all pointed at making the african a fellow human and brother in christ.

Dr. Hill ends her novel by stating,

"Mrs. Stowe's novel is a public display of private, religious feeling designed to change both feelings and policy, and a heated, intellectual argument about ideology and theology. Feeling right has a political salience that extends from evangelicals' parlors to legislative chambers."

Sunday Meditation Class

went to a great meditation class on Sunday.
the monk talking was great. he talked a lot, and to a lot of different levels.
he tossed out a lot of pearls.

here are two.

1. there should be no difference between your meditation and your daily life. it should be "seamless" what you are practicing is awareness and stillness. what you do within is planting seeds for without.

what a great idea. what a great truth. this idea extends beyond meditation and non-meditation. what he's saying is, "seamless" and in order to be seamless, there can be no distinction between the quality of any state of awareness or activity of "self". once again, what a beautiful truth.

2. set a regular time for your meditation, rather than trying to do it for a "goal" amount of time that you can not achieve, or for more than what is comfortable. Meditation itself is the goal. if you set a regular time, then you have a "corral" so the horse can be calm, or excited, or running about, but there is a corral for it. then you will be able to watch and observe the rise and fall

what a great idea and justification for consistency. isn't it true that consistency is such an important factor in building character and developing the ability to raise ones consciousness?

3. this one is actually from jack kornfield. he said that it doesn't matter (paraphrase) how often you get distracted or your mind wanders in meditation. what's important is each time you realize you have drifted off and you bring yourself back.

this is beautiful, becasue it almost deifies drifting off. for each time you drift off, you have a new invitation to become aware, be aware and bring yourself back. how wonderful! i can't help but to think of the "ox herding" series of zen pictures. we are all seeking the cow. then we find the tracks (if you are fortunate), and get a hold of the rope, and calm them, and then walk with them, and then walk freely together and then sit silently together and then move off on our own, aware and in love with one another, but sitting silently and no longer at odds.

a foundation for thought and action

there are many areas to explore within the human mind. emotions, memories, creativity, fantasy, desire,

Alternative Cancer Treatment & Four Herb Tea

A friend of mine just lost his father due to complications arising from chemotherapy. He had cancer that was inoperable and opted for chemo. He became sick and died. I called my father to ask about holiday recipe's but then told him that my friend, who has the same name as my father, had recently passed. I asked my father what he would do if he had cancer, and he stated he would never do chemotherapy. he would take a naturopathic route. he then turned me onto a website called "herbal healer academy". he said that anyone who has cancer should check it out, "so they know their options." and at the very least, "they will be very encouraged." he also told me to look at, "the four herb tea"

I looked up the 4 herb tea, and so far, it looks good. the ingredients are all ingredients that i've heard about as having curative properties.

In honor of my friends' fallen father, today's blog is for all of those who are at the crossroads of cancer, and are afraid, and not sure of what to do, and would appreciate hearing some other options that are perhaps less toxic. alternative routes of healing, can at times be more natural and perhaps can improve the quality of their life, help change their lifestyle and perhaps help to heal and to cure.

Rene Caisse and her Herbal Cancer Treatment, Essiac

By Lanny Messinger -- http://www.HealthFreedom.info


On a fateful day in 1922 Canadian nurse Rene Caisse happened to notice some scar tissue on the breast of an elderly woman. The woman said that doctors had diagnosed her with breast cancer years before. However, the woman didn't want to risk surgery nor did she have the money for it.

As luck would have it, she had met an old Indian medicine man who told her that he could cure her cancer with an herbal tea. The woman took the medicine man's advice, and consequently she was still alive nearly thirty years later to pass on this herbal remedy to Nurse Caisse.

About a year later, Rene Caisse was walking beside a retired doctor who pointed to a common weed and stated: "Nurse Caisse, if people would use this weed there would be little cancer in the world." Rene later stated: "He told me the name of the plant. It was one of the herbs my patient named as an ingredient of the Indian medicine man's tea!" The "weed" was sheep sorrel.

In 1924 she decided to test the tea on her aunt who had cancer of the stomach and was given about six months to live. Her aunt lived for another 21 years, cancer free.

Rene Caisse (pronounced "Reen Case") later gave the tea to her 72-year old mother who was diagnosed with inoperable cancer of the liver, with only days to live. Her mother recovered and lived without cancer for another 18 years.

In the ensuing years Nurse Caisse refined and perfected the original "medicine man's" formula. She tested various herbal combinations on laboratory mice and on human cancer patients. She eventually reduced the tea to four herbs: burdock root, sheep sorrel, slippery elm and turkey rhubarb. She called the formula Essiac, which is her surname spelled backwards.
Rene Caisse devoted over fifty years of her life to treating thousands of cancer patients with Essiac. So effective were her free treatments that in 1938 her supporters gathered 55,000 signatures for a petition to present to the Ontario legislature to "authorise Rene Caisse to practice medicine in the Province of Ontario in the treatment of cancer and conditions therein". Unfortunately, due to the machinations of the Canadian Medical Association, the bill failed to pass by just three votes.

WHAT DID DOCTORS SAY ABOUT RENE CAISSE'S TEA?

Rene Caisse operated her cancer clinic under the supervision and observation of a number of doctors. Based on what those doctors saw with their own eyes, eight of them signed a petition to the Department of National Health and Welfare at Ottawa, asking that Nurse Caisse be given facilities to do independent research on her discovery. Their petition, dated at Toronto on October 27, 1926, read as follows:
To Whom It May Concern:
"We the undersigned believe that the 'Treatment for Cancer' given by Nurse R.M. Caisse can do no harm and that it relieves pain, will reduce the enlargement and will prolong life in hopeless cases. To the best of our knowledge, she has not been given a case to treat until everything in medical and surgical science has been tried without effect and even then she was able to show remarkable beneficial results on those cases at that late stage.
"We would be interested to see her given an opportunity to prove her work in a large way. To the best of our knowledge she has treated all cases free of any charge and has been carrying on this work over the period of the past two years."
Initially, Rene was not aware of the control that the medical/pharmaceutical establishment had over governments. After the petition was delivered to the National Health and Welfare Department, she was continually threatened with arrest until she finally withdrew from public view. Unlike Nurse Caisse, the medical establishment was more interested in making money than in helping people. Essiac was cheap. It could cut into the lucrative profits from radiation, chemotherapy and surgery--treatments that often did more harm than good. Essiac is non-toxic. Rene said, "Chemotherapy should be a criminal offense."

The story of Rene Caisse's struggle to make Essiac an official cancer treatment was told by Dr. Gary Glum in his book CALLING OF AN ANGEL: ESSIAC, NATURE'S CURE FOR CANCER. In a telephone conversation Dr. Glum stated that people who take Essiac on a regular, preventive basis do not get cancer. Dr. Glum interviewed JFK's personal physician, Dr. Charles Brusch, who stated: "I know Essiac has curing potential. It can lessen the condition of the individual, control it, and it can cure it."

Dr. Ralph Moss was appointed to the Cancer Advisory Panel that evaluates alternative cancer therapies for the government. On his web site and in his book CANCER THERAPY, Dr. Moss points out that each of the herbs in Essiac has been scientifically shown to contain anticancer substances. In his "Cancer Chronicles" [www.ralphmoss.com/essiac], Dr. Moss notes Essiac's rising popularity by comparing Essiac's low cost to a $150,000 bone marrow transplant.

ESSIAC--MORE THAN JUST A CANCER TREATMENT

Dr.Frederick Banting, the co-discoverer of insulin became interested in Essiac and even offered Nurse Caisse research facilities to test it. According to Rene, Dr. Banting stated that "Essiac must actuate the pancreatic gland into normal functioning". Even today diabetics are using Essiac to improve their condition and many have gone off insulin entirely.

Essiac has become widely known for its remarkable ability to boost the immune system and detoxify the body. Many people who drink Essiac tea regularly report feeling healthier with less incidence of colds and flu. Burdock, for example, has a well-established reputation for detoxification and support of the liver and organs of elimination.

BURDOCK ROOT
(Arctium lappa)

For centuries burdock root has been regarded as an effective blood purifier that neutralizes and eliminates poisons from the body. Burdock contains a volatile oil--especially in the seeds--that is eliminated through the sweat glands, taking toxins with it and alleviating skin problems. Burdock contains niacin, which is known to eliminate poisons from the body, including radiation. Burdock also supports the bladder, kidney and liver and has been said to dissolve kidney stones. It also contains an abundance of minerals, particularly iron. Studies have shown anti-tumor activity in burdock. Japanese scientists have isolated an anti-mutation property in burdock, which they call the "B factor". The Japanese grow burdock root for food as well as medicine. A memorandum from the World Health Organization revealed that burdock was active against HIV.

SHEEP SORREL
(Rumex acetosella)

Rene Caisse isolated sheep sorrel as the main Essiac herb that caused regression of metastasized cancer and reduction of tumors. She used the whole herb including the roots. Dr. Ralph Moss points out that sheep sorrel contains aloe emodin, a natural substance that shows significant anti-leukemic activity. Sheep sorrel contains antioxidants, is diuretic and has been used to check hemorrhages. It has also been used for food.

SLIPPERY ELM
(Ulmus rubra/fulva)

The inner bark of the slippery elm tree is well-known for its soothing and healing properties. It reduces inflammations such as sore throat, diarrhea and urinary problems. It has been regarded as both a food and medicine. Dr. Moss noted that "slippery elm contains beta-sitosterol and a polysaccharide, both of which have shown [anti-cancer] activity.

TURKEY RHUBARB ROOT
(Rheum palmatum)

Turkey Rhubarb has been shown to have anti-tumor activity. It is diuretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and has been used extensively to relieve constipation. It is medicinally more potent than garden rhubarb root and is more palatable.

CAVEAT EMPTOR

Due to the ever-increasing popularity of Essiac, numerous entrepreneurs have jumped on the Essiac bandwagon with their own four, six, or eight-herb products. Unfortunately, Rene never published the formula and it appears that she experimented with different herbal combinations. Therefore, it is understandable that there would be controversies over who has the correct formula or the best product. Curiously, Essiac didn't become a trademark name until several years after Dr. Glum published the Essiac recipe. Yellow dock or garden sorrel is sometimes substituted for sheep sorrel. Imported turkey rhubarb may be irradiated, fumigated or both. So how do you know if you are buying the real, unaltered Essiac?

I often receive emails from people who report being confused about Essiac tea after visiting various web sites with conflicting information. This wealth of misinformation that has obfuscated the Essiac formula has compelled me to help clarify the issues with documented evidence. Unfortunately, Rene is not alive today to remind people that it's all about "helping suffering humanity", not money. As Rene stated in "I Was Canada's Cancer Nurse", "respect and love of our fellow man are more important than riches." Sheila Snow, author of ESSIAC ESSENTIALS, knew Rene Caisse personally and fortunately has obtained a great deal of documentation to dispel much of the confusion about Essiac tea.

Essiac is truly a multi-cultural phenomenon. So here are the plain, non-commercial facts:
1) Essiac marketers often claim that Essiac is an Ojibway Indian formula. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to substantiate this common belief. In "I Was Canada's Cancer Nurse" Rene Caisse referred only to "a very old Indian medicine man" without naming any specific tribe. Sheila Snow has researched this issue and found that the "old Indian medicine man" could have been a member of the "Algonquin, Cree, Cherokee, Huron, Iroquois or Ojibwe" tribes living in northern Ontario in the late 1800s.
2) Turkey rhubarb (rheum palmatum) is native to China and Tibet, not northern Ontario, so it appears unlikely that it was a part of the original medicine man's formula of indigenous herbs in the late 1800s. Even today turkey rhubarb has still not established itself as a wild herb of North America. "The [turkey] rhubarb rhizome official in the British Pharmacopoeia, 1914, must be collected in China and Thibet. English-grown rhubarb is inferior to the official rhubarb in medicinal qualities."* Even the 1931 edition of A MODERN HERBAL reports that "We still depend upon Northern China and Thibet for Rhubarb."* It appears then that turkey rhubarb was an Asian-sourced modification made by Rene Caisse in her efforts to refine the formula.
Since the modern North American diet of over-processed foods can cause chronic constipation which can promote cancer, Rene Caisse's decision to include turkey rhubarb in the formula appears to have been a wise one. One of the first benefits that I noticed when I first began drinking Essiac tea was that my bowel movements normalized. After drinking Essiac tea for four years, I embarked on a thorough colon cleanse and discovered that my colon was already clean from daily use of Essiac tea. Several well-known American herbalists believe that 80 to 95 percent of all illnesses are due to unclean colons. Turkey rhubarb is now being grown commercially in North America, and that may very well be due to the ever-increasing popularity of Essiac tea.
3) Burdock and sheep sorrel are not native to North America. It appears that both burdock and sheep sorrel were brought to this continent from Europe by early settlers who then passed on their knowledge of these two herbs to the local tribes. Since both burdock and sheep sorrel are somewhat invasive herbs, they eventually spread throughout North America. Unfortunately, they are often referred to as "weeds".
4) Slippery elm is the only Essiac herb native to North America.

In spite of the numerous, conflicting claims as to what the original Indian medicine man's formula was, no one has yet offered any verifiable evidence to settle that issue. Some claim it was a four-herb formula while others claim it was an eight-herb or six-herb formula. Many of these claims state that turkey rhubarb was one of the original herbs. Rene Caisse did experiment with a number of herbs and changed the formula through time. She finally settled on her four-herb formula. Since this four-herb formula was demonstrated by Rene Caisse and untold cancer patients to be an effective, health-giving remedy that has stood the test of time, the debate over what the original formula was may very well be a moot point.

The only person Rene Caisse trusted to help her make Essiac tea was her best friend, Mary McPherson. Mary had worked alongside Rene since the 1930s and knew the formula by heart. However, Mary had made a deathbed promise to Rene never to reveal the formula to anyone. Mary would have taken the Essiac formula to her grave, too, had it not been for Dr. Gary Glum. He purchased the formula for $120,000 from one of Rene's former patients. Dr. Glum could have kept the formula secret and become very wealthy selling bottles of Essiac. However, he unselfishly released the formula into the public domain in 1988. At first he offered the formula on a video tape that he advertised in his book, CALLING OF AN ANGEL, but the feds unlawfully seized the tapes before he could sell very many of them. He then gave out the formula and recipe free of charge to anyone who mailed him a request for the Essiac formula.

When Dr. Glum met Mary McPherson in Bracebridge, Ontario and told her what the Essiac formula was, she was more than a little surprised. According to Dr. Glum, Mary eventually revealed the formula in 1994 because it was no longer a secret, and she wanted to end the controversy over the Essiac formula before she died.

In "I Was Canada's Canada Nurse" Rene Caisse stated one reason why she wanted to keep the formula secret: "I wanted to establish my remedy, which I called ESSIAC or my name spelled backward, in actual practice and not in a laboratory only. I knew it had no bad side affects, so it could do no harm. I wanted to use it on patients in my own way. And when the time came, I wanted to share in the administration of my own discovery."

Another reason why Rene kept the Essiac formula secret was that she didn't trust people to make it properly and she thought that it would be altered. She was right. For example, in the 1980s, Canadian talk show host Elaine Alexander marketed her own altered version of the formula containing eight herbs, which she called "FLOR ESSENCE" [TM]. She subsequently died of cancer. Even today a common misconception still exists that Elaine Alexander's formula is Rene Caisse's authentic Essiac formula.

Every herbal formula has its own synergy and therefore creates a specific effect. Rene Caisse spent her life refining the formula with her hands-on research. No one else has done such extensive research on Essiac tea. Essiac works--Why change it by adding more herbs that may diminish its healing properties?

THE FORMULA

The following formula and recipe for Essiac (in italics) is a word-for-word transcription of the Essiac formula from the affidavit which Mary McPherson filed with the Town of Bracebridge. The formula below is also the one which Dr. Gary Glum released to the public in 1988 when he published CALLING OF AN ANGEL: ESSIAC, NATURE'S CURE FOR CANCER. Mary McPherson’s affidavit can be viewed at http://www.HealthFreedom.info.

Essiac

6 ½ cups of burdock root (cut) (upper left)
1 pound of sheep sorrel herb powdered (upper right)
1/4 pound of slippery elm bark powdered (lower left)
1 ounce of Turkish rhubarb root powdered (lower right)

Mix these ingredients thoroughly and store in glass jar in dark dry cupboard.
Take a measuring cup, use 1 ounce of herb mixture to 32 ounces of water depending on the amount you want to make.
I use 1 cup of mixture to 8 x 32 = 256 ounces of water. Boil hard for 10 minutes (covered) then turn off heat but leave sitting on warm plate over night (covered).
In the morning heat steaming hot and let settle a few minutes, then strain through fine strainer into hot sterilized bottles and sit to cool. Store in dark cool cupboard. Must be refrigerated when opened. When near the last when its thick pour in a large jar and sit in frig overnight then pour off all you [can] without sediment.
This recipe must be followed exactly as written.
I use a granite preserving kettle (10 – 12 qts), 8 ounce measuring cup, small funnel and fine strainer to fill bottles.

ADDITIONAL TIPS & INFORMATION

The preparation of Essiac is as important as the formula itself. Essiac is a decoction, not an infusion. An infusion is what people make when they put a tea bag in a cup of hot water. Generally speaking, an infusion tends to extract vitamins and volatile oils. A decoction is used to extract minerals, bitter components, etc. from hard materials such as roots, bark or seeds by boiling for a few minutes and then allowing the herbs to steep for several hours. Entrepreneurs often sell Essiac imitations in tincture form (herbs in alcohol) or in gelatin capsules; neither form is Essiac because Essiac is a tea and, more specifically, a decoction that must be made in a certain way in order to be effective.

People often substitute stainless steel for an enameled pot and lid. The main concern is not to use an aluminum pot. Also, be sure not to use chlorinated water. The formula above can be reduced to 1/2 cup of herb mix to one gallon of water. [Optional: Dr. Glum suggests adding 2 or 3 cups of extra water to replace water lost through evaporation during boiling. Also, the dry herbs will absorb water as well.] After boiling for ten minutes, let the tea steep about 12 hours. Then heat up tea to steaming, but not boiling. (Do not boil twice.) The remaining pulp can be used for healing poultices.

Don't use cheese cloth to strain Essiac. Likewise, do not use a kitchen sieve that has a very fine mesh as this may filter out the slippery elm. Slippery elm gives the tea a slight viscous [syrup-like] consistency when poured. If you do not notice this consistency after refrigerating your tea, you may be using a sieve that is too fine. Don't worry about herb particles in your Essiac; they will settle to the bottom of the jars. Some people drink the Essiac dregs, others don't. Some people give the Essiac dregs to their pets or farm animals. Many people have reported the same or similar health benefits with their pets that humans are reporting.

I have found from experience that it is best to refrigerate the Essiac tea as soon as it has cooled. Discard the tea if mold appears on the surface or if the tea does not taste right.

For preventive purposes, people often take about 2 oz. (1/4 cup) per day once or twice a day diluted with about 1/2 cup hot water. Herbalists recommend increasing daily water intake due to diuretic and detoxifying action; it takes lots of water to detoxify. People who are using Essiac to treat an illness or to eliminate toxins, sometimes take Essiac three or four times a day, depending on the situation. [Note: Rene Caisse recommended one ounce of Essiac, once or twice each day, but it is not certain how concentrated she was making the tea when she made that recommendation. She was using Essiac primarily to treat cancer. Today many people use Essiac to detoxify their bodies as well. We are exposed to a great deal more toxins in our environment and food today than when Rene operated her clinic in the 30s & 40s, so perhaps the increase in today's dosages may be well justified.] Essiac has a well-earned reputation for being non-toxic and people often take 2 ounces (1/4 cup) of Essiac taken three times each day. Do not eat or drink anything (except water) one hour before to one hour after taking Essiac. Rene Caisse recommended that Essiac tea be taken at bedtime, but it can be taken any time of day. Some people don't like to take any liquids before bedtime because it makes them have to urinate during the night, thus interrupting a good night's sleep.

Make sure that the sheep sorrel you use is the small, wild variety of sheep sorrel and not a substitute like yellow dock or garden (French) sorrel. According to letters written by Rene Caisse to Dr. Chester Stock of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center it is necessary to include sheep sorrel roots in the formula. Burdock root is harvested in the fall of the first year. Slippery elm bark is wildcrafted and organically grown in North America and is easy to buy. Turkey Rhubarb is the only herb in Essiac that cannot be wildcrafted in North America. The Chinese use six year old turkey rhubarb roots for maximum potency. However, imported turkey rhubarb root could be fumigated or irradiated. Organically grown turkey rhubarb is readily available in the US. For more information and documentation about Essiac tea visit http://www.healthfreedom.info.

*Quotes are from A MODERN HERBAL, first published by Jonathan Cape, 1931

So many stories II

The Green man
Out in the woods to party, eat mushrooms. It starts out very safe, very fun, playful, joyful, wonderful, non-scary. As they are in the cabin, then there starts to be strange sounds, they find an alien-like creature dead in the river (that one photo of the e.t. like creature with the tongue hanging out of his mouth.
They are in the cabin and then one guy pulls back the blinds quickly and that face is up next to the glass, green, bizarre, unflinching, unmoving. The girls scream. They all freak out. Finally someone pulls the blinds back over his face sot hey don’t have to see. He’s still there after a number of minutes. One in their party is not scared. He insist that the person is not evil. “if he wanted to do something, he’d do it.”
He goes out, and the blinds are open, and the creature goes towards where he goes out, you can hear him talking to him, and then they’re screaming for him not to go, not to do it. But he does and then he walks off with the guy.

They don’t see him.

The next night, one guy hears something so he reaches over to the light switch, and he turns on the light and that face is sitting directly under the light looking at him. He runs to the other side of the bed, and he stands. Then he looks down under the bed to see the man, and he sees another one under the bed. He goes to open the door and there’s one at the door. They just stand there.

Slowly they acclimate.

a study in fear, the unknown, a new experience, understanding, compassion, the ability to overcome ones fears and seize opportunity. almost as if they get to a point that they realize what a special moment this is, and they have the ability to look at it in a historical sense, in that once the incident "ends" if ever, they will toss it about for ages, so it empowers them to ask and to know the answers to all the questions they would like to know in the future to make sense of it. as if they realize that if they cower in fear, they'll be tortured. they must make a positive sense of this and make it something that is shared to be able to integrate it into their lives.


The Game

Black team vs. White team, basketball.
One of the most amazing cheerleaders, fans, colors, teams.
Introductions, songs cheers, beautiful cheerleaders, great rivalry, parents and alumni.
Electricity in the air. Hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, candy bars, etc, school fundraisers, pta mother types.

The white team, “faking it” by simon and garfunkle is their introduction song/cheer. The drumming at the beginning of the song and end of the song are the black teams songs. Missy elliot with slick rick.

The game is incredible. Kids making incredible shots, incredible plays, impossible jumpers, back and forth, steals, fouls, injuries, funny stuff, arguments, comraderie, dunks, blocks, twisting/turning layups, overtime, double-overtime. Last second shots, back and forth, fearlessness from both sides, great halftime show, loose balls, huddles, speeches, layup drills, bad calls, reversals, three pointers, news reporters, etc. corny nerdy kids, bands, etc, etc, etc. the fundraiser bake sale. popcorn. little brothers and sisters of the kids. parents conversing. people in the community know one another and their kids, grandparents have played other grandparents. the gym is in the private christian school, connected to a church. prayer before the game, a group prayer after.

The two sides combine for a halftime show involving both teams. Bitter rivals, that love each other and respect one another. Immaculate beautiful uniforms, cheerleaders. A black guy on one team is dating a white cheerleader. The white hunk star on the other team is dating a black cheerleader.

a study in difference, in the strength of two completely different, yet completely similar communities, that are supportive, cohesive, and non-hating. that love competition and the highest ideals of sportsmanship, fan behavior, performance, technical skills, parenting, coaching, excitement and the feeling that the world stops and that everyone in that gym is sharing something special.

Little Black House on the Mountain Plain

Authentic story of a black family in slavery. They purchase their freedom, takes years. They go on their own but end up in the west in Colorado. They pick a great place to make a cabin, a great field. However, they do not know that the place they picked, is on high elevation and when the winter comes, it’s hard, long, the snow is deep and they end up losing their baby, a 5 year old and another kid loses feet to frostbite. The father almost dies trying to get a deer to eat. He almost succumbs to hypothermia, but makes it back. After falling in a creek.
This will require research into slavery, purchase of freedom, stories of wild west survival. (Indians, buffalo, snow in, frostbite, hypothermia, losing kids in winter, etc, etc, etc.
In the end, they make it through the winter. A daughter, 14 falls in love with a boy. The father insists that she get married. “she aint gonna want nobody else if she wants your boy, and if he keeps hanging out with her, then he’s going to spoil her." Either rhe marries her, or he stays away. not much dialogue, mostly beautiul scenes, ala tak fujimoto. authenticism in everythign that is shown, from clothes, slavery, the wild, and the constant death that used to befall such people. not political, a study in conditions, personalities, realities and human survival.

Significant events in Hernan Cortez conquering of the Aztecs all aspects animated, except the emporer, cortez, malinche, narvaez and the boy-king of spain
• Many Spanish went to the new world in order to make a fortune and a name for themselves and then return to spain in great wealth
• The king of spain was the king of germany and france also. He had a condition which caused his mouth to appear open all the time. He was very young and traveled on the road from place to place administering and lording over issues/seeing patrons constantly
• The spain had just gotten from underneath the yoke of a 300 year Moorish conquering which left the country fractionated.
• An earlier expedition to the new world ended in disaster with the entire crew being massacred. They were essentially slaughtered and ambushed.
• From the first Spanish ship seen on the coast of mexico, the king of tenotchtitlan had heard of them within a day or so by runners.
• The Aztecs and the Spanish, (once under control of cortez) literally saw their men as extensions of themselves and (not as obvious) were also extensions of their personalities
• The Spanish never would have been successful if not for the alliances they built with the tlaxcalans and other native tribes who themselves were straining under the yoke of Aztec oppression and tribute, including those who would be sacrificed
• The Aztecs, having lorded in relative peace over their people, would stage mock battles, which rarely if ever ended in anyone beign seriously hurt or killed. Their strategy in battle was to capture and not to kill.
• Cannibalism was a long held practice. If someone were a great warrior, they would be rewarded with the thighs, and on down to various body parts to other warriors depending on the valiance of their efforts.
• The rich traditions and cultures of the Aztecs were lost. Featherworkers, scribes, their histories burned, treasures looted and melted down.
• Cortez was almost captured at least a dozen times. Only saved due to the Aztecs trying to capture rather than to kill him.
• The final siege of tenotchtitlan was a bloody battle fought daily. The Aztecs would break the causeway to sow the Spanish advance, and then the Spanish would have to come back the next day to fill in the causeway to fight again.
• At the time the Spanish captured the king, they could have easily have been defeated they were vastly outnumbered, but they captured the king, who was eventually killed. He had a very fatalistic view of the Spanish advance and was in deathly fear from the moment he had heard of the ship being off shore.
• Cortez had to leave tenotchntitlan to fight Narvaez. The man who selected cortez to lead the expedition, had changed his mind before cortez had even left, when he had seen the size of his force, and the amount of provisions he was securing. The lord did not want or trust cortez, so that’s why he sent Narvaez, who was captured and had an eye plucked out.
• From the outset of cortez seeing and seizing treasure from the Aztecs, he sent treasure back to spain and to his father so that he could have the funds to bribe and influence his way with the king and his emissaries to be named a potential lord of the Aztec lands (mexico).
• Almost all of this is known due to the many inquiries, personal narratives and interviews and investigations of the riches in the Americas and accusations that the money was stolen/misappropriated. The Florentine codez.
• The entire expedition was a continue unceasing bloodbath.
• The Spanish had interpreters. They first landed and captured a couple of natives and keeping them for a year, taught them Spanish. The Spanish had wives who had babies by them.
• The final siege of tenotchtitlan required boats be built to mount a naval battle.
• Many of the farms of the Aztecs were floating on flotillas which were docked, and food and plants were grown here.
• The gardens of tenotchtitland had nets where thousands of birds and plnts/flowers grew in private gardens.
• Cortez was plucked from relative obscurity. If it were not for cortez, it is doubtful that the Spanish would have been able to moutn such a successful attack for at least a large number of years. His cleverness, ruthlessness and cunning were unparalleled. In fact the model for pizzarro.

the story of the amazing personalities of cortez and the emperor. the straining yoke of aztec rule, the greed and manipulation of cortez, the relationships, how they perceive one another. like, when cortez comes into tenotchtitlan, they look as if alien creatures to the natives that have never seen armor, horses or white men, or beards or swords, etc. everyone but a few are animated, because they were all pawns but a few in a much larger story, controled by a large extent by the main characters. a little about the moorish occupation as a backdrop, and the history of europe up to that point, and the king of spain who was also the king of other areas.

I've been out to the woods a few times to Malissa's place. It's a real nice place. At first i didn't like it. Being from Seattle, and the lushness and beauty of old fragrant pine and fir trees, with undergrowth of deep, ankle deep composting needles and moss, mushrooms, slugs, ferns, etc. It was hard to be in the California back country. Some of the views are pretty, but compared to the northwest, they aren't beautiful.

Slowly, i've gotten used to scrubby, mid-california fauna. There just isn't the vegetative fecundity. Anyway, it was a great idea to go out to the woods for a weekend and take some mushrooms with some really good friends and feel free to go on walks while we're peaking. to converse, to be left alone or just to sit on the back deck and look at the pines swaying, all the way down the hill.

We got there around 3pm after getting up early to drive. it was even before the sunrise. Of course we had to stop for breakfast. waffles, pancakes, tarts, eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, homefries, bagels, lox, juice, coffee, omlettes, and we didn't really eat that much, but we just had to order it in the euphoria of american over-doneness.

The cabin was a welcome sight. the sun was still high in the sky. we had plenty of time to eat our mushrooms, peak, come down, and mellow before even twilight had set in. The amazing thing, was that the angle of the sun hanging over the pines was reflected on the ocean and made it look like billions of shimmering shards of glass, as if the ocean had hundreds of disco balls under the surface. and this was before we had even had our mushrooms.

So we got our shit and were bringing it into the house. I was finishing up a conversation with my good buddy as we walked in.

Out in the woods to party, eat mushrooms. It starts out very safe, very fun, playful, joyful, wonderful, non-scary. As they are in the cabin, then there starts to be strange sounds, they find an alien-like creature dead in the river (that one photo of the e.t. like creature with the tongue hanging out of his mouth.
They are in the cabin and then one guy pulls back the blinds quickly and that face is up next to the glass, green, bizarre, unflinching, unmoving. The girls scream. They all freak out. Finally someone pulls the blinds back over his face sot hey don’t have to see. He’s still there after a number of minutes. One in their party is not scared. He insist that the person is not evil. “if he wanted to do something, he’d do it.”
He goes out, and the blinds are open, and the creature goes towards where he goes out, you can hear him talking to him, and then they’re screaming for him not to go, not to do it. But he does and then he walks off with the guy.

They don’t see him.

The next night, one guy hears something so he reaches over to the light switch, and he turns on the light and that face is sitting directly under the light looking at him. He runs to the other side of the bed, and he stands. Then he looks down under the bed to see the man, and he sees another one under the bed. He goes to open the door and there’s one at the door. They just stand there.

Slowly they acclimate.


The Game

Black team vs. White team, basketball.
One of the most amazing cheerleaders, fans, colors, teams.
Introductions, songs cheers, beautiful cheerleaders, great rivalry, parents and alumni.
Electricity in the air. Hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, candy bars, etc, school fundraisers, pta mother types.

The white team, “faking it” by simon and garfunkle is their introduction song/cheer. The drumming at the beginning of the song and end of the song are the black teams songs. Missy elliot with slick rick.

The game is incredible. Kids making incredible shots, incredible plays, impossible jumpers, back and forth, steals, fouls, injuries, funny stuff, arguments, comraderie, dunks, blocks, twisting/turning layups, overtime, double-overtime. Last second shots, back and forth, fearlessness from both sides, great halftime show, loose balls, huddles, speeches, layup drills, bad calls, reversals, three pointers

mount si

my god, i just saw "meatballs" with bill murray. what a great flick.
not as good as ridgemont or porky's, but if you like bill murray... jeez, what a talent. i used to love when him and gilda radner were "Tad" and whats-her-name on SNL, so funny and touching at the same time.

photos from lake merritt yesterday morning

have you climbed mount si yet? a beautiful view of snoqualmie falls, and even seattle from the top. cougar mountain is cool too. such a great journey... and me and bishop ramrod climbed it once and went all the way up to the crows nest (where the real view is). he was a little ahead of me, and when i got to the top, i didn't see him. i was like, "whaaa..??" cause there's nowhere else to go!, i looked around and then i saw on the left side around the narrow edge of the mountain, about 20 yards, was daren, climbing/clinging to the side of the mountain along a rocky, steep trail, almost verticle, about 3 inches wide and with about a 400 foot drop off..
i was trying to be calm, and so i said "daren, what are you doing?" he said, "i'm following the trail" i said, "there is no trail." he plastered to the cliff face at this time, moving about 5 inches at a time, and he stopped, looked around and was like. "oh" then i was like, "can you make it back?" he was trying to move his body slightly to start heading back, but was in such a tight spot, he couldn't do it.
i couldn't watch. i told him. "i'm not going to watch, cause i want you to be able to do what you have to do without worrying about me." but really, i didn't see how the fuck he could make it back. at that point the impracticality of me running back down, getting help, help coming back up and rescuing him in like 5 hours, was wholly implausible. he was either going to die, or make it, and i didn't see how he was going to make it.
so, i'm sitting there, stressed beyond belief, and then about 5 minutes later, daren comes down from the sheer cliff face to the right. "how the fu** did he get up there?" he said he couldn't go left or right, but saw what looked like sturdy roots above. he grabbed them, started pulling himself up, and when all his weight was on the root, it started to pull out of the ground and he felt himself falling backward...
at this point, he says he essentially blacked out, and the next thing he knew, he was up on the ridge looking down. i swear to god, i've questioned him dozens of times and that's all he remembers.

so, on the way down, we were both in shock, because we knew that he had died that day, but somehow lived. we hardly talked, not wanting to break the spell, or something..

when we talk about it, i say, "remember the day you died on mount si?"

i didnt intend to tell you this story, but mount si reminded me. it's a great hike, only takes about 2 1/2 hours or so. nothing too strenuous, but overall, it'll kick your butt a bit.

-D

also, the man with the green face that looks in the window

animated cortez conquest of the incas/aztec mezsheeka's

--
"He taught me how to walk my own way,
and every joy that he had, he gave."

Reading Between the Lines: Kant, Falling Fertility, Schools, & (by proxy) The Societal/Economic Costs of Incarceration.

Immanuel Kant's "What is the Enlightenment?"

...A greater degree of civil freedom seems advantageous to a people's spiritual freedom; yet the former established impassable boundaries for the latter; conversely, a lesser degree of civil freedom provides enough room for all fully to expand their abilities. Thus, once nature has removed the hard shell from this kernel for which she has most fondly cared, namely, the inclination to and vocation for free thinking, the kernel gradually reacts on a people's mentality (whereby they become increasingly able to act freely), and it finally even influences the principles of government, which finds that it can profit by treating men, who are now more than machines, in accord with their dignity.
-Immanuel Kant

Synthesis by Le Fils de Fanon
such is the make up of the United States, the world's most highly perfected mix of freedoms and navicable oppressions which is ruther mitigated by the opportunities provided to the underclass (education, healthcare, etc) to join the middle and upper classes. the magic ticket, or the "lotto". The free thought promoted by Kant in his analysis of "what is the enlightenment" predicts the future stability as well as the primary reason for the economic development of the United States. The desire to invests in ones education is in part fueled by the virtues of liberal arts and sociological "enlightenment", yet, the greater impetus is the ability to freely ply ones trade in the economic sphere and achieve free class movement and/or engage in the pursuit of happiness with all attendant free speech and civil rights.

falling fertility rates are a great proof of the success of this Kantian idea in that as a people become more educated and their awareness of the investment needed for their children, they work longer, have less children, delay childbirth during key, high economic earnings times, the freedoms of females, enlarges this largesse and mentality, and the entirety of society, in both freedom of thought and environmental impact is spared the evils of uneducation, high population, and the creation of a "true" permanent underclass.

Falling Fertility Rates

All told, global fertility rates are half what they were in the early 1970s. The primary reason appears to be the rapid movement of people from farms to cities (nearly half the world's population today lives in urban areas), and the increasing social and economic opportunities available to women. Because of the large numbers of women still in childbearing age, world population will continue to grow for several decades, even as the average woman has fewer and fewer children. Yet within the lifetime of today's young adults, most demographers now believe, world population could well be falling.
Ben J. Wattenburg & Ivan R. Dee

Schools vs. Troops in Pakistan

For roughly the same cost as stationing 40,000 troops in Afghanistan for one year, we could educate the great majority of the 75 million children worldwide who, according to Unicef, are not getting even a primary education.... Such a vast global education campaign would reduce poverty, cut birth rates, improve America’s image in the world, promote stability and chip away at extremism. Education isn’t a panacea... but all in all, the evidence suggests that education can help foster a virtuous cycle that promotes stability and moderation.
-Nicholas D. Kristof

The end of October

October must end.
it may be argued that it never began.

Many philosophers have contemplated the true nature of reality, or even if there is a true nature, or a reality or any contemplation "upon it".
i have a rather simplistic view myself.
awareness is a potentiality, created by the consciousness necessitated by the needs of life.
and so, this awareness, gives rise to the awareness that there is a relationship between what happens, what is experienced and the various meanings that subsequently arise.
contemplation upon the temporal nature of ones existence, creation and meaning, are then unavoidable.
what is true, where it starts, where it ends, are meaningless contemplations, because they all negate the ongoing truth, outside of the physical form, of the existence of only arbitrary beginnings and quite literally, arbitrary endings.

i heard Dr. earth on television today, saying that all humans were, living, breathing earth. because dirt, is plants, is humans. we are just created out of dirt. we are just a form of dirt.

so it must be the case that our consciousness arises from dirt

which is a great idea, yet, just an idea.
the larger point being, that the philosophical contemplation of anything, is only as good, as the ability to produce insight into and upon our lives.

that insight, to be meaningful, must impact our actions and result in a fuller loving understanding and awareness of the only thing that matters in our lives.

Final Reflections on Joseph Stalin

The one thing that's hard to understand in reading the new biography of Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore, is what exactly Marxism, Leninism and Bolshevism has to do with Joseph Stalin, and what his legacy is.

Marxism, was nothing more than an insight. it was not a belief. It was not a moral, or ethical base, or even truly a goal. Not a goal of Lenin, and not a goal of Stalin. Almost immediately after seizing power, [much along the vein of the Cuban revolution, with a small cadre of true believers, vastly outnumbered, yet unopposed due to corruption and disorganization of those in power] they began to turn on the people.

Supposedly, their agenda was the liberation of the proletariat. Yet, the rub in all philosophical ideas, is the tension and inherent conflict between those who truly believe, [either in the name of the people, or not] and their belief that the very people that they are fighting to liberate and lead, must be controlled, oppressed and at times liquidated or robbed of their basic human rights, in order to achieve their "true" liberation. The Marxist/Leninist in this respect were true political "missionaries" exhibiting all of the most ruthless and detrimental inhumane aspects of missionaries to the darker continents and inhabited areas of savages. Saving them from themselves through a purging of their ideas, culture, way of life and often, oppression and abuse of their very bodies as they are literally scourged and cleansed in order that future generation may make benefit of their newfound truth.

Stalin grew up in a violent household with an alcoholic cobbler father and a very cunning and scheming mother. both were sadistically brutal to the young Stalin. Stalin also suffered from being sickly, and many horrific injuries and traumas, such that he walked with a permanent limp and had a lame arm too weak to hold onto a female dance partner.

Stalin's true talent, and gift, was a voracious appetite for knowledge, especially subversive knowledge, and a nature fire, passion and acumen for evaluating others and using all possible personality tools to effect his will and gain support for his agenda.

Stalin's practical education was composed of the seminary, where he not only received an excellent education, but also received a second excellent education in subversive activities, such as forming outlawed political and literature discussion groups, avoiding and ducking trouble, building consensus and a fervent base of supporters, while also devising ways of manipulating his environment to conjure up money, travel, and experiences to further his cause.

When he felt he had learned enough, he was expelled, with his grace. From here he went on to organizing labor, which in Baku, an oil rich area of the Russian domain, consisted of extortion, kidnapping, assassinations, bank robberies, blackmail, beatings, bombings and terror. Stalin was the leader and main figure in the black underworld of Baku.

Constantly under the surveillance of the Tsarist police and secret police, Stalin formed a link with Lenin. From my interpretation of events, their bond was not so much philosophical, rather, they both rose to strong positions within the "party" and anyone who experiences success in something, is apt to stick with it. As far as their articulation of party philosophy, it was not from the heart, it was purely from the head, and their interest was in devising a idea that would achieve two ends. 1. be philosophically sound, 2. ensure that they were in power, as the ones to dictate policy.

meanwhile, Stalin had been sent into exile on several occasions, seduced many under aged girls, had several children out of wedlock, escaped exile several times, in drag as a ruse at several junctures, meanwhile travelling across Europe to meet other Bolsheviks, and Lenin, learning several languages, writing prolifically, and staging a major, internationally known bank robbery that netted an equivalent of $3.5 million for Lenin's coffers.

The belief of the Bolsheviks, which numbered perhaps 2,500 at the time of the revolution, and had a core leadership of only 15-20 individuals, was that the revolution was inevitable, as articulated by their theorist/saint, Karl Marx. So that when the conditions were ripe for revolution, they, being prepared and ready with their plan, were able to take control of a vast empire, virtually unopposed, disorganized and almost in a comedic way.

But if the way they gained power was comedic, almost immediately after seizing power, it became bloodthirsty.
Stalin lay in wait, through Lenin's term, opposing him strongly at some points, and counteracting his mandates boldly at other times.

when Lenin died, Stalin consolidated his power against Trotsky. once he had slowly built enough power to seize control of the party outright, the terror began. having struggled against enemies for so long, his mind became interminably obsessed with paranoia and a fear of enemies. This is where the childhood beatings, the persecution of the seminary, the exiles, the gangsterism, the experiences of being covert, under constant surveillance and horrific injuries and crimes all culminated in the terror, where an estimated 25-40,000,000 Russian citizens were starved to death, shot, worked to death in the gulag, or died in exile.

Stalinism, Bolshevism, Leninism, Marxism, became wholly superfluous, once the ends were achieved, because the strength in the ideologies, was in their ability to represent the priorities of their adherents, and in the power of their propaganda.

It made no matter to Lenin (who had a brother executed for an assassination attempt of a Russian czar), that the conditions for the proletariat revolution were not present in Russian. Marx himself "corrected" Marxist/Russian adherents in letting them know that the proletariat revolution could never arise in a peasant state with communal farms. Russia would first have to pass into an age of private ownership, and then industrialization for a working class to emerge and become exploited enough to serve as a basis for the Marxist revolution.

other problems with Marxism in Russia, was the 5-year plan started by Stalin, became a 1-year plan as Stalin forced collectivism/socialism upon the peasants and their lords, all in the service to the industrialization predicted by Marx. The peasants rebelled, killing half of their field animals and not planting crops. Stalin's response was to take every bit of grain from the peasants, and imposing the death penalty for the theft of even a cup of grain. This caused the mass starvation in the Ukraine. the only known or recorded wide spread man made "famine" in the history of man.

all of this done, in service to Marx's proletarian revolution and proletariat freedom from capitalist exploitation.

if war is peace, then it can certainly be seen that any political ideology can be used to justify any political action or oppressive action, as long as the adherents, believe that the deviation, however great, is in service to the ultimate ends.

Richard Feynman: The Greatest Mind Since Einstein (DVD)

An instructor at cal tech for thirty years, Nobel prize laureate for physics, in charge of the team that performed the complex calculations needed for the Manhattan project in Los Alamos. He lead this team at a time before computers, when men with pencils computed the complex mathematics by hand and by formulas. Feynman’s ability to lead this team, was nothing short of fantastic by all accounts.

He said that his love of science was instilled in him by his father, a salesman who wanted to be a scientist. He taught his son to notice things. Feynman states, “he knew the difference between knowing something and just knowing the name for something. He talked about an example of when he was a young boy an dhe had a ball in the back of his wagon. When he started, the ball rolled to the back. When he stopped, the ball rolled to the front. His father said, “no one knows why this is. It’s called inertia, and things at rest, tend to want to stay at rest. Things in motion tend to want to stay in motion, until and unless some force acts upon it. That’s the difference between knowing the name of something and the reason why it exist/true understanding.

In July of 1945, while still working on his PhD, he went to work with Dr. Oppenheimer on the Manhattan project. Dr. Feynman speaks of the moral question. He says he didn’t remember the reason why they were doing what they were doing. Germany was the enemy and they were also working on the problem, so the race was to do it first, and the fate of the world rested on their shoulders. Ocne Germany was defeated. Feynman faults himself for not once again re-evaluating his reasons for working on the project. Feynman talks about the wild celebrations that went on after the bomb was drooped on Hiroshima. He talks of champagne being popped, people getting drunk, yelling, celebrating, blissful… and the death and destruction and suffering in japan.

While working on the Manhattan project, he fell in love with and married a beautiful woman. A woman who was expected to die of tuberculosis. Her name was Arline Feynman. He realized that the only way he could care for her and also be with her, is if he married her. INH had been invented and she had taken the medication for a few months, but it was too late. She died.

Feynman formed a great relationship with an artist, and he decided that he would teach him physics if the artist taught him art. They did this on Sundays and they continued it for a number of years until Feynman become a very good artist. His artist friend would say that he could look at a flower and enjoy it’s beauty, but that a scientist would break that all down and not be able to enjoy the simple beauty. Feynman disagreed. He said that his knowledge of the mystery of cell biology, what was happening on the cell level, the biological level, the microscopic level, in addition to the colors, the sweetness of the smell,t he nectar and pollen, and the seeming awareness of the plant of itself and it’s surroundings added to the mystery, rather then subtracting from it.

Feynman won his Nobel prize for his work in physics and electrodynamics and electromagnetic physics. He shared the prize with two other scientist that also discovered the process of taking into account the phenomenon. Feynman also devised a way to diagram the processes that ignored the wave part of particles all together and focused on the particle behavior. It was described as a “very powerful” method. Another scientist speaking on the subject stated, “it never occurred to us to make a drawing and to combine the protons an electrons int his way.”

Feynman did not like honors. Saying, “I don’t like honors, I appreciate them, but I don’t like them. the prize is the discovery, the knowledge, the accomplishment. These are the real things. Honors are epaulets and uniforms. This bothers me.” Feynman talks about receiving an academic honor in school and then being awarded membership in a society. He said the major work of the society was in deciding who should be let into the society. He said he resigned from the national academy of science for this very same reason. “the whole thing was rotten”

Another friend agrees that Feynman did not like honrs per se, but also, in a way he did like them, because it gave him the “credentials to be quirky”. Feynman also learned to become an accomplished bongo player.

He met a guy flying kites in baja California. Feynman had to go to Lucienne Switzerland and the kite flying friend also had business so they went together. When they got there, Feynman talked to a scientist about a large two story experiment that they had going on. It was tons of people, and knobs and levels. When the other scientist was explaining the experiment, he remembered that the theory they were testing was one of Feynman’s theories, so he said, “this is to test one of your theories.” Feynman said, “how much did it cost?” the man said, “$37 million” Feynman said, “what? Don’t you trust me?”

Feynman loved imagination, but not so much the idea of “creativity” he called what he did “imagination in a straight jacket” meaning, that given all of the laws, and understanding of how the world worked, what is possible? It has to agree with what we already know, or what can we imagine that we already know?”

In 1978 Feynman began a 10 year battle with cancer. He had 4 cancer operations, not knowing if he would survive the first one. He had a strange form of cancer that never metastasized, but began in his kidney and grew around in tentacles around it, but never metastasizing. Shortly before his first surgery, someone had found an error in a paper that he had written with another scientist. Feynman weak, sick and close to death took on the problem a few days before his first surgery, plunged completely absorbed intot he problem. The other scientist could not do the calculations that Feynman could , so he could only watch. After 6 hours they gave up, but all the shile, they knew that the error was trivial, and not important. They finally decided to call it quits. Two hours later, Feynman called the other scientist to say that he had found the error. He was exhilarated, and walking on air.

Perhaps Feynman was best known for his work on the investigation of the space shuttle challenger tragedy. His work on the committee gave it instant credibility. he searched for the answer, looking in all the regular places, asking all of the questions that should be asked. He was able to see that the problem was simple and basic. So basic that he had to ask the question of how the tragedy was allowed to happen. The big wigs at NASA did not want anyone to think the space shuttle wasn't capable of hundreds of missions. the engineers knew it wasn't. The problems were ignored and the astronauts died as a result. when Feynman demanded that the evidence be included, those in power argued that it would be put in the appendix. when they said that they wanted a watered down version of what had been found, Feynman threatened to not sign his name to the report. they backed down, and Feynman was once again thrust into the public spotlight two years before his death.

In facing his death, he had a good ten years to contemplate it from when he was first diagnosed with Cancer. He figured that although he would die, he had shared so much of himself with so many individuals, that he would not really, ever truly die.

Iosef Dugashvili - Stalin, On A Pure Marxist Vision

Stalin on Marxism from Simon Sebag Montefiore's 'Young Stalin' :

Stalin's Marxism meant that the revolutionary proletariat alone is destined by history to liberate mankind and bring the world happiness. But humanity would undergo great trial and suffering and change before it would achieve scientifically proven Marxism. The heart of this providential progress was the class struggle. Marxism is the masses who's liberation is the catalyst for the freedom of the individual. This creed was, says Stalin, not only a theory of Socialism, it's an entire world view, a philosophical system like a scientifically proven religion. (Stalin) believed like Trotsky that the lasting thing is gained through combat. Blood, death, conflict were essential. Many storms, many torrents of blood, in Stalin's own words, would mark the struggle to end oppression.

Also of importance, Stalin believed in a mix between Marxism and Georgian nationalism. It was hard for him to believe in true international Marxism because the oppression and repression of Georgian's made them also dream of independence.

for political idealist, there is no room for dissent
even among their idealist-mates, they continually debate the particulars of minor points.
such bickering is a bad sign for the people at large.
for the "ignorant masses" know not that which will be demanded of them idealogically.

Frantz Fanon discusses at length the process by which those who are the "powerfully oppressed" become the revolutionary oppressor to those whom they had previously sworn to liberate.

Once idealogically strict revolutionaries claim power they set about the perpetual work of installing the first phase of their infrastructure, which is the elimination of negative human capital.

Dissenting voices can not be tolerated.

The dream that a society could be "cleansed" in this manner and be free, is in truth a subterfuge to justify inhumane acts upon fellow beings. Despots, who are unrestrained in their zeal to choose idealogies over human needs have an unfair advantage in the debate halls when the finer points of the necessitous work of the revolution is discussed.


The thing these ideaologies never achieve is the actual thing they are set up to achieve -liberation, peace, utopian exchanges, freedom, equality, etc. what they do achieve, what they are very good at creating is murder, paranoia, terror, assassination, oppression, repression, hardship, strife, hopelessness, fear...
The cleansing is perpetual.
The violence, endless.
The process of clearing the path for the coming Utopia becomes the means and the ends.
The process is above all criticism because it is a process, and can not be "judged" until finalized, and it will never be finalized.
The novel 1984 offers the best critique of the look and feel of a society caught within a perpetual paranoid cleansing.

There can be no vision, that can be imposed upon the heart of humanity.
Societies must move, but not necessarily forward.
At times moving towards or in response to some guiding light.
And at other times plunging headlong into the abyss.

Young Stalin has won the Costa Biography Prize (UK), the LA Times Book Prize in Biography (US), Le Grand Prix de Biographie Politicale (France) and the Kreisky Prize for Political LIterature (Austria).

So Many Stories

I used to write all the time.
So many stories would come to me, and it seemed a shame to not give them life.
Now, they still seize upon me and I follow them, and then a few moments, I snap out of it, no longer feeling the obsession to continue writing them.
But today, there were two stories that were particularly strong.
So, Here they are:

1. A boy coming of age, lives in a normal, pleasant community. Mother and father. nothing too corny, strict, repressive, outlandish or indulgent. not boring, not overly exciting. The one thing that could be said of this family, (mother, father and son) is that the boys is distant from his father, who is not all that interesting, involved with work, but doesn't really have much to add, but is kind and a good father and obviously loves his wife and son. One day, through the sloppiness of the son, the mother finds a marijuana joint in his pocket. it's half smoked. she also finds some weird little drawings that the son has drawn. she tells the father. after dinner a night of so later, the father says he would like to talk to the son. the mother leaves the table, the father and son talk. the father doesn't mention the joint. the father then takes the kid down to the basement. the son doesn't think there is anything of interest down there. the father unlocks a room, and it's a beautiful workspace with drafting board and all kinds of very imaginative drawings. a lot of native American motifs. the father was an artist. he has many psychedelic experiences. he shows his sons his drawings. he tells his son that he can come down and use this room whenever he would like and use his materials. over the next several weeks and months, the son comes to find out that the Father was raised by his native American grandmother and grandfather before being placed in foster care when one and then the other died. he was adopted by a white family. he lost touch with his culture. it hurt too much, so he forgot it. until he got older, ran away at 15 and went back to the res. he found a spirit man. he did sweat lodges, learned the history of his people at the pine ridge res. he then saw his friends, one by one, fall to the wayside due to drink, dv and other evils. he went to AA, renounced. went to church, met his wife. started as a graphic artist, went to school, rose to the level of art director, and then supervisor, no longer doing art. the son, learns much from the father, and much of what he has thought and felt has come true to his vision. the end.

the idea for this came from that key time in life when you are in your adolescence and the world begins to open up to you and you are exploring, experimenting and seeing things from many different angles. in a sense, you can come to know anyone at any time. but in adolescesnce, you challenge your parents and in this story, the key is, that the boys is ready to hear and to know something very intimate and special about his father.. .that changes his complete conception of himself, his father, his mother and the world in which they live.

2. this story sets up with a couple driving out in the country for a weekend to just do something different. they come to a little bullshit festival with a carnival type atomsphere. they stop. they walk around and do a few basic things, and then they see a ride that says, "time stops" and the carny running the ride says that inside the ride, time stops, so you can take your time and spend as much time as you want, but not have to worry that you will miss anything, that it will get late, that they have something else they have to do, or anything.. they can spend as much time in there as they want, but once they come out, they can't go back in. the couple observes people coming in and then coming out, they only spend a few seconds in, or a minute or two. when they come out, they ask them, 'what's it like" but the people only smile and walk by, sometimes laughing. they go inside and it's true. time stops. there is a shaman inside of sorts. he can offer any wish. and he helps them as a guide to do whatever they want for the time they are insdie. the expanse is wide, there are fields... and they are able to indulge without feelig that they are missing anything, are missed, anyone is worried, obligations, etc. they stay for years, and then come out, and as part of the deal, have agreed to take a 7 day vow of silence as part of their reintegration.

the idea for this came from an idea i had for a "time stop" mediation. a lot of the reason we don't meditate or do our regular practices, is becasue we don't have time.. so what if we had time? it really is silly, because if we are moving and living, then time is passing... but somehow, "time stopping" eliminates a lot of the problem in centering, focusing, listening, being patient and being present...

Woman Faces 50 Years in Forced Labor of Undocumented Worker.

The following article came out today in the S.F. Chronicle.
Coming on the heels of having just finished William T. Weld's 'American Slavery as it is', It's especially relevant to look at the form of present day virtual slavery'. The horrors of slavery have little diminished in the world. It has instead adapted itself cunningly to the culture of today's world.

There are many "free trade zones" in third world countries, strategically located near shipping facilities and which constitute mini- spheres of influence, where the laws of the home country little apply. In these areas the work conditions, treatment of employees, social and family lives and relations, are all closely monitored and controlled by the host company.

Many employees labor for little more than subsistence. Their choice, is to either work, or to die. There is little or no health care, no occupational safety or health, sick time, vacation time, or overtime.

If you compound the situation discussed below, though horrible and inhumane, it pales in comparison to slavery as it was practiced in the 17th-19th century in America, yet, the woman who extracted forced labor from her nanny for a period of 3-4 years, is now, having been convicted, facing a total of 50 years in federal prison for her crimes.

The perpetrator has three children of her own, at least two of which are in elementary school. It is doubtful that once she is sentenced, that her children will see her in the free air until they are well into their adult lives.

Click on this link to view an online copy of the Superseding indictment.It's an excellent read to see the thoroughness of the prosecutors investigation, which leaves no doubt as to the guilt of the accused on several main counts. Once they had the original tourist Visa application, signed by the perpetrator, stating that the woman in question would stay for only a week, in a motel in Miami, only to be found in the perpetrators apartment in Walnut Creek three years later (having transferred flights in Miami on the day of arrival), it was but little work of the prosecutor to establish the point that the entire foul conspiracy, from the visa application until the victim having escaped her persecutos, had been undertaken, in a manner completely in line with the allegations and testimony of the enslaved nanny.

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, October 10, 2009

A Walnut Creek real estate agent has been convicted of charges that she lured a Peruvian nanny to the East Bay with promises of a better life but instead kept her as an indentured servant for nearly two years. Mabelle de la Rosa Dann, 46, also known as Mabelle Crabbe, kept the nanny a virtual prisoner, cut her off from Spanish-speaking media and rationed her food, authorities said.

She was found guilty Thursday by a federal jury in Oakland of forced labor and other charges. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken is to sentence her Jan. 13. "No person should ever be forced to live in a world of fear, isolation and servitude," said John Morton, an assistant secretary for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Dann helped bring Zoraida Pena-Canal, 30, of Peru into the United States on a three-month visitor's visa in July 2006.

Prosecutors said Dann lured Pena-Canal here with the promise that she would live in a large house with her own bedroom and private bathroom. Dann allegedly said she would pay Pena-Canal $600 a month after deducting the cost of the plane ticket for the first five months.Instead, Pena-Canal knew almost no world outside Dann's 900-square-foot apartment on Ygnacio Valley Road in the Cypress Creek apartment complex in Walnut Creek, where the two women lived with Dann's three children, Special Agent Jennifer Alderete of Immigration and Customs Enforcement wrote in an affidavit filed in federal court. Pena-Canal worked seven days a week caring for the children, cleaning the apartment, cooking and washing laundry, Alderete wrote. She was forced to live on the living room floor. Pena-Canal "appeared unkempt and wore the same clothing each day," Alderete wrote.

Dann never paid the nanny and instead charged her about $15,000 for Dann's expenses in Peru, including her costs for searching for nannies before she hired Pena-Canal, the affidavit said. Dann took the nanny's visa, passport and Peruvian identification each day with her when she went to work, authorities said. Dann allegedly told her nanny, "When you come to the United States, you must suffer," authorities said.

Dann broke Pena-Canal's radio and a television set, telling her that she didn't want her to listen to or view Spanish-speaking programs "because it would put ideas in her head," the affidavit said. Dann also rationed Pena-Canal's food, weighing her meat and counting out the number of pieces of fruit she could eat, investigators said. Pena-Canal eventually confided in people at Indian Valley Elementary School, where Dann's twin sons were students. She fled from the apartment April 16, 2008, and witnesses contacted authorities.

In addition to forced labor, Dann was convicted of unlawful use of documents in furtherance of servitude, harboring an illegal alien for the purpose of private financial gain, conspiracy to commit visa fraud and visa fraud. Nancy Harris, an attorney representing Pena-Canal in the suit, said Friday that her client "feels extremely vindicated by this verdict, which bolsters her unflinching belief in this country's justice system."