Spiritual Wifery

Posted by admin - April 26th, 2008

NIEBAUR, MORMONS AND ‘SPIRITUAL WIFERY’:

One of the most important people that the esoteric societies used to control the likes of Hitler, Napoleon, Nixon and others is the personal physician. In this context we find Napoleon was later poisoned by his physician after one from Ireland refused to do what he was directed to do and we find the egis of something even more far-reaching. The religions of this world are all tools of the elite and their social engineers as Francis Fukayama proudly proclaims in his late 20th Century book The End of History and The Last Man. He does not tell us who created these religions or what their secret rituals are; if he even knows. The primary purpose of this book is to explore the esoterics of Josephine and Napoleon with a view to garnering more insight into who managed them and how it was done. With that in mind we look to a Kabalist who institutionalized the less-than-egalitarian treatment of women by Joseph Smith and the Mormons. This man’s father was the physician of Napoleon and his father wanted him to be a rabbi so I am sure his father knew the Kaballah to some extent too.

“The Council of Fifty in Nauvoo manifest a distinctly Masonic character, and Masonic ceremonial elements were incorporated in the council’s meetings. A similar tenor emerged in Strang’s Order of the Illuminati. It was only a few months after the claimed revelation commissioning him to organize the “Illuminati” at Nauvoo that Bennett initiated efforts to form the Masonic lodge. But Mormon historians have yet to specifically explored implications of another fact: both the name given by Bennett for the organization, “Order of the Illuminati,” and the political concept embodied by the organization had a clear Masonic heritage. The parallel is so close that one wonders whether Bennett might have brought this and other more esoteric Masonic concepts with him into Nauvoo. At about this same time the practice of “Spiritual wifery” or plural marriage was also introduced. Bennett made several exaggerated claims in his later exposés about libertine sexual practices, claiming the women of Nauvoo were inducted into three ritual orders based on the sexual favors expected of them. Such claims are not tenable, but nonetheless recent historians have noted the apparent association of the Relief Society with Masonry. And Bennett’s more slanderous claims aside, it is a fact that the female leaders of the Relief Society in Nauvoo were at one time all wives of Joseph Smith. Whatever the actual relationship to the practices in Nauvoo, Masonic lodges had existed which did indulge in such practices, the most specific example being Cagliostro’s {Part of the Crowleyan soul-continuance and if Paschal Beverly Randolph [Merovingian Physiocrat like Dupont] is right in his claimed similar connection to Eliphas Levi then to him as well.} Egyptian rite. By all reports, Bennett would have intimate interest in this sort of Masonry–or this sort of Mormonism–and it would be hard to imagine him not encouraging Joseph’s ideas about new forms of ritual marriage.

In this context, another question lingers: Is it possible Bennett’s meteoric rise to prominence in Nauvoo was related to some unsuspected Masonic factor? Did he arrive in Nauvoo claiming independent esoteric lineages of Hermetic or Masonic priesthood, or some ancient and occult knowledge–declarations that Joseph, because of prior life experiences and associations, choose to honor? Though Bennett finally may have been nothing but a talented charlatan, it must be granted that a complex legacy of spiritual insight was embedded in Masonic rituals, myths, and symbols; they had a history and a lineage reaching back many centuries into Hermetic, Kabalistic, and alchemical Gnosis. John C. Bennett may have brought something more than Blue Lodge Masonry to Nauvoo. And, regardless of his true intentions, what he brought may have been useful to a prophet.

In Nauvoo, in 1842 and after, I suggest Joseph Smith encountered a reservoir of myths, symbols, and ideas conveyed in the context of Masonry but with complex and more distant origins in the Western esoteric tradition. They apparently resonated with Smith’s own visions, experiences modulating his spiritual life from the time of his earliest intuitions of a prophetic calling. He responded to this stimulus with a tremendous, creative outpouring–the type of creative response Gnostic myth and symbol were meant to evoke, and evidently had evoked across a millennium of history. But, leaving Masonry, there was still another, more primary transmission of this esoteric tradition that would touched Joseph’s creative imagination during his last years in Nauvoo.

Joseph Smith and Kabbalah in Nauvoo

By 1842 Joseph Smith most likely had touched the subject of Kabbalah in several ways and versions, even if such contacts remain beyond easy documentation. During Joseph’s final years in Nauvoo, however, his connection with Kabbalah becomes more concrete. In the spring of 1841 there apparently arrived in Nauvoo an extraordinary library of Kabalistic writings belonging to a European Jew and convert to Mormonism who evidently new Kabbalah and its principal written works. This man, Alexander Neibaur, would soon become the prophet’s friend and companion.

Neibaur {The Rothschilds were Bauers before they took the occult symbol and shield as their name. Could this be a ‘nee’ [French for ‘born’]-Bauer?} has received little detailed study by Mormon historians, and his knowledge of Kabbalah has earned only an occasional passing footnote in Mormon historical work. Neibaur was born in Alsace-Lorraine in 1808, but during his later childhood the family apparently returned to their original home in eastern Prussia (now part of Poland). His father, Nathan Neibaur, was a physician and dentist, who family sources claim, was a personal physician to ‘the’ Napoleon Bonaparte and whose skill as a linguist made him of “great value” to Napoleon as an interpreter (claims perhaps inflated by posterity). Like his father, Alexander became fluent in several languages, including French, German, Hebrew, and later, English. He also read Latin and Greek. {It is reasonable to expect that he understood symbology and archetypes and what became Neuro-Linguistic Programming and its hypnotic ‘charms’ to control people.} Family tradition claims that as the first child and eldest son, his father wished him to become a rabbi, and that the young Neibaur was begun in rabbinical training.” (2)

The most adept person who I ever knew personally was married into one of these ’spiritual’ (?) wifery situations as a teenager. She was abused and used and then ended up on drugs but escaped and became a truly great adept. When I met her she was married to an Arhat and they had developed a Mountain-climbing Sutra. People came from all over the world to spend time in their company. Of course I detail many amazing things about her in other books. To what degree she benefited from the ’spiritual wifery’ or rituals I cannot say. She was also from an adventurous and interesting genetic background. I begin to wonder about the degree of success that Illuminized genetic breeding might indeed have had when I think about this remarkable person.

About the Author

Author of many books (lulu.com and World-Mysteries.com) including Diverse Druids: The Origin of All Religions. Soon to be featured on gardinerosborn.com and a regular columnist for many Ezines.

The Challenge of Families

Posted by admin - April 26th, 2008

The following article is offered for free use in your ezine,
print publication or on your web site, so long as the author
resource box at the end is included, with hyperlinks.
Notification of publication would be appreciated.

Title: The Challenge of Families Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
E-mail: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com Copyright: © 2005 by
Margaret Paul URL: http://www.innerbonding.com Word Count: 709
Category: Relationships, Family

The Challenge of Families By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

Angie grew up in a family where she was the caretaker. The
oldest of four, Angie was the only member of her family capable
of deep caring, empathy and compassion. As a result, she was
always attempting to protect her brother and sisters from her
father’s physical and emotional abuse. Even her mother learned
to turn to her for help and protection. Because everyone learned
to rely on Angie, when things didn’t turn out the way they
wanted, Angie was the one they blamed.

Angie became an invisible child. Because of her acute
sensitivity to other’s feelings and needs, her feelings and
needs went unnoticed. Everyone in her family wanted to take from
her, but no one wanted to give to her. Angie was not a happy
child.

As an adult, Angie did much inner healing work. She discovered
that she had been ignoring her own feelings and needs while
caretaking others. As she learned to take loving care of herself
and let go of taking responsibility for everyone else’s feelings
and needs, her family became furious with her. How dare she take
care of herself instead of them! The blame that Angie had always
experienced from her family intensified. Nothing Angie said had
any impact on her family’s behavior toward her. They refused to
support her in taking care of herself. They just wanted her back
in the old system.

Angie finally decided that, although she loved her family, she
needed to disengage from them. She realized that it was not
loving to herself to allow her family to continue to treat her
badly. She was unwilling to continue the old family system, and
she realized that she had no control over how her family treated
her. Angie broke almost all communication with her family for
three years.

Of course, this caused her parents and siblings to blame her
even more. During the few times that Angie communicated with her
mother, the hostility was extreme. “What is the matter with you?
Have you gone nuts? How can you abandon your family? You are
being so selfish! Don’t you care about us?” Angie knew that it
was useless to try to explain. Her mother didn’t really want to
know the answers to these questions - she just wanted to have
control over Angie.

It took three years before anyone in her family started to treat
Angie with any sense of respect. It took three years before they
accepted that they could no longer treat her badly if they
wanted a relationship with her. Presently, Angie has a much
better relationship with her family. While they will never have
the deep caring and compassion for her that she has for them,
they no longer expect her to take responsibility for their
feelings and needs, and they no longer blame her for the
problems that arise.

The question of disengaging from one’s family, or from a
particular member of the family, often comes up in my counseling
work with individuals and couples. Many people have been taught
that it is wrong to pull away from one’s family - that one
should keep the family unit intact at all costs. Many people
have been taught that it is loving to sacrifice themselves for
their family, and selfish to take care of themselves.

The problem with these beliefs is that it gives a person, who is
being blamed and disrespected by their family, no way out. Many
of the people I work with, who have problems with their
families, know that they would never allow a stranger to treat
them the way their family treats them. Yet they feel afraid if
they think about speaking up for themselves, and guilty if they
think about disengaging from an emotionally abusive family
relationship.

Sometimes the most loving act, both for oneself and for others,
is to disengage from an abusive relationship. It is not loving
to ourselves to allow ourselves to be treated disrespectfully,
and it is not loving to others to allow them to treat us
disrespectfully. Angie’s whole family is much better off today
than before she disengaged, even though they were furious at her
for it. Angie was actually being very loving to them by
expecting them to treat her with caring and respect.

Bouncy Castle Business - Tips On Setting Up

Posted by admin - April 26th, 2008

Do your research

As with all prospective business ventures, thorough research of the bouncy castle market in your area is essential. Look through the local newspapers, go on the internet, look in the Yellow Pages and find out how much competition there is in your area. If you spot some competition, don’t be put off, for the fact that there are people running successful bouncy castle businesses proves that there is money to be made, and more than likely, there is still room for you to take your share of it.

Equipment/items that you will need for your bouncy castle business

  • Bouncy Castle (see below for sizing advice)
  • Repair kit (should be included in price of the castle)
  • Ground sheet
  • Safety mat (for the front of the castle)
  • Rain cover
  • Sack trolley
  • Anchor stakes
  • 25-30 meter electrical extension cable
  • RCD safety cut out circuit breaker
  • Safety instruction sheet
  • Terms of business
  • Customer disclaimer form
  • Local street maps
  • Desk diary or personal computer program (to keep note of bookings)
  • Ledger book (for recording receipts and payments)
  • Public Liability Insurance cover (rec. minimum one million pounds)

How to start out?

My recommendation is that you start out with a 12 ft. x 12 ft. (3.6 meter x 3.6 meter) bouncy castle, this being the most popular with customers. Moreover, it is easy to set up and store and will fit in most back gardens and community halls. However, you might be tempted to go for something smaller, say a 7 ft. x 7 ft. bouncy castle - it would keep costs down, wouldn’t it? This is a common mistake - don’t fall into this trap. You may think that you can’t afford a bigger bouncy castle when you start up, but you’ll be kicking yourself if you are unable to do business with people who want a bigger castle - as the vast majority will. A small bouncy castle will still make money, but not as much as the bigger one suggested, and just imagine how you’ll feel at seeing business go elsewhere because you have set up your bouncy castle business with the wrong equipment.

Where to buy your bouncy castle?

See the list of manufacturers at British Inflatable Hirers Association There are a number of good companies that supply bouncy castles, so take your time in choosing. All the good companies will have brochures, so just give them a call and get them to send you one in the post, together with a price list. Many companies will be willing to enter into credit terms, and will even paint your trading name and telephone number on the front of the castle at no extra cost. Your successful marketing of your business starts right from the moment that you make the order for your first castle and put your name up on it. The manufacturer should offer to do this for you - but ask for it if they don’t. You will get many bookings from people who see your phone number on the castle. Your bouncy castles will be big and brightly colored, so take full advantage of your portable advertising billboard. The industry standard guarantee for a bouncy castle is 1-2 years, depending on the manufacturer.

What about buying a second hand bouncy castle?

The trouble with doing this is that - as a beginner - you don’t know what to look out for. I can tell you to look at the stitching on the bed, and at the pillars and where the side walls meet the bed, but are you confident that you will know the signs of wearing if you see them? Many second hand bouncy castles on the market are overly worn, have re-stitched bed seams, deliver a poor bounce and have to be replaced within a short while. When you are just starting out you need to be sure that you are hiring out a quality product that will last through the delicate ’start up’ period, so go for a new bouncy castle when you start up.

© Stephen Turner 2006.

Stephen Turner has set up an information and resource website Bouncy Castle Web. You’ll find loads of bouncy castle information, advice, articles, features, discussion and specially chosen links to other bouncy castle websites for products and services. Please take a look. Stephen would also welcome your feedback on the site. Click on the contact link on the site. This article may be reproduced in its original form provided that the author’s copyright note and this ‘author resource paragraph’ are displayed below the article.

The UKs Greatest Sexy Toy Survey for Ladies to Experience

Posted by admin - April 25th, 2008

So sex toy are on the lips of every bloke these days, either shouting about them in the chat rooms, at the work kitchen or on the telly. But which sex toy is the best, with the big choice to pick from surely a person had to find out the best one.

Sex Bomb asked over one hundred chicks in May what their most excellent sex toy was along with other personal questions.

If you love sex toys you should try out Bondage Gear

It was discovered that the most most excellent sex toy for chicks was the vibrator, and they just liked it! UK women were so excited by the idea of a large vibrator that many of them would use it straight after coming home from work. The best types of vibrator were the Jessica rabbit vibrators as they help to stimulate the clit hood as well as inserting into the love tunnel.

The second most popular sex toy was the exciting dildo dong. Dongs are similar to vibrators except they don?t have batteries or vibrate. Dongs come in all shapes and sizes from eleven inches to twelve inches. They can come with suction cups to have an incredible experience hands free and can easily attach to a bath or toilet set. Dongs have been a firm favourite since the 1970s and looks like they will be around for a long time.

So it was decided that the vibrator was the winner and the dildo came in second place, with some many sex toys out there it was difficult to know which type of vibrator was the most exciting for women to try. The standard vibrator sex toys are battery powered and shaped like a guys penis. Standard vibrator sex toys are shaped just like the real thing and use batteries for power. Stardard vibrators can be made up of plastic, vinyl metal or silicone. Stardard vibrators can either be inserted or placed against your vagina to get the sensation. We supply a wide range of standard vibrator sex toys.

The best way to use standard vibrator sex toys is to make sure it is nice and fresh before use, make sure it is not too extra big for your vagina, and also make sure that you do not use it every Thursday night and you do venture out on a date to the cinema.

Do You Play Hit and Miss With Your Marketing?

Posted by admin - April 23rd, 2008

Too many online marketers use a “hit and miss” marketing approach. By that I mean placing some ads here and there in the hopes of selling something. And it’s the worst possible way to do business.

Why? Because you probably *won’t* do much, if any, business at all. It’s a fact that people on the Internet *rarely* buy from someone they don’t know. The Internet is a scary place of scams and schemes and rip-offs. Online shoppers are very wary about giving up their credit card information to just anybody.

But if you use the right marketing strategies you’ll have a much better chance at succeeding. A *good* product will always sell, but you have to approach your propects correctly or they’ll turn tail and run faster than you can imagine. And they may end up buying from your competition!

This holds true no matter what product or service you’re trying to market online. You can have the best widget in the whole world, but if you turn off your prospects before they’re ready to buy, you’ll lose more sales than you’ll gain.

Successful marketers use the “warm ‘em up first and make the sale later” approach. They implement many strategies to drive traffic to their website, but if the visitors are leaving without buying anything, they make one final effort to hang on to them for future sales. And 90% of the time it works!

So what is it that they do? Capture their visitors names and e-mail addresses! They offer them something of value for free in exchange for their information.

Offer your visitors a free report or a subscription to your ezine. They’re now a “warm” market for your product, and once they get to know and trust you they’ll become your customers.

When you run ads using the “hit and miss” approach you have just *one* chance to sell your product to each person who clicks on your link. If they don’t buy right then, you’ve lost them forever. But when you “warm up” your prospects first you have a better chance of making sales.

So start warming ‘em up, already! :~)

About The Author

Denise Hall is the owner of Home Business on a Budget.com, specializing in free and low-cost tools and resources for all your home business needs. Subscribe to her weekly newsletter for informative articles, resources and fun.

http://www.home-business-on-a-budget.com/subscribe.htm

You may reprint this article in its entirety, as long as this resource box remains intact.

dmh0226@voyager.net

Indie Music Week Announces First Sponsors

Posted by admin - April 23rd, 2008

Nashville, Tennessee - Indie Music Week, the premier independent music industry conference, has announced the signing of several new sponsors for the event. These new sponsors include IndieMusicWeek.org website designer and host Madmantics Media, Nashville-based mastering gurus Independent Mastering, national recording media experts NTS ProMedia, audiophile CD manufacturing company Groove House Records, and music and entertainment directory the Nashville Source.

Other sponsors include independent music production company DaCapo Music, performing rights organization BMI, and Indie Music Week Artist Showcase venue, the legendary Douglas Corner Café.

“We’re so excited to have so many top-notch businesses supporting us and all of the independent and unsigned musicians. Each sponsor brings a unique service or product that can really benefit the indie artist and their music. We hope our Indie Music Week attendees will take advantage of these industry pros and their years of experience,” says Jonell Polansky, President of Indie Music Week.

Indie Music Week will be held during the weekend of March 11th -12th in Nashville, Tennessee, at the prestigious Nashville Marriott hotel. The event will feature a stellar array of top, well-known record label executives and decision-makers as well as promoters, producers, managers, agents and consultants. IMW 2005 will also feature two nights of exclusive Artist Showcases where IMW attendees will have the opportunity to display their talents to the industry at Nashville’s legendary Douglas Corner Café. There are a limited number of showcase spots available to artists and bands. In order to be considered, a press kit and demo must be sent to DaCapo Music no later than February 21, 2005.

To attend Indie Music Week 2005 or submit for an Artist Showcase, please visit IndieMusicWeek.org for information. For more information about being an Indie Music Week sponsor, please call 615-292-1337.

Cleaning Up After Your Messy Make Up

Posted by admin - April 23rd, 2008

Make up has become an integral part of anyone’s life. Be it a child or women, now we can say men may also have started using make up but we cannot be that sure either. By Putting on an excellent make up, and making many heads turn, its time to remove those heavy layers of make up which one has use to cover up ones blemishes.

Even though many think that putting on the make up is more than enough, but we have to keep in mind that these are not good if left on the skin for too long. As chemicals are being used so one should see to it that the make up be removed as soon as possible.

So removing or cleaning up your make up is very important as it starts affecting your skin in later stages of your life. So it is important to for everyone to take care of their skin and cherish it. For removing the make up firstly remove your eye makeup by using a moistened cotton ball with a make up remover. Do this gently so as to avoid any traces of make up on your face.

Avoid the remover by getting it in your eyes. After this, cleanse your face with a good product which suits your skin type and clean it with that. Best way to remove this entire make up is by using lukewarm water with the cleanser. After the initial cleansing, you should be doing the toning which is done at crevices around your nose and around your chin. After this moisturizing helps in keeping your skin soft and firm.

Kevin Pederson has been managing a number of sites related to hair and skin care which have information on hair care tips, skin care tips, usefulness of removing the make up and guidelines on hair and skin care .

GPS Vehicle Tracking Data: What Do I Get?

Posted by admin - April 23rd, 2008

What information is provided by GPS vehicle tracking systems?
Here is a summary and examples of how you could use data
provided by GPS tracking devices:

Location data: Latitude and longitude provided in degrees,
minutes and seconds. It is accurate to 33 feet, which is as
accurate as any commercial GPS device. A vehicle’s location is
updated at intervals of between 2 - 15 minutes. The standard
update interval varies between manufacturers or can be set by
the owner (optional).

* Who is closest to the customer that just called? See where
all your employees are by checking the map. Never again call an
employee just to find out where they are!

Speed calculation: Rate of movement in miles per hour. Movement
in excess of a preset speed (standard) or owner-set speed
(optional) triggers an alert, sent to the owner.

* Are employees routinely speeding? Speeding causes excessive
wear and wastes gasoline. Your vehicles represent your company
to the public; what kind of an image is presented by a speeding
or recklessly-driven company vehicle?

Present direction: Compass direction the vehicle is traveling,
expressed as north, south, east or west.

* Is employee ‘X’ en route to the customer or leaving their
location?

Geofence use: A ‘virtual’ geographic boundary, created by the
owner. Crossing this boundary triggers an alert which is sent to
the owner. The alerts are usually e-mail messages or automated
telephone calls from the system to the user, including the
vehicle identification, date/time of crossing, location of
crossing and more, depending upon the system. A Geofence can be
1/4 mile to 20+ miles in diameter.

* Is a delivery truck approaching the warehouse? Is the gate
open?

Alerts: An automatic e-mail, sent to the owner, with the date,
time, location, identification and other details related to some
event which has occurred and deserves your attention. Alerts are
triggered when a vehicle exceeds a preset speed or crosses a
Geofence boundary, for example.

* Email alerts can be sent to your Blackberry or portable
device. You can monitor your company while out of the office or
away from your desk.

Fastest speed report: A daily report of each vehicle’s fastest
speed.

* Why was employee ‘Y’ driving 80 m.p.h.?

Historical data: A record of all data related to each vehicle,
maintained for 90 days.

* Which vehicles averaged the most miles driven each day?
Export vehicle data to an Excel Worksheet to compare
productivity between employees.

Ignition on/off: Time, date and location of each instance where
a vehicle’s ignition was turned on or off.

* When was Hooter’s restaurant put on employee ‘Z’s route?

Idle report: Time, date, location and duration of each instance
where a vehicle remained motionless while the engine was
running. Owner can adjust the duration of idle allowed before a
report is generated.

* Idling the engine wastes fuel and causes unnecessary wear.
Employee ‘Z’s vehicle idled twice as long as employee ‘Y’s
vehicle; perhaps employee ‘Z’ should shut off his vehicle’s
engine when making deliveries.

Accumulated mileage alert: An alert sent at 3,000 miles, 5,000
miles or at an owner-set interval (optional) as a reminder to
perform preventative maintenance.

* Email: time to have the oil changed on vehicle ‘A’.

Location on demand: The ability to locate and display location
info when requested, regardless of when the last scheduled
update occurred.

* Where is employee ‘Y’? I need to find him right now!

Map detail: Vehicle location is displayed on a street map, which
the owner can enlarge or reduce to see more or less map detail.

* Employee ‘A’ says Main Street is closed for construction,
what is the next street West?

Landmarks: Reference points which may or may not be visible on
the map created to designate locations important to the system
user. Landmarks could be customer locations, the user’s shop,
warehouse, satellite offices, etc.

* Who has been to the warehouse today?

Breadcrumbs: When requested by the owner, a trail of points can
be displayed on the map, indicating a vehicle’s route during a
certain time period.

* Do routes overlap between vehicle ‘A’ and vehicle ‘B’?

Many GPS tracking system providers offer additional information,
but, as I hope you can see, even this list of basic data will
give you all the info you need to manage your vehicles.

Got Purpose? Part 2

Posted by admin - April 22nd, 2008

I guess I found some hot buttons last week eh? Thanks for a week full of real good feedback.

That being the case I’d like to follow along with last weeks theme of Living your purpose. Getting into one of the key elements to doing just that.

Living with Courage.

I believe living a life of Purpose begins and ends with Courage. It takes courage to open up and face your truth, to be honest with yourself.

Clearly, there are many hindrances and roadblocks along the path of purposeful living. In my own life the biggest has been fear. The fear of showing vulnerability. The fear of being judged. The fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of being alone, fear of the unknown and uncertainty. There was fear everywhere I turned. Until one day I just got sick and tired of living in fear.

In a conversation about some of the worlds great revolutions with a friend who grew up in Russia the point was made that one of the conclusions an oppressed people must come to is they “just can’t live this way anymore.” This is the point at which the pain of being oppressed becomes greater than the pain of facing the fear. Fear is an oppressive bully and thief. The way to conquer it is to face up to it with confidence and courage. The feeling comes over you that something has got to change and it has to change now! Perhaps you’ve known this feeling.

I have come to the conclusion (and of course you must arrive at your own) that no one, no situation, no experience, is going to deter me from living the rest of my life on what I believe is the course of my PURPOSE. Eventually, one way or another I will die. But, in the process of living, I am the one responsible for identifying, connecting to and living my own purposeful life. To live any other way would be to not live fully.

What courage do I need to call on? I summon my courage to let go of perceived past wrongs, of regrets, hurts. Things that are done, are done. I look and live forward. I let go of blaming and anger, release jealousy, envy and any feelings of scarcity, helplessness or hopelessness. I’m continually building and healing myself. It takes courage to accept responsibility for my own success and happiness. The courage to live on Purpose. The courage to be real. The Courage to be me.

You decide when you’re ready to move to the next step in your purposeful evolution. Look around. You’ll find a book, a friend, a coach, a spiritual guide or teacher to help you uncover your own true connection to yourself, your truth and your purpose. Maybe you’ll even be that friend, guide or teacher for someone else, which will be part of your own journey.

I am truly grateful for others who showed me through books, stories and in the way they live their life that I can live on purpose and be happy. The key ingredient, as I’ve learned, is Courage.

As always, Thanks for hanging out.

Live some. Love some. Learn some. Everyday.

C…

Clyde Dennis, a.k.a. “Mr. How-To” has been writing and publishing Articles and Newsletters online since 1999. Clyde’s company EASYHow-To Publications provides “How-To” information on How-To do, be or have just about anything one can imagine. For more information visit http://www.EASYHow-To.com Email correspondence for Clyde should be sent to: cdennisat@easyhow-to.com

MLB’s Soriano Hung Out to Dry By Nationals

Posted by admin - April 22nd, 2008

How often does it happen that a present Major League Baseball All-Star player gets treated with so little respect that he is told after his trade to another team that he will have to give up his starting position or else? After all, baseball has come a long way since free agency, forming its players’ association, gaining arbitration for its players, and providing them access to high-powered agents nearly guaranteeing them a shot at multi-million dollar contracts.

But this latest faux pas on the part of Major League Baseball ownership concerns 2nd baseman Alfonso Soriano, formerly of the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees, who has spent the entirety of his major league career playing 2nd base. He has been known, however, for his offense over the past five years which included his first three years, 2001- 2003, with the New York Yankees and his last two years, 2004 and 2005, with the Texas Rangers.

Yet, before all of the so-called expert pundits and baseballs’ fans have at it with their generalizations about the latest supposed “spoiled professional athlete who should grow up,” it would be wise to examine exactly which athlete they are attacking and the circumstances involved. Unfortunately, it is athletes such as the NFL’s Terrell Owens who have now given all professional athletes a bad name.

The dilemma which has become the talk of the day and should play itself out by week’s end, or around March 24, 2006, involves the controversial trade of Soriano from the Texas Rangers to the Washington Nationals on December 7, 2005, which became official on December 13, 2005. The Washington Nationals’ General Manager, Jim Bowden, was looking to get some pop in the Nats’ lineup and offered to trade outfielder, Brad Wilkerson, outfielder Termel Sledge and minor league pitching prospect, Armando Galarraga to the Rangers.

Prior to the trade, in all fairness to Bowden, he claims that before the Nationals signed off on the deal, he requested the Rangers’ permission to speak to Soriano first, to specifically ask him if he would agree to change his 2nd base position to leftfield. The Rangers said no, supposedly pending players’ physicals, and precisely because they knew of Soriano’s history of not wanting to change positions in the past and did not want to kill the deal. According to Bowden, “We took it [to mean that] if we talked to the player [the Rangers felt] that the player would say no [to changing positions] and the deal would be killed.” Soriano was never consulted about being traded either for that matter.

When Soriano originally signed his first Major League Baseball contract, with the New York Yankees in 2001, he was a shortstop, which he considered his natural position. Obviously, with shortstop, Derek Jeter, at that position, the Yankees were forced to find another position for him as he showed so much promise with his bat. When he filled in briefly at shortstop for a few weeks during Spring Training in the 2001 season when Jeter was nursing an injury, he proved to the Yankees that they had to have him in the lineup everyday. And when Jeter returned that spring, Soriano was moved to left field, albeit for a total of only five games. Soriano was expected to start the season there, but when 2nd baseman, Chuck Knoblauch, developed a mental block with the inability to throw to 1st base, the Yankees switched the two players’ positions. Since that time, Soriano has never played any other position but 2nd base and has never played a regular season major league game in the outfield.

But upon arriving in Texas in 2004, when Soriano was traded by the Yankees for Alex Rodriguez, Rangers’ manager, Buck Showalter, had another rising star in Michael Young, also a 2nd baseman, who needed to be added to the lineup. Unlike Bowden’s approach, however, Showalter felt out the situation with Soriano changing positions. “We just talked about trying to make some plans and asked him how he felt about it. It wasn’t something we were trying to cram down his throat.” And Michael Young helped resolve the situation by volunteering to move to shortstop, as Soriano was adamant about not moving from 2nd base.

Given Soriano’s known history of relishing his position at 2nd base in spite of steeped criticism of his defense, it makes Jim Bowden’s deal for him seem ill fated from the onset, as it was well known throughout MLB of Soriano’s reticence to change positions. And in the case of Soriano, Yogi Berra’s philosophy could not hold more true as “Baseball is 90% mental, the other 50% is physical.” Given Soriano’s being so upset with the situation is enough to distract his offense, let alone learning a whole knew position as the season progresses.

But one would think that given his stellar offensive skills and his good attitude would have earned him some brownie points to not have been put in this position in the first place. A four-time All-Star from 2002-2005 and the MVP of the 2004 All-Star Game, Soriano has earned his notoriety and the $10 million he will earn this year, due to his record-high arbitration case. Although considered a defensive liability, Soriano’s offensive stats are more than impressive. They include his breakout season in 2002 when he had 209 hits, 128 runs scored, 39 home runs, 102 RBI, 41 stolen bases, 51 doubles, a .332 batting average and 198 hits. In 2003, Soriano followed up with very comparable stats with a .338 batting average, 35 stolen bases, 38 home runs, 114 runs scored, 198 hits and 91 RBI.

In 2004 when he was with his new team, the Rangers, his offense dipped slightly but he finished with a respectable .324 batting average with 91 RBI and 170 hits. And in 2005, his batting average dropped off markedly to .268 but he still scored 102 runs, had 171 hits, 43 doubles, 36 home runs, 30 stolen bases and 104 RBI. Only time will tell how the grand expanse of RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. and adjusting to the National League will impact his offensive skills.

Following the no-show of Soriano for the Nationals’ Spring Training game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 20th, when he was written in the lineup by manager, Frank Robinson, to play leftfield, he will have another opportunity to redeem himself by showing up for the March 22nd game which the Nationals have against the St. Louis Cardinals in another pre-season matchup. It has been promised that the lineup card will remain the same according to Robinson.

Should Soriano maintain his refusal to play leftfield and thus refuse to play, according to Bowden, the Nationals will petition MLB’s Commissioner’s Office to place Soriano on the rarely used “disqualified list.” This additionally presents Commissioner Selig with a new twist to the problem, in that MLB officially still owns the Nationals, as Selig has failed as of yet to get a deal done for new ownership. Becoming “disqualified” translates into Soriano losing his salary for 2006, losing any credit for 2006 service time and his chance to become a free agent at the end of the season would also be lost as he would remain the property of the Nationals.

Since Soriano chose to participate in the March 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the Dominican Republic team, should he decide to play leftfield, he now has less than two weeks in which to learn a non-infield position he has never officially played. Bowden claims that during Soriano’s time away during the WBC he tried to work a deal to trade Soriano if the right offer came along. “We obviously will field offers, but we’re not going to give the player away, Bowden said on March 20th. “If we can make a deal that makes sense, we would have. At this point we have not been given a trade proposal that makes any sense for the Nationals, he said.

Besides putting his manager, Frank Robinson, in an uncomfortable position, and giving Soriano an ultimatum of playing leftfield after the trade was completed, leaves the actions of Bowden questionable. Combined with the fact that the Nationals already had an All-Star 2nd baseman in Jose Vidro, and Bowden’s admission that he had heard of Soriano’s prior insistence on playing 2nd base prior to the deal with the Rangers, could put his own job in jeopardy when new ownership is finally decided. After all, the deal for Soriano was misguided at best and Bowden’s theory that he alone could convince Soriano to change positions was foolhardy. It begs the question, excuses aside, which Soriano himself asked of Bowden, “Why didn’t you try to talk to me before you made the trade?”

Diane M. Grassi - EzineArticles Expert Author

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