sirguessalot

Garth, My wife has worked with them since they started over 5 years ago. Since then, they've gone from 1000 agents to 20,000 or some such thing. We even partied with the WS bigwigs in Vegas once. But she really cant help much, as far as getting someone on a project. It might be kinda hard to get a project at first. Depends on how professional your application is. And I would say, take whatever they offer you, even if it is small, just to get your foot in the door. And dont be afraid to inquire about your status after a reasonable period of time. Keep in mind: its not easy work. Same office politics and other b.s. as meatspace jobs (lazy fellow employees, cliques, middle management issues, etc...), but minus the dry-cleaning, panty hose, bad commute and bad lighting. ;)--> Your hardware and connection has got to be pretty up to snuff, though they use some groovy platforms that help a lot. If you get any sort of call-center type job (which many of them are), non-professional sounds are a big issue (babies, animals, etc..). "Deal-breakers," if you will. um...some projects may keep you at your PC for hours on end, and multi-tasking something fierce. And so, make sure to pee before you log on, have meals planned around your strange present "absence," etc... A lot of people think that just because they are working from home, they are not also working in a call center. Sometimes friends and relatives dont get it either. they oftyen seem think you are just free to log off at will. ok, all i got for now. bottom line...its real work, and they pay. Sometimes it pays relatively good. sometimes it pays relatively ok. good luck :)-->

I agree with much of the above general guidelines re: work from home outfits... ...if they want to charge you to get started, forget about it. imo, here are two legit outfits worth checking into: www.Guru.com Working Solutions peace

from a quackwatch writer: what cult? lol

as far as "cult of skepticism" not all "cults" are as formal as twi many are more unconsciousness/spontaeneous gatherings. which might make it more occultic then, i guess like everything else, simply arising from the anthropological muck for "some strange reason" and so my labelling of it as "cult" is partially tongue-in-cheek...but part not. Cuz like seeks like as much as it seeks unlike, naturally. and i dont think there is anything wrong with our way of grouping/churching/schooling, whatever and yes, there seem to be prolific "grand poobahs" of a more modern cynical version of skepticisms. hard to miss, actually. i would go as far as to add it to the great valid traditions of mankind's evolution. with a long and growing history. why not? like all traditions, they only get nasty when they cut themselves off from the rest of the tree, so to speak btw - cynicism and skepticism seem like kissing cousins to me. not equal, but they overlap. sometime bear children together, that sort of thing...

contrary to belief...none of the traditional medicines and lineages flourish in any of the countries of their origin any more. not in their original form. not like they did b4 some of them are so old, they have not flourished there for a long time. tho the language, the art, the rituals, the songs, are often still intact on the surface. its easy to look at India's poverty and problems and poo poo ayurveda its easy to look at a rez and poo poo the sweat lodge heck, you could easily and foolishly ask yourself why "the Buddha would let Tibet be invaded" way easy

notice, i said "strict western medicine" has done a lot of damage in that when and where it is strict, historically, it has often suppressed other means of healing heck, darn near all healing traditions have this kind of mark in their history somewhere and yes, like i said too, brutal regimes do cause widespread illness and poverty and hunger, etc... often suppressing traditional healing methods poverty and illness go hand in hand any form of tyranny can select and oppress any school or lineage any though discussing medicine in its political context is a valid and important direction, it has little do with whether or not a healing tradition is valid or not..as a practice or whether or not subtle energies can be moved by touch, or at will or whether that can be studied and practiced and taught and further developed and integrated or whether it has been going on throughout human history

again, no. because many of the fundmamental mediums of the most advanced eastern and western healing arts i have experienced are damn near free. things like: air fire water earth good food good herbs good dialogue good technique good intentions touch music sex art etc... and because, in my wanderings, i learned to carry my skeptic in my pocket, not in my hand there are much more effective and time-tested things than pop-fads

honestly, healing traditions do not get that old because they kill everyone stupid things like deforestation will or invasions or genocide or tyranny or poverty or greed etc...

Steve, those straw men you've propped up are not the same as the 1000 and 2000 and 3000 and 4000 year old medicines and schools of thought that have emerged thru all bloods of people nor the more recent synthesises and resurrections of them. some of which, have already been integrating with western medicine for over a hundred years lineages do not get that old because everyone dies. though they may get forgotten, suppressed, marginallized, reinvented, mocked, stolen, renamed, hidden, etc...anything

all things in moderation, Steve. you know that what of love? what of hope? what of faith? are they just words? can they live? can they lead? literally? no i dont think those things were ever brought up you know it i dont think you read much of what i've written here

But there are many kinds of intelligence in each of us. And in most opinions, skepticism should not lead when it comes to healing. when it consistently leads (as it does in so many sciences), it can work against us and reduce possibilities also, what about when skepticism is used mostly offensively? when no one is attacking the role of skepticism? too bad ease is such a deciding factor in all this some people work really really hard all their lives to find healing and wholeness for themselves and their loved ones

Satori, i guess "extremely tenecious" is perhaps a better phrase than "wolf on the prowl" btw - i think wolves are beautiful creatures...especially when on the prowl ;)--> also, for your knowledge, "enmity" is simply another way of saying duality, or seperation. like wolves, i think enmity is a beautiful meaningful word

another problem with all schools of medicine, is the exploding complexity that comes with rapid evolutionary thrust. we have so many specialists that truly have to dedicate so many years in their field, that they are often quite ignorant of a lot of other modes. the remedy for this is the aim of that third branch of medicine i mentioned somewhere...to integrate and include (and not by force), rather than isolate and exclude

there are post-post-modern movements in science and medicine that include things like Reiki therapy although, they are also post-rational, and so includes all previous modes, and continues to evaluate each tradition and school, even those that are only a hundred or so years old welcome to the 21st century, i guess

yes, there is a romanticism that inflicts evolution of understanding but not to be confused with an intentional descension to earlier forms, if only to bring them up to speed (as opposed to simply rejecting them) this is becoming ever clearer in both eastern and western philosophies and sciences

not all cultures and era of human history were inflicted with disease just as the world has many places right now inflicted with disease during periods of history, healing arts excelled in different places. the connection between business and politics and religion and medicine can and does marginalize an entire people, or economic group how can we debate the validity of medicines, without discussing the application and availability? btw- neither romantic nor naive, Satori straw man Malaria is not the only affliction in this life and again, i do not question the valitidy of western medicine. only the cultural and idealogical environments that tends to limit its effectiveness (including retro-only prejudices from alternative and traditional ways) we already have the money and knowledge to pretty much heal the entire world right now.

i did not credit aboriginal arts to our survival straw man 100 years ago, the #3 killer was the hershey squirts and you oughtta look into other evolutionary writings and studies. they are. i already said that. they are using things like lizards and flowers look it up i did not say skepticism was enmity read again, plz and try not to project your own hostility no, its the way you haunt a topic mock, ridicule, use very selective language verbal intimidation that kinda thing duh. i never said it didn't, so you are flat out wrong about that, i guess btw - i do not speak in modified haiku i, like many others, may speak somewhat guarded around you. keeping it loose cuz you're like a wolf on the prowl, at times, satori when it comes to dialogue its a gift or something though it can be exhausting i do not say that from a hostile place think of it as a compliment, sorta

ok, pardon the geek mode.... according to many models of human development/evolution/sin once a person or group leaves the first self-centered egoic stage they enter the second, group-think stage were we learn how to be family and tribe problems/pathology comes in when one goes from stage one to stage two and excludes the realities of that first stage or when a person/group suppresses the value of all phases but their favorite stage when the truth is, when all stages are present and active now its like we are to somehow experience our first stab at a mythical hierarchy then move beyond to hierarchy based on survival, family, friendlies then to a more scientific hierarchy based on merit then to a non-hierarchy, pluralism then back to another less mythical, post-rational hierarchy, more as useful neutral frame rather than "the truth" and so forth a common problem is when all notions of hierarchy (such as body/soul/spirit) are outright rejected simply because we got burned by our first mythical and familial hierarchies ... i hear ya Groucho ive put a few ten-thousand miles behind the wheel last year doing art shows in big motels family reunions in MO and other travelling i cannot count the variety of mini-cults i see in this country small group sub-isolationism, or something based on that ideal of sacred mythical membership all "others" are always suspect same is true for most other world religions, though so many singing "Buddha loves me, this i know, because the Sutra tells me so..." stuck in the mythic translative level of their own tradition meanwhile, the richer transformative aspects of each religion remain kinda buried underneath a smaller percentage of each of them ... point is, not all religion leads to corruption not all groupthink leads to a cult not all heirarchies have the same intentionallity not all "schooling" is destined to become a pack of wolves

:)--> well, thanks a mil for starting the thread it sure has raised some things amen

it has been said that if western medicine is one branch, specialist in seeing the partial end results and holistic medicine is another branch, specialist in seeing the relationships of whole systems the third branch would be the treatment of the practioners of both branches, by both branches

in my experience with "alternative" medicines... compare Reiki healers with Reiki healers, for example, and you will probably see the same kinds of varying quality as you would comparing dentists with dentists some are hardliners (which makes them specialists extreme) some have their minds on their upcoming vacation some are a bit more integral, and have more facets and connections in their practice also, there can be vast regional differences based on the ideals of the community, even in the US in one region, the best shaman may be a con artist sideshow in another, one of the wisest and kindest old ladies you ever met in your life, with decades of credible success in one place, all the vets are high priced animal "hospitals," that can fix a break or treat a burn, but also make a lot of animals sick in another, there are some real low-cost and effective alternatives, integral east/west/north/south whatever...

as far as arguing corporate and political corruption influencing healing modalities.... where there is smoke, there is fire simply weigh the Gehenna of a thing, if you will poverty and illness often go hand in hand strict western medicine has done a lot of damage in this area, worldwide more than any alternative medicine, imo the healthy wealthy are often genuinely ignorant of their invisible neighbors

as far as "laying on hands" healing type stuff... a generic reality throughout human history in all bloods, to varying degrees there are these things inside of us called electricity, gas, water, salt, breath, DNA, atomic energy, space also: thoughts, dreams, passion, sorrow, rage, joy, voices, images intentionality is closer to causal than food intentionality is closer to causal than thought

or how western psychologies work so well with eastern contemplative traditions or tribal storytelling techniques especially as it pertains to birth and dying western medicine can save your foot in a pinch better than anything on the planet...or keep you pumping after years of self-abuse but it often lacks the grace to deal with birth and dying, both of which are very turbulent in gross and subtle realms and often lacks when it comes to tribal/family and cultural "realities" of healing and the old old, old, new, and new new arts associated with these domains

reminds me of how Australia's weather service now makes use of aboriginal methods because of its accuracy one is evolving and developing recently the other has been in use for thousands of years sounds like a marriage made in heaven to me if the enmity can be removed