News for today's 2018

Pastoring & Self-Pastoring: A Concise Introduction

1:42 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">    Something has finally coalesced for me. After a journaling practice I’ve been doing for a few years, a couple of different ways of making sense of reality came together. It was my approach to church and my approach to myself. I don’t know whether sharing this will do anyone any good. Paul Tillich said, “There is no truth without the way to truth.” But since this truth is nothing new, since it is just other people’s wisdoms connecting, just me finally noticing that 2 + 2 = 4, it might be a little assistance, so here goes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">       THE FRAMEWORK: When I do spirituality workshops or offer spiritual guidance, I operate out of a paradigm that sees each person as made up of a whole network of parts or Subpersonalities – not as a pathology, but as the basic way human beings are constructed. In his classic novel, <i>Steppenwolf, </i>19<sup>th</sup>Century German author Hermann Hesse told the story of a protagonist who was half bourgeois businessman and half mountain wolf. Toward the end of the book, the author admitted he had oversimplified this character. He was really the composite of far more personalities.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">      Today, that view of human nature takes the form of various psychological models: psychosynthesis, psychodynamics, gestalt, and internal family systems just to name just a few. But the adherents of these theories of normal multiplicity did not just leap to this paradigm because they were fans of Hermann Hesse. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Psychology began in the field of ascetic theology (spirituality), then was absorbed into philosophy, and began to become a science in the 19<sup>th</sup>C. The first doctors to explore the mind were neurologists. Their first main interest was situations when a person began to think, speak, and act with a personality different from their usual personality -- like mediums, shamans, what we now call channeling, etc. The neurologists didn’t really sort it out, but they did conclude that some people who had different personalities popping up at different times were seriously nuts – but others were not.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">The observation that different personalities inhabit the same body was the starting point for scientific psychology. Freud studied under some of these neurologists & tried to systematize them. He said everyone has 3 parts: an id, an ego, and a superego. It was similar to Transactional Analysis if you remember that from the 70’s – we all have an inner parent, an inner adult, and an inner child.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">     <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Freud’s student, Carl Jung thought that was much too simplistic. We have far more parts inside us  – archetypes from the collective unconscious. We have an inner mother, warrior, magical child, hero, etc. Another student of Freud, Roberto Assagioli thought even Jung was being too restrictive. He agreed we have different parts or Subpersonalities. But he didn’t start with assumptions as to what they are – either Freud’s assumptions or Jung’s assumptions. He just looked inside to see what was there in each person. You have your own unique collection of sub personalities and I have mine.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">But why do we have parts or sub personalities?  How does that come about? Even Assagioli wasn’t clear on that. Today, brain science tells us how this happens. Whatever we experience we experience neurologically. Like water etching lines in rock, experience forms patterns or habits of feeling and thinking. Brain scientists capture the dynamic with this adage: “What fires together wires together.”  Events and situations are constantly changing but we keep having the same feelings and thoughts over and over and over. Those patterns are hardwired into our circuits. That’s what neurologist mean by “wired together.” The neurologic capacity to have a new experience or think new thoughts is called “neuroplasticity.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Those hardwired patterns form distinct personalities. Subpersonalities. Obvious ones relate to roles. We function one way as parent, another as spouse, another as friend, another in our work. There are deeper habits of being, patterns of feelings, thoughts, and actions, called Subpersonalities. We may have a Wounded Child, a Tragic Romantic, an Enforcer, a Worker, a Lover, an Artist. I have a Care Taker, a Defender, a Builder, a Spiritual Quester, a Righteous Judge, a Wildcat Oil Driller, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">This is not pathology. It makes us complex and interesting. All of us, like Hesse’s Steppenwolf, have multiple Subpersonalities. Fernando Pensoa is an accomplished poet with his own style. Without ever abandoning that identity and style, he began writing other poetry in a different style and voice under another name. That new poet had his own biography and philosophy. Then Pensoa added yet another poet to his repertoire. Today are four very fine poets --albeit quite different in style and content -- inhabiting one body.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Pathology sets in when one personality takes over and is not even aware of the other personalities, as in the Sybil story (which may be a dubious account but there are cases of real multiple personality disorder). Such cases are probably rare. What is more common is that Subpersonalities take over for short times but other Subpersonalities compete with them, sabotage them, judge and criticize them. The Subpersonalities are often in conflict – as was the case for our poor friend, Steppenwolf. Much of our anxiety, depression, and ambivalence arises from conflicts between Subpersonalities.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Let me reiterate: Subpersonalities are not bad.  They are all part of us. The problems arise when they are have not learned teamwork. Assagioli, along with numerous other psychologists and Christian spiritual masters going back to St. Paul, teaches that there is another part of us that is not a Subpersonality. It has not been conditioned by experience. It is not a neurological pattern of thoughts and feelings that have fired together until they are wired together. It is deeper than that. It is an innate capacity for simple awareness. Psycho-synthesis Theory calls it the Personal Self; Internal Family Systems Theory calls it the Core Self. Christians might call it the Soul. Assagioli was comfortable with “Soul.” Some of his followers, not so much.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">The Soul is the central organizing principle of the person. Our core identity does not consist of passing thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Those are the waves on the surface. Our core identity, our Soul is deep and still. Psycho-synthesis Theory says there is also something larger than the Soul or Personal Self. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">The “Transpersonal Self” is the central organizing principle of the cosmos. Assagioli sometimes called it Spirit. This is the best statement of what the Transpersonal Self or Spirit is and does. Assagioli said,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">              <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in; text-indent: .25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">“Spirit working upon and within all creation is shaping it<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">      Into an order, harmony, and beauty, uniting all beings<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">(some willing but the majority as yet rebellious) with each other through links of love, achieving – slowly and silently, but powerfully and irresistibly – <i>the Supreme Synthesis.</i>” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">The Personal Self is always already plugged into the Transpersonal Self, so when we connect with the core of our own being, we connect with the core of Reality. What Psycho-synthesis calls the Transpersonal Self the Jesuit scientist theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin called the Omega Point or Christ. 14<sup>th</sup>Century mystic, Julian of Norwich said that the Soul is already always connected to Christ. But our personality is split away from our Soul. The break is not between the Soul and Christ. It is a split within ourselves. It is a case of broken relationship with all or some of our parts.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Modern psychology agrees. We are split within ourselves. But we also have the God-given capacity to heal that split. That is the function of the Soul when we find it and let it do its work. How then shall we recognize our own Soul should we stumble upon it? The Soul has certain basic characteristics:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in; text-indent: .25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Serenity: It has a certain serene balance. It is the eye of the storm. It is the part that is not shaken or enflamed by outer forces.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Awareness: The Soul has the capacity to notice – to observe. Because it is not shaken, it can see clearly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Compassion: The Soul has the capacity to care without losing its balance. When the Subpersonalities are in conflict, the Soul is neutral. It does not want to extinguish any sub-personality. The Soul can appreciate each part of us as it is,     <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">allowing it to be as it is, but also asking what it wants, what it needs, what it is trying to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Will: The Soul is the center of the will. Our attention can turn one way or another.         We can choose to tell ourselves a particular story about things or make up a different story, a different interpretation, or we can choose to just watch without interpretation. The Soul is where we can make those decisions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">The problem is the Soul often doesn’t get engaged. We identify with the subpersonality of the moment, let it run the show, and the Soul is left out. We lose our Souls in our Subpersonalities  – which means Christ is left out of the equation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">         The first step in this spirituality is a kind of detachment. Meister Eckhart wrote at length about something we translate as “detachment.” Buddhists are always talking about something we translate as “detachment.” But when we translate those German and Sanskrit words as detachment, it sounds like not caring, apathy, anesthetizing, numbing out – killing off the feeling part of our being. That isn’t what they mean – or if it is, it isn’t what they should mean because it’s life denying, death dealing, bad psychology and bad religion.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">The better word is disidentification. Disidentification means: We have feelings, thoughts, or experiences. That’s fine. It’s simply life experience -- until we identify with it. Our very language has this mistake built into it. “I am x.” Compare “I am hungry” in English to “Tengo hambre” (literally, I have hunger) in Spanish. It’s the same in French. If we feel anger, we say, “I am angry” not “I feel angry” or “I have anger.” Our language contributes to as well as expresses a lot of identification with the feeling of the moment. Maybe we say, “I am depressed. I am a depressed person.” But our Soul is not depressed. A part of us is depressed -- maybe the Loser, or the Wounded Child, or the abandoned One, the inner Orphan. Depressed is not who we <i>are</i>. It’s an experience we are <i>having</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .75in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Disidentifying doesn’t mean we repress the experience. We have the experience. We may have it all the more clearly because we don’t have to be afraid of it. But it isn’t who we are. It’s something we are experiencing. At the center of the “we” doing the experiencing is the Soul, which experiences with serenity, awareness, and compassion while maintaining the strength of will to hold the experience within its proper boundaries.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">II.  APPLICATION TO PASTORAL LEADERSHIP<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Murray Bowen’s gift to this discussion was his insight that even the complex inner network of Subpersonalities described by Assagioli was too simple. In fairness Assagioli’s sense of the transpersonal already pointed toward Bowenian systems theory, but his language was too spiritual to gain traction with mainstream social science. Bowen said that there are networks larger than the individual, there are unifying <i>social </i>principles at work – larger than the personal self. He called them “family systems.” In a nutshell, groups of people, particularly families, organize themselves like teams with each person having an unconsciously prescribed role in the system – the optimist, the worrier, the spendthrift, the drunk, the moralist, the nag, the rebel, the control freak, etc. Each person is manipulated by the rest into playing his or her role, living by the prescribed script. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Edwin Friedman brought Bowenian systems theory to the field of congregational leadership by observing that congregations function like families. They establish a homeostasis that depends on each person in the congregation playing an unconsciously prescribed role, playing their position on the team so to speak. This systems theory is kindly in that it does not blame individuals for their sometimes difficult behavior but tries to work with the system that programs them to behave this way. But there are problems. A system can be nurturing, but it also tends to set pathologies in stone and necessarily consigns each person to a role which is smaller than their full identity.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Friedman’s model of leadership was essentially that the pastor should function, insofar as possible, as the Soul in the congregation, the Personal Self – serene, aware, compassionate, will. The pastor’s goal is to accept and appreciate each person in the congregation, eventually facilitating their relationships with each other, in ways that allow each member to become more fully differentiated and less bound by imposed scripts. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;"> That is the goal. But what do congregations and pastors tend to do with the more broken members. Congregations’ very purpose is to welcome and accept the broken, to offer nurture and healing. But what do we usually do in practice?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">I am not alone in observing we tend to do one of two things with the broken people. First, we tend to put them in charge. In order to make wounded people feel better about themselves, we hand over leadership roles that they are utterly incapable of fulfilling. This is helpful to the system, which has a shadow agenda of self-sabotage. It also allows us to feel good about ourselves since we have been so nice to this difficult person. If the lay leadership positions are insufficient, we set out to ordain them. Congregations endorse the psychiatrically disabled, the addicted, the felonious, and the otherwise severely dysfunctional to ordain as pastoral leaders. People with intellectual and cognitive deficits are chosen to make policy for the church. Absolutely and without question, these folks belong in the church. They deserve our love and respect. But I can’t carry a tune in a bucket and can barely play a radio. I have no business being the music director of a congregation. To assign people roles they are not capable of fulfilling is not a kindness. It is a set up for failure. We do that all the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">A variation on this theme of empowering pathology is the consensus driven meeting. This not about giving the broken person a title or a job. But it is about who gets their way. In a consensus driven model, we have to pacify everyone in group decisions. Since the craziest person in the room is the hardest one to pacify, they have to get their way. The church in its quest for niceness is ruled by a “madocracy.” The nuts rule.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">         Our second option for dealing with difficult people is to drive them out. The laity are usually more inclined to toward this one – but I have known clergy who exercised their leadership in this way. Strategy two: drive them out. In some denominations, excommunication, shunning, withdrawing of fellowship, etc. are formally recognized practices. In the Episcopal Church, this normally “just isn’t done” – though in my diocese it happens with surprising frequency. In another diocese, a priest managed to shrink his congregation by about 50% in just a few years before tendering his resignation. He announced his mission was accomplished. He had been sent to “prune” the congregation by getting rid of the bad members. While most Episcopal churches do not formally exclude anyone from worship, we do informally push people out the door all the time. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">         Such leaders operate by stirring up and perpetuating Level 4 Conflict in the conflict taxonomy of Speed Leas (Alban Institute) – that is “fight/ flight” conflict in which the loser must leave. The problem is I have never seen a congregation that had driven out enough people to establish peace. Given what we know of depth psychology, I highly doubt that a congregation of one could be free of conflict. It is like the story of the man marooned on a desert island where he built two churches – the one he attended and the one he left in protest. Once a congregation falls into the pattern of driving out the problem people, it can never drive out enough. The guillotine becomes a habit. That kind of pastoral leadership is 180 degrees opposite to the authentic mission of a congregation “to reconcile all people to each other and God” – to be a soulful community in which differences are appreciated and integrated into a dance of mutuality.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">         Friedman, Peter Stenge, Ronald Richardson, and Arthur Paul Boers would insist that driving troublemakers out of a congregation solves nothing. The person leaves but the role remains so someone else will be found to play it. The leaders role is to be soulfully present to the whole system and each individual in it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">         The key is to welcome the difficult congregant into the family, without putting them in charge. Putting them in charge not only sabotages the congregation’s mission, it is bad for the person we are putting in charge. It rewards and reinforces their pathology. To be helpful to a person, we need to be soulfully present – with serenity, awareness, and compassion – along with the will to establish healthy boundaries. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">III. SELF-PASTORING<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">But being soulfully present in a congregation is hard, hard, hard because the system pushes our buttons to get our various Subpersonalities to react in ways that fit the system’s pattern. Saying, “be soulfully present” is easy. Doing it is quite the challenge.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">In order to engage our Soul in pastoral leadership in the congregation, we first have to engage our Soul in self-pastoring, in relating and integrating our own Subpersonalities. Otherwise, the Soul will never make it into the worship service, the parish forum, or the vestry meeting. One or the other of our Subpersonalities will show up instead, usually the subpersonality conjured by the most pathological manipulations of the system. When that happens, we invariably do more harm than good.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Now here’s the point that is so obvious – but it eluded me until today. We pastor our Subpersonalities precisely the way we pastor our congregants. Here’s how I finally got it. I have a Subpersonality that deeply needs to be tragic. It demands either a misery of self-sacrifice or a misery of remorse for failing to make the sacrifice. It is a deeply held value going back for generations in my family and well rooted in the culture where I grew up. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">         I spent nearly 40 years with that subpersonality very much in charge of my life. Other parts of me fought against it, insisted on developing my human potential, experiencing the variety of life, going on the spiritual journey, etc. But the Tragic Subpersonality held the stronger hand and he knew it. I have spent the last 20 years trying to get free of that. And I have made good progress at great emotional cost. But the Tragic Subpersonality will not go away. The harder I try to escape him, the more tenacious the hold of this snapping turtle of tragedy. People come along to evoke the thoughts and feelings. If they don’t do it to me, I do it to myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">One night, in journaling a dialogue between my Personal Self and the Tragic Character, I acknowledged to the Tragic Character that he was part of me. He wasn’t going anywhere. I was not going to try anymore to drive him out. I slept uneasily after that and was still troubled the next morning, because I remember what its like when this Tragic Character gets his way. It ain’t pretty. Then quite out of nowhere, I heard the voice of my Self say to the Tragic Character, calmly, kindly, yet firmly “But you don’t get to be in charge.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">I wondered how the Tragic Character would respond to that boundary. I didn’t know until the following night when I resumed journaling. To my surprise, the Tragic Character was not in revolt. He was calm too. He wanted some clarity on how his needs would be met. Just how much misery and remorse do we get to indulge? We will no doubt be working that out over the years. But the Tragic Character actually seemed relieved to be neither exiled nor enthroned. Exile was too scary and lonely. Enthronement was too much responsibility. The Tragic Character belongs in the congregation. He likes being in the pews. But ordaining him is not doing him a favor. He was only trying to get ordained to keep from getting excommunicated. There is something in between.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">So here’s what I’ve learned: The way we relate to our Subpersonalities makes all the difference for how we relate to our congregants – and vice versa. Cultivating a soulful practice is both an inner and outer process. For better or worse, we do love our neighbor a whole lot like the way we love ourselves – all of that mixed up muddle of humanity inside us and that mixed up muddle of humanity in the pews. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">So work from the inside out. Work from the outside in. It’s a process. We work between the sidelines of exile and enthronement. That’s my version of the via media.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br /></div>

Pastoring & Self-Pastoring: A Concise Introduction

Something has finally coalesced for me. After a journaling practice I’ve been doing for a few years, a couple of different ...

Sitcom Architects

11:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Brady_%28The_Brady_Bunch%29#Mike_Brady">Michael Brady</a> is without a doubt the most popular television architect who was a recurring character. While his portrayal barely resembled the realities of architecture (as Jody Brown <a href="http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/3658247/list/Mike-Brady-Lied-to-Me">humorously recounts</a>), he did a good job of setting a precedent for architects in sitcoms: He <a href="http://www.sixthriver.com/wp-content/uploads/01.jpg">sits at his desk surrounded by pretty pictures of houses</a>, but the profession takes a backseat to the usual sitcom antics. This is not a characteristic specific to architects but how sitcoms operate, inherently deriving their humor from situations, most of them revolving around the relationships of families and friends. The workplace is for dramas, and as far as I know no dramas about architects have been tried.<br /><br />Very few succeeding sitcom architects come to mind — <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Mosby">Ted Mosby</a>, <a href="http://www.mommytracked.com/Working-Mom-Role-Model">Elyse Keaton</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_%28TV_series%29">Rob</a> (a landscape architect) — so I'm surprised to hear that the new sitcom <a href="http://www.cbs.com/shows/partners/"><i>Partners</i></a> revolves around the "bromance" of two architects who are partners in a firm.<br /><br /><img alt="cbs-partners.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/cbs-partners.jpg" title="Partners on CBS" /><br />[<i>Partners</i> screenshot — an architectural model as metaphor for relationship troubles — image <a href="http://www.cbs.com/shows/partners/video/2284722372/partners-chicken-and-stuffing-sneak-peek-">source/clip</a>]<br /><br />What's even more interesting is that the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partners_%282012_TV_series%29">2012 CBS sitcom</a> bears a striking resemblance to a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partners_%281995_TV_series%29">1995 Fox sitcom</a> also called <i>Partners</i> that also focuses on two architects. Both shows are about the tensions in the partners' friendships that arise from one of them getting engaged. The earlier show was cancelled after 22 episodes, and if the above clip (and reviews <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/23/3013829/sitcom-partners-isnt-exactly-new.html">like this one</a>) are any indication, the new <i>Partners</i> won't be around even that long.

Sitcom Architects

Michael Brady is without a doubt the most popular television architect who was a recurring character. While his portrayal barely resembled ...

Sushi Sunday!

10:42 AM Tukiyooo 0

<span style="font-size: large;">Lunch in <a href="http://www.yosushi.com/restaurants/dublin-clarendonstreet">Yo! Sushi</a> today.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">It was delicious!  I love the atmosphere of this place and it is so much fun taking food off the belt.  We sat at the counter and I found it so much more social then a booth.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO23jGsetVWvVqoN030q7EEfXOAxinMX5BKjURwe-xoTOMt4mw8sa0qh1RGek0G8qtfSvLkDbSODL37azj8gCXDTnxYWYH0HFb7iZCoewS6fzCHsOBpgduOolgx5btJzwsPGJs3b0OH5-6/s1600/IMG_2097%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO23jGsetVWvVqoN030q7EEfXOAxinMX5BKjURwe-xoTOMt4mw8sa0qh1RGek0G8qtfSvLkDbSODL37azj8gCXDTnxYWYH0HFb7iZCoewS6fzCHsOBpgduOolgx5btJzwsPGJs3b0OH5-6/s320/IMG_2097%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAi4SfwBSMbyN09tdn_LVcabbmGca9VOn7KOUaS9OWBzzprOjovBD-gMGU4OQCcgrYH1_0ecFGh8ktIV0nrzrCZsgbnzaxOz5lwWQn6xXZsvLZoerDRf62w6SbGVpBWLmuUo1oDGrpGND8/s1600/IMG_2098%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAi4SfwBSMbyN09tdn_LVcabbmGca9VOn7KOUaS9OWBzzprOjovBD-gMGU4OQCcgrYH1_0ecFGh8ktIV0nrzrCZsgbnzaxOz5lwWQn6xXZsvLZoerDRf62w6SbGVpBWLmuUo1oDGrpGND8/s320/IMG_2098%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH_74v1WHoyidHfPGUmRA0sP4cumZ3Yfcbko8nrGkqq6M49S0A2sGr4Y172F7Ys1WxC956HtA1th8ERRNtKio6PXs8nOb37dLjwp6XduvZt3e4HANd58mjbUN7VbpFjc1YbeK8SnP_6adW/s1600/IMG_2100%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH_74v1WHoyidHfPGUmRA0sP4cumZ3Yfcbko8nrGkqq6M49S0A2sGr4Y172F7Ys1WxC956HtA1th8ERRNtKio6PXs8nOb37dLjwp6XduvZt3e4HANd58mjbUN7VbpFjc1YbeK8SnP_6adW/s320/IMG_2100%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMAVFbxU1_Ag8dxUGdaumtrbaG3sPwojoVmBeHo0vwaWeMo74wDiNEUxOcaWabwdiJJrIYQUTzYWviP3dhqJRZYNs60n6jetOUtoGTi2gChOziG1OEKOdJsGNmVNJtV0Ek5_8ALyGUUDY/s1600/IMG_2102%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMAVFbxU1_Ag8dxUGdaumtrbaG3sPwojoVmBeHo0vwaWeMo74wDiNEUxOcaWabwdiJJrIYQUTzYWviP3dhqJRZYNs60n6jetOUtoGTi2gChOziG1OEKOdJsGNmVNJtV0Ek5_8ALyGUUDY/s320/IMG_2102%5B1%5D.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />

Sushi Sunday!

Lunch in Yo! Sushi today. It was delicious! I love the atmosphere of this place and it is so much fun taking food off the belt. We sat at...

Long day!

10:25 AM Tukiyooo 0

<span style="font-size: large;">Early start yesterday up at 6.30am to get on the road to Belfast for the Smart Car Rally.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Here's a report written by Amy for the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Smart-Car-Rally/131167930286810?fref=ts">Smart Car Rally Facebook</a> page:</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">September 2012 Belfast Trip Report: Enid & I left Dublin at approximate 7am and arrived at the Boucher Crescent Smart/Mercedes garage at 9.30am. Coincidentally we arrived at the same time as Gerry & Shay from the Dublin Smart Car Rally!</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">We were greeted in the garage by some lovely folk from the Ulster Cancer Foundation who took our donation and gave us the clues</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">for the rally. We then were dir</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">ected to another garage to the staff restaurant where we had a fantastic Ulster fry to keep us going for the day. (quick aside: we had Bones the dog with us who made a show of us by climbing up on to the table - he never does that - and was immediately turfed out by chef. Silly Bones!). We poured over the clues and saw that we it was a considerable length - 156miles in total!</span></span><br /><div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Quick media photo outside and we were off! Very convenient for E&I we were behind Gerry, who was behind Shay & Alice, so we let them lead the way and we enjoyed the scenery. Stopped off halfway for a scheduled stop (part of the rally) for soup and sandwiches. Another media photo shoot and we resumed tour.<br /><br />We finished up in the Carn Smart garage in Portadown where we had some lovely refreshments - tea, coffee, sandwiches, sausage rolls & chicken goujons. Had nice chat with a few Smartie people. We did not meet any people from this page :-( Prizes and goodie bags were given out and Enid and I then set off home.<br /><br />We arrived him approximate 8.30pm that evening. It was a long days driving for poor Enid! Next year we would probably stay over...<br /><br />Overall a great day. Fantastic hospitality as always from Smart of Belfast. Met some lovely people and saw some beautiful parts of Northern Ireland.<br /><br />Anyway on the subject of next year - we hope to arrange a 2013 Dublin meet up! Probably along the lines of: meet in the Phoenix Park for a "tailgate party" - to chat about Smarts, have a look at everyone's car, some eats and tea :-) and then a Smart parade/convoy drive around the Phoenix Park. Watch this space!</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Diwti-GK3U7MB94CDSXTo3t-sBPgyqBT_KYqUfPgnb-xKbIvVLXPLi79GKzQElQ3Dwg7Ln71gFwMBlXLCfjBxJkrD-5m5EIC3C1GFnwhGNHKc7Bgx2cdB8NnGGMsnXLsrmgawG5-2yMA/s1600/IMG_2079%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Diwti-GK3U7MB94CDSXTo3t-sBPgyqBT_KYqUfPgnb-xKbIvVLXPLi79GKzQElQ3Dwg7Ln71gFwMBlXLCfjBxJkrD-5m5EIC3C1GFnwhGNHKc7Bgx2cdB8NnGGMsnXLsrmgawG5-2yMA/s320/IMG_2079%5B1%5D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>

Long day!

Early start yesterday up at 6.30am to get on the road to Belfast for the Smart Car Rally. Here's a report written by Amy for the Smart C...

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 09/30/2012

2:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<ul class="diigo-linkroll">      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2012/09/a_big_list_of_375_free_ebooks_for_your_ipad_kindle_nook_and_other_devices.html">A Big List of 375 Free eBooks for Your iPad, Kindle, Nook and Other Devices | Open Culture</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">A nice list of free ebooks from Open Culture.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ebook">ebook</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/literature">literature</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/engchat">engchat</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2012/09/sean_connery_reads_cp_cavafys_epic_poem_ithaca_set_to_the_music_of_vangelis.html">Sean Connery Reads C.P. Cavafy’s Epic Poem “Ithaca,” Set to the Music of Vangelis | Open Culture</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Literature teachers and many of you will enjoy this epic poem ready by Sean Connery with music by Vangelis. Very enjoyable.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/culture">culture</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/poetry">poetry</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://uncommonblog.edublogs.org/2012/09/23/reshelving-project-almost-there-and-already-awesome/">The Uncommon blog » Blog Archive » Reshelving Project: Almost There and Already Awesome!</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Loving how these librarians are transforming their library. Here are some great ideas and examples to share with librarians.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/learningcommons">learningcommons</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/librarian">librarian</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://sociallearningcentre.co.uk/top-100-tools-for-learning-2012/">Top 100 Tools for Learning 2012 | Social Learning Centre</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Voting closes Sunday. This is a highly viewed list. Please take a moment to vote.  "Please share your Top 10 Tools for Learning to help me build the 2012 Top 100 Tools list.  What is a “learning tool”?  This could be a tool you use for teaching, training or creating learning content/solutions for others, and/or a tool you use for your own personal or professional learning.  Voting rules  Please name TEN specific tools rather than generic technologies (e.g. “Blogger” or “WordPress”, rather than “blogs” or “blogging”) A vote for Google will be a vote for Google Search, so if you want to vote for other Google tools, you will need to to name them indvidually, e.g. Google Docs, Google Reader. Note too, that a vote for Google Apps is for the badged collection of Google Apps for your organisation – not a generic term for all Google apps. A vote for Microsoft Office will be split over Word and PowerPoint, so please vote individually for the tools, i.e. Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Outlook etc. The list doesn’t have to be in any order of preference."</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></p>                                        </li>  </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 09/30/2012

A Big List of 375 Free eBooks for Your iPad, Kindle, Nook and Other Devices | Open Culture A nice li...

Zooey Deschanel: Adorkable Babe of the Week

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />IWS is proud to announce that Zooey Deschanel is our Babe of the Week! Zooey burst onto the scene in as young William Miller’s troubled older sister in <i>Almost Famous</i>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDvXrJAcCgSUxdTHP8wTmfCarxorGO143H6IeRXP3sKjlqPIw18BfS5Wn9cTHsOfJi-KzLqOgLjfjOdsxf_1RKjicJ-7-VLiByzATiNxRY3rzRXymYiZdvv3QZYth7jekwpQi8cTJFiHc/s1600/Zooey-Deschanel-Hot-Legs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDvXrJAcCgSUxdTHP8wTmfCarxorGO143H6IeRXP3sKjlqPIw18BfS5Wn9cTHsOfJi-KzLqOgLjfjOdsxf_1RKjicJ-7-VLiByzATiNxRY3rzRXymYiZdvv3QZYth7jekwpQi8cTJFiHc/s320/Zooey-Deschanel-Hot-Legs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />She then reeled off a series of great performances in movies like <i>Elf</i>, <i>The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy</i>, and <i>500 Days of Summer</i>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCACZGlqptXR7c17IDLnDn0srxC94BU-BdbJdO7IQdrQ7m2y_OYf50YMoGWmGjK-R9WKhOs5mqfznHUDer3KUIKfZvvhV_e0F_B3kpTbWwLj543_RPKdWpqaQV0GVkhcS5Ktzx1OnLYbo/s1600/Zooey-Deschanel-Cleavage-Hot-Boobs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCACZGlqptXR7c17IDLnDn0srxC94BU-BdbJdO7IQdrQ7m2y_OYf50YMoGWmGjK-R9WKhOs5mqfznHUDer3KUIKfZvvhV_e0F_B3kpTbWwLj543_RPKdWpqaQV0GVkhcS5Ktzx1OnLYbo/s320/Zooey-Deschanel-Cleavage-Hot-Boobs.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br />But, in addition to being a great actress Zooey is an accomplished musician and singer-songwriter. She plays keyboards, percussion, banjo and ukulele!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxU-ohD-taSOB30O_EE-grlMY4Rl-8dI-aeM0wJb3GPr4R3-1R1IAMSUsDfjpSMVX_qKfiHbQiIb2GYMKDH9ONYEMAJey_qhtwwXKXNU96pqCjfJJczCWYXiCC-FcHZbFo74B5r2r1tTM/s1600/Zooey+Deschanel+Singing+Hot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxU-ohD-taSOB30O_EE-grlMY4Rl-8dI-aeM0wJb3GPr4R3-1R1IAMSUsDfjpSMVX_qKfiHbQiIb2GYMKDH9ONYEMAJey_qhtwwXKXNU96pqCjfJJczCWYXiCC-FcHZbFo74B5r2r1tTM/s320/Zooey+Deschanel+Singing+Hot.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><br />Even more awesome is the fact that because of Zooey’s quirky personality and sweet, girl-next-door looks, they had to invent a whole new word to describe her: <b>ADORKABLE!</b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05LrsGz_b25jVTy-Oc_JO5kyiwy_OI5PYiy7V-0t2XURqR8S_QzLGcPetB1aEdSQ2A2oJnYamocWn0N9bMYtWMHNLGxgJ8MM7nKkN9I4_LEwFMEV6J852_ZtAfPHTU8_wR42ON0ypxuk/s1600/Zooey-Deschanel-Adorkable-Legs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05LrsGz_b25jVTy-Oc_JO5kyiwy_OI5PYiy7V-0t2XURqR8S_QzLGcPetB1aEdSQ2A2oJnYamocWn0N9bMYtWMHNLGxgJ8MM7nKkN9I4_LEwFMEV6J852_ZtAfPHTU8_wR42ON0ypxuk/s320/Zooey-Deschanel-Adorkable-Legs.png" width="318" /></a></div><br />Ms. Deschanel has been nominated for a Golden Globe, Grammy and Emmy award over the last few years. She is currently the star of Fox’s breakout hit <i>New Girl</i>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp9eZaOs8gyId3U0WtnygHHstChmaoIV8bUhiW3A8_VWaG1gpHG2paUCxARBqKpgP1FkR7WCApacDIqu_DIwqlxGZk81dqBPWzwrzYK9lRBnDINavQ-k3kHCDEY6IDR861kjOozWi0GHI/s1600/Zooey+Deschanel+Nude+Bra+Panties+New+Girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp9eZaOs8gyId3U0WtnygHHstChmaoIV8bUhiW3A8_VWaG1gpHG2paUCxARBqKpgP1FkR7WCApacDIqu_DIwqlxGZk81dqBPWzwrzYK9lRBnDINavQ-k3kHCDEY6IDR861kjOozWi0GHI/s400/Zooey+Deschanel+Nude+Bra+Panties+New+Girl.jpg" width="195" /></a></div><br /><br />Obviously Zooey Deschanel is one of the most talented women we have ever named Babe of the Week!<br /><br /></div>

Zooey Deschanel: Adorkable Babe of the Week

IWS is proud to announce that Zooey Deschanel is our Babe of the Week! Zooey burst onto the scene in as young William Miller’s troubled olde...

The Google Teacher Academy in New York #1: What does Google New York look like?

8:37 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHmwohsNGryrgQCS5gUOVI-Ap-mNA_6xfj6TP4Q8sas7LxI699SWohJkkrNxWXF4JZFGHzAwwQGsC_Mq3JoFDA_hcM72hQYhIpWg4QR6dvxsrK4AomErbvjSkt36fkZ02vBoRMV7gJ00/s1600/NewYork-LindaY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHmwohsNGryrgQCS5gUOVI-Ap-mNA_6xfj6TP4Q8sas7LxI699SWohJkkrNxWXF4JZFGHzAwwQGsC_Mq3JoFDA_hcM72hQYhIpWg4QR6dvxsrK4AomErbvjSkt36fkZ02vBoRMV7gJ00/s320/NewYork-LindaY.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><i>Submitted by Fiona Beal</i><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.65pt; text-align: justify;">In a few days time (on the 3rd and 4th October) 50+ excited educators from the United States, Mexico, Canada, Colombia, the Czech Republic and South Africa (that’s me) will be descending on New York to attend the Google Teacher Academy New York 2012. These educators have been selected from the hundreds of applications from around the world, so undoubtedly many interested folk will be following the #GTANY Twitter hashtag to get a glimpse of the proceedings.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.65pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">I love the way Linda Yollis one of the successful applicants from Los Angeles,  has involved her Grades 2&3 class in getting ready for the Google Teacher Academy. Take a look at her blogpost:<br /> </span><a href="http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-google-teacher-academy-in-nyc.html">http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-google-teacher-academy-in-nyc.html</a><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">We have been told by Google, “</span><span style="color: #222222;"><i>We are working hard to prepare everything to create an inspiring couple of days for you next week in New York, and we can't wait to meet all of you. Your heads are gonna spin with all the great experiences we have in store for you. Get ready!</i>”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">We have also been told, ‘</span><span style="color: #222222;"><i>We are finalizing a bunch of great activities with a completely revamped agenda from previous academies, and we are so excited to share it all with you next week!</i>’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can you wonder that we are excited!<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>What does Google New York look like?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 12.65pt;">On hearing of my selection for the Academy, m</span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 12.65pt;">y first question was (after I had got over all the excitement at being selected) – '<i>Whereabouts is Google in New York, and what does it look like</i>?' In my Internet search to answer these questions</span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 12.65pt;">  </span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 12.65pt;">I came across two videos, one posted in February 2012 and one posted in 2009 when Google first opened its new New York offices. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Here is the 2009 video entitled '</span><span style="background-color: transparent;">Inside Google's New York Office'.  </span></span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F-zUPTxMEw"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F-zUPTxMEw</span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div></div></div><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5F-zUPTxMEw" width="420"></iframe> <br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is the latest video published by The Wall Street Journal, entitled '<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 12.65pt;">An Inside look at Google’s New York Offices'. </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpm_LIyMtMY"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpm_LIyMtMY</span></a><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bpm_LIyMtMY" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keep watching this space and we will bring you more news of the Academy.</span></div>

google The Google Teacher Academy in New York #1: What does Google New York look like?

Submitted by Fiona Beal In a few days time (on the 3rd and 4th October) 50+ excited educators from the United States, Mexico, Canada, Colomb...

US INTELLIGENCE FAILURES

6:48 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj62Lnf75t66R5ZM-HZzMlp5Clcc1vZB2O7r9gZvQTkg_wQSP8Y_1VmsnVkaxVjkL1wy2Bd9L1-9updtOmzGCIHfIKkR8U450ulbwmHZvUCW0BvN2LqE2JXIfBiZ04U9Cj6Kcwe_I6nVyaf/s1600/20120328-071707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj62Lnf75t66R5ZM-HZzMlp5Clcc1vZB2O7r9gZvQTkg_wQSP8Y_1VmsnVkaxVjkL1wy2Bd9L1-9updtOmzGCIHfIKkR8U450ulbwmHZvUCW0BvN2LqE2JXIfBiZ04U9Cj6Kcwe_I6nVyaf/s400/20120328-071707.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />    <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-gzP4lL_MTOyazDZLPzxNVnGxVbFF0-jhuY7GFkc7REtZ9wYPBuv4DNhBAxXo6YsjhHjSTXyFIwR7c9kok8LSLy4IuRpoVHRNPjqECTUK2iWBYqe1zeklt6qnwlDNUfSWh98qIHFf0eY/s1600/photo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">BLIND, DEAF AND IGNORANT: 5 RECIPES FOR US INTELLIGENCE FAILURE</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It was so much easier when it was just the SOVIET UNION, a clear enemy, even a fun game. So with the 9/11 disaster, AMERICA’S spy agencies were made to understand that there was a new single enemy in town—<b>Osama bin Laden</b>. The only way to advance your career as a spy was to focus on <b>bin Laden</b>, or at least on <b>al-Qaeda</b>. Countless intelligence failures later, we have LIBYA. <br /><br />Post-9/11 intelligence failures have been grave, and lessons, if learned, have not been implemented with any noticeable degree of effect. There have been a few hits, but more misses. Among those failures we have the 2009 “underwear” bombing attempt, thwarted only thanks to passengers on board the plane; the Arab Spring, which had gone viral on the internet before the Agencies figured it out; the loss of a handful of <b>Hezbollah</b>informants in <b>Beirut </b>due to an almost comical flaw in procedure; the Ford Hood shooting; and most recently, LIBYA, where despite the warnings there was no anticipation of the attack on the US consulate in <b>Benghazi </b>and inadequate protection. <br /><br />US intelligence failures are bipartisan and each successive administration owns these failures. On the 11th anniversary of 9/11, heads should be rolling. <br /><br />Why is US intelligence failing? <br /><br /><span style="color: red;"><b>BEHIND THE GLOBALIZATION CURVE</b></span><br /><br /><b>Al-Qaeda</b> is more of an idea, an ideology, than a concrete group. From IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN, SOMALIA and YEMEN, to PAKISTAN, LIBYA and most recently SYRIA (just for starters), it is a globalized ideology. Furthermore, the lines between terrorist groups and organized crime networks are rapidly blurring and becoming borderless. The Agencies cannot keep up because they cannot adapt, still struggling with structural and organizational issues in the post-Cold War period. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">INFORMATION BECOMES PRECIOUS NOT FOR REASONS OF NATIONAL SECURITY BUT FOR REASONS OF CAREER ENHANCEMENT</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-gzP4lL_MTOyazDZLPzxNVnGxVbFF0-jhuY7GFkc7REtZ9wYPBuv4DNhBAxXo6YsjhHjSTXyFIwR7c9kok8LSLy4IuRpoVHRNPjqECTUK2iWBYqe1zeklt6qnwlDNUfSWh98qIHFf0eY/s1600/photo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-gzP4lL_MTOyazDZLPzxNVnGxVbFF0-jhuY7GFkc7REtZ9wYPBuv4DNhBAxXo6YsjhHjSTXyFIwR7c9kok8LSLy4IuRpoVHRNPjqECTUK2iWBYqe1zeklt6qnwlDNUfSWh98qIHFf0eY/s400/photo1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The US cannot even globalize internally, with information-sharing the latest buzz phrase defining what everyone knows is a key problem that will not be resolved <b>as long as the Agencies are at war with each over turf and funding</b>. Information becomes precious not for reasons of national security but for reasons of career enhancement and departmental positioning. <br /><br />It was the lack of information-sharing that was highlighted in the aftermath of the attempted bombing of an <b>Amsterdam-Detroit</b>flight on Christmas Day 2009. The would-be bomber, <b>Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab</b>, managed to board the passenger place despite the fact that he was on one of many blacklists raising suspicions of his connections to a terrorist group. A Senate Intelligence Committee report pointed to 14 intelligence failures in this case. While the bomber was on the U. database of suspected terrorists, along with some 550,000 other names, he was never placed on the No Fly List or the Selectee List, which would have subjected him to additional security screening at airports, nor was his US visa revoked. His name was misspelled and the State Department thus concluded that he did not have a US visa. The CIA also failed to disseminate key reports to the appropriate people until after the attempted attack, when it was too late to share information.<br /><br /><span style="color: red;"><b>WHITHER HUMAN INTELLIGENCE: THE ARTLESSNESS OF ASSET DEVELOPMENT</b></span><br /><br />The rocket attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that took out the US envoy to LIBYA and three other AMERICAN diplomats was a disastrous failure of human intelligence, which has been dangerously sidelined in favor of high-tech surveillance solutions--the response to a lack of qualified human resources particularly in the CIA.<br /><br />This attack was highly organized and had nothing to do with riots and protests connected to an anti-Islamic film of dubious origins. The attack was not anticipated (or it was anticipated at some point in the intelligence chain but ignored higher up) despite a clear warning 24 hours before in a 42-minute video message from <b>al-Qaeda</b> leader <b>al-Zawahiri</b>. In no uncertain terms, <b>al-Zawahiri</b> pledged to revenge the death-by-drone of his second in command, <b>al-Libi</b>. And LIBYA was the obvious venue for revenge, as it was from here that <b>al-Libi</b> hailed and here that he was turned from an enemy terrorist into a US friend in the fight against <b>Gaddafi</b>. When the job was done, it was here that the US again cut him off as a terrorist. Connecting these dots required the bare minimum of human intelligence and risk analysis. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">INFILTRATION OF TERRORIST GROUPS OR RADICAL ISLAMIC OUTFITS IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE OR EVEN OVERLY CHALLENGING</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijlxHa8UL2WI5SqQQSdw3_r4VF6SsrsZ_mKuJypfjcQIwxqScJD5gOdAWPH121Scx9tNXuEsT4wyckxjT8U1Sk59Jbo9AtSwLS26CFaY9tcTMDjUoN6R9PH1TFeqE1b7eiTF04H0zoDPxF/s1600/competitive_intelligence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijlxHa8UL2WI5SqQQSdw3_r4VF6SsrsZ_mKuJypfjcQIwxqScJD5gOdAWPH121Scx9tNXuEsT4wyckxjT8U1Sk59Jbo9AtSwLS26CFaY9tcTMDjUoN6R9PH1TFeqE1b7eiTF04H0zoDPxF/s400/competitive_intelligence.jpg" width="313" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Human intelligence has suffered the most since the end of the Cold War, and the idea of “infiltration” has become the purview of electronics. Regardless of what one might think, so-called infiltration of terrorist groups or radical Islamic outfits is not impossible or even overly challenging. At its best, human intelligence is subtle and natural, not cloak and dagger. It requires casual observation and establishing relationships with unremarkable people who are close to and have access to these groups, in villages, towns and cities. <b>It requires a very localized perspective. <br /></b><br /><span style="color: red;"><b>INADEQUATE INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS</b></span><br /><br />Along with human intelligence comes analysis, which is also inadequate. There is an ongoing debate about the proper distance between the Intelligence Community and policymakers. The bulk of intelligence recaps events that have already happened and is woefully shortsighted and finding itself in an illogical competition with US news agencies. <br /><br />The Arab Spring is a case in point. While the CIA had vaguely warned policymakers that the Middle East could potentially experience some unrest (which is always a potential), they were caught by surprise when the Arab Spring unfolded. The Agencies had nothing to offer policymakers by way of how the Arab Spring might affect US policy and security. One of the first disastrous responses to the Arab Spring was to send high-profile diplomat Frank Wisner Jr. to Cairo without bothering to any homework on Wisner’s personal agenda. As it turned out, Wisner was on the payroll of the Mubarak regime and took US policy in his own hands, declaring support for the regime on behalf of Washington. Washington of course recalled him immediately, but it was too late to undo the damage.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: red;">INTELLIGENCE-GATHERING AND INTELLIGENCE-ANALYSIS ARE ERRONEOUSLY CONSIDERED VERY SEPARATE THINGS</span><br /></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br />There are a number of reasons why intelligence analysis is inadequate, but a key reason (recruitment aside) is that intelligence-gathering and intelligence-analysis are erroneously considered very separate things, and analysts live in fear of raising any alarms before it is clear that there is a dire situation: In other words, when it’s already too late. The bottom line is that it is too risky in terms of career for analysts to go out on a limb with policymakers.<br /><br /><span style="color: red;"><b>RECRUITING THE LEAST COMPETENT</b></span><br /><br />The Intelligence Community’s recruitment policies are counter-productive to say the least. Anyone with any in-depth foreign country experience that might have included the key aspect of asset development—hobnobbing with the locals—is immediately excluded as a security liability. It is extremely different for non-native AMERICAN citizens to pass security clearance. There is also a lack of recruitment intuition, namely that the Agencies consider those who come through their doors, rather than actively seeking the people they really need. Good analysis requires a certain mindset, and those who possess are the least likely to actively seek employment with the Agencies. In the end it is the Agencies own subconscious admission of its inability to conduct counter-intelligence and due diligence on a level that would allow a better recruitment policy to be less of a security threat. <br /><br />The Intelligence Community’s answer to that, for now, is the private contractor, who is unfettered (except at its highest levels) by security clearance requirements. Private contractors are free to have foreign experience and to develop assets among local communities in key hotspots, and they are better at due diligence and counterintelligence. They also often attract a higher quality recruit, and the higher salaries help. <br /><br />This is not, however, the ultimate answer to the Intelligence Community’s shortcomings. There are too many unknowns in the private contractor world; too many easy opportunities to engineer conflict and tensions in the name of creating more business. But the IC can definitely learn from the private contractor in this “transitional phase”.  <br /><span style="color: red;"><br /><b>UNFINISHED REFORM</b></span><br /><br />Intelligence has been in a state of suspended reform in the USA since 1947. The most sweeping reforms came in 2004, with the creation of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), which was to oversee the entire Intelligence Community, and usher in structure in place of inter-agency competition and promote information-sharing. It has succeeded in none of this. Rather, new front lines in the turf war have been drawn, between the DNI and the CIA, which is not wont to give up its former prestige, and between the DNI and the agencies under the control of the Department of Defense (DoD).  The DNI lacks the power the position promised, and is certainly not the White House’s go-to man for intelligence. Indeed, one would be surprised if the average American can even name the DNI (google it). <br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">By Jen Alic via Oilprice</span></span></span></div>

US INTELLIGENCE FAILURES

BLIND, DEAF AND IGNORANT: 5 RECIPES FOR US INTELLIGENCE FAILURE It was so much easier when it was just the SOVIET UNION, a clear enemy,...