In the News (from the Economist’s Club): “(…) America’s ever-increasing rates of severe mental disease (which have already been very high for a long time). The claim that the spread of severe mental illness has reached “epidemic” proportions has been heard so often that, like any commonplace, it has lost its ability to shock. But the repercussions for international politics of the disabling conditions diagnosed as manic-depressive illnesses (including major unipolar depression) and schizophrenia could not be more serious.

“It has proved to be impossible to distinguish, either biologically or symptomatically, between different varieties of these conditions, which thus constitute a continuum – most likely of complexity, rather than severity. Indeed, the most common of these illnesses, unipolar depression, is the least complex in terms of its symptoms, but also the most lethal: 20% of depressed patients are estimated to commit suicide. …

“A massive statistical study, conducted from 2001 to 2003 by the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), estimated the lifetime prevalence of major depression among American adults (ages 18-54) at more than 16%. Lifetime prevalence for schizophrenia was estimated at 1.7%. There is no known cure for these chronic diseases; after onset (often before the age of 18), they are likely to last until the end of the patient’s life. …

“All of this suggests that as many as 20% of American adults may be severely mentally ill. In view of disputes over the significance of available data, let’s assume that only 10% of American adults are severely mentally ill. …

“Comparative epidemiologists have repeatedly noticed something remarkable about these illnesses: only Western countries (or, more precisely, societies with monotheistic traditions) – particularly prosperous Western countries – are subject to prevalence rates of this magnitude. Southeast Asian countries appear to be especially immune to the bane of severe mental illness; in other regions, poverty, or lack of development, seems to offer a protective barrier.”

My Comment: This is not just the Western way of life, but the indication of the ultimate form of egoism, which forces us to correct it as “help against it.” The very same egoism exposes itself to show us exactly that the problem is in it. And it also reveals the method of its correction: “Methodology of Integral Education and Upbringing” or the “Methodology of Integral Development.”
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In the News (from The Guardian): “A study has shown that the speed of evolutionary change is far outstripped by the rate of global warming, meaning many creatures will face extinction. …

“’We found that, on average, species usually adapt to different climatic conditions at a rate of only by about 1C per million years,’ Wiens explained. ‘But if global temperatures are going to rise by about four degrees over the next 100 years as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, that is where you get a huge difference in rates. What that suggests overall is that simply evolving to match these conditions may not be an option for many species.’

“The study indicates there is simply not enough time for species to change their morphologies – for example, by altering their bodies’ shapes so they hold less heat – to compensate for rising heat levels. Too many generations of evolutionary change are required. Nor is moving habitat an option for many creatures. ‘Consider a species living on the top of a mountain,’ says Wiens. ‘If it gets too warm or dry up there, they can’t go anywhere.’

“The crucial point of the study is that it stresses a fact that is often conveniently ignored by climate change deniers. It is not just the dramatic nature of the changes that lie ahead – melting icecaps, rising sea levels and soaring temperatures – but the extraordinary speed at which they are occurring. Past transformations that saw planetary temperatures soar took millions of years to occur. The one we are creating will take only a few generations to take place. Either evolution speeds up 10,000-fold, which is an unlikely occurrence, or there will be widespread extinctions.”

My Comment: There is no common solution to the problem of ecology, society and man. We must recognize the impasse of our egoistic development and our own inability to resist it by our own forces. Only by uniting in order to draw the upper Light that Reforms that creates the property of bestowal and love in us, will we, through our unity, be able to bring the planet to balance and prosperity, and ourselves to a higher spiritual state.
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In the News (from ScienceDaily): A new study co-authored by an MIT professor suggests that many people are, in fact, heavily influenced by the positive opinions other people express online – but are much less swayed by negative opinions posted in the same venues. Certain topics, including politics, see much more of this “herding” effect than others. …

“This herding behavior happens systematically on positive signals of quality and ratings,’ says Sinan Aral, an associate professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and one of three authors of the study. …

“’People are more skeptical of negative social influence,’ Aral says. ‘They’re more likely to ‘correct’ a negative vote and give it a positive vote.’

“While this phenomenon of social positivity sounds pleasant enough on the surface, Aral warns that there are pitfalls to it, such as the manipulation of online ratings by some political operatives, marketers or anyone who stands to profit by creating an exaggerated appearance of popularity. …

“In turn, Aral suggests, we should be as analytical as possible when it comes to harnessing collective judgments.

“’We have to be careful about the design and analysis of systems that try to aggregate the wisdom of crowds,’ Aral says.”

My Comment: So, even though the wisdom of crowds is closer to the truth, but in an egoistic space, no one can be sure that this option is not used by selfish individualists, and we should not trust this indicator on the Internet until we correct egoism and get rid of cheaters.
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In the News (from Discovery): “Wolves and grizzly bears would seem to be archenemies, but a new study shows how wolves are actually helping grizzly bears to obtain tasty, nutritious berries in Yellowstone National Park.

“The discovery shows just how tightly woven ecosystems are, and how the domino effect can both hurt and benefit members.

“The situation began to unfold back in the early 1900s, when officials had the short-sighted idea of moving wolves out of Yellowstone. It was called “predator control.” By the 1970’s, scientists found no evidence of a wolf population in Yellowstone, a verdant place that had previously been home to wolves for ages.

“In October 1991, Congress provided funds to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to start wolf restoration efforts at Yellowstone.

“The new study, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology, examined how the re-introduction of wolves is affecting other wildlife in the park.

Lead author William Ripple, an Oregon State University professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, and his team found that, during the period with few or no wolves, elk herds expanded and over-browsed berry bushes. This was bad news for grizzly bears.

“’Wild fruit is typically an important part of grizzly bear diet, especially in late summer when they are trying to gain weight as rapidly as possible before winter hibernation,’ Ripple said in a press release. ‘Berries are one part of a diverse food source that aids bear survival and reproduction, and at certain times of the year can be more than half their diet in many places in North America.’

“Now, however, with wolves hunting elk again, there are more berries. Yellowstone is berry central for bears, with numerous types that they love: serviceberry, chokecherry, buffaloberry, twinberry, huckleberry and others.

“The new plethora of berries is additionally producing flowers of value to pollinators such as butterflies, insects and hummingbirds. Birds are eating the berries, as are other animals, both small and large.

“Since berries help bears put on fat before going into hibernation, it’s then predicted that grizzly bear populations will strengthen, adding a second avenue of control on elk and other wild ungulates, especially on newborns in the springtime.

“Achieving the right balance is important, though. Elks are critical to the ecosystem as well, so if their populations drop too much, more problems will surface. Taking a cue from history, however, park officials should probably let nature handle such matters on its own.”

My Comment: This conclusion can be extended to all human actions without exception: the construction of dams, drainage of wetlands, and many other interventions in nature. What can we do? After all, humanity has to develop. Against this, there is no objection, only that the development should be harmonious, without tragic consequences.

First of all, we need to correct our egoistic nature, attain the ability to feel and understand the surrounding nature and higher Nature, and then, based on the acquired feelings and qualities, mind and strength, intervene in the surrounding nature, preserving its balance: This will mean ascending to the levels of similarity, knowing, and unity with it—that is, with the Creator.
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Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: But because of the descent of human nature to the lowest degree, which is the self-love that unrestrictedly rules over all of humanity, there was no way to negotiate with them and persuade them to agree to take upon themselves, even as an empty promise, to exit their narrow world into the wide spaces of the love of others. The exception was the Israeli nation because they were enslaved in the savage kingdom of Egypt four hundred years in horrible torments.

Our sages said, “As salt sweetens meat, agony polishes man’s sins.”

Question: The people of Israel suffered throughout its history and I don’t see how that helped. After all, correction is made by the Light, what do torments give us?

Answer: Indeed, that is how this is presented and we are guided by what we see. Each one of us has our own “eyeglasses” and nothing can be done.

You think the Egyptian exile was a period of physical suffering, but in my eyes it was a spiritual revelation of evil. You consider it to be Pharaoh’s attack, but I regard it as an outbreak of the evil inclination. Egyptians tormented you externally and me, internally. Under a hail of blows, you ran away from the geographical Egypt, and I from inner Egypt. The spiritual aspect is so strong that I experienced the Egyptian exile, not externally, but mainly as internal woes. The led me out of Egypt to attain the world of Atzilut. For you, it was enough to get rid of the Pharaoh’s physical oppression, from external enslavement.

The same distinction is characteristic of the contemporary world. In the current troubles and problems, I see an appeal, a trigger needed for us to move to the goal. You  perceive them as a curse rather than a means for advancement. You want to avoid them, and I, on the contrary, say that we should not be running away from them, but rather should self-correct so that instead of ills, we would feel comfortable, benevolent, and secure in the future world.

Today, when the process strives to attain the overall redemption, it becomes all the more clear that there is no place to run. This means that if the Jewish people don’t start the process of self-correction, they will face miseries on all sides, economic, emotional, and  physical predicaments, whatever, in Israel and in America and elsewhere.

The safest place is the land of Israel. Its people will have to fight physically, but mostly internally. That’s why we have to spread Kabbalistic knowledge in Israel, and above all we have to disseminate the methodology of integral education. After all, it depends on the extent to which we are able to transfer the Jewish people facing problems as conventional battles to a spiritual battles.

People must understand that if fight internally to unite, we will “soften” and “sweeten” negative forces. They do not  destroy them, which is impossible, but turn them into good and useful. Unity will allow us to get stronger, thus making our enemies retreat. We won’t have to battle with them and they will stop fighting with us. On the contrary, they will come to us to learn the ways to unite.

After all, separation will affect them even worse than us. In Israel, it leads leads to political conflicts; in other areas, every day dozens and hundreds of people are killed, and the chaos will only continue growing.

So, if we want harmony and peace, we have to start here. We have no choice. And it makes no sense to  dwell upon the physical afflictions of Jews in Egypt. In this case,  you don’t understand this, and all the other catastrophes that befell Jews throughout history, whether it is the inquisition, pogroms, or the Holocaust. Of course, this cannot be explained from our current level since we don’t see the entire reality or the whole system to understand what is happening or its causes.

In short, it is a qualitative deficiency and we are at a very important, crucial phase.

In general, subconsciously the nations of the world press the people of Israel to teach them the methodology of correction. And the pressure can take on various forms.

But what is surprising: Before the nations of the world will come to Israel, they will be fight and have conflict with each other. However, we can already see around whom the whole “plot” revolves. Israel is almost invisible on the map; nevertheless, it is the true center of events, and with time, this fact will appear more clearly.

Ultimately, the current processes obligate the Jewish people to unite, to give an example to the world, to bring all to global unity, and to raise humanity.

This is the simple “scheme.” However, in our world it is implemented in multi-billion dollar investments, requires huge resources, and directly affects millions of people, turning this world into an arena of uncontrollable trade.
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In the News (from BBC News): “The Obama administration has unveiled major changes to the criminal justice system, dropping mandatory minimum sentences in certain drug cases. Such terms will not be imposed for non-violent drug offenders with no gang or cartel ties, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a speech. …

“’The attorney general’s remarks represent a good first step toward scaling back the failed ‘war on drugs’,” Tom Engell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, said.”

My Comment: In fact, we cannot accept drugs if we want to reach the goal of creation, the revelation of the Creator. Drugs are enemies of building a better society, creating a family, raising children. In this case, we need intelligence, strength, initiative, all which are lost in an addict..

But if the government’s objective is to reduce the population so that it does not reproduce, does not live long, and is passive during its short life, then drugs are good and should be distributed. And to prevent such inhuman thoughts about the government, it is necessary at the same time to carry out a campaign against smoking …
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In the News (from Bloomberg): “India’s rupee sank to a record on concern recent steps to steady the currency will prompt foreigners to rethink investment plans amid speculation the U.S. will pare stimulus next month. Bonds and stocks plunged.”

My Comment: The specter of the crisis in all its forms, not just financial and economic, is spreading around the world until it “processes” the entire humanity to the state of necessity to completely review human attitudes towards ourselves and the world. But we, the carriers of the method of integral education, must help the world peacefully and quickly discover the cause of the phenomena and the only way of overcoming it through integral education.
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In the News (from NBC News): “The type of heat waves that wilt crops, torch forests — and kill people — are expected to become more frequent and severe over the next 30 years regardless of whether humans curb emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, according to a new study. …

“Since the 1950s, the frequency of these events has ‘strongly increased and right now they cover about 5 percent of the global land area,’ Dim Coumou, a climate scientist with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, told NBC News.

“If we look at the near-term, up to 2040, we see that this increase will continue and that by 2040 we will see about 20 percent of the land area affected, so about another fourfold increase compared to today,” Coumou said.

“If levels of carbon dioxide continue to increase in the atmosphere as they are today, the researchers find heat extremes might cover 85 percent of the planet’s land area by 2100.

“What’s more, even hotter — so called five-sigma events, which are virtually non-existent today — would affect 60 percent of the global land area, according to the research.

My Comment: It is not the human technological activity that creates the impact on the climate but humans general egoistic attitude to their own kind and nature, and only by changing ourselves, will we be able to create any climate of our choice!
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In the News (from the University of Michigan): “Facebook use predicts declines in subjective well-being instead of enhancing it, a University of Michigan study shows. …

“’On the surface, Facebook provides an invaluable resource for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection,’ says U-M social psychologist Ethan Kross, lead author of the article and a faculty associate at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR). ‘But rather than enhance well-being, we found that Facebook use predicts the opposite result – it undermines it.’ …

“The study found that the more people used Facebook during one time period, the worse they subsequently felt. The authors also asked people to rate their level of life satisfaction at the start and end of the study. They found that the more participants used Facebook over the two-week study period, the more their life satisfaction levels declined over time.

“Importantly, the researchers found no evidence that interacting directly with other people via phone or face-to-face negatively influenced well-being. Instead, they found that direct interactions with other people led people to feel better over time.”

My Comment: The whole process of our development aims at bringing us to full disillusionment and an understanding of the need for unity: It is impossible to communicate in the old and the new way in order to direct us to the new kind of connection and interaction—spiritual (bestowal and love).
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In the News (from the UN News Center): “UN unveils ‘Free & Equal’ campaign to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rights. With consensual, same-sex conduct a criminal offence in more than one-third of the world’s countries, the United Nations human rights office today launched its first global public education campaign to raise awareness and respect for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality.”

My Comment: Anything that can limit the birth rate, shorten life expectancy, reduce the population of the planet is a priority for the elite and the UN that is managed by it.
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