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Cat Guest Blog’s its Way into History! Nom the Cat Blogs — Breaking News!!!

This just in. a cat has taken over my blog.I am not kittening….The first guest blog was composed by a cat..Not just any cat, the ultimate YouTube cat! Read on……

Hello.

My name is “nOm”. I am a cat. I am also a YouTube addict.

My YouTube channel is https://www.youtube.com/user/nameofthepen.  My featured video below:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTLsAnxUwzQ

Nom the Cat

Thomas has astonished and honored me with an invitation to do a guest posting.

I “met” Thomas over on YouTube. I guess he was intrigued by an internet-addicted feline, while I was absolutely enchanted by his world-class music videos.

I told him, “I don’t know what to write”, and he said (more or less), “You can blog about being a cat on YouTube, and some of the characters you meet there.”

He even offered tuna.

So I thought, “What does it matter if I go down in flames? I’ll still have a couple of lives left. And, besides, if he wants to trade tuna for tripe, I’ll take it!”

So, here goes…

I am thrilled to have had the fortune to be alive when the internet arrived.

And, with it, YouTube.

With YouTube, I can see videos made by people from all over the world. I can see their homes. I can see their children. I can see their clothes. I can see their food. I can see their towns and countries and monuments and historical sites. I can hear their music.

Most thrilling of all, I can see their cats!

A virtual magic cat carpet, taking me anywhere in the world at the mere gesture of a mouse! No, not that kind of mouse, silly!

And, with the comment sections on the videos, and the help of the Google translator, I can, to a fair extent, understand what most people are saying, no matter the language used.

I can even speak back to the people!

It’s magic, I tell ya! Witchcraft. What we cats were born for!

I even consider it a partial reprieve from the “curse of the Tower of Babel”. (Yes, sadly, it affected our species too.)

Each day it amazes and enchants me anew.

I have met many, many, MANY people.

Most are warm, honest and decent.

A few are exquisite.

And a handful have been pretty darn mangy.

I have explored countless rabbit holes in the vast kingdom of YouTube.

And I’ve gotten pretty thoroughly lost for a while in a few of them.

But, I have learned more than I ever would have thought could fit into a cat-sized cranium.

And the more I learned, the more I knew I didn’t know.

Then, I finally realized that opinions, like fur, should be regularly shed and replaced.

A very famous cat summed it up nicely when he wrote:

“I am the wisest cat alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.” ~ PlatoPuss

Well, that’s about it. I’m overdue for my cat nap.

Thanks for reading.

=^.^=
nOm, the interwebs kitteh

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TOP SECRET CONSPIRACY THEORY!!!!!

Want to see a conspiracy theorist? Look in the Mirror

Benjamin Franklin

A conspiracy theory purports to explain a social, political or economic event as being caused or covered up by a covert group or organization. On April 15th 2013, Conspiracy theories went viral on the internet, alleging that the Boston bombings were a ‘false flag’, an event hoaxed on the unsuspecting public with the aim of fooling the American public into allowing Big Government to leave the people unarmed and therefore unable to defend themselves against tyranny.

This notion is not a new one to the American people, nor is it foreign to humankind. I propose that most human interaction involves conspiracy. When a woman wears lipstick, is she not conspiring to simulate estrus in order to appear attractive? Is not the Hair Club for Men a conspiracy by the male species to fool strangers into believing male pattern baldness avoided you? Would Ben Franklin be a member of Hair Club for Men? I do not doubt it. Ben was a master conspirator, and is beloved by the American public because of his ability to outwit the British.

Anytime Anderson Cooper speaks out against bullying cases, he is a conspiracy theorist because he postulates that multiple antagonists actively sought to harass a certain person. And military history is replete with disinformation, false flags, strategies and tactics meant to fool the enemy. Anytime any group of people wage war on another, you will find conspiracy. As far as the media, they are masters of conspiracy. Anderson’s “keeping them honest” segments are a conspiracy by CNN content providers to make us believe that CNN has the monopoly on integrity. Same goes for Fox with their ‘Fair and Balanced’ motto. Same as Alex Jones and Piers Morgan, having a verbal slugfest on national news some months back. Piers sees a conspiracy of gun crazy Americans and Alex sees an evil Government out to enslave us. I am, like most of us, a spectator. I am neither a Republican or Democrat and I have the same low opinion of politics as the next person…Its almost like we have a conspiracy as a nation to hold our elected leaders in low regard. We, the American Public, are quickly becoming tired and suspicious of mainstream media. I guess we all better get the CT branding irons out and offer up our foreheads…….

Have you ever felt like your parents were “ganging up on you”? Well, look in the mirror. You will see a conspiracy theorist staring back at you, unless, of course you are a vampire and therefore have no reflection. In that case, beware of conspiracy theorists bearing torches and pitchforks.

Locust 2

And now the moral of the story. We are all conspiracy theorists, everyone of us. So is the Government. So is the media. So are the banks. We are all conspirators, as well. Every secret society, every sister whispering in another’s ear, every parent who conspires to hide the ugly truth from the ears of their children, too tender in age to process sex or violence, are conspirators . Every party we throw, ever secret we tell, every meeting we take, its all conspiracy…. Conspiracy defines us. Our nation was borne of conspiracy. Did not Paul Revere conspire to alert Boston that the British were coming? Does not every parent “conspire” to lie to their children when they propose the reality of Santa Claus? Isn’t every fiction writer on earth conspiring to teleport its readers’ minds to another realm? Name a behavior between two people that is not a conspiracy. Calling someone a conspiracy theorist is pretty redundant….

On another April 15th, back in 1865, the shaken and angry leaders of our Government sat around a bed too small for the gaunt figure sprawled across it. That dying figure was Abraham Lincoln and in the coming days, the Government denounced the “Conspiracy of Evil men” who had plotted his assassination.

In fact, the FOUNDING FATHERS put forth the unpopular conspiracy theory that England planned to raise taxes, leave the people poorer and keep them in the dark about their long term nefarious goals. The Founding Fathers were proven correct and were the Government of Lincoln’s. So before you write someone off for their conspiracy theories, perhaps you should glean that humanity, every nation and ever age has been inspired, changed and furthered by conspiracy theories.

Labels should not imprison us. In the end, all of us come from a long line of conspiracy theorists. Please tell nobody you read this blog……………..

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Chaplin is Hot Once Again, Thanks to a Lousy Economy.By Thomas Schoenberger

So the economy is in depression, fat cat bankers rule. Crime is all over and it seems the little guy is getting crushed under the weight of oppression.Modern Times you say? No. We have traveled this road before.And one man defined the struggle of the poor to better their lot in this world..The Tramp is back, and ready to amuse…..
Charles Chaplin

Sir Charles Spencer “Charlie” Chaplin, KBE (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was a British comic actor and filmmaker. Chaplin was one of the most influential figures of the silent era, whose screen character “The Tramp” became a global phenomenon and remains one of cinema’s most iconic images. His career in entertainment spanned more than 75 years, from Victorian music hall until close to his death at the age of 88. Chaplin’s high-profile public and private life encompassed both adulation and controversy.As a composer, I am struck by Chaplin’s music. It is really rather good, haunting refrains, repetitive melodies that drum into your belly like a fish slapping plank wood.Chaplin composed like Beethoven did, with an eye towards drama and percussion. But was Chaplin ever actually homeless in real life? Well……….

Raised in London, Chaplin’s childhood was defined by poverty and hardship. He was sent to a workhouse twice before the age of nine; his father was absent, and his mother was committed to a mental asylum. Chaplin began performing from a young age, touring music halls with a clog dancingtroupe and later working as a stage actor and comedian. At 19 he was signed to the prestigious Fred Karno company, which took him to America. It was while touring with the comedy troupe that Chaplin was scouted by the film industry. His first appearances came in 1914 with Keystone Studios, where he developed the Tramp persona and formed a large fan base. Chaplin directed his films from an early stage, and continued to hone his craft as he moved to the Essanay, Mutual, and First National corporations. By 1918, he was one of the richest and most famous men in the world.chaplinstudios 1920

The rogue historian asks How did Chaplin resonate globally and why was his rise so meteoric? And could today’s rising tide of homeless and food scarce populations relate to the “Little Champ” ?

Chaplin played a homeless person who demanded dignity. As a tide of immigrants worldwide dealt with revolution, dislocation,poverty, war and class differences, Chaplin attracted global audiences by the sheer tenacity the “Little Tramp” showed in the face of overwhelming odds. Who hasn’t felt small or unimportant at times? Who hasn’t felt alone in a crowd? Chaplin is the ultimate symbol of the silent war of the have’s vs the have not’s Imagine Chaplin in the Occupy crowd, wreaking havoc.Imagine Chaplin in Modern day New York, assailing wicked banksters. Chaplin would have found 2013 content rich and surely would have fought for the underdog.Ironically, Charlie , who made his fame portraying an outcast chased by policemen, store owners, even other “tramps” would find himself the subject of a real life witch hunt later in his life.

charlie-chaplin3

In 1952 Chaplin had left Hollywood on a visit to England and while aboard ship in the Atlantic, was notified that his reentry permit had been revoked. Atty. Gen. James P. McGranery said the action had been prompted by “public charges” associating Chaplin with communism and “grave moral charges.” The comedian would have to appear at a hearing to prove his “moral worth” before he could return. Chaplin, who was still a British subject, declined to go through such a hearing. “Since the end of the last world war,” Chaplin said, “I have been the object of lies and propaganda by powerful reactionary groups who, by their influence and by the aid of America’s yellow press, have created an unhealthy atmosphere in which liberal-minded individuals can be singled out and persecuted. Under these conditions I find it virtually impossible to continue my motion-picture work, and I have therefore given up my residence in the United States.” Chaplin and his family moved to a mansion overlooking Lake Geneva near the Swiss village of Vevey.

That government ruling was widely and correctly interpreted as a shabby cover to bar Chaplin from the country for political reasons. While he never belonged to a political party, he was sympathetic to liberal and some radical causes. Worse, he was outspoken. And some of his films, which ridiculed aspects of American society, were denounced as “left-wing propaganda.”

In August 1960, a superior court judge refused to issue an order compelling the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Hollywood Improvement Association to show cause why they should not be directed to include Chaplin’s name on the Walk of Fame. The court acted on a petition filed by Charles Chaplin, Jr., who contended that omission of his father’s name from the Hollywood Boulevard sidewalk project was malicious. Chaplin Jr. himself demanded $400,000 damages on the complaint that the decision of the two Hollywood organizations libeled him and injured his career. His suit was eventually dismissed.

After the reentry prohibition against Chaplin was dropped years later, the actor remained in Switzerland. As the years passed, both Chaplin and the times changed and, in an interview in London in 1962, he said: “What happened to me, I can’t condemn or criticize the country for that. There are many admirable things about American and its system, too. I have no ill feelings. I carry no hate. My only enemy is time.” This statement in itself shows the sunny disposition that has come to define Chaplin.A champion of humanity, he harbored no ill will, and thus, won the war, even if he had lost many battles.

By the early days of 1972, the officials, including an attorney general of the United States, who were outraged at Chaplin’s radically-tinged politics, were now gone. It was rumored that Chaplin would return to the United States for the first time in twenty years to receive a special Academy Award voted to him. If Chaplin decided to return, he would have to apply to the U.S. Consulate in Geneva for an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa. The U.S. State Department would then rule on the application.

Possibly because of Chaplin’s promising return, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Committee voted on whether to approve a star for the actor and voted 5 to 4 against it. After that vote, Chamber president,A. Ronald Button ordered an advisory poll of chamber membership that responded 3 to 1 in favor of installing a Chaplin star. Based on that, the Chambers directors went against their Executive Committees recommendation and voted 30 to 3 in favor of adding Chaplin’s name to the sidewalk honor. The decision still had to be approved by the Los Angeles City Council, but Button said it had always approved the directors’ recommendations in the past. “I can’t imagine them opposing the star,” he said. Eventually the city council approved Chaplin’s star, 11 to 3. The three dissenting councilmen never spoke publicly in opposition, but privately complained that since the comedian earned his money here he should not have left the country to live in Switzerland. It is 2013 and thanks to revolution, war, dislocation, inflation, deflation,and the greatest demarcation line between the rich and poor in a hundred years, Chaplin is back, and this time, it’s personal…

Father: Charles Chaplin, Sr. (alcoholic)
Mother: Hannah Smith
Brother: Sydney Chaplin (half brother)
Wife: Mildred Harris (m. 23-Oct-1918, div. 1920)
Wife: Lita Grey (m. 26-Nov-1924, div. 1926)
Wife: Paulette Goddard (m. Jun-1936, div. Jun-1942)
Wife: Oona Chaplin (dau. of Eugene O’Neill, m. 16-Jun-1943)
Son: Norman Spencer Chaplin (b. 7-Jul-1919, d. 10-Jul-1919)
Son: Charlie Chaplin, Jr. (b. 5-May-1925, d. 20-Mar-1968)
Son: Sydney Chaplin (stage actor, b. 30-Mar-1926, d. 3-Mar-2009)
Daughter: Geraldine Chaplin (actress, b. 31-Jul-1944)
Girlfriend: Pola Negri
Slept with: Marion Davies (rumored)
Girlfriend: Edna Purviance
Mistress: Louise Brooks (1925)

United Artists
Oscar (honorary) 1929 for The Circus
Oscar (honorary) 1972 (Lifetime Achievement)
Oscar for Best Music Original Score 1973 for Limelight (shared)
Erasmus Prize 1965 (with Ingmar Bergman)
Knight of the British Empire 4-Mar-1975
French Legion of Honor 1985
Hollywood Walk of Fame 6751 Hollywood Blvd
Left at Orphanage
Mann Act Violation 1944 (acquitted)
Paternity Test blood test (1943)
Exhumed 1-Mar-1978 (grave robbed)
Risk Factors: Asthma
FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR
A Countess from Hong Kong (5-Jan-1967)
A King in New York (12-Sep-1957)
Limelight (23-Oct-1952)
Monsieur Verdoux (11-Apr-1947)
The Great Dictator (15-Oct-1940)
Modern Times (5-Feb-1936)
City Lights (30-Jan-1931)
The Circus (6-Jan-1928)
The Gold Rush (26-Jun-1925)
A Woman of Paris (26-Sep-1923)
Pay Day (2-Apr-1922)
The Idle Class (25-Sep-1921)
The Kid (21-Jan-1921)
A Day’s Pleasure (15-Dec-1919)
Sunnyside (15-Jun-1919)
Shoulder Arms (20-Oct-1918)
The Rink (4-Dec-1916)
Behind the Screen (13-Nov-1916)
The Vagabond (10-Jul-1916)
The Floorwalker (15-May-1916)
A Night in the Show (20-Nov-1915)
Work (21-Jun-1915)
The Tramp (12-Apr-1915)
His New Job (1-Feb-1915)

FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
A Countess from Hong Kong (5-Jan-1967)
A King in New York (12-Sep-1957)
Limelight (23-Oct-1952)
Monsieur Verdoux (11-Apr-1947)
The Great Dictator (15-Oct-1940)
Modern Times (5-Feb-1936) · Factory Worker
City Lights (30-Jan-1931) · A Tramp
The Circus (6-Jan-1928) · A Tramp
The Gold Rush (26-Jun-1925) · The Lone Prospector
The Pilgrim (26-Feb-1923) · The Pilgrim
Pay Day (2-Apr-1922) · Worker
The Idle Class (25-Sep-1921)
The Kid (21-Jan-1921) · A Tramp
A Day’s Pleasure (15-Dec-1919) · Father
Sunnyside (15-Jun-1919)
Shoulder Arms (20-Oct-1918) · Doughboy
A Dog’s Life (14-Apr-1918) · The Tramp
The Immigrant (17-Jun-1917) · Immigrant
The Cure (16-Apr-1917)
The Rink (4-Dec-1916)
Behind the Screen (13-Nov-1916)
The Count (4-Sep-1916) · Apprentice Tailor
The Vagabond (10-Jul-1916) · Street Musician
The Floorwalker (15-May-1916)
A Night in the Show (20-Nov-1915)
Work (21-Jun-1915)
The Tramp (12-Apr-1915)
His New Job (1-Feb-1915)
Tillie’s Punctured Romance (14-Nov-1914) · Charlie
The Rounders (7-Sep-1914) · Reveller
The Masquerader (27-Aug-1914) · Film Actor
The Knockout (11-Jun-1914)
Tango Tangles (9-Mar-1914)
A Film Johnnie (2-Mar-1914) · Film Johnnie

Author of books:
My Autobiography (1964, memoir)

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Thomas Schoenberger on Flu, Cocooning, Wireless to Touchless

The Trend Towards Global Hermits. Maybe Howard Hughes Was Right.

St.-Jerome-In-His-Study

It started with cable, I suppose. With the advent of multiple choices in television channels.

1918 flu panNo need to talk to your wife, or kids, the news is on, or sports, or perhaps that comedy show you are addicted to. But then, like a spore, it grew. Cocooning , a 1980’s word to describe never having to leave home for your entertainment, became the in thing.

Then wireless became the new thing, as people no longer needed to sit behind a contraption thick with wires. Then cell phones,once weighing pounds rather than ounces,got trimmer, sleeker and faster.  Soon, a trip to the supermarket did not mean you have to even interact with a checker. When once we traveled in horse and buggy, we now travel in private carriages, with silent lights of green and red directing us over smooth asphalt.

CampFunstonKS-InfluenzaHospital

 

Now, as we watch the news, stern “contributors”, anchormen and women issue dire warnings of super flu’s, germ outbreaks, violent weather,floods, pathogens, etc.  Go to any Target or Walmart and there are hand wipes at the entrance, ready to keep people from catching these harmful bugs. But does any hand wipe or even rigorous wishing of the hands eradicate a virus like Norovirus?  No. Does the influenza vaccine only work 60% of the time?  Yes.  So much for modern medicine.s. In total, 1,407 human pathogen species are currently recognized. Of these, 177 (13%) are regarded as emerging or re-emerging,and 25% of these were only recognized in the last 25 years. There have been times in history where the very act of touching another was either toxic, fatal,or even illegal.We cannot wholly depend on any “official channels” being honest with us, because they justify that the consequences of hysteria might just be as damaging or more damaging than any rogue viral pandemic.

But we do have a right to know and I for one fear that Howard Hughes may have been pretty provident in his fear of germs. The Persians invented the handshake, as a signal that they were not carrying weapons.But one must wonder if we are headed to a handshake-less,a touchless society……..Here is a little history from a forgotten pandemic less than 100 years ago, and it killed 50 million people…..
Thomas Schoenberger
Below on Influenza below from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Influenza (Flu)
H1N1 virus
Types
Vaccines
Treatment
Pandemics
Outbreaks
See also

The 1918 flu pandemic (January 1918 – December 1920)[1] was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic which infected 500 million[2] people across the world, including remote Pacific islands and the Arctic, and killed 20 to 50 million of them—1 to 3 percent of the world’s population[3] at the time—making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history.[2][4][5][6][7] To maintain morale, wartime censors minimized early reports of illness and mortality in Germany, Britain, France, and the United States;[8][9] but papers were free to report the epidemic’s effects in neutral Spain (such as the grave illness of King Alfonso XIII), creating a false impression of Spain as especially hard hit—[10] thus the pandemic’s nickname Spanish flu.[11]

Most influenza outbreaks disproportionately kill juvenile, elderly, or already weakened patients; in contrast the 1918 pandemic killed predominantly previously healthy young adults. Modern research, using virus taken from the bodies of frozen victims, has concluded that the virus kills through a cytokine storm (overreaction of the body’s immune system). The strong immune reactions of young adults ravaged the body, whereas the weaker immune systems of children and middle-aged adults resulted in fewer deaths among those groups.[12]

Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the pandemic’s geographic origin.[2] It was implicated in the outbreak of encephalitis lethargica in the 1920s.[13]

 

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My Mother, Elsebeth Schoenberger, the Resistance Fighter

 

73 years ago, on a cool spring afternoon, my mother’s country was invaded by the Nazi’s. Her small Danish town suddenly found itself in the clutches of the diabolical Nazi war machine. The country was joined in subjection by France and Netherlands. That spring, the world looked on in horror. Later that year, London would endure a Christmas season from hell, with Santa Claus nowhere to be found, and the only sleigh in the sky seemed to be the horrific V1 and V2 rockets causing death and destruction from above. For my mother, a hopeful and innocent 11 year old girl, the advance of  the Nazi thugs was the second major blow in her life. She had lost her father 4 years before. He was an M.D. and never made it past his 38th year.I never knew my grandfather.

SchoenbergerBookThe German invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940 was part of a wider campaign in Scandinavia designed partly to provide bases for the German navy and partly to secure the German supply of iron ore from Sweden. The main target of the German operation was Norway, but the occupation of Denmark was also judged to be necessary to protect the southern end of the sea route to Narvik, the winter port for the iron ore trade.

Planning work for the invasion began in January 1940. The operation was given the codename Weserübung (Weser Exercise), with the invasion of Denmark known as Weserubung Süd (Weser Exercise South). The tiny Danish army was to be overrun by two infantry divisions (the 170th and 198th) and the 11th rifle brigade (motorized). Landings were to take place at Copenhagen, Middlefart, Esbjerg, Tyborøn, Korsør, Gjedser and Nyborg, while more troops would invade Jutland across the land border with Germany.

The plan worked perfectly. A small naval expedition, led by the minelayer Danzig entered Copenhagen harbour at 5.00am on 9 April, and landed troops who were able to seize the citadel. Ålborg airfield at the northern tip of Denmark was captured by German paratroops, and at 7.30 am an infantry battalion landed at the airfield. At 5.25 am the land invasion began. Here there was some fighting, but the defenders of the Danish border were quickly overwhelmed. Further resistance was clearly pointless, and the Danish government was forced to agree to a German ultimatum to end the fighting. King Christian ordered a cease fire, to start at 7.20am. Denmark would be occupied by the Germans until the end of the war.

The invasion seemed to waken the ancient Viking psyche of the Danish people. My mother, who just months before had been playing with dolls and dreaming of a career in academia, marrying a Prince Charming, and living happily after, had to confront poverty, violence , death and intimidation daily.

So what did she do in light of these overwhelming odds? She fought back. She become an active member of the Danish Resistance  She braved detention and even execution.During the 5 years of daily challenge and privation, she learned to combat the enemy, carrying messages and weapons for the Danish resistance,every day risking her life and freedom for her country. This little Lutheran girl found the courage to face impossible odds,and deep within the wall of her construct, over 65 years later, she wrote a book, chronicling her experiences.

The book is becoming popular.It’s topical. In this new global village, one need not look far to find countries swept up in the grip of totalitarianism.To my mother,occupy has nothing to do with camping in a park. My mother lived a “Danish Spring” in 1940,she fought thuggery,brutality and impossible odds, and though she lost her childhood in the process, she gained a sagacity well beyond her tender years,and her story is one that must be told, now more than ever. Her book, Birgetta’s War  now speaks to a new crop of resistance fighters, children facing the spector of evil, children finding hope in the most unnatural of places, the fog of war.

This week she turns 84. In the last 3 years, she has become a widow, an author and, to the delight of everyone, a new bride. Nothing new for this incredible and inspirational figure. Happy birthday Mom. Please visit her website, and buy the book

http://www.birgitteswar.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Healing Power of Music

We wake up to and endless parade of violence , riots, strife, and mayhem and most of us simply want a safer world for our kids.

In my studies regarding comfort and music, healing and music and the salubrious effects of music on trama victims, I can only use one word to describe what I observe.

Alchemy.

We have come light years in advancing music and healing. In the next ten years, I firmly believe music therapy will become a customary course of medicine. In keeping with this thought, I offer an excerpt from an article that caught my attention several years ago. To me, the message is only getting more relevant as the world gets crazier.Music should make sense,. Music should heal. Music should inspire. Music has a mandate.Musicians have a social responsibility and the ones I know and love live up to the highest ideals in humanity. With this lofty ideal in mind, here is a quote that I wanted to share with you from this article:

The hope of music’s curative powers has spawned a community in the United States of some 5,000 registered music therapists, who have done post-college study in psychology and music to gain certification. Active primarily in hospitals, nursing homes, special needs classrooms and rehabilitation units, music therapists aim to soothe, stimulate and support the development or recovery of abilities lost to illness or injury.

While music therapists use a mix of improvisation and proven techniques to help patients, neuroscientists are looking to uncover the scientific basis for music’s healing powers. They are trying to understand how music can help rewire a brain affected by illness or injury, or provide a work-around for injured or underperforming brain regions.
By doing so, they hope to better identify which patients might respond best to music and what musical techniques might best help them to regain lost or compromised function.
“Music might provide an alternative entry point” to the brain, because it can unlock so many different doors into an injured or ill brain, said Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, a Harvard University neurologist. Pitch, harmony, melody, rhythm and emotion — all components of music — engage different regions of the brain. And many of those same regions are also important in speech, movement and social interaction. If a disease or trauma has disabled a brain region needed for such functions, music can sometimes get in through a back door and coax them out by another route, Schlaug says.
 The above referenced data constitutes important new developments in exploring why Music developed. Was it a repetition of a mother’s heart, or perhaps percussiive instrumenst meant to scare off perdatory beasts?  My gut tells me that music is not of human origin. It exists in the animal world and pre dates ,,,, us.
The need for music becomes greater in times of dischord, excuse the pun. With so much hatred, polarizing idiocy and bigotry thriving globally, it’s the music makers and the painters and artists who bring comfort and hope and yes, reflect the human heart. I look very closely at the amazing musicality of autistic children. I have known special needs children who have shown truly savant level understanding of music. I still to this day cannot fathom the mystery, but it’s real
I count myself lucky to have known great musicians and composers. The artists I know all strive for peace, all want a return to normalcy and a return of artistic merit. We are dreamers and romancers and shamen and interpeters.Music , by all rights, must transend human experience, even as it startles and stirs souls. Music is perhaps the holiest thing on Planet Earth. Imagine for a minute, a world devoid of music. Even Hell is suppose to have music. The absence of music is the absence of life, hope, dreams and ambitions.
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