Warrior of the Light – Gluttony

Fifth deadly sin: Gluttony

According to the dictionary: feminine noun, from the Latin gula. Excessive eating and drinking, voracity, greediness. According to the Catholic Church: Inordinate desire for pleasure related to food or drink. One should not appreciate foods that are bad for health. One should not pay more attention to food than to those that accompany us. Unjustified intoxication is a complete lack of sense and a mortal sin. According to Peter de Vries: Gluttony is a disorder; it means that something is devouring us inside. From the “Verba Seniorum” (The Wisdom of the Ancients): The Father Abbott was strolling with a monk from Sceta, when they were invited in to eat. The owner of the house, honored by the presence of the priests, gave orders to serve what was best. However, the monk was fasting. When the food arrived, he picked out a pea and chewed it slowly. He ate nothing further. Upon leaving, the Father Abbott said to him: - Brother, when you visit someone, don’t make your holiness an insult. Next time you are fasting, don’t accept invitations to dinner. Recipe for goose liver with truffles: Clean the goose livers impeccably, chop the liver and truffles into small cubes. Line entirely a small, high pie dish with several small strips of bacon (the strips should be very finely cut). Season with a little salt and pepper and scatter on top some small pieces of truffle. Place the remaining pieces of liver and truffle in successive layers. Seal the pie dish hermetically using a strip of pastry made of flour and water and bake the foie gras in a bain-marie in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Afterwards, place a weight on top to compress the mixture. Hunger in the world: The number of hungry people in the developing countries should drop from the present 777 million to around 440 million in 2030. This means that the goal of the World Food Summit agreed upon in 1996, of cutting by half the number of hungry people compared with the levels found in 1990-92 (815 million), will not be achieved even in 2030. Sub-Saharan Africa is a reason for great concern because the number of chronically undernourished people will only fall probably from the present 194 million to 183 million in 2030 ( Source: FAO report – World agriculture: Toward 2015/2030) In a Sufi fable: A baker wanted to meet Uways, so Uways went to the bakery disguised as a beggar. He began to eat a bread roll; the baker beat him and threw him out into the street. - Madman! – said a disciple arriving – don’t you see that you threw out the master you wanted to know? Contrite, the baker asked what he could do for him to forgive him. Uways asked him to invite him and his disciples to eat. The baker took them to an excellent restaurant and ordered the most expensive dishes. - That is how we distinguish the good man from the bad man – said Uways to the disciples, in the middle of lunch. This man is capable of spending ten gold coins on a banquet because I am famous, but he is incapable of giving a bread roll to feed a hungry beggar. Comment from the Tao Te King: Thirty spokes are fitted together in the cube forming a wheel. But it is its middle empty space that allows the car to be used. Model some clay to make a vase. Cut out in the empty space of the walls doors and windows so that a room may be used. In that way someone produces what is useful but it is the empty space that makes it effective. (next: Envy)

Study: College Students More Narcissistic Than Ever

[Editor Note: OK...as much as I want to, I am NOT going to dedicate this REpost to anyone I know...no, I am not. No indeed. Nod to Bill G. who clued me in on this newspiece. Yeah, I know it's FOX...]

Study: College Students More Narcissistic Than Ever
Tuesday , February 27, 2007

NEW YORK — Today’s college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors, according to a comprehensive new study by five psychologists who worry that the trend could be harmful to personal relationships and American society. “We need to stop endlessly repeating ‘You’re special’ and having children repeat that back,” said the study’s lead author, Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University. “Kids are self-centered enough already.” Twenge and her colleagues, in findings to be presented at a workshop Tuesday in San Diego on the generation gap, examined the responses of 16,475 college students nationwide who completed an evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory between 1982 and 2006. The standardized inventory, known as the NPI, asks for responses to such statements as “If I ruled the world, it would be a better place,” “I think I am a special person” and “I can live my life any way I want to.”

The researchers describe their study as the largest ever of its type and say students’ NPI scores have risen steadily since the current test was introduced in 1982. By 2006, they said, two-thirds of the students had above-average scores, 30 percent more than in 1982. Narcissism can have benefits, said study co-author W. Keith Campbell of the University of Georgia, suggesting it could be useful in meeting new people “or auditioning on ‘American Idol.’” “Unfortunately, narcissism can also have very negative consequences for society, including the breakdown of close relationships with others,” he said. The study asserts that narcissists “are more likely to have romantic relationships that are short-lived, at risk for infidelity, lack emotional warmth, and to exhibit game-playing, dishonesty, and over-controlling and violent behaviors.”

Twenge, the author of “Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled — and More Miserable Than Ever Before,” said narcissists tend to lack empathy, react aggressively to criticism and favor self-promotion over helping others. The researchers traced the phenomenon back to what they called the “self-esteem movement” that emerged in the 1980s, asserting that the effort to build self-confidence had gone too far.

As an example, Twenge cited a song commonly sung to the tune of “Frere Jacques” in preschool: “I am special, I am special. Look at me.” “Current technology fuels the increase in narcissism,” Twenge said. “By its very name, MySpace encourages attention-seeking, as does YouTube.” Some analysts have commended today’s young people for increased commitment to volunteer work. But Twenge viewed even this phenomenon skeptically, noting that many high schools require community service and many youths feel pressure to list such endeavors on college applications.

Campbell said the narcissism upsurge seemed so pronounced that he was unsure if there were obvious remedies. “Permissiveness seems to be a component,” he said. “A potential antidote would be more authoritative parenting. Less indulgence might be called for.” The new report follows a study released by UCLA last month which found that nearly three-quarters of the freshmen it surveyed thought it was important to be “very well-off financially.” That compared with 62.5 percent who said the same in 1980 and 42 percent in 1966. Yet students, while acknowledging some legitimacy to such findings, don’t necessarily accept negative generalizations about their generation.

Hanady Kader, a University of Washington senior, said she worked unpaid last summer helping resettle refugees and considers many of her peers to be civic-minded. But she is dismayed by the competitiveness of some students who seem prematurely focused on career status. “We’re encouraged a lot to be individuals and go out there and do what you want, and nobody should stand in your way,” Kader said. “I can see goals and ambitions getting in the way of other things like relationships.” Kari Dalane, a University of Vermont sophomore, says most of her contemporaries are politically active and not overly self-centered. “People are worried about themselves — but in the sense of where are they’re going to find a place in the world,” she said. “People want to look their best, have a good time, but it doesn’t mean they’re not concerned about the rest of the world.” Besides, some of the responses on the narcissism test might not be worrisome, Dalane said. “It would be more depressing if people answered, ‘No, I’m not special.’”

Quote of the Day

God looks around and says, “Holy shit! Everything has gotten totally fucked up! How in Hell did this happen?” From Tim Boucher’s “Pop Occulture” blog, entry “How to Go Crazy on Purpose.” Whee.

Story of the Day – Promises

Here’s the Story of the Day: Promises I only promise the little things. The big things don’t pay attention to what I want anyhow. (When you don’t want the Story of the Day any more, just send us an email at no_more@storypeople.com. Type “Unsubscribe” in the Subject & as soon as we can, we’ll stop them from cluttering your inbox…) Please do not reply to this message. If you have any other questions or comments about our web site or how to order, here’s how to get hold of us: The email address that goes right to the people who can help is: comments@storypeople.com

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DBW: Low Friends

Do not choose bad friends.
Do not choose persons of low habits.
Select good friends. Be discriminating.
Choose the best.-Dhammapada 78

From “365 Buddha:

Egyptian Mardi Gras

Sex and booze figured in Egyptian rites

Archaeologists find evidence for ancient version of ‘Girls Gone Wild’

Courtesy Betsy Bryan / JHU A drawing based on an ancient Egyptian wall painting shows a drinking festival in progress. The upper row of figures features revelers drinking wine, including one woman who has overindulged. The lower row shows a procession with musicians.

Neil on a Daily Basis

I love my RSS feed from Neil Gaiman’s blog. It provides me with wisdom, prophesy, trivia, and intellectual nonsence of the most succulant variety. Todays discussion deals with children’s literature and the discussion of bollocks! YUMMY!

Goodbye New Orleans

In the New York Times… a decent article on how those people who love NOLA, are choosing to leave…because it’s not getting any better. Makes me sad…but I understand. I just wish I could do something to make it better.

Too Sexy

Partially because I just love villains and partially because of the uncanny resemblance between Mr. Trent Reznor and Mr. Severus Snape…but I found this while perusing the Internet and just had to share…

WOL – Deadly Sins: Wrath

Issue nº 140 to visit the site other editions subscribe to WLO Share your views on this newsletter. Click here to go to the blog Warrior of Light In this issue - Fourth Deadly Sin: Wrath Fourth Deadly Sin: Wrath According to the dictionary: feminine noun, from the Latin Ira. Choler, anger, indignation, rage, desire for revenge. For the Catholic Church: Wrath is not only against others, but can turn back against someone who lets hate sow seeds in his heart. In this case usually he is led to suicide. We need to understand that punishment and its imposition belong to God. In “Verba Seniorum” (The Word of the Ancients): Two wise men who lived in the same chapel in the Sahara desert, chatted one day: “Let’s fight so that we don’t become disassociated from the human being, or we will end up not understanding properly the passions that torture him”, said one of them. “I don’t know how to begin a fight”. “Well, we will do the following: I am putting this brick here in the middle, and you say to me: it’s mine. I will answer: no, this brick is mine. Then we will begin arguing and we will end up fighting”. And so they did. One said that the brick was his. The other argued, saying it was not. “Don’t let’s waste time over this, keep this brick,” said the first. “Your idea for a fight was not very good. When we perceive that we have an immortal soul, it is impossible to fight over things”. In a laboratory study: Janice Williams followed up for six years 13,000 men and women aged between 45 and 64 years and, basing herself on their behavior, discovered that people who get intensely irritated, and frequently, have three times more chances of having a heart attack than those that face adversities more serenely (Williams, 2000). That happens because, at each episode of Anger, the organism releases an extra load of adrenalin in the bloodstream. The high concentration of adrenalin raises the number of heartbeats and, at the same time, makes the blood vessels narrower, raising blood pressure. The repetition of such episodes may give rise to two problems usually associated to the heart attack: alteration of the heart rate and a sudden dilation of fatty deposits that might be in the arteries.(Source: Ballone G.J. – Anger and Hate, negative emotions) In popular Brazilian music: While there is strength in my heart I don’t want anything else/ Just revenge! Revenge! Revenge! Crying out to the saints / You have to roll like the stones that roll on the road / without ever having a place of your own to be able to rest in. Lupicínio Rodrigues) In the words of William Blake: I was angry with my friend: I mentioned this to him, and the anger went. I was angry with my enemy: I didn’t mention it to him, and the anger increased. On hate for foreigners (xenophobia): “All Western countries are infiltrated by Moslems. Some of them are even able to talk amiably, while they wait for the moment to kill us. They say that the events of September 11 (2001) happened because of a shock of civilizations. That is a lie: a shock of civilizations calls for two distinct civilizations and that is not the case. There is only one civilization: ours. ” (Statements made by the leaders of the Danish People’s Party – – DPP – sowing the seeds of hate and the new Fascism, which Europe and the entire world are watching grow without taking serious steps) Comment from the Tao Te King: All weapons are instruments of evil and are absolutely not the instruments of the wise prince. He uses them only when urged by necessity. Calm and repose are what he appreciates; victory by the force of weapons is undesirable for him Considering it necessary is a sign that the man takes pleasure in killing other men, and he who takes pleasure in that killing may not run an empire. When we want to weaken someone, we should first strengthen him. If we want to defeat him, we must first raise him. If we intend to deprive him, we must first give him presents. This is what is called subtle discernment. Thus, the submissive and the weak will conquer the tough and strong. (next: Gluttony) “The Witch of Portobello” will be released in the UK on 4/23/07 and in India on 4/18/07. If you wish to read the Q&A with the author and soon the first chapters of the book, click here. The book will be released in the United States in May of 2007.”